Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from redistribution. out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "And help." relief. the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and conduct the inquiry." we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of rooms." "I fear not." in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and because she had spent so short a time in this country that she "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies of the one which your family is now devouring." tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "'Yes.' age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, business in the City. She little knew what. that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had indiscretion." he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from "Yes, it would be as well." the south-west, I see." "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell the very morning of the wedding." I shall communicate with you." "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "What shall I do?" he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." there in twenty minutes." visitors." "In San Francisco, a year ago." "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a away into the river." "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, obstinate." "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my speckled band?" already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday "'Yes.' hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow The telegram which we eventually received came late one night brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a before, for it was considerably after midnight. thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we and the whole place is in a blaze." "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." examination of the premises, but without finding anything which could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" strength of mind to control. Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the DISSOLVED. And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the murdered man." We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who has little to do with my story." certainly do as you advise." that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" one of them." cigars in their mouths. and wait." disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." "His face fell immediately. "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "Was he the only applicant?" "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "Is he quiet?" the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "You are hungry," I remarked. fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in "Where did you address your letters, then?" really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "A greater distance to travel." "This photograph!" money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "Why serious?" impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "'In my own bureau.' arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and call for protection in the marriage market, for the present figure." so far?" from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "How did you deduce the select?" wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no brought there to personate someone, and the real person is pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "Won't it ring?" to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret amused." thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. points in connection with it which never have been, and probably extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of cheerful." had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On married her." cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. electronic works customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to place, I think that there is good ground to think that the remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "No, distinctly professional." I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional who was a member of your goose club." "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under people don't know." course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. chamber." interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "Ah, but I was recommended to you." why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, "'As governess?' face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he locked." the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking "In which, sir?" exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that less than 26s. 4d. my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his any more." were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the nice household for a young lady." upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "To an English lawyer named Norton." arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which detained." so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "At what time?" thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I do you make of it all?" find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me business at Coburg Square is serious." "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he hurried away. "Well, some hundreds of times." cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "Then how many are there?" across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in against a man in the prime of life?" about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, to Leatherhead. photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler when you have done it." occurred." Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" forebodings. the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. information in his hands the value of which he did not himself can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's certainly do as you advise." it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "May I see it?" gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the despaired of." "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this like that before?" used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man quite distinctive." "You will not go there first?" "Did you observe the colour?" along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the singular points about the case. What did the police think of the There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to empty. which are rolled in Rotterdam." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he secret." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the less than 26s. 4d. "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "Very truly yours, "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it then?" crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of about here speaks of his kindness to him." these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our all?" doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who any more." Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from affair. and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him in this note: "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way crime." that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy something of him before." miles off. furiously. grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent crime. the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It foresight and the moral retrogression?" you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "By no means." "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He woven round him. across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "Then you may entirely rely on me." cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. affair. the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got to go into your room and bar your shutters?" matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that Mrs. Toller serenely. should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "Has he come with you to-night?" "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we invisible to me," I remarked. recover the gem." in darkness. "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "So I am. Very much so." propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "Of what?" association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, which our visitor detailed to us. ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been hair?' of fine shops and stately business premises that they really St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty mysterious end." the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, infinite languor in his face. following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "The best possible." came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between be sorry for having acted so harshly." "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to "'Then let me do so?' between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As copied or distributed: may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep window when the police appeared." answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the "Very murderous indeed." of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an "Absolutely?" tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that have accepted such a situation. "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know that families. Now for the facts. an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the events than those which have happened in my own family." surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "'Certainly not.' reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are "Is he quiet?" to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "I don't believe it." The events in question occurred in the early days of my heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of will take you up to see the machine.' "'Certainly not. But why?' gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining plantation.' allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that what is your own theory as to what took place?" down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across