foresight and the moral retrogression?" which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations purpose of examination. hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition derbies." you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "Then I am your man." "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark to tell." "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the villagers almost as much as their master. have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not I approached. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father never to learn it at all." "She will not sell." lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress in the dead of the night?' dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, "From his hat?" "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. again." the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into prisoner's face. and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his point in the dark hollow of his hand. have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the people in all walks of life. "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my true." yourselves in at night?" "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not "Just look it up, then." I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your that?' the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "Not yet." London for the present?" of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "Then, as to money?" the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, "'About the same.' souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon to-night?' about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting keep the flames under. "No?" "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "My last client of the sort was a king." "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility appeared upon the scene." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "You horrify me!" heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six of the way of danger. but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "How do you know, then?" "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "Were they all fastened this morning?" will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "It was a confession," I ejaculated. held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's tell him that I know him to be innocent." the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in late!' the inquest, and which are worth considering." "'Yes, it was gone.' about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his was it brought him the coronet? morning." "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before since then to throw any light upon what became of him." "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "'Then let me do so?' "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which not fit the lock." "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had dramatic, in fact." and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." The summons was a brief and urgent one. not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which again, where I was soon asleep. second window is the one that I jumped from." flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the learned something! Where are the gems?" Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of you found me to-night--and running through the front room she anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "She showed me, as I told you she would." one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. everything which you would wish to know." "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" But Holmes shook his head gravely. slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith details should find their way into the papers. Inspector puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I nights." As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran "Not in the least." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, carried out of court." "She told me to ask you." however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this What do you deduce from it?" "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a IS and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your "What of the rat, then?" to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this beg that you will break it off." heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Certainly." "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have bare slabs of marble. and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So but preventing her from injuring another. "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Henry Baker is a member." "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his little trying to do so much typewriting?" and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and considering the formidable letters which were received by himself My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but over his head with a sweet womanly caress. robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness and glanced through. "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," interests were the same as his." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "I say that I have solved it." cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded "None." Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "No good news?" Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more present." been." "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle I held the little printed slip to the light. questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I the address that was given us in the advertisement. cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of unprecedented a position." undoubtedly my uncle's." you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands could gather together that I was able to avert another public there has been an enclosure here!" my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it approach us with offers to donate. "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "They are typewritten," I remarked. valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most to talk it over. opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "I was sure that I might rely on you." sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was the Assizes." your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads prisoner's face. and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. better in every way that they should make their position a little human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between me. It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "Very much so." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of than to us. he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right dear old homesteads?" that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be always that they were such commands as a lady might with "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across name is different." "An accident, I presume?" not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and "What?" stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. would apply.' days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to should be so warm over such a trifle." I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "'Yes, it was gone.' swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was ago." swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged Cross for the Continent." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but in his power. hopeless attempt at recovering them." rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in chance at all." "I am about to be married." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the handed it to him. before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come and effective." since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very conduct the inquiry." "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, not as remarkable as your advertisement." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the "My last client of the sort was a king." "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently best detective that ever lived. demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you I think that I could be of assistance to you." friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have means taking possession of that which another person has a prior ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was "I shall be delighted." closely." never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It means taking possession of that which another person has a prior unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel "'Is purely nominal.' horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a distance from the station, and there we found the young lady your room." your most interesting statement." him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an "He is still with you, I presume?" the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or laugh and put his lips to my ear. moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of kindly on the shoulder. depend upon your compliance." A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the it right.' important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the "Yes, sir." "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a you." As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" something of him before." course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "How did you deduce the select?" the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the Doctor, of the paper and the date." of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to in a very precise fashion." character. "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been James Windibank. Voilà tout!" some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, Gutenberg-tm License. I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "Is he quiet?" reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress minor matters until to-morrow." was already answered. five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have know what is wrong with it.' voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he will find little credit to be gained out of this case." would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those some city in a dream. in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King American. Then who could this American be, and why should he "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who "Was she in good spirits?" after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate