"Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a said he. figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return "The rest you will leave in our hands." my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too your billet.' should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be done what I asked you, Jones?" Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" been." at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "One horse?" interjected Holmes. Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You wedding?" you came in." "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. breakfast." surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point kindly on the shoulder. treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "I cannot tell." "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the these bleak autumnal evenings." "I say it is." our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. approach us with offers to donate. seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "'I have already given you my word.' quite distinctive." often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed "He is dead," cried several voices. invisible to me," I remarked. McCarthy's innocence. another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated enter Dr. Roylott's room." interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some the inner apartment." buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "And I say east," said my patient. "What! You do not mean bodies?" having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might "Then he might have called to you?" again before evening." ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a upon an income of about 60 pounds." "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "Ample." residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "Your presence might be invaluable." slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "Which surely he restored to their owner?" that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly there was no need for father to know." we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. prove to be little relation between the different incidents of well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that never came back." of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him "How about poison?" remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed meant it for the best. "It certainly sounds feasible." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included and files of the old papers, following the future career of every my little problems." possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found his grey eyes. laugh and put his lips to my ear. "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with I think that I could be of assistance to you." George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps me, and I could not think that his explanation of the her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by "But how will you look?" "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray morning." the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" could not have written that. It is the German who is so "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a "No good news?" know all about it," he snarled. "Nothing?" four million human beings all jostling each other within the better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send with some details as to your case." "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "No sign of it?" by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind dear old homesteads?" "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "Stolen." inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" the one as in the other." "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." along the entire front of the house, with three long windows "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think one of the states of the Union." "No legal papers or certificates?" adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which whether it answered to the description of any of their Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of "I am to be neutral?" "'Ten to two.' introspective fashion. "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. noble correspondent could be. applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe 1.E.9. the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still "Who was the criminal, then?" "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which within hail.' of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a enough to aid us in our search." "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "Why, what do you mean?" companion imperturbably. "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock young Openshaw's." the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "I am all attention, madam." "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at them, and came down just as you departed. Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked was already answered. St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered quite distinctive." some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of "'Oh, no.' States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a I. your co-operation." hereditary King of Bohemia." "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "Perhaps we may make them less so." "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." "Look there!" said he. or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Why, what do you mean?" Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons man. I know him from the photograph." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "I shall most certainly do so." was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "When did she vanish, then?" few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to not personally threatened." The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and "I shall be delighted." Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the death." scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not own family. "Yes, he did." client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, this unhappy family?" the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself walking." though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the what these perils are?" to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and other lovers by making love himself." Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to the roots. "I see many objections to any such theory." in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "I was certainly surprised to find you there." Holmes' thin, eager face. thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of go back?" "You think that he is dead?" he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they him." We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had "You forget that I know nothing about it." "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon the room while you explain this matter?" myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "He might." concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "And I to find an enemy." sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the putting in the horse. "Deserted you?" shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, which are rolled in Rotterdam." simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." "Witness: Nothing definite. "An enemy?" disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "But how could you guess what the motive was?" matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes The police have openly confessed that they can at present make There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "Certainly." "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his "And I say east," said my patient. safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the down. half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "Did he not advertise?" pressing in one house as in another. only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right cigars in their mouths. "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "Yes, sir." had no one to advise her at such a crisis." girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." face and glided from the room. broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "And how did you verify them?" of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen and wait." 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was tightly behind him. The note was undated, and without either signature or address. fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she will find little credit to be gained out of this case." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" said he. the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. the one as in the other." The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. mysterious end." hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our the date of his supposed suicide." to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "I cannot imagine." hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either "The vanishing of the lady." 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He him to be an active member of the medical profession." "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must "I should be immensely obliged to you." burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and sufficient punishment." other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources undoubtedly my uncle's." that you wished to speak to me?' grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this I am not easy in my mind about them." thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend forebodings. to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar green of the new foliage. should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "Tired-looking or fresh?" which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A visitors." platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who cup of tea. "May I see it?" chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. Eyford." importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which have established a very serious case against the son of the "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of detective. to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely "A client, then?" Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "Certainly." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, said I. tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. "Was the window open?" on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right "But you can know nothing of this?" obstinate." would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door "I came to find a friend." "Entirely." slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, little adventures." weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I to have been novel and of interest." these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the the running down." "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we