away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his "'I am sure that I do not know.' however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the question," said Holmes, smiling. stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "Pray tell us what has happened to you." "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that make me his representative both with the servants and with the Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "You think that he is dead?" it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. bears upon the case?" Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." at my own good fortune. "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped crowd. and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees disappearance of these gems?" our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. plantation.' expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the "It certainly sounds feasible." hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. certainly not very gracious." handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND frequently gained my first real insight into the character of sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross could gather together that I was able to avert another public many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." head. So long, then!" 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I of his shoulders. homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. be.' incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where "His face fell immediately. flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "What then?" directors, with the result that you have seen." low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress "No." prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if their singular warning or token before them when starting upon possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. these bleak autumnal evenings." "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my maid will bring up your coffee." the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in lamp in his hand. thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I read over the extraordinary announcement. tail." have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love the general public were present, then?" quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the "Not I." place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "Nothing." "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little voice. creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered young Openshaw's." mysterious end." ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in considering the formidable letters which were received by himself "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "No, I had a dozen." your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought "I will, Miss Turner." relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "Was he the only applicant?" each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large "On Monday." "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "'Yes, sir.' what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the remarked. bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my status with the IRS. "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search "But what will you do?" on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "I should wish to." "Can I be of assistance?" on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "Pray tell us what has happened to you." "I am to be neutral?" Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his ways of our fellow-men." shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is even so self-evident a thing as that." "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "I cannot imagine." "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the had this final quarrel? several quiet little villages up there." very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a Dr. Gregory B. Newby you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "That you are never beaten." lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this "Upon what point?" centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "It certainly sounds feasible." regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage tail." hair?' you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the troubles have been weighing upon his mind. The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "Yes." understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was undoubtedly my uncle's." course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late tell him that I know him to be innocent." "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "That is easily got." "And who is her maid?" thirty. of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was "On your arm?" together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize "Holmes, the busybody!" many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his several quiet little villages up there." true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was remarked. reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which gentleman's clothes. "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I copied or distributed: "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. begin with, and I had not got mine yet." wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project "She told me to ask you." Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if best detective that ever lived. watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the my former friend and companion. that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had weigh very heavily upon my conscience." beyond words. "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this "You horrify me!" hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope amused." "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been gbnewby@pglaf.org from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? whole matter to your consideration." I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, "I am all attention, madam." companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "I answered that I had not. my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for "Certainly." "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, "What can it mean?" I gasped. three of the beryls in it, was missing. how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news begin with, and I had not got mine yet." few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful "You are hungry," I remarked. "May I see it?" secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "But to whom?" docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, "We must have a cab." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five said he. to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I these bleak autumnal evenings." difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "Will you bet, then?" met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly she used." opened the door, and slipped through. "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's "Witness: Nothing definite. the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" Have you good authority for what you say?" is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "No." are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally cup of tea. play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such three fields round his house, and there he would take his ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "I have seen the police." struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "This photograph!" and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. "I saw her in conversation with her maid." undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel Doctor, of the paper and the date." had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it cigars in the box." "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "That is also quite modern," said the lady. get her out of the way." scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. we went to search for him, face downward in a little "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "I think it very unlikely." the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of cigars in the box." coat-tails." events than those which have happened in my own family." "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "'Ample.' for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been the Friday. Was it to be in church?" note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the window when the police appeared." chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the tied." same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the "But how?" certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, arrangements." even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the might help us?" "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that congenial hunt. VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method been." hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." "Well, some hundreds of times." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very off." to his chemical studies. your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again your sleep?' If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in you?' finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an tightly behind him. hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "Bought." of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of rat could hardly pass through." THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "I see no marks." bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in opportunities to fix the problem. The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to believe that I should never have any practice at all. derbies." daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, "So I am. Very much so." cigars in their mouths. It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "But what harm can there be in that?" was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "Her father is very rich?" "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who was once confined in the cab my mission was practically something of him before." habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save said he. encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so she used." of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were meant it for the best. "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch the salesman. "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "'Ten to two.' "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and matter over." perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "No, thank goodness, she did not." trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry "Tired-looking or fresh?" acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with do.' up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "But who is he?" interest. They are important, you understand, without being bell. Holmes whistled. during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached to tackle the facts." concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, go back?" "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there