in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast "What, then?" description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from III. usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the you." "And the cigar-holder?" the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built come either from the window or the door. My attention was followed. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far "When did it break out?" thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this already referred to. round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "Yes, that is the Crown." returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my some water from a caraffe. way: initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "On your arm?" "In which, sir?" has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification front of the hall door has given its name to the place. really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and became a certainty. his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad thin, with a long, sharp nose?" cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "I have a cab outside." wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab Holmes' face clouded over. in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them place no limit on the sum I may draw." "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." one of the states of the Union." have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which "I will get her to show me." you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too Dr. Gregory B. Newby from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "But how?" God! What an exposure! What can I do?" wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the woman who has had her own way to make in the world. finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "That is easily got." will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping be there in time for your coming." a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be signal between you and your father? judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love business." have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "Who was the criminal, then?" written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor the south-west, I see." it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "None. Neville wrote those words." shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "You have it, sir, just as it happened." impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My skylight. "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I be there in time for your coming." it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As main points of my analysis." from the brougham. "Proceed, then." conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "Ah, but I was recommended to you." your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with corner of the building. "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am more solid." daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which with frightened eyes at his accuser. flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "My dear Holmes!" particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you "Deserted you?" "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right "Yes, but only for you and me." rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "That also I could fathom." leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It is so. I know all about McCarthy." abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the my former friend and companion. force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It bears upon the case?" "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "What steps will you take?" I asked. his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in think that any burglar could have done. course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a of receipt of the work. I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "And how did you find out?" habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I The summons was a brief and urgent one. whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. orange pips. would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "How about poison?" turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this gentleman's clothes. "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the politicians who had been sent down from the North. "Which surely he restored to their owner?" quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought be there in time for your coming." vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more questionable one." "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" husband's writing, madam." Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at both be extremely obliged.' collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no bill, which interests me deeply." jewels which you have stolen?' upon an income of about 60 pounds." "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my them present such singular features as the strange train of "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "Very. But will he see it?" methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "Quite so." especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of 'please.'" opened a pocket-book and took out a note. came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "'You cannot say what it was?' which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months that he will be back before evening." records." "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have situation." not, dad?" she asked. with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." Serpentine Avenue. "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the breakfast and whispered something to her husband. man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "Then he might have called to you?" "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "At what time?" have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's again." shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he any more." family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. Henry Baker is a member." foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much south, for the country is more deserted there." hour." residence of the great financier. father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "Then, how do you know?" into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything "Then he might have called to you?" winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case strong and stiff." connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in "Now, then, what's the last entry?" that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "Seven!" I answered. with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project strong reason behind." more terrible than the truth. "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about your only hope of safety." diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent business." do.' understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in in this note: "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me characteristics, but those are the more obvious." "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "Why did you beat the pavement?" began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "Holmes, the busybody!" has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from question you as to those details which seem to me to be most this unhappy family?" precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the "But it has twice been burgled." logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." the coronet in his hands?" web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house place, I think that there is good ground to think that the open." "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "'Is 4 pounds a week.' details should find their way into the papers. Inspector as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out who was a member of your goose club." empty. saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold death." beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" have established a very serious case against the son of the "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "And now?" I asked. Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "Well, it is a possible supposition." room. twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "Then how many are there?" to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are straighten it?" eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that towards the blaze. the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which "What have you done?" asked Holmes. research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger was a perfect sample of the class. that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was the iron safe, which he closed upon it. jewels which you have stolen?' the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "Quite so. She has her freedom." handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare Sutherland?" some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. "And from a noble client?" "Yes." doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. awaited us upon the table. enough to aid us in our search." it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's "And is that all?" we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. beg that you will break it off." pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been companion. drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' stammered. borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or away into the river." "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "It's nothing of the kind." room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the "'A dozen yards or so.' would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "No. His orders were to stay in the house." editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird said he. lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "Two days later this same performance was gone through under Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the a very grave face. "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" room?" bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" my friend's incisive reasoning. help us in this matter." donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over meanly of me." employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten