coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he opened the door, and slipped through. have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to charge against him will break down." by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in happened." advice." wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you "What! a murderous attack?" "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "It may not come to that," said Holmes. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of nothing with him." memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. Dr. Gregory B. Newby said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we case-book, which he consulted. "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the noise which awoke you from your sleep?" collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the wall." leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them "'Never.' zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "Then he might have called to you?" suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" plantation.' was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "I will try. What is it?" business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger tied." I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, that I am arrested." "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "Yes, I have one waiting." "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, look dissatisfied." certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what washing it down with a long draught of water. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the coroner's jury." theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between very peculiar words of the dying woman?" other lovers by making love himself." rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." hour?' will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you his cane at the bell-pull. separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not "And from a noble client?" still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, his eyes and forehead. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I 11:15.' was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "Of what day?" it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away read it out to me." compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he next day. "'Is 4 pounds a week.' advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. orange pips. never came back." him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES thin, with a long, sharp nose?" read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, of fine shops and stately business premises that they really which it had come upon my father." are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the relief. yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One The telegram which we eventually received came late one night corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, believe that I should never have any practice at all. Where does the thing come from?' Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "'How far from the body?' the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the "Certainly." of your young ladies.' "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. results." than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "Get out!" said he. Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and "Will you go?" moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in telegram would bring me down to your help." "The doctor?" It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "Have you it here?" telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it weighed down with some great anxiety. "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall go from here to the Strand." very peculiar words of the dying woman?" and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. some place of shelter and let the county police know what has home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me "Come in!" said he. clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever always that they were such commands as a lady might with meanly of me." is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't the bed, and you in that chair." "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I "In the cells." grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of things are very often connected not with the larger but with the them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the his face which made him a very different person to the round, assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's "I think it very unlikely." "Have you her photograph?" narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All "That also I could fathom." "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my interest. They are important, you understand, without being which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "Yes." reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what the tragedy. shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his happened." the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the out." classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a himself to tell his story. assist you in forming an opinion." these bleak autumnal evenings." platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange hand, madam?" through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a "9th. McCauley cleared. "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "No, thank goodness, she did not." admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." introspective fashion. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter Eyford." contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, forebodings. however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were to arrive at through this?" tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "Do you go out much in society?" "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "But his left-handedness." vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, "I shall be delighted." maiden herself was most instructive." between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This nothing of it?" case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be business." "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I your only hope of safety." adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one his wife has ceased to love him." bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same from the brougham. exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "The decline of his fortunes, then?" "Precisely so. But how--" him, that man would not have given me such complete information heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the seven miles from Eyford Station.' the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its rooms." downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any if I call to-morrow?" safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his "No." James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." or other trace. But how on earth--" it." Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler said he at last. should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" "You'll never persuade me to believe that." few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. "What office?" "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a several quiet little villages up there." brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and "So it appears." "VIOLET HUNTER." half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and "My opinion is in no way altered." "'Then let me do so?' yards of it?' Again Holmes raved in the air. hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. the side-table." but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these recover the gem." "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took IS aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to populous neighbourhood." furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, with some details as to your case." "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of the Friday. Was it to be in church?" this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in passage and a tap at the door. bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after chambers. criminal. We have already had experience of such." fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less my room." Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would "Very well, sir. And this stone?" "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, drawing your inferences." nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and held up the lantern and gazed about him. are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "How did you trace it, then?" "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "'And what are they worth?' I asked. broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His all that?" conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door had formerly been in part my own. my room." have one." As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, matters immensely." think you a quite exceptional woman." police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual little adventures." education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may "What, then, did Peterson do?" "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The might have a private word with us. "'Certainly,' I answered. which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "Yes." "She walked into the breakfast-room." ran thus: "I think it very unlikely." business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer fasten all the windows?" nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "Upon what point?" drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked could go. that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet there was no need for father to know." vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about grasp, he hurried from the room. "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "It may not come to that," said Holmes. Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "That is also quite modern," said the lady. and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no happened." higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' do.' his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into him nearly every evening." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "My private note-paper." registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a gone. strong reason behind." "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we details." showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped me what he had done with the three missing stones. But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of there has been an enclosure here!" weigh very heavily upon my conscience." "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of