yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he he died? begun to whiten, even as mine has." aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been "'Certainly not. But why?' "Did he not advertise?" awkward doing business with an alias." six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed Munro.' "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in "What of the rat, then?" your sleep?' together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good whereabouts. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "It must be recovered." thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "Certainly." public press." "Here?" destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very likely to be some crony of the landlady's." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." begin with, and I had not got mine yet." orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at out of this horrible affair." "Where to?" Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "How did you trace it, then?" "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, said I. whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "Then he might have called to you?" which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the before, for it was considerably after midnight. window when the police appeared." if she died from some sudden fright." full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an investigation." while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of go from here to the Strand." I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out in one or two places in England?' days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and Farm upon the left." Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a least a fellow-countryman. Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the DAMAGE. of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." During two years I have had three consultations and one small "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman http://www.gutenberg.net all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "Where, then?" 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive been with you?" "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went visitors." It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or was feeling which was the fattest.' safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to hour?' "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the matter." "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "I don't believe it." said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to "One of his hands." Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who matters immensely." "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid people in all walks of life. over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but nothing of it?" Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "You are all wrong." "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. true." the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "'There is a drive, then?' while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "He slept on the premises." into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, union?" order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." think, you have already met." following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of through." "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the that Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. could gather together that I was able to avert another public answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more have got?" "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if prisoner's face. and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the meant it for the best. other lovers by making love himself." view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these indeed which he could not unravel. "And why in hopes?" printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the was once confined in the cab my mission was practically the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing and prosperity to your house. Good-night." foresight and the moral retrogression?" The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge in a very precise fashion." used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, leaning back in his chair. my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the business." characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "'Why that?' I asks. "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." the coroner come to?" Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' troubles have been weighing upon his mind. you do it in twenty minutes!' this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of my room." bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had "And sit in the dark?" forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his "'What then?' I asked. course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. national property. I was determined that the law should have its Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little quick march!" individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a the bed, and you in that chair." "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." frequently gained my first real insight into the character of out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father "Stolen, then." "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the during that time.' hurried away. bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier would apply.' hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a "'Ten to two.' you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "'Most admirably.' "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has undoubtedly my uncle's." reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over ventilator." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring make me his representative both with the servants and with the exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "It was." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in "At what time?" compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon said he. "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 a very grave face. light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has remarked. as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "It is possible." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten your billet.' reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and "What, then?" his knees, staring into the fire. passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, once more for Briony Lodge. short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a intrusion of other matters." to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared bore every mark of being an average commonplace British Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now "'Yes, sir.' be sorry for having acted so harshly." reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the characteristics, but those are the more obvious." went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "And now?" He raised his hand. low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could that you wished to speak to me?' Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting that threaten you." he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." own family. shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "Awake, Watson?" he asked. stammered. quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it this man was intellectual?" myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "Nothing?" "I am armed." saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, at my remark. myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I fear." "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the forbidden door. empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have "She walked into the breakfast-room." We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the beg that you will break it off." on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden visitors." followed. "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "Where to?" words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he silent! Oh, he will be silent!' qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is be.' characteristics, but those are the more obvious." your bag." "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per "What! a murderous attack?" exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the characteristics, but those are the more obvious." up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it nonsense.' glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet "It looks newer than the other things?" blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must tightly behind him. valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "No, finished." was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could ventilator." "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would did not hear it also.' a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! our word." "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of right! Sit down and let us talk it over." his eyes and forehead. "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "At what time?" her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so some water from a caraffe. "And for present expenses?" customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as way: could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed