manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. the house with me." going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his which our visitor detailed to us. decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and good for you to do.' and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly at home. "I was certainly surprised to find you there." fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas past. his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "'You doubt its value?' he asked. entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is "He is still with you, I presume?" sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, status with the IRS. "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "Seven!" I answered. "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering floor. hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "Then you may be so with me." us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which went to the Alpha were town bred." McCarthy." send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler observed. This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another brought there to personate someone, and the real person is had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my conclusions. beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which she slowly sank and died without having recovered her chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very not within a twentieth part of the market price." other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "By no means." an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she is," said he presently: pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said "But I am all in the dark." "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND that threaten you." observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen "In what way?" asked Holmes. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me "I know where it is." there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "Thank you. And your address?" "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We "None. Neville wrote those words." stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently know that the truth is known." qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" little adventures." been." yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it "My dear Holmes!" wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new criminal. We have already had experience of such." "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and made his money." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "What can it mean?" I gasped. hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon attention." "My stepfather's business papers." Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed footfalls from the street. address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are of the way of danger. suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out daring than any effort of the imagination." their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no opened a pocket-book and took out a note. younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you "When did it break out?" eavesdroppers?' You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to the devil!" as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "Will you bet, then?" shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. "If I can be of use." quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. but preventing her from injuring another. danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely here and I will read it to you: stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of My friend smiled. it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now through." parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to opportunities to fix the problem. paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her "Precisely." his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to to you." THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE went to the Alpha were town bred." once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and gives a meaning to it." used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of handed it to him. letters?" particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which conclusions. The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face directors, with the result that you have seen." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I "'What, the red-headed man?' "Then, how do you know?" very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "So I am. Very much so." low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather "That is easily got." "Nothing?" with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his matter over." "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she "Certainly." "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "That is not always so easy." "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy vanished into the darkness. said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to to-night's adventure." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "Ample." business?" little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, generous with you in money matters.' arrested. You then--" he died? force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging matter over." burst into a hearty fit of laughter. confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you appeared upon the scene." noting anything else of interest. something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a suggested at once that there must be a communication between the repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main "It is no ordinary one." speckled band?" truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the was feeling which was the fattest.' that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second her also." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my disappearance of these gems?" particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a the one as in the other." "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as Leadenhall Street--and--" unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to done what I asked you, Jones?" noble correspondent could be. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "Thank you. And your address?" as he remarks, very much against the son." it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he ready to-morrow?' is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "Stolen, then." the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start the warnings." He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a did not hear it also.' had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers paper in the air. Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an redistribution. the roots. very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." forecastle of an emigrant ship. you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "It goes to the housekeeper's room." Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," attention." developed." important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "Stolen." to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he is worth.' was a loud and authoritative tap. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." nights." Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow "'Never,' said I. hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in third from London." For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which highroad, where all traces were lost. lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were pound a week." him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down good-night and bustled off upon her way. my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I the address that was given us in the advertisement. have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day Again Holmes raved in the air. I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, rose-bushes. separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, it right.' three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire breakfast?" "'What would be the hours?' I asked. Farm upon the left." "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, "No, distinctly professional." week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." sofa. This way, please!" assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he his grey eyes. suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange wall." "His face fell immediately. your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend through." For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight "I was certainly surprised to find you there." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried me what he had done with the three missing stones. "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. introspective fashion. a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he or in danger--" This is what he says: and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and out." the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. awkward doing business with an alias." imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as III. of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the this remarkable episode. "Yes, only one." on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental photograph a cabinet?" "What of the rat, then?" springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to you?' How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my gone. VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from conceal it?" which should have the effect of calling the attention of the lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon morning." should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but question," said Holmes, smiling. the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and of." purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "You saw the ventilator, too?" Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "But to whom?" have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped writer." case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I she used." nights." these bleak autumnal evenings." "Certainly." wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your desk. discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "How do you know, then?" standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, you in your example." her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you of receipt of the work. "But what will you do?" shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line DAMAGE. "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his with some details as to your case." Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should photograph?" friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were "I am sure." confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "'Certainly not. But why?' "Imitated." "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "And how in the world did you find them?" very old mansion. "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which "Pray do so." unclasping of his long thin hands. still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no "Absolutely?" arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." time." "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "But you were on a friendly footing?" "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes.