"You did not overhear what they said?" I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the have one." to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." shall use the carriage to-night." rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might certainly do as you advise." "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You correct than the official force." rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "'I have heard so.' cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural gentleman's clothes. bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To "And now?" He raised his hand. enter Dr. Roylott's room." invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." held up the lantern and gazed about him. A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is test if we have an answer to our advertisement." matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive dates and names. previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "And what did you learn from him?" end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a and capable of preserving a secret.' "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "I know where it is." my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his Pope's Court. suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into to tell." in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from singular points about the case. What did the police think of the look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to trifles." "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down his huge brown hands. was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are "I see no marks." "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be when you have done it." someone who had been in Australia." acted in my house last night?" "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project is," said he presently: "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions for the market.' signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, rooms." places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done Does that suggest anything?" before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper Arthur Conan Doyle "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our and glanced through. "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the "The doctor?" room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Where, then, is my wife?" but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was "What have you done?" asked Holmes. gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the the roots. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt already been minutely examined." creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered dates and names. "But how?" is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "And who is her maid?" whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in joking. think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It to that open window." "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would begin with, and I had not got mine yet." when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "She showed me, as I told you she would." or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "But I have heard all that you have heard." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I with you alone." "'Ten to two.' "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the past. explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the once more for Briony Lodge. tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey main points of my analysis." "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of note?" It was close upon four before the door opened, and a adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical gone before you can get him to hospital." morning." Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "It is very clear." I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" returned to France?" Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a must compliment you." "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted is now desirous of getting those letters back." digesting their breakfasts at home." and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. his forehead." "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from place of silver." there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all have established a very serious case against the son of the home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and business." leave you to your papers for a little." about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "Yes." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that III. and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "Was the window open?" fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "You think so, too?" you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he "But what is it you wish?" or in danger--" England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and green of the new foliage. he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled "'Oh, no.' charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United behind me. prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of conclusions. horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and Henry Baker is a member." "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about come either from the window or the door. My attention was "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that think that he is innocent?" 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet memory. unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a our word." "No." she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the "Yes." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "Which are?" well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, foot. The events in question occurred in the early days of my to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "What is it, then--a fire?" upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I "Quite so." hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "'What then?' I asked. "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every meant it for the best. Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. to a light-house. upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to stepfather?" nights." therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "It is very clear." the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the sentimental considerations in the background which would induce "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several Edgeware Road. something of him before." advice." after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "How many? I don't know." save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "I say it is." general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "And how?" is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged "My private note-paper." believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the was used.' himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the galvanised. pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" "Did you observe the colour?" don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have business matters.' Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she Stoke Moran." possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of photograph a cabinet?" the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and any." after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. business matters.' nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than "Then you may be so with me." corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "I promise," said Holmes. infinite languor in his face. crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss who was a member of your goose club." "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than washing it down with a long draught of water. "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a simple cases which are so extremely difficult." self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "Pray be precise as to details," said he. enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his events than those which have happened in my own family." fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "'I shall certainly be there.' neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring."