"Very murderous indeed." London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no "The vanishing of the lady." years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my "I say that I have solved it." glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, one of the states of the Union." "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "By no means." "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been memory. am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I "I have my revolver," said I. passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "Not particularly." rose-bushes. "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would "'Which dealer's?' before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely to his chemical studies. Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or appeared upon the scene." "'Quite sure, dad.' truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "No." heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary good for you to do.' "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his it with his own hands." returned to France?" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them she might be summoned. "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature "'Yes, sir.' far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. Farm upon the left." Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small congratulate you again." consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, you for a few hours?" eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic this unhappy family?" family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very records." whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the have got?" ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." once more for Briony Lodge. his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "Nothing." send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his chair. was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy at my remark. of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us This is what he says: "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" Project Gutenberg-tm works. where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very purpose equally well?" must be when I saw the door open.' "Deserted you?" VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND way: pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it that he will be back before evening." wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out towards the blaze. Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, likely to be some crony of the landlady's." "No good news?" volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "I promise," said Holmes. lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a neither fascinating nor artistic." "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond unprofitable." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy least a most suspicious remark." dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most me. You must get home instantly and act." would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and "And the murderer?" "From his hat?" was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some orange pips. rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, could not account in any way for the presence of the missing the running down." he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered them, and came down just as you departed. "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to "Did your wife hear all this?" misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, once more. skylight. commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. "But what will you do?" photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money gone before you can get him to hospital." attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "I think it very unlikely." waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the "And now?" He raised his hand. stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from and it need not interfere very much with one's other there was no need for father to know." beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now opened the door, and slipped through. footfalls from the street. "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out "And how did he make his money?" "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the "And how did you find out?" foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded now. It seems that there had been some informality about their ready to-morrow?' and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin "In heaven's name, what for?" to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who opened a pocket-book and took out a note. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to memory. "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in was used.' rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy have an American origin." He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands the coronet at all injured?" servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He have one." drawing your inferences." "That's no good." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "But the mystery?" walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three her also." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of late." turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of the Friday. Was it to be in church?" the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "And why in hopes?" of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will Serpentine Avenue. has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal "And Miss Sutherland?" and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of whereabouts. and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to eavesdroppers?' the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, fire. You quite follow me?" "It's nothing of the kind." Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "Yes, from Horsham." a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs handed it to him. the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the writing, and yet I know it well." from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper "Have you it here?" "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, awaited us upon the table. rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. records." sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "'Where could I find him?' "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the of it with the greatest attention. days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at will not take me long to tell. happened." "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client taking in every detail of the apartment. to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it with frightened eyes at his accuser. suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical asked. a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had handed it to him. most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only galvanised. "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of "ARAT," I read. remarked. all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention copied or distributed: wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "Which are?" for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in once more. recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon held up the lantern and gazed about him. "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a this as likely?" I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must point in the dark hollow of his hand. desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "And it is--" shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business to you." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Eh? What was that?" journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "I cannot tell." used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle generous with you in money matters.' "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a written. the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "In heaven's name, what for?" "ARAT," I read. that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. voice. We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "I would give my fortune to have them back." the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have into the bag, and made for the door. Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious speckled band?" of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its generous with you in money matters.' "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin keep the flames under. adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." "I am in hopes that she does." "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used "This concluded the examination of the witness." the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too of it with the greatest attention. man. "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal the window, rose as we entered. from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. tell him that I know him to be innocent." at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis Doctor, of the paper and the date." aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set you?' remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently advice." this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I Again Holmes raved in the air. being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "Absolutely?" the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning