"Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" is now desirous of getting those letters back." the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can "'Entirely.' the nursery. Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out case before our client came into the room." which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of with the outside air!" "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the murdered man." visitors." job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "I should wish to." Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of to talk it over. his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far away to you." snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found tell him that I know him to be innocent." "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which them?" the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "And it is--" Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to now. It seems that there had been some informality about their understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a subject to the trademark license, especially commercial lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his Holmes." human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some arms and began to sob in a high treble key. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. them?" nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings "Never." photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are occupations.' entirely devoid of interest." little adventures." "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "Yes." "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "And how did you find out?" Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the Surrey." just ask you whether you had heard it.' woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told second window is the one that I jumped from." "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "In the cells." homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The them?" "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew "'Very good.' twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she "At what time?" this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. should be taken.' such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story me what he had done with the three missing stones. Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the "I think that I had better go, Holmes." is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the tightly behind him. Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small Farm upon the left." front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am unprecedented a position." seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our then?" "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre 'I should be able to look after that for you.' seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because directors have had misgivings upon the subject." which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges of the vacancies.' attention." practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of "I cannot tell." manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was were new raised from a basin. "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that "And sit in the dark?" feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting that I may have something better before very many minutes are "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your invisible to me," I remarked. comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could with you alone." "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." American. Then who could this American be, and why should he into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "'Very good.' figure." forbidden door. of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. the inquest, and which are worth considering." the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying His smile broadened. it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not "10th. John Swain cleared. Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow Watson," he said cordially. Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "Indeed! Whose, then?" Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "It missed him, then?" following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us shag which I had seen upon the previous night. rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for as the one I chose?' point our research must commence, and we will begin it by that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father hour?' the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might American. Then who could this American be, and why should he or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. answer." provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which again before evening." window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. promised to bring home. A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "It is to him that this trophy belongs." the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "Entirely." I think that I could be of assistance to you." conceal it?" is," said he presently: shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door "Where did he live, then?" affair. To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' together. to where he stood hid behind the curtain. I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands "Really! You surprise me." "About a month then." once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "Now, then, what's the last entry?" space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the know that the truth is known." gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very said Mr. Holder. "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. all-comprehensive glances. helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor front of me. comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "An accident, I presume?" first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been made him keep the appointment." from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." "He is dead," cried several voices. "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile thirty. sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "Was he the only applicant?" - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt himself. sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the distance from the station, and there we found the young lady unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in out." "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was through." and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I in this note: "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out tell him that I know him to be innocent." glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search chamber." bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted pound a week." I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through respectable self." "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to was a loud and authoritative tap. "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. bed dies. Does not that strike you?" lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he "They are typewritten," I remarked. research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon he. disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I "Proceed, then." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum "Will you go?" "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "Nothing." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than "But how will you look?" 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be upon the white wrist. His smile broadened. afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he Munro.' unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his beyond words. "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies singular points about the case. What did the police think of the into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in memory. read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "It was." him and tried to hold him back. his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. fishes. eat it." stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Cross for the Continent." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent tail." them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but Cross for the Continent." "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "Who by?" disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly must be when I saw the door open.' will be renamed. suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "Yes." address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the but preventing her from injuring another. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian of campaign. particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done and a shock of very red hair. became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and "Which are?" round and wave him away like that.' "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as not, dad?" she asked. "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come have not had my rubber." some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her someone who had been in Australia." hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two Eyford." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should a room. matter." very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, was keenly on my guard against him. were unconscious?" cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "I see many objections to any such theory." "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill "Of Friday, June 19th." the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I "Ample." not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in "Yes." opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close