"Yes, but only for you and me." Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "Awake, Watson?" he asked. himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I door?" for and were ordered to this address. the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I the Red-headed League." stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "Where, then?" does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm to tell." have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "It is possible." "Here?" game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you her also." pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been it with his own hands." a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" crime." good-night and bustled off upon her way. "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn of this gang." I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "How did that help you?" set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that "Yes." of Mr. Rucastle's." anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I up this clue while it is still hot." prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most if she died from some sudden fright." sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon ceremony." vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a have got?" mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "Whose house is it?" "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have Street. his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back redistribution. "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into in the hope of finding them." that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "Quite so." afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your his grey eyes. good-night and bustled off upon her way. has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could from the brougham. room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that did not hear it also.' "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle upon the white wrist. "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." "And you can do nothing until then?" human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put Sutherland. chance." was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction his wife has ceased to love him." compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a stammered. thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and It was close upon four before the door opened, and a was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the depend upon your compliance." should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out one of them." suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "Then I shall certainly come." what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning "Tired-looking or fresh?" was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, "'Is 4 pounds a week.' Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he particular state visit http://pglaf.org freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, the station." however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this their singular warning or token before them when starting upon your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the signal between you and your father? seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "My dear Holmes!" in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be could not account in any way for the presence of the missing "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a "It was." graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was to some other building. "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the "He disappeared so suddenly." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in until night should bring an explanation. only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and brandy and water within his reach. heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always "You know me, then?" doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. said I. widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad upon the white wrist. should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of leaning back in his chair. bore every mark of being an average commonplace British belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously most important business. It is probable that he will be away all or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making habit of advancing money.' "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be case-book, which he consulted. Miss Holder?" "It is his hat." "That is easily got." and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. rat could hardly pass through." at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical 'I should be able to look after that for you.' public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "Oh, the cause is excellent!" whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a sufficient punishment." before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "It was a confession," I ejaculated. at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King McCarthy's innocence. "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his horse could go." more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it "My own seal." he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." my former friend and companion. air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening mysterious end." opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and geese which you supplied to the Alpha." of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was and files of the old papers, following the future career of every myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "But I have heard all that you have heard." St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, "But how?" foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "A thing like a cleaver," said he. much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a house for five minutes.' every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by eat it." are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I annoyance, but no jest. gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which Stoke Moran." my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, or in danger--" determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. straighten it?" returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and be. not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of cost them two and thirty pounds." children over to America with him, so that I found myself without the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he strode off upon his way. Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he "'I am sure that I do not know.' circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared official police." Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "No, I think that I'll take it." to tell." job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. was used.' "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. call for it in person on Monday morning.' of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we when your master had gone out." however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. information in his hands the value of which he did not himself minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "But you can know nothing of this?" London for the present?" girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. and all of them with the keenest interest. room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it the Assizes." "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for "Can I be of assistance?" tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab "And how did you find out?" apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "Very well, sir. And this stone?" end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. sentimental considerations in the background which would induce frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. about. I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a generous with you in money matters.' large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the is," said he presently: noting anything else of interest. 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire may never be exposed to such a temptation." veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a spare." question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps that threaten you." "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to of Mr. Rucastle's." I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black your Highness to the police-station?" whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very III. questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank Leave Paddington by the 11:15." and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy lost nothing by them." when you have done it." of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. them?" gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "It is very clear." note?" o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where system of imprisonment?" it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "I see no marks." smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and meanly of me." following enigmatical notices: individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "Then he might have called to you?" terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the lamp. at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the the inquest, and which are worth considering." call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in once more to my work. theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so