"So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. one which it was hard to resist. protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On "What! Had he lost his wife?" I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, would apply.' beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here been." "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white your co-operation." was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "Who by?" determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are "I promise," said Holmes. whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the directors have had misgivings upon the subject." it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass said he. saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "It was a confession," I ejaculated. Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: closely." About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. mystery." donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate presume?" bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham cigars in their mouths. game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "Pray let us have it, for all that." card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, hand, madam?" Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. triumphant cloud from his cigarette. "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being and all of them with the keenest interest. urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to the Red-headed League." I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I you." locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "What of the rat, then?" "No, but the enclosure is." Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been out of this horrible affair." a little more before I quite committed myself. conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "You think that he is dead?" "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend Countess of Morcar's?" "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must emerged. demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the next day. the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in me, and I could not think that his explanation of the at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry more solid." may have an influence upon European history." but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had me upon any point which I do not make clear." the date of his supposed suicide." more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it reach." social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer for and were ordered to this address. the Friday. Was it to be in church?" prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always sake, don't!" Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade "You think so, too?" the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going in darkness. thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, that he will be back before evening." just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." Watson," he said cordially. bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "And who is her maid?" think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "I will do it." "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of there were so many in the whole country as were brought together Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "Who was the criminal, then?" "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress it were putty." for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Yes." "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" the room while you explain this matter?" "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, his face which made him a very different person to the round, following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "Yes." "It is solved." married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two people in all walks of life. you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian companion. more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what secret." "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes unkempt, staring out at me. across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "Oh, yes, easily." "What will you say?" VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round manager. some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good chamber." You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to "This photograph!" Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "And why?" think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and purpose equally well?" "My private note-paper." "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "No legal papers or certificates?" suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of better grown goose." "Because he was handy and would come cheap." heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "'And what salary do you ask?' window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her own family. realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." opportunities to fix the problem. business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a my secret was safe in his possession. careless servant girl?" Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "Yes, only one." stalked out of the room. "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its the Assizes." police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed What do you deduce from it?" after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he giving me time to thank him. Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what it." should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "Indeed! Whose, then?" nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" way in everything. together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." passage and a tap at the door. bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." outsides of the windows. lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions which I could not give. He asked for Alice. 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," fact, we may call it conclusive." some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "Texas, I think." sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing "'Yes, I promise.' "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from and that he would see to anything that turned up. "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. question you as to those details which seem to me to be most was a lad." was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little walking." "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which "You are all wrong." fattened it expressly for you.' life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of What do you deduce from it?" at my remark. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "Will you bet, then?" "9th. McCauley cleared. an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a danger is over." writer." "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a the station." discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America fattened it expressly for you.' he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "What office?" sufficient punishment." "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind unprofitable." "No." idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! presented more singular features than that which was associated that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "Never to return." fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." "Yes, there are nearly always some there." compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, shoulder. light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they shoulder. then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. "I never have." carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "Yes, it was twisted." My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of "Ha! you find it so?" "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We into the room. reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it "I see no marks." sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was and looked back. "What office?" but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, lids now and glanced across at his visitor. happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. in him." fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I "Which are?" dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "Were they all fastened this morning?" from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence once more for Briony Lodge. grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "And when will you call?" "Yes, from Horsham." before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel "One of his hands." even so self-evident a thing as that." should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, you understand?" nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa