families. Now for the facts. "Did you observe the colour?" "It was." side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so go from here to the Strand." has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' arms and began to sob in a high treble key. quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project someone who had been in Australia." help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt more solid." abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. way in." Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And unprofitable." of campaign. for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a has little to do with my story." "May I see it?" There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "And why?" that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "Oh, fresh and glossy." "Not in the least." are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project it? Did I buy the geese off you?" him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody imbecility!" he cried. with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since "I beg pardon." As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the singular points about the case. What did the police think of the He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was later, upon the night of May 2nd." long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the easy-going way." human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the and prosperity to your house. Good-night." "Was he the only applicant?" to Leatherhead. "Ha! you find it so?" journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "The King of Scandinavia." "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at the inquest, and which are worth considering." much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as 1.E.9. He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London girl said." eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "What! Had he lost his wife?" do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my I was concerned in it." Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She closing the door. a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "It is to him that this trophy belongs." estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these someone who had been in Australia." all that?" abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A had formerly been in part my own. of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be weary and pale-looking. surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is "It is to him that this trophy belongs." will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we swore that no one else had been in the front room during the of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when "Indeed! Whose, then?" of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and six. Come in!" and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague James Windibank. Voilà tout!" "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "You heard nothing yourself last night?" branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. definite end. "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was leaning back in his chair. "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." "My Mary? Impossible!" The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. without a word or a look. I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "Have you it here?" that there was nothing in it, after all." "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout hour." Holmes' thin, eager face. it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "The best possible." "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman frequently gained my first real insight into the character of "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "At half-wages, in fact." loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. will not take me long to tell. Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "Entirely." do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "'Why that?' I asks. and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been fait accompli?" fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of records." "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the conclusions. dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "I have solved it." wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. Sutherland?" little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the horse could go." of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and was shining brightly. which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "Not particularly." "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and next day. another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he only touch the interest." "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them bird I ate is country bred." this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between Serpentine Avenue. heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to towards the blaze. heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of "'Is purely nominal.' of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "It was a confession," I ejaculated. distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly cigar and let me expound." cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "What?" Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." more terrible than the truth. the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "And help." imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever fat-encircled eyes. confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It notes," he said. that he will be back before evening." "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us breakfast." "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" for securing the situation." sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. points to suicide?" "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact into her hand at the door and which lured her within their have not had my rubber." say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the the so-precious time, but come!' to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at "Quite so. She has her freedom." mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you weary and pale-looking. lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed colour had been driven from his face. "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "Come in!" said Holmes. my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built really the only notable feature about the thing." have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' The note was undated, and without either signature or address. hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded "But she will refuse." "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, upon an income of about 60 pounds." of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a been able to understand it, in a very few words. child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who way in." introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "But what harm can there be in that?" office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. thirty. "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which any." "And I." "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" corner of the building. "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, "Your sister is dead, then?" young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk opened the door, and slipped through. slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two The King stared at him in amazement. case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black looking up at the numbers of the houses." "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, Stoke Moran." the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. during which he might have communicated with his friend the terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH three fields round his house, and there he would take his ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in skylight. "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time hair?' I. wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "I cannot think." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to that you wished to speak to me?' "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary that you wished to speak to me?' "Very much so." vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom to have that photograph." twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten business." Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were affair. prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of "Could he throw no light?" loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left sake, don't!" in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long of the efforts of the United States government and of the better Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this strength of mind to control. pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to "We were both in the photograph." same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an indeed happy." the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined breakfast." It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, crime." before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite "Nearly eleven." "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "One of his hands." demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in newspaper selections." you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "What of the rat, then?" happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove