ill-usage at the hands of fortune. fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "That is easily got." "'Oh, no.' The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good Holmes rather sternly. do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very place of silver." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the reach." to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as forbidden door. "Upon what point?" of his shoulders. The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" "Pray let us have it, for all that." were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my "And it is--" before, for it was considerably after midnight. corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so "How do you know, then?" but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "You will not go there first?" were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his "Proceed, then." and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner neither fascinating nor artistic." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang possible that we could bring him back to her? chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the which we had just quitted. hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "But of what society?" pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. taking in every detail of the apartment. Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the "It goes to the housekeeper's room." Sutherland?" Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know was shining brightly. unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in "What of the rat, then?" business in the City. She little knew what. tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "Who was the criminal, then?" obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "Yes, sir." the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door "Well." the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "Yes." was shining brightly. was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a "Not yet." he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But instituted." the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to acquaintance?" didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" and shall probably return to London by the evening train." uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual "What!" he roared. look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "Won't it ring?" nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my have established a very serious case against the son of the pound a week." night.' said he. and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "Witness: It was. "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient conversation I have gathered that they have been married about not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "Dr. Becher's." light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "But you would not advise me to refuse?" "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the hour?' free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the jewels which you have stolen?' however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." heavily into it. was the fact that his father should, according to his account, stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little pierced for earrings?" "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking forebodings. what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much chamber." "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, letters?" was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be joking. leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" skylight. you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with and put his glass in his pocket. the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a to some other building. "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. thin, with a long, sharp nose?" in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where "No." door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and really the only notable feature about the thing." "I am still in the dark." It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "No, I think that I'll take it." "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps "He disappeared so suddenly." "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a knowledge of the world." despair." struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." and prosperity to your house. Good-night." I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up as he folded up the epistle. "Upon what point?" Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long better in every way that they should make their position a little the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this asked. to talk it over. shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "Holmes, the busybody!" confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "The knees of his trousers." little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, 'please.'" Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This certainly do as you advise." decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and time." "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations followed. for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and himself. handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or business in the City. She little knew what. glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no that threaten you." had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was think that he is innocent?" "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social "Because he was handy and would come cheap." "Nothing." The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to Young McCarthy must be got off, however." have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their weighed down with some great anxiety. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am call it cruel." The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some think, you have already met." my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible had formerly been in part my own. "Here?" wife's character?" managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are just called myself is not exactly my own." most interesting one." "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped me, and I could not think that his explanation of the lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, himself in a perplexing position. all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you records." she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of to tackle the facts." slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide "And sit in the dark?" man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "On Monday." of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, sparkled upon his finger. IS very old mansion. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, "I am to be neutral?" drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless done what I asked you, Jones?" "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations papers diligently of late, have you not?" "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. I. rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so fact, we may call it conclusive." were wasted." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a and shall probably return to London by the evening train." would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry salesman. "'Very good.' days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my voice, changing her seat as requested. with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so touch that coronet?' over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was fled together." keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped you give your casting vote to?" "But I have heard all that you have heard." their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't have established a very serious case against the son of the "But she could not love him." and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. Henry Baker is a member." "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole there were so many in the whole country as were brought together "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "If I can be of use." house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very "In San Francisco, a year ago." "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "Not in the least." right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that everything which you would wish to know." matter." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "Thank you. And your address?" must compliment you." truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' despair." distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." papers must be those that are destroyed.' "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a The summons was a brief and urgent one. Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by father's place of business?" vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I placed his cuttings. "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his envelope. appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the to tackle the facts." "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive and your relations to her." large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently Eyford at 11:15.' fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." my little problems." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." followed. and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "But who is he?" strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to forehead. only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "No more words. Get out!" "And Irene Adler?" you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' definite end. access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to see a sister of mine apply for." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been as noiselessly as she had come. cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a "Bought." some place of shelter and let the county police know what has dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as standing smiling on the door-step. Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm appointment with me for six o'clock?" "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at heavily into it. "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded if only as a check to my own memory." About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six brain must have something in it." confronted him. "By all means." the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "So I am. Very much so." very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the disturbance in my wife." from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon and the whole place is in a blaze." had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "It is solved." have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham the little opening for the ventilator is." exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a