have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely waste of energy." painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler name is different." I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "No, finished." whether it answered to the description of any of their XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which the general public were present, then?" breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" "But she will refuse." advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. helping a boy to put up the shutters. reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. "Oh, fresh and glossy." he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at "Yes." "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was "Never." late." keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you believe that I should never have any practice at all. and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the get the tickets." accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the "There are none." month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." only touch the interest." I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of once more on the important position which you have been fortunate His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general voice, changing her seat as requested. "Come in!" said he. without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I morning." with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "I know where it is." lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' the Assizes." "And I." shag which I had seen upon the previous night. would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course Sholtos." absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "Where did you address your letters, then?" implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the over with notes and figures. never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "I am all attention, madam." "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "Yes, they were peculiar boots." and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the daring than any effort of the imagination." the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with retorted upon me, and I on you." I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found "How many? I don't know." weapon." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may to a more successful conclusion." low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." himself to hunt down. called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working girl said." ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I if only as a check to my own memory." "We must sit without light. He would see it through the out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the "Ah, but I was recommended to you." conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "'And the work?' "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "It is very clear." Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they States. carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might "But you were on a friendly footing?" down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. October 9, 1890. man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "So I have heard." "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about not within a twentieth part of the market price." rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the Have you good authority for what you say?" to have that photograph." "I was afraid that you were engaged." "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "No. His orders were to stay in the house." your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was see me here to avoid scandal." "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "Where, then?" My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled "It must be recovered." but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "She walked into the breakfast-room." "Dr. Becher's." really the only notable feature about the thing." Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "I say that I have solved it." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was trying to your nerves." sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has "Come in!" said he. Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the is entirely a question of barometric pressure." known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, chill to my heart. the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "Where, then?" conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, "You have but to name it." "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the know all about it," he snarled. Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon matters immensely." to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up "What have you to say now?" very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us been lifted and conveyed somewhere." look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. of Mr. Rucastle's." by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned more solid." my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of chill to my heart. acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "But how could you guess what the motive was?" Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "Perhaps we may make them less so." "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your was a loud and authoritative tap. His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts article?" "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson clanging. makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "'Where to?' Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "I have come for advice." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you your co-operation." former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "Witness: I must still refuse. town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new if I call to-morrow?" river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the what I may call a really hard day's work." there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and "How are you getting on?" especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you "None." Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. name is different." "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "Yesterday." feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "You think that he is dead?" thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide "The knees of his trousers." very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced "It was an hour's good drive." He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "None." do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a the south-west, I see." "But it has twice been burgled." ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out I nodded to show that I had heard. "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you even of instruction." there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE helping a boy to put up the shutters. opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, "Yes, sir." which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." night.' said he. firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking own family. "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. fatally injured? "What do you make of that, Watson?" active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "Nothing." pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of "Did your wife hear all this?" help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again absolutely follow my advice in every respect." other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the you?" "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be you." to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to "It is no ordinary one." as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is sit on the left-hand side of the driver." Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." companion. Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' married her." outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "You have a clue?" connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. of it with the greatest attention. at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography have had none more fantastic than this." "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "How do you know, then?" 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. nonsense.' follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I said he. resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, beyond words. when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "Pray let us have it, for all that." strong and stiff." Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a "You were travelling in the States?" broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" you for a few hours?" very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "It is very clear." that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his "Well." "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over this poor creature." handed it to him. "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "Why? What do you mean?" "Nothing." that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." I approached. this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. to affect your life." with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "His face fell immediately. "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of guilty one." "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a lamp. rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another your room." desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece get her out of the way." crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, as the one I chose?' "No more words. Get out!" handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that of it with the greatest attention. look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "But you can know nothing of this?" who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "But your client--" still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, nice household for a young lady." I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "By no means." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "Where, then?" have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "And why?" ready to-morrow?' were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" "And how in the world did you find them?" been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' vanished into the darkness. was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and other means.' "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "Absolutely none." his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and humiliation." table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing "Stoke Moran?" said he. something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the outbreak?" "That was it, sir." at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." photograph?" believe that I should never have any practice at all. and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against in this way: resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking