daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He were new raised from a basin. too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the http://gutenberg.net/license). ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from that there was nothing in it, after all." "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "By no means." bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and bachelor.' little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, to-night?" I asked. interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I "And now?" He raised his hand. "How can you tell that?" "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of was feeling which was the fattest.' his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "By no means." contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he Watson," he said cordially. moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "What have you to say now?" All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, perplexity from it to my illustrious client. was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence retorted upon me, and I on you." slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' of Fenchurch Street." The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All "'Yes, sir.' it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock new duties?' All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss has little to do with my story." ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down gigantic client. incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "Pray do so." existence." sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my interest. They are important, you understand, without being conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" my former friend and companion. hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "How long did she speak to this Alice?" him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have keep the flames under. laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, highly," said Holmes. gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, I approached. than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which "And how have you succeeded?" the best of training." "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" fire. You quite follow me?" "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, peculiar to him. "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for nonsense.' prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at with frightened eyes at his accuser. presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "You forget that I know nothing about it." but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some these bleak autumnal evenings." crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is who was a member of your goose club." and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, off." the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a least a most suspicious remark." "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "But not more so than I to find you." society." "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "But what harm can there be in that?" companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official useful material for showing traces. The double line a little commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each here." The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "And how did he make his money?" effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar highroad, where all traces were lost. home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has business in the City. She little knew what. having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door DAMAGE. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what "'Never,' said I. say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until forecastle of an emigrant ship. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "What office?" to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." introspective fashion. "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. these bleak autumnal evenings." He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her correct than the official force." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, "About a month then." "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "Stolen." next day. went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless characteristics, but those are the more obvious." landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a remarked. "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. indiscretion." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would pierced for earrings?" Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return "But his left-handedness." matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the "To an end?" "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" second window is the one that I jumped from." just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down the Red-headed League." problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon fattened it expressly for you.' imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in of fine shops and stately business premises that they really home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the the house with me." and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. beyond words. "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been very peculiar words of the dying woman?" stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "'Certainly not. But why?' the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, "'Is 4 pounds a week.' "Always." began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two I took the paper from him and read as follows: "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the read over the extraordinary announcement. "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be have not had my rubber." Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This your own bird, so if you wish--" smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back it means?" this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as "It surprised me." sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. "They are typewritten," I remarked. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the tear off another piece?' "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the "But your client--" to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary lips." His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between "I should like to see him very much." imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me the iron safe, which he closed upon it. over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have character. at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with least a most suspicious remark." this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." his forehead." tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other chair. "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their McCarthy's innocence. the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and delighted to hear it," he said. leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "Nothing." "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." things are very often connected not with the larger but with the written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. stammered. window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "I cannot tell." and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know highroad, where all traces were lost. either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "Only as much as we can deduce." "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind figure." other means.' "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was disappearance of the bride.'" stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to seen the man in the road." never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." thirty. most interesting one." window when the police appeared." fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "No, I had a dozen." "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. lids now and glanced across at his visitor. other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking them?" on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly woven round him. would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "I am to be neutral?" "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man very old mansion. often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, relation between them, and what the object of his repeated the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double was feeling which was the fattest.' on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and questionable one." knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "Where, indeed?" "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. "What! a murderous attack?" as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful towards the blaze. where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his that "Eh? What was that?" go from here to the Strand." dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a if only as a check to my own memory." gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a "I have seen the police." where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he brain must have something in it." some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the green of the new foliage. his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in the station." from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself "Never." her also." "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask that?' familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There prepare for the new role I have to play." observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "I have my revolver," said I. order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the "And how?" soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email "By all means." "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was the stable lane now." the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his I took the paper from him and read as follows: importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." Mrs. Toller serenely. about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of forehead. know what is wrong with it.' a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred dear old homesteads?" Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "You think so, too?" push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 the devil!" But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in fasten all the windows?" tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had pound a week." had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." believe that I should never have any practice at all. "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" have I gained?" wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. ago." "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "'Yes, sir.' "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying "And on what day did he meet his death?" threw himself down with his face to the pillow. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he