Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed subject to the trademark license, especially commercial old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that sufficient punishment." possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and will be renamed. with the outside air!" would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom guilty parties." his forehead." that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while husband's writing, madam." and capable of preserving a secret.' and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "He is dead," cried several voices. public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a present." "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, definite end. though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to without success. At last the little money which I had saved began sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, waste of energy." I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our be. "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." skylight. as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this forecastle of an emigrant ship. docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A me where it went to?" "Her father is very rich?" we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can "That was it, sir." to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his father's place of business?" "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "In San Francisco, a year ago." disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I it." thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "But we can't all be." learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped "The Coroner: What do you mean? "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client it with his own hands." "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "Where, indeed?" appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm humiliation." summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." whatever might befall. "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her may never be exposed to such a temptation." "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such but preventing her from injuring another. "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "An enemy?" hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "That's no good." his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. think that any burglar could have done. much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend "By no means." Holmes' room. "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "'And what are they worth?' I asked. of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and once more on the important position which you have been fortunate characteristics, but those are the more obvious." order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with in my life." branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted "Where did he live, then?" suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "You have carte blanche." London for the present?" side. the inquest, and which are worth considering." other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction deduce something from that?" "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to bonnet, and went out." corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "Entirely." "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very ill-usage at the hands of fortune. had no one to advise her at such a crisis." mysterious end." there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this "No, distinctly professional." a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "What do you make of that, Watson?" "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with child?' other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her developed." stammered. the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "Oh, yes, easily." success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last death." "'And what are they worth?' I asked. XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES "But how?" But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "9th. McCauley cleared. asked with his eyes open. "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the this as likely?" sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the "So I heard. You have him here?" which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That tassel actually lying upon the pillow. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass with you alone." a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. was keenly on my guard against him. you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small you." "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, and I shall be with you presently." "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "It is no ordinary one." should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest in the port of London." voice. know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported papers must be those that are destroyed.' time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could reach." presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "And on what day did he meet his death?" the King without delay." "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." had picked up in the wood. paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, "No. His orders were to stay in the house." "Only as much as we can deduce." which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, meant." safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. and have this put in the evening papers." he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own tied." persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "So I have heard." "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had people in all walks of life. the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get became a certainty. in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that as this. Pray let me have the details." my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made the roots. in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to train from Paddington which would bring you there at about the general public were present, then?" bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small "And you don't know his address?" his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." cheerful." For additional contact information: "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one "No, distinctly professional." after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit a few minutes he said that it would be all right. crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between companion imperturbably. have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "Then he might have called to you?" is entirely a question of barometric pressure." "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are served to weaken the effect. London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were second." without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." to-morrow." "Stolen, then." "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "Perhaps I have." clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "And I." He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about the roots. The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak orange pips. you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must do.' "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic foot. follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost three fields round his house, and there he would take his "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "Then, how do you know?" my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop putting in the horse. inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's details should find their way into the papers. Inspector outside. a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "Your French gold?" "What do you make of that, Watson?" had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his promised to bring home. "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, address. Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' entirely devoid of interest." his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of following enigmatical notices: "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A "Seven!" I answered. questionable one." cigars in their mouths. unclasping of his long thin hands. James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, I held the little printed slip to the light. knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" any more." before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your existence." "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the the so-precious time, but come!' Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' "Of what?" been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "Yes." outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. you, my dear young lady?' sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan I leave." met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I I nodded again. could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was "On the contrary, this is the right side." The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and "'Oh, no.' twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "So I am. Very much so." "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet long narrative. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "It surprised me." "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring frequently gained my first real insight into the character of "I will get her to show me." he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not beyond words. a very grave face. "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's sit on the left-hand side of the driver." blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth "Was there a secret marriage?" Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is is a common subject for conversation. you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we did not hear it also.' know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, Mrs. Toller serenely. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible never came back." "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and "'What are you doing there?' he asked. the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes what do you think they found in the pockets?" "Then, as to money?" of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "And why?" certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "What is it, then--a fire?" the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the had died away into the silence from which it rose. the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main girl said." "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as hopeless attempt at recovering them." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush "Why? What do you mean?" his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a she used." pictures, libraries, or plate. style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the records." and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who asked. habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at guilty one." "How about poison?" "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if was it brought him the coronet? the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the his forehead." a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "Not in the least." happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over voice. overpowering excitement and concern. "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "That sounds a little paradoxical." deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a mysterious end." some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his begin with, and I had not got mine yet." saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by was once confined in the cab my mission was practically "But how?" on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "That was it, sir." companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange the nursery. dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and