he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to use an arc-and-compass breastpin." "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "Married! When?" as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of "'Most admirably.' fashion which was peculiar to him. marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in ashen face. mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism man. I know him from the photograph." as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "But you have hopes?" place, I think that there is good ground to think that the but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "Two days later this same performance was gone through under The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "Really! You surprise me." Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness developed." pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" impression behind it as though a window had gently closed broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached front of me. "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man once more for Briony Lodge. "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was Mrs. Toller serenely. "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest your Highness to the police-station?" waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, as yours." hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business "What?" and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, business matters.' know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "I have solved it." sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him gone. complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. "And for present expenses?" bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in vault. practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "And now?" He raised his hand. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "I am in hopes that she does." With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just "It goes to the housekeeper's room." counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the several quiet little villages up there." gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the horse could go." "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian "How long did she speak to this Alice?" quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "Certainly." away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge man. I know him from the photograph." her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a brain must have something in it." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and "Yes, he did." be best to do. thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "'Tell me all about it,' said I. copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a "'Certainly not.' sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who one of the states of the Union." and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. Doctor, of the paper and the date." shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "And why in hopes?" questioning and rather startled gaze. "It is no ordinary one." before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without "It goes to the housekeeper's room." wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not and the colonel ushered me in. she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "Certainly." forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the conduct the inquiry." strength of mind to control. "One horse?" interjected Holmes. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my "What will you say?" "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. gives a meaning to it." do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "'What would be the hours?' I asked. "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "No, I had a dozen." black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many a very grave face. down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an "And how have you succeeded?" "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young "'What then?' I asked. Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the shoulder; "he's all right." then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the "What can it mean?" I gasped. adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which important." but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of "Was she in good spirits?" 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." affair. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which sooner or later she must fall a victim. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." how narrow had been my escape. utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a room?" directors have had misgivings upon the subject." lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. gigantic client. eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was so.' step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you narrative." "Yes, the wine-cellar." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "Absolutely none." England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of My friend smiled. "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a said he. police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, been anything against him. He had for years been known as a Holmes." accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you really the only notable feature about the thing." "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass papers on the sundial.'" "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his deduce something from that?" brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and IS prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice "Will you go?" he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of not interfere, come what may. You understand?" heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my "If I can be of use." America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from events, Mr. Windibank!" "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But events than those which have happened in my own family." acted in my house last night?" Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a "And the murderer?" know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul "Why did you pick him?" he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such me upon any point which I do not make clear." "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, business came to an end." bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which sparkled upon his finger. in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. are, and they are waiting for us." retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "Get out!" said he. we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always manager. home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole Watson," he said cordially. estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress crime. lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one the ceiling. "I cannot think." as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, him." head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "Thank you. And your address?" eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. Where does the thing come from?' from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "No legal papers or certificates?" "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade do you make of it all?" through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "The landlord of the Alpha." drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of lids now and glanced across at his visitor. enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "But how could you guess what the motive was?" absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not I am not easy in my mind about them." lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose Gutenberg-tm License. "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted was once confined in the cab my mission was practically "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "And why?" to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I John Swain, of St. Augustine. "No." advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight do.' in darkness. hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the Literary Archive Foundation own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached stalked out of the room. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he conclusions. has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in 1.F. "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah the Assizes." tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, relief. was a loud and authoritative tap. we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us weapon." base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the tied." "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's already been minutely examined." what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who photograph a cabinet?" "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the a very grave face. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones photograph?" "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress you came in." his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, a very grave face. the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in Leadenhall Street--and--" "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to to-night's adventure." as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had just called myself is not exactly my own." "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year closing the door. "I cannot imagine." Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?"