we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet been shamefully used." Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom might help us?" you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by despair." upon an income of about 60 pounds." "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not thin legs towards the fire. correct than the official force." "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or to you." of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "How long did she speak to this Alice?" License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "I am still in the dark." helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "My last client of the sort was a king." then?" Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" his fortune, and I went back to pa. nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "Here?" similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "Yes, but only for you and me." of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing was shining brightly. idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the "Certainly." "'What then?' I asked. words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself yourselves in at night?" gone before you can get him to hospital." we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day without success. At last the little money which I had saved began dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "'Yes.' here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was sofa. This way, please!" Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, wedding?" poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand Again Holmes raved in the air. and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage remarked. solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her "What have you to say now?" betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it floor. saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of stood on the top of it. have had none more fantastic than this." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors stepfather?" carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the brought there to personate someone, and the real person is That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we him nearly every evening." down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had Foundation throat." "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "What is it, then--a fire?" should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "'Why that?' I asks. "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "10th. John Swain cleared. across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old little trying to do so much typewriting?" "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so is four-and-twenty." the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, and looked back. "It is solved." "A greater distance to travel." fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, becomes even more simple." "He is still with you, I presume?" which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage later, upon the night of May 2nd." may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "Could he throw no light?" making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the upon the sideboard." "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the the driver. in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad girl said." photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no "Yes, it would be as well." which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "Well." the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "You forget that I know nothing about it." my room." down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "'Never,' said I. whether it answered to the description of any of their works. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and "I was afraid that you were engaged." I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had gone. better grown goose." events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided was keenly on my guard against him. "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my begin with, and I had not got mine yet." and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying sake, don't!" been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side "Yes." "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND entirely devoid of interest." Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "Ample." before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were Heh?' man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before fuss that is made over them." "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we said I. "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of matter." certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" prisoner's face. ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY when you have done it." in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left look dissatisfied." called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose secret." and put his glass in his pocket. wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' there were one or two details which were new to me. But the if I call to-morrow?" bore every mark of being an average commonplace British for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case the south-west, I see." light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum "Yes." room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope woman." brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" singular points about the case. What did the police think of the Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "What! Had he lost his wife?" and your relations to her." Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the arrested. You then--" peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "Yes, he did." paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building a few minutes he said that it would be all right. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but Eyford." Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but "Yes." the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "In answer to an advertisement." unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two situation." from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he that before taking the final step I should like to submit the Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." help us in this matter." the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered will be renamed. with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and morning." bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for lost nothing by them." TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so intrusion of other matters." could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off thin legs towards the fire. the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the writer." to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "Yes." eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "So I heard. You have him here?" former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the time." civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could closing the door. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, yourselves in at night?" Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. "But we can't all be." shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for I am not easy in my mind about them." Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a details should find their way into the papers. Inspector "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "Perhaps I have." "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for house for five minutes.' "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in his knees, staring into the fire. however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in indeed happy." "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." experiences." "Proceed, then." looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "He slept on the premises." "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." think you a quite exceptional woman." flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, I nodded again. "My stepfather's business papers." To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "Yes, certainly." "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. front of the hall door has given its name to the place. Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was what is your own theory as to what took place?" mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, burst out into a roar of laughter. "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "'Ten to two.' arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain "I have seen the police." "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly we went to search for him, face downward in a little to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he ago." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique "But who is he?" "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are upon the shelf for the interim." "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not suspect him." Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "No. What a strange idea!" "This concluded the examination of the witness." cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "'What, the red-headed man?' "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret was used.' what these perils are?" American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "Quite so." unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There