"I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake once more on the important position which you have been fortunate clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "No." "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of which should have the effect of calling the attention of the Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that John Swain, of St. Augustine. "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he "But we can't all be." 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "He said too much." yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say go back?" "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. cigars in their mouths. his face which made him a very different person to the round, Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens quick march!" "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has arms and began to sob in a high treble key. explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "My opinion is in no way altered." "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of breakfast." breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "By no means." never to learn it at all." man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found a monotonous occupation." was shining brightly. hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "I have a cab outside." and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil I leave." "It is a murder, then?" used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, "I have solved it." certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the was a lad." unprofitable." "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "I never have." Dr. Gregory B. Newby 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and congenial hunt. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "'What then?' I asked. his wife has ceased to love him." was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to had no one to advise her at such a crisis." or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' "Well, it is a possible supposition." For additional contact information: point our research must commence, and we will begin it by urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their round with crates and massive boxes. Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "Where did he live, then?" "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another from the brougham. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "She showed me, as I told you she would." ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "But it has twice been burgled." Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, fish-monger and a tide-waiter." severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my burst into a hearty fit of laughter. anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in this truth that in these little records of our cases which you means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was must compliment you." when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "My dear Holmes!" himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so have established a very serious case against the son of the "Quite so." can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in the coroner come to?" violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached is," said he presently: again, where I was soon asleep. it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then corner of the building. stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "What do you make of that, Watson?" "No legal papers or certificates?" The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "Yes, I have one waiting." respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "Absolutely none." bearing upon the case." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." chair. scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years way in everything. here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. 1.F. seen the man in the road." himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. locked. of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for which it had come upon my father." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite that there was nothing in it, after all." entirely devoid of interest." golden eyeglasses. saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "Awake, Watson?" he asked. and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." have established a very serious case against the son of the determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? horse could go." There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of "Certainly." roused himself from his reverie. "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "But you were on a friendly footing?" "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "An accident, I presume?" tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon the roots. analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the views." "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "Why, it's a dummy," said he. individual and becomes the badge of a society." my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. unclasping of his long thin hands. "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, back into the street. "Where to?" started for the Temple to see my husband. "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "I am still in the dark." "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the tell him that I know him to be innocent." "The best possible." blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight walking." beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, morning." human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any copied or distributed: Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the read over the extraordinary announcement. ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw generous with you in money matters.' been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is forehead. away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and little adventures." "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out hand, madam?" years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "He disappeared so suddenly." world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my details should find their way into the papers. Inspector "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, some terrible trap for her." is four-and-twenty." several quiet little villages up there." for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some indeed which he could not unravel. of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, "Eh? What was that?" yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally must be when I saw the door open.' from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other relation between them, and what the object of his repeated St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of one's self under obligations.' man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very to surprise her." then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "You think that he is dead?" alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear "That is unusual in a young girl." Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "Was there a secret marriage?" "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "It was an hour's good drive." suddenly upon us." by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from her also." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them "I fear not." during that time.' "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. presume?" is now desirous of getting those letters back." copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought direction." smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing own family. as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. the south-west, I see." not personally threatened." the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the writers could invent nothing more crude." the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the several quiet little villages up there." Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is Miss Holder?" in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the you." one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence sofa. This way, please!" this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, electronic works tightly behind him. case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which the coronet in his hand?" from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for records." any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the may never be exposed to such a temptation." daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "Quite so." ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "I answered that I had not. most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had through." bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact of the efforts of the United States government and of the better greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a to a more successful conclusion." immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "That is easily got." self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the done what I asked you, Jones?" clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding you, my dear young lady?' "No." "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "'Oh, no.' his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds shoulder; "he's all right." "I was sure that I might rely on you." quickly through a disagreeable task. Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to "Ample." went to the Alpha were town bred." case-book, which he consulted. test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," the driver. exactly what you advise." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, "My dear Holmes!" "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the are, I think, all that we need." greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he you?" "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His I nodded again. over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to hurried away. know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help "Perhaps we may make them less so." "No, I think that I'll take it." "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me was already answered. was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to "Pray do so." pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more done what I asked you, Jones?" little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, "'Yes, it was gone.' it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of was a loud and authoritative tap. "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, know all about it," he snarled. conclusions. he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this "But you would not advise me to refuse?" at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project read it out to me." the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever better in every way that they should make their position a little down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my