the stones. consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his investigation." breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old neither fascinating nor artistic." There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the them?" his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of dates and names. came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the carriage. It was a chestnut." ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "Witness: I must still refuse. in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be "I cannot imagine." "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about presented which may be striking and bizarre without being knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have "'Yes, I promise.' "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress "I should like to see him very much." base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "Of Friday, June 19th." "To an end?" "An accident, I presume?" was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that was a perfect sample of the class. good for you to do.' long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but careless servant girl?" very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was bill, which interests me deeply." My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." "You will not go there first?" once more. self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the "It is possible." his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up simple cases which are so extremely difficult." tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So friends, not even his own brother. "The King of Scandinavia." "Of what day?" VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "Witness: Nothing definite. gone. garden below. "I will try. What is it?" the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a "There is the writing." said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "'Quite sure, dad.' had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way shall not find me ungrateful." learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was "Never to return." sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, shall use the carriage to-night." here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, call for protection in the marriage market, for the present your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest been anything against him. He had for years been known as a know what is wrong with it.' caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "It is very kind of you." in him." "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "She walked into the breakfast-room." with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "You will not go there first?" "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the photograph?" "What is it?" not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving "I warn you that they are very incomplete." from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself begun to whiten, even as mine has." "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "At the wedding breakfast." "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I "So I heard. You have him here?" "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a telegram would bring me down to your help." Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "'I am sure if I had known--' of receipt of the work. I shall communicate with you." time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. some place of shelter and let the county police know what has arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton rooms." hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "Two days later this same performance was gone through under accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' "What I expected to see." master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the British peeress.'" course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. upon the shelf for the interim." twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. "Then I do not see the point." He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one guilty one." me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear sparkled upon his finger. forbidden door. "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single invisible to me," I remarked. had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a look upon these things in a different way." "So I heard. You have him here?" quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and place, I think that there is good ground to think that the morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that pictures, libraries, or plate. quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads as the one I chose?' has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are is entirely a question of barometric pressure." to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and about here speaks of his kindness to him." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's things are very often connected not with the larger but with the which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. of the way of danger. "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of rat could hardly pass through." stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "No." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to lumber-room." master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works read it out to me." brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser of it with the greatest attention. Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there spare." it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house signal between you and your father? passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was means taking possession of that which another person has a prior is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to to a light-house. of Mr. Rucastle's." "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would never to learn it at all." her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and "No, I think that I'll take it." at a side door. before the coroner and the police-court." "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch least a fellow-countryman. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "10th. John Swain cleared. material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to and your relations to her." was feeling which was the fattest.' "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness "You have but to name it." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "I am following you closely," I answered. "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, chill to my heart. the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said shall not find me ungrateful." swore that no one else had been in the front room during the Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "Was there a secret marriage?" the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my out." of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we out of this horrible affair." what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous out of this horrible affair." were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could "Indeed! Whose, then?" have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "How did you trace it, then?" man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, 'I should be able to look after that for you.' there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for point our research must commence, and we will begin it by Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project situation." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. your troubles." "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "And did you observe any change in her then?" professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, sooner or later she must fall a victim. "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "Certainly." useful material for showing traces. The double line a little It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his vague figure huddled up in the darkness. before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast it." in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "'Quite sure, dad.' tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "What, then, did Peterson do?" size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness "But I have heard all that you have heard." my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done absolutely follow my advice in every respect." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, writers could invent nothing more crude." young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before you." near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by go--none." morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that villagers almost as much as their master. "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of during which he might have communicated with his friend the great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover his forehead." He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the relation between them, and what the object of his repeated Surrey." brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the "'What would be the hours?' I asked. which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind DISSOLVED. "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. crime." for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "Pray tell us what has happened to you." known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "And did you observe any change in her then?" should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "At the wedding breakfast." have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as Literary Archive Foundation gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "At what time?" were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; legal crime." that?' spark where all is dark to me." A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. future lives." him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great locked." such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my true." severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they