endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the compunction about shooting them down." news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small room. a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring means taking possession of that which another person has a prior My friend smiled. had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower discontent upon his features. fait accompli?" could not have written that. It is the German who is so unclasping of his long thin hands. who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying "I never have." "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that he bowed and left the room without another word. he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE the salesman. although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its confronted him. way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. prove to be little relation between the different incidents of friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "What is it, then--a fire?" "One?" "That is it on the dressing-table." confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be and files of the old papers, following the future career of every to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight "My opinion is in no way altered." locked. dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "You are hungry," I remarked. Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a room. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to crime. "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "Do you receive much company?" he asked. closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing "I think that it is very probable." a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "I am armed." Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "Yes?" hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the "What is it, then--a fire?" the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet his huge brown hands. but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall became a certainty. there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but assist you in forming an opinion." He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. "Oh, yes, easily." Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was mysterious business." has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, "I am about to be married." questionable one." purpose equally well?" "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at was a perfect sample of the class. obstinate." having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who with you alone." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "At half-wages, in fact." Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. Have you good authority for what you say?" and I shall be with you presently." pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? present." "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always the warnings." John Swain, of St. Augustine. "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. room. Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with more solid." was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he reach." were new raised from a basin. papers must be those that are destroyed.' a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." society." salesman. fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in peculiar to him. the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save infinite languor in his face. themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "'Then let me do so?' remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." security.' these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The Gutenberg-tm License. to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I floor. "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, next day. however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town "'Most admirably.' "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "Yes, the wine-cellar." even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come next day. Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had grasp, he hurried from the room. "Yes, the wine-cellar." during which he might have communicated with his friend the you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? shaken than I had ever seen him. which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most indeed happy." found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." became a certainty. "By train from Waterloo." room?" "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence and put his glass in his pocket. Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in "Well, some hundreds of times." tell me that you intended to go into harness." and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their would then never go into court at all." "Very murderous indeed." are windows in it, of course?" "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried infinite languor in his face. the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. "We must sit without light. He would see it through the same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, "My own seal." kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "Were they all fastened this morning?" rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed most interesting one." I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in once more. "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his some water from a caraffe. husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she morning." "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must His name is Francis Prosper." "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "My dear Holmes!" we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I me what he had done with the three missing stones. zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather closing the door. very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "'Yes.' would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a "And Irene Adler?" salesman. "'Tell me all about it,' said I. Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too long narrative. you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united people don't know." in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that "But how?" power." something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy detective. husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business "Texas, I think." his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed Farm upon the left." the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning what is your own theory as to what took place?" "Certainly, madam." "'Certainly not. But why?' that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with brain must have something in it." "I was afraid that you were engaged." furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but Farm upon the left." "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, sound at heart." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. things are very often connected not with the larger but with the family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel States. garden below. travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "Yes." broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither will be renamed. pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary chance at all." ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the depend upon your compliance." so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were within hail.' myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "A call for help, you thought?" judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this good-night and bustled off upon her way. "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' up this clue while it is still hot." occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which "I think it very unlikely." the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for which I could not give. He asked for Alice. and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "You horrify me!" more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the sake, don't!" drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to chemical work which was so dear to him. arms and began to sob in a high treble key. everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold less than 26s. 4d. Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, "Where, then, is my wife?" In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw ourselves in the office." "'Most admirably.' so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his with her." "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door sooner or later she must fall a victim. attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his at once, for I have only half an hour." "My Mary? Impossible!" a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "'And the work?' has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far without a word or a look. Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. that the gas is not laid on in his house?" I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "We must have a cab." him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses only touch the interest." villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. to-night?' alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was drawing your inferences." heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think "And your mother is alive?" visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss generous with you in money matters.' charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough green of the new foliage. "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the late!' kindly on the shoulder. forehead. there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "'Is purely nominal.' "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "'How far from the body?' considering the formidable letters which were received by himself the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I events than those which have happened in my own family." in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste business came to an end." "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but "A client, then?" "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his October 9, 1890. dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "'Very good.' Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her father's place of business?" "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "It is no ordinary one." roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and questioning and rather startled gaze. "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "I should wish to." "I guessed as much." safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to client, rising. hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my "I think that I had better go, Holmes." and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up ago." deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we