Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the "ARAT," I read. of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this the one as in the other." "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "How did that help you?" the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a is four-and-twenty." impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "BALLARAT." and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to nights." "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the wall." and effective." herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at are windows in it, of course?" It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't important." the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "Only as much as we can deduce." finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation delighted to hear it," he said. To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me here." as yours." "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "No, distinctly professional." All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which one of them." see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small strength in the others." layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at more solid." of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the bears upon the case?" "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' drawing your inferences." brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug "There are none." "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the I nodded again. waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any have accepted such a situation. coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a shag which I had seen upon the previous night. present." consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at whatever might befall. particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." very morning of my second wedding." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been "But what will you do?" "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "How can you tell that?" "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "I will get her to show me." In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' "Of what?" And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my dates and names. she might be summoned. "Never." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was "Ha! you find it so?" "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only danger is over." "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our thin legs towards the fire. Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I manager. the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "The gentleman I describe." one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "No, but the enclosure is." gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted had no one to advise her at such a crisis." sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his appeared upon the scene." before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us "Witness: It was. with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense their singular warning or token before them when starting upon Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. taking in every detail of the apartment. Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you stammered. here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "A client, then?" him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which read it out to me." have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy entirely lost his self-respect." "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated points in connection with it which never have been, and probably heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. Gutenberg-tm License. "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, three fields round his house, and there he would take his pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "Stolen, then." five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the questionable one." the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the quite distinctive." maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, right! Sit down and let us talk it over." friends, not even his own brother. "I would pay ten." it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be shall not find me ungrateful." fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "It is true that I have been generally successful." after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought carried out of court." into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George leaning back in his chair. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" means taking possession of that which another person has a prior wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover his wife has ceased to love him." however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "Not him." "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." wall." charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United new acquaintance to Baker Street. hurried away. Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and at a side door. tell them apart.' was used.' "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" definite end. one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the "'What are you doing there?' he asked. some city in a dream. As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "A greater distance to travel." corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this call you and give you the chance." That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very "It is true that I have been generally successful." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a since then to throw any light upon what became of him." had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." generous with you in money matters.' would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any "The Cedars?" shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." something of him before." works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once at home. to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their come either from the window or the door. My attention was finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son "Come in!" said he. and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, are, I think, all that we need." the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an of." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well from you?" return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and "Never." "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her fled together." across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were forebodings. gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too "I will, Miss Turner." customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: wife's character?" brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture been deceived." have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from the house with me." "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in way in everything. the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in Have you good authority for what you say?" breakfast?" "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "At the wedding breakfast." the general public were present, then?" or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "You horrify me." that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an think, you have already met." into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the what do you think they found in the pockets?" passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, cigars in their mouths. them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There "So it appears." "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to and shall probably return to London by the evening train." present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "'Yes, sir.' "But how?" above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, "From his hat?" shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it good-night and bustled off upon her way. "I cannot as yet see any connection." "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "She told me to ask you." sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "In answer to an advertisement." "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right interested in these little problems, and since you are good twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the papers must be those that are destroyed.' the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. said I. "Witness: It was. My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case "And sit in the dark?" relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham one's self under obligations.' glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew "I will, Miss Turner." month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." outside." from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "Texas, I think." "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. Miss Holder?" "Where did he live, then?" he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. as he remarks, very much against the son." started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really forbidden door. halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I I have it here in my museum." lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very in the dead of the night?' even of instruction." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at