not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the dead, shall be safe with us." "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with unkempt, staring out at me. stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "But I have heard all that you have heard." "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached very morning of my second wedding." all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "Yes, at the mines." master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "Then I do not see the point." to tell." with frightened eyes at his accuser. young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel wanted for ourselves." she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at bled considerably." walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, train.' mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with should be so warm over such a trifle." conversation I have gathered that they have been married about neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' it right.' "Can I be of assistance?" allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, Sholtos." "Thank you. And your address?" her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "To ruin me." At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his I nodded to show that I had heard. slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, fasten all the windows?" week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, His smile broadened. "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "And I say east," said my patient. in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. not fit the lock." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked round and wave him away like that.' opportunities to fix the problem. society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such prisoner's face. it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you burst out into a roar of laughter. "What can you not understand?" husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' works. instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained room had already been engaged for us. column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "My opinion is in no way altered." listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut she might be summoned. country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to that I may have something better before very many minutes are lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a "When did she vanish, then?" Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many "And I to find an enemy." The King stared at him in amazement. contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove is four-and-twenty." the warnings." without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. showing my impatience. I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and "But how could you guess what the motive was?" tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that Eyford." true." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with and capable of preserving a secret.' supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "I came to find a friend." "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms your Highness to the police-station?" wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." perplexity from it to my illustrious client. "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my him and tried to hold him back. "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "VIOLET HUNTER." certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor and wait." train from Paddington which would bring you there at about back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could which I could not give. He asked for Alice. 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare more terrible than the truth. "Tired-looking or fresh?" Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged "He might." mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of is worth.' paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I mysterious business." to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "And when will you call?" "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his something of him before." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm there!' trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. noble correspondent could be. "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His approach us with offers to donate. clang of the bell. you." Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want "So I am. Very much so." of it with the greatest attention. moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of garden below. upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." galvanised. inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the amused." hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the dear old homesteads?" "What steps will you take?" I asked. him to be an active member of the medical profession." felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which do.' feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "There is the writing." her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "Then what has happened to him?" chamber." "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "But who is he?" notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were wedding?" we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She the driver. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in "What steps will you take?" I asked. more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that "You'll never persuade me to believe that." over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy his face. in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was morning." an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' garden below. and the whole place is in a blaze." everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "I should like to see him very much." if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's other, as fresh and trim as possible. little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the it with his own hands." "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through thin, with a long, sharp nose?" pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had yet." been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change From what you have told me I think that it is possible that myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has beyond words. "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out been lifted and conveyed somewhere." problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "'Yes.' and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. about here speaks of his kindness to him." his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, gives a meaning to it." are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune because she had spent so short a time in this country that she once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can "VIOLET HUNTER." preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "But how could you guess what the motive was?" companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my at a side door. the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly that you wished to speak to me?' "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as I nodded again. arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting later, upon the night of May 2nd." in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and it." own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "Yes." number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to "That sounds a little paradoxical." and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. unprecedented a position." "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his reach." time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "Certainly." frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror our word." "At the wedding breakfast." saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook never came back." "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "Have you her photograph?" "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the matters immensely." "I warn you that they are very incomplete." homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I morning." be there in time for your coming." fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no ventilator." go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "'You doubt its value?' he asked. in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I "The King of Scandinavia." attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek "That is it on the dressing-table." of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and or in danger--" sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole rat could hardly pass through." rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any lumber-room." are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others perplexity from it to my illustrious client. immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother least a most suspicious remark." "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, the inquest, and which are worth considering." would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and will find little credit to be gained out of this case." him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "Have you her photograph?" "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell lost nothing by them." clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "Breckinridge is his name." indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' address. "I never have." on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable even of instruction." homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "How long did she speak to this Alice?" This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I their singular warning or token before them when starting upon Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary wedding?" "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they "But your client--" three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we populous neighbourhood." about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, business." "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "We must sit without light. He would see it through the laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than learned something! Where are the gems?" should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet the coroner come to?" prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with "To an English lawyer named Norton." were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and "It is his hat." Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, tied." "Pray let us have it, for all that." him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face him to be an active member of the medical profession." "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "I think that it is very probable." "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it "Did your wife hear all this?" the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business."