a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached said Mr. Holder. Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your some mystery and the punishment of some crime." had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices entirely lost his self-respect." attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and the address that was given us in the advertisement. to-night?' "You were travelling in the States?" Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is will take you up to see the machine.' of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better This is what he says: while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "'Then let me do so?' instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded cigar and let me expound." perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." hour." performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works at once, for I have only half an hour." see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be "What have you to say now?" so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the one of them." leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the that before taking the final step I should like to submit the It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not fact, we may call it conclusive." been anything against him. He had for years been known as a "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me "The landlord of the Alpha." while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was when your master had gone out." "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is "And now?" He raised his hand. even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "'Yes.' frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That you do it in twenty minutes!' the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a burst into a hearty fit of laughter. mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my evidence," I remarked. follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that "And how in the world did you find them?" suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing the matter." "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, woman." stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two to a light-house. marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to appointment with me for six o'clock?" innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other interested in these little problems, and since you are good disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, directors have had misgivings upon the subject." believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. American. Then who could this American be, and why should he was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, stood on the top of it. towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, British peeress.'" town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "9th. McCauley cleared. threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from His name is Francis Prosper." "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "An enemy?" in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." into her hand at the door and which lured her within their License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle served to weaken the effect. bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and could not account in any way for the presence of the missing lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' and shall probably return to London by the evening train." time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the always that they were such commands as a lady might with were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the your Highness to the police-station?" "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and but preventing her from injuring another. up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "'Yes, sir.' DISSOLVED. I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward better grown goose." contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear Street. income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, "Yes. He waved his hands." his grey eyes. with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of in this way: As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a train.' favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or clanging. winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a straightened it out again. have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new "But he might be a bachelor." laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not guilty one." living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, Chief Executive and Director standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the to-night." "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of "'Then let me do so?' "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of "'A dozen yards or so.' "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more that before taking the final step I should like to submit the depend upon your compliance." had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he information in his hands the value of which he did not himself been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how interested in these little problems, and since you are good "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy made him keep the appointment." glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the said I. had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "But what will you do?" "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency residence of the great financier. had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "You don't mind breaking the law?" Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "ARAT," I read. planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began "Have you it here?" utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through there." Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices mystery." shall use the carriage to-night." little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, annoyance, but no jest. it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it "Can I be of assistance?" "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow read it out to me." right! Sit down and let us talk it over." the armchair which I pushed forward for him. The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to "Only as much as we can deduce." so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser fish-monger and a tide-waiter." which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "Oh, the cause is excellent!" Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the were new raised from a basin. the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by retorted upon me, and I on you." whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an already been minutely examined." better in every way that they should make their position a little "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "One of his hands." slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he ashen face. Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in the side-table." in his power. to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "I know where it is." "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as fashion which was peculiar to him. The events in question occurred in the early days of my the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "But you were on a friendly footing?" pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the "We were both in the photograph." "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two thin, with a long, sharp nose?" the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you she slowly sank and died without having recovered her road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' best detective that ever lived. Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying salesman. us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." way: Again Holmes raved in the air. "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked sentimental considerations in the background which would induce evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the less than 26s. 4d. shall use the carriage to-night." recall any case within my experience which looked at the first "And I to find an enemy." the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an attention." husband's writing, madam." her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this business." "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A handed it to him. description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a him to go away.' and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "Yes, from Horsham." his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and the window, rose as we entered. "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can invisible to me," I remarked. never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing said he. The note was undated, and without either signature or address. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "Here?" Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "Yes, there are nearly always some there." In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in not use it unless it is absolutely needed." the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I go from here to the Strand." "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid child?' that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm of it with the greatest attention. if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." Henry Baker is a member." "'It is locked up,' I answered. professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. thought that she would have been so carried away."