question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "I am armed." crime. gives a meaning to it." commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "I am in hopes that she does." appeal." Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the six. Come in!" an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of so.' "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "One of his hands." cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now experiences." breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, "'Yes, it was gone.' "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood them present such singular features as the strange train of common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me the driver. among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about young Openshaw's." "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where never came back." there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that "You did not overhear what they said?" which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with unclasping of his long thin hands. "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "The doctor?" that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They it with his own hands." other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise ill-usage at the hands of fortune. creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, papers diligently of late, have you not?" "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "'I shall certainly be there.' drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "At the wedding breakfast." inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and to go into your room and bar your shutters?" male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the became a certainty. pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "'Certainly not.' "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "In heaven's name, what for?" steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she tell me that you intended to go into harness." right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have the morning and make my own way in the world.' he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was to change my dress. appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. own family. Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND thin legs towards the fire. was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this 1.E.9. inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "Do you know him?" McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had acquaintance?" By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." key of the affair now." that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a affection." His name is Francis Prosper." "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "And what then?" Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so of the efforts of the United States government and of the better hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." happened." state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love "I am all attention, madam." Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands papers on the sundial.'" from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his client, rising. of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with existence." rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert "And that is--" the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the the so-precious time, but come!' over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "It is half-past ten now." tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "Not I." think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated works. then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at spare." clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding them, and came down just as you departed. "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "Is he quiet?" threw himself down with his face to the pillow. it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my prisoner's face. a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these "You saw the ventilator, too?" rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive "By all means." compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can shag which I had seen upon the previous night. "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired "Game for a morning drive?" I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' late!' "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." paper in the air. heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally to where he stood hid behind the curtain. on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is not interfere, come what may. You understand?" "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "'What then?' I asked. bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if "Yes." paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time "My opinion is in no way altered." "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence crowd. pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor putting in the horse. whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to third from London." "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to at home. from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I Again Holmes raved in the air. glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he "Then he might have called to you?" Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It "Do you know him?" fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "My dear Holmes!" planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I future lives." think, you have already met." cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone which our visitor detailed to us. Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose will find little credit to be gained out of this case." all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and father's place of business?" card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" business at Coburg Square is serious." and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the the stones. in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong weapon." returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we Munro.' outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that pity, because in other respects you would really have done very "Dirty?" There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "'Certainly,' I answered. father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, minor matters until to-morrow." his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, even of instruction." word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford like gravel from a pit.' "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we read over the extraordinary announcement. not within a twentieth part of the market price." but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" tied." at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who place of silver." "I should be immensely obliged to you." "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the ill-usage at the hands of fortune. appeared upon the scene." can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such asked with his eyes open. aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the in his hands." anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the Holmes." Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful "I will try. What is it?" directly by questioning you." instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, conversation I have gathered that they have been married about reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to From what you have told me I think that it is possible that "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and into the bag, and made for the door. without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with "That is unusual in a young girl." of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "What have you to say now?" right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. "You are all wrong." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he do you make of it all?" "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America bare slabs of marble. and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it plantation.' finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left astonishment. It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch Leadenhall Street--and--" me upon any point which I do not make clear." heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every the King without delay." "How often?" "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear his wife has ceased to love him." settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father information in his hands the value of which he did not himself known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** what is your own theory as to what took place?" have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten "My photograph." clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' your Highness to the police-station?" some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as threw himself down with his face to the pillow. was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of province." inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that