whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "By train from Waterloo." Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as that you can jump it.' which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It chamber." he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long away into the river." "She walked into the breakfast-room." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns assist you in forming an opinion." sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little of your young ladies.' other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "Then I shall certainly come." drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to "My own seal." hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third was shining brightly. "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special "And Irene Adler?" She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in "'In my own bureau.' Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial are windows in it, of course?" face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. "'I have already given you my word.' centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled take the flies, but not before." the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, weighed down with some great anxiety. occurred." once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at that the gas is not laid on in his house?" pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is death." all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where "He is still with you, I presume?" discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "What! Had he lost his wife?" "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had only touch the interest." swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive again." then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your Foundation does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "Yes, that is the Crown." total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little is acting for the best. ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. bill, which interests me deeply." direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "The rest you will leave in our hands." expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' his face which made him a very different person to the round, see me here to avoid scandal." "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty works. but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which "Married! When?" minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I already referred to. already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in is acting for the best. The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. was a loud and authoritative tap. vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that in darkness. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you matter." should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "But I have heard all that you have heard." searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' who was a member of your goose club." "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you possible that we could bring him back to her? provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few The King stared at him in amazement. look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, forbidden door. Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, the dangers which encompass me." breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid woman who has had her own way to make in the world. of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third for its centre. unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. considering the formidable letters which were received by himself how narrow had been my escape. has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon "I am in hopes that she does." carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish infinite languor in his face. at home. was feeling which was the fattest.' very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." as he folded up the epistle. a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to down. flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too until night should bring an explanation. morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to opened a pocket-book and took out a note. ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. advice." unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what one else, I think." which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He manager. back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows "What do you mean?" with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "What! You do not mean bodies?" "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "Just look it up, then." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "Never." opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when desk. in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was future lives." and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after "Dirty?" in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which o'clock is it?" France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "I think it very unlikely." trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable one's self under obligations.' caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the the morning and make my own way in the world.' he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black "Come in!" said he. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot "'Then let me do so?' piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had to-night?' and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, yet." done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round was lame." this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, the tragedy. it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the DISSOLVED. I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not showing my impatience. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked I think that I could be of assistance to you." "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "Tired-looking or fresh?" "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "Ample." his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps whereabouts. opportunities to fix the problem. dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, prison!" bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy "Yes. He waved his hands." "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" house for five minutes.' "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, completely overtopped every other consideration that we both I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case of." To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my affair. clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great Where does the thing come from?' of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both "So I heard. You have him here?" passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it character. ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "No, distinctly professional." of them has the shutters up.' dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel done what I asked you, Jones?" off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "I shall be delighted." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "So it appears." Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "Did he not advertise?" eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind brain must have something in it." "What, then?" upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. the salesman. after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the all that?" "No." approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love felt the room to be a little close.' was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day "You think so, too?" Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It returned to France?" governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his "'Ample.' be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the to a more successful conclusion." forbidden door. town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian did not hear it also.' Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every "Can I be of assistance?" drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and woman." broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "And for present expenses?" "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "I say that I have solved it." rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then highroad, where all traces were lost. find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. Have you good authority for what you say?" was shining brightly. everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was and wait." his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "Entirely." looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is Project Gutenberg-tm works. appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: with you?" "That is possible." said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, the room while you explain this matter?" her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to never will be, entirely cleared up. singular points about the case. What did the police think of the once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." you came in." impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to "Why? What do you mean?" work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "How often?" direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new one else, I think." pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "'Yes, I promise.' wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been would apply.' Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door generous with you in money matters.' logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "You are all wrong." bore every mark of being an average commonplace British set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to astonishment. "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "Upon what point?" "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. approach us with offers to donate. immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "How did he come?" think you a quite exceptional woman." helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was you give your casting vote to?" cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's voice. Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: a room. that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been "I am sure." gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and unkempt, staring out at me. which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice me what he had done with the three missing stones. his face which made him a very different person to the round, before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." "It looks newer than the other things?" "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. "Pray continue your narrative." "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. lost his Christmas dinner." property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate past. see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and children over to America with him, so that I found myself without I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I the inner apartment." and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the chambers. them?" will not take me long to tell. "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it of Mr. Rucastle's." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "What I expected to see." well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My