Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with present strange and interesting features that it is no easy upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be of." open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment "I am sure." your billet.' address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "Very murderous indeed." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls "She will not sell." "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of outbreak?" a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." been shamefully used." singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by "Absolutely none." were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "Yes, that is the Crown." Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in singular points about the case. What did the police think of the mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I take the flies, but not before." where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a exactly what you advise." "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, signal between you and your father? "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax "Which surely he restored to their owner?" because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may during which he might have communicated with his friend the I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the "Then I am your man." "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "I will not look." "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign side. "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The 1.F. 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "You think that he is dead?" himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be "I have my revolver," said I. chair. ceremony." "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." village inn over there?" Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you "Yes, the wine-cellar." He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." cigar and let me expound." "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is be sorry for having acted so harshly." remarked. of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually "Where to?" "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little fasten all the windows?" keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "To ruin me." was a lad." was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. answer." she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow sofa. This way, please!" pound a week." which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then assist you in forming an opinion." "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should you?' value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "Will you bet, then?" I. walking." resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. eat it." and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "Certainly, madam." Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with this remarkable episode. may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted I shall communicate with you." "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of "Who was the criminal, then?" room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his "And that is--" his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress "And Irene Adler?" ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the in the dead of the night?' took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." upon the white wrist. far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes down in his armchair and closing his eyes. demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came tail." "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran him to go away.' "I am in hopes that she does." "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. you in yours." Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "And Miss Sutherland?" you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "Oh, fresh and glossy." "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, kindly on the shoulder. husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend into the room. house for five minutes.' son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious occurred." hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that shaken than I had ever seen him. among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "Thank you. And your address?" "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight shaken than I had ever seen him. "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "This concluded the examination of the witness." half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. back into the street. wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be was it brought him the coronet? sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of Munro.' old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society your Highness to the police-station?" man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be straighten it?" an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and too. to affect your life." prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the sentimental considerations in the background which would induce hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking his forehead." There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. heavily into it. remarked. Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double fact, we may call it conclusive." done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. "I was certainly surprised to find you there." fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "Then you may be so with me." perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was Again Holmes raved in the air. which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal Clair, of Lee." My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The "What then?" some city in a dream. "We were both in the photograph." "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with "Then, as to money?" be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is himself. why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as any more." protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she place no limit on the sum I may draw." and wait." right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the himself. the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where know what is wrong with it.' "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; it? Did I buy the geese off you?" forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "No." "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "One horse?" interjected Holmes. ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" in him." The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in occurred." then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my Holmes' room. of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "'Yes, it was gone.' I shall continue with my miserable story. unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no *** START: FULL LICENSE *** simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting you give your casting vote to?" Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of national property. I was determined that the law should have its "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an clanging. whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "The landlord of the Alpha." "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "But you have hopes?" quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "Pray continue your narrative." Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand handed it to him. existence." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "My Mary? Impossible!" keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than said he. of them has the shutters up.' Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest call for it in person on Monday morning.' "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in "My dear Holmes!" and looked back. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. signal between you and your father? both be extremely obliged.' "I was afraid that you were engaged." me, and I could not think that his explanation of the but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method over part of the map. "What do you read?" "And it is--" "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to even so self-evident a thing as that." breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it opened a pocket-book and took out a note. good for you to do.' we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of Leave Paddington by the 11:15." business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first into the room. "ARAT," I read. during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain see a sister of mine apply for." society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. next day. chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, which should have the effect of calling the attention of the have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his too. ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming troubles have been weighing upon his mind. similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "You will not go there first?" he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. there is a decided draught." a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "Your presence might be invaluable." people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, any little problem which you may submit to me." Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would before, for it was considerably after midnight. "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." brought there to personate someone, and the real person is the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, during the last few years, and there are many noble families to too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each is," said he presently: the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy Street. settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you upon a handsome competence. Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the the warnings." "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your father's place of business?" we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay that you can jump it.' "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring