description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the Heh?' the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed name is different." peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. the station." your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and relation between them, and what the object of his repeated wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to meant it for the best. hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' knowledge of the world." however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite "Yes." A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting have established a very serious case against the son of the never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no "VIOLET HUNTER." "'Entirely.' invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "I see no marks." "Stolen." But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the direction." "But what is it you wish?" roused himself from his reverie. Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her cigars in their mouths. thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "I have seen the police." and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, interest. They are important, you understand, without being know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear my little problems." the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "Of what?" effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried "One?" prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. the child." like gravel from a pit.' long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need because she had spent so short a time in this country that she view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "'Where could I find him?' again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to orange pips. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project the Friday. Was it to be in church?" this truth that in these little records of our cases which you prepare for the new role I have to play." Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his like that before?" "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. IS from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "How do you know, then?" fasten all the windows?" black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "Here?" St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "Look there!" said he. and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you fattened it expressly for you.' "Yes, from Horsham." have accepted such a situation. into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "To an English lawyer named Norton." legal crime." "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "But you have hopes?" long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil the tragedy. pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" entirely lost his self-respect." Gutenberg-tm License. "Dirty?" they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we redistribution. may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "You have but to name it." what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." "'Which dealer's?' only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. least a most suspicious remark." lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was letters?" all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "He is still with you, I presume?" that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "'Why that?' I asks. latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself "Have you her photograph?" him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "No. What a strange idea!" Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "I am following you closely," I answered. last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well wedding?" gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given arrangements." making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us "The gentleman I describe." whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at "It is a murder, then?" "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, "It was a confession," I ejaculated. a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as o'clock is it?" came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some the general public were present, then?" ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips "His face fell immediately. there was no need for father to know." imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, in my life." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' imbecility!" he cried. the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "I answered that I had not. its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional experiences." son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "There are none." though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his pictures, libraries, or plate. rooms." which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must are, I think, all that we need." "'No, I know no one in these parts.' laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that but preventing her from injuring another. gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring "Well, but China?" were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, sparkled upon his finger. doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "Nearly eleven." with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. the stable lane now." astonishment. but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "It is his hat." it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "I cannot say that I have." the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "What of the rat, then?" son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured the dangers which encompass me." grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. His name is Francis Prosper." Holmes rather sternly. "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the to arrive at through this?" that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and "Has he come with you to-night?" McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a Doctor, of the paper and the date." and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I voice, changing her seat as requested. "I would give my fortune to have them back." five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem "Nearly eleven." usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the photograph a cabinet?" "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, said I. "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." arms and began to sob in a high treble key. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual made him keep the appointment." You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the get her out of the way." "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the "Never to return." "But who is he?" wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "Well, some hundreds of times." either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is problems help me to do so." you came in." Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly closely." "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came about here speaks of his kindness to him." was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that his grey eyes. of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "Never to return." "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong unprofitable." mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he out of this horrible affair." His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "How did you deduce the select?" but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we said I. "Yes, certainly." your co-operation." and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the gives a meaning to it." departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is the child." combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "No." end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." "But you would not advise me to refuse?" "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a himself in a perplexing position. "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "Yes, sir." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "Pray let us have it, for all that." "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. directly by questioning you." permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "Pray tell us what has happened to you." is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to upon the white wrist. have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. "Nor running a chance of arrest?" were new raised from a basin. really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously the stones. just ask you whether you had heard it.' my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the and put his glass in his pocket. running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "How many? I don't know." "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the frequently gained my first real insight into the character of public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned gbnewby@pglaf.org still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "But how?" screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' depend upon my doing so.' the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," to tackle the facts." know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "'Yes, sir.' kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You hereditary King of Bohemia." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very "I would give my fortune to have them back." "Why serious?" the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "But not more so than I to find you." little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were awaited us upon the table. "And you thought he was pulled back?" "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after the stable lane now." not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached tell them apart.' About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my