to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "Perfectly so." "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a call for it in person on Monday morning.' in a very precise fashion." Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. "What, then, did Peterson do?" "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon mysterious end." "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to with you?" constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great to-morrow." natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "And I to find an enemy." It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, washing it down with a long draught of water. the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which definite end. other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking to tackle the facts." corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands "I will, Miss Turner." interest. They are important, you understand, without being the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "He is dead," cried several voices. "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the question. upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few if only as a check to my own memory." retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "No." housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the with frightened eyes at his accuser. "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission presented which may be striking and bizarre without being Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "I answered that I had not. hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the about. to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, them?" would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my just called myself is not exactly my own." "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were Literary Archive Foundation photograph a cabinet?" his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against yards of it?' was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it any." indeed which he could not unravel. fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. carpenter." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite fishes. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one entirely lost his self-respect." you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker "Very much so." suggested at once that there must be a communication between the painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "Of Friday, June 19th." dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? fat-encircled eyes. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad congenial hunt. "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they him to go away.' in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless he bowed and left the room without another word. "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I answered with a sidelong glance. than was visible to me." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper you, my dear young lady?' "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a "What is it, then--a fire?" your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." dates and names. "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled served to weaken the effect. "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. Heh?' there was no need for father to know." there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our good for you to do.' could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "That's no good." "Did he not advertise?" absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square For additional contact information: ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with trying to your nerves." matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in once more on the important position which you have been fortunate There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited at once, for I have only half an hour." of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, of it with the greatest attention. abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, "You have the photograph?" It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the and the church but not where the lady lived." the driver. guilty parties." "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "Murdered?" quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "What! Had he lost his wife?" there were so many in the whole country as were brought together in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in me have 200 pounds?' was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project that you saw all that I did." another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, October 9, 1890. "Perfectly so." I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he me have 200 pounds?' the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw stepfather?" nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us article?" "Very murderous indeed." "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman happened." income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "Precisely." and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check stepfather?" "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He evidence," I remarked. "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with returned to France?" "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." before, for it was considerably after midnight. of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "'What do you call purely nominal?' landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin geese which you supplied to the Alpha." unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "Frequently." "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of "And help." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular "My opinion is in no way altered." to a light-house. manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "How do you know, then?" the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it lost nothing by them." "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions The summons was a brief and urgent one. plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain Does that suggest anything?" across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "They are typewritten," I remarked. future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my village inn over there?" days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and wedding?" awaited us upon the table. He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a constraint." purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we cause to be." deduce something from that?" We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you "Certainly." He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "No." the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "I was mad--insane." rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided place of silver." off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. you found me to-night--and running through the front room she "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. said he. be.' case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, never to learn it at all." sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "'Which dealer's?' "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were there has been an enclosure here!" ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun young Openshaw's." used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "It is a murder, then?" last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." indiscretion." your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained key of the affair now." "I was afraid that you were engaged." up this clue while it is still hot." outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire without success. At last the little money which I had saved began room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled wall." "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of were unconscious?" to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at call it cruel." does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out "'A dozen yards or so.' for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. disturbance in my wife." analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' least a fellow-countryman. green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing tightly behind him. learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. bearing upon the case." "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "'In my own bureau.' are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement been able to understand it, in a very few words. outside." confronted him. "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I The summons was a brief and urgent one. will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own unprofitable." gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may awaited us upon the table. observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for stalked out of the room. skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it I have it here in my museum." reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "'Never,' said I. opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right what is your own theory as to what took place?" "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The had formerly been in part my own. be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case from you?" "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "I am all attention, madam." to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and Eyford at 11:15.' "A confidential servant?" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "She will not sell." was shining brightly. himself in a perplexing position. by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "How often?" advice." "9th. McCauley cleared. has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "And I say east," said my patient. "Yes." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for crime. furiously. "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square forecastle of an emigrant ship. there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the "BALLARAT." We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently