As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go out." "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows "I know where it is." and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he wedding?" hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. awkward doing business with an alias." creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At key of the affair now." which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "But the mystery?" The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point best detective that ever lived. Chief Executive and Director "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "'Not at all. I only doubt--' Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very "Pray be precise as to details," said he. people don't know." "'Most admirably.' air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "What is it?" "I beg pardon." "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the too. opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to easy-going way." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On points in connection with it which never have been, and probably tear off another piece?' said he, "my real name is James Ryder." and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "'I am sure that I do not know.' shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. business came to an end." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the envelope. it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. it. "How did he come?" cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a purpose of examination. in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. the iron safe, which he closed upon it. too. for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and or in danger--" and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "But how?" naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It fashion which was peculiar to him. "In San Francisco, a year ago." reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "How did he come?" The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the obstinate." instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have made him keep the appointment." "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself "Then the page we have seen--" where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To of a light. us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the morning." or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "By no means." "Nothing." which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton locked. surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. later, upon the night of May 2nd." had no one to advise her at such a crisis." breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch you." battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "Entirely." corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect success. despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our "Nor running a chance of arrest?" "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be "One of the highest in England." "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "Yes, but only for you and me." "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to make me his representative both with the servants and with the "But we can't all be." reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "You have but to name it." while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "'Yes, sir.' to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' "Then what has happened to him?" bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then certainly do as you advise." reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "Won't it ring?" "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number down. order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "Who by?" them present such singular features as the strange train of the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain "Will you bet, then?" was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a my secret was safe in his possession. though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which where Mr. Fordham shows you.' without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you "What?" "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until American. Then who could this American be, and why should he much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of the iron safe, which he closed upon it. "And did you observe any change in her then?" clang of the bell. near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's "How did that help you?" thin legs towards the fire. sooner or later she must fall a victim. its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE his face. your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the locked. any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. certainly not very gracious." strong and stiff." "Murdered?" away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. time." road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and empty. labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the of campaign. "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, call you and give you the chance." remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "We must have a cab." "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which very old mansion. been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he "What steps will you take?" I asked. science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the of the way of danger. for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from coat-tails." travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's once more on the important position which you have been fortunate most important business. It is probable that he will be away all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my Pope's Court, Fleet Street." events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his society." clang of the bell. were unconscious?" certainly do as you advise." it. "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "Pray tell us what has happened to you." the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said strength in the others." away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon "Where did he live, then?" through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug "Then I am your man." was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a "I am all attention, madam." is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was know that the truth is known." the matter?" is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. I nodded again. from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "Why did you beat the pavement?" business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two Holmes' thin, eager face. Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently unprofitable." "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." threw himself down with his face to the pillow. from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can putting in the horse. The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and I think that I could be of assistance to you." "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "By no means." him." know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From key turn in the lock." that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people Pool. he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "But it has twice been burgled." therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it presume?" in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the your only hope of safety." Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a "But not more so than I to find you." To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' I shall communicate with you." "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, this unhappy family?" wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of them?" careless servant girl?" bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "Yes." train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the round and wave him away like that.' "Deserted you?" "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but shoulder; "he's all right." like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "Yes." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "Your French gold?" my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. said Mr. Holder. black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really residence of the great financier. seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found security.' police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in acted in my house last night?" my little problems." admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been that he will be back before evening." that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited individual and becomes the badge of a society." There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" the loss of it. into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to over here." of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the and inquire as to the address." running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who brain must have something in it." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the true."