garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight or in danger--" The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. and that he would see to anything that turned up. have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, extraordinary contortions. "Yes, but only for you and me." "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings to tackle the facts." "Not in a good cause." can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "No. What a strange idea!" "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of hands. lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent "But your client--" beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "Married! When?" "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with "But his lameness?" foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "Ha! you find it so?" "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. once more to my work. in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge "I will do it." into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "What will you do, then?" in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, already referred to. it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before some city in a dream. "I was certainly surprised to find you there." Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" father's place of business?" pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project hard-headed British jury." a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. have not had my rubber." one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man it. convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." and the colonel ushered me in. stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "What! Had he lost his wife?" "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "Pray do so." "None." the tragedy. of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too "I will not look." "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a "'How far from the body?' body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "Breckinridge is his name." silent! Oh, he will be silent!' public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the "Only as much as we can deduce." "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the depend upon your compliance." full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little carriage. It was a chestnut." one of them." and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and that you can jump it.' to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is not come at once?" Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the weigh very heavily upon my conscience." "That is not always so easy." found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "Has he come with you to-night?" running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to is four-and-twenty." "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. which should have the effect of calling the attention of the The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which means taking possession of that which another person has a prior when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally "No, thank goodness, she did not." developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not the general public were present, then?" "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they over his head with a sweet womanly caress. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which "My own seal." the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "My dear Holmes!" buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and indiscretion." the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "Texas, I think." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been "My private note-paper." some mystery and the punishment of some crime." his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end cigar and let me expound." carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length lids now and glanced across at his visitor. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house the iron safe, which he closed upon it. She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "I guessed as much." "You are hungry," I remarked. "My stepfather's business papers." "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing did not hear it also.' Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he "Never." "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was and shall probably return to London by the evening train." were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. to me. waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "An enemy?" fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and her also." you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is which was all perfectly true. He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man "It was an hour's good drive." ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "But she could not love him." position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place cigars in the box." her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "Yes, that is the Crown." Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune as yours." come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. the room while you explain this matter?" travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting during which he might have communicated with his friend the to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while went to the Alpha were town bred." "And on what day did he meet his death?" "It is his hat." shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes simple cases which are so extremely difficult." too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no good-night and bustled off upon her way. "I am all attention, madam." help us in this matter." undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If relief. and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the most important business. It is probable that he will be away all before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from corner of the building. among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" the date of his supposed suicide." the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! client, rising. breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "In what way?" asked Holmes. It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which "I have my revolver," said I. swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and him nearly every evening." "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "No." course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "You are certainly joking, Holmes." that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further congratulate you again." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in back into the street. "But I have heard all that you have heard." light and attacked it." garden below. upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "What! a murderous attack?" it were putty." "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." crime. fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use "You think so, too?" an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters said he, "my real name is James Ryder." my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, client, rising. this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "I will try. What is it?" pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' "'Yes, it was gone.' rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "Did you observe the colour?" "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our "Well." "But it has twice been burgled." (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "I am armed." quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left infinite languor in his face. unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off open." across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "And Miss Sutherland?" The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, beg that you will break it off." quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his the warnings." "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had "On Monday." "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is "Dark enough and sinister enough." request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been to that open window." the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "Dirty?" See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "But who is he?"