tail." preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "That is possible." I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as "My private note-paper." "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable the inner apartment." would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were lost his Christmas dinner." case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name it." submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "No." means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose I nodded again. and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to singular points about the case. What did the police think of the Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. in darkness. our word." at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His evidence," I remarked. mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, "But who is he?" face and glided from the room. face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to occurred." friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own page at http://pglaf.org London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the key turn in the lock." deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; "But how could you guess what the motive was?" society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "'Which dealer's?' "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "The doctor?" "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a Heh?' "That is possible." drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his instituted." Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a Pope's Court. buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "But you have hopes?" McCarthy's innocence. to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid your own bird, so if you wish--" "I do." the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. unprecedented a position." was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "No." "Yes, sir." for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." once more to my work. heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs away to you." home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled the general public were present, then?" even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and gbnewby@pglaf.org villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began extraordinary contortions. is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to cigars in the box." France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, just called myself is not exactly my own." in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed the matter." Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "And your father? Did you tell him?" one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, thirty. "And why?" case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "And from a noble client?" "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "'Oh, no.' and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate unprecedented a position." that?' "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person disturbance in my wife." sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did woman who has had her own way to make in the world. like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were "None." "No legal papers or certificates?" was a loud and authoritative tap. I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey into her hand at the door and which lured her within their 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may present." "She showed me, as I told you she would." read over the extraordinary announcement. made his money." "What can it mean?" I gasped. near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this the very morning of the wedding." myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable "I assure you that I am in your hands." herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from again." no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards to change my dress. standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "What I expected to see." "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on and prosperity to your house. Good-night." was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is colonel looking down at me. and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have foresight and the moral retrogression?" "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was "Where to?" massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood hour?' merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other the loss of it. "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, Foundation truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was impression behind it as though a window had gently closed touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the "I should wish to." "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, man. I know him from the photograph." old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door "I should wish to." have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. his knees, staring into the fire. have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, dead, shall be safe with us." Countess of Morcar's?" basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, triumphant cloud from his cigarette. the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you feature." "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. feature." you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe hand, madam?" "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the children over to America with him, so that I found myself without how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" upon an income of about 60 pounds." an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as to-night's adventure." are, and they are waiting for us." buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and "You saw the ventilator, too?" these bleak autumnal evenings." pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he but preventing her from injuring another. wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid considering the formidable letters which were received by himself lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very bill, which interests me deeply." "I don't believe it." access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from way: "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy 1.F. "Pray continue your narrative." will find little credit to be gained out of this case." has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a straighten it?" to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at this remarkable episode. which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the leave you to your papers for a little." lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, to a more successful conclusion." way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend it. right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly and no precautions can guard against." met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire "Was she in good spirits?" "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "How many? I don't know." repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "But how?" "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the something of him before." "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian unprecedented a position." wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a who was a member of your goose club." me, and I could not think that his explanation of the "What?" III. husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a again, where I was soon asleep. and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "No legal papers or certificates?" has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "One horse?" interjected Holmes. "Imitated." Clair, of Lee." "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly "It came here." laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my "It was a confession," I ejaculated. father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "Yes." brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could in this way: matter." chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the him nearly every evening." "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 jewels which you have stolen?' said he. instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune the devil!" "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him hand, madam?" "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such direction." face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his knowledge of the world." his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." "Why, what do you mean?" charged with?" The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, "What is it?" did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said "But who is he?" considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in burst into a hearty fit of laughter. companion. the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "Dr. Becher's." "Yes, but only for you and me." Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "What do you mean?" "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. been anything against him. He had for years been known as a He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning The telegram which we eventually received came late one night son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "You will not go there first?" American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were