the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before "The Coroner: What do you mean? as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own second window is the one that I jumped from." has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." newspaper selections." course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." to arrive at through this?" "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy note?" it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, all-comprehensive glances. even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible these bleak autumnal evenings." "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away foot. with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. prison!" word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door "I will, Miss Turner." was once confined in the cab my mission was practically and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, right! Sit down and let us talk it over." will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was know all about it," he snarled. "And how did you verify them?" the driver. "And did you observe any change in her then?" door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "So I am. Very much so." purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "Why? What do you mean?" This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself already been minutely examined." conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital individual and becomes the badge of a society." "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, without success. At last the little money which I had saved began was a loud and authoritative tap. delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He use an arc-and-compass breastpin." "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive very morning of my second wedding." "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I "'Tell me all about it,' said I. of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one guilty one." "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open It may be so in this case, also." and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held humiliation." whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" Have you good authority for what you say?" "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow was used.' "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no opportunities to fix the problem. have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend hour?' Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in clang of the bell. "I warn you that they are very incomplete." sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "What are they?" public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis morning." a few minutes he said that it would be all right. "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "Not yet." pierced for earrings?" "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." "Yes, it would be as well." Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it "Was he the only applicant?" whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "A confidential servant?" that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an visitors." "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, Pope's Court, Fleet Street." there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices "How are you getting on?" "My dear Holmes!" terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes "I know where it is." the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' be.' off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the with some details as to your case." obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but your most interesting statement." to tackle the facts." place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had quite distinctive." beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit coat-tails." doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "'And the work?' "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "Well, but China?" had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy things are very often connected not with the larger but with the quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home "Stoke Moran?" said he. shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my call it cruel." I shall continue with my miserable story. chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "I assure you that I am in your hands." the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man both be extremely obliged.' "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would the warnings." this Miss Turner." "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that forehead. "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not easy-going way." it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a will find little credit to be gained out of this case." scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are security.' sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and "Yes, but only for you and me." face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after sneer upon his pale face. With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "I shall most certainly do so." but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from in him." evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. new duties?' have got?" came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and me where it went to?" vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our Where does the thing come from?' "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "How are you getting on?" sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which pressing in one house as in another. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the I approached. should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing compunction about shooting them down." "And why?" case before our client came into the room." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of the night.' Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. and files of the old papers, following the future career of every excitement. ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the few hundred pounds.' suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "What shall I do?" armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "But not more so than I to find you." who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote "When did it break out?" front of the hall door has given its name to the place. he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding in the port of London." other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon is a common subject for conversation. fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater Munro.' "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the the coroner come to?" evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of at a side door. pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? and laid it on the table. was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "You were travelling in the States?" been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "She will not sell." equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and again before evening." it right.' "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "Yes, there are nearly always some there." used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first "How long did she speak to this Alice?" Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." unprecedented a position." McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the writing, and yet I know it well." road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father served to weaken the effect. homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to closely." mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. of." the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, one which it was hard to resist. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. chill to my heart. to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the newspaper selections." "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. in his power. who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand bare slabs of marble. slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of bedroom door." Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "And I to find an enemy." "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare the address that was given us in the advertisement. without success. At last the little money which I had saved began of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I remarked. had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he question," said Holmes, smiling. You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It row." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. his face. and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "Really! You surprise me." bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this his fortune, and I went back to pa. formed some opinion?" more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the Henry Baker is a member." see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line "What of the rat, then?" tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the I nodded to show that I had heard. a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as client, rising. "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "I cannot imagine." "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you may have an influence upon European history." Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a written. I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has here and I will read it to you: say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. directors, with the result that you have seen." like that before?" "I would give my fortune to have them back." "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and to where he stood hid behind the curtain. of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "There is the writing." that threaten you." answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train chambers. "I am armed." colour had been driven from his face. be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to details should find their way into the papers. Inspector may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be "Never." "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. is acting for the best. room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he the one as in the other." "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "You have compromised yourself seriously." the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I indiscretion." by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot certainly do as you advise." may never be exposed to such a temptation." plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a a good hundred miles off by now." "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a