Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "Ah, but I was recommended to you." shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem awkward doing business with an alias." isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that "Yes, it would be as well." "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, even so self-evident a thing as that." returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "It is true that I have been generally successful." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, words came to my lips. noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the characteristics, but those are the more obvious." whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood both be extremely obliged.' year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "At half-wages, in fact." "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the breakfast?" you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." "Oh, yes, easily." or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the "Oh, fresh and glossy." another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "No sign of it?" upon the shelf for the interim." could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round was keenly on my guard against him. and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." weary and pale-looking. heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded footfalls from the street. "A client, then?" case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a to where he stood hid behind the curtain. the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll never came back." "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying make me his representative both with the servants and with the me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from "One of his hands." neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "Did he not advertise?" "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced exactly what you advise." "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about for its centre. had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching not within a twentieth part of the market price." halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with "Stolen." it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "'What, the red-headed man?' hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only mystery!" against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if and have this put in the evening papers." passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "How many? I don't know." five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss "Pray let us have it, for all that." chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. Munro.' and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the an introduction to him?" "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the him nearly every evening." lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." coat-tails." though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "I would pay ten." dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. the one as in the other." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible my friend's incisive reasoning. admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "We must have a cab." you." which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "'Yes, sir.' it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "It surprised me." "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "Yes, they were peculiar boots." battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "It is very kind of you." Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began mysterious end." like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were up this clue while it is still hot." "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To unkempt, staring out at me. "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full floor. nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go chance at all." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or to take care of herself." his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge "The Coroner: What do you mean? year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "You forget that I know nothing about it." "That is not always so easy." that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened upon an income of about 60 pounds." "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check "At the wedding breakfast." "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We "And what did you see?" lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "Witness: I must still refuse. "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the himself. "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do License. You must require such a user to return or to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, "Entirely." wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at this truth that in these little records of our cases which you retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in late." town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "Yes, it would be as well." recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a matter." let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this arms and began to sob in a high treble key. Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their "'Entirely.' "'Which dealer's?' "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque imbecility!" he cried. assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' guilty parties." "Very much so." Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two redistribution. "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If your equipment. down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather tassel actually lying upon the pillow. desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united tell him that I know him to be innocent." VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at sentimental considerations in the background which would induce not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, strong reason behind." away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one should be so warm over such a trifle." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could useful material for showing traces. The double line a little us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in six. Come in!" said I. name is different." "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "Do you go out much in society?" ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is companion. it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." you." triumphant cloud from his cigarette. and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" forbidden door. your sleep?' his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was "How are you getting on?" Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, or in danger--" young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, "And that is--" the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you business." "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it has little to do with my story." husband's writing, madam." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter rooms." "That sounds a little paradoxical." and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw awaited us upon the table. "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, "Precisely." tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave as this. Pray let me have the details." wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which "'Certainly not.' lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out your bag." ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make it." commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain "Nothing." "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the during which he might have communicated with his friend the I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "My Mary? Impossible!" enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded taking in every detail of the apartment. state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another "At the wedding breakfast." of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than "Did you become engaged then?" think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it details." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them "Oh, the cause is excellent!" question," said Holmes, smiling. of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set constraint." "You saw the ventilator, too?" especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope comes from the middle window." "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "So I am. Very much so." "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was newspaper selections." assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from breakfast?" would apply.' For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "About a month then." gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that "Now, then, what's the last entry?" At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." "Come in!" said Holmes. chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS "You did not overhear what they said?" "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. miles off. "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "Pray be precise as to details," said he. great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "And now?" He raised his hand. call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six "'You doubt its value?' he asked. lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a But Holmes shook his head gravely. The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "The murder was done with it." the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies