"Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I you give your casting vote to?" cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left confronted him. them present such singular features as the strange train of chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, formed some opinion?" the loss of it. named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course fish-monger and a tide-waiter." also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, like gravel from a pit.' dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "I think that I had better go, Holmes." once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." them?" of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a and all of them with the keenest interest. confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "Here?" it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with "VIOLET HUNTER." "It may not come to that," said Holmes. the room while you explain this matter?" "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in your co-operation." "Stolen, then." fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet as the one I chose?' classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! strength." of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I this truth that in these little records of our cases which you James Windibank. Voilà tout!" is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the forbidden door. morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm away to you." array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my "On your arm?" second." enter Dr. Roylott's room." accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "Why serious?" the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could see a sister of mine apply for." end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! that, and I came down." vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided later, upon the night of May 2nd." his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with "My Mary? Impossible!" We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we interested in these little problems, and since you are good Eyford." was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "And you don't know his address?" to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers that he will be back before evening." His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the away to you." "We have tried and failed." sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this "What will you do, then?" she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There forehead. four million human beings all jostling each other within the "'Entirely.' blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three lamp. years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she nothing of it?" "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to danger is over." over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had acquaintance?" The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday views." being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, may have an influence upon European history." may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of and have this put in the evening papers." through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in seen the man in the road." exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave point our research must commence, and we will begin it by 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and we went to search for him, face downward in a little notes," he said. you?' believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not III. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive rose-bushes. the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose is," said he presently: blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and to some other building. are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed wanted for ourselves." style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that hour." himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "Then I shall certainly come." my room." "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative your sleep?' Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled http://gutenberg.net/license). copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative not fit the lock." wanted for ourselves." against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "Then the page we have seen--" brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain quick march!" London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after down. Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord fact, we may call it conclusive." "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. very old mansion. God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "What office?" fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me said he at last. "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "It is to him that this trophy belongs." why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "And what then?" his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel of receipt of the work. access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It imbecility!" he cried. have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "I cannot think." ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the "But your client--" "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. "Yes." Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, four million human beings all jostling each other within the When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with that in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which their singular warning or token before them when starting upon might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you you." naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if business." lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that the stable lane now." watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that success. better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I "'Entirely.' akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me room had already been engaged for us. though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past vague figure huddled up in the darkness. entirely devoid of interest." spare." "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "And that is--" demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "I am to be neutral?" prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently to you." another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not for the market.' "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for your equipment. before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in not as remarkable as your advertisement." the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was purpose equally well?" the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to empty. business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. way in everything. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "At what time?" back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester bedroom door." rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. be.' fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer letters?" been anything against him. He had for years been known as a idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of or other trace. But how on earth--" all-comprehensive glances. "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, clang of the bell. down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular few hundred pounds.' the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "10th. John Swain cleared. hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that foot. the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring future lives." doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The singular points about the case. What did the police think of the "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little the little opening for the ventilator is." "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. the one as in the other." promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND lids now and glanced across at his visitor. perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a never to learn it at all." room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking never to learn it at all." "You'll never persuade me to believe that." do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "Not social, then?" "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "The rest you will leave in our hands." "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing 1.E.9. as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never "It is half-past ten now." her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold hand, madam?" evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the this unhappy family?" thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." "My opinion is in no way altered." stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always locked." 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "What I expected to see." from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my records." could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. hardly wander." foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've trifles." "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "And now?" I asked. gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. undoubtedly my uncle's." sentimental considerations in the background which would induce is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not in darkness. have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry DAMAGE. "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your strength of mind to control. down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have crime." large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. is entirely a question of barometric pressure." them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office "I have come for advice." here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town himself to tell his story. reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a may have an influence upon European history." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was "What do you make of that, Watson?" can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very companion. "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and deduce something from that?" in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of go--none." was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of never will be, entirely cleared up. "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one name is different." expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' window when the police appeared." the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "No. What a strange idea!" stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire."