have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." note?" I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of do.' and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "BALLARAT." to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress that there was nothing in it, after all." during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. "You will not go there first?" seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it "It came here." broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for "I will do it." disappearance of these gems?" family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will up this clue while it is still hot." dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that Miss Holder?" whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the this unhappy family?" which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which were unconscious?" "But your client--" Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. are windows in it, of course?" "'Most admirably.' Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "Did your wife hear all this?" dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, the stable lane now." business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to him nearly every evening." set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is horse could go." faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made distance from the station, and there we found the young lady were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient families. Now for the facts. "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." bachelor.' "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second nothing with him." "An accident, I presume?" when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change prove to be little relation between the different incidents of make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" DAMAGE. really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "I see no marks." "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between disappearance of these gems?" "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "A call for help, you thought?" when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. direction." him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. question. room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in I held the little printed slip to the light. direction." "'There is a drive, then?' some terrible trap for her." happened." and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has generous with you in money matters.' which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. me have 200 pounds?' "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of asked. be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "That you are never beaten." suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person one else, I think." preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some anything to do with the matter?" observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES had picked up in the wood. salesman. be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark everything which you would wish to know." devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads with some details as to your case." had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "I am armed." description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "Why serious?" for its centre. look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was "That is easily got." which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One The police have openly confessed that they can at present make Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to about here speaks of his kindness to him." The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk Street. of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It a few minutes he said that it would be all right. interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had round with crates and massive boxes. it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "Murdered?" think that he is innocent?" London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." fear." "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have knowledge of the world." on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the and inquire as to the address." sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant the very morning of the wedding." in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "None." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment questioning and rather startled gaze. upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "Yes." in this note: into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "9th. McCauley cleared. questioning and rather startled gaze. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about during which he might have communicated with his friend the immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to to miss it." "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. learned something! Where are the gems?" "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. it with his own hands." in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, compunction about shooting them down." to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "Yes." I was concerned in it." beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for to you." "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "Absolutely none." fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with make me his representative both with the servants and with the Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very dramatic, in fact." my secret was safe in his possession. makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "But your client--" his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from "You were travelling in the States?" quick march!" "She told me to ask you." say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "Oh, yes, easily." I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to if I call to-morrow?" and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, intimate personal affairs in this public manner." about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed could go. adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these hour." feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that "Yes, sir." of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid despair." spark where all is dark to me." know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled completely overtopped every other consideration that we both spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "Won't it ring?" the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' your equipment. "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, presented more singular features than that which was associated VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his "Yes." was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money at my own good fortune. them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not south, for the country is more deserted there." that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "And on what day did he meet his death?" as this. Pray let me have the details." to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their "To the police?" dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire desk. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or been deceived." murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' what these perils are?" card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. Stoke Moran." that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part been able to understand it, in a very few words. the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "It's nothing of the kind." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he pressing in one house as in another. "He slept on the premises." some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from leave you to your papers for a little." of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "Precisely so. But how--" "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "How long did she speak to this Alice?" "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "This concluded the examination of the witness." bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and "Yes, certainly." you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "That also I could fathom." providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. country, and eventually married, without anyone having a treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go III. "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are "Yes." Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by views." beg that you will break it off." had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get sooner or later she must fall a victim. prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the into her hand at the door and which lured her within their creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my McCarthy." He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "One of the highest in England." upon the table, and I was shown out by the page.