said I. dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "Upon what point?" lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself some city in a dream. written, and locked the door of the office after me. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to 1.E.9. "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at as he folded up the epistle. your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came have established a very serious case against the son of the "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took clang of the bell. there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." delirious. "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no "Then the page we have seen--" glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a this unhappy family?" "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "It came here." Sutherland. that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his I was concerned in it." made him keep the appointment." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions danger is over." there is a decided draught." his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come the general public were present, then?" "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An Watson," he said cordially. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the ill-usage at the hands of fortune. upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a approach us with offers to donate. agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the were wasted." "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "Where is it, then?" 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between nights." the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. a good hundred miles off by now." "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, about here speaks of his kindness to him." some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "I am armed." is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one II. "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very the room while you explain this matter?" beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. again on its way. "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered this Miss Turner." "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It if I call to-morrow?" would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me before, for it was considerably after midnight. time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "Where is it, then?" "But you can know nothing of this?" believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "Certainly." Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do John Swain, of St. Augustine. to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited "None." delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can tear off another piece?' Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "What! a murderous attack?" reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your gone. creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "What I expected to see." was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send get her out of the way." refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an "To ruin me." so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just to change my dress. questioning and rather startled gaze. and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into "'It is locked up,' I answered. let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't the matter." known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "Oh, the cause is excellent!" in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed his eyes and forehead. prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm village inn over there?" call it cruel." and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was Cross for the Continent." but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "And sit in the dark?" certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. four million human beings all jostling each other within the together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "At what time?" the address that was given us in the advertisement. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were clanging. "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left I held the little printed slip to the light. my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled "Where, then?" "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with "I beg pardon." "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by "On Monday." little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges questionable one." that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "None." country, and eventually married, without anyone having a Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "The Coroner: What do you mean? Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived wedding?" "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have beyond words. "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the the one as in the other." "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for colonel looking down at me. tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. to have been novel and of interest." I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down "He might." "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the tension within him. closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to and looked back. beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." closely." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "You think that he is dead?" photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler will he say when he returns?" his forehead." happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I crackling voice. have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. been shamefully used." can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the passage and a tap at the door. opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide The King stared at him in amazement. "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged "No?" "The decline of his fortunes, then?" labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too "From his hat?" star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent "It certainly sounds feasible." "Certainly." do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." as this. Pray let me have the details." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "Where to?" dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me be there in time for your coming." former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" "Not him." tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the that threaten you." Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been call for protection in the marriage market, for the present could gather together that I was able to avert another public we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this "But it has twice been burgled." plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came strode off upon his way. case before our client came into the room." cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is problems help me to do so." mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we that you wished to speak to me?' "But I have heard all that you have heard." "Whose house is it?" occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and three of the beryls in it, was missing. suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "Yes." do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel crime. "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the peculiar to him. have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a views." "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the you do it in twenty minutes!' table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for introspective fashion. it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. could gather together that I was able to avert another public being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, your sleep?' some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as you want, then?' As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one "She told me to ask you." there has been an enclosure here!" reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be believe that I should never have any practice at all. Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out with you?" Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A Edgeware Road. rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." following enigmatical notices: France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon ordinary clothes on?" public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her certainly not very gracious." St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years round with crates and massive boxes. things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "Then I am your man." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at likely to be some crony of the landlady's." been deceived." smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' upon the shelf for the interim." - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "I have my revolver," said I. sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been with some details as to your case." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock "You know me, then?" all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. to miss it." allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her straighten it?" cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You pictures, libraries, or plate. "What do you make of that, Watson?" from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my "And on what day did he meet his death?" "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "You horrify me." planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began as he remarks, very much against the son." admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT once more on the important position which you have been fortunate