which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works "'Entirely.' I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, any." "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I meant." "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss evidence," I remarked. we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can three fields round his house, and there he would take his out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it weapon." play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly "What!" he roared. I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon coat-tails." "What will you do, then?" bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He completely overtopped every other consideration that we both sparkled upon his finger. something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "Then I can wait in the next room." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "This concluded the examination of the witness." passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have strength of mind to control. I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it to some other building. that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the grasp, he hurried from the room. "No." "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I British peeress.'" layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or papers must be those that are destroyed.' in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the "And Miss Sutherland?" focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you him and tried to hold him back. then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at me upon any point which I do not make clear." There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It to affect your life." of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "Yes, they were peculiar boots." make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a your room." "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. discontent upon his features. away to you." half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head fled together." like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel "You don't mind breaking the law?" to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here clang of the bell. "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew forbidden door. You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to were wasted." "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain is so. I know all about McCarthy." gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save companion imperturbably. with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "Yes, the wine-cellar." son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this started for the Temple to see my husband. Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "What! Had he lost his wife?" "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are "How did you deduce the select?" to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not "It is a murder, then?" this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an Foundation days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "You are hungry," I remarked. say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after appeared upon the scene." just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "Where did you address your letters, then?" you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a crime. threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of more terrible than the truth. together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand this as likely?" at once, for I have only half an hour." learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall excitement. other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over if I call to-morrow?" the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the "The decline of his fortunes, then?" that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry indiscretion." would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "You have a clue?" to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the than was visible to me." her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little your sleep?' would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his fait accompli?" you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us delighted to hear it," he said. lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce "Not in a good cause." which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid the child." metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On one of them." returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching occupations.' allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "It is very clear." "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot Holmes' thin, eager face. to change my dress. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears "Why serious?" Holmes." "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn infinite languor in his face. "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took could gather together that I was able to avert another public wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "I was mad--insane." gigantic client. "You forget that I know nothing about it." "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "I say it is." will find little credit to be gained out of this case." act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. "When did it break out?" so.' received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite Does that suggest anything?" The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "Only as much as we can deduce." "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel "It was." some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "What I expected to see." walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, head. So long, then!" "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which examination of the premises, but without finding anything which which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "Not him." bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had locked." the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "Where is it, then?" one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside maid will bring up your coffee." job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." retorted upon me, and I on you." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is views." however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, round and wave him away like that.' "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in the salesman. never will be, entirely cleared up. as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His affair. it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of entirely lost his self-respect." delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of awaited us upon the table. to you." home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring second window is the one that I jumped from." is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He shag which I had seen upon the previous night. "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "Here?" extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which nights." "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The a monotonous occupation." with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have in this way: everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to singular points about the case. What did the police think of the "'Certainly,' I answered. "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work said I. is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been strange features which were associated with the two crimes which noise which awoke you from your sleep?" the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal passage and a tap at the door. But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about was lame." pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to For additional contact information: in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "I cannot think." weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional will take you up to see the machine.' "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "I say that I have solved it." head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "But of what society?" the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his awkward doing business with an alias." benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the during that time.' "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo to me. enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such this Miss Turner." "Oh, yes, easily." about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of his cane at the bell-pull. charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the hair?' edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of place, I think that there is good ground to think that the as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been "But his lameness?" "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "No bad?" in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with had formerly been in part my own. stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable it." The events in question occurred in the early days of my which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is depend upon your compliance." and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "You forget that I know nothing about it." young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him too. "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "You have it, sir, just as it happened." firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and "None." speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid III. than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my opened a pocket-book and took out a note. Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where morning." knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, place of silver." thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you "Oh, fresh and glossy." look dissatisfied." down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large conceal it?" attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to to take care of herself." rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of "What will you say?" "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, was it brought him the coronet? a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed fasten all the windows?" correct than the official force." has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social and the church but not where the lady lived." He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my Pope's Court, Fleet Street." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this to a more successful conclusion." gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. examination of the premises, but without finding anything which authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." way in." across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into