discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds distance from the station, and there we found the young lady he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your friends, not even his own brother. blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want ill-usage at the hands of fortune. Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside status with the IRS. to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "That also I could fathom." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our nonsense.' that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their appointment with me for six o'clock?" "But you would not advise me to refuse?" 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, "'Yes, sir.' "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take singular points about the case. What did the police think of the friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "Certainly." "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "No, thank goodness, she did not." the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "What then?" that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand behind me. lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon "In what way?" asked Holmes. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that American. Then who could this American be, and why should he almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' where we are going." foresight and the moral retrogression?" "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me appeared upon the scene." hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "'Very good.' "Do you receive much company?" he asked. The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "He might." John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged threw himself down with his face to the pillow. circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared "But she will refuse." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have dramatic, in fact." "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes nothing with him." burst out into a roar of laughter. "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "'Where could I find him?' in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "Is he quiet?" fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent was feeling which was the fattest.' young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "I have solved it." "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, thirty. all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he three of the beryls in it, was missing. the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. "'Quite sure, dad.' business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying forebodings. fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the been lifted and conveyed somewhere." a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and "I cannot imagine." of the efforts of the United States government and of the better Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! "I am sure." he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which and looked back. his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "What! a murderous attack?" arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. "But the mystery?" fluttered off among the others. yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and this poor creature." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived the best of training." walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular cup of tea. finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. upon the white wrist. at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "'Oh, no.' "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, legal crime." and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine situation." upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." invisible to me," I remarked. began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a present." home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was the so-precious time, but come!' "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "It is half-past ten now." broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed the bottom.' look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it key turn in the lock." "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "'What do you call purely nominal?' labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his "Yes." When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be "And is that all?" his wife has ceased to love him." to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a your bag." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four "None." Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell instincts rose up against that laugh. what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I within hail.' ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." not use it unless it is absolutely needed." occurred." with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "Where did you address your letters, then?" ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to records." established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my business came to an end." corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before once more to my work. forecastle of an emigrant ship. that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another "'Entirely.' "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked had picked up in the wood. Pope's Court, Fleet Street." as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the instincts rose up against that laugh. scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the "I have a cab outside." upon the shelf for the interim." and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from now. It seems that there had been some informality about their where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and within hail.' the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast swore that no one else had been in the front room during the little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. o'clock is it?" "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and of receipt of the work. would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over "A call for help, you thought?" screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "I have come for advice." skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "I would pay ten." think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a hour." "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had to affect your life." morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the most interesting one." "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. yourselves in at night?" As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. "In the cells." gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" spare." "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." little trying to do so much typewriting?" "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "Quite so. She has her freedom." "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for fatally injured? wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the his huge brown hands. "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant straighten it?" detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily you for a few hours?" pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before had this final quarrel? delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that "It is possible." "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "You are all wrong." bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his murdered man." may have an influence upon European history." lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my the coroner come to?" so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned before the coroner and the police-court." "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through chance." "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "But not more so than I to find you." threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after intrusion of other matters." the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "Here?" "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "In what way?" asked Holmes. the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled lamp. it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency that he will be back before evening." heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "Come in!" said Holmes. red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to "And now?" I asked. complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he of your young ladies.' daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic enter Dr. Roylott's room." and files of the old papers, following the future career of every of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that mystery may be cleared along those lines." only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "I think that I had better go, Holmes." expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "Of Friday, June 19th." crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the "I would give my fortune to have them back." impression behind it as though a window had gently closed then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down "Well, some hundreds of times." Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with mysterious end." "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I "Nothing?" "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "But his left-handedness." it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "'Not at all. I only doubt--' to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the lumber-room." stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The hour." over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society Project Gutenberg-tm works. while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out see me here to avoid scandal." find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in sneer upon his pale face. even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, already referred to. "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not The police have openly confessed that they can at present make given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof "My opinion is in no way altered." I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, made him keep the appointment." "You think that he is dead?" the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in gone before you can get him to hospital." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." touch that coronet?' "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly