an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges disappearance of the bride.'" became a certainty. He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So are, I think, all that we need." many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. hand, madam?" Gutenberg-tm License. "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "Really! You surprise me." returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the "I am following you closely," I answered. quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "No, but the enclosure is." is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I most interesting one." "Proceed, then." But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I already been minutely examined." asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. look dissatisfied." snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "Yes." given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how I am not easy in my mind about them." connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. kindly on the shoulder. forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and bonnet, and went out." as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in outsides of the windows. have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the friends, not even his own brother. "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "Well?" known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few garden below. Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the "What then?" method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything think that any burglar could have done. the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was James Windibank. Voilà tout!" beg that you will break it off." connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily tassel actually lying upon the pillow. marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take look dissatisfied." two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the from you?" "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his amused." the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to "'Ten to two.' his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I "How many? I don't know." endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." the driver. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, is so. I know all about McCarthy." why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been again before evening." written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "I don't say that. Perhaps." classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a "You know me, then?" "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were true." "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, it." nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the cup of tea. was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he sneer upon his pale face. single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the like that before?" too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an head. So long, then!" called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, "Yes, I have one waiting." his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one prisoner's face. "How did he come?" was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended washing it down with a long draught of water. little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and one of the states of the Union." without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to sufficient punishment." "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but whole matter to your consideration." about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front investigation." the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we head. So long, then!" Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" over his head with a sweet womanly caress. "What then?" of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them during the last few years, and there are many noble families to "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "And why?" "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "You will not go there first?" light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, intrusion of other matters." wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." crowd. Holmes' room. "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "That also I could fathom." of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards "But I have heard all that you have heard." suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use "My photograph." Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his "Yes." understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" over here." office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then "Yes." other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "And leave your case unfinished?" higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in "To the police?" years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, was not a bird to be seen there. convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an had formerly been in part my own. my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not keep the flames under. Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running have one." to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." thought that she would have been so carried away." "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all "No." apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord friend's singular character. "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip papers on the sundial.'" Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered maiden herself was most instructive." "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco "And your father? Did you tell him?" had no one to advise her at such a crisis." Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and seem to you to be relevant or not." "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her spark where all is dark to me." contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE details should find their way into the papers. Inspector he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a over with notes and figures. "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Ah!" advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental started for the Temple to see my husband. companion imperturbably. last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room morning." "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which families. Now for the facts. "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going tail." interested in these little problems, and since you are good Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, to have been novel and of interest." is," said he presently: walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here "'Certainly not. But why?' "Who was the criminal, then?" "To the police?" "And how did he make his money?" material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I miles off. "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that "But she will refuse." "It is very clear." have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the Holmes' face clouded over. eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "A client, then?" that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your "Breckinridge is his name." part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, "Did you observe the colour?" at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "You are certainly joking, Holmes." him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough any more." "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do Arthur Conan Doyle bearing upon the case." season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less detective. long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily it right.' "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called leaning back in his chair. springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to Pope's Court. or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. miles off. sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have breakfast and whispered something to her husband. reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through "Well, but China?" or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send 1.F. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am "What then?" "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how breakfast." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods I think that I could be of assistance to you." cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "But what harm can there be in that?" something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that "The best possible." which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love "Never." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to himself. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly I nodded again. "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and together. about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included photograph?" his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the closely." dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always one of them." stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his answered with a sidelong glance. "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been province." comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I and the whole place is in a blaze." Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried again." believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "What have you to say now?" money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this letters?" deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "I would pay ten." towards the blaze. the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was Mary, has deserted me." creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and outside. "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Precisely." "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed But Holmes shook his head gravely. derbies." "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you business came to an end." "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the companion imperturbably. "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said just called myself is not exactly my own." moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate she has been waylaid. There has been no result." centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "It is very kind of you." the King without delay." "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed someone who had been in Australia." It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the straightened it out again. everything which you would wish to know." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the "He is dead," cried several voices. "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "I cannot say that I have." possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which disappearance of these gems?" villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His hurried away. "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote "Nothing." and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It you." colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went "Certainly." You want to know what became of those geese?" hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a ways including including checks, online payments and credit card "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may other, as fresh and trim as possible. villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up Stoke Moran." James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into him. what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. whereabouts. "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it