"But not more so than I to find you." sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived galvanised. turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you corner of the building. her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the should be so warm over such a trifle." out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and advice." point our research must commence, and we will begin it by clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and roused himself from his reverie. along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really depend upon your compliance." with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "I think that I had better go, Holmes." little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "And what did you see?" from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would prisoner's face. sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most second window is the one that I jumped from." three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to cost them two and thirty pounds." the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and IS I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour arrangements." really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." matter." flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend photograph a cabinet?" took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be "It is true that I have been generally successful." "By all means." the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "Nothing." named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "Certainly." and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in question," said Holmes, smiling. to Leatherhead. The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "Where is it, then?" last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a nothing of it?" your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this who was a member of your goose club." disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank wife's character?" in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits chair. send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the which should have the effect of calling the attention of the again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "Ah, but I was recommended to you." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. "I have hopes." across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers I am not easy in my mind about them." brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but approach us with offers to donate. warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and introspective fashion. just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special speckled band?" that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as have accepted such a situation. breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "Witness: Nothing definite. thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his to his chemical studies. "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and shall not find me ungrateful." reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and that he has suffered." feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "I guessed as much." forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And and capable of preserving a secret.' narrative." cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales absolutely follow my advice in every respect." It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "I am armed." "Dirty?" "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, never will be, entirely cleared up. speckled band?" "Eh? What was that?" desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece only touch the interest." set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "Two days later this same performance was gone through under are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and case before our client came into the room." "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and following enigmatical notices: what these perils are?" "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in "Which are?" police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "Have you her photograph?" "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger really the only notable feature about the thing." that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "An enemy?" without a word or a look. whole matter to your consideration." repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and "No. What a strange idea!" presented which may be striking and bizarre without being in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" maiden herself was most instructive." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it colour had been driven from his face. "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to Leadenhall Street--and--" thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, "No bad?" me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed *** START: FULL LICENSE *** its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, with you alone." cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "Yes, only one." "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, "'I have heard so.' and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "We were both in the photograph." hair?' purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant developed." quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my fact, we may call it conclusive." "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the my secret was safe in his possession. perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an strength of mind to control. enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming "We were both in the photograph." "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no shall use the carriage to-night." yards of it?' experiences." at home. to-morrow." ceremony." The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. next day. who was a member of your goose club." "Yes, it was twisted." "Yes?" The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in "Yes, at the mines." your equipment. four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in in your London, you will know that the office of the company is fashion which was peculiar to him. would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that some water from a caraffe. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always minor matters until to-morrow." again." my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, maiden herself was most instructive." recall any case within my experience which looked at the first every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. of campaign. "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "How on earth--" "Were they all fastened this morning?" colour had been driven from his face. morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had had a long day." my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return "'And what salary do you ask?' side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" Sholtos." that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in away into the river." how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that through." plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "Then I am your man." a little more before I quite committed myself. "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I "Dr. Becher's." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "It looks newer than the other things?" were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and "And what then?" posted to-day." "Pray tell us what has happened to you." disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred villagers almost as much as their master. "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his likely to be some crony of the landlady's." "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and matter." "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of It may be so in this case, also." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. might help us?" "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with suggested at once that there must be a communication between the woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was that he will be back before evening." in darkness. dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who have an American origin." the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main your equipment. "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some away into the river." matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The upon a handsome competence. "Well, it is a possible supposition." let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "In answer to an advertisement." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the was lame." that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "She will not sell." baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had My friend smiled. male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you sneer upon his pale face. in a very precise fashion." ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to rat could hardly pass through." drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears said I. "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" as yours." active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of when you have done it." too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "What, then?" "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" new duties?' "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. weighed down with some great anxiety. Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." you." hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle past. wedding?" All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a Mrs. Toller serenely. all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if back alive. zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest bell. Holmes whistled. not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "That is unusual in a young girl." small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." there is a decided draught." its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "'Oh, no.' I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' "Certainly." "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here not fit the lock." those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's knowledge of the world." explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about be. "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "In what way?" asked Holmes. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "Then what has happened to him?" were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, business." room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "'Which dealer's?' room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" business matters.' may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." was once confined in the cab my mission was practically could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. stalked out of the room. very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of shall not find me ungrateful." been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to