"It is possible." some place of shelter and let the county police know what has me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I "In which, sir?" uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard thirty. young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised "How do you know, then?" he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." been." Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest for and were ordered to this address. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That interests were the same as his." this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "'Why that?' I asks. your equipment. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I "None. Neville wrote those words." "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not and all of them with the keenest interest. true." "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "I was mad--insane." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "I cannot think." think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the upon the shelf for the interim." "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up "How can you tell that?" "No, finished." I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" felt the room to be a little close.' said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is must be when I saw the door open.' of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the works. See paragraph 1.E below. who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for this unhappy family?" would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the "'Stolen!' he cried. "'I have already given you my word.' Literary Archive Foundation wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: must be when I saw the door open.' would apply.' With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So was a loud and authoritative tap. spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner prisoner's face. suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, "'I have already given you my word.' suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of is entirely a question of barometric pressure." who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" "You horrify me." fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the it with his own hands." well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "Then, as to money?" deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "And on what day did he meet his death?" "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "That is possible." upon the white wrist. 1.E.9. "'And what salary do you ask?' advice." they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, what these perils are?" Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "Not yet." smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no observed. sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a and effective." retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger third from London." father's place of business?" and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you she has been waylaid. There has been no result." enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them brandy and water within his reach. glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "Yes?" "To the police?" "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or mystery!" quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press is now desirous of getting those letters back." upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is appeared upon the scene." "And it is--" the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a went to the Alpha were town bred." perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. leave you to your papers for a little." breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." all that?" morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "No." "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of interest. They are important, you understand, without being "She will not sell." appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the fluttered off among the others. "And how did you find out?" gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father considering the formidable letters which were received by himself "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone bearing upon the case." "Yes." "I think it very unlikely." drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have as he folded up the epistle. 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took main points of my analysis." call for protection in the marriage market, for the present winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have affection." can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry must compliment you." Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have papers." met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his hurried by. adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." sufficient punishment." cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the had picked up in the wood. the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been upon a handsome competence. although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life "I say it is." accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not Cross for the Continent." his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two happened." I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the legal crime." she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "At half-wages, in fact." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average excitement. engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he said he at last. "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very an introduction to him?" 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or intrusion of other matters." success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "VIOLET HUNTER." clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen locked." the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, of this gang." "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He than to us. Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your strength." to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did you." "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do look dissatisfied." "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as brought there to personate someone, and the real person is Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "But what will you do?" return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of shall use the carriage to-night." "I am about to be married." the coronet in his hands?" "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, paper in the air. very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune danger is over." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "Quite so." a very grave face. Stoke Moran." never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "Where did you address your letters, then?" "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. she to prove their authenticity?" acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It page at http://pglaf.org outside." such attractions and accomplishments?' usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the made his money." "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just intrusion of other matters." and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter success. assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when was shining brightly. I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." "I fear not." "I fear not." clang of the bell. and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. you." had this final quarrel? "You are hungry," I remarked. The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the footfalls from the street. age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Not in the least." before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, is now desirous of getting those letters back." that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a room had already been engaged for us. events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." because she had spent so short a time in this country that she and shall probably return to London by the evening train." "It is solved." invisible to me," I remarked. been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "It is true that I have been generally successful." "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about depend upon my doing so.' surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "Here?" visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of "Of what?" ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, very peculiar words of the dying woman?" he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the "That is possible." would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," appointment with me for six o'clock?" of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and "Of what day?" "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "Certainly, madam." will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive will be renamed. and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else address. mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish you for a few hours?" destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he not fit the lock." plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. your equipment. house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, "What will you do, then?" and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and answer." St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so upon the white wrist. "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' some place of shelter and let the county police know what has I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I not within a twentieth part of the market price." minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to "Upon what point?" "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "Only as much as we can deduce." once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were "But how?" black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Now, then, what's the last entry?" woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in off." manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "Nothing?" For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" anything to a woman, for she would have her way." "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the comes from the middle window." sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, south, for the country is more deserted there." disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may arrangements." was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us once more for Briony Lodge. village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the Leadenhall Street--and--" dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick."