even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were written. were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy Street. eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there possible that we could bring him back to her? style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a there in twenty minutes." me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He indiscretion." "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he important." new acquaintance to Baker Street. and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six corner of the building. The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps that there was nothing in it, after all." done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with I was concerned in it." "One of his hands." of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a the coronet in his hand?" more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but infinite languor in his face. there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are which we had just quitted. "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from him and tried to hold him back. "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get had picked up in the wood. learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "'What then?' I asked. shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "But your client--" "Did your wife hear all this?" and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever little trying to do so much typewriting?" and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "Deserted you?" how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing that he has suffered." gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A my room." bed dies. Does not that strike you?" When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in the bed, and you in that chair." said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. and all of them with the keenest interest. sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "By no means." Cross for the Continent." convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "But we can't all be." "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" information in his hands the value of which he did not himself country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "No, I had a dozen." impression behind it as though a window had gently closed London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "But you have hopes?" effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis "And I say east," said my patient. through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a "How can you tell that?" accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she "I never have." extraordinary contortions. "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have once more for Briony Lodge. more terrible than the truth. "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a yards of it?' in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." is worth.' very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of Countess of Morcar's?" fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had "Yes, he did." the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and IS advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you "That's no good." it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search said he. light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by a very grave face. "I should wish to." had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily matters immensely." "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "The rest you will leave in our hands." Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "What! a murderous attack?" and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "By no means." wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross one of them." and inquire as to the address." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given she to prove their authenticity?" dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious that I can to serve you." in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is you." "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which weighed down with some great anxiety. matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an bed dies. Does not that strike you?" He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "I will get her to show me." pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His money should be paid at once.' methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "Did your wife hear all this?" "Nor running a chance of arrest?" was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a your Highness to the police-station?" mysterious end." air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they bird of prey. "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. the coronet in his hands?" father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three do.' interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in direction." result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, bird of prey. "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is "Precisely." hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more "How on earth--" months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as "We must sit without light. He would see it through the "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "It missed him, then?" rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. showing my impatience. the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." of his shoulders. impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine side. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if "I cannot tell." ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of good for you to do.' say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement in this note: "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." true." line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an her also." know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "What will you do, then?" A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense were new raised from a basin. fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the "Perfectly so." tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "Well?" "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "So it appears." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that I approached. thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very open." matter." lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her to his chemical studies. "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "On Monday." great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "Then how many are there?" Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "Dr. Becher's." saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "That you are never beaten." remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child overpowering excitement and concern. things are very often connected not with the larger but with the to-night." profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on with her." upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" to me. shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of the coronet in his hand?" dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in name is different." centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some business at Coburg Square is serious." husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend showing my impatience. looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; in his power. the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. with frightened eyes at his accuser. "Absolutely?" my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent know what is wrong with it.' foot. rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "I fear not." the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The This is what he says: There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much troubles have been weighing upon his mind. any little problem which you may submit to me." "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls he bowed and left the room without another word. the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. there when the Rucastles went away." copied or distributed: cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in interests were the same as his." have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the "What shall I do?" easy-going way." "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows "'I have already given you my word.' This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with the running down." day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. four million human beings all jostling each other within the premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and been." "You horrify me!" meant." over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and to tell." "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me "You are all wrong." "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if point our research must commence, and we will begin it by need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no criminal. We have already had experience of such." "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he country, and eventually married, without anyone having a Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of upon the sideboard." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "None." Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. newspaper selections." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." question you as to those details which seem to me to be most lumber-room." his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "I cannot as yet see any connection." mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can is," said he presently: much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "Then what has happened to him?" who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when remarked. "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with true." unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way "None." an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such "'Very good.' ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by do.' day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' you give your casting vote to?" me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in which we had just quitted. "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your note?" happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and had no one to advise her at such a crisis." to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the