LSTM_predictor.ipynb

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  "metadata": {
    "colab": {
      "provenance": []
    },
    "kernelspec": {
      "name": "python3",
      "display_name": "Python 3"
    },
    "language_info": {
      "name": "python"
    }
  },
  "cells": [
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        " # Downloading Dataset from Kaggle"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "yuiKDZzwaobj"
      },
      "execution_count": 3,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "markdown",
      "source": [
        "**bold text**"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "k6wpsXKJa0D2"
      }
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "markdown",
      "source": [],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "MJ_18kRTao8i"
      }
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "execution_count": 4,
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/"
        },
        "id": "9vt33RTbY9TJ",
        "outputId": "71e26fc7-abb0-4313-e867-0468c9678925"
      },
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "stream",
          "name": "stdout",
          "text": [
            "Path to dataset files: /root/.cache/kagglehub/datasets/muhammadbilalhaneef/sherlock-holmes-next-word-prediction-corpus/versions/1\n"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "source": [
        "import kagglehub\n",
        "\n",
        "# Download latest version\n",
        "path = kagglehub.dataset_download(\"muhammadbilalhaneef/sherlock-holmes-next-word-prediction-corpus\")\n",
        "\n",
        "print(\"Path to dataset files:\", path)"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "import tensorflow\n",
        "from tensorflow.keras.preprocessing.text import Tokenizer\n",
        "from tensorflow.keras.layers import Embedding,LSTM, Dense\n",
        "from tensorflow.keras.models import Sequential\n",
        "from tensorflow.keras.utils import to_categorical\n",
        "from tensorflow.keras.optimizers import Adam\n",
        "import pickle\n",
        "import numpy as np\n",
        "import os"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "ABFt4KiWZup_"
      },
      "execution_count": 5,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "import os\n",
        "print(os.listdir(path))\n",
        "dataset = os.path.join(path,'Sherlock Holmes.txt')\n",
        "print(dataset)"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/"
        },
        "id": "bxNfOJuFbMYj",
        "outputId": "a1574e92-acc6-440e-f728-9eadd06a0547"
      },
      "execution_count": 6,
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "stream",
          "name": "stdout",
          "text": [
            "['Sherlock Holmes.txt']\n",
            "/root/.cache/kagglehub/datasets/muhammadbilalhaneef/sherlock-holmes-next-word-prediction-corpus/versions/1/Sherlock Holmes.txt\n"
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "with open(dataset,'r',encoding=\"utf8\") as file:\n",
        "  data = file.read()\n",
        "print(data)"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/"
        },
        "collapsed": true,
        "id": "gbHSszpTbOy7",
        "outputId": "c59d9cc4-522b-43e1-fc82-b72ebf2cf294"
      },
      "execution_count": 7,
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "stream",
          "name": "stdout",
          "text": [
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                        THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES\n",
            "\n",
            "                               Arthur Conan Doyle\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                                Table of contents\n",
            "\n",
            "               A Scandal in Bohemia\n",
            "               The Red-Headed League\n",
            "               A Case of Identity\n",
            "               The Boscombe Valley Mystery\n",
            "               The Five Orange Pips\n",
            "               The Man with the Twisted Lip\n",
            "               The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle\n",
            "               The Adventure of the Speckled Band\n",
            "               The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb\n",
            "               The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor\n",
            "               The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet\n",
            "               The Adventure of the Copper Beeches\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                              A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                                Table of contents\n",
            "                                     Chapter 1\n",
            "                                     Chapter 2\n",
            "                                     Chapter 3\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "          CHAPTER I\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "     To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him\n",
            "     mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and\n",
            "     predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any\n",
            "     emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one\n",
            "     particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably\n",
            "     balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and\n",
            "     observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would\n",
            "     have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer\n",
            "     passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things\n",
            "     for the observer--excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives\n",
            "     and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions\n",
            "     into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to\n",
            "     introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his\n",
            "     mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of\n",
            "     his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong\n",
            "     emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to\n",
            "     him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and\n",
            "     questionable memory.\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away\n",
            "     from each other. My own complete happiness, and the home-centred\n",
            "     interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master\n",
            "     of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention,\n",
            "     while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole\n",
            "     Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among\n",
            "     his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and\n",
            "     ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his\n",
            "     own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study\n",
            "     of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers\n",
            "     of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those\n",
            "     mysteries which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official\n",
            "     police. From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings:\n",
            "     of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his\n",
            "     clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at\n",
            "     Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so\n",
            "     delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland.\n",
            "     Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely shared\n",
            "     with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of my former\n",
            "     friend and companion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was returning\n",
            "     from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to civil\n",
            "     practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I passed the\n",
            "     well-remembered door, which must always be associated in my mind with\n",
            "     my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was\n",
            "     seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again, and to know how he was\n",
            "     employing his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit,\n",
            "     and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in\n",
            "     a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly,\n",
            "     eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped\n",
            "     behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude\n",
            "     and manner told their own story. He was at work again. He had risen\n",
            "     out of his drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new\n",
            "     problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which had\n",
            "     formerly been in part my own.\n",
            "\n",
            "     His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I think,\n",
            "     to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved\n",
            "     me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a\n",
            "     spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he stood before the\n",
            "     fire and looked me over in his singular introspective fashion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Wedlock suits you,\" he remarked. \"I think, Watson, that you have put\n",
            "     on seven and a half pounds since I saw you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Seven!\" I answered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, I\n",
            "     fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not tell me\n",
            "     that you intended to go into harness.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, how do you know?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting\n",
            "     yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and\n",
            "     careless servant girl?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear Holmes,\" said I, \"this is too much. You would certainly have\n",
            "     been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true that I had\n",
            "     a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as I\n",
            "     have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary\n",
            "     Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice, but\n",
            "     there, again, I fail to see how you work it out.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is simplicity itself,\" said he; \"my eyes tell me that on the\n",
            "     inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the\n",
            "     leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have\n",
            "     been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the\n",
            "     edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you\n",
            "     see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and\n",
            "     that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the\n",
            "     London slavey. As to your practice, if a gentleman walks into my\n",
            "     rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of silver\n",
            "     upon his right forefinger, and a bulge on the right side of his\n",
            "     top-hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I must be\n",
            "     dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce him to be an active member of the\n",
            "     medical profession.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his\n",
            "     process of deduction. \"When I hear you give your reasons,\" I\n",
            "     remarked, \"the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously\n",
            "     simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive\n",
            "     instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your\n",
            "     process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so,\" he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself\n",
            "     down into an armchair. \"You see, but you do not observe. The\n",
            "     distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps\n",
            "     which lead up from the hall to this room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Frequently.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How often?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, some hundreds of times.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then how many are there?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How many? I don't know.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just\n",
            "     my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have\n",
            "     both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are interested in these\n",
            "     little problems, and since you are good enough to chronicle one or\n",
            "     two of my trifling experiences, you may be interested in this.\" He\n",
            "     threw over a sheet of thick, pink-tinted note-paper which had been\n",
            "     lying open upon the table. \"It came by the last post,\" said he. \"Read\n",
            "     it aloud.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The note was undated, and without either signature or address.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight o'clock,\"\n",
            "     it said, \"a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a matter of the\n",
            "     very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of the royal houses\n",
            "     of Europe have shown that you are one who may safely be trusted with\n",
            "     matters which are of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated.\n",
            "     This account of you we have from all quarters received. Be in your\n",
            "     chamber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss if your visitor\n",
            "     wear a mask.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This is indeed a mystery,\" I remarked. \"What do you imagine that it\n",
            "     means?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one\n",
            "     has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories,\n",
            "     instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. What do you\n",
            "     deduce from it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was\n",
            "     written.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The man who wrote it was presumably well to do,\" I remarked,\n",
            "     endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. \"Such paper could\n",
            "     not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly strong\n",
            "     and stiff.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Peculiar--that is the very word,\" said Holmes. \"It is not an English\n",
            "     paper at all. Hold it up to the light.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I did so, and saw a large \"E\" with a small \"g,\" a \"P,\" and a large\n",
            "     \"G\" with a small \"t\" woven into the texture of the paper.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What do you make of that?\" asked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for 'Gesellschaft,'\n",
            "     which is the German for 'Company.' It is a customary contraction like\n",
            "     our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let\n",
            "     us glance at our Continental Gazetteer.\" He took down a heavy brown\n",
            "     volume from his shelves. \"Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is\n",
            "     in a German-speaking country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad.\n",
            "     'Remarkable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for\n",
            "     its numerous glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what\n",
            "     do you make of that?\" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue\n",
            "     triumphant cloud from his cigarette.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The paper was made in Bohemia,\" I said.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you note\n",
            "     the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of you we\n",
            "     have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian could not\n",
            "     have written that. It is the German who is so uncourteous to his\n",
            "     verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover what is wanted by this\n",
            "     German who writes upon Bohemian paper and prefers wearing a mask to\n",
            "     showing his face. And here he comes, if I am not mistaken, to resolve\n",
            "     all our doubts.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and grating\n",
            "     wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the bell. Holmes\n",
            "     whistled.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A pair, by the sound,\" said he. \"Yes,\" he continued, glancing out of\n",
            "     the window. \"A nice little brougham and a pair of beauties. A hundred\n",
            "     and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in this case, Watson, if\n",
            "     there is nothing else.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that I had better go, Holmes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell.\n",
            "     And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But your client--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he comes.\n",
            "     Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best attention.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and in\n",
            "     the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there was a\n",
            "     loud and authoritative tap.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Come in!\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six\n",
            "     inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His dress\n",
            "     was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked upon as\n",
            "     akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed across the\n",
            "     sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the deep blue\n",
            "     cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with\n",
            "     flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch which\n",
            "     consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended halfway up\n",
            "     his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur,\n",
            "     completed the impression of barbaric opulence which was suggested by\n",
            "     his whole appearance. He carried a broad-brimmed hat in his hand,\n",
            "     while he wore across the upper part of his face, extending down past\n",
            "     the cheekbones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted\n",
            "     that very moment, for his hand was still raised to it as he entered.\n",
            "     From the lower part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong\n",
            "     character, with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin\n",
            "     suggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You had my note?\" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a strongly\n",
            "     marked German accent. \"I told you that I would call.\" He looked from\n",
            "     one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to address.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray take a seat,\" said Holmes. \"This is my friend and colleague,\n",
            "     Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my cases.\n",
            "     Whom have I the honour to address?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. I\n",
            "     understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour and\n",
            "     discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most extreme\n",
            "     importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate with you\n",
            "     alone.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me back\n",
            "     into my chair. \"It is both, or none,\" said he. \"You may say before\n",
            "     this gentleman anything which you may say to me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. \"Then I must begin,\" said he,\n",
            "     \"by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at the end of\n",
            "     that time the matter will be of no importance. At present it is not\n",
            "     too much to say that it is of such weight it may have an influence\n",
            "     upon European history.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I promise,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And I.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will excuse this mask,\" continued our strange visitor. \"The\n",
            "     august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to you,\n",
            "     and I may confess at once that the title by which I have just called\n",
            "     myself is not exactly my own.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was aware of it,\" said Holmes dryly.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution has to\n",
            "     be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense scandal and\n",
            "     seriously compromise one of the reigning families of Europe. To speak\n",
            "     plainly, the matter implicates the great House of Ormstein,\n",
            "     hereditary kings of Bohemia.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was also aware of that,\" murmured Holmes, settling himself down in\n",
            "     his armchair and closing his eyes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid,\n",
            "     lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him as\n",
            "     the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. Holmes\n",
            "     slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his gigantic\n",
            "     client.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If your Majesty would condescend to state your case,\" he remarked,\n",
            "     \"I should be better able to advise you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in\n",
            "     uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he\n",
            "     tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. \"You are\n",
            "     right,\" he cried; \"I am the King. Why should I attempt to conceal\n",
            "     it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why, indeed?\" murmured Holmes. \"Your Majesty had not spoken before I\n",
            "     was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von\n",
            "     Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and hereditary King of\n",
            "     Bohemia.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But you can understand,\" said our strange visitor, sitting down once\n",
            "     more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, \"you can\n",
            "     understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in my own\n",
            "     person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not confide it to\n",
            "     an agent without putting myself in his power. I have come incognito\n",
            "     from Prague for the purpose of consulting you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, pray consult,\" said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a lengthy\n",
            "     visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known\n",
            "     adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor,\" murmured Holmes without\n",
            "     opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of docketing\n",
            "     all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it was difficult to\n",
            "     name a subject or a person on which he could not at once furnish\n",
            "     information. In this case I found her biography sandwiched in between\n",
            "     that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had written\n",
            "     a monograph upon the deep-sea fishes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Let me see!\" said Holmes. \"Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year 1858.\n",
            "     Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera of\n",
            "     Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in London--quite\n",
            "     so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young\n",
            "     person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desirous of\n",
            "     getting those letters back.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely so. But how--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Was there a secret marriage?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No legal papers or certificates?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should\n",
            "     produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is she to\n",
            "     prove their authenticity?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is the writing.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pooh, pooh! Forgery.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My private note-paper.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Stolen.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My own seal.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Imitated.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My photograph.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Bought.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We were both in the photograph.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an\n",
            "     indiscretion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was mad--insane.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have compromised yourself seriously.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It must be recovered.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We have tried and failed.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She will not sell.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Stolen, then.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked her\n",
            "     house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice she has\n",
            "     been waylaid. There has been no result.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No sign of it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Absolutely none.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes laughed. \"It is quite a pretty little problem,\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But a very serious one to me,\" returned the King reproachfully.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the photograph?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To ruin me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But how?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am about to be married.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So I have heard.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the King\n",
            "     of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her family. She\n",
            "     is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt as to my\n",
            "     conduct would bring the matter to an end.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And Irene Adler?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I know\n",
            "     that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul of\n",
            "     steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind\n",
            "     of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another\n",
            "     woman, there are no lengths to which she would not go--none.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are sure that she has not sent it yet?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am sure.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And why?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the\n",
            "     betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, then we have three days yet,\" said Holmes with a yawn. \"That is\n",
            "     very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to look\n",
            "     into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in London\n",
            "     for the present?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the\n",
            "     Count Von Kramm.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, as to money?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have carte blanche.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Absolutely?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom to\n",
            "     have that photograph.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And for present expenses?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak and\n",
            "     laid it on the table.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in notes,\"\n",
            "     he said.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and handed\n",
            "     it to him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And Mademoiselle's address?\" he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes took a note of it. \"One other question,\" said he. \"Was the\n",
            "     photograph a cabinet?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon have\n",
            "     some good news for you. And good-night, Watson,\" he added, as the\n",
            "     wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. \"If you will be\n",
            "     good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three o'clock I should\n",
            "     like to chat this little matter over with you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "          CHAPTER II\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "     At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had not\n",
            "     yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the house\n",
            "     shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down beside the\n",
            "     fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, however long he\n",
            "     might be. I was already deeply interested in his inquiry, for, though\n",
            "     it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange features which were\n",
            "     associated with the two crimes which I have already recorded, still,\n",
            "     the nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave it\n",
            "     a character of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the\n",
            "     investigation which my friend had on hand, there was something in his\n",
            "     masterly grasp of a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning,\n",
            "     which made it a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to\n",
            "     follow the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most\n",
            "     inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable success\n",
            "     that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my\n",
            "     head.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was close upon four before the door opened, and a drunken-looking\n",
            "     groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an inflamed face and\n",
            "     disreputable clothes, walked into the room. Accustomed as I was to my\n",
            "     friend's amazing powers in the use of disguises, I had to look three\n",
            "     times before I was certain that it was indeed he. With a nod he\n",
            "     vanished into the bedroom, whence he emerged in five minutes\n",
            "     tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. Putting his hands into his\n",
            "     pockets, he stretched out his legs in front of the fire and laughed\n",
            "     heartily for some minutes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, really!\" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again until\n",
            "     he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the chair.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What is it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I employed\n",
            "     my morning, or what I ended by doing.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the habits,\n",
            "     and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you,\n",
            "     however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this morning\n",
            "     in the character of a groom out of work. There is a wonderful\n",
            "     sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of them, and you\n",
            "     will know all that there is to know. I soon found Briony Lodge. It is\n",
            "     a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but built out in front\n",
            "     right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large\n",
            "     sitting-room on the right side, well furnished, with long windows\n",
            "     almost to the floor, and those preposterous English window fasteners\n",
            "     which a child could open. Behind there was nothing remarkable, save\n",
            "     that the passage window could be reached from the top of the\n",
            "     coach-house. I walked round it and examined it closely from every\n",
            "     point of view, but without noting anything else of interest.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that there\n",
            "     was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the garden. I\n",
            "     lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and received in\n",
            "     exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two fills of shag\n",
            "     tobacco, and as much information as I could desire about Miss Adler,\n",
            "     to say nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighbourhood in\n",
            "     whom I was not in the least interested, but whose biographies I was\n",
            "     compelled to listen to.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And what of Irene Adler?\" I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is the\n",
            "     daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the\n",
            "     Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts,\n",
            "     drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner.\n",
            "     Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. Has only one\n",
            "     male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome, and\n",
            "     dashing, never calls less than once a day, and often twice. He is a\n",
            "     Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See the advantages of a\n",
            "     cabman as a confidant. They had driven him home a dozen times from\n",
            "     Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. When I had listened to all\n",
            "     they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once\n",
            "     more, and to think over my plan of campaign.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter.\n",
            "     He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the relation between\n",
            "     them, and what the object of his repeated visits? Was she his client,\n",
            "     his friend, or his mistress? If the former, she had probably\n",
            "     transferred the photograph to his keeping. If the latter, it was less\n",
            "     likely. On the issue of this question depended whether I should\n",
            "     continue my work at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the\n",
            "     gentleman's chambers in the Temple. It was a delicate point, and it\n",
            "     widened the field of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these\n",
            "     details, but I have to let you see my little difficulties, if you are\n",
            "     to understand the situation.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am following you closely,\" I answered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab drove\n",
            "     up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a remarkably\n",
            "     handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently the man of\n",
            "     whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the\n",
            "     cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid who opened the door with\n",
            "     the air of a man who was thoroughly at home.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch glimpses\n",
            "     of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and down,\n",
            "     talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see nothing.\n",
            "     Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than before. As he\n",
            "     stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from his pocket and\n",
            "     looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he shouted, 'first to\n",
            "     Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to the Church of St.\n",
            "     Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty\n",
            "     minutes!'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do\n",
            "     well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, the\n",
            "     coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under his ear,\n",
            "     while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of the buckles.\n",
            "     It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall door and into it.\n",
            "     I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely\n",
            "     woman, with a face that a man might die for.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a sovereign\n",
            "     if you reach it in twenty minutes.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing\n",
            "     whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her\n",
            "     landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked twice at\n",
            "     such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could object. 'The\n",
            "     Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign if you reach it\n",
            "     in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and of\n",
            "     course it was clear enough what was in the wind.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the\n",
            "     others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their\n",
            "     steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid the\n",
            "     man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there save the\n",
            "     two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be\n",
            "     expostulating with them. They were all three standing in a knot in\n",
            "     front of the altar. I lounged up the side aisle like any other idler\n",
            "     who has dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at\n",
            "     the altar faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard\n",
            "     as he could towards me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'What then?' I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was I\n",
            "     found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, and\n",
            "     vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally assisting\n",
            "     in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton,\n",
            "     bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and there was the gentleman\n",
            "     thanking me on the one side and the lady on the other, while the\n",
            "     clergyman beamed on me in front. It was the most preposterous\n",
            "     position in which I ever found myself in my life, and it was the\n",
            "     thought of it that started me laughing just now. It seems that there\n",
            "     had been some informality about their license, that the clergyman\n",
            "     absolutely refused to marry them without a witness of some sort, and\n",
            "     that my lucky appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sally\n",
            "     out into the streets in search of a best man. The bride gave me a\n",
            "     sovereign, and I mean to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the\n",
            "     occasion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This is a very unexpected turn of affairs,\" said I; \"and what then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if the\n",
            "     pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate very\n",
            "     prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church door,\n",
            "     however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and she to\n",
            "     her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as usual,' she\n",
            "     said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove away in different\n",
            "     directions, and I went off to make my own arrangements.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Which are?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Some cold beef and a glass of beer,\" he answered, ringing the bell.\n",
            "     \"I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to be busier\n",
            "     still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want your\n",
            "     co-operation.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I shall be delighted.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You don't mind breaking the law?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not in the least.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nor running a chance of arrest?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not in a good cause.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, the cause is excellent!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I am your man.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was sure that I might rely on you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But what is it you wish?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to\n",
            "     you. Now,\" he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that our\n",
            "     landlady had provided, \"I must discuss it while I eat, for I have not\n",
            "     much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must be on the\n",
            "     scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns from her\n",
            "     drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And what then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to occur.\n",
            "     There is only one point on which I must insist. You must not\n",
            "     interfere, come what may. You understand?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am to be neutral?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small\n",
            "     unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being conveyed\n",
            "     into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the sitting-room\n",
            "     window will open. You are to station yourself close to that open\n",
            "     window.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what I\n",
            "     give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of fire.\n",
            "     You quite follow me?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Entirely.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is nothing very formidable,\" he said, taking a long cigar-shaped\n",
            "     roll from his pocket. \"It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket,\n",
            "     fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. Your task\n",
            "     is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, it will be\n",
            "     taken up by quite a number of people. You may then walk to the end of\n",
            "     the street, and I will rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope that I have\n",
            "     made myself clear?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, and at\n",
            "     the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry of fire,\n",
            "     and to wait you at the corner of the street.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then you may entirely rely on me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I\n",
            "     prepare for the new role I have to play.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the\n",
            "     character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman.\n",
            "     His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white tie, his\n",
            "     sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and benevolent\n",
            "     curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have equalled. It\n",
            "     was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his\n",
            "     manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he\n",
            "     assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute\n",
            "     reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still\n",
            "     wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in Serpentine\n",
            "     Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just being lighted as\n",
            "     we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming\n",
            "     of its occupant. The house was just such as I had pictured it from\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, but the locality appeared to\n",
            "     be less private than I expected. On the contrary, for a small street\n",
            "     in a quiet neighbourhood, it was remarkably animated. There was a\n",
            "     group of shabbily dressed men smoking and laughing in a corner, a\n",
            "     scissors-grinder with his wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with\n",
            "     a nurse-girl, and several well-dressed young men who were lounging up\n",
            "     and down with cigars in their mouths.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You see,\" remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of the\n",
            "     house, \"this marriage rather simplifies matters. The photograph\n",
            "     becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are that she would be\n",
            "     as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey Norton, as our client is\n",
            "     to its coming to the eyes of his princess. Now the question is--Where\n",
            "     are we to find the photograph?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Where, indeed?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is\n",
            "     cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's dress.\n",
            "     She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid and\n",
            "     searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We may\n",
            "     take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Where, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But I am\n",
            "     inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, and they\n",
            "     like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it over to anyone\n",
            "     else? She could trust her own guardianship, but she could not tell\n",
            "     what indirect or political influence might be brought to bear upon a\n",
            "     business man. Besides, remember that she had resolved to use it\n",
            "     within a few days. It must be where she can lay her hands upon it. It\n",
            "     must be in her own house.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But it has twice been burgled.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pshaw! They did not know how to look.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But how will you look?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will not look.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will get her to show me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But she will refuse.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is her\n",
            "     carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round the\n",
            "     curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which rattled up to\n",
            "     the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of the loafing men at\n",
            "     the corner dashed forward to open the door in the hope of earning a\n",
            "     copper, but was elbowed away by another loafer, who had rushed up\n",
            "     with the same intention. A fierce quarrel broke out, which was\n",
            "     increased by the two guardsmen, who took sides with one of the\n",
            "     loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, who was equally hot upon the\n",
            "     other side. A blow was struck, and in an instant the lady, who had\n",
            "     stepped from her carriage, was the centre of a little knot of flushed\n",
            "     and struggling men, who struck savagely at each other with their\n",
            "     fists and sticks. Holmes dashed into the crowd to protect the lady;\n",
            "     but just as he reached her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground,\n",
            "     with the blood running freely down his face. At his fall the\n",
            "     guardsmen took to their heels in one direction and the loungers in\n",
            "     the other, while a number of better-dressed people, who had watched\n",
            "     the scuffle without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady\n",
            "     and to attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call\n",
            "     her, had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her\n",
            "     superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking back\n",
            "     into the street.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Is the poor gentleman much hurt?\" she asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He is dead,\" cried several voices.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no, there's life in him!\" shouted another. \"But he'll be gone\n",
            "     before you can get him to hospital.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He's a brave fellow,\" said a woman. \"They would have had the lady's\n",
            "     purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a gang, and a\n",
            "     rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable\n",
            "     sofa. This way, please!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out in\n",
            "     the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings from my\n",
            "     post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the blinds had not\n",
            "     been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay upon the couch. I do\n",
            "     not know whether he was seized with compunction at that moment for\n",
            "     the part he was playing, but I know that I never felt more heartily\n",
            "     ashamed of myself in my life than when I saw the beautiful creature\n",
            "     against whom I was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which\n",
            "     she waited upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest\n",
            "     treachery to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had\n",
            "     intrusted to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from\n",
            "     under my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We\n",
            "     are but preventing her from injuring another.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man who\n",
            "     is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the window. At\n",
            "     the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the signal I tossed\n",
            "     my rocket into the room with a cry of \"Fire!\" The word was no sooner\n",
            "     out of my mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and\n",
            "     ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and servant-maids--joined in a general\n",
            "     shriek of \"Fire!\" Thick clouds of smoke curled through the room and\n",
            "     out at the open window. I caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a\n",
            "     moment later the voice of Holmes from within assuring them that it\n",
            "     was a false alarm. Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way\n",
            "     to the corner of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find\n",
            "     my friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. He\n",
            "     walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we had\n",
            "     turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the Edgeware\n",
            "     Road.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You did it very nicely, Doctor,\" he remarked. \"Nothing could have\n",
            "     been better. It is all right.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have the photograph?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I know where it is.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And how did you find out?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She showed me, as I told you she would.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am still in the dark.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I do not wish to make a mystery,\" said he, laughing. \"The matter was\n",
            "     perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the street was\n",
            "     an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I guessed as much.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in the\n",
            "     palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand to my\n",
            "     face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That also I could fathom.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else\n",
            "     could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room\n",
            "     which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was\n",
            "     determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for air,\n",
            "     they were compelled to open the window, and you had your chance.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How did that help you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on fire,\n",
            "     her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she values most.\n",
            "     It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have more than once\n",
            "     taken advantage of it. In the case of the Darlington substitution\n",
            "     scandal it was of use to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle\n",
            "     business. A married woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches\n",
            "     for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had\n",
            "     nothing in the house more precious to her than what we are in quest\n",
            "     of. She would rush to secure it. The alarm of fire was admirably\n",
            "     done. The smoke and shouting were enough to shake nerves of steel.\n",
            "     She responded beautifully. The photograph is in a recess behind a\n",
            "     sliding panel just above the right bell-pull. She was there in an\n",
            "     instant, and I caught a glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I\n",
            "     cried out that it was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the\n",
            "     rocket, rushed from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose,\n",
            "     and, making my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether\n",
            "     to attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had\n",
            "     come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to wait.\n",
            "     A little over-precipitance may ruin all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And now?\" I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King\n",
            "     to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be\n",
            "     shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is probable\n",
            "     that when she comes she may find neither us nor the photograph. It\n",
            "     might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain it with his own\n",
            "     hands.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And when will you call?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall have a\n",
            "     clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage may mean a\n",
            "     complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to the King\n",
            "     without delay.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was\n",
            "     searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the\n",
            "     greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had\n",
            "     hurried by.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I've heard that voice before,\" said Holmes, staring down the dimly\n",
            "     lit street. \"Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have been.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "          CHAPTER III\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "     I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our\n",
            "     toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed into\n",
            "     the room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have really got it!\" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by\n",
            "     either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not yet.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But you have hopes?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have hopes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We must have a cab.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, my brougham is waiting.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then that will simplify matters.\" We descended and started off once\n",
            "     more for Briony Lodge.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Irene Adler is married,\" remarked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Married! When?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yesterday.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But to whom?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To an English lawyer named Norton.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But she could not love him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am in hopes that she does.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And why in hopes?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future annoyance. If\n",
            "     the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Majesty. If she\n",
            "     does not love your Majesty, there is no reason why she should\n",
            "     interfere with your Majesty's plan.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own station!\n",
            "     What a queen she would have made!\" He relapsed into a moody silence,\n",
            "     which was not broken until we drew up in Serpentine Avenue.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood upon\n",
            "     the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped from the\n",
            "     brougham.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?\" said she.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am Mr. Holmes,\" answered my companion, looking at her with a\n",
            "     questioning and rather startled gaze.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She left\n",
            "     this morning with her husband by the 5.15 train from Charing Cross\n",
            "     for the Continent.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What!\" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and\n",
            "     surprise. \"Do you mean that she has left England?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Never to return.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And the papers?\" asked the King hoarsely. \"All is lost.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We shall see.\" He pushed past the servant and rushed into the\n",
            "     drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was\n",
            "     scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and open\n",
            "     drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before her\n",
            "     flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small sliding\n",
            "     shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a photograph and a\n",
            "     letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler herself in evening dress,\n",
            "     the letter was superscribed to \"Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till\n",
            "     called for.\" My friend tore it open and we all three read it\n",
            "     together. It was dated at midnight of the preceding night and ran in\n",
            "     this way:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:\n",
            "     \"You really did it very well. You took me in completely. Until after\n",
            "     the alarm of fire, I had not a suspicion. But then, when I found how\n",
            "     I had betrayed myself, I began to think. I had been warned against\n",
            "     you months ago. I had been told that if the King employed an agent it\n",
            "     would certainly be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with\n",
            "     all this, you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I\n",
            "     became suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind\n",
            "     old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress\n",
            "     myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage of\n",
            "     the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to watch you,\n",
            "     ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call them, and came\n",
            "     down just as you departed.\n",
            "     \"Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was\n",
            "     really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock Holmes.\n",
            "     Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and started for\n",
            "     the Temple to see my husband.\n",
            "     \"We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by so\n",
            "     formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when you\n",
            "     call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in peace.\n",
            "     I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may do what he\n",
            "     will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly wronged. I keep\n",
            "     it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will\n",
            "     always secure me from any steps which he might take in the future. I\n",
            "     leave a photograph which he might care to possess; and I remain, dear\n",
            "     Mr. Sherlock Holmes,\n",
            "     \"Very truly yours,\n",
            "     \"Irene Norton, née Adler.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What a woman--oh, what a woman!\" cried the King of Bohemia, when we\n",
            "     had all three read this epistle. \"Did I not tell you how quick and\n",
            "     resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it\n",
            "     not a pity that she was not on my level?\" \n",
            "\n",
            "     \"From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a very\n",
            "     different level to your Majesty,\" said Holmes coldly. \"I am sorry\n",
            "     that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business to a more\n",
            "     successful conclusion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On the contrary, my dear sir,\" cried the King; \"nothing could be\n",
            "     more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The photograph is\n",
            "     now as safe as if it were in the fire.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am glad to hear your Majesty say so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can\n",
            "     reward you. This ring--\" He slipped an emerald snake ring from his\n",
            "     finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your Majesty has something which I should value even more highly,\"\n",
            "     said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have but to name it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This photograph!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The King stared at him in amazement.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Irene's photograph!\" he cried. \"Certainly, if you wish it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the\n",
            "     matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning.\" He bowed,\n",
            "     and, turning away without observing the hand which the King had\n",
            "     stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his chambers.\n",
            "\n",
            "     And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of\n",
            "     Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by\n",
            "     a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the cleverness of women,\n",
            "     but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene\n",
            "     Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the\n",
            "     honourable title of the woman.\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                              THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the\n",
            "     autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a very\n",
            "     stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. With an\n",
            "     apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when Holmes pulled\n",
            "     me abruptly into the room and closed the door behind me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson,\"\n",
            "     he said cordially.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was afraid that you were engaged.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So I am. Very much so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I can wait in the next room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and\n",
            "     helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt that\n",
            "     he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of\n",
            "     greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small\n",
            "     fat-encircled eyes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Try the settee,\" said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and\n",
            "     putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in judicial\n",
            "     moods. \"I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is\n",
            "     bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday\n",
            "     life. You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has\n",
            "     prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so,\n",
            "     somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me,\" I\n",
            "     observed.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we went\n",
            "     into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland, that\n",
            "     for strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life\n",
            "     itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the\n",
            "     imagination.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my view,\n",
            "     for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you until your\n",
            "     reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to be right. Now,\n",
            "     Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call upon me this\n",
            "     morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to be one of the\n",
            "     most singular which I have listened to for some time. You have heard\n",
            "     me remark that the strangest and most unique things are very often\n",
            "     connected not with the larger but with the smaller crimes, and\n",
            "     occasionally, indeed, where there is room for doubt whether any\n",
            "     positive crime has been committed. As far as I have heard it is\n",
            "     impossible for me to say whether the present case is an instance of\n",
            "     crime or not, but the course of events is certainly among the most\n",
            "     singular that I have ever listened to. Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would\n",
            "     have the great kindness to recommence your narrative. I ask you not\n",
            "     merely because my friend Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part\n",
            "     but also because the peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to\n",
            "     have every possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have\n",
            "     heard some slight indication of the course of events, I am able to\n",
            "     guide myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to\n",
            "     my memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the\n",
            "     facts are, to the best of my belief, unique.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some\n",
            "     little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the\n",
            "     inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the advertisement\n",
            "     column, with his head thrust forward and the paper flattened out upon\n",
            "     his knee, I took a good look at the man and endeavoured, after the\n",
            "     fashion of my companion, to read the indications which might be\n",
            "     presented by his dress or appearance.\n",
            "\n",
            "     I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor bore\n",
            "     every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese,\n",
            "     pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey shepherd's check\n",
            "     trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front,\n",
            "     and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square\n",
            "     pierced bit of metal dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top-hat\n",
            "     and a faded brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a\n",
            "     chair beside him. Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing\n",
            "     remarkable about the man save his blazing red head, and the\n",
            "     expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his features.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook his\n",
            "     head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. \"Beyond the\n",
            "     obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he\n",
            "     takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and\n",
            "     that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can\n",
            "     deduce nothing else.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger upon\n",
            "     the paper, but his eyes upon my companion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes?\" he asked. \"How did you know, for example, that I did manual\n",
            "     labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's carpenter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger than\n",
            "     your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more\n",
            "     developed.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that,\n",
            "     especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use\n",
            "     an arc-and-compass breastpin.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for five\n",
            "     inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the elbow where\n",
            "     you rest it upon the desk?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, but China?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right wrist\n",
            "     could only have been done in China. I have made a small study of\n",
            "     tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature of the\n",
            "     subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a delicate pink\n",
            "     is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I see a Chinese coin\n",
            "     hanging from your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more simple.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. \"Well, I never!\" said he. \"I\n",
            "     thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see that\n",
            "     there was nothing in it, after all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I begin to think, Watson,\" said Holmes, \"that I make a mistake in\n",
            "     explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my poor\n",
            "     little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I am so\n",
            "     candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, I have got it now,\" he answered with his thick red finger\n",
            "     planted halfway down the column. \"Here it is. This is what began it\n",
            "     all. You just read it for yourself, sir.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I took the paper from him and read as follows:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To the Red-headed League: On account of the bequest of the late\n",
            "     Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now\n",
            "     another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a\n",
            "     salary of £4 a week for purely nominal services. All red-headed men\n",
            "     who are sound in body and mind and above the age of twenty-one years,\n",
            "     are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at eleven o'clock, to Duncan\n",
            "     Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 Pope's Court, Fleet Street.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What on earth does this mean?\" I ejaculated after I had twice read\n",
            "     over the extraordinary announcement.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when in\n",
            "     high spirits. \"It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?\" said\n",
            "     he. \"And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us all about\n",
            "     yourself, your household, and the effect which this advertisement had\n",
            "     upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, Doctor, of the paper\n",
            "     and the date.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months ago.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,\"\n",
            "     said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; \"I have a small pawnbroker's\n",
            "     business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a very large\n",
            "     affair, and of late years it has not done more than just give me a\n",
            "     living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, but now I only keep\n",
            "     one; and I would have a job to pay him but that he is willing to come\n",
            "     for half wages so as to learn the business.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What is the name of this obliging youth?\" asked Sherlock Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, either.\n",
            "     It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter assistant, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes; and I know very well that he could better himself and earn\n",
            "     twice what I am able to give him. But, after all, if he is satisfied,\n",
            "     why should I put ideas in his head?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employee who comes\n",
            "     under the full market price. It is not a common experience among\n",
            "     employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is not as\n",
            "     remarkable as your advertisement.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, he has his faults, too,\" said Mr. Wilson. \"Never was such a\n",
            "     fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought to\n",
            "     be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar like a\n",
            "     rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his main fault,\n",
            "     but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice in him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He is still with you, I presume?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple\n",
            "     cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the house,\n",
            "     for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very quietly,\n",
            "     sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads and pay our\n",
            "     debts, if we do nothing more.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. Spaulding,\n",
            "     he came down into the office just this day eight weeks, with this\n",
            "     very paper in his hand, and he says:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Why that?' I asks.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the\n",
            "     Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who gets\n",
            "     it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than there are\n",
            "     men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what to do with the\n",
            "     money. If my hair would only change colour, here's a nice little crib\n",
            "     all ready for me to step into.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a very\n",
            "     stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of my having\n",
            "     to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting my foot over\n",
            "     the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what was going on\n",
            "     outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he asked\n",
            "     with his eyes open.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Never.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one of the\n",
            "     vacancies.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And what are they worth?' I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and\n",
            "     it need not interfere very much with one's other occupations.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, for\n",
            "     the business has not been over-good for some years, and an extra\n",
            "     couple of hundred would have been very handy.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Tell me all about it,' said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for\n",
            "     yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address\n",
            "     where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the\n",
            "     League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Hopkins, who\n",
            "     was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself red-headed, and he had\n",
            "     a great sympathy for all red-headed men; so when he died it was found\n",
            "     that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with\n",
            "     instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths to\n",
            "     men whose hair is of that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay\n",
            "     and very little to do.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who would\n",
            "     apply.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is really\n",
            "     confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had started\n",
            "     from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the old town a\n",
            "     good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your applying if\n",
            "     your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but real bright,\n",
            "     blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Wilson, you would\n",
            "     just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be worth your while to put\n",
            "     yourself out of the way for the sake of a few hundred pounds.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, that my\n",
            "     hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed to me that if\n",
            "     there was to be any competition in the matter I stood as good a\n",
            "     chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent Spaulding seemed to\n",
            "     know so much about it that I thought he might prove useful, so I just\n",
            "     ordered him to put up the shutters for the day and to come right away\n",
            "     with me. He was very willing to have a holiday, so we shut the\n",
            "     business up and started off for the address that was given us in the\n",
            "     advertisement.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From\n",
            "     north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his\n",
            "     hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. Fleet\n",
            "     Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court looked like\n",
            "     a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought there were so\n",
            "     many in the whole country as were brought together by that single\n",
            "     advertisement. Every shade of colour they were--straw, lemon, orange,\n",
            "     brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; but, as Spaulding said, there were\n",
            "     not many who had the real vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how\n",
            "     many were waiting, I would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding\n",
            "     would not hear of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he\n",
            "     pushed and pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and\n",
            "     right up to the steps which led to the office. There was a double\n",
            "     stream upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back\n",
            "     dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found\n",
            "     ourselves in the office.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your experience has been a most entertaining one,\" remarked Holmes\n",
            "     as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge pinch of\n",
            "     snuff. \"Pray continue your very interesting statement.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs and a\n",
            "     deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that was even\n",
            "     redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate as he came\n",
            "     up, and then he always managed to find some fault in them which would\n",
            "     disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem to be such a very\n",
            "     easy matter, after all. However, when our turn came the little man\n",
            "     was much more favourable to me than to any of the others, and he\n",
            "     closed the door as we entered, so that he might have a private word\n",
            "     with us.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is willing to\n",
            "     fill a vacancy in the League.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has\n",
            "     every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so\n",
            "     fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and\n",
            "     gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he plunged\n",
            "     forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my success.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, however, I\n",
            "     am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' With that he\n",
            "     seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I yelled with the\n",
            "     pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as he released me. 'I\n",
            "     perceive that all is as it should be. But we have to be careful, for\n",
            "     we have twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint. I could tell\n",
            "     you tales of cobbler's wax which would disgust you with human\n",
            "     nature.' He stepped over to the window and shouted through it at the\n",
            "     top of his voice that the vacancy was filled. A groan of\n",
            "     disappointment came up from below, and the folk all trooped away in\n",
            "     different directions until there was not a red-head to be seen except\n",
            "     my own and that of the manager.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the\n",
            "     pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are you a\n",
            "     married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I answered that I had not.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"His face fell immediately.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am sorry\n",
            "     to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the propagation\n",
            "     and spread of the red-heads as well as for their maintenance. It is\n",
            "     exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a bachelor.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was not\n",
            "     to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for a few\n",
            "     minutes he said that it would be all right.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be fatal,\n",
            "     but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a head of\n",
            "     hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your new duties?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' said\n",
            "     I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. 'I\n",
            "     should be able to look after that for you.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'What would be the hours?' I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Ten to two.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just before\n",
            "     pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in the\n",
            "     mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, and that\n",
            "     he would see to anything that turned up.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Is £4 a week.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And the work?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Is purely nominal.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'What do you call purely nominal?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building,\n",
            "     the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position\n",
            "     forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You don't comply\n",
            "     with the conditions if you budge from the office during that time.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,'\n",
            "     said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness nor\n",
            "     business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose your\n",
            "     billet.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And the work?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Is to copy out the \"Encyclopaedia Britannica.\" There is the first\n",
            "     volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and\n",
            "     blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be\n",
            "     ready to-morrow?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Certainly,' I answered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you once\n",
            "     more on the important position which you have been fortunate enough\n",
            "     to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with my\n",
            "     assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased at my\n",
            "     own good fortune.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in low\n",
            "     spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whole affair\n",
            "     must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its object might be I\n",
            "     could not imagine. It seemed altogether past belief that anyone could\n",
            "     make such a will, or that they would pay such a sum for doing\n",
            "     anything so simple as copying out the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.'\n",
            "     Vincent Spaulding did what he could to cheer me up, but by bedtime I\n",
            "     had reasoned myself out of the whole thing. However, in the morning I\n",
            "     determined to have a look at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of\n",
            "     ink, and with a quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I\n",
            "     started off for Pope's Court.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as\n",
            "     possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross was\n",
            "     there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off upon the\n",
            "     letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from time to time\n",
            "     to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he bade me\n",
            "     good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had written, and\n",
            "     locked the door of the office after me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the manager\n",
            "     came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my week's work.\n",
            "     It was the same next week, and the same the week after. Every morning\n",
            "     I was there at ten, and every afternoon I left at two. By degrees Mr.\n",
            "     Duncan Ross took to coming in only once of a morning, and then, after\n",
            "     a time, he did not come in at all. Still, of course, I never dared to\n",
            "     leave the room for an instant, for I was not sure when he might come,\n",
            "     and the billet was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I\n",
            "     would not risk the loss of it.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about Abbots\n",
            "     and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and hoped with\n",
            "     diligence that I might get on to the B's before very long. It cost me\n",
            "     something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly filled a shelf with my\n",
            "     writings. And then suddenly the whole business came to an end.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To an end?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as usual\n",
            "     at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a little\n",
            "     square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the panel with a\n",
            "     tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet of\n",
            "     note-paper. It read in this fashion:\n",
            "\n",
            "                              The Red-headed League\n",
            "                                       is\n",
            "                                    Dissolved\n",
            "                                October 9, 1890.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the rueful\n",
            "     face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so completely\n",
            "     overtopped every other consideration that we both burst out into a\n",
            "     roar of laughter.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot see that there is anything very funny,\" cried our client,\n",
            "     flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. \"If you can do nothing\n",
            "     better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no,\" cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from which he\n",
            "     had half risen. \"I really wouldn't miss your case for the world. It\n",
            "     is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you will excuse my\n",
            "     saying so, something just a little funny about it. Pray what steps\n",
            "     did you take when you found the card upon the door?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called at\n",
            "     the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything about it.\n",
            "     Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant living on the\n",
            "     ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me what had become of\n",
            "     the Red-headed League. He said that he had never heard of any such\n",
            "     body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Ross was. He answered that the\n",
            "     name was new to him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'What, the red-headed man?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor and\n",
            "     was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new premises\n",
            "     were ready. He moved out yesterday.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Where could I find him?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 King\n",
            "     Edward Street, near St. Paul's.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was a\n",
            "     manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever heard\n",
            "     of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And what did you do then?\" asked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my\n",
            "     assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say\n",
            "     that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite good\n",
            "     enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place without a\n",
            "     struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough to give advice\n",
            "     to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right away to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you did very wisely,\" said Holmes. \"Your case is an exceedingly\n",
            "     remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. From what you\n",
            "     have told me I think that it is possible that graver issues hang from\n",
            "     it than might at first sight appear.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Grave enough!\" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. \"Why, I have lost four pound a\n",
            "     week.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"As far as you are personally concerned,\" remarked Holmes, \"I do not\n",
            "     see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary league. On\n",
            "     the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some £30, to say\n",
            "     nothing of the minute knowledge which you have gained on every\n",
            "     subject which comes under the letter A. You have lost nothing by\n",
            "     them.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, and\n",
            "     what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a prank--upon\n",
            "     me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it cost them two and\n",
            "     thirty pounds.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, one\n",
            "     or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who first\n",
            "     called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he been with\n",
            "     you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"About a month then.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How did he come?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In answer to an advertisement.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Was he the only applicant?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, I had a dozen.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why did you pick him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Because he was handy and would come cheap.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"At half-wages, in fact.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face,\n",
            "     though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon his\n",
            "     forehead.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. \"I thought as\n",
            "     much,\" said he. \"Have you ever observed that his ears are pierced for\n",
            "     earrings?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he was a\n",
            "     lad.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Hum!\" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. \"He is still with\n",
            "     you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And has your business been attended to in your absence?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a\n",
            "     morning.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an opinion\n",
            "     upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is Saturday,\n",
            "     and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, Watson,\" said Holmes when our visitor had left us, \"what do\n",
            "     you make of it all?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I make nothing of it,\" I answered frankly. \"It is a most mysterious\n",
            "     business.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"As a rule,\" said Holmes, \"the more bizarre a thing is the less\n",
            "     mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless\n",
            "     crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the\n",
            "     most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this matter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What are you going to do, then?\" I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To smoke,\" he answered. \"It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg\n",
            "     that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes.\" He curled himself up\n",
            "     in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and\n",
            "     there he sat with his eyes closed and his black clay pipe thrusting\n",
            "     out like the bill of some strange bird. I had come to the conclusion\n",
            "     that he had dropped asleep, and indeed was nodding myself, when he\n",
            "     suddenly sprang out of his chair with the gesture of a man who has\n",
            "     made up his mind and put his pipe down upon the mantelpiece.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon,\" he remarked.\n",
            "     \"What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few\n",
            "     hours?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very absorbing.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City first,\n",
            "     and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that there is a good\n",
            "     deal of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my\n",
            "     taste than Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to\n",
            "     introspect. Come along!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short\n",
            "     walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular story\n",
            "     which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, little,\n",
            "     shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy two-storied brick\n",
            "     houses looked out into a small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of\n",
            "     weedy grass and a few clumps of faded laurel-bushes made a hard fight\n",
            "     against a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls\n",
            "     and a brown board with \"Jabez Wilson\" in white letters, upon a corner\n",
            "     house, announced the place where our red-headed client carried on his\n",
            "     business. Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one\n",
            "     side and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between\n",
            "     puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down\n",
            "     again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally he\n",
            "     returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously upon the\n",
            "     pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up to the door\n",
            "     and knocked. It was instantly opened by a bright-looking,\n",
            "     clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step in.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you,\" said Holmes, \"I only wished to ask you how you would go\n",
            "     from here to the Strand.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Third right, fourth left,\" answered the assistant promptly, closing\n",
            "     the door.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Smart fellow, that,\" observed Holmes as we walked away. \"He is, in\n",
            "     my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring I am\n",
            "     not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known something\n",
            "     of him before.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Evidently,\" said I, \"Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good deal\n",
            "     in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you inquired\n",
            "     your way merely in order that you might see him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The knees of his trousers.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And what did you see?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What I expected to see.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why did you beat the pavement?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We are\n",
            "     spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg Square.\n",
            "     Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the corner\n",
            "     from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a contrast to\n",
            "     it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was one of the main\n",
            "     arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City to the north and\n",
            "     west. The roadway was blocked with the immense stream of commerce\n",
            "     flowing in a double tide inward and outward, while the footpaths were\n",
            "     black with the hurrying swarm of pedestrians. It was difficult to\n",
            "     realise as we looked at the line of fine shops and stately business\n",
            "     premises that they really abutted on the other side upon the faded\n",
            "     and stagnant square which we had just quitted.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Let me see,\" said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing along\n",
            "     the line, \"I should like just to remember the order of the houses\n",
            "     here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London.\n",
            "     There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little newspaper shop, the\n",
            "     Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian\n",
            "     Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building depot. That carries us\n",
            "     right on to the other block. And now, Doctor, we've done our work, so\n",
            "     it's time we had some play. A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then\n",
            "     off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony,\n",
            "     and there are no red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very\n",
            "     capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All the\n",
            "     afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness,\n",
            "     gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the music, while his\n",
            "     gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those\n",
            "     of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted,\n",
            "     ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive. In his\n",
            "     singular character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and\n",
            "     his extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often\n",
            "     thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative mood which\n",
            "     occasionally predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him\n",
            "     from extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was\n",
            "     never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been\n",
            "     lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his black-letter\n",
            "     editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly come\n",
            "     upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise to the\n",
            "     level of intuition, until those who were unacquainted with his\n",
            "     methods would look askance at him as on a man whose knowledge was not\n",
            "     that of other mortals. When I saw him that afternoon so enwrapped in\n",
            "     the music at St. James's Hall I felt that an evil time might be\n",
            "     coming upon those whom he had set himself to hunt down.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor,\" he remarked as we emerged.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, it would be as well.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This\n",
            "     business at Coburg Square is serious.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why serious?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to\n",
            "     believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being\n",
            "     Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help\n",
            "     to-night.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"At what time?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ten will be early enough.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I shall be at Baker Street at ten.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, so\n",
            "     kindly put your army revolver in your pocket.\" He waved his hand,\n",
            "     turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the crowd.\n",
            "\n",
            "     I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was always\n",
            "     oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings with\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had seen what\n",
            "     he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that he saw\n",
            "     clearly not only what had happened but what was about to happen,\n",
            "     while to me the whole business was still confused and grotesque. As I\n",
            "     drove home to my house in Kensington I thought over it all, from the\n",
            "     extraordinary story of the red-headed copier of the \"Encyclopaedia\"\n",
            "     down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square, and the ominous words with\n",
            "     which he had parted from me. What was this nocturnal expedition, and\n",
            "     why should I go armed?  Where were we going, and what were we to do?\n",
            "     I had the hint from Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's\n",
            "     assistant was a formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I\n",
            "     tried to puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter\n",
            "     aside until night should bring an explanation.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my way\n",
            "     across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker Street. Two\n",
            "     hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered the passage I\n",
            "     heard the sound of voices from above. On entering his room I found\n",
            "     Holmes in animated conversation with two men, one of whom I\n",
            "     recognised as Peter Jones, the official police agent, while the other\n",
            "     was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a very shiny hat and\n",
            "     oppressively respectable frock-coat.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha! Our party is complete,\" said Holmes, buttoning up his pea-jacket\n",
            "     and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. \"Watson, I think you\n",
            "     know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me introduce you to Mr.\n",
            "     Merryweather, who is to be our companion in to-night's adventure.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see,\" said Jones in his\n",
            "     consequential way. \"Our friend here is a wonderful man for starting a\n",
            "     chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do the running\n",
            "     down.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase,\"\n",
            "     observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir,\" said the\n",
            "     police agent loftily. \"He has his own little methods, which are, if\n",
            "     he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and\n",
            "     fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It is not\n",
            "     too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of the Sholto\n",
            "     murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly correct than\n",
            "     the official force.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right,\" said the stranger\n",
            "     with deference. \"Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. It is the\n",
            "     first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I have not had\n",
            "     my rubber.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think you will find,\" said Sherlock Holmes, \"that you will play\n",
            "     for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and that the\n",
            "     play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, the stake will\n",
            "     be some £30,000; and for you, Jones, it will be the man upon whom you\n",
            "     wish to lay your hands.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a young\n",
            "     man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his profession, and I\n",
            "     would rather have my bracelets on him than on any criminal in London.\n",
            "     He's a remarkable man, is young John Clay. His grandfather was a\n",
            "     royal duke, and he himself has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is\n",
            "     as cunning as his fingers, and though we meet signs of him at every\n",
            "     turn, we never know where to find the man himself. He'll crack a crib\n",
            "     in Scotland one week, and be raising money to build an orphanage in\n",
            "     Cornwall the next. I've been on his track for years and have never\n",
            "     set eyes on him yet.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night.\n",
            "     I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I agree\n",
            "     with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is past ten,\n",
            "     however, and quite time that we started. If you two will take the\n",
            "     first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the second.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive and\n",
            "     lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in the\n",
            "     afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit streets\n",
            "     until we emerged into Farrington Street.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We are close there now,\" my friend remarked. \"This fellow\n",
            "     Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the\n",
            "     matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is not a\n",
            "     bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. He has one\n",
            "     positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as tenacious as a\n",
            "     lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we are, and they are\n",
            "     waiting for us.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had found\n",
            "     ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, following the\n",
            "     guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a narrow passage and\n",
            "     through a side door, which he opened for us. Within there was a small\n",
            "     corridor, which ended in a very massive iron gate. This also was\n",
            "     opened, and led down a flight of winding stone steps, which\n",
            "     terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. Merryweather stopped to\n",
            "     light a lantern, and then conducted us down a dark, earth-smelling\n",
            "     passage, and so, after opening a third door, into a huge vault or\n",
            "     cellar, which was piled all round with crates and massive boxes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are not very vulnerable from above,\" Holmes remarked as he held\n",
            "     up the lantern and gazed about him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nor from below,\" said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon the\n",
            "     flags which lined the floor. \"Why, dear me, it sounds quite hollow!\"\n",
            "     he remarked, looking up in surprise.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!\" said Holmes\n",
            "     severely. \"You have already imperilled the whole success of our\n",
            "     expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit down\n",
            "     upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a very\n",
            "     injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his knees\n",
            "     upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, began to\n",
            "     examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few seconds\n",
            "     sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again and put his\n",
            "     glass in his pocket.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We have at least an hour before us,\" he remarked, \"for they can\n",
            "     hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed.\n",
            "     Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their work\n",
            "     the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at present,\n",
            "     Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of the City\n",
            "     branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. Merryweather is the\n",
            "     chairman of directors, and he will explain to you that there are\n",
            "     reasons why the more daring criminals of London should take a\n",
            "     considerable interest in this cellar at present.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is our French gold,\" whispered the director. \"We have had several\n",
            "     warnings that an attempt might be made upon it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your French gold?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources and\n",
            "     borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of France.\n",
            "     It has become known that we have never had occasion to unpack the\n",
            "     money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The crate upon which\n",
            "     I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between layers of lead foil.\n",
            "     Our reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is usually kept\n",
            "     in a single branch office, and the directors have had misgivings upon\n",
            "     the subject.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Which were very well justified,\" observed Holmes. \"And now it is\n",
            "     time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an hour\n",
            "     matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. Merryweather, we\n",
            "     must put the screen over that dark lantern.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And sit in the dark?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and I\n",
            "     thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your rubber\n",
            "     after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have gone so far\n",
            "     that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, first of all, we\n",
            "     must choose our positions. These are daring men, and though we shall\n",
            "     take them at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm unless we are\n",
            "     careful. I shall stand behind this crate, and do you conceal\n",
            "     yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a light upon them, close\n",
            "     in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting\n",
            "     them down.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case behind\n",
            "     which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front of his\n",
            "     lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute darkness as I\n",
            "     have never before experienced. The smell of hot metal remained to\n",
            "     assure us that the light was still there, ready to flash out at a\n",
            "     moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked up to a pitch of\n",
            "     expectancy, there was something depressing and subduing in the sudden\n",
            "     gloom, and in the cold dank air of the vault.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They have but one retreat,\" whispered Holmes. \"That is back through\n",
            "     the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have done what I\n",
            "     asked you, Jones?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent and\n",
            "     wait.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but an\n",
            "     hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must have\n",
            "     almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs were weary\n",
            "     and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my nerves were\n",
            "     worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my hearing was so\n",
            "     acute that I could not only hear the gentle breathing of my\n",
            "     companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier in-breath of\n",
            "     the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note of the bank director.\n",
            "     From my position I could look over the case in the direction of the\n",
            "     floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint of a light.\n",
            "\n",
            "     At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then it\n",
            "     lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, without any\n",
            "     warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand appeared, a white,\n",
            "     almost womanly hand, which felt about in the centre of the little\n",
            "     area of light. For a minute or more the hand, with its writhing\n",
            "     fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then it was withdrawn as\n",
            "     suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark again save the single lurid\n",
            "     spark which marked a chink between the stones.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending,\n",
            "     tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon its\n",
            "     side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed the light\n",
            "     of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, boyish face,\n",
            "     which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand on either side of\n",
            "     the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and waist-high, until one\n",
            "     knee rested upon the edge. In another instant he stood at the side of\n",
            "     the hole and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small like\n",
            "     himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's all clear,\" he whispered. \"Have you the chisel and the bags?\n",
            "     Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar.\n",
            "     The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth\n",
            "     as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed upon the barrel of\n",
            "     a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came down on the man's wrist,\n",
            "     and the pistol clinked upon the stone floor.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's no use, John Clay,\" said Holmes blandly. \"You have no chance at\n",
            "     all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So I see,\" the other answered with the utmost coolness. \"I fancy\n",
            "     that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his coat-tails.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There are three men waiting for him at the door,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I must\n",
            "     compliment you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And I you,\" Holmes answered. \"Your red-headed idea was very new and\n",
            "     effective.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You'll see your pal again presently,\" said Jones. \"He's quicker at\n",
            "     climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the\n",
            "     derbies.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands,\" remarked\n",
            "     our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. \"You may not\n",
            "     be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the goodness,\n",
            "     also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and 'please.'\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"All right,\" said Jones with a stare and a snigger. \"Well, would you\n",
            "     please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry your\n",
            "     Highness to the police-station?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is better,\" said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow to\n",
            "     the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the\n",
            "     detective.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Really, Mr. Holmes,\" said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them from\n",
            "     the cellar, \"I do not know how the bank can thank you or repay you.\n",
            "     There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated in the most\n",
            "     complete manner one of the most determined attempts at bank robbery\n",
            "     that have ever come within my experience.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr.\n",
            "     John Clay,\" said Holmes. \"I have been at some small expense over this\n",
            "     matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond that I am\n",
            "     amply repaid by having had an experience which is in many ways\n",
            "     unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of the\n",
            "     Red-headed League.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You see, Watson,\" he explained in the early hours of the morning as\n",
            "     we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, \"it was\n",
            "     perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible object of\n",
            "     this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of the League,\n",
            "     and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get this not\n",
            "     over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of hours every\n",
            "     day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, really, it would be\n",
            "     difficult to suggest a better. The method was no doubt suggested to\n",
            "     Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his accomplice's hair. The £4\n",
            "     a week was a lure which must draw him, and what was it to them, who\n",
            "     were playing for thousands? They put in the advertisement, one rogue\n",
            "     has the temporary office, the other rogue incites the man to apply\n",
            "     for it, and together they manage to secure his absence every morning\n",
            "     in the week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come\n",
            "     for half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive\n",
            "     for securing the situation.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But how could you guess what the motive was?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere\n",
            "     vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The man's\n",
            "     business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which\n",
            "     could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an\n",
            "     expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something out of the\n",
            "     house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's fondness for\n",
            "     photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar!\n",
            "     There was the end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to\n",
            "     this mysterious assistant and found that I had to deal with one of\n",
            "     the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He was doing\n",
            "     something in the cellar--something which took many hours a day for\n",
            "     months on end. What could it be, once more? I could think of nothing\n",
            "     save that he was running a tunnel to some other building.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I\n",
            "     surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was\n",
            "     ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. It\n",
            "     was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the\n",
            "     assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had never\n",
            "     set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His\n",
            "     knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have remarked how\n",
            "     worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of those hours of\n",
            "     burrowing. The only remaining point was what they were burrowing for.\n",
            "     I walked round the corner, saw the City and Suburban Bank abutted on\n",
            "     our friend's premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When\n",
            "     you drove home after the concert I called upon Scotland Yard and upon\n",
            "     the chairman of the bank directors, with the result that you have\n",
            "     seen.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And how could you tell that they would make their attempt to-night?\"\n",
            "     I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that\n",
            "     they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other\n",
            "     words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential\n",
            "     that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the\n",
            "     bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than any\n",
            "     other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. For all\n",
            "     these reasons I expected them to come to-night.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You reasoned it out beautifully,\" I exclaimed in unfeigned\n",
            "     admiration. \"It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings true.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It saved me from ennui,\" he answered, yawning. \"Alas! I already feel\n",
            "     it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort to escape\n",
            "     from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to\n",
            "     do so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you are a benefactor of the race,\" said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     He shrugged his shoulders. \"Well, perhaps, after all, it is of some\n",
            "     little use,\" he remarked. \"'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre c'est tout,'\n",
            "     as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                               A CASE OF IDENTITY\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear fellow,\" said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side of\n",
            "     the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, \"life is infinitely\n",
            "     stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would\n",
            "     not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of\n",
            "     existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover\n",
            "     over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and peep in at the\n",
            "     queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the\n",
            "     plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events,\n",
            "     working through generations, and leading to the most outré results,\n",
            "     it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen\n",
            "     conclusions most stale and unprofitable.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And yet I am not convinced of it,\" I answered. \"The cases which come\n",
            "     to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and vulgar\n",
            "     enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to its extreme\n",
            "     limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, neither\n",
            "     fascinating nor artistic.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a\n",
            "     realistic effect,\" remarked Holmes. \"This is wanting in the police\n",
            "     report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the platitudes of\n",
            "     the magistrate than upon the details, which to an observer contain\n",
            "     the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend upon it, there is\n",
            "     nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I smiled and shook my head. \"I can quite understand your thinking\n",
            "     so.\" I said. \"Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser and\n",
            "     helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout three\n",
            "     continents, you are brought in contact with all that is strange and\n",
            "     bizarre. But here\"--I picked up the morning paper from the\n",
            "     ground--\"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the first heading\n",
            "     upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his wife.' There is half a\n",
            "     column of print, but I know without reading it that it is all\n",
            "     perfectly familiar to me. There is, of course, the other woman, the\n",
            "     drink, the push, the blow, the bruise, the sympathetic sister or\n",
            "     landlady. The crudest of writers could invent nothing more crude.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument,\" said\n",
            "     Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. \"This is the\n",
            "     Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged in clearing\n",
            "     up some small points in connection with it. The husband was a\n",
            "     teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the conduct complained of\n",
            "     was that he had drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by\n",
            "     taking out his false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which, you\n",
            "     will allow, is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of\n",
            "     the average story-teller. Take a pinch of snuff, Doctor, and\n",
            "     acknowledge that I have scored over you in your example.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in the\n",
            "     centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his homely\n",
            "     ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon it.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah,\" said he, \"I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. It\n",
            "     is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my\n",
            "     assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And the ring?\" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which\n",
            "     sparkled upon his finger.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in\n",
            "     which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it\n",
            "     even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of my\n",
            "     little problems.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And have you any on hand just now?\" I asked with interest.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of interest.\n",
            "     They are important, you understand, without being interesting.\n",
            "     Indeed, I have found that it is usually in unimportant matters that\n",
            "     there is a field for the observation, and for the quick analysis of\n",
            "     cause and effect which gives the charm to an investigation. The\n",
            "     larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime the\n",
            "     more obvious, as a rule, is the motive. In these cases, save for one\n",
            "     rather intricate matter which has been referred to me from\n",
            "     Marseilles, there is nothing which presents any features of interest.\n",
            "     It is possible, however, that I may have something better before very\n",
            "     many minutes are over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much\n",
            "     mistaken.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted\n",
            "     blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street.\n",
            "     Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite there\n",
            "     stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large\n",
            "     curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a\n",
            "     coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under\n",
            "     this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at\n",
            "     our windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward, and her\n",
            "     fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as\n",
            "     of the swimmer who leaves the bank, she hurried across the road, and\n",
            "     we heard the sharp clang of the bell.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have seen those symptoms before,\" said Holmes, throwing his\n",
            "     cigarette into the fire. \"Oscillation upon the pavement always means\n",
            "     an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure that the\n",
            "     matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet even here we\n",
            "     may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously wronged by a man\n",
            "     she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell\n",
            "     wire. Here we may take it that there is a love matter, but that the\n",
            "     maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or grieved. But here she\n",
            "     comes in person to resolve our doubts.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons\n",
            "     entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself\n",
            "     loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed merchant-man\n",
            "     behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed her with the easy\n",
            "     courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, having closed the door and\n",
            "     bowed her into an armchair, he looked her over in the minute and yet\n",
            "     abstracted fashion which was peculiar to him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you not find,\" he said, \"that with your short sight it is a\n",
            "     little trying to do so much typewriting?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I did at first,\" she answered, \"but now I know where the letters are\n",
            "     without looking.\" Then, suddenly realising the full purport of his\n",
            "     words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear and\n",
            "     astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. \"You've heard about\n",
            "     me, Mr. Holmes,\" she cried, \"else how could you know all that?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Never mind,\" said Holmes, laughing; \"it is my business to know\n",
            "     things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others overlook. If\n",
            "     not, why should you come to consult me?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, whose\n",
            "     husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had given him\n",
            "     up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as much for me. I'm\n",
            "     not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in my own right, besides\n",
            "     the little that I make by the machine, and I would give it all to\n",
            "     know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?\" asked Sherlock\n",
            "     Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to the ceiling.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss\n",
            "     Mary Sutherland. \"Yes, I did bang out of the house,\" she said, \"for\n",
            "     it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. Windibank--that is,\n",
            "     my father--took it all. He would not go to the police, and he would\n",
            "     not go to you, and so at last, as he would do nothing and kept on\n",
            "     saying that there was no harm done, it made me mad, and I just on\n",
            "     with my things and came right away to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your father,\" said Holmes, \"your stepfather, surely, since the name\n",
            "     is different.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, too,\n",
            "     for he is only five years and two months older than myself.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And your mother is alive?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and a\n",
            "     man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father was a\n",
            "     plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy business\n",
            "     behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the foreman; but\n",
            "     when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the business, for he was\n",
            "     very superior, being a traveller in wines. They got £4700 for the\n",
            "     goodwill and interest, which wasn't near as much as father could have\n",
            "     got if he had been alive.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this rambling\n",
            "     and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he had listened\n",
            "     with the greatest concentration of attention.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your own little income,\" he asked, \"does it come out of the\n",
            "     business?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle Ned in\n",
            "     Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4½ per cent. Two\n",
            "     thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can only touch the\n",
            "     interest.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You interest me extremely,\" said Holmes. \"And since you draw so\n",
            "     large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the bargain,\n",
            "     you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in every way. I\n",
            "     believe that a single lady can get on very nicely upon an income of\n",
            "     about £60.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you understand\n",
            "     that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a burden to them,\n",
            "     and so they have the use of the money just while I am staying with\n",
            "     them. Of course, that is only just for the time. Mr. Windibank draws\n",
            "     my interest every quarter and pays it over to mother, and I find that\n",
            "     I can do pretty well with what I earn at typewriting. It brings me\n",
            "     twopence a sheet, and I can often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in\n",
            "     a day.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have made your position very clear to me,\" said Holmes. \"This is\n",
            "     my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before\n",
            "     myself. Kindly tell us now all about your connection with Mr. Hosmer\n",
            "     Angel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked nervously\n",
            "     at the fringe of her jacket. \"I met him first at the gasfitters'\n",
            "     ball,\" she said. \"They used to send father tickets when he was alive,\n",
            "     and then afterwards they remembered us, and sent them to mother. Mr.\n",
            "     Windibank did not wish us to go. He never did wish us to go anywhere.\n",
            "     He would get quite mad if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school\n",
            "     treat. But this time I was set on going, and I would go; for what\n",
            "     right had he to prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to\n",
            "     know, when all father's friends were to be there. And he said that I\n",
            "     had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never\n",
            "     so much as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would\n",
            "     do, he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went,\n",
            "     mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it was\n",
            "     there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I suppose,\" said Holmes, \"that when Mr. Windibank came back from\n",
            "     France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and\n",
            "     shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying anything to\n",
            "     a woman, for she would have her way.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a\n",
            "     gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if we\n",
            "     had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to say, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father came back\n",
            "     again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house any more.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He wouldn't\n",
            "     have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to say that a\n",
            "     woman should be happy in her own family circle. But then, as I used\n",
            "     to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to begin with, and I\n",
            "     had not got mine yet.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer\n",
            "     wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each\n",
            "     other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he used\n",
            "     to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so there\n",
            "     was no need for father to know.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that we\n",
            "     took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall\n",
            "     Street--and--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What office?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Where did he live, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He slept on the premises.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you don't know his address?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No--except that it was Leadenhall Street.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Where did you address your letters, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called for. He\n",
            "     said that if they were sent to the office he would be chaffed by all\n",
            "     the other clerks about having letters from a lady, so I offered to\n",
            "     typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't have that, for he\n",
            "     said that when I wrote them they seemed to come from me, but when\n",
            "     they were typewritten he always felt that the machine had come\n",
            "     between us. That will just show you how fond he was of me, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes, and the little things that he would think of.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was most suggestive,\" said Holmes. \"It has long been an axiom of\n",
            "     mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.  Can\n",
            "     you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me in\n",
            "     the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to be\n",
            "     conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his voice was\n",
            "     gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he was young, he\n",
            "     told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, and a hesitating,\n",
            "     whispering fashion of speech. He was always well dressed, very neat\n",
            "     and plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine are, and he wore\n",
            "     tinted glasses against the glare.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather,\n",
            "     returned to France?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we should\n",
            "     marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest and made me\n",
            "     swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever happened I would\n",
            "     always be true to him. Mother said he was quite right to make me\n",
            "     swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was all in his\n",
            "     favour from the first and was even fonder of him than I was. Then,\n",
            "     when they talked of marrying within the week, I began to ask about\n",
            "     father; but they both said never to mind about father, but just to\n",
            "     tell him afterwards, and mother said she would make it all right with\n",
            "     him. I didn't quite like that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I\n",
            "     should ask his leave, as he was only a few years older than me; but I\n",
            "     didn't want to do anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at\n",
            "     Bordeaux, where the company has its French offices, but the letter\n",
            "     came back to me on the very morning of the wedding.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It missed him, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for the\n",
            "     Friday. Was it to be in church?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near\n",
            "     King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St.\n",
            "     Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were two\n",
            "     of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a four-wheeler,\n",
            "     which happened to be the only other cab in the street. We got to the\n",
            "     church first, and when the four-wheeler drove up we waited for him to\n",
            "     step out, but he never did, and when the cabman got down from the box\n",
            "     and looked there was no one there! The cabman said that he could not\n",
            "     imagine what had become of him, for he had seen him get in with his\n",
            "     own eyes. That was last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or\n",
            "     heard anything since then to throw any light upon what became of\n",
            "     him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated,\" said\n",
            "     Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all the\n",
            "     morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to be\n",
            "     true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to\n",
            "     separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, and\n",
            "     that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed strange\n",
            "     talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since gives a\n",
            "     meaning to it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some\n",
            "     unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he would\n",
            "     not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw happened.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But you have no notion as to what it could have been?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One more question. How did your mother take the matter?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter\n",
            "     again.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And your father? Did you tell him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had happened,\n",
            "     and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, what interest\n",
            "     could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of the church, and then\n",
            "     leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my money, or if he had married me\n",
            "     and got my money settled on him, there might be some reason, but\n",
            "     Hosmer was very independent about money and never would look at a\n",
            "     shilling of mine. And yet, what could have happened? And why could he\n",
            "     not write? Oh, it drives me half-mad to think of it, and I can't\n",
            "     sleep a wink at night.\" She pulled a little handkerchief out of her\n",
            "     muff and began to sob heavily into it.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I shall glance into the case for you,\" said Holmes, rising, \"and I\n",
            "     have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the\n",
            "     weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind dwell\n",
            "     upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel vanish from\n",
            "     your memory, as he has done from your life.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then you don't think I'll see him again?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I fear not.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then what has happened to him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an accurate\n",
            "     description of him and any letters of his which you can spare.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle,\" said she. \"Here\n",
            "     is the slip and here are four letters from him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you. And your address?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your\n",
            "     father's place of business?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers of\n",
            "     Fenchurch Street.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will leave\n",
            "     the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given you. Let\n",
            "     the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it to affect\n",
            "     your life.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be true\n",
            "     to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was\n",
            "     something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled\n",
            "     our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon the table and\n",
            "     went her way, with a promise to come again whenever she might be\n",
            "     summoned.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips\n",
            "     still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, and\n",
            "     his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down from the\n",
            "     rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a counsellor,\n",
            "     and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with the thick blue\n",
            "     cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of infinite languor in\n",
            "     his face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite an interesting study, that maiden,\" he observed. \"I found her\n",
            "     more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, is\n",
            "     rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you consult my\n",
            "     index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of the sort at The\n",
            "     Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, there were one or two\n",
            "     details which were new to me. But the maiden herself was most\n",
            "     instructive.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite invisible\n",
            "     to me,\" I remarked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to look,\n",
            "     and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring you to\n",
            "     realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails,\n",
            "     or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. Now, what did you\n",
            "     gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a\n",
            "     feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads\n",
            "     sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her dress\n",
            "     was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little purple\n",
            "     plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and were worn\n",
            "     through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't observe. She had\n",
            "     small round, hanging gold earrings, and a general air of being fairly\n",
            "     well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have\n",
            "     really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed\n",
            "     everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you\n",
            "     have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general impressions, my\n",
            "     boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My first glance is always\n",
            "     at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is perhaps better first to take the\n",
            "     knee of the trouser. As you observe, this woman had plush upon her\n",
            "     sleeves, which is a most useful material for showing traces. The\n",
            "     double line a little above the wrist, where the typewritist presses\n",
            "     against the table, was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of\n",
            "     the hand type, leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and\n",
            "     on the side of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right\n",
            "     across the broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face,\n",
            "     and, observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I\n",
            "     ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed to\n",
            "     surprise her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It surprised me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and\n",
            "     interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots which\n",
            "     she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were really odd\n",
            "     ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and the other a\n",
            "     plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower buttons out of\n",
            "     five, and the other at the first, third, and fifth. Now, when you see\n",
            "     that a young lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has come away from home\n",
            "     with odd boots, half-buttoned, it is no great deduction to say that\n",
            "     she came away in a hurry.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And what else?\" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by my\n",
            "     friend's incisive reasoning.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving home\n",
            "     but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right glove was\n",
            "     torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see that both\n",
            "     glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had written in a\n",
            "     hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been this morning, or\n",
            "     the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. All this is amusing,\n",
            "     though rather elementary, but I must go back to business, Watson.\n",
            "     Would you mind reading me the advertised description of Mr. Hosmer\n",
            "     Angel?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I held the little printed slip to the light.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Missing,\" it said, \"on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman\n",
            "     named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; strongly\n",
            "     built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in the centre,\n",
            "     bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted glasses, slight\n",
            "     infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, in black frock-coat\n",
            "     faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain, and grey Harris\n",
            "     tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over elastic-sided boots. Known to\n",
            "     have been employed in an office in Leadenhall Street. Anybody\n",
            "     bringing--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That will do,\" said Holmes. \"As to the letters,\" he continued,\n",
            "     glancing over them, \"they are very commonplace. Absolutely no clue in\n",
            "     them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There is one\n",
            "     remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They are typewritten,\" I remarked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the neat\n",
            "     little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you see, but no\n",
            "     superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is rather vague. The\n",
            "     point about the signature is very suggestive--in fact, we may call it\n",
            "     conclusive.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Of what?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it bears\n",
            "     upon the case?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able to\n",
            "     deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were\n",
            "     instituted.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters,\n",
            "     which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the\n",
            "     other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking him\n",
            "     whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow evening. It is\n",
            "     just as well that we should do business with the male relatives. And\n",
            "     now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the answers to those letters\n",
            "     come, so we may put our little problem upon the shelf for the\n",
            "     interim.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers of\n",
            "     reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that he must\n",
            "     have some solid grounds for the assured and easy demeanour with which\n",
            "     he treated the singular mystery which he had been called upon to\n",
            "     fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in the case of the King of\n",
            "     Bohemia and of the Irene Adler photograph; but when I looked back to\n",
            "     the weird business of the Sign of Four, and the extraordinary\n",
            "     circumstances connected with the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it\n",
            "     would be a strange tangle indeed which he could not unravel.\n",
            "\n",
            "     I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the\n",
            "     conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would find\n",
            "     that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up to the\n",
            "     identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary Sutherland.\n",
            "\n",
            "     A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own attention at\n",
            "     the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at the bedside of the\n",
            "     sufferer. It was not until close upon six o'clock that I found myself\n",
            "     free and was able to spring into a hansom and drive to Baker Street,\n",
            "     half afraid that I might be too late to assist at the dénouement of\n",
            "     the little mystery. I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half\n",
            "     asleep, with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses of his\n",
            "     armchair. A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the\n",
            "     pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent\n",
            "     his day in the chemical work which was so dear to him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, have you solved it?\" I asked as I entered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no, the mystery!\" I cried.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. There\n",
            "     was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said yesterday,\n",
            "     some of the details are of interest. The only drawback is that there\n",
            "     is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss\n",
            "     Sutherland?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet\n",
            "     opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the\n",
            "     passage and a tap at the door.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "     \"He has written to me to say that he would be here at six. Come in!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some thirty\n",
            "     years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a bland,\n",
            "     insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and penetrating\n",
            "     grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of us, placed his\n",
            "     shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a slight bow sidled down\n",
            "     into the nearest chair.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank,\" said Holmes. \"I think that this\n",
            "     typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an appointment with\n",
            "     me for six o'clock?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not quite my\n",
            "     own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland has troubled\n",
            "     you about this little matter, for I think it is far better not to\n",
            "     wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite against my wishes that\n",
            "     she came, but she is a very excitable, impulsive girl, as you may\n",
            "     have noticed, and she is not easily controlled when she has made up\n",
            "     her mind on a point. Of course, I did not mind you so much, as you\n",
            "     are not connected with the official police, but it is not pleasant to\n",
            "     have a family misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a\n",
            "     useless expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On the contrary,\" said Holmes quietly; \"I have every reason to\n",
            "     believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. \"I am\n",
            "     delighted to hear it,\" he said.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is a curious thing,\" remarked Holmes, \"that a typewriter has\n",
            "     really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless\n",
            "     they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some letters\n",
            "     get more worn than others, and some wear only on one side. Now, you\n",
            "     remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that in every case there\n",
            "     is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and a slight defect in the\n",
            "     tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other characteristics, but those\n",
            "     are the more obvious.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, and no\n",
            "     doubt it is a little worn,\" our visitor answered, glancing keenly at\n",
            "     Holmes with his bright little eyes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Mr.\n",
            "     Windibank,\" Holmes continued. \"I think of writing another little\n",
            "     monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its relation to\n",
            "     crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some little attention.\n",
            "     I have here four letters which purport to come from the missing man.\n",
            "     They are all typewritten. In each case, not only are the 'e's'\n",
            "     slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will observe, if you care to\n",
            "     use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen other characteristics to\n",
            "     which I have alluded are there as well.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. \"I\n",
            "     cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes,\" he\n",
            "     said. \"If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know when you\n",
            "     have done it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Certainly,\" said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in the\n",
            "     door. \"I let you know, then, that I have caught him!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What! where?\" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips and\n",
            "     glancing about him like a rat in a trap.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, it won't do--really it won't,\" said Holmes suavely. \"There is no\n",
            "     possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too\n",
            "     transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that it\n",
            "     was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's right!\n",
            "     Sit down and let us talk it over.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a glitter\n",
            "     of moisture on his brow. \"It--it's not actionable,\" he stammered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves,\n",
            "     Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a\n",
            "     petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the\n",
            "     course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his\n",
            "     breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up on\n",
            "     the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands in his\n",
            "     pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, than to us.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The man married a woman very much older than himself for her money,\"\n",
            "     said he, \"and he enjoyed the use of the money of the daughter as long\n",
            "     as she lived with them. It was a considerable sum, for people in\n",
            "     their position, and the loss of it would have made a serious\n",
            "     difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. The daughter was\n",
            "     of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate and warm-hearted in\n",
            "     her ways, so that it was evident that with her fair personal\n",
            "     advantages, and her little income, she would not be allowed to remain\n",
            "     single long. Now her marriage would mean, of course, the loss of a\n",
            "     hundred a year, so what does her stepfather do to prevent it? He\n",
            "     takes the obvious course of keeping her at home and forbidding her to\n",
            "     seek the company of people of her own age. But soon he found that\n",
            "     that would not answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her\n",
            "     rights, and finally announced her positive intention of going to a\n",
            "     certain ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives\n",
            "     an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the\n",
            "     connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, covered\n",
            "     those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with a moustache\n",
            "     and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an\n",
            "     insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the girl's short\n",
            "     sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off other lovers by\n",
            "     making love himself.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was only a joke at first,\" groaned our visitor. \"We never thought\n",
            "     that she would have been so carried away.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very\n",
            "     decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that her\n",
            "     stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never for an\n",
            "     instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the gentleman's\n",
            "     attentions, and the effect was increased by the loudly expressed\n",
            "     admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began to call, for it was\n",
            "     obvious that the matter should be pushed as far as it would go if a\n",
            "     real effect were to be produced. There were meetings, and an\n",
            "     engagement, which would finally secure the girl's affections from\n",
            "     turning towards anyone else. But the deception could not be kept up\n",
            "     forever. These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous. The\n",
            "     thing to do was clearly to bring the business to an end in such a\n",
            "     dramatic manner that it would leave a permanent impression upon the\n",
            "     young lady's mind and prevent her from looking upon any other suitor\n",
            "     for some time to come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a\n",
            "     Testament, and hence also the allusions to a possibility of something\n",
            "     happening on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished\n",
            "     Miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as\n",
            "     to his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not\n",
            "     listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, and\n",
            "     then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished away by the\n",
            "     old trick of stepping in at one door of a four-wheeler and out at the\n",
            "     other. I think that was the chain of events, Mr. Windibank!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes had\n",
            "     been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold sneer upon\n",
            "     his pale face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes,\" said he, \"but if you are\n",
            "     so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is you who\n",
            "     are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing actionable\n",
            "     from the first, but as long as you keep that door locked you lay\n",
            "     yourself open to an action for assault and illegal constraint.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The law cannot, as you say, touch you,\" said Holmes, unlocking and\n",
            "     throwing open the door, \"yet there never was a man who deserved\n",
            "     punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a friend, he\n",
            "     ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!\" he continued,\n",
            "     flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man's face, \"it\n",
            "     is not part of my duties to my client, but here's a hunting crop\n",
            "     handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to--\" He took two swift\n",
            "     steps to the whip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild\n",
            "     clatter of steps upon the stairs, the heavy hall door banged, and\n",
            "     from the window we could see Mr. James Windibank running at the top\n",
            "     of his speed down the road.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!\" said Holmes, laughing, as he\n",
            "     threw himself down into his chair once more. \"That fellow will rise\n",
            "     from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and ends on a\n",
            "     gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not entirely devoid of\n",
            "     interest.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning,\" I\n",
            "     remarked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. Hosmer\n",
            "     Angel must have some strong object for his curious conduct, and it\n",
            "     was equally clear that the only man who really profited by the\n",
            "     incident, as far as we could see, was the stepfather. Then the fact\n",
            "     that the two men were never together, but that the one always\n",
            "     appeared when the other was away, was suggestive. So were the tinted\n",
            "     spectacles and the curious voice, which both hinted at a disguise, as\n",
            "     did the bushy whiskers. My suspicions were all confirmed by his\n",
            "     peculiar action in typewriting his signature, which, of course,\n",
            "     inferred that his handwriting was so familiar to her that she would\n",
            "     recognise even the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated\n",
            "     facts, together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same\n",
            "     direction.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And how did you verify them?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I knew\n",
            "     the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed\n",
            "     description, I eliminated everything from it which could be the\n",
            "     result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I\n",
            "     sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me whether\n",
            "     it answered to the description of any of their travellers. I had\n",
            "     already noticed the peculiarities of the typewriter, and I wrote to\n",
            "     the man himself at his business address asking him if he would come\n",
            "     here. As I expected, his reply was typewritten and revealed the same\n",
            "     trivial but characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter\n",
            "     from Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the\n",
            "     description tallied in every respect with that of their employee,\n",
            "     James Windibank. Voilà tout!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And Miss Sutherland?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old\n",
            "     Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub,\n",
            "     and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' There is\n",
            "     as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the\n",
            "     world.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                           THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY\n",
            "\n",
            "     We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the maid\n",
            "     brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran in this\n",
            "     way:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from\n",
            "     the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall\n",
            "     be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. Leave\n",
            "     Paddington by the 11.15.\"\n",
            "     \"What do you say, dear?\" said my wife, looking across at me. \"Will\n",
            "     you go?\" \n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at\n",
            "     present.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking a\n",
            "     little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, and\n",
            "     you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained through\n",
            "     one of them,\" I answered. \"But if I am to go, I must pack at once,\n",
            "     for I have only half an hour.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the effect\n",
            "     of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were few and\n",
            "     simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a cab with my\n",
            "     valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock Holmes was\n",
            "     pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt figure made even\n",
            "     gaunter and taller by his long grey travelling-cloak and\n",
            "     close-fitting cloth cap.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is really very good of you to come, Watson,\" said he. \"It makes a\n",
            "     considerable difference to me, having someone with me on whom I can\n",
            "     thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless or else\n",
            "     biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall get the\n",
            "     tickets.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of papers\n",
            "     which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged and read,\n",
            "     with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until we were past\n",
            "     Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a gigantic ball and\n",
            "     tossed them up onto the rack.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Have you heard anything of the case?\" he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just been\n",
            "     looking through all the recent papers in order to master the\n",
            "     particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple\n",
            "     cases which are so extremely difficult.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That sounds a little paradoxical.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a clue.\n",
            "     The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult\n",
            "     it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established\n",
            "     a very serious case against the son of the murdered man.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is a murder, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for granted\n",
            "     until I have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will\n",
            "     explain the state of things to you, as far as I have been able to\n",
            "     understand it, in a very few words.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in\n",
            "     Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a Mr.\n",
            "     John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned some years\n",
            "     ago to the old country. One of the farms which he held, that of\n",
            "     Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was also an\n",
            "     ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the colonies, so that\n",
            "     it was not unnatural that when they came to settle down they should\n",
            "     do so as near each other as possible. Turner was apparently the\n",
            "     richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant but still remained, it\n",
            "     seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as they were frequently\n",
            "     together. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an\n",
            "     only daughter of the same age, but neither of them had wives living.\n",
            "     They appear to have avoided the society of the neighbouring English\n",
            "     families and to have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys\n",
            "     were fond of sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of\n",
            "     the neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl.\n",
            "     Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the least.\n",
            "     That is as much as I have been able to gather about the families. Now\n",
            "     for the facts.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at\n",
            "     Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the\n",
            "     Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out of\n",
            "     the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been out with\n",
            "     his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told the man that\n",
            "     he must hurry, as he had an appointment of importance to keep at\n",
            "     three. From that appointment he never came back alive.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a\n",
            "     mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One was\n",
            "     an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was William\n",
            "     Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both these\n",
            "     witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The game-keeper\n",
            "     adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. McCarthy pass he had\n",
            "     seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the same way with a gun under\n",
            "     his arm. To the best of his belief, the father was actually in sight\n",
            "     at the time, and the son was following him. He thought no more of the\n",
            "     matter until he heard in the evening of the tragedy that had\n",
            "     occurred.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, the\n",
            "     game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded\n",
            "     round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the edge. A\n",
            "     girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of the\n",
            "     lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods\n",
            "     picking flowers. She states that while she was there she saw, at the\n",
            "     border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. McCarthy and his son,\n",
            "     and that they appeared to be having a violent quarrel. She heard Mr.\n",
            "     McCarthy the elder using very strong language to his son, and she saw\n",
            "     the latter raise up his hand as if to strike his father. She was so\n",
            "     frightened by their violence that she ran away and told her mother\n",
            "     when she reached home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling\n",
            "     near Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to\n",
            "     fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came\n",
            "     running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead in\n",
            "     the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was much\n",
            "     excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right hand and\n",
            "     sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On following him\n",
            "     they found the dead body stretched out upon the grass beside the\n",
            "     pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated blows of some heavy and\n",
            "     blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might very well have been\n",
            "     inflicted by the butt-end of his son's gun, which was found lying on\n",
            "     the grass within a few paces of the body. Under these circumstances\n",
            "     the young man was instantly arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful\n",
            "     murder' having been returned at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on\n",
            "     Wednesday brought before the magistrates at Ross, who have referred\n",
            "     the case to the next Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as\n",
            "     they came out before the coroner and the police-court.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I could hardly imagine a more damning case,\" I remarked. \"If ever\n",
            "     circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so here.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing,\" answered Holmes\n",
            "     thoughtfully. \"It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but\n",
            "     if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it\n",
            "     pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely\n",
            "     different. It must be confessed, however, that the case looks\n",
            "     exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very possible that\n",
            "     he is indeed the culprit. There are several people in the\n",
            "     neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of\n",
            "     the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his innocence, and who\n",
            "     have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect in connection with the\n",
            "     Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in his interest. Lestrade,\n",
            "     being rather puzzled, has referred the case to me, and hence it is\n",
            "     that two middle-aged gentlemen are flying westward at fifty miles an\n",
            "     hour instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts at home.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am afraid,\" said I, \"that the facts are so obvious that you will\n",
            "     find little credit to be gained out of this case.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact,\" he answered,\n",
            "     laughing. \"Besides, we may chance to hit upon some other obvious\n",
            "     facts which may have been by no means obvious to Mr. Lestrade. You\n",
            "     know me too well to think that I am boasting when I say that I shall\n",
            "     either confirm or destroy his theory by means which he is quite\n",
            "     incapable of employing, or even of understanding. To take the first\n",
            "     example to hand, I very clearly perceive that in your bedroom the\n",
            "     window is upon the right-hand side, and yet I question whether Mr.\n",
            "     Lestrade would have noted even so self-evident a thing as that.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How on earth--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness which\n",
            "     characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this season you\n",
            "     shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less and less\n",
            "     complete as we get farther back on the left side, until it becomes\n",
            "     positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, it is\n",
            "     surely very clear that that side is less illuminated than the other.\n",
            "     I could not imagine a man of your habits looking at himself in an\n",
            "     equal light and being satisfied with such a result. I only quote this\n",
            "     as a trivial example of observation and inference. Therein lies my\n",
            "     métier, and it is just possible that it may be of some service in the\n",
            "     investigation which lies before us. There are one or two minor points\n",
            "     which were brought out in the inquest, and which are worth\n",
            "     considering.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What are they?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after the\n",
            "     return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary informing\n",
            "     him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to\n",
            "     hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. This observation\n",
            "     of his had the natural effect of removing any traces of doubt which\n",
            "     might have remained in the minds of the coroner's jury.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was a confession,\" I ejaculated.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at\n",
            "     least a most suspicious remark.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On the contrary,\" said Holmes, \"it is the brightest rift which I can\n",
            "     at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, he could\n",
            "     not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the circumstances\n",
            "     were very black against him. Had he appeared surprised at his own\n",
            "     arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I should have looked upon it as\n",
            "     highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger would not be\n",
            "     natural under the circumstances, and yet might appear to be the best\n",
            "     policy to a scheming man. His frank acceptance of the situation marks\n",
            "     him as either an innocent man, or else as a man of considerable\n",
            "     self-restraint and firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it\n",
            "     was also not unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead\n",
            "     body of his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very\n",
            "     day so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and\n",
            "     even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so important, to\n",
            "     raise his hand as if to strike him. The self-reproach and contrition\n",
            "     which are displayed in his remark appear to me to be the signs of a\n",
            "     healthy mind rather than of a guilty one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I shook my head. \"Many men have been hanged on far slighter\n",
            "     evidence,\" I remarked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What is the young man's own account of the matter?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, though\n",
            "     there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. You will find\n",
            "     it here, and may read it for yourself.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire\n",
            "     paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the paragraph\n",
            "     in which the unfortunate young man had given his own statement of\n",
            "     what had occurred. I settled myself down in the corner of the\n",
            "     carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this way:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called\n",
            "     and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for three\n",
            "     days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the morning of last\n",
            "     Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at the time of my\n",
            "     arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he had driven over to\n",
            "     Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after my return I heard the\n",
            "     wheels of his trap in the yard, and, looking out of my window, I saw\n",
            "     him get out and walk rapidly out of the yard, though I was not aware\n",
            "     in which direction he was going. I then took my gun and strolled out\n",
            "     in the direction of the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting\n",
            "     the rabbit warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw\n",
            "     William Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence;\n",
            "     but he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had\n",
            "     no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards from\n",
            "     the pool I heard a cry of \"Cooee!\" which was a usual signal between\n",
            "     my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found him standing\n",
            "     by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at seeing me and asked\n",
            "     me rather roughly what I was doing there. A conversation ensued which\n",
            "     led to high words and almost to blows, for my father was a man of a\n",
            "     very violent temper. Seeing that his passion was becoming\n",
            "     ungovernable, I left him and returned towards Hatherley Farm. I had\n",
            "     not gone more than 150 yards, however, when I heard a hideous outcry\n",
            "     behind me, which caused me to run back again. I found my father\n",
            "     expiring upon the ground, with his head terribly injured. I dropped\n",
            "     my gun and held him in my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I\n",
            "     knelt beside him for some minutes, and then made my way to Mr.\n",
            "     Turner's lodge-keeper, his house being the nearest, to ask for\n",
            "     assistance. I saw no one near my father when I returned, and I have\n",
            "     no idea how he came by his injuries. He was not a popular man, being\n",
            "     somewhat cold and forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I\n",
            "     know, no active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.'\n",
            "     \"The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before he\n",
            "     died?\n",
            "     \"Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some\n",
            "     allusion to a rat.\n",
            "     \"The Coroner: What did you understand by that?\n",
            "     \"Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was\n",
            "     delirious.\n",
            "     \"The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father had\n",
            "     this final quarrel?\n",
            "     \"Witness: I should prefer not to answer.\n",
            "     \"The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it.\n",
            "     \"Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can assure\n",
            "     you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which followed.\n",
            "     \"The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point out\n",
            "     to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case\n",
            "     considerably in any future proceedings which may arise.\n",
            "     \"Witness: I must still refuse.\n",
            "     \"The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common\n",
            "     signal between you and your father?\n",
            "     \"Witness: It was.\n",
            "     \"The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw you,\n",
            "     and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol?\n",
            "     \"Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know.\n",
            "     \"A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions when\n",
            "     you returned on hearing the cry and found your father fatally\n",
            "     injured?\n",
            "     \"Witness: Nothing definite.\n",
            "     \"The Coroner: What do you mean?\n",
            "     \"Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into the\n",
            "     open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet I have a\n",
            "     vague impression that as I ran forward something lay upon the ground\n",
            "     to the left of me. It seemed to me to be something grey in colour, a\n",
            "     coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. When I rose from my father I\n",
            "     looked round for it, but it was gone.\n",
            "     \"'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?'\n",
            "     \"'Yes, it was gone.'\n",
            "     \"'You cannot say what it was?'\n",
            "     \"'No, I had a feeling something was there.'\n",
            "     \"'How far from the body?'\n",
            "     \"'A dozen yards or so.'\n",
            "     \"'And how far from the edge of the wood?'\n",
            "     \"'About the same.'\n",
            "     \"'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen yards\n",
            "     of it?'\n",
            "     \"'Yes, but with my back towards it.'\n",
            "     \"This concluded the examination of the witness.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I see,\" said I as I glanced down the column, \"that the coroner in\n",
            "     his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. He\n",
            "     calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his father\n",
            "     having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his refusal to\n",
            "     give details of his conversation with his father, and his singular\n",
            "     account of his father's dying words. They are all, as he remarks,\n",
            "     very much against the son.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon the\n",
            "     cushioned seat. \"Both you and the coroner have been at some pains,\"\n",
            "     said he, \"to single out the very strongest points in the young man's\n",
            "     favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him credit for having\n",
            "     too much imagination and too little? Too little, if he could not\n",
            "     invent a cause of quarrel which would give him the sympathy of the\n",
            "     jury; too much, if he evolved from his own inner consciousness\n",
            "     anything so outré as a dying reference to a rat, and the incident of\n",
            "     the vanishing cloth. No, sir, I shall approach this case from the\n",
            "     point of view that what this young man says is true, and we shall see\n",
            "     whither that hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket\n",
            "     Petrarch, and not another word shall I say of this case until we are\n",
            "     on the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall\n",
            "     be there in twenty minutes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through the\n",
            "     beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, found\n",
            "     ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A lean,\n",
            "     ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for us upon the\n",
            "     platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and leather-leggings\n",
            "     which he wore in deference to his rustic surroundings, I had no\n",
            "     difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of Scotland Yard. With him we\n",
            "     drove to the Hereford Arms where a room had already been engaged for\n",
            "     us.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have ordered a carriage,\" said Lestrade as we sat over a cup of\n",
            "     tea. \"I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be happy\n",
            "     until you had been on the scene of the crime.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was very nice and complimentary of you,\" Holmes answered. \"It is\n",
            "     entirely a question of barometric pressure.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lestrade looked startled. \"I do not quite follow,\" he said.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud in\n",
            "     the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need smoking, and\n",
            "     the sofa is very much superior to the usual country hotel\n",
            "     abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I shall use the\n",
            "     carriage to-night.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lestrade laughed indulgently. \"You have, no doubt, already formed\n",
            "     your conclusions from the newspapers,\" he said. \"The case is as plain\n",
            "     as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer it becomes.\n",
            "     Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a very positive\n",
            "     one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your opinion, though I\n",
            "     repeatedly told her that there was nothing which you could do which I\n",
            "     had not already done. Why, bless my soul! here is her carriage at the\n",
            "     door.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the\n",
            "     most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her violet\n",
            "     eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her cheeks, all\n",
            "     thought of her natural reserve lost in her overpowering excitement\n",
            "     and concern.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!\" she cried, glancing from one to the other\n",
            "     of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, fastening upon my\n",
            "     companion, \"I am so glad that you have come. I have driven down to\n",
            "     tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. I know it, and I want\n",
            "     you to start upon your work knowing it, too. Never let yourself doubt\n",
            "     upon that point. We have known each other since we were little\n",
            "     children, and I know his faults as no one else does; but he is too\n",
            "     tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a charge is absurd to anyone who\n",
            "     really knows him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner,\" said Sherlock Holmes.  \"You\n",
            "     may rely upon my doing all that I can.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? Do\n",
            "     you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself think that\n",
            "     he is innocent?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that it is very probable.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There, now!\" she cried, throwing back her head and looking defiantly\n",
            "     at Lestrade. \"You hear! He gives me hopes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. \"I am afraid that my colleague has\n",
            "     been a little quick in forming his conclusions,\" he said.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did it.\n",
            "     And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the reason why\n",
            "     he would not speak about it to the coroner was because I was\n",
            "     concerned in it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In what way?\" asked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had many\n",
            "     disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that there\n",
            "     should be a marriage between us. James and I have always loved each\n",
            "     other as brother and sister; but of course he is young and has seen\n",
            "     very little of life yet, and--and--well, he naturally did not wish to\n",
            "     do anything like that yet. So there were quarrels, and this, I am\n",
            "     sure, was one of them.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And your father?\" asked Holmes. \"Was he in favour of such a union?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in favour\n",
            "     of it.\" A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as Holmes shot\n",
            "     one of his keen, questioning glances at her.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you for this information,\" said he. \"May I see your father if\n",
            "     I call to-morrow?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am afraid the doctor won't allow it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The doctor?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for years\n",
            "     back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken to his\n",
            "     bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his nervous\n",
            "     system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive who had\n",
            "     known dad in the old days in Victoria.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha! In Victoria! That is important.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, at the mines.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner made\n",
            "     his money.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, certainly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you will\n",
            "     go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do tell him\n",
            "     that I know him to be innocent.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will, Miss Turner.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if I\n",
            "     leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking.\" She\n",
            "     hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we heard\n",
            "     the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am ashamed of you, Holmes,\" said Lestrade with dignity after a few\n",
            "     minutes' silence. \"Why should you raise up hopes which you are bound\n",
            "     to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I call it cruel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "     \"Have you an order to see him in prison?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, but only for you and me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have still\n",
            "     time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ample.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very slow,\n",
            "     but I shall only be away a couple of hours.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through the\n",
            "     streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, where I\n",
            "     lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a yellow-backed\n",
            "     novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, however, when compared\n",
            "     to the deep mystery through which we were groping, and I found my\n",
            "     attention wander so continually from the action to the fact, that I\n",
            "     at last flung it across the room and gave myself up entirely to a\n",
            "     consideration of the events of the day. Supposing that this unhappy\n",
            "     young man's story were absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what\n",
            "     absolutely unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred\n",
            "     between the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when,\n",
            "     drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was something\n",
            "     terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the nature of the\n",
            "     injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? I rang the bell\n",
            "     and called for the weekly county paper, which contained a verbatim\n",
            "     account of the inquest. In the surgeon's deposition it was stated\n",
            "     that the posterior third of the left parietal bone and the left half\n",
            "     of the occipital bone had been shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt\n",
            "     weapon. I marked the spot upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must\n",
            "     have been struck from behind. That was to some extent in favour of\n",
            "     the accused, as when seen quarrelling he was face to face with his\n",
            "     father. Still, it did not go for very much, for the older man might\n",
            "     have turned his back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth\n",
            "     while to call Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar\n",
            "     dying reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be\n",
            "     delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become\n",
            "     delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how he\n",
            "     met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my brains to\n",
            "     find some possible explanation. And then the incident of the grey\n",
            "     cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the murderer must\n",
            "     have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his overcoat, in his\n",
            "     flight, and must have had the hardihood to return and to carry it\n",
            "     away at the instant when the son was kneeling with his back turned\n",
            "     not a dozen paces off. What a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities\n",
            "     the whole thing was! I did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet\n",
            "     I had so much faith in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose\n",
            "     hope as long as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction\n",
            "     of young McCarthy's innocence.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, for\n",
            "     Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The glass still keeps very high,\" he remarked as he sat down. \"It is\n",
            "     of importance that it should not rain before we are able to go over\n",
            "     the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his very best and\n",
            "     keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not wish to do it when\n",
            "     fagged by a long journey. I have seen young McCarthy.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And what did you learn from him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nothing.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Could he throw no light?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew who\n",
            "     had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced now that\n",
            "     he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very quick-witted\n",
            "     youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, sound at heart.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot admire his taste,\" I remarked, \"if it is indeed a fact that\n",
            "     he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as this\n",
            "     Miss Turner.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly,\n",
            "     insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was only\n",
            "     a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away five\n",
            "     years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get into the\n",
            "     clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a registry office?\n",
            "     No one knows a word of the matter, but you can imagine how maddening\n",
            "     it must be to him to be upbraided for not doing what he would give\n",
            "     his very eyes to do, but what he knows to be absolutely impossible.\n",
            "     It was sheer frenzy of this sort which made him throw his hands up\n",
            "     into the air when his father, at their last interview, was goading\n",
            "     him on to propose to Miss Turner. On the other hand, he had no means\n",
            "     of supporting himself, and his father, who was by all accounts a very\n",
            "     hard man, would have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth.\n",
            "     It was with his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in\n",
            "     Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that point.\n",
            "     It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, for the\n",
            "     barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious trouble and\n",
            "     likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and has written to\n",
            "     him to say that she has a husband already in the Bermuda Dockyard, so\n",
            "     that there is really no tie between them. I think that that bit of\n",
            "     news has consoled young McCarthy for all that he has suffered.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But if he is innocent, who has done it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two\n",
            "     points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with someone\n",
            "     at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his son, for\n",
            "     his son was away, and he did not know when he would return. The\n",
            "     second is that the murdered man was heard to cry 'Cooee!' before he\n",
            "     knew that his son had returned. Those are the crucial points upon\n",
            "     which the case depends. And now let us talk about George Meredith, if\n",
            "     you please, and we shall leave all minor matters until to-morrow.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke\n",
            "     bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with the\n",
            "     carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe Pool.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is serious news this morning,\" Lestrade observed. \"It is said\n",
            "     that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is despaired\n",
            "     of.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"An elderly man, I presume?\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life\n",
            "     abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This\n",
            "     business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend of\n",
            "     McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I have\n",
            "     learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed! That is interesting,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody about\n",
            "     here speaks of his kindness to him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this\n",
            "     McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have been\n",
            "     under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of marrying his\n",
            "     son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, heiress to the estate,\n",
            "     and that in such a very cocksure manner, as if it were merely a case\n",
            "     of a proposal and all else would follow? It is the more strange,\n",
            "     since we know that Turner himself was averse to the idea. The\n",
            "     daughter told us as much. Do you not deduce something from that?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We have got to the deductions and the inferences,\" said Lestrade,\n",
            "     winking at me. \"I find it hard enough to tackle facts, Holmes,\n",
            "     without flying away after theories and fancies.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are right,\" said Holmes demurely; \"you do find it very hard to\n",
            "     tackle the facts.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it difficult\n",
            "     to get hold of,\" replied Lestrade with some warmth.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And that is--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that all\n",
            "     theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog,\" said Holmes,\n",
            "     laughing. \"But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley Farm\n",
            "     upon the left.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, that is it.\" It was a widespread, comfortable-looking building,\n",
            "     two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches of lichen upon\n",
            "     the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless chimneys, however,\n",
            "     gave it a stricken look, as though the weight of this horror still\n",
            "     lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, when the maid, at Holmes'\n",
            "     request, showed us the boots which her master wore at the time of his\n",
            "     death, and also a pair of the son's, though not the pair which he had\n",
            "     then had. Having measured these very carefully from seven or eight\n",
            "     different points, Holmes desired to be led to the court-yard, from\n",
            "     which we all followed the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent as\n",
            "     this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker\n",
            "     Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed and\n",
            "     darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his\n",
            "     eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face was\n",
            "     bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips compressed, and the\n",
            "     veins stood out like whipcord in his long, sinewy neck. His nostrils\n",
            "     seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust for the chase, and his\n",
            "     mind was so absolutely concentrated upon the matter before him that a\n",
            "     question or remark fell unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only\n",
            "     provoked a quick, impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he\n",
            "     made his way along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by\n",
            "     way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as\n",
            "     is all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon\n",
            "     the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either side.\n",
            "     Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and once he\n",
            "     made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and I walked\n",
            "     behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I\n",
            "     watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the conviction\n",
            "     that every one of his actions was directed towards a definite end.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water some\n",
            "     fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the Hatherley\n",
            "     Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. Above the woods\n",
            "     which lined it upon the farther side we could see the red, jutting\n",
            "     pinnacles which marked the site of the rich landowner's dwelling. On\n",
            "     the Hatherley side of the pool the woods grew very thick, and there\n",
            "     was a narrow belt of sodden grass twenty paces across between the\n",
            "     edge of the trees and the reeds which lined the lake. Lestrade showed\n",
            "     us the exact spot at which the body had been found, and, indeed, so\n",
            "     moist was the ground, that I could plainly see the traces which had\n",
            "     been left by the fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see\n",
            "     by his eager face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be\n",
            "     read upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking\n",
            "     up a scent, and then turned upon my companion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What did you go into the pool for?\" he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon or\n",
            "     other trace. But how on earth--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its\n",
            "     inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and there\n",
            "     it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all have been\n",
            "     had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo and wallowed\n",
            "     all over it. Here is where the party with the lodge-keeper came, and\n",
            "     they have covered all tracks for six or eight feet round the body.\n",
            "     But here are three separate tracks of the same feet.\" He drew out a\n",
            "     lens and lay down upon his waterproof to have a better view, talking\n",
            "     all the time rather to himself than to us. \"These are young\n",
            "     McCarthy's feet. Twice he was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so\n",
            "     that the soles are deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That\n",
            "     bears out his story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground.\n",
            "     Then here are the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is\n",
            "     this, then? It is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening.\n",
            "     And this? Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too,\n",
            "     quite unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course\n",
            "     that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?\" He ran up and\n",
            "     down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we were\n",
            "     well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a great\n",
            "     beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced his way\n",
            "     to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon his face with\n",
            "     a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he remained there,\n",
            "     turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what seemed to\n",
            "     me to be dust into an envelope and examining with his lens not only\n",
            "     the ground but even the bark of the tree as far as he could reach. A\n",
            "     jagged stone was lying among the moss, and this also he carefully\n",
            "     examined and retained. Then he followed a pathway through the wood\n",
            "     until he came to the highroad, where all traces were lost.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It has been a case of considerable interest,\" he remarked, returning\n",
            "     to his natural manner. \"I fancy that this grey house on the right\n",
            "     must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a word with\n",
            "     Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done that, we may\n",
            "     drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, and I shall be\n",
            "     with you presently.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove back\n",
            "     into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he had\n",
            "     picked up in the wood.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This may interest you, Lestrade,\" he remarked, holding it out.  \"The\n",
            "     murder was done with it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I see no marks.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There are none.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How do you know, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few days.\n",
            "     There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It corresponds\n",
            "     with the injuries. There is no sign of any other weapon.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And the murderer?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears\n",
            "     thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian cigars,\n",
            "     uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his pocket.\n",
            "     There are several other indications, but these may be enough to aid\n",
            "     us in our search.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lestrade laughed. \"I am afraid that I am still a sceptic,\" he said.\n",
            "     \"Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a hard-headed\n",
            "     British jury.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nous verrons,\" answered Holmes calmly. \"You work your own method,\n",
            "     and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, and shall\n",
            "     probably return to London by the evening train.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And leave your case unfinished?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, finished.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But the mystery?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is solved.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Who was the criminal, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The gentleman I describe.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But who is he?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a\n",
            "     populous neighbourhood.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. \"I am a practical man,\" he said,\n",
            "     \"and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking for a\n",
            "     left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the\n",
            "     laughing-stock of Scotland Yard.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"All right,\" said Holmes quietly. \"I have given you the chance. Here\n",
            "     are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before I leave.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where we\n",
            "     found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in thought\n",
            "     with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds himself in a\n",
            "     perplexing position.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Look here, Watson,\" he said when the cloth was cleared \"just sit\n",
            "     down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't\n",
            "     know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a cigar\n",
            "     and let me expound.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray do so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about young\n",
            "     McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, although they\n",
            "     impressed me in his favour and you against him. One was the fact that\n",
            "     his father should, according to his account, cry 'Cooee!' before\n",
            "     seeing him. The other was his singular dying reference to a rat. He\n",
            "     mumbled several words, you understand, but that was all that caught\n",
            "     the son's ear. Now from this double point our research must commence,\n",
            "     and we will begin it by presuming that what the lad says is\n",
            "     absolutely true.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What of this 'Cooee!' then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The son,\n",
            "     as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that he was\n",
            "     within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the attention of\n",
            "     whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But 'Cooee' is a\n",
            "     distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used between Australians.\n",
            "     There is a strong presumption that the person whom McCarthy expected\n",
            "     to meet him at Boscombe Pool was someone who had been in Australia.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What of the rat, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened it\n",
            "     out on the table. \"This is a map of the Colony of Victoria,\" he said.\n",
            "     \"I wired to Bristol for it last night.\" He put his hand over part of\n",
            "     the map. \"What do you read?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"ARAT,\" I read.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And now?\" He raised his hand.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"BALLARAT.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his son\n",
            "     only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter the name\n",
            "     of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is wonderful!\" I exclaimed.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down\n",
            "     considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point\n",
            "     which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a certainty.\n",
            "     We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite conception of\n",
            "     an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Certainly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only be\n",
            "     approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could hardly\n",
            "     wander.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the ground\n",
            "     I gained the trifling details which I gave to that imbecile Lestrade,\n",
            "     as to the personality of the criminal.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But how did you gain them?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length of\n",
            "     his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, they were peculiar boots.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But his lameness?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than his\n",
            "     left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he was\n",
            "     lame.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But his left-handedness.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded by\n",
            "     the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from immediately\n",
            "     behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can that be unless\n",
            "     it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind that tree during\n",
            "     the interview between the father and son. He had even smoked there. I\n",
            "     found the ash of a cigar, which my special knowledge of tobacco ashes\n",
            "     enables me to pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you know,\n",
            "     devoted some attention to this, and written a little monograph on the\n",
            "     ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette\n",
            "     tobacco. Having found the ash, I then looked round and discovered the\n",
            "     stump among the moss where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar,\n",
            "     of the variety which are rolled in Rotterdam.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And the cigar-holder?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he\n",
            "     used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the cut\n",
            "     was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Holmes,\" I said, \"you have drawn a net round this man from which he\n",
            "     cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as truly as\n",
            "     if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the direction in\n",
            "     which all this points. The culprit is--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mr. John Turner,\" cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of our\n",
            "     sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His slow,\n",
            "     limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of decrepitude,\n",
            "     and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and his enormous limbs\n",
            "     showed that he was possessed of unusual strength of body and of\n",
            "     character. His tangled beard, grizzled hair, and outstanding,\n",
            "     drooping eyebrows combined to give an air of dignity and power to his\n",
            "     appearance, but his face was of an ashen white, while his lips and\n",
            "     the corners of his nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue. It was\n",
            "     clear to me at a glance that he was in the grip of some deadly and\n",
            "     chronic disease.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray sit down on the sofa,\" said Holmes gently. \"You had my note?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to see\n",
            "     me here to avoid scandal.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And why did you wish to see me?\" He looked across at my companion\n",
            "     with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question was already\n",
            "     answered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes,\" said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. \"It is\n",
            "     so. I know all about McCarthy.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The old man sank his face in his hands. \"God help me!\" he cried. \"But\n",
            "     I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you my word\n",
            "     that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the Assizes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am glad to hear you say so,\" said Holmes gravely.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It would\n",
            "     break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears that I am\n",
            "     arrested.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It may not come to that,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter who\n",
            "     required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. Young\n",
            "     McCarthy must be got off, however.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am a dying man,\" said old Turner. \"I have had diabetes for years.\n",
            "     My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a month. Yet I\n",
            "     would rather die under my own roof than in a jail.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand and a\n",
            "     bundle of paper before him. \"Just tell us the truth,\" he said. \"I\n",
            "     shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson here can\n",
            "     witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the last\n",
            "     extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall not use\n",
            "     it unless it is absolutely needed.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's as well,\" said the old man; \"it's a question whether I shall\n",
            "     live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I should wish to\n",
            "     spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the thing clear to you; it\n",
            "     has been a long time in the acting, but will not take me long to\n",
            "     tell.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil incarnate. I\n",
            "     tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of such a man as he.\n",
            "     His grip has been upon me these twenty years, and he has blasted my\n",
            "     life. I'll tell you first how I came to be in his power.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap then,\n",
            "     hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at anything; I got\n",
            "     among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck with my claim, took\n",
            "     to the bush, and in a word became what you would call over here a\n",
            "     highway robber. There were six of us, and we had a wild, free life of\n",
            "     it, sticking up a station from time to time, or stopping the wagons\n",
            "     on the road to the diggings. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I\n",
            "     went under, and our party is still remembered in the colony as the\n",
            "     Ballarat Gang.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and we\n",
            "     lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers and six\n",
            "     of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of their saddles\n",
            "     at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, however, before\n",
            "     we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of the wagon-driver, who\n",
            "     was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the Lord that I had shot him\n",
            "     then, but I spared him, though I saw his wicked little eyes fixed on\n",
            "     my face, as though to remember every feature. We got away with the\n",
            "     gold, became wealthy men, and made our way over to England without\n",
            "     being suspected. There I parted from my old pals and determined to\n",
            "     settle down to a quiet and respectable life. I bought this estate,\n",
            "     which chanced to be in the market, and I set myself to do a little\n",
            "     good with my money, to make up for the way in which I had earned it.\n",
            "     I married, too, and though my wife died young she left me my dear\n",
            "     little Alice. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to\n",
            "     lead me down the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word,\n",
            "     I turned over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All\n",
            "     was going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in Regent\n",
            "     Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his foot.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be as\n",
            "     good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and you\n",
            "     can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, law-abiding\n",
            "     country is England, and there's always a policeman within hail.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking them\n",
            "     off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land ever since.\n",
            "     There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; turn where I\n",
            "     would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my elbow. It grew\n",
            "     worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more afraid of her\n",
            "     knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he wanted he must have,\n",
            "     and whatever it was I gave him without question, land, money, houses,\n",
            "     until at last he asked a thing which I could not give. He asked for\n",
            "     Alice.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was\n",
            "     known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that his\n",
            "     lad should step into the whole property. But there I was firm. I\n",
            "     would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that I had any\n",
            "     dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that was enough. I\n",
            "     stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do his worst. We\n",
            "     were to meet at the pool midway between our houses to talk it over.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I smoked\n",
            "     a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. But as I\n",
            "     listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in me seemed to\n",
            "     come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my daughter with as\n",
            "     little regard for what she might think as if she were a slut from off\n",
            "     the streets. It drove me mad to think that I and all that I held most\n",
            "     dear should be in the power of such a man as this. Could I not snap\n",
            "     the bond? I was already a dying and a desperate man. Though clear of\n",
            "     mind and fairly strong of limb, I knew that my own fate was sealed.\n",
            "     But my memory and my girl! Both could be saved if I could but silence\n",
            "     that foul tongue. I did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply\n",
            "     as I have sinned, I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But\n",
            "     that my girl should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was\n",
            "     more than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction\n",
            "     than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought\n",
            "     back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I was\n",
            "     forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in my\n",
            "     flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that occurred.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, it is not for me to judge you,\" said Holmes as the old man\n",
            "     signed the statement which had been drawn out. \"I pray that we may\n",
            "     never be exposed to such a temptation.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you\n",
            "     will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the\n",
            "     Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is condemned I\n",
            "     shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be seen by mortal\n",
            "     eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or dead, shall be safe\n",
            "     with us.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Farewell, then,\" said the old man solemnly. \"Your own deathbeds,\n",
            "     when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace which\n",
            "     you have given to mine.\" Tottering and shaking in all his giant\n",
            "     frame, he stumbled slowly from the room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"God help us!\" said Holmes after a long silence. \"Why does fate play\n",
            "     such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such a case as\n",
            "     this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, 'There, but for\n",
            "     the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a\n",
            "     number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and submitted\n",
            "     to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven months after our\n",
            "     interview, but he is now dead; and there is every prospect that the\n",
            "     son and daughter may come to live happily together in ignorance of\n",
            "     the black cloud which rests upon their past.\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                              THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS\n",
            "\n",
            "     When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases\n",
            "     between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which present\n",
            "     strange and interesting features that it is no easy matter to know\n",
            "     which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, have already\n",
            "     gained publicity through the papers, and others have not offered a\n",
            "     field for those peculiar qualities which my friend possessed in so\n",
            "     high a degree, and which it is the object of these papers to\n",
            "     illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his analytical skill, and would\n",
            "     be, as narratives, beginnings without an ending, while others have\n",
            "     been but partially cleared up, and have their explanations founded\n",
            "     rather upon conjecture and surmise than on that absolute logical\n",
            "     proof which was so dear to him. There is, however, one of these last\n",
            "     which was so remarkable in its details and so startling in its\n",
            "     results that I am tempted to give some account of it in spite of the\n",
            "     fact that there are points in connection with it which never have\n",
            "     been, and probably never will be, entirely cleared up.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater or\n",
            "     less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my headings under\n",
            "     this one twelve months I find an account of the adventure of the\n",
            "     Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant Society, who held a\n",
            "     luxurious club in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse, of the\n",
            "     facts connected with the loss of the British barque \"Sophy Anderson\",\n",
            "     of the singular adventures of the Grice Patersons in the island of\n",
            "     Uffa, and finally of the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as\n",
            "     may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead\n",
            "     man's watch, to prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and\n",
            "     that therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a\n",
            "     deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the\n",
            "     case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of\n",
            "     them present such singular features as the strange train of\n",
            "     circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales had\n",
            "     set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had screamed and\n",
            "     the rain had beaten against the windows, so that even here in the\n",
            "     heart of great, hand-made London we were forced to raise our minds\n",
            "     for the instant from the routine of life and to recognise the\n",
            "     presence of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind\n",
            "     through the bars of his civilisation, like untamed beasts in a cage.\n",
            "     As evening drew in, the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind\n",
            "     cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat\n",
            "     moodily at one side of the fireplace cross-indexing his records of\n",
            "     crime, while I at the other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine\n",
            "     sea-stories until the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend\n",
            "     with the text, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the\n",
            "     long swash of the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's,\n",
            "     and for a few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at\n",
            "     Baker Street.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why,\" said I, glancing up at my companion, \"that was surely the\n",
            "     bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Except yourself I have none,\" he answered. \"I do not encourage\n",
            "     visitors.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A client, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out on\n",
            "     such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more likely\n",
            "     to be some crony of the landlady's.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there came\n",
            "     a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He stretched out his\n",
            "     long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and towards the vacant\n",
            "     chair upon which a newcomer must sit.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Come in!\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the outside,\n",
            "     well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of refinement and\n",
            "     delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella which he held in his\n",
            "     hand, and his long shining waterproof told of the fierce weather\n",
            "     through which he had come. He looked about him anxiously in the glare\n",
            "     of the lamp, and I could see that his face was pale and his eyes\n",
            "     heavy, like those of a man who is weighed down with some great\n",
            "     anxiety.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I owe you an apology,\" he said, raising his golden pince-nez to his\n",
            "     eyes. \"I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have brought\n",
            "     some traces of the storm and rain into your snug chamber.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Give me your coat and umbrella,\" said Holmes. \"They may rest here on\n",
            "     the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from the\n",
            "     south-west, I see.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, from Horsham.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is quite\n",
            "     distinctive.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have come for advice.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is easily got.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And help.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is not always so easy.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast how\n",
            "     you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He said that you could solve anything.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He said too much.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That you are never beaten.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a\n",
            "     woman.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But what is that compared with the number of your successes?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is true that I have been generally successful.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then you may be so with me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me\n",
            "     with some details as to your case.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is no ordinary one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of appeal.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you have\n",
            "     ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of events\n",
            "     than those which have happened in my own family.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You fill me with interest,\" said Holmes. \"Pray give us the essential\n",
            "     facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards question you as to\n",
            "     those details which seem to me to be most important.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out towards\n",
            "     the blaze.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My name,\" said he, \"is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, as\n",
            "     far as I can understand, little to do with this awful business. It is\n",
            "     a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an idea of the facts, I\n",
            "     must go back to the commencement of the affair.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias and\n",
            "     my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, which he\n",
            "     enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He was a patentee\n",
            "     of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business met with such\n",
            "     success that he was able to sell it and to retire upon a handsome\n",
            "     competence.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and\n",
            "     became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done very\n",
            "     well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, and\n",
            "     afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When Lee laid\n",
            "     down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where he remained\n",
            "     for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came back to Europe\n",
            "     and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He had made a very\n",
            "     considerable fortune in the States, and his reason for leaving them\n",
            "     was his aversion to the negroes, and his dislike of the Republican\n",
            "     policy in extending the franchise to them. He was a singular man,\n",
            "     fierce and quick-tempered, very foul-mouthed when he was angry, and\n",
            "     of a most retiring disposition. During all the years that he lived at\n",
            "     Horsham, I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and\n",
            "     two or three fields round his house, and there he would take his\n",
            "     exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave his\n",
            "     room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very heavily, but he\n",
            "     would see no society and did not want any friends, not even his own\n",
            "     brother.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the time\n",
            "     when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This would be\n",
            "     in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years in England.\n",
            "     He begged my father to let me live with him and he was very kind to\n",
            "     me in his way. When he was sober he used to be fond of playing\n",
            "     backgammon and draughts with me, and he would make me his\n",
            "     representative both with the servants and with the tradespeople, so\n",
            "     that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite master of the house.\n",
            "     I kept all the keys and could go where I liked and do what I liked,\n",
            "     so long as I did not disturb him in his privacy. There was one\n",
            "     singular exception, however, for he had a single room, a lumber-room\n",
            "     up among the attics, which was invariably locked, and which he would\n",
            "     never permit either me or anyone else to enter. With a boy's\n",
            "     curiosity I have peeped through the keyhole, but I was never able to\n",
            "     see more than such a collection of old trunks and bundles as would be\n",
            "     expected in such a room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp lay\n",
            "     upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a common\n",
            "     thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all paid in\n",
            "     ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From India!' said he\n",
            "     as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can this be?' Opening\n",
            "     it hurriedly, out there jumped five little dried orange pips, which\n",
            "     pattered down upon his plate. I began to laugh at this, but the laugh\n",
            "     was struck from my lips at the sight of his face. His lip had fallen,\n",
            "     his eyes were protruding, his skin the colour of putty, and he glared\n",
            "     at the envelope which he still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K.\n",
            "     K.!' he shrieked, and then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken\n",
            "     me!'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'What is it, uncle?' I cried.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his room,\n",
            "     leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope and saw\n",
            "     scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the gum, the\n",
            "     letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else save the five\n",
            "     dried pips. What could be the reason of his overpowering terror? I\n",
            "     left the breakfast-table, and as I ascended the stair I met him\n",
            "     coming down with an old rusty key, which must have belonged to the\n",
            "     attic, in one hand, and a small brass box, like a cashbox, in the\n",
            "     other.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' said he\n",
            "     with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my room to-day,\n",
            "     and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to step\n",
            "     up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the grate there\n",
            "     was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned paper, while the\n",
            "     brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I glanced at the box I\n",
            "     noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was printed the treble K\n",
            "     which I had read in the morning upon the envelope.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave my\n",
            "     estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to my\n",
            "     brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to you. If\n",
            "     you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you cannot,\n",
            "     take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest enemy. I am\n",
            "     sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't say what turn\n",
            "     things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr. Fordham\n",
            "     shows you.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with\n",
            "     him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest\n",
            "     impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every way in\n",
            "     my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I could not\n",
            "     shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left behind, though the\n",
            "     sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed and nothing happened to\n",
            "     disturb the usual routine of our lives. I could see a change in my\n",
            "     uncle, however. He drank more than ever, and he was less inclined for\n",
            "     any sort of society. Most of his time he would spend in his room,\n",
            "     with the door locked upon the inside, but sometimes he would emerge\n",
            "     in a sort of drunken frenzy and would burst out of the house and tear\n",
            "     about the garden with a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he\n",
            "     was afraid of no man, and that he was not to be cooped up, like a\n",
            "     sheep in a pen, by man or devil. When these hot fits were over,\n",
            "     however, he would rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar\n",
            "     it behind him, like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the\n",
            "     terror which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen\n",
            "     his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it\n",
            "     were new raised from a basin.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to abuse\n",
            "     your patience, there came a night when he made one of those drunken\n",
            "     sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when we went to\n",
            "     search for him, face downward in a little green-scummed pool, which\n",
            "     lay at the foot of the garden. There was no sign of any violence, and\n",
            "     the water was but two feet deep, so that the jury, having regard to\n",
            "     his known eccentricity, brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who\n",
            "     knew how he winced from the very thought of death, had much ado to\n",
            "     persuade myself that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The\n",
            "     matter passed, however, and my father entered into possession of the\n",
            "     estate, and of some £14,000, which lay to his credit at the bank.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One moment,\" Holmes interposed, \"your statement is, I foresee, one\n",
            "     of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me have the\n",
            "     date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and the date of\n",
            "     his supposed suicide.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks\n",
            "     later, upon the night of May 2nd.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you. Pray proceed.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my request,\n",
            "     made a careful examination of the attic, which had been always locked\n",
            "     up. We found the brass box there, although its contents had been\n",
            "     destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a paper label, with the\n",
            "     initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and 'Letters, memoranda,\n",
            "     receipts, and a register' written beneath. These, we presume,\n",
            "     indicated the nature of the papers which had been destroyed by\n",
            "     Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was nothing of much importance\n",
            "     in the attic save a great many scattered papers and note-books\n",
            "     bearing upon my uncle's life in America. Some of them were of the war\n",
            "     time and showed that he had done his duty well and had borne the\n",
            "     repute of a brave soldier. Others were of a date during the\n",
            "     reconstruction of the Southern states, and were mostly concerned with\n",
            "     politics, for he had evidently taken a strong part in opposing the\n",
            "     carpet-bag politicians who had been sent down from the North.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at\n",
            "     Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the January\n",
            "     of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my father give a\n",
            "     sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the breakfast-table.\n",
            "     There he was, sitting with a newly opened envelope in one hand and\n",
            "     five dried orange pips in the outstretched palm of the other one. He\n",
            "     had always laughed at what he called my cock-and-bull story about the\n",
            "     colonel, but he looked very scared and puzzled now that the same\n",
            "     thing had come upon himself.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are the\n",
            "     very letters. But what is this written above them?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his shoulder.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'What papers? What sundial?' he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the\n",
            "     papers must be those that are destroyed.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a\n",
            "     civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. Where\n",
            "     does the thing come from?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do with\n",
            "     sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such nonsense.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Then let me do so?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such nonsense.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate man. I\n",
            "     went about, however, with a heart which was full of forebodings.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went from\n",
            "     home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is in command\n",
            "     of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad that he should\n",
            "     go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from danger when he was\n",
            "     away from home. In that, however, I was in error. Upon the second day\n",
            "     of his absence I received a telegram from the major, imploring me to\n",
            "     come at once. My father had fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits\n",
            "     which abound in the neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a\n",
            "     shattered skull. I hurried to him, but he passed away without having\n",
            "     ever recovered his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been\n",
            "     returning from Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was\n",
            "     unknown to him, and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no\n",
            "     hesitation in bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental\n",
            "     causes.' Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death,\n",
            "     I was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of murder.\n",
            "     There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no robbery, no record\n",
            "     of strangers having been seen upon the roads. And yet I need not tell\n",
            "     you that my mind was far from at ease, and that I was well-nigh\n",
            "     certain that some foul plot had been woven round him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me why\n",
            "     I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well convinced that\n",
            "     our troubles were in some way dependent upon an incident in my\n",
            "     uncle's life, and that the danger would be as pressing in one house\n",
            "     as in another.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two\n",
            "     years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time I\n",
            "     have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that this\n",
            "     curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended with the\n",
            "     last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, however;\n",
            "     yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in which it had\n",
            "     come upon my father.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and\n",
            "     turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried orange\n",
            "     pips.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This is the envelope,\" he continued. \"The postmark is\n",
            "     London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were upon\n",
            "     my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the papers on the\n",
            "     sundial.'\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What have you done?\" asked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nothing.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nothing?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To tell the truth\"--he sank his face into his thin, white hands--\"I\n",
            "     have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor rabbits when\n",
            "     the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in the grasp of some\n",
            "     resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight and no precautions\n",
            "     can guard against.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Tut! tut!\" cried Sherlock Holmes. \"You must act, man, or you are\n",
            "     lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for despair.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have seen the police.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that the\n",
            "     inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all practical\n",
            "     jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really accidents, as\n",
            "     the jury stated, and were not to be connected with the warnings.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. \"Incredible imbecility!\"\n",
            "     he cried.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in the\n",
            "     house with me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Has he come with you to-night?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No. His orders were to stay in the house.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Again Holmes raved in the air.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why did you come to me,\" he cried, \"and, above all, why did you not\n",
            "     come at once?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major Prendergast\n",
            "     about my troubles and was advised by him to come to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have acted\n",
            "     before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than that which\n",
            "     you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which might help us?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is one thing,\" said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat\n",
            "     pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted paper,\n",
            "     he laid it out upon the table. \"I have some remembrance,\" said he,\n",
            "     \"that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I observed that the\n",
            "     small, unburned margins which lay amid the ashes were of this\n",
            "     particular colour. I found this single sheet upon the floor of his\n",
            "     room, and I am inclined to think that it may be one of the papers\n",
            "     which has, perhaps, fluttered out from among the others, and in that\n",
            "     way has escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips, I do not see\n",
            "     that it helps us much. I think myself that it is a page from some\n",
            "     private diary. The writing is undoubtedly my uncle's.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper,\n",
            "     which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from a\n",
            "     book. It was headed, \"March, 1869,\" and beneath were the following\n",
            "     enigmatical notices:\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "     4th. Hudson came. Same old platform.\n",
            "     7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and John Swain, of St.\n",
            "     Augustine.\n",
            "     9th. McCauley cleared.\n",
            "     10th. John Swain cleared.\n",
            "     12th. Visited Paramore. All well.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you!\" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it to\n",
            "     our visitor. \"And now you must on no account lose another instant. We\n",
            "     cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told me. You must get\n",
            "     home instantly and act.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What shall I do?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must put\n",
            "     this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass box which\n",
            "     you have described. You must also put in a note to say that all the\n",
            "     other papers were burned by your uncle, and that this is the only one\n",
            "     which remains. You must assert that in such words as will carry\n",
            "     conviction with them. Having done this, you must at once put the box\n",
            "     out upon the sundial, as directed. Do you understand?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Entirely.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I\n",
            "     think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our web\n",
            "     to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first consideration is\n",
            "     to remove the pressing danger which threatens you. The second is to\n",
            "     clear up the mystery and to punish the guilty parties.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I thank you,\" said the young man, rising and pulling on his\n",
            "     overcoat. \"You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall certainly\n",
            "     do as you advise.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in the\n",
            "     meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that you are\n",
            "     threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you go back?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"By train from Waterloo.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that you\n",
            "     may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too closely.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am armed.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I shall see you at Horsham, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news as to\n",
            "     the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every\n",
            "     particular.\" He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside the\n",
            "     wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered against the\n",
            "     windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come to us from amid\n",
            "     the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet of sea-weed in a\n",
            "     gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them once more.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk\n",
            "     forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he lit\n",
            "     his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue\n",
            "     smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think, Watson,\" he remarked at last, \"that of all our cases we\n",
            "     have had none more fantastic than this.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems to\n",
            "     me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Sholtos.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But have you,\" I asked, \"formed any definite conception as to what\n",
            "     these perils are?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There can be no question as to their nature,\" he answered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue\n",
            "     this unhappy family?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the arms\n",
            "     of his chair, with his finger-tips together. \"The ideal reasoner,\" he\n",
            "     remarked, \"would, when he had once been shown a single fact in all\n",
            "     its bearings, deduce from it not only all the chain of events which\n",
            "     led up to it but also all the results which would follow from it. As\n",
            "     Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation\n",
            "     of a single bone, so the observer who has thoroughly understood one\n",
            "     link in a series of incidents should be able to accurately state all\n",
            "     the other ones, both before and after. We have not yet grasped the\n",
            "     results which the reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved\n",
            "     in the study which have baffled all those who have sought a solution\n",
            "     by the aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest\n",
            "     pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to utilise\n",
            "     all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this in itself\n",
            "     implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all knowledge,\n",
            "     which, even in these days of free education and encyclopaedias, is a\n",
            "     somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so impossible, however, that\n",
            "     a man should possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful to\n",
            "     him in his work, and this I have endeavoured in my case to do. If I\n",
            "     remember rightly, you on one occasion, in the early days of our\n",
            "     friendship, defined my limits in a very precise fashion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes,\" I answered, laughing. \"It was a singular document. Philosophy,\n",
            "     astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I remember. Botany\n",
            "     variable, geology profound as regards the mud-stains from any region\n",
            "     within fifty miles of town, chemistry eccentric, anatomy\n",
            "     unsystematic, sensational literature and crime records unique,\n",
            "     violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and self-poisoner by cocaine\n",
            "     and tobacco. Those, I think, were the main points of my analysis.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes grinned at the last item. \"Well,\" he said, \"I say now, as I\n",
            "     said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic stocked with\n",
            "     all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put\n",
            "     away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he\n",
            "     wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which has been submitted to\n",
            "     us to-night, we need certainly to muster all our resources. Kindly\n",
            "     hand me down the letter K of the 'American Encyclopaedia' which\n",
            "     stands upon the shelf beside you. Thank you. Now let us consider the\n",
            "     situation and see what may be deduced from it. In the first place, we\n",
            "     may start with a strong presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some\n",
            "     very strong reason for leaving America. Men at his time of life do\n",
            "     not change all their habits and exchange willingly the charming\n",
            "     climate of Florida for the lonely life of an English provincial town.\n",
            "     His extreme love of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was\n",
            "     in fear of someone or something, so we may assume as a working\n",
            "     hypothesis that it was fear of someone or something which drove him\n",
            "     from America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by\n",
            "     considering the formidable letters which were received by himself and\n",
            "     his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those letters?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the\n",
            "     third from London.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"From East London. What do you deduce from that?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that the\n",
            "     probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was on board\n",
            "     of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the case of\n",
            "     Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and its\n",
            "     fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. Does that\n",
            "     suggest anything?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A greater distance to travel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But the letter had also a greater distance to come.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I do not see the point.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man or\n",
            "     men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send their\n",
            "     singular warning or token before them when starting upon their\n",
            "     mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign when it came\n",
            "     from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a steamer they\n",
            "     would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. But, as a matter\n",
            "     of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those seven weeks\n",
            "     represented the difference between the mail-boat which brought the\n",
            "     letter and the sailing vessel which brought the writer.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is possible.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly urgency\n",
            "     of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to caution. The blow\n",
            "     has always fallen at the end of the time which it would take the\n",
            "     senders to travel the distance. But this one comes from London, and\n",
            "     therefore we cannot count upon delay.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good God!\" I cried. \"What can it mean, this relentless persecution?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital importance\n",
            "     to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think that it is\n",
            "     quite clear that there must be more than one of them. A single man\n",
            "     could not have carried out two deaths in such a way as to deceive a\n",
            "     coroner's jury. There must have been several in it, and they must\n",
            "     have been men of resource and determination. Their papers they mean\n",
            "     to have, be the holder of them who it may. In this way you see K. K.\n",
            "     K. ceases to be the initials of an individual and becomes the badge\n",
            "     of a society.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But of what society?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Have you never--\" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and sinking\n",
            "     his voice--\"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I never have.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. \"Here it\n",
            "     is,\" said he presently:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to the\n",
            "     sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret society was\n",
            "     formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Southern states after\n",
            "     the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local branches in different\n",
            "     parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas,\n",
            "     Georgia, and Florida. Its power was used for political purposes,\n",
            "     principally for the terrorising of the negro voters and the murdering\n",
            "     and driving from the country of those who were opposed to its views.\n",
            "     Its outrages were usually preceded by a warning sent to the marked\n",
            "     man in some fantastic but generally recognised shape--a sprig of\n",
            "     oak-leaves in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On\n",
            "     receiving this the victim might either openly abjure his former ways,\n",
            "     or might fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death\n",
            "     would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and\n",
            "     unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the society,\n",
            "     and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a case upon\n",
            "     record where any man succeeded in braving it with impunity, or in\n",
            "     which any of its outrages were traced home to the perpetrators. For\n",
            "     some years the organisation flourished in spite of the efforts of the\n",
            "     United States government and of the better classes of the community\n",
            "     in the South. Eventually, in the year 1869, the movement rather\n",
            "     suddenly collapsed, although there have been sporadic outbreaks of\n",
            "     the same sort since that date.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will observe,\" said Holmes, laying down the volume, \"that the\n",
            "     sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the\n",
            "     disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may well\n",
            "     have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his family\n",
            "     have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. You can\n",
            "     understand that this register and diary may implicate some of the\n",
            "     first men in the South, and that there may be many who will not sleep\n",
            "     easy at night until it is recovered.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then the page we have seen--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent the\n",
            "     pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to them.\n",
            "     Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or left the\n",
            "     country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a sinister\n",
            "     result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let some light into\n",
            "     this dark place, and I believe that the only chance young Openshaw\n",
            "     has in the meantime is to do what I have told him. There is nothing\n",
            "     more to be said or to be done to-night, so hand me over my violin and\n",
            "     let us try to forget for half an hour the miserable weather and the\n",
            "     still more miserable ways of our fellow-men.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a subdued\n",
            "     brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the great city.\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came down.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will excuse me for not waiting for you,\" said he; \"I have, I\n",
            "     foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of young\n",
            "     Openshaw's.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What steps will you take?\" I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. I\n",
            "     may have to go down to Horsham, after all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will not go there first?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the maid\n",
            "     will bring up your coffee.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and\n",
            "     glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a chill\n",
            "     to my heart.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Holmes,\" I cried, \"you are too late.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah!\" said he, laying down his cup, \"I feared as much. How was it\n",
            "     done?\" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy Near\n",
            "     Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H\n",
            "     Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and a\n",
            "     splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and\n",
            "     stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it was\n",
            "     quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was given,\n",
            "     and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was eventually\n",
            "     recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman whose name, as\n",
            "     it appears from an envelope which was found in his pocket, was John\n",
            "     Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. It is conjectured that\n",
            "     he may have been hurrying down to catch the last train from Waterloo\n",
            "     Station, and that in his haste and the extreme darkness he missed his\n",
            "     path and walked over the edge of one of the small landing-places for\n",
            "     river steamboats. The body exhibited no traces of violence, and there\n",
            "     can be no doubt that the deceased had been the victim of an\n",
            "     unfortunate accident, which should have the effect of calling the\n",
            "     attention of the authorities to the condition of the riverside\n",
            "     landing-stages.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and shaken\n",
            "     than I had ever seen him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That hurts my pride, Watson,\" he said at last. \"It is a petty\n",
            "     feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal\n",
            "     matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my hand\n",
            "     upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that I should\n",
            "     send him away to his death--!\" He sprang from his chair and paced\n",
            "     about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a flush upon his\n",
            "     sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and unclasping of his long thin\n",
            "     hands.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They must be cunning devils,\" he exclaimed at last. \"How could they\n",
            "     have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the direct line\n",
            "     to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too crowded, even on such a\n",
            "     night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, we shall see who will win in\n",
            "     the long run. I am going out now!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To the police?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may take\n",
            "     the flies, but not before.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in the\n",
            "     evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes had not\n",
            "     come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he entered, looking\n",
            "     pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, and tearing a piece\n",
            "     from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, washing it down with a long\n",
            "     draught of water.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are hungry,\" I remarked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since\n",
            "     breakfast.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nothing?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not a bite. I had no time to think of it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And how have you succeeded?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have a clue?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not long\n",
            "     remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish\n",
            "     trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What do you mean?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he\n",
            "     squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and\n",
            "     thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote \"S.\n",
            "     H. for J. O.\" Then he sealed it and addressed it to \"Captain James\n",
            "     Calhoun, Barque Lone Star, Savannah, Georgia.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That will await him when he enters port,\" said he, chuckling. \"It\n",
            "     may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a precursor\n",
            "     of his fate as Openshaw did before him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And who is this Captain Calhoun?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How did you trace it, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with\n",
            "     dates and names.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have spent the whole day,\" said he, \"over Lloyd's registers and\n",
            "     files of the old papers, following the future career of every vessel\n",
            "     which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in '83. There\n",
            "     were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were reported there\n",
            "     during those months. Of these, one, the Lone Star, instantly\n",
            "     attracted my attention, since, although it was reported as having\n",
            "     cleared from London, the name is that which is given to one of the\n",
            "     states of the Union.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Texas, I think.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must have\n",
            "     an American origin.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque Lone\n",
            "     Star was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a certainty. I\n",
            "     then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present in the port of\n",
            "     London.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The Lone Star had arrived here last week. I went down to the Albert\n",
            "     Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by the early\n",
            "     tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired to Gravesend\n",
            "     and learned that she had passed some time ago, and as the wind is\n",
            "     easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the Goodwins and not\n",
            "     very far from the Isle of Wight.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What will you do, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I learn,\n",
            "     the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are Finns and\n",
            "     Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away from the ship\n",
            "     last night. I had it from the stevedore who has been loading their\n",
            "     cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship reaches Savannah the\n",
            "     mail-boat will have carried this letter, and the cable will have\n",
            "     informed the police of Savannah that these three gentlemen are badly\n",
            "     wanted here upon a charge of murder.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, and\n",
            "     the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the orange pips\n",
            "     which would show them that another, as cunning and as resolute as\n",
            "     themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very severe were the\n",
            "     equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for news of the Lone Star\n",
            "     of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We did at last hear that\n",
            "     somewhere far out in the Atlantic a shattered stern-post of a boat\n",
            "     was seen swinging in the trough of a wave, with the letters \"L. S.\"\n",
            "     carved upon it, and that is all which we shall ever know of the fate\n",
            "     of the Lone Star.\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                          THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP\n",
            "\n",
            "     Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal of\n",
            "     the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to opium.\n",
            "     The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some foolish freak\n",
            "     when he was at college; for having read De Quincey's description of\n",
            "     his dreams and sensations, he had drenched his tobacco with laudanum\n",
            "     in an attempt to produce the same effects. He found, as so many more\n",
            "     have done, that the practice is easier to attain than to get rid of,\n",
            "     and for many years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object\n",
            "     of mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see\n",
            "     him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point\n",
            "     pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble man.\n",
            "\n",
            "     One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, about\n",
            "     the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the clock. I\n",
            "     sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work down in her lap\n",
            "     and made a little face of disappointment.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A patient!\" said she. \"You'll have to go out.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day.\n",
            "\n",
            "     We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps\n",
            "     upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in some\n",
            "     dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will excuse my calling so late,\" she began, and then, suddenly\n",
            "     losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms about my\n",
            "     wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. \"Oh, I'm in such trouble!\"\n",
            "     she cried; \"I do so want a little help.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why,\" said my wife, pulling up her veil, \"it is Kate Whitney.  How\n",
            "     you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when you came\n",
            "     in.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you.\" That was\n",
            "     always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds to\n",
            "     a light-house.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine and\n",
            "     water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or should\n",
            "     you rather that I sent James off to bed?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about\n",
            "     Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about\n",
            "     him!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her husband's\n",
            "     trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend and school\n",
            "     companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words as we could\n",
            "     find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it possible that we\n",
            "     could bring him back to her?\n",
            "\n",
            "     It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late he\n",
            "     had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the\n",
            "     farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been\n",
            "     confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and shattered,\n",
            "     in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him eight-and-forty\n",
            "     hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the dregs of the docks,\n",
            "     breathing in the poison or sleeping off the effects. There he was to\n",
            "     be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar of Gold, in Upper Swandam\n",
            "     Lane. But what was she to do? How could she, a young and timid woman,\n",
            "     make her way into such a place and pluck her husband out from among\n",
            "     the ruffians who surrounded him?\n",
            "\n",
            "     There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of it.\n",
            "     Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second thought,\n",
            "     why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical adviser, and\n",
            "     as such I had influence over him. I could manage it better if I were\n",
            "     alone. I promised her on my word that I would send him home in a cab\n",
            "     within two hours if he were indeed at the address which she had given\n",
            "     me. And so in ten minutes I had left my armchair and cheery\n",
            "     sitting-room behind me, and was speeding eastward in a hansom on a\n",
            "     strange errand, as it seemed to me at the time, though the future\n",
            "     only could show how strange it was to be.\n",
            "\n",
            "     But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my adventure.\n",
            "     Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the high wharves\n",
            "     which line the north side of the river to the east of London Bridge.\n",
            "     Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached by a steep flight of\n",
            "     steps leading down to a black gap like the mouth of a cave, I found\n",
            "     the den of which I was in search. Ordering my cab to wait, I passed\n",
            "     down the steps, worn hollow in the centre by the ceaseless tread of\n",
            "     drunken feet; and by the light of a flickering oil-lamp above the\n",
            "     door I found the latch and made my way into a long, low room, thick\n",
            "     and heavy with the brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden\n",
            "     berths, like the forecastle of an emigrant ship.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying in\n",
            "     strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads thrown\n",
            "     back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a dark,\n",
            "     lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black shadows\n",
            "     there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, now faint,\n",
            "     as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of the metal pipes.\n",
            "     The most lay silent, but some muttered to themselves, and others\n",
            "     talked together in a strange, low, monotonous voice, their\n",
            "     conversation coming in gushes, and then suddenly tailing off into\n",
            "     silence, each mumbling out his own thoughts and paying little heed to\n",
            "     the words of his neighbour. At the farther end was a small brazier of\n",
            "     burning charcoal, beside which on a three-legged wooden stool there\n",
            "     sat a tall, thin old man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists,\n",
            "     and his elbows upon his knees, staring into the fire.\n",
            "\n",
            "     As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe for\n",
            "     me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you. I have not come to stay,\" said I. \"There is a friend of\n",
            "     mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and peering\n",
            "     through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and unkempt, staring\n",
            "     out at me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My God! It's Watson,\" said he. He was in a pitiable state of\n",
            "     reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. \"I say, Watson, what o'clock\n",
            "     is it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nearly eleven.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Of what day?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Of Friday, June 19th.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What\n",
            "     d'you want to frighten a chap for?\" He sank his face onto his arms\n",
            "     and began to sob in a high treble key.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting this\n",
            "     two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here a\n",
            "     few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll go\n",
            "     home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. Give me\n",
            "     your hand! Have you a cab?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, I have one waiting.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I owe,\n",
            "     Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of sleepers,\n",
            "     holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying fumes of the drug,\n",
            "     and looking about for the manager. As I passed the tall man who sat\n",
            "     by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my skirt, and a low voice\n",
            "     whispered, \"Walk past me, and then look back at me.\" The words fell\n",
            "     quite distinctly upon my ear. I glanced down. They could only have\n",
            "     come from the old man at my side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as\n",
            "     ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling\n",
            "     down from between his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer\n",
            "     lassitude from his fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back.\n",
            "     It took all my self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a\n",
            "     cry of astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see\n",
            "     him but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull\n",
            "     eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and\n",
            "     grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He made\n",
            "     a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he turned\n",
            "     his face half round to the company once more, subsided into a\n",
            "     doddering, loose-lipped senility.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Holmes!\" I whispered, \"what on earth are you doing in this den?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"As low as you can,\" he answered; \"I have excellent ears. If you\n",
            "     would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend of\n",
            "     yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have a cab outside.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he\n",
            "     appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should recommend\n",
            "     you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to say that you\n",
            "     have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait outside, I shall be\n",
            "     with you in five minutes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "           It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests,\n",
            "     for they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with\n",
            "     such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney was\n",
            "     once confined in the cab my mission was practically accomplished; and\n",
            "     for the rest, I could not wish anything better than to be associated\n",
            "     with my friend in one of those singular adventures which were the\n",
            "     normal condition of his existence. In a few minutes I had written my\n",
            "     note, paid Whitney's bill, led him out to the cab, and seen him\n",
            "     driven through the darkness. In a very short time a decrepit figure\n",
            "     had emerged from the opium den, and I was walking down the street\n",
            "     with Sherlock Holmes. For two streets he shuffled along with a bent\n",
            "     back and an uncertain foot. Then, glancing quickly round, he\n",
            "     straightened himself out and burst into a hearty fit of laughter.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I suppose, Watson,\" said he, \"that you imagine that I have added\n",
            "     opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little\n",
            "     weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical views.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was certainly surprised to find you there.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But not more so than I to find you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I came to find a friend.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And I to find an enemy.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"An enemy?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural prey.\n",
            "     Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable inquiry, and\n",
            "     I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent ramblings of these\n",
            "     sots, as I have done before now. Had I been recognised in that den my\n",
            "     life would not have been worth an hour's purchase; for I have used it\n",
            "     before now for my own purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it\n",
            "     has sworn to have vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back\n",
            "     of that building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell\n",
            "     some strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless\n",
            "     nights.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What! You do not mean bodies?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had £1000 for every\n",
            "     poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It is the vilest\n",
            "     murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that Neville St. Clair\n",
            "     has entered it never to leave it more. But our trap should be here.\"\n",
            "     He put his two forefingers between his teeth and whistled shrilly--a\n",
            "     signal which was answered by a similar whistle from the distance,\n",
            "     followed shortly by the rattle of wheels and the clink of horses'\n",
            "     hoofs.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, Watson,\" said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through the\n",
            "     gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from its side\n",
            "     lanterns. \"You'll come with me, won't you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If I can be of use.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still more\n",
            "     so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The Cedars?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I\n",
            "     conduct the inquiry.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Where is it, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But I am all in the dark.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up here.\n",
            "     All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a crown. Look out\n",
            "     for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her head. So long, then!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through the\n",
            "     endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which widened\n",
            "     gradually, until we were flying across a broad balustraded bridge,\n",
            "     with the murky river flowing sluggishly beneath us. Beyond lay\n",
            "     another dull wilderness of bricks and mortar, its silence broken only\n",
            "     by the heavy, regular footfall of the policeman, or the songs and\n",
            "     shouts of some belated party of revellers. A dull wrack was drifting\n",
            "     slowly across the sky, and a star or two twinkled dimly here and\n",
            "     there through the rifts of the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with\n",
            "     his head sunk upon his breast, and the air of a man who is lost in\n",
            "     thought, while I sat beside him, curious to learn what this new quest\n",
            "     might be which seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to\n",
            "     break in upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several\n",
            "     miles, and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of\n",
            "     suburban villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and\n",
            "     lit up his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that\n",
            "     he is acting for the best.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have a grand gift of silence, Watson,\" said he. \"It makes you\n",
            "     quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great thing\n",
            "     for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are not\n",
            "     over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear little\n",
            "     woman to-night when she meets me at the door.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You forget that I know nothing about it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before we\n",
            "     get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can get\n",
            "     nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I can't\n",
            "     get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case clearly and\n",
            "     concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a spark where all is\n",
            "     dark to me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Proceed, then.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee a\n",
            "     gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have plenty of\n",
            "     money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very nicely, and\n",
            "     lived generally in good style. By degrees he made friends in the\n",
            "     neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter of a local brewer,\n",
            "     by whom he now has two children. He had no occupation, but was\n",
            "     interested in several companies and went into town as a rule in the\n",
            "     morning, returning by the 5.14 from Cannon Street every night. Mr.\n",
            "     St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of age, is a man of temperate\n",
            "     habits, a good husband, a very affectionate father, and a man who is\n",
            "     popular with all who know him. I may add that his whole debts at the\n",
            "     present moment, as far as we have been able to ascertain, amount to\n",
            "     £88 10s., while he has £220 standing to his credit in the Capital and\n",
            "     Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money\n",
            "     troubles have been weighing upon his mind.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier than\n",
            "     usual, remarking before he started that he had two important\n",
            "     commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy home a\n",
            "     box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife received a\n",
            "     telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his departure, to\n",
            "     the effect that a small parcel of considerable value which she had\n",
            "     been expecting was waiting for her at the offices of the Aberdeen\n",
            "     Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up in your London, you will\n",
            "     know that the office of the company is in Fresno Street, which\n",
            "     branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where you found me to-night. Mrs.\n",
            "     St. Clair had her lunch, started for the City, did some shopping,\n",
            "     proceeded to the company's office, got her packet, and found herself\n",
            "     at exactly 4.35 walking through Swandam Lane on her way back to the\n",
            "     station. Have you followed me so far?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is very clear.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St.\n",
            "     Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, as\n",
            "     she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. While\n",
            "     she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly heard an\n",
            "     ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her husband looking\n",
            "     down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning to her from a\n",
            "     second-floor window. The window was open, and she distinctly saw his\n",
            "     face, which she describes as being terribly agitated. He waved his\n",
            "     hands frantically to her, and then vanished from the window so\n",
            "     suddenly that it seemed to her that he had been plucked back by some\n",
            "     irresistible force from behind. One singular point which struck her\n",
            "     quick feminine eye was that although he wore some dark coat, such as\n",
            "     he had started to town in, he had on neither collar nor necktie.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the\n",
            "     steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which you\n",
            "     found me to-night--and running through the front room she attempted\n",
            "     to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At the foot of the\n",
            "     stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of whom I have spoken,\n",
            "     who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who acts as assistant\n",
            "     there, pushed her out into the street. Filled with the most maddening\n",
            "     doubts and fears, she rushed down the lane and, by rare good-fortune,\n",
            "     met in Fresno Street a number of constables with an inspector, all on\n",
            "     their way to their beat. The inspector and two men accompanied her\n",
            "     back, and in spite of the continued resistance of the proprietor,\n",
            "     they made their way to the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been\n",
            "     seen. There was no sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that\n",
            "     floor there was no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous\n",
            "     aspect, who, it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar\n",
            "     stoutly swore that no one else had been in the front room during the\n",
            "     afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was\n",
            "     staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had\n",
            "     been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box which\n",
            "     lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell a cascade\n",
            "     of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had promised to bring\n",
            "     home.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple showed,\n",
            "     made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. The rooms\n",
            "     were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an abominable\n",
            "     crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a sitting-room and led\n",
            "     into a small bedroom, which looked out upon the back of one of the\n",
            "     wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom window is a narrow strip,\n",
            "     which is dry at low tide but is covered at high tide with at least\n",
            "     four and a half feet of water. The bedroom window was a broad one and\n",
            "     opened from below. On examination traces of blood were to be seen\n",
            "     upon the windowsill, and several scattered drops were visible upon\n",
            "     the wooden floor of the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the\n",
            "     front room were all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the\n",
            "     exception of his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his\n",
            "     watch--all were there. There were no signs of violence upon any of\n",
            "     these garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St.\n",
            "     Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no other\n",
            "     exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon the sill\n",
            "     gave little promise that he could save himself by swimming, for the\n",
            "     tide was at its very highest at the moment of the tragedy.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately implicated\n",
            "     in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the vilest\n",
            "     antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was known to have\n",
            "     been at the foot of the stair within a very few seconds of her\n",
            "     husband's appearance at the window, he could hardly have been more\n",
            "     than an accessory to the crime. His defence was one of absolute\n",
            "     ignorance, and he protested that he had no knowledge as to the doings\n",
            "     of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he could not account in any way\n",
            "     for the presence of the missing gentleman's clothes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who\n",
            "     lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was certainly\n",
            "     the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. Clair. His\n",
            "     name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which is familiar to\n",
            "     every man who goes much to the City. He is a professional beggar,\n",
            "     though in order to avoid the police regulations he pretends to a\n",
            "     small trade in wax vestas. Some little distance down Threadneedle\n",
            "     Street, upon the left-hand side, there is, as you may have remarked,\n",
            "     a small angle in the wall. Here it is that this creature takes his\n",
            "     daily seat, cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap,\n",
            "     and as he is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends\n",
            "     into the greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him.\n",
            "     I have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of\n",
            "     making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised at\n",
            "     the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His appearance, you\n",
            "     see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him without observing him.\n",
            "     A shock of orange hair, a pale face disfigured by a horrible scar,\n",
            "     which, by its contraction, has turned up the outer edge of his upper\n",
            "     lip, a bulldog chin, and a pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which\n",
            "     present a singular contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him\n",
            "     out from amid the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his\n",
            "     wit, for he is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which\n",
            "     may be thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now\n",
            "     learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been the\n",
            "     last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But a cripple!\" said I. \"What could he have done single-handed\n",
            "     against a man in the prime of life?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in other\n",
            "     respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. Surely\n",
            "     your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that weakness in one\n",
            "     limb is often compensated for by exceptional strength in the others.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray continue your narrative.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the\n",
            "     window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her\n",
            "     presence could be of no help to them in their investigations.\n",
            "     Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful\n",
            "     examination of the premises, but without finding anything which threw\n",
            "     any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not arresting\n",
            "     Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes during which he\n",
            "     might have communicated with his friend the Lascar, but this fault\n",
            "     was soon remedied, and he was seized and searched, without anything\n",
            "     being found which could incriminate him. There were, it is true, some\n",
            "     blood-stains upon his right shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his\n",
            "     ring-finger, which had been cut near the nail, and explained that the\n",
            "     bleeding came from there, adding that he had been to the window not\n",
            "     long before, and that the stains which had been observed there came\n",
            "     doubtless from the same source. He denied strenuously having ever\n",
            "     seen Mr. Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes\n",
            "     in his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to Mrs.\n",
            "     St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband at the\n",
            "     window, he declared that she must have been either mad or dreaming.\n",
            "     He was removed, loudly protesting, to the police-station, while the\n",
            "     inspector remained upon the premises in the hope that the ebbing tide\n",
            "     might afford some fresh clue.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they had\n",
            "     feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not Neville St.\n",
            "     Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And what do you think\n",
            "     they found in the pockets?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot imagine.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with pennies\n",
            "     and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It was no wonder\n",
            "     that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a human body is a\n",
            "     different matter. There is a fierce eddy between the wharf and the\n",
            "     house. It seemed likely enough that the weighted coat had remained\n",
            "     when the stripped body had been sucked away into the river.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the room.\n",
            "     Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose that\n",
            "     this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the window, there\n",
            "     is no human eye which could have seen the deed. What would he do\n",
            "     then? It would of course instantly strike him that he must get rid of\n",
            "     the tell-tale garments. He would seize the coat, then, and be in the\n",
            "     act of throwing it out, when it would occur to him that it would swim\n",
            "     and not sink. He has little time, for he has heard the scuffle\n",
            "     downstairs when the wife tried to force her way up, and perhaps he\n",
            "     has already heard from his Lascar confederate that the police are\n",
            "     hurrying up the street. There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes\n",
            "     to some secret hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his\n",
            "     beggary, and he stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands\n",
            "     into the pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it\n",
            "     out, and would have done the same with the other garments had not he\n",
            "     heard the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the\n",
            "     window when the police appeared.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It certainly sounds feasible.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a better.\n",
            "     Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the station, but\n",
            "     it could not be shown that there had ever before been anything\n",
            "     against him. He had for years been known as a professional beggar,\n",
            "     but his life appeared to have been a very quiet and innocent one.\n",
            "     There the matter stands at present, and the questions which have to\n",
            "     be solved--what Neville St. Clair was doing in the opium den, what\n",
            "     happened to him when there, where is he now, and what Hugh Boone had\n",
            "     to do with his disappearance--are all as far from a solution as ever.\n",
            "     I confess that I cannot recall any case within my experience which\n",
            "     looked at the first glance so simple and yet which presented such\n",
            "     difficulties.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of\n",
            "     events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great town\n",
            "     until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and we rattled\n",
            "     along with a country hedge upon either side of us. Just as he\n",
            "     finished, however, we drove through two scattered villages, where a\n",
            "     few lights still glimmered in the windows.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We are on the outskirts of Lee,\" said my companion. \"We have touched\n",
            "     on three English counties in our short drive, starting in Middlesex,\n",
            "     passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. See that light\n",
            "     among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside that lamp sits a\n",
            "     woman whose anxious ears have already, I have little doubt, caught\n",
            "     the clink of our horse's feet.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?\" I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. Mrs.\n",
            "     St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and you may\n",
            "     rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for my friend\n",
            "     and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have no news of her\n",
            "     husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its own\n",
            "     grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and springing\n",
            "     down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding gravel-drive which led\n",
            "     to the house. As we approached, the door flew open, and a little\n",
            "     blonde woman stood in the opening, clad in some sort of light\n",
            "     mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy pink chiffon at her neck\n",
            "     and wrists. She stood with her figure outlined against the flood of\n",
            "     light, one hand upon the door, one half-raised in her eagerness, her\n",
            "     body slightly bent, her head and face protruded, with eager eyes and\n",
            "     parted lips, a standing question.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well?\" she cried, \"well?\" And then, seeing that there were two of\n",
            "     us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw that my\n",
            "     companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No good news?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No bad?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have had\n",
            "     a long day.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to me\n",
            "     in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it possible for\n",
            "     me to bring him out and associate him with this investigation.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am delighted to see you,\" said she, pressing my hand warmly. \"You\n",
            "     will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our\n",
            "     arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so suddenly\n",
            "     upon us.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear madam,\" said I, \"I am an old campaigner, and if I were not I\n",
            "     can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of any\n",
            "     assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be indeed\n",
            "     happy.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,\" said the lady as we entered a well-lit\n",
            "     dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had been laid out,\n",
            "     \"I should very much like to ask you one or two plain questions, to\n",
            "     which I beg that you will give a plain answer.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Certainly, madam.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given to\n",
            "     fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Upon what point?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. \"Frankly,\n",
            "     now!\" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking keenly down at\n",
            "     him as he leaned back in a basket-chair.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Frankly, then, madam, I do not.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You think that he is dead?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I do.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Murdered?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I don't say that. Perhaps.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And on what day did he meet his death?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On Monday.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how it\n",
            "     is that I have received a letter from him to-day.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been galvanised.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What!\" he roared.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, to-day.\" She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of paper\n",
            "     in the air.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"May I see it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Certainly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out upon\n",
            "     the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I had left\n",
            "     my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The envelope was a\n",
            "     very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend postmark and with\n",
            "     the date of that very day, or rather of the day before, for it was\n",
            "     considerably after midnight.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Coarse writing,\" murmured Holmes. \"Surely this is not your husband's\n",
            "     writing, madam.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, but the enclosure is.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go and\n",
            "     inquire as to the address.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How can you tell that?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried\n",
            "     itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that\n",
            "     blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight off,\n",
            "     and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This man has\n",
            "     written the name, and there has then been a pause before he wrote the\n",
            "     address, which can only mean that he was not familiar with it. It is,\n",
            "     of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles.\n",
            "     Let us now see the letter. Ha!  there has been an enclosure here!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One of his hands.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual\n",
            "     writing, and yet I know it well.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a huge\n",
            "     error which it may take some little time to rectify. Wait in\n",
            "     patience.\n",
            "     \"Neville.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf of a book, octavo size, no\n",
            "     water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in Gravesend by a man with a dirty\n",
            "     thumb. Ha! And the flap has been gummed, if I am not very much in\n",
            "     error, by a person who had been chewing tobacco. And you have no\n",
            "     doubt that it is your husband's hand, madam?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None. Neville wrote those words.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, the\n",
            "     clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the danger is\n",
            "     over.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. The\n",
            "     ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only\n",
            "     posted to-day.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is possible.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If so, much may have happened between.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is well\n",
            "     with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I should know\n",
            "     if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him last he cut\n",
            "     himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room rushed upstairs\n",
            "     instantly with the utmost certainty that something had happened. Do\n",
            "     you think that I would respond to such a trifle and yet be ignorant\n",
            "     of his death?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman may\n",
            "     be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical reasoner. And\n",
            "     in this letter you certainly have a very strong piece of evidence to\n",
            "     corroborate your view. But if your husband is alive and able to write\n",
            "     letters, why should he remain away from you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very much so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Was the window open?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then he might have called to you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He might.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A call for help, you thought?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes. He waved his hands.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the\n",
            "     unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is possible.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you thought he was pulled back?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He disappeared so suddenly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the room?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and the\n",
            "     Lascar was at the foot of the stairs.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his ordinary\n",
            "     clothes on?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare throat.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Never.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Never.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about\n",
            "     which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little\n",
            "     supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day to-morrow.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our\n",
            "     disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary after\n",
            "     my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, who, when\n",
            "     he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for days, and even\n",
            "     for a week, without rest, turning it over, rearranging his facts,\n",
            "     looking at it from every point of view until he had either fathomed\n",
            "     it or convinced himself that his data were insufficient. It was soon\n",
            "     evident to me that he was now preparing for an all-night sitting. He\n",
            "     took off his coat and waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown,\n",
            "     and then wandered about the room collecting pillows from his bed and\n",
            "     cushions from the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a\n",
            "     sort of Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged,\n",
            "     with an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front\n",
            "     of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an old\n",
            "     briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the corner\n",
            "     of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, silent,\n",
            "     motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set aquiline\n",
            "     features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he sat when a\n",
            "     sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found the summer sun\n",
            "     shining into the apartment. The pipe was still between his lips, the\n",
            "     smoke still curled upward, and the room was full of a dense tobacco\n",
            "     haze, but nothing remained of the heap of shag which I had seen upon\n",
            "     the previous night.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Awake, Watson?\" he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Game for a morning drive?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Certainly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the stable-boy\n",
            "     sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out.\" He chuckled to himself\n",
            "     as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed a different man to the\n",
            "     sombre thinker of the previous night.\n",
            "\n",
            "     As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one was\n",
            "     stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly finished\n",
            "     when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was putting in the\n",
            "     horse.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I want to test a little theory of mine,\" said he, pulling on his\n",
            "     boots. \"I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the presence of\n",
            "     one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve to be kicked from\n",
            "     here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the key of the affair now.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And where is it?\" I asked, smiling.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In the bathroom,\" he answered. \"Oh, yes, I am not joking,\" he\n",
            "     continued, seeing my look of incredulity. \"I have just been there,\n",
            "     and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this Gladstone bag.\n",
            "     Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will not fit the lock.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into the\n",
            "     bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and trap, with\n",
            "     the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both sprang in, and\n",
            "     away we dashed down the London Road. A few country carts were\n",
            "     stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but the lines of\n",
            "     villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as some city in a\n",
            "     dream.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It has been in some points a singular case,\" said Holmes, flicking\n",
            "     the horse on into a gallop. \"I confess that I have been as blind as a\n",
            "     mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at\n",
            "     all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily from\n",
            "     their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey side.\n",
            "     Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the river, and\n",
            "     dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the right and found\n",
            "     ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well known to the force,\n",
            "     and the two constables at the door saluted him. One of them held the\n",
            "     horse's head while the other led us in.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Who is on duty?\" asked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Inspector Bradstreet, sir.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?\" A tall, stout official had come down\n",
            "     the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged jacket. \"I\n",
            "     wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet.\" \"Certainly, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes. Step into my room here.\" It was a small, office-like room,\n",
            "     with a huge ledger upon the table, and a telephone projecting from\n",
            "     the wall. The inspector sat down at his desk.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged with\n",
            "     being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. Clair, of\n",
            "     Lee.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So I heard. You have him here?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In the cells.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Is he quiet?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Dirty?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his face is\n",
            "     as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been settled, he\n",
            "     will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you saw him, you\n",
            "     would agree with me that he needed it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I should like to see him very much.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave your\n",
            "     bag.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, I think that I'll take it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very good. Come this way, if you please.\" He led us down a passage,\n",
            "     opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and brought us to\n",
            "     a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each side.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The third on the right is his,\" said the inspector. \"Here it is!\" He\n",
            "     quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door and glanced\n",
            "     through.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He is asleep,\" said he. \"You can see him very well.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his face\n",
            "     towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and heavily. He\n",
            "     was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his calling, with a\n",
            "     coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his tattered coat. He\n",
            "     was, as the inspector had said, extremely dirty, but the grime which\n",
            "     covered his face could not conceal its repulsive ugliness. A broad\n",
            "     wheal from an old scar ran right across it from eye to chin, and by\n",
            "     its contraction had turned up one side of the upper lip, so that\n",
            "     three teeth were exposed in a perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright\n",
            "     red hair grew low over his eyes and forehead.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He's a beauty, isn't he?\" said the inspector.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He certainly needs a wash,\" remarked Holmes. \"I had an idea that he\n",
            "     might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me.\" He\n",
            "     opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my\n",
            "     astonishment, a very large bath-sponge.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He! he! You are a funny one,\" chuckled the inspector.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very\n",
            "     quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable figure.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, I don't know why not,\" said the inspector. \"He doesn't look a\n",
            "     credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?\" He slipped his key into the\n",
            "     lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The sleeper half\n",
            "     turned, and then settled down once more into a deep slumber. Holmes\n",
            "     stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, and then rubbed it\n",
            "     twice vigorously across and down the prisoner's face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Let me introduce you,\" he shouted, \"to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of\n",
            "     Lee, in the county of Kent.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled off\n",
            "     under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the coarse brown\n",
            "     tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had seamed it across, and\n",
            "     the twisted lip which had given the repulsive sneer to the face! A\n",
            "     twitch brought away the tangled red hair, and there, sitting up in\n",
            "     his bed, was a pale, sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and\n",
            "     smooth-skinned, rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy\n",
            "     bewilderment. Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a\n",
            "     scream and threw himself down with his face to the pillow.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Great heavens!\" cried the inspector, \"it is, indeed, the missing\n",
            "     man. I know him from the photograph.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons\n",
            "     himself to his destiny. \"Be it so,\" said he. \"And pray what am I\n",
            "     charged with?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"With making away with Mr. Neville St.--Oh, come, you can't be\n",
            "     charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of\n",
            "     it,\" said the inspector with a grin. \"Well, I have been twenty-seven\n",
            "     years in the force, but this really takes the cake.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime has\n",
            "     been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally detained.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No crime, but a very great error has been committed,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "     \"You would have done better to have trusted your wife.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was not the wife; it was the children,\" groaned the prisoner.\n",
            "     \"God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My God!\n",
            "     What an exposure! What can I do?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him\n",
            "     kindly on the shoulder.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up,\" said he,\n",
            "     \"of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, if you\n",
            "     convince the police authorities that there is no possible case\n",
            "     against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the details\n",
            "     should find their way into the papers. Inspector Bradstreet would, I\n",
            "     am sure, make notes upon anything which you might tell us and submit\n",
            "     it to the proper authorities. The case would then never go into court\n",
            "     at all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"God bless you!\" cried the prisoner passionately. \"I would have\n",
            "     endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left my\n",
            "     miserable secret as a family blot to my children.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a\n",
            "     schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent\n",
            "     education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and finally\n",
            "     became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day my editor\n",
            "     wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the metropolis,\n",
            "     and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point from which all\n",
            "     my adventures started. It was only by trying begging as an amateur\n",
            "     that I could get the facts upon which to base my articles. When an\n",
            "     actor I had, of course, learned all the secrets of making up, and had\n",
            "     been famous in the green-room for my skill. I took advantage now of\n",
            "     my attainments. I painted my face, and to make myself as pitiable as\n",
            "     possible I made a good scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist\n",
            "     by the aid of a small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red\n",
            "     head of hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the\n",
            "     business part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as\n",
            "     a beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned home\n",
            "     in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no less\n",
            "     than 26s. 4d.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until,\n",
            "     some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ served\n",
            "     upon me for £25. I was at my wit's end where to get the money, but a\n",
            "     sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's grace from the\n",
            "     creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, and spent the time\n",
            "     in begging in the City under my disguise. In ten days I had the money\n",
            "     and had paid the debt.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous work\n",
            "     at £2 a week when I knew that I could earn as much in a day by\n",
            "     smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on the ground,\n",
            "     and sitting still. It was a long fight between my pride and the\n",
            "     money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up reporting and sat\n",
            "     day after day in the corner which I had first chosen, inspiring pity\n",
            "     by my ghastly face and filling my pockets with coppers. Only one man\n",
            "     knew my secret. He was the keeper of a low den in which I used to\n",
            "     lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could every morning emerge as a\n",
            "     squalid beggar and in the evenings transform myself into a\n",
            "     well-dressed man about town. This fellow, a Lascar, was well paid by\n",
            "     me for his rooms, so that I knew that my secret was safe in his\n",
            "     possession.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of\n",
            "     money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London could\n",
            "     earn £700 a year--which is less than my average takings--but I had\n",
            "     exceptional advantages in my power of making up, and also in a\n",
            "     facility of repartee, which improved by practice and made me quite a\n",
            "     recognised character in the City. All day a stream of pennies, varied\n",
            "     by silver, poured in upon me, and it was a very bad day in which I\n",
            "     failed to take £2.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the country,\n",
            "     and eventually married, without anyone having a suspicion as to my\n",
            "     real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had business in the City.\n",
            "     She little knew what.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my room\n",
            "     above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, to my\n",
            "     horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the street,\n",
            "     with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of surprise, threw up\n",
            "     my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my confidant, the Lascar,\n",
            "     entreated him to prevent anyone from coming up to me. I heard her\n",
            "     voice downstairs, but I knew that she could not ascend. Swiftly I\n",
            "     threw off my clothes, pulled on those of a beggar, and put on my\n",
            "     pigments and wig. Even a wife's eyes could not pierce so complete a\n",
            "     disguise. But then it occurred to me that there might be a search in\n",
            "     the room, and that the clothes might betray me. I threw open the\n",
            "     window, reopening by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted\n",
            "     upon myself in the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which\n",
            "     was weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from\n",
            "     the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of the\n",
            "     window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes would\n",
            "     have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of constables up\n",
            "     the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, I confess, to my\n",
            "     relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. Neville St. Clair, I\n",
            "     was arrested as his murderer.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I was\n",
            "     determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and hence my\n",
            "     preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would be terribly\n",
            "     anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the Lascar at a\n",
            "     moment when no constable was watching me, together with a hurried\n",
            "     scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to fear.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That note only reached her yesterday,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good God! What a week she must have spent!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The police have watched this Lascar,\" said Inspector Bradstreet,\n",
            "     \"and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to post a\n",
            "     letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor customer of\n",
            "     his, who forgot all about it for some days.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That was it,\" said Holmes, nodding approvingly; \"I have no doubt of\n",
            "     it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Many times; but what was a fine to me?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It must stop here, however,\" said Bradstreet. \"If the police are to\n",
            "     hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps may\n",
            "     be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. I am\n",
            "     sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for having\n",
            "     cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your results.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I reached this one,\" said my friend, \"by sitting upon five pillows\n",
            "     and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if we drive to\n",
            "     Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                       THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second morning\n",
            "     after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the compliments of\n",
            "     the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a purple dressing-gown,\n",
            "     a pipe-rack within his reach upon the right, and a pile of crumpled\n",
            "     morning papers, evidently newly studied, near at hand. Beside the\n",
            "     couch was a wooden chair, and on the angle of the back hung a very\n",
            "     seedy and disreputable hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and\n",
            "     cracked in several places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat\n",
            "     of the chair suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner\n",
            "     for the purpose of examination.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are engaged,\" said I; \"perhaps I interrupt you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss my\n",
            "     results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one\"--he jerked his thumb\n",
            "     in the direction of the old hat--\"but there are points in connection\n",
            "     with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and even of\n",
            "     instruction.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his\n",
            "     crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows were\n",
            "     thick with the ice crystals. \"I suppose,\" I remarked, \"that, homely\n",
            "     as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to it--that\n",
            "     it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of some mystery\n",
            "     and the punishment of some crime.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no. No crime,\" said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. \"Only one of\n",
            "     those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have four\n",
            "     million human beings all jostling each other within the space of a\n",
            "     few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so dense a swarm of\n",
            "     humanity, every possible combination of events may be expected to\n",
            "     take place, and many a little problem will be presented which may be\n",
            "     striking and bizarre without being criminal. We have already had\n",
            "     experience of such.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So much so,\" I remarked, \"that of the last six cases which I have\n",
            "     added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any legal crime.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler\n",
            "     papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the\n",
            "     adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt that\n",
            "     this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. You know\n",
            "     Peterson, the commissionaire?\" \n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is to him that this trophy belongs.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is his hat.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will look\n",
            "     upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual problem.\n",
            "     And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon Christmas\n",
            "     morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I have no doubt,\n",
            "     roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's fire. The facts are\n",
            "     these: about four o'clock on Christmas morning, Peterson, who, as you\n",
            "     know, is a very honest fellow, was returning from some small\n",
            "     jollification and was making his way homeward down Tottenham Court\n",
            "     Road. In front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a tallish man, walking\n",
            "     with a slight stagger, and carrying a white goose slung over his\n",
            "     shoulder. As he reached the corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out\n",
            "     between this stranger and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter\n",
            "     knocked off the man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend\n",
            "     himself and, swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window\n",
            "     behind him. Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from\n",
            "     his assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and\n",
            "     seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him,\n",
            "     dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the labyrinth\n",
            "     of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham Court Road. The\n",
            "     roughs had also fled at the appearance of Peterson, so that he was\n",
            "     left in possession of the field of battle, and also of the spoils of\n",
            "     victory in the shape of this battered hat and a most unimpeachable\n",
            "     Christmas goose.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Which surely he restored to their owner?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For Mrs.\n",
            "     Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to the\n",
            "     bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. B.' are\n",
            "     legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are some thousands\n",
            "     of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in this city of ours, it\n",
            "     is not easy to restore lost property to any one of them.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What, then, did Peterson do?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning,\n",
            "     knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. The\n",
            "     goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs that, in\n",
            "     spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it should be eaten\n",
            "     without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried it off, therefore,\n",
            "     to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, while I continue to retain\n",
            "     the hat of the unknown gentleman who lost his Christmas dinner.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Did he not advertise?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Only as much as we can deduce.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"From his hat?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered\n",
            "     felt?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather yourself\n",
            "     as to the individuality of the man who has worn this article?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather\n",
            "     ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round shape,\n",
            "     hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of red silk,\n",
            "     but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's name; but, as\n",
            "     Holmes had remarked, the initials \"H. B.\" were scrawled upon one\n",
            "     side. It was pierced in the brim for a hat-securer, but the elastic\n",
            "     was missing. For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and\n",
            "     spotted in several places, although there seemed to have been some\n",
            "     attempt to hide the discoloured patches by smearing them with ink.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I can see nothing,\" said I, handing it back to my friend.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however,\n",
            "     to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your\n",
            "     inferences.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective fashion\n",
            "     which was characteristic of him. \"It is perhaps less suggestive than\n",
            "     it might have been,\" he remarked, \"and yet there are a few inferences\n",
            "     which are very distinct, and a few others which represent at least a\n",
            "     strong balance of probability. That the man was highly intellectual\n",
            "     is of course obvious upon the face of it, and also that he was fairly\n",
            "     well-to-do within the last three years, although he has now fallen\n",
            "     upon evil days. He had foresight, but has less now than formerly,\n",
            "     pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline\n",
            "     of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably\n",
            "     drink, at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact\n",
            "     that his wife has ceased to love him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear Holmes!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect,\" he\n",
            "     continued, disregarding my remonstrance. \"He is a man who leads a\n",
            "     sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is\n",
            "     middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the last\n",
            "     few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are the more\n",
            "     patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, by the way,\n",
            "     that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid on in his\n",
            "     house.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are certainly joking, Holmes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you\n",
            "     these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I am\n",
            "     unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that this man\n",
            "     was intellectual?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right over\n",
            "     the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. \"It is a\n",
            "     question of cubic capacity,\" said he; \"a man with so large a brain\n",
            "     must have something in it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The decline of his fortunes, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge\n",
            "     came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the band\n",
            "     of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could afford to\n",
            "     buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no hat since,\n",
            "     then he has assuredly gone down in the world.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the foresight\n",
            "     and the moral retrogression?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes laughed. \"Here is the foresight,\" said he putting his\n",
            "     finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer.  \"They are\n",
            "     never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a sign of a\n",
            "     certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his way to take\n",
            "     this precaution against the wind. But since we see that he has broken\n",
            "     the elastic and has not troubled to replace it, it is obvious that he\n",
            "     has less foresight now than formerly, which is a distinct proof of a\n",
            "     weakening nature. On the other hand, he has endeavoured to conceal\n",
            "     some of these stains upon the felt by daubing them with ink, which is\n",
            "     a sign that he has not entirely lost his self-respect.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your reasoning is certainly plausible.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is\n",
            "     grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses lime-cream,\n",
            "     are all to be gathered from a close examination of the lower part of\n",
            "     the lining. The lens discloses a large number of hair-ends, clean cut\n",
            "     by the scissors of the barber. They all appear to be adhesive, and\n",
            "     there is a distinct odour of lime-cream. This dust, you will observe,\n",
            "     is not the gritty, grey dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust\n",
            "     of the house, showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the\n",
            "     time, while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive\n",
            "     that the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be\n",
            "     in the best of training.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear\n",
            "     Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and when\n",
            "     your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear that you\n",
            "     also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's affection.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But he might be a bachelor.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his wife.\n",
            "     Remember the card upon the bird's leg.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce\n",
            "     that the gas is not laid on in his house?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I see\n",
            "     no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt that the\n",
            "     individual must be brought into frequent contact with burning\n",
            "     tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in one hand and\n",
            "     a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never got tallow-stains\n",
            "     from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, it is very ingenious,\" said I, laughing; \"but since, as you\n",
            "     said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm done\n",
            "     save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a waste of\n",
            "     energy.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew\n",
            "     open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment\n",
            "     with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with\n",
            "     astonishment.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!\" he gasped.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off\n",
            "     through the kitchen window?\" Holmes twisted himself round upon the\n",
            "     sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!\" He held out his\n",
            "     hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly\n",
            "     scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but of\n",
            "     such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric point in\n",
            "     the dark hollow of his hand.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. \"By Jove, Peterson!\" said he,\n",
            "     \"this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you have\n",
            "     got?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though it\n",
            "     were putty.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!\" I ejaculated.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I have\n",
            "     read the advertisement about it in The Times every day lately. It is\n",
            "     absolutely unique, and its value can only be conjectured, but the\n",
            "     reward offered of £1000 is certainly not within a twentieth part of\n",
            "     the market price.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!\" The commissionaire plumped\n",
            "     down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are\n",
            "     sentimental considerations in the background which would induce the\n",
            "     Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but recover the\n",
            "     gem.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan,\" I\n",
            "     remarked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, a\n",
            "     plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's\n",
            "     jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case has\n",
            "     been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the matter here,\n",
            "     I believe.\" He rummaged amid his newspapers, glancing over the dates,\n",
            "     until at last he smoothed one out, doubled it over, and read the\n",
            "     following paragraph:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was\n",
            "     brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst. abstracted\n",
            "     from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the valuable gem known\n",
            "     as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, upper-attendant at the hotel,\n",
            "     gave his evidence to the effect that he had shown Horner up to the\n",
            "     dressing-room of the Countess of Morcar upon the day of the robbery\n",
            "     in order that he might solder the second bar of the grate, which was\n",
            "     loose. He had remained with Horner some little time, but had finally\n",
            "     been called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared,\n",
            "     that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco\n",
            "     casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was\n",
            "     accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the\n",
            "     dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was\n",
            "     arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found either\n",
            "     upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the\n",
            "     Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on\n",
            "     discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, where\n",
            "     she found matters as described by the last witness. Inspector\n",
            "     Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest of Horner, who\n",
            "     struggled frantically, and protested his innocence in the strongest\n",
            "     terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for robbery having been\n",
            "     given against the prisoner, the magistrate refused to deal summarily\n",
            "     with the offence, but referred it to the Assizes. Horner, who had\n",
            "     shown signs of intense emotion during the proceedings, fainted away\n",
            "     at the conclusion and was carried out of court.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Hum! So much for the police-court,\" said Holmes thoughtfully,\n",
            "     tossing aside the paper. \"The question for us now to solve is the\n",
            "     sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to the\n",
            "     crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You see,\n",
            "     Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much more\n",
            "     important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the stone came\n",
            "     from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Baker, the\n",
            "     gentleman with the bad hat and all the other characteristics with\n",
            "     which I have bored you. So now we must set ourselves very seriously\n",
            "     to finding this gentleman and ascertaining what part he has played in\n",
            "     this little mystery. To do this, we must try the simplest means\n",
            "     first, and these lie undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the\n",
            "     evening papers. If this fail, I shall have recourse to other\n",
            "     methods.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What will you say?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at the\n",
            "     corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. Henry\n",
            "     Baker can have the same by applying at 6.30 this evening at 221b,\n",
            "     Baker Street.' That is clear and concise.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very. But will he see it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor man,\n",
            "     the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his mischance\n",
            "     in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson that he\n",
            "     thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must have bitterly\n",
            "     regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his bird. Then, again,\n",
            "     the introduction of his name will cause him to see it, for everyone\n",
            "     who knows him will direct his attention to it. Here you are,\n",
            "     Peterson, run down to the advertising agency and have this put in the\n",
            "     evening papers.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In which, sir?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News,\n",
            "     Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very well, sir. And this stone?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, Peterson,\n",
            "     just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here with me, for we\n",
            "     must have one to give to this gentleman in place of the one which\n",
            "     your family is now devouring.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and held\n",
            "     it against the light. \"It's a bonny thing,\" said he. \"Just see how it\n",
            "     glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime.\n",
            "     Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet baits. In the larger\n",
            "     and older jewels every facet may stand for a bloody deed. This stone\n",
            "     is not yet twenty years old. It was found in the banks of the Amoy\n",
            "     River in southern China and is remarkable in having every\n",
            "     characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade\n",
            "     instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has already a sinister\n",
            "     history. There have been two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide,\n",
            "     and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain\n",
            "     weight of crystallised charcoal. Who would think that so pretty a toy\n",
            "     would be a purveyor to the gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in\n",
            "     my strong box now and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have\n",
            "     it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot tell.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had\n",
            "     anything to do with the matter?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an absolutely\n",
            "     innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he was carrying was\n",
            "     of considerably more value than if it were made of solid gold. That,\n",
            "     however, I shall determine by a very simple test if we have an answer\n",
            "     to our advertisement.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you can do nothing until then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nothing.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall\n",
            "     come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I should\n",
            "     like to see the solution of so tangled a business.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I\n",
            "     believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I ought\n",
            "     to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past six\n",
            "     when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I approached the\n",
            "     house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a coat which was\n",
            "     buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the bright semicircle\n",
            "     which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I arrived the door was\n",
            "     opened, and we were shown up together to Holmes' room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mr. Henry Baker, I believe,\" said he, rising from his armchair and\n",
            "     greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he could so\n",
            "     readily assume. \"Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. Baker. It is a\n",
            "     cold night, and I observe that your circulation is more adapted for\n",
            "     summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have just come at the right\n",
            "     time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a\n",
            "     broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of grizzled\n",
            "     brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight tremor of his\n",
            "     extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his habits. His rusty\n",
            "     black frock-coat was buttoned right up in front, with the collar\n",
            "     turned up, and his lank wrists protruded from his sleeves without a\n",
            "     sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a slow staccato fashion, choosing\n",
            "     his words with care, and gave the impression generally of a man of\n",
            "     learning and letters who had had ill-usage at the hands of fortune.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We have retained these things for some days,\" said Holmes, \"because\n",
            "     we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your address. I\n",
            "     am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. \"Shillings have not been\n",
            "     so plentiful with me as they once were,\" he remarked. \"I had no doubt\n",
            "     that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off both my hat\n",
            "     and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a hopeless\n",
            "     attempt at recovering them.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to eat\n",
            "     it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To eat it!\" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his excitement.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. But\n",
            "     I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is about\n",
            "     the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your purpose equally\n",
            "     well?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, certainly, certainly,\" answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of relief.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of your\n",
            "     own bird, so if you wish--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The man burst into a hearty laugh. \"They might be useful to me as\n",
            "     relics of my adventure,\" said he, \"but beyond that I can hardly see\n",
            "     what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are going to be\n",
            "     to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I will confine my\n",
            "     attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive upon the\n",
            "     sideboard.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug of\n",
            "     his shoulders.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is your hat, then, and there your bird,\" said he. \"By the way,\n",
            "     would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one from? I am\n",
            "     somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a better grown\n",
            "     goose.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Certainly, sir,\" said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly\n",
            "     gained property under his arm. \"There are a few of us who frequent\n",
            "     the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in the Museum\n",
            "     itself during the day, you understand. This year our good host,\n",
            "     Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, on\n",
            "     consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to receive a\n",
            "     bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the rest is familiar\n",
            "     to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Scotch bonnet is fitted\n",
            "     neither to my years nor my gravity.\" With a comical pomposity of\n",
            "     manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and strode off upon his way.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So much for Mr. Henry Baker,\" said Holmes when he had closed the\n",
            "     door behind him. \"It is quite certain that he knows nothing whatever\n",
            "     about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not particularly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow up\n",
            "     this clue while it is still hot.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"By all means.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped cravats\n",
            "     about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly in a\n",
            "     cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out into smoke\n",
            "     like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out crisply and loudly\n",
            "     as we swung through the doctors' quarter, Wimpole Street, Harley\n",
            "     Street, and so through Wigmore Street into Oxford Street. In a\n",
            "     quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at the Alpha Inn, which is a\n",
            "     small public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs\n",
            "     down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the private bar and\n",
            "     ordered two glasses of beer from the ruddy-faced, white-aproned\n",
            "     landlord.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese,\" said\n",
            "     he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My geese!\" The man seemed surprised.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, who\n",
            "     was a member of your goose club.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed! Whose, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Breckinridge is his name.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, and\n",
            "     prosperity to your house. Good-night.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now for Mr. Breckinridge,\" he continued, buttoning up his coat as we\n",
            "     came out into the frosty air. \"Remember, Watson that though we have\n",
            "     so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we have at the\n",
            "     other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal servitude\n",
            "     unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible that our\n",
            "     inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we have a line\n",
            "     of investigation which has been missed by the police, and which a\n",
            "     singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us follow it out to the\n",
            "     bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and quick march!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a zigzag\n",
            "     of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest stalls bore the\n",
            "     name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor a horsey-looking\n",
            "     man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was helping a boy to\n",
            "     put up the shutters.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good-evening. It's a cold night,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my companion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Sold out of geese, I see,\" continued Holmes, pointing at the bare\n",
            "     slabs of marble.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That's no good.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, but I was recommended to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Who by?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The landlord of the Alpha.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the\n",
            "     salesman.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, then, mister,\" said he, with his head cocked and his arms\n",
            "     akimbo, \"what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the geese\n",
            "     which you supplied to the Alpha.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you should\n",
            "     be so warm over such a trifle.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. When\n",
            "     I pay good money for a good article there should be an end of the\n",
            "     business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you sell the\n",
            "     geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One would think\n",
            "     they were the only geese in the world, to hear the fuss that is made\n",
            "     over them.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been\n",
            "     making inquiries,\" said Holmes carelessly. \"If you won't tell us the\n",
            "     bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my opinion on a\n",
            "     matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the bird I ate is\n",
            "     country bred.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred,\" snapped the\n",
            "     salesman.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's nothing of the kind.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I say it is.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I don't believe it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled them\n",
            "     ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that went to\n",
            "     the Alpha were town bred.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You'll never persuade me to believe that.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Will you bet, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But I'll\n",
            "     have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be obstinate.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The salesman chuckled grimly. \"Bring me the books, Bill,\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great\n",
            "     greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging lamp.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now then, Mr. Cocksure,\" said the salesman, \"I thought that I was\n",
            "     out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is still one\n",
            "     left in my shop. You see this little book?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, then,\n",
            "     here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers after their\n",
            "     names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. Now, then! You\n",
            "     see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a list of my town\n",
            "     suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just read it out to me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249,\" read Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes turned to the page indicated. \"Here you are, 'Mrs. Oakshott,\n",
            "     117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, then, what's the last entry?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so. There you are. And underneath?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What have you to say now?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from his\n",
            "     pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the air of\n",
            "     a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off he stopped\n",
            "     under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless fashion which\n",
            "     was peculiar to him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un'\n",
            "     protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet,\" said\n",
            "     he. \"I daresay that if I had put £100 down in front of him, that man\n",
            "     would not have given me such complete information as was drawn from\n",
            "     him by the idea that he was doing me on a wager. Well, Watson, we\n",
            "     are, I fancy, nearing the end of our quest, and the only point which\n",
            "     remains to be determined is whether we should go on to this Mrs.\n",
            "     Oakshott to-night, or whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It\n",
            "     is clear from what that surly fellow said that there are others\n",
            "     besides ourselves who are anxious about the matter, and I should--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke out\n",
            "     from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a little\n",
            "     rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of yellow light\n",
            "     which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while Breckinridge, the\n",
            "     salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was shaking his fists\n",
            "     fiercely at the cringing figure.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I've had enough of you and your geese,\" he shouted. \"I wish you were\n",
            "     all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more with\n",
            "     your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. Oakshott here\n",
            "     and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with it? Did I buy the\n",
            "     geese off you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No; but one of them was mine all the same,\" whined the little man.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She told me to ask you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had\n",
            "     enough of it. Get out of this!\" He rushed fiercely forward, and the\n",
            "     inquirer flitted away into the darkness.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road,\" whispered Holmes.\n",
            "     \"Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this fellow.\"\n",
            "     Striding through the scattered knots of people who lounged round the\n",
            "     flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook the little man and\n",
            "     touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang round, and I could see in\n",
            "     the gas-light that every vestige of colour had been driven from his\n",
            "     face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Who are you, then? What do you want?\" he asked in a quavering voice.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will excuse me,\" said Holmes blandly, \"but I could not help\n",
            "     overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. I\n",
            "     think that I could be of assistance to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other\n",
            "     people don't know.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But you can know nothing of this?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to trace\n",
            "     some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton Road, to a\n",
            "     salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. Windigate, of the\n",
            "     Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. Henry Baker is a member.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet,\" cried the\n",
            "     little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. \"I can\n",
            "     hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. \"In that\n",
            "     case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this\n",
            "     wind-swept market-place,\" said he. \"But pray tell me, before we go\n",
            "     farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The man hesitated for an instant. \"My name is John Robinson,\" he\n",
            "     answered with a sidelong glance.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no; the real name,\" said Holmes sweetly. \"It is always awkward\n",
            "     doing business with an alias.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. \"Well then,\" said\n",
            "     he, \"my real name is James Ryder.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray step\n",
            "     into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you everything which\n",
            "     you would wish to know.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with\n",
            "     half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure whether he\n",
            "     is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. Then he stepped\n",
            "     into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in the sitting-room at\n",
            "     Baker Street. Nothing had been said during our drive, but the high,\n",
            "     thin breathing of our new companion, and the claspings and\n",
            "     unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous tension within him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Here we are!\" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. \"The\n",
            "     fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, Mr. Ryder.\n",
            "     Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my slippers before we\n",
            "     settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! You want to know what\n",
            "     became of those geese?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in\n",
            "     which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the tail.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Ryder quivered with emotion. \"Oh, sir,\" he cried, \"can you tell me\n",
            "     where it went to?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It came here.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Here?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that you\n",
            "     should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was dead--the\n",
            "     bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. I have it\n",
            "     here in my museum.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece with\n",
            "     his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up the blue\n",
            "     carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, brilliant,\n",
            "     many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a drawn face,\n",
            "     uncertain whether to claim or to disown it.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The game's up, Ryder,\" said Holmes quietly. \"Hold up, man, or you'll\n",
            "     be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, Watson. He's\n",
            "     not got blood enough to go in for felony with impunity. Give him a\n",
            "     dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little more human. What a shrimp\n",
            "     it is, to be sure!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy\n",
            "     brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring with\n",
            "     frightened eyes at his accuser.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I\n",
            "     could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me.\n",
            "     Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case\n",
            "     complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the Countess of\n",
            "     Morcar's?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it,\" said he in a crackling\n",
            "     voice.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of sudden\n",
            "     wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has been for\n",
            "     better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous in the means\n",
            "     you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the making of a very\n",
            "     pretty villain in you. You knew that this man Horner, the plumber,\n",
            "     had been concerned in some such matter before, and that suspicion\n",
            "     would rest the more readily upon him. What did you do, then? You made\n",
            "     some small job in my lady's room--you and your confederate\n",
            "     Cusack--and you managed that he should be the man sent for. Then,\n",
            "     when he had left, you rifled the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and\n",
            "     had this unfortunate man arrested. You then--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my\n",
            "     companion's knees. \"For God's sake, have mercy!\" he shrieked. \"Think\n",
            "     of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I never went\n",
            "     wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll swear it on a\n",
            "     Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's sake, don't!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Get back into your chair!\" said Holmes sternly. \"It is very well to\n",
            "     cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this poor\n",
            "     Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the\n",
            "     charge against him will break down.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account of\n",
            "     the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came the\n",
            "     goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies your\n",
            "     only hope of safety.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. \"I will tell you it\n",
            "     just as it happened, sir,\" said he. \"When Horner had been arrested,\n",
            "     it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get away with the\n",
            "     stone at once, for I did not know at what moment the police might not\n",
            "     take it into their heads to search me and my room. There was no place\n",
            "     about the hotel where it would be safe. I went out, as if on some\n",
            "     commission, and I made for my sister's house. She had married a man\n",
            "     named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton Road, where she fattened fowls\n",
            "     for the market. All the way there every man I met seemed to me to be\n",
            "     a policeman or a detective; and, for all that it was a cold night,\n",
            "     the sweat was pouring down my face before I came to the Brixton Road.\n",
            "     My sister asked me what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I\n",
            "     told her that I had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel.\n",
            "     Then I went into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it\n",
            "     would be best to do.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and has\n",
            "     just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met me, and\n",
            "     fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they could get rid\n",
            "     of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to me, for I knew\n",
            "     one or two things about him; so I made up my mind to go right on to\n",
            "     Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my confidence. He would\n",
            "     show me how to turn the stone into money. But how to get to him in\n",
            "     safety? I thought of the agonies I had gone through in coming from\n",
            "     the hotel. I might at any moment be seized and searched, and there\n",
            "     would be the stone in my waistcoat pocket. I was leaning against the\n",
            "     wall at the time and looking at the geese which were waddling about\n",
            "     round my feet, and suddenly an idea came into my head which showed me\n",
            "     how I could beat the best detective that ever lived.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the pick\n",
            "     of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she was always\n",
            "     as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in it I would\n",
            "     carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in the yard, and\n",
            "     behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big one, white, with a\n",
            "     barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill open, I thrust the\n",
            "     stone down its throat as far as my finger could reach. The bird gave\n",
            "     a gulp, and I felt the stone pass along its gullet and down into its\n",
            "     crop. But the creature flapped and struggled, and out came my sister\n",
            "     to know what was the matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute\n",
            "     broke loose and fluttered off among the others.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I was\n",
            "     feeling which was the fattest.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we call\n",
            "     it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six of them,\n",
            "     which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen for the\n",
            "     market.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, I'd\n",
            "     rather have that one I was handling just now.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we\n",
            "     fattened it expressly for you.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it you\n",
            "     want, then?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the\n",
            "     flock.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird all\n",
            "     the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was a man\n",
            "     that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed until he\n",
            "     choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My heart turned to\n",
            "     water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I knew that some\n",
            "     terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, rushed back to my\n",
            "     sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There was not a bird to be\n",
            "     seen there.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Which dealer's?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same as\n",
            "     the one I chose?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never tell\n",
            "     them apart.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my feet\n",
            "     would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the lot at\n",
            "     once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they had gone.\n",
            "     You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always answered me\n",
            "     like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. Sometimes I think\n",
            "     that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself a branded thief,\n",
            "     without ever having touched the wealth for which I sold my character.\n",
            "     God help me! God help me!\" He burst into convulsive sobbing, with his\n",
            "     face buried in his hands.\n",
            "\n",
            "     There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and by\n",
            "     the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the edge of\n",
            "     the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Get out!\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No more words. Get out!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon the\n",
            "     stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running footfalls\n",
            "     from the street.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"After all, Watson,\" said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his clay\n",
            "     pipe, \"I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.\n",
            "     If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; but this fellow\n",
            "     will not appear against him, and the case must collapse. I suppose\n",
            "     that I am commuting a felony, but it is just possible that I am\n",
            "     saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong again; he is too\n",
            "     terribly frightened. Send him to jail now, and you make him a\n",
            "     jail-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. Chance\n",
            "     has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its\n",
            "     solution is its own reward. If you will have the goodness to touch\n",
            "     the bell, Doctor, we will begin another investigation, in which, also\n",
            "     a bird will be the chief feature.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                       THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND\n",
            "\n",
            "     On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I have\n",
            "     during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend Sherlock\n",
            "     Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number merely\n",
            "     strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did rather for the\n",
            "     love of his art than for the acquirement of wealth, he refused to\n",
            "     associate himself with any investigation which did not tend towards\n",
            "     the unusual, and even the fantastic. Of all these varied cases,\n",
            "     however, I cannot recall any which presented more singular features\n",
            "     than that which was associated with the well-known Surrey family of\n",
            "     the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. The events in question occurred in the\n",
            "     early days of my association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms\n",
            "     as bachelors in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed\n",
            "     them upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the\n",
            "     time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by the\n",
            "     untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It is\n",
            "     perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I have\n",
            "     reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the death of\n",
            "     Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even more terrible\n",
            "     than the truth.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to find\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my bed. He\n",
            "     was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the mantelpiece\n",
            "     showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I blinked up at him\n",
            "     in some surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was\n",
            "     myself regular in my habits.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,\" said he, \"but it's the common\n",
            "     lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she retorted upon\n",
            "     me, and I on you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What is it, then--a fire?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a\n",
            "     considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She is\n",
            "     waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander about\n",
            "     the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock sleepy people\n",
            "     up out of their beds, I presume that it is something very pressing\n",
            "     which they have to communicate. Should it prove to be an interesting\n",
            "     case, you would, I am sure, wish to follow it from the outset. I\n",
            "     thought, at any rate, that I should call you and give you the\n",
            "     chance.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional\n",
            "     investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as\n",
            "     intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis with which he\n",
            "     unravelled the problems which were submitted to him. I rapidly threw\n",
            "     on my clothes and was ready in a few minutes to accompany my friend\n",
            "     down to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled,\n",
            "     who had been sitting in the window, rose as we entered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good-morning, madam,\" said Holmes cheerily. \"My name is Sherlock\n",
            "     Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before\n",
            "     whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see\n",
            "     that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw\n",
            "     up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe\n",
            "     that you are shivering.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is not cold which makes me shiver,\" said the woman in a low\n",
            "     voice, changing her seat as requested.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.\" She raised her veil as she\n",
            "     spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of\n",
            "     agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless frightened\n",
            "     eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were\n",
            "     those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature\n",
            "     grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran\n",
            "     her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You must not fear,\" said he soothingly, bending forward and patting\n",
            "     her forearm. \"We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You\n",
            "     have come in by train this morning, I see.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You know me, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of\n",
            "     your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had a good\n",
            "     drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the\n",
            "     station.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my\n",
            "     companion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is no mystery, my dear madam,\" said he, smiling. \"The left arm\n",
            "     of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places.\n",
            "     The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart\n",
            "     which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the\n",
            "     left-hand side of the driver.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,\" said she.\n",
            "     \"I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at twenty past,\n",
            "     and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I can stand this\n",
            "     strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. I have no one to\n",
            "     turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, and he, poor fellow,\n",
            "     can be of little aid. I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes; I have heard\n",
            "     of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore\n",
            "     need. It was from her that I had your address. Oh, sir, do you not\n",
            "     think that you could help me, too, and at least throw a little light\n",
            "     through the dense darkness which surrounds me? At present it is out\n",
            "     of my power to reward you for your services, but in a month or six\n",
            "     weeks I shall be married, with the control of my own income, and then\n",
            "     at least you shall not find me ungrateful.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small\n",
            "     case-book, which he consulted.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Farintosh,\" said he. \"Ah yes, I recall the case; it was concerned\n",
            "     with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, Watson. I can\n",
            "     only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote the same care to\n",
            "     your case as I did to that of your friend. As to reward, my\n",
            "     profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty to defray\n",
            "     whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which suits you best.\n",
            "     And now I beg that you will lay before us everything that may help us\n",
            "     in forming an opinion upon the matter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Alas!\" replied our visitor, \"the very horror of my situation lies in\n",
            "     the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions depend so\n",
            "     entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to another, that\n",
            "     even he to whom of all others I have a right to look for help and\n",
            "     advice looks upon all that I tell him about it as the fancies of a\n",
            "     nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can read it from his\n",
            "     soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have heard, Mr. Holmes, that\n",
            "     you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart.\n",
            "     You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am all attention, madam.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who is\n",
            "     the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the\n",
            "     Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of Surrey.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes nodded his head. \"The name is familiar to me,\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the\n",
            "     estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and\n",
            "     Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four successive\n",
            "     heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and the family\n",
            "     ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the\n",
            "     Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, and the\n",
            "     two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under a heavy\n",
            "     mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence there, living the\n",
            "     horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but his only son, my\n",
            "     stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions,\n",
            "     obtained an advance from a relative, which enabled him to take a\n",
            "     medical degree and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional\n",
            "     skill and his force of character, he established a large practice. In\n",
            "     a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been\n",
            "     perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death and\n",
            "     narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long\n",
            "     term of imprisonment and afterwards returned to England a morose and\n",
            "     disappointed man.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the\n",
            "     young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. My\n",
            "     sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the\n",
            "     time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable sum of\n",
            "     money--not less than £1000 a year--and this she bequeathed to Dr.\n",
            "     Roylott entirely while we resided with him, with a provision that a\n",
            "     certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of\n",
            "     our marriage. Shortly after our return to England my mother died--she\n",
            "     was killed eight years ago in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr.\n",
            "     Roylott then abandoned his attempts to establish himself in practice\n",
            "     in London and took us to live with him in the old ancestral house at\n",
            "     Stoke Moran. The money which my mother had left was enough for all\n",
            "     our wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time.\n",
            "     Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbours,\n",
            "     who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back\n",
            "     in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house and seldom\n",
            "     came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might\n",
            "     cross his path. Violence of temper approaching to mania has been\n",
            "     hereditary in the men of the family, and in my stepfather's case it\n",
            "     had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the\n",
            "     tropics. A series of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which\n",
            "     ended in the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the\n",
            "     village, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of\n",
            "     immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a\n",
            "     stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could\n",
            "     gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure. He\n",
            "     had no friends at all save the wandering gypsies, and he would give\n",
            "     these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few acres of bramble-covered\n",
            "     land which represent the family estate, and would accept in return\n",
            "     the hospitality of their tents, wandering away with them sometimes\n",
            "     for weeks on end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, which are\n",
            "     sent over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this moment a\n",
            "     cheetah and a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds and are\n",
            "     feared by the villagers almost as much as their master.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had\n",
            "     no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with us, and\n",
            "     for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was but thirty\n",
            "     at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already begun to\n",
            "     whiten, even as mine has.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your sister is dead, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish to\n",
            "     speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I have\n",
            "     described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own age and\n",
            "     position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden sister, Miss\n",
            "     Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we were occasionally\n",
            "     allowed to pay short visits at this lady's house. Julia went there at\n",
            "     Christmas two years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines,\n",
            "     to whom she became engaged. My stepfather learned of the engagement\n",
            "     when my sister returned and offered no objection to the marriage; but\n",
            "     within a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding,\n",
            "     the terrible event occurred which has deprived me of my only\n",
            "     companion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes\n",
            "     closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his lids\n",
            "     now and glanced across at his visitor.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray be precise as to details,\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is\n",
            "     seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have already said,\n",
            "     very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The bedrooms in this\n",
            "     wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms being in the central\n",
            "     block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms the first is Dr. Roylott's,\n",
            "     the second my sister's, and the third my own. There is no\n",
            "     communication between them, but they all open out into the same\n",
            "     corridor. Do I make myself plain?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Perfectly so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That fatal\n",
            "     night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we knew that he\n",
            "     had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled by the smell of\n",
            "     the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom to smoke. She left\n",
            "     her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time,\n",
            "     chatting about her approaching wedding. At eleven o'clock she rose to\n",
            "     leave me, but she paused at the door and looked back.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle in\n",
            "     the dead of the night?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Never,' said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your\n",
            "     sleep?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Certainly not. But why?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in\n",
            "     the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, and it\n",
            "     has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps from the\n",
            "     next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would just ask you\n",
            "     whether you had heard it.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the\n",
            "     plantation.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you did\n",
            "     not hear it also.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled back\n",
            "     at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key turn\n",
            "     in the lock.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed,\" said Holmes. \"Was it your custom always to lock yourselves\n",
            "     in at night?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Always.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And why?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah and a\n",
            "     baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending\n",
            "     misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, were\n",
            "     twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two souls\n",
            "     which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind was\n",
            "     howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the\n",
            "     windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth\n",
            "     the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister's\n",
            "     voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed\n",
            "     into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low\n",
            "     whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments later a\n",
            "     clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As I ran down the\n",
            "     passage, my sister's door was unlocked, and revolved slowly upon its\n",
            "     hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to\n",
            "     issue from it. By the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister\n",
            "     appear at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands\n",
            "     groping for help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a\n",
            "     drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that\n",
            "     moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground.  She\n",
            "     writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were dreadfully\n",
            "     convulsed. At first I thought that she had not recognised me, but as\n",
            "     I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice which I shall\n",
            "     never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled\n",
            "     band!' There was something else which she would fain have said, and\n",
            "     she stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the\n",
            "     doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked her\n",
            "     words. I rushed out, calling loudly for my stepfather, and I met him\n",
            "     hastening from his room in his dressing-gown. When he reached my\n",
            "     sister's side she was unconscious, and though he poured brandy down\n",
            "     her throat and sent for medical aid from the village, all efforts\n",
            "     were in vain, for she slowly sank and died without having recovered\n",
            "     her consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One moment,\" said Holmes, \"are you sure about this whistle and\n",
            "     metallic sound? Could you swear to it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my\n",
            "     strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the\n",
            "     gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been\n",
            "     deceived.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Was your sister dressed?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the\n",
            "     charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the\n",
            "     alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did the\n",
            "     coroner come to?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's conduct\n",
            "     had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable to find any\n",
            "     satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the door had\n",
            "     been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows were blocked by\n",
            "     old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, which were secured every\n",
            "     night. The walls were carefully sounded, and were shown to be quite\n",
            "     solid all round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined, with\n",
            "     the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large\n",
            "     staples. It is certain, therefore, that my sister was quite alone\n",
            "     when she met her end. Besides, there were no marks of any violence\n",
            "     upon her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How about poison?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The doctors examined her for it, but without success.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, though\n",
            "     what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, there are nearly always some there.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a speckled\n",
            "     band?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of\n",
            "     delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of people,\n",
            "     perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not know\n",
            "     whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over\n",
            "     their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which she\n",
            "     used.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"These are very deep waters,\" said he; \"pray go on with your\n",
            "     narrative.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until lately\n",
            "     lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have\n",
            "     known for many years, has done me the honour to ask my hand in\n",
            "     marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the second son of Mr.\n",
            "     Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My stepfather has offered no\n",
            "     opposition to the match, and we are to be married in the course of\n",
            "     the spring. Two days ago some repairs were started in the west wing\n",
            "     of the building, and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I have\n",
            "     had to move into the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in\n",
            "     the very bed in which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror\n",
            "     when last night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I\n",
            "     suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which had\n",
            "     been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the lamp, but\n",
            "     nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to go to bed\n",
            "     again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was daylight I\n",
            "     slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which is opposite, and\n",
            "     drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on this morning with\n",
            "     the one object of seeing you and asking your advice.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have done wisely,\" said my friend. \"But have you told me all?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why, what do you mean?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed\n",
            "     the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little livid spots,\n",
            "     the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white\n",
            "     wrist.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have been cruelly used,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. \"He is a\n",
            "     hard man,\" she said, \"and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon\n",
            "     his hands and stared into the crackling fire.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This is a very deep business,\" he said at last. \"There are a\n",
            "     thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide upon\n",
            "     our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If we were to\n",
            "     come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for us to see over\n",
            "     these rooms without the knowledge of your stepfather?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some most\n",
            "     important business. It is probable that he will be away all day, and\n",
            "     that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a housekeeper\n",
            "     now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily get her out of\n",
            "     the way.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"By no means.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am in\n",
            "     town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to be\n",
            "     there in time for your coming.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some\n",
            "     small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and\n",
            "     breakfast?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have confided\n",
            "     my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you again this\n",
            "     afternoon.\" She dropped her thick black veil over her face and glided\n",
            "     from the room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And what do you think of it all, Watson?\" asked Sherlock Holmes,\n",
            "     leaning back in his chair.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Dark enough and sinister enough.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls are\n",
            "     sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, then\n",
            "     her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her\n",
            "     mysterious end.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the\n",
            "     very peculiar words of the dying woman?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot think.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a\n",
            "     band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, the\n",
            "     fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an\n",
            "     interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying\n",
            "     allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner\n",
            "     heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those\n",
            "     metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its place, I\n",
            "     think that there is good ground to think that the mystery may be\n",
            "     cleared along those lines.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But what, then, did the gipsies do?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot imagine.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I see many objections to any such theory.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to\n",
            "     Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are fatal,\n",
            "     or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that our\n",
            "     door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had framed\n",
            "     himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar mixture of the\n",
            "     professional and of the agricultural, having a black top-hat, a long\n",
            "     frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging\n",
            "     in his hand. So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross\n",
            "     bar of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from\n",
            "     side to side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned\n",
            "     yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned\n",
            "     from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and\n",
            "     his high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to\n",
            "     a fierce old bird of prey.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Which of you is Holmes?\" asked this apparition.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,\" said my companion\n",
            "     quietly.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed, Doctor,\" said Holmes blandly. \"Pray take a seat.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I have\n",
            "     traced her. What has she been saying to you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is a little cold for the time of the year,\" said Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What has she been saying to you?\" screamed the old man furiously.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,\" continued my\n",
            "     companion imperturbably.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha! You put me off, do you?\" said our new visitor, taking a step\n",
            "     forward and shaking his hunting-crop. \"I know you, you scoundrel!  I\n",
            "     have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     My friend smiled.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Holmes, the busybody!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     His smile broadened.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes chuckled heartily. \"Your conversation is most entertaining,\"\n",
            "     said he. \"When you go out close the door, for there is a decided\n",
            "     draught.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with my\n",
            "     affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! I am a\n",
            "     dangerous man to fall foul of! See here.\" He stepped swiftly forward,\n",
            "     seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"See that you keep yourself out of my grip,\" he snarled, and hurling\n",
            "     the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He seems a very amiable person,\" said Holmes, laughing. \"I am not\n",
            "     quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that my\n",
            "     grip was not much more feeble than his own.\" As he spoke he picked up\n",
            "     the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official\n",
            "     detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation,\n",
            "     however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from\n",
            "     her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, Watson,\n",
            "     we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk down to\n",
            "     Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may help us in\n",
            "     this matter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his\n",
            "     excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over\n",
            "     with notes and figures.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have seen the will of the deceased wife,\" said he. \"To determine\n",
            "     its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the present prices\n",
            "     of the investments with which it is concerned. The total income,\n",
            "     which at the time of the wife's death was little short of £1100, is\n",
            "     now, through the fall in agricultural prices, not more than £750.\n",
            "     Each daughter can claim an income of £250, in case of marriage. It is\n",
            "     evident, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would\n",
            "     have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to\n",
            "     a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, since\n",
            "     it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for standing in\n",
            "     the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, this is too serious\n",
            "     for dawdling, especially as the old man is aware that we are\n",
            "     interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you are ready, we shall\n",
            "     call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if\n",
            "     you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an\n",
            "     excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into\n",
            "     knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead,\n",
            "     where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove for four or five\n",
            "     miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a perfect day, with a\n",
            "     bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens. The trees and\n",
            "     wayside hedges were just throwing out their first green shoots, and\n",
            "     the air was full of the pleasant smell of the moist earth. To me at\n",
            "     least there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the\n",
            "     spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My\n",
            "     companion sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat\n",
            "     pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried\n",
            "     in the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on\n",
            "     the shoulder, and pointed over the meadows.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Look there!\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thickening\n",
            "     into a grove at the highest point. From amid the branches there\n",
            "     jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Stoke Moran?\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,\" remarked the\n",
            "     driver.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is some building going on there,\" said Holmes; \"that is where\n",
            "     we are going.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There's the village,\" said the driver, pointing to a cluster of\n",
            "     roofs some distance to the left; \"but if you want to get to the\n",
            "     house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by the\n",
            "     foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,\" observed Holmes, shading his\n",
            "     eyes. \"Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to\n",
            "     Leatherhead.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I thought it as well,\" said Holmes as we climbed the stile, \"that\n",
            "     this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or on some\n",
            "     definite business. It may stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss\n",
            "     Stoner. You see that we have been as good as our word.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a face\n",
            "     which spoke her joy. \"I have been waiting so eagerly for you,\" she\n",
            "     cried, shaking hands with us warmly. \"All has turned out splendidly.\n",
            "     Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely that he will be back\n",
            "     before evening.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance,\" said\n",
            "     Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had occurred. Miss\n",
            "     Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good heavens!\" she cried, \"he has followed me, then.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So it appears.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What\n",
            "     will he say when he returns?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone more\n",
            "     cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself up from\n",
            "     him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to your aunt's\n",
            "     at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our time, so kindly take\n",
            "     us at once to the rooms which we are to examine.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central\n",
            "     portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out\n",
            "     on each side. In one of these wings the windows were broken and\n",
            "     blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved in, a\n",
            "     picture of ruin. The central portion was in little better repair, but\n",
            "     the right-hand block was comparatively modern, and the blinds in the\n",
            "     windows, with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed\n",
            "     that this was where the family resided. Some scaffolding had been\n",
            "     erected against the end wall, and the stone-work had been broken\n",
            "     into, but there were no signs of any workmen at the moment of our\n",
            "     visit. Holmes walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn and\n",
            "     examined with deep attention the outsides of the windows.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the\n",
            "     centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main building to\n",
            "     Dr. Roylott's chamber?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does not\n",
            "     seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end wall.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my\n",
            "     room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow wing\n",
            "     runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There are\n",
            "     windows in it, of course?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass through.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were\n",
            "     unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness to go\n",
            "     into your room and bar your shutters?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through\n",
            "     the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the shutter open,\n",
            "     but without success. There was no slit through which a knife could be\n",
            "     passed to raise the bar. Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but\n",
            "     they were of solid iron, built firmly into the massive masonry.\n",
            "     \"Hum!\" said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, \"my theory\n",
            "     certainly presents some difficulties. No one could pass these\n",
            "     shutters if they were bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws\n",
            "     any light upon the matter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the\n",
            "     three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third chamber,\n",
            "     so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Stoner was now\n",
            "     sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate. It was a\n",
            "     homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after\n",
            "     the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood in\n",
            "     one corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another, and a\n",
            "     dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These articles,\n",
            "     with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the\n",
            "     room save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards\n",
            "     round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak,\n",
            "     so old and discoloured that it may have dated from the original\n",
            "     building of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner\n",
            "     and sat silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and\n",
            "     down, taking in every detail of the apartment.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Where does that bell communicate with?\" he asked at last pointing to\n",
            "     a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the tassel actually\n",
            "     lying upon the pillow.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It goes to the housekeeper's room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It looks newer than the other things?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your sister asked for it, I suppose?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we\n",
            "     wanted for ourselves.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. You\n",
            "     will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this\n",
            "     floor.\" He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand\n",
            "     and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining minutely the\n",
            "     cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with the wood-work\n",
            "     with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to the\n",
            "     bed and spent some time in staring at it and in running his eye up\n",
            "     and down the wall. Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave\n",
            "     it a brisk tug.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why, it's a dummy,\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Won't it ring?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. You\n",
            "     can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little\n",
            "     opening for the ventilator is.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How very absurd! I never noticed that before.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very strange!\" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. \"There are one\n",
            "     or two very singular points about this room. For example, what a fool\n",
            "     a builder must be to open a ventilator into another room, when, with\n",
            "     the same trouble, he might have communicated with the outside air!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is also quite modern,\" said the lady.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Done about the same time as the bell-rope?\" remarked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that time.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy\n",
            "     bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your\n",
            "     permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the\n",
            "     inner apartment.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his\n",
            "     step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small\n",
            "     wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an\n",
            "     armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a\n",
            "     round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things which\n",
            "     met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of\n",
            "     them with the keenest interest.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What's in here?\" he asked, tapping the safe.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My stepfather's business papers.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh! you have seen inside, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There isn't a cat in it, for example?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No. What a strange idea!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, look at this!\" He took up a small saucer of milk which stood\n",
            "     on the top of it.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a\n",
            "     saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I\n",
            "     daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine.\" He\n",
            "     squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat of\n",
            "     it with the greatest attention.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you. That is quite settled,\" said he, rising and putting his\n",
            "     lens in his pocket. \"Hullo! Here is something interesting!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on one\n",
            "     corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself and tied\n",
            "     so as to make a loop of whipcord.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What do you make of that, Watson?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be tied.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, and\n",
            "     when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all. I\n",
            "     think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your\n",
            "     permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as it\n",
            "     was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We had\n",
            "     walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner nor\n",
            "     myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself\n",
            "     from his reverie.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is very essential, Miss Stoner,\" said he, \"that you should\n",
            "     absolutely follow my advice in every respect.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I shall most certainly do so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend\n",
            "     upon your compliance.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I assure you that I am in your hands.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in\n",
            "     your room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the\n",
            "     village inn over there?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, that is the Crown.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Certainly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a headache,\n",
            "     when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him retire for\n",
            "     the night, you must open the shutters of your window, undo the hasp,\n",
            "     put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then withdraw quietly with\n",
            "     everything which you are likely to want into the room which you used\n",
            "     to occupy. I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could\n",
            "     manage there for one night.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes, easily.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The rest you will leave in our hands.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But what will you do?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the\n",
            "     cause of this noise which has disturbed you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind,\"\n",
            "     said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Perhaps I have.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's\n",
            "     death.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and if\n",
            "     she died from some sudden fright.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more\n",
            "     tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if Dr.\n",
            "     Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain.  Good-bye,\n",
            "     and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, you may rest\n",
            "     assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and\n",
            "     sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and from\n",
            "     our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the\n",
            "     inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr.\n",
            "     Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the\n",
            "     little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight\n",
            "     difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the hoarse\n",
            "     roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which he shook his\n",
            "     clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few minutes later we\n",
            "     saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as the lamp was lit in\n",
            "     one of the sitting-rooms.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you know, Watson,\" said Holmes as we sat together in the\n",
            "     gathering darkness, \"I have really some scruples as to taking you\n",
            "     to-night. There is a distinct element of danger.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Can I be of assistance?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your presence might be invaluable.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I shall certainly come.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is very kind of you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms\n",
            "     than was visible to me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine\n",
            "     that you saw all that I did.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose that\n",
            "     could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You saw the ventilator, too?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have\n",
            "     a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a rat could\n",
            "     hardly pass through.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke\n",
            "     Moran.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear Holmes!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her\n",
            "     sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that suggested\n",
            "     at once that there must be a communication between the two rooms. It\n",
            "     could only be a small one, or it would have been remarked upon at the\n",
            "     coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But what harm can there be in that?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A ventilator\n",
            "     is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does\n",
            "     not that strike you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot as yet see any connection.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like\n",
            "     that before?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot say that I have.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same\n",
            "     relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may\n",
            "     call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Holmes,\" I cried, \"I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. We\n",
            "     are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong he is\n",
            "     the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and\n",
            "     Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This man strikes\n",
            "     even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike\n",
            "     deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is\n",
            "     over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet pipe and turn our minds\n",
            "     for a few hours to something more cheerful.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, and\n",
            "     all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours passed\n",
            "     slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven, a\n",
            "     single bright light shone out right in front of us.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is our signal,\" said Holmes, springing to his feet; \"it comes\n",
            "     from the middle window.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord,\n",
            "     explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, and\n",
            "     that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A moment\n",
            "     later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our\n",
            "     faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us through the\n",
            "     gloom to guide us on our sombre errand.\n",
            "\n",
            "     There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired\n",
            "     breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way among the trees,\n",
            "     we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the\n",
            "     window when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what\n",
            "     seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the\n",
            "     grass with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into\n",
            "     the darkness.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My God!\" I whispered; \"did you see it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a\n",
            "     vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh\n",
            "     and put his lips to my ear.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is a nice household,\" he murmured. \"That is the baboon.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There was\n",
            "     a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders at any\n",
            "     moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, after following\n",
            "     Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I found myself inside the\n",
            "     bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp\n",
            "     onto the table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had\n",
            "     seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet\n",
            "     of his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently that it was all\n",
            "     that I could do to distinguish the words:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The least sound would be fatal to our plans.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I nodded to show that I had heard.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We must sit without light. He would see it through the ventilator.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I nodded again.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your\n",
            "     pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of the\n",
            "     bed, and you in that chair.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the\n",
            "     bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the stump of a\n",
            "     candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left in darkness.\n",
            "\n",
            "     How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a\n",
            "     sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my\n",
            "     companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same state\n",
            "     of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut off the\n",
            "     least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness.\n",
            "\n",
            "     From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at our\n",
            "     very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that the\n",
            "     cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones\n",
            "     of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour. How\n",
            "     long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and\n",
            "     three, and still we sat waiting silently for whatever might befall.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the direction\n",
            "     of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by a\n",
            "     strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. Someone in the next\n",
            "     room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle sound of movement, and\n",
            "     then all was silent once more, though the smell grew stronger. For\n",
            "     half an hour I sat with straining ears. Then suddenly another sound\n",
            "     became audible--a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a small\n",
            "     jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. The instant that we\n",
            "     heard it, Holmes sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed\n",
            "     furiously with his cane at the bell-pull.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You see it, Watson?\" he yelled. \"You see it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I heard\n",
            "     a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my weary\n",
            "     eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which my friend\n",
            "     lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face was deadly\n",
            "     pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had ceased to strike and\n",
            "     was gazing up at the ventilator when suddenly there broke from the\n",
            "     silence of the night the most horrible cry to which I have ever\n",
            "     listened. It swelled up louder and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and\n",
            "     fear and anger all mingled in the one dreadful shriek. They say that\n",
            "     away down in the village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry\n",
            "     raised the sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts,\n",
            "     and I stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of\n",
            "     it had died away into the silence from which it rose.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What can it mean?\" I gasped.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It means that it is all over,\" Holmes answered. \"And perhaps, after\n",
            "     all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will enter Dr.\n",
            "     Roylott's room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the corridor.\n",
            "     Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply from within.\n",
            "     Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his heels, with the\n",
            "     cocked pistol in my hand.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a\n",
            "     dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant beam of\n",
            "     light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this\n",
            "     table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott clad in a long\n",
            "     grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding beneath, and his feet\n",
            "     thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the\n",
            "     short stock with the long lash which we had noticed during the day.\n",
            "     His chin was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful,\n",
            "     rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a\n",
            "     peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be\n",
            "     bound tightly round his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor\n",
            "     motion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The band! the speckled band!\" whispered Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began to\n",
            "     move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat\n",
            "     diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is a swamp adder!\" cried Holmes; \"the deadliest snake in India.\n",
            "     He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence does, in\n",
            "     truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit\n",
            "     which he digs for another. Let us thrust this creature back into its\n",
            "     den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter and\n",
            "     let the county police know what has happened.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, and\n",
            "     throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from its\n",
            "     horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into the iron\n",
            "     safe, which he closed upon it.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of\n",
            "     Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a narrative\n",
            "     which has already run to too great a length by telling how we broke\n",
            "     the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed her by the\n",
            "     morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, of how the slow\n",
            "     process of official inquiry came to the conclusion that the doctor\n",
            "     met his fate while indiscreetly playing with a dangerous pet. The\n",
            "     little which I had yet to learn of the case was told me by Sherlock\n",
            "     Holmes as we travelled back next day.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I had,\" said he, \"come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which\n",
            "     shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from\n",
            "     insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of the\n",
            "     word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to explain\n",
            "     the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of by the light\n",
            "     of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an entirely wrong scent.\n",
            "     I can only claim the merit that I instantly reconsidered my position\n",
            "     when, however, it became clear to me that whatever danger threatened\n",
            "     an occupant of the room could not come either from the window or the\n",
            "     door. My attention was speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to\n",
            "     you, to this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the\n",
            "     bed. The discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was\n",
            "     clamped to the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the\n",
            "     rope was there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and\n",
            "     coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and\n",
            "     when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was furnished\n",
            "     with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was probably on\n",
            "     the right track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not\n",
            "     possibly be discovered by any chemical test was just such a one as\n",
            "     would occur to a clever and ruthless man who had had an Eastern\n",
            "     training. The rapidity with which such a poison would take effect\n",
            "     would also, from his point of view, be an advantage. It would be a\n",
            "     sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could distinguish the two little dark\n",
            "     punctures which would show where the poison fangs had done their\n",
            "     work. Then I thought of the whistle. Of course he must recall the\n",
            "     snake before the morning light revealed it to the victim. He had\n",
            "     trained it, probably by the use of the milk which we saw, to return\n",
            "     to him when summoned. He would put it through this ventilator at the\n",
            "     hour that he thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl\n",
            "     down the rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the\n",
            "     occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but sooner\n",
            "     or later she must fall a victim.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his room.\n",
            "     An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in the habit of\n",
            "     standing on it, which of course would be necessary in order that he\n",
            "     should reach the ventilator. The sight of the safe, the saucer of\n",
            "     milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to finally dispel any\n",
            "     doubts which may have remained. The metallic clang heard by Miss\n",
            "     Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather hastily closing the\n",
            "     door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. Having once made up my\n",
            "     mind, you know the steps which I took in order to put the matter to\n",
            "     the proof. I heard the creature hiss as I have no doubt that you did\n",
            "     also, and I instantly lit the light and attacked it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"With the result of driving it through the ventilator.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master at\n",
            "     the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and roused its\n",
            "     snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person it saw. In this\n",
            "     way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott's\n",
            "     death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon\n",
            "     my conscience.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                      THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB\n",
            "\n",
            "     Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr.\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, there\n",
            "     were only two which I was the means of introducing to his\n",
            "     notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel\n",
            "     Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a finer\n",
            "     field for an acute and original observer, but the other was so\n",
            "     strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that it may\n",
            "     be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it gave my\n",
            "     friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of reasoning by\n",
            "     which he achieved such remarkable results. The story has, I believe,\n",
            "     been told more than once in the newspapers, but, like all such\n",
            "     narratives, its effect is much less striking when set forth en bloc\n",
            "     in a single half-column of print than when the facts slowly evolve\n",
            "     before your own eyes, and the mystery clears gradually away as each\n",
            "     new discovery furnishes a step which leads on to the complete truth.\n",
            "     At the time the circumstances made a deep impression upon me, and the\n",
            "     lapse of two years has hardly served to weaken the effect.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the\n",
            "     events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned to\n",
            "     civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker Street\n",
            "     rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally even\n",
            "     persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come and\n",
            "     visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I happened to\n",
            "     live at no very great distance from Paddington Station, I got a few\n",
            "     patients from among the officials. One of these, whom I had cured of\n",
            "     a painful and lingering disease, was never weary of advertising my\n",
            "     virtues and of endeavouring to send me on every sufferer over whom he\n",
            "     might have any influence.\n",
            "\n",
            "     One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by the\n",
            "     maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come from\n",
            "     Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I dressed\n",
            "     hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases were seldom\n",
            "     trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my old ally, the\n",
            "     guard, came out of the room and closed the door tightly behind him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I've got him here,\" he whispered, jerking his thumb over his\n",
            "     shoulder; \"he's all right.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What is it, then?\" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was\n",
            "     some strange creature which he had caged up in my room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It's a new patient,\" he whispered. \"I thought I'd bring him round\n",
            "     myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe and sound.\n",
            "     I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the same as you.\" And\n",
            "     off he went, this trusty tout, without even giving me time to thank\n",
            "     him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the\n",
            "     table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a soft\n",
            "     cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of his\n",
            "     hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all over with\n",
            "     bloodstains. He was young, not more than five-and-twenty, I should\n",
            "     say, with a strong, masculine face; but he was exceedingly pale and\n",
            "     gave me the impression of a man who was suffering from some strong\n",
            "     agitation, which it took all his strength of mind to control.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor,\" said he, \"but I have\n",
            "     had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by train this\n",
            "     morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I might find a\n",
            "     doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me here. I gave the maid\n",
            "     a card, but I see that she has left it upon the side-table.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I took it up and glanced at it. \"Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic\n",
            "     engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor).\" That was the name,\n",
            "     style, and abode of my morning visitor. \"I regret that I have kept\n",
            "     you waiting,\" said I, sitting down in my library-chair. \"You are\n",
            "     fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself a\n",
            "     monotonous occupation.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, my night could not be called monotonous,\" said he, and laughed.\n",
            "     He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, leaning back in\n",
            "     his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical instincts rose up\n",
            "     against that laugh.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Stop it!\" I cried; \"pull yourself together!\" and I poured out some\n",
            "     water from a caraffe.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical\n",
            "     outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis is\n",
            "     over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very weary and\n",
            "     pale-looking.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have been making a fool of myself,\" he gasped.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not at all. Drink this.\" I dashed some brandy into the water, and\n",
            "     the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That's better!\" said he. \"And now, Doctor, perhaps you would kindly\n",
            "     attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb used to\n",
            "     be.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even my\n",
            "     hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four protruding\n",
            "     fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the thumb should have\n",
            "     been. It had been hacked or torn right out from the roots.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good heavens!\" I cried, \"this is a terrible injury. It must have\n",
            "     bled considerably.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must\n",
            "     have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that it\n",
            "     was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very tightly\n",
            "     round the wrist and braced it up with a twig.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Excellent! You should have been a surgeon.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own\n",
            "     province.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This has been done,\" said I, examining the wound, \"by a very heavy\n",
            "     and sharp instrument.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A thing like a cleaver,\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"An accident, I presume?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"By no means.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What! a murderous attack?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very murderous indeed.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You horrify me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered it\n",
            "     over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back without\n",
            "     wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How is that?\" I asked when I had finished.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. I\n",
            "     was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently\n",
            "     trying to your nerves.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; but,\n",
            "     between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing evidence of this\n",
            "     wound of mine, I should be surprised if they believed my statement,\n",
            "     for it is a very extraordinary one, and I have not much in the way of\n",
            "     proof with which to back it up; and, even if they believe me, the\n",
            "     clues which I can give them are so vague that it is a question\n",
            "     whether justice will be done.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha!\" cried I, \"if it is anything in the nature of a problem which\n",
            "     you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you to come to\n",
            "     my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the official\n",
            "     police.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, I have heard of that fellow,\" answered my visitor, \"and I should\n",
            "     be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of course I must\n",
            "     use the official police as well. Would you give me an introduction to\n",
            "     him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I should be immensely obliged to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to have a\n",
            "     little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an\n",
            "     instant.\" I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my wife,\n",
            "     and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my new\n",
            "     acquaintance to Baker Street.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his sitting-room\n",
            "     in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The Times and\n",
            "     smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed of all the\n",
            "     plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day before, all\n",
            "     carefully dried and collected on the corner of the mantelpiece. He\n",
            "     received us in his quietly genial fashion, ordered fresh rashers and\n",
            "     eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. When it was concluded he\n",
            "     settled our new acquaintance upon the sofa, placed a pillow beneath\n",
            "     his head, and laid a glass of brandy and water within his reach.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, Mr.\n",
            "     Hatherley,\" said he. \"Pray, lie down there and make yourself\n",
            "     absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are tired\n",
            "     and keep up your strength with a little stimulant.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you,\" said my patient. \"but I have felt another man since the\n",
            "     doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has completed the\n",
            "     cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable time as possible, so\n",
            "     I shall start at once upon my peculiar experiences.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded\n",
            "     expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat\n",
            "     opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story\n",
            "     which our visitor detailed to us.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You must know,\" said he, \"that I am an orphan and a bachelor,\n",
            "     residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a hydraulic\n",
            "     engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my work during\n",
            "     the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & Matheson, the\n",
            "     well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, having served my time,\n",
            "     and having also come into a fair sum of money through my poor\n",
            "     father's death, I determined to start in business for myself and took\n",
            "     professional chambers in Victoria Street.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in\n",
            "     business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so.\n",
            "     During two years I have had three consultations and one small job,\n",
            "     and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought me. My\n",
            "     gross takings amount to £27 10s. Every day, from nine in the morning\n",
            "     until four in the afternoon, I waited in my little den, until at last\n",
            "     my heart began to sink, and I came to believe that I should never\n",
            "     have any practice at all.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the office, my\n",
            "     clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who wished to see\n",
            "     me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with the name of\n",
            "     'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at his heels came\n",
            "     the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle size, but of an\n",
            "     exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have ever seen so thin a\n",
            "     man. His whole face sharpened away into nose and chin, and the skin\n",
            "     of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over his outstanding bones. Yet\n",
            "     this emaciation seemed to be his natural habit, and due to no\n",
            "     disease, for his eye was bright, his step brisk, and his bearing\n",
            "     assured. He was plainly but neatly dressed, and his age, I should\n",
            "     judge, would be nearer forty than thirty.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. 'You\n",
            "     have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man who is not\n",
            "     only proficient in his profession but is also discreet and capable of\n",
            "     preserving a secret.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an\n",
            "     address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' \n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just at\n",
            "     this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both an\n",
            "     orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if I\n",
            "     say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional\n",
            "     qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter\n",
            "     that you wished to speak to me?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to the\n",
            "     point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute secrecy\n",
            "     is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and of course\n",
            "     we may expect that more from a man who is alone than from one who\n",
            "     lives in the bosom of his family.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely depend\n",
            "     upon my doing so.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I had\n",
            "     never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Do you promise, then?' said he at last.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes, I promise.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No\n",
            "     reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I have already given you my word.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning\n",
            "     across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was\n",
            "     empty.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are\n",
            "     sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk in\n",
            "     safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to stare\n",
            "     at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun to\n",
            "     rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. Even my\n",
            "     dread of losing a client could not restrain me from showing my\n",
            "     impatience.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time is\n",
            "     of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the words\n",
            "     came to my lips.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Most admirably.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I\n",
            "     simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which has\n",
            "     got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon set it\n",
            "     right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as that?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last\n",
            "     train.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Where to?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders of\n",
            "     Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a train from\n",
            "     Paddington which would bring you there at about 11.15.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Very good.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'There is a drive, then?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good\n",
            "     seven miles from Eyford Station.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there would\n",
            "     be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop the\n",
            "     night.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient\n",
            "     hour?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to\n",
            "     recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a\n",
            "     young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the very\n",
            "     heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would like to draw\n",
            "     out of the business, there is plenty of time to do so.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they would be\n",
            "     to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to accommodate\n",
            "     myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to understand a little\n",
            "     more clearly what it is that you wish me to do.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which we\n",
            "     have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I have no\n",
            "     wish to commit you to anything without your having it all laid before\n",
            "     you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from eavesdroppers?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Entirely.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that\n",
            "     fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found in\n",
            "     one or two places in England?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I have heard so.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small\n",
            "     place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to\n",
            "     discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my\n",
            "     fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a\n",
            "     comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two very\n",
            "     much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, however, in\n",
            "     the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were absolutely\n",
            "     ignorant that their land contained that which was quite as valuable\n",
            "     as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my interest to buy their land\n",
            "     before they discovered its true value, but unfortunately I had no\n",
            "     capital by which I could do this. I took a few of my friends into the\n",
            "     secret, however, and they suggested that we should quietly and\n",
            "     secretly work our own little deposit and that in this way we should\n",
            "     earn the money which would enable us to buy the neighbouring fields.\n",
            "     This we have now been doing for some time, and in order to help us in\n",
            "     our operations we erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have\n",
            "     already explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon\n",
            "     the subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it\n",
            "     once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our\n",
            "     little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts\n",
            "     came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these fields\n",
            "     and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you promise me\n",
            "     that you will not tell a human being that you are going to Eyford\n",
            "     to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not\n",
            "     quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press in\n",
            "     excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out like\n",
            "     gravel from a pit.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress the\n",
            "     earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing what they\n",
            "     are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully into my\n",
            "     confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I trust you.'\n",
            "     He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at Eyford at 11.15.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I shall certainly be there.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long,\n",
            "     questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank grasp,\n",
            "     he hurried from the room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very much\n",
            "     astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission which\n",
            "     had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was glad, for\n",
            "     the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked had I set a\n",
            "     price upon my own services, and it was possible that this order might\n",
            "     lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face and manner of my\n",
            "     patron had made an unpleasant impression upon me, and I could not\n",
            "     think that his explanation of the fuller's-earth was sufficient to\n",
            "     explain the necessity for my coming at midnight, and his extreme\n",
            "     anxiety lest I should tell anyone of my errand. However, I threw all\n",
            "     fears to the winds, ate a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and\n",
            "     started off, having obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding\n",
            "     my tongue.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station.\n",
            "     However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I reached\n",
            "     the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the only\n",
            "     passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the platform\n",
            "     save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed out through\n",
            "     the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of the morning\n",
            "     waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a word he grasped\n",
            "     my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door of which was standing\n",
            "     open. He drew up the windows on either side, tapped on the wood-work,\n",
            "     and away we went as fast as the horse could go.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One horse?\" interjected Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, only one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Did you observe the colour?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the\n",
            "     carriage. It was a chestnut.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Tired-looking or fresh?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, fresh and glossy.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue your\n",
            "     most interesting statement.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel\n",
            "     Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I should\n",
            "     think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the time that we\n",
            "     took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat at my side in\n",
            "     silence all the time, and I was aware, more than once when I glanced\n",
            "     in his direction, that he was looking at me with great intensity. The\n",
            "     country roads seem to be not very good in that part of the world, for\n",
            "     we lurched and jolted terribly. I tried to look out of the windows to\n",
            "     see something of where we were, but they were made of frosted glass,\n",
            "     and I could make out nothing save the occasional bright blur of a\n",
            "     passing light. Now and then I hazarded some remark to break the\n",
            "     monotony of the journey, but the colonel answered only in\n",
            "     monosyllables, and the conversation soon flagged. At last, however,\n",
            "     the bumping of the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a\n",
            "     gravel-drive, and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander\n",
            "     Stark sprang out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly\n",
            "     into a porch which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were,\n",
            "     right out of the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to\n",
            "     catch the most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant\n",
            "     that I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us,\n",
            "     and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage drove\n",
            "     away.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled about\n",
            "     looking for matches and muttering under his breath. Suddenly a door\n",
            "     opened at the other end of the passage, and a long, golden bar of\n",
            "     light shot out in our direction. It grew broader, and a woman\n",
            "     appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she held above her head,\n",
            "     pushing her face forward and peering at us. I could see that she was\n",
            "     pretty, and from the gloss with which the light shone upon her dark\n",
            "     dress I knew that it was a rich material. She spoke a few words in a\n",
            "     foreign tongue in a tone as though asking a question, and when my\n",
            "     companion answered in a gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that\n",
            "     the lamp nearly fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her,\n",
            "     whispered something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the\n",
            "     room from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the\n",
            "     lamp in his hand.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a few\n",
            "     minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a quiet,\n",
            "     little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the centre, on\n",
            "     which several German books were scattered. Colonel Stark laid down\n",
            "     the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the door. 'I shall not keep\n",
            "     you waiting an instant,' said he, and vanished into the darkness.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my ignorance\n",
            "     of German I could see that two of them were treatises on science, the\n",
            "     others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked across to the window,\n",
            "     hoping that I might catch some glimpse of the country-side, but an\n",
            "     oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded across it. It was a\n",
            "     wonderfully silent house. There was an old clock ticking loudly\n",
            "     somewhere in the passage, but otherwise everything was deadly still.\n",
            "     A vague feeling of uneasiness began to steal over me. Who were these\n",
            "     German people, and what were they doing living in this strange,\n",
            "     out-of-the-way place? And where was the place? I was ten miles or so\n",
            "     from Eyford, that was all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or\n",
            "     west I had no idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other\n",
            "     large towns, were within that radius, so the place might not be so\n",
            "     secluded, after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute\n",
            "     stillness, that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room,\n",
            "     humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling that\n",
            "     I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the utter\n",
            "     stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman was\n",
            "     standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind her, the\n",
            "     yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and beautiful face.\n",
            "     I could see at a glance that she was sick with fear, and the sight\n",
            "     sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one shaking finger to warn\n",
            "     me to be silent, and she shot a few whispered words of broken English\n",
            "     at me, her eyes glancing back, like those of a frightened horse, into\n",
            "     the gloom behind her.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to speak\n",
            "     calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no good for you\n",
            "     to do.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I cannot\n",
            "     possibly leave until I have seen the machine.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass\n",
            "     through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled and\n",
            "     shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and made a\n",
            "     step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love of\n",
            "     Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too late!'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to engage\n",
            "     in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I thought of my\n",
            "     fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of the unpleasant\n",
            "     night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to go for nothing? Why\n",
            "     should I slink away without having carried out my commission, and\n",
            "     without the payment which was my due? This woman might, for all I\n",
            "     knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout bearing, therefore, though her\n",
            "     manner had shaken me more than I cared to confess, I still shook my\n",
            "     head and declared my intention of remaining where I was. She was\n",
            "     about to renew her entreaties when a door slammed overhead, and the\n",
            "     sound of several footsteps was heard upon the stairs. She listened\n",
            "     for an instant, threw up her hands with a despairing gesture, and\n",
            "     vanished as suddenly and as noiselessly as she had come.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man with\n",
            "     a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double chin, who\n",
            "     was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the way, I\n",
            "     was under the impression that I left this door shut just now. I fear\n",
            "     that you have felt the draught.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I felt\n",
            "     the room to be a little close.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had better\n",
            "     proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I will take\n",
            "     you up to see the machine.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, no, it is in the house.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. All\n",
            "     we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us know what\n",
            "     is wrong with it.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the fat\n",
            "     manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, with\n",
            "     corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little low doors,\n",
            "     the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the generations who had\n",
            "     crossed them. There were no carpets and no signs of any furniture\n",
            "     above the ground floor, while the plaster was peeling off the walls,\n",
            "     and the damp was breaking through in green, unhealthy blotches. I\n",
            "     tried to put on as unconcerned an air as possible, but I had not\n",
            "     forgotten the warnings of the lady, even though I disregarded them,\n",
            "     and I kept a keen eye upon my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be\n",
            "     a morose and silent man, but I could see from the little that he said\n",
            "     that he was at least a fellow-countryman.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which he\n",
            "     unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three of us\n",
            "     could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, and the\n",
            "     colonel ushered me in.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and it\n",
            "     would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were to\n",
            "     turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the end of\n",
            "     the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of many tons\n",
            "     upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns of water\n",
            "     outside which receive the force, and which transmit and multiply it\n",
            "     in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine goes readily\n",
            "     enough, but there is some stiffness in the working of it, and it has\n",
            "     lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will have the goodness to\n",
            "     look it over and to show us how we can set it right.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very\n",
            "     thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exercising\n",
            "     enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and pressed down\n",
            "     the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by the whishing sound\n",
            "     that there was a slight leakage, which allowed a regurgitation of\n",
            "     water through one of the side cylinders. An examination showed that\n",
            "     one of the india-rubber bands which was round the head of a\n",
            "     driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to fill the socket along which\n",
            "     it worked. This was clearly the cause of the loss of power, and I\n",
            "     pointed it out to my companions, who followed my remarks very\n",
            "     carefully and asked several practical questions as to how they should\n",
            "     proceed to set it right. When I had made it clear to them, I returned\n",
            "     to the main chamber of the machine and took a good look at it to\n",
            "     satisfy my own curiosity. It was obvious at a glance that the story\n",
            "     of the fuller's-earth was the merest fabrication, for it would be\n",
            "     absurd to suppose that so powerful an engine could be designed for so\n",
            "     inadequate a purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted\n",
            "     of a large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a\n",
            "     crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was scraping\n",
            "     at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a muttered\n",
            "     exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the colonel\n",
            "     looking down at me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'What are you doing there?' he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as that\n",
            "     which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' said I;\n",
            "     'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to your\n",
            "     machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it was used.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of my\n",
            "     speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in his grey\n",
            "     eyes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He\n",
            "     took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key in\n",
            "     the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it was\n",
            "     quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and shoves.\n",
            "     'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my heart\n",
            "     into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish of the\n",
            "     leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp still stood\n",
            "     upon the floor where I had placed it when examining the trough. By\n",
            "     its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming down upon me,\n",
            "     slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than myself, with a force\n",
            "     which must within a minute grind me to a shapeless pulp. I threw\n",
            "     myself, screaming, against the door, and dragged with my nails at the\n",
            "     lock. I implored the colonel to let me out, but the remorseless\n",
            "     clanking of the levers drowned my cries. The ceiling was only a foot\n",
            "     or two above my head, and with my hand upraised I could feel its\n",
            "     hard, rough surface. Then it flashed through my mind that the pain of\n",
            "     my death would depend very much upon the position in which I met it.\n",
            "     If I lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, and I\n",
            "     shuddered to think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way,\n",
            "     perhaps; and yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly\n",
            "     black shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand\n",
            "     erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope back\n",
            "     to my heart.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the\n",
            "     walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw a\n",
            "     thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which broadened\n",
            "     and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For an instant I\n",
            "     could hardly believe that here was indeed a door which led away from\n",
            "     death. The next instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting\n",
            "     upon the other side. The panel had closed again behind me, but the\n",
            "     crash of the lamp, and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two\n",
            "     slabs of metal, told me how narrow had been my escape.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and I\n",
            "     found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a\n",
            "     woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, while she\n",
            "     held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend whose warning\n",
            "     I had so foolishly rejected.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a\n",
            "     moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste the\n",
            "     so-precious time, but come!'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to my\n",
            "     feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding stair.\n",
            "     The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we reached it we\n",
            "     heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of two voices, one\n",
            "     answering the other from the floor on which  we were and from the one\n",
            "     beneath. My guide stopped and looked about her like one  who is at\n",
            "     her wit's end. Then she threw open a door which led into a bedroom,\n",
            "     through the window of which the moon was shining brightly.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be that\n",
            "     you can jump it.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the\n",
            "     passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark rushing\n",
            "     forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher's\n",
            "     cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, flung open the\n",
            "     window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden\n",
            "     looked in the moonlight, and it could not be more than thirty feet\n",
            "     down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I hesitated to jump until I\n",
            "     should have heard what passed between my saviour and the ruffian who\n",
            "     pursued me. If she were ill-used, then at any risks I was determined\n",
            "     to go back to her assistance. The thought had hardly flashed through\n",
            "     my mind before he was at the door, pushing his way past her; but she\n",
            "     threw her arms round him and tried to hold him back.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise after\n",
            "     the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be silent!\n",
            "     Oh, he will be silent!'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from her.\n",
            "     'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me pass, I\n",
            "     say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the window, cut at\n",
            "     me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and was hanging by the\n",
            "     hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull\n",
            "     pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the garden below.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and\n",
            "     rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I understood\n",
            "     that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, however, as I\n",
            "     ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. I glanced down at\n",
            "     my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and then, for the first time,\n",
            "     saw that my thumb had been cut off and that the blood was pouring\n",
            "     from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my handkerchief round it, but\n",
            "     there came a sudden buzzing in my ears, and next moment I fell in a\n",
            "     dead faint among the rose-bushes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been a\n",
            "     very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was\n",
            "     breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with dew,\n",
            "     and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded thumb. The\n",
            "     smarting of it recalled in an instant all the particulars of my\n",
            "     night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the feeling that I\n",
            "     might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But to my astonishment,\n",
            "     when I came to look round me, neither house nor garden were to be\n",
            "     seen. I had been lying in an angle of the hedge close by the\n",
            "     highroad, and just a little lower down was a long building, which\n",
            "     proved, upon my approaching it, to be the very station at which I had\n",
            "     arrived upon the previous night. Were it not for the ugly wound upon\n",
            "     my hand, all that had passed during those dreadful hours might have\n",
            "     been an evil dream.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning\n",
            "     train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The same\n",
            "     porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I arrived. I\n",
            "     inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Lysander Stark.\n",
            "     The name was strange to him. Had he observed a carriage the night\n",
            "     before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was there a police-station\n",
            "     anywhere near? There was one about three miles off.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined to\n",
            "     wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the police.\n",
            "     It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first to have my\n",
            "     wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to bring me along\n",
            "     here. I put the case into your hands and shall do exactly what you\n",
            "     advise.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to this\n",
            "     extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down from the\n",
            "     shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he placed his\n",
            "     cuttings.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Here is an advertisement which will interest you,\" said he. \"It\n",
            "     appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged twenty-six, a\n",
            "     hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten o'clock at night, and\n",
            "     has not been heard of since. Was dressed in--'\n",
            "\n",
            "     etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that the colonel needed\n",
            "     to have his machine overhauled, I fancy.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good heavens!\" cried my patient. \"Then that explains what the girl\n",
            "     said.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and\n",
            "     desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should\n",
            "     stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out pirates\n",
            "     who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, every moment\n",
            "     now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall go down to\n",
            "     Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for Eyford.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train together,\n",
            "     bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. There were\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector Bradstreet, of\n",
            "     Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. Bradstreet had spread\n",
            "     an ordnance map of the county out upon the seat and was busy with his\n",
            "     compasses drawing a circle with Eyford for its centre.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There you are,\" said he. \"That circle is drawn at a radius of ten\n",
            "     miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere near that\n",
            "     line. You said ten miles, I think, sir.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was an hour's good drive.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And you think that they brought you back all that way when you were\n",
            "     unconscious?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having\n",
            "     been lifted and conveyed somewhere.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What I cannot understand,\" said I, \"is why they should have spared\n",
            "     you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. Perhaps the\n",
            "     villain was softened by the woman's entreaties.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face in my\n",
            "     life.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, we shall soon clear up all that,\" said Bradstreet. \"Well, I have\n",
            "     drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon it the\n",
            "     folk that we are in search of are to be found.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think I could lay my finger on it,\" said Holmes quietly.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Really, now!\" cried the inspector, \"you have formed your opinion!\n",
            "     Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is south, for\n",
            "     the country is more deserted there.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And I say east,\" said my patient.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am for west,\" remarked the plain-clothes man. \"There are several\n",
            "     quiet little villages up there.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And I am for north,\" said I, \"because there are no hills there, and\n",
            "     our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up any.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Come,\" cried the inspector, laughing; \"it's a very pretty diversity\n",
            "     of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do you give your\n",
            "     casting vote to?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are all wrong.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But we can't all be.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes, you can. This is my point.\" He placed his finger in the\n",
            "     centre of the circle. \"This is where we shall find them.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But the twelve-mile drive?\" gasped Hatherley.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the\n",
            "     horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that if\n",
            "     it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough,\" observed Bradstreet\n",
            "     thoughtfully. \"Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature of\n",
            "     this gang.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None at all,\" said Holmes. \"They are coiners on a large scale, and\n",
            "     have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the place\n",
            "     of silver.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work,\" said\n",
            "     the inspector. \"They have been turning out half-crowns by the\n",
            "     thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could get no\n",
            "     farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that showed that\n",
            "     they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this lucky chance, I\n",
            "     think that we have got them right enough.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not destined\n",
            "     to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into Eyford Station\n",
            "     we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed up from behind a\n",
            "     small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and hung like an immense\n",
            "     ostrich feather over the landscape.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A house on fire?\" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off again on\n",
            "     its way.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir!\" said the station-master.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When did it break out?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, and\n",
            "     the whole place is in a blaze.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Whose house is it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Dr. Becher's.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Tell me,\" broke in the engineer, \"is Dr. Becher a German, very thin,\n",
            "     with a long, sharp nose?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The station-master laughed heartily. \"No, sir, Dr. Becher is an\n",
            "     Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a\n",
            "     better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, a\n",
            "     patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as if a\n",
            "     little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all\n",
            "     hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low hill,\n",
            "     and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in front of us,\n",
            "     spouting fire at every chink and window, while in the garden in front\n",
            "     three fire-engines were vainly striving to keep the flames under.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That's it!\" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. \"There is the\n",
            "     gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That second\n",
            "     window is the one that I jumped from.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, at least,\" said Holmes, \"you have had your revenge upon them.\n",
            "     There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, when it was\n",
            "     crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, though no doubt\n",
            "     they were too excited in the chase after you to observe it at the\n",
            "     time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for your friends of last\n",
            "     night, though I very much fear that they are a good hundred miles off\n",
            "     by now.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this no\n",
            "     word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the sinister\n",
            "     German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a peasant had\n",
            "     met a cart containing several people and some very bulky boxes\n",
            "     driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but there all traces of\n",
            "     the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' ingenuity failed ever to\n",
            "     discover the least clue as to their whereabouts.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements which\n",
            "     they had found within, and still more so by discovering a newly\n",
            "     severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. About\n",
            "     sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and they\n",
            "     subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, and the\n",
            "     whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save some\n",
            "     twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of the\n",
            "     machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so dearly.\n",
            "     Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored in an\n",
            "     out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have explained\n",
            "     the presence of those bulky boxes which have been already referred\n",
            "     to.\n",
            "\n",
            "     How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to the\n",
            "     spot where he recovered his senses might have remained forever a\n",
            "     mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a very plain\n",
            "     tale. He had evidently been carried down by two persons, one of whom\n",
            "     had remarkably small feet and the other unusually large ones. On the\n",
            "     whole, it was most probable that the silent Englishman, being less\n",
            "     bold or less murderous than his companion, had assisted the woman to\n",
            "     bear the unconscious man out of the way of danger.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well,\" said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return\n",
            "     once more to London, \"it has been a pretty business for me! I have\n",
            "     lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I\n",
            "     gained?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Experience,\" said Holmes, laughing. \"Indirectly it may be of value,\n",
            "     you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the reputation\n",
            "     of being excellent company for the remainder of your existence.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                       THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR\n",
            "\n",
            "     The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have long\n",
            "     ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles in which\n",
            "     the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have eclipsed it,\n",
            "     and their more piquant details have drawn the gossips away from this\n",
            "     four-year-old drama. As I have reason to believe, however, that the\n",
            "     full facts have never been revealed to the general public, and as my\n",
            "     friend Sherlock Holmes had a considerable share in clearing the\n",
            "     matter up, I feel that no memoir of him would be complete without\n",
            "     some little sketch of this remarkable episode.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I was\n",
            "     still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came home\n",
            "     from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table waiting for\n",
            "     him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather had taken a\n",
            "     sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and the Jezail bullet\n",
            "     which I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan\n",
            "     campaign throbbed with dull persistence. With my body in one\n",
            "     easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had surrounded myself with a\n",
            "     cloud of newspapers until at last, saturated with the news of the\n",
            "     day, I tossed them all aside and lay listless, watching the huge\n",
            "     crest and monogram upon the envelope upon the table and wondering\n",
            "     lazily who my friend's noble correspondent could be.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Here is a very fashionable epistle,\" I remarked as he entered. \"Your\n",
            "     morning letters, if I remember right, were from a fish-monger and a\n",
            "     tide-waiter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety,\" he\n",
            "     answered, smiling, \"and the humbler are usually the more interesting.\n",
            "     This looks like one of those unwelcome social summonses which call\n",
            "     upon a man either to be bored or to lie.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He broke the seal and glanced over the contents.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not social, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, distinctly professional.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And from a noble client?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"One of the highest in England.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear fellow, I congratulate you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my\n",
            "     client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his\n",
            "     case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be wanting\n",
            "     in this new investigation. You have been reading the papers\n",
            "     diligently of late, have you not?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It looks like it,\" said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the\n",
            "     corner. \"I have had nothing else to do.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I read\n",
            "     nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The latter is\n",
            "     always instructive. But if you have followed recent events so closely\n",
            "     you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his wedding?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes, with the deepest interest.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord St.\n",
            "     Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn over these\n",
            "     papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. This is what\n",
            "     he says:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'My dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:\n",
            "     \"'Lord Backwater tells me that I may place implicit reliance upon\n",
            "     your judgment and discretion. I have determined, therefore, to call\n",
            "     upon you and to consult you in reference to the very painful event\n",
            "     which has occurred in connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of\n",
            "     Scotland Yard, is acting already in the matter, but he assures me\n",
            "     that he sees no objection to your co-operation, and that he even\n",
            "     thinks that it might be of some assistance. I will call at four\n",
            "     o'clock in the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement\n",
            "     at that time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of\n",
            "     paramount importance.\n",
            "     \"'Yours faithfully,\n",
            "     \"'St. Simon.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, and\n",
            "     the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink upon the\n",
            "     outer side of his right little finger,\" remarked Holmes as he folded\n",
            "     up the epistle.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an hour.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon the\n",
            "     subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in their\n",
            "     order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client is.\" He\n",
            "     picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of reference beside\n",
            "     the mantelpiece. \"Here he is,\" said he, sitting down and flattening\n",
            "     it out upon his knee. \"'Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon,\n",
            "     second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: Azure, three\n",
            "     caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' He's forty-one\n",
            "     years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was Under-Secretary for\n",
            "     the colonies in a late administration. The Duke, his father, was at\n",
            "     one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. They inherit Plantagenet\n",
            "     blood by direct descent, and Tudor on the distaff side. Ha! Well,\n",
            "     there is nothing very instructive in all this. I think that I must\n",
            "     turn to you Watson, for something more solid.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have very little difficulty in finding what I want,\" said I, \"for\n",
            "     the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as remarkable. I\n",
            "     feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew that you had an\n",
            "     inquiry on hand and that you disliked the intrusion of other\n",
            "     matters.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square furniture\n",
            "     van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it was obvious\n",
            "     from the first. Pray give me the results of your newspaper\n",
            "     selections.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal\n",
            "     column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks back:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'A marriage has been arranged [it says] and will, if rumour is\n",
            "     correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert St. Simon,\n",
            "     second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty Doran, the only\n",
            "     daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     That is all.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Terse and to the point,\" remarked Holmes, stretching his long, thin\n",
            "     legs towards the fire.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society papers\n",
            "     of the same week. Ah, here it is:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'There will soon be a call for protection in the marriage market,\n",
            "     for the present free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against\n",
            "     our home product. One by one the management of the noble houses of\n",
            "     Great Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from\n",
            "     across the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the\n",
            "     last week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by\n",
            "     these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself for\n",
            "     over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has now\n",
            "     definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty Doran,\n",
            "     the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss Doran,\n",
            "     whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much attention at\n",
            "     the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, and it is currently\n",
            "     reported that her dowry will run to considerably over the six\n",
            "     figures, with expectancies for the future. As it is an open secret\n",
            "     that the Duke of Balmoral has been compelled to sell his pictures\n",
            "     within the last few years, and as Lord St. Simon has no property of\n",
            "     his own save the small estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the\n",
            "     Californian heiress is not the only gainer by an alliance which will\n",
            "     enable her to make the easy and common transition from a Republican\n",
            "     lady to a British peeress.'\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Anything else?\" asked Holmes, yawning.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post to\n",
            "     say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it would\n",
            "     be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen intimate\n",
            "     friends would be invited, and that the party would return to the\n",
            "     furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been taken by Mr.\n",
            "     Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on Wednesday last--there is\n",
            "     a curt announcement that the wedding had taken place, and that the\n",
            "     honeymoon would be passed at Lord Backwater's place, near\n",
            "     Petersfield. Those are all the notices which appeared before the\n",
            "     disappearance of the bride.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Before the what?\" asked Holmes with a start.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The vanishing of the lady.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When did she vanish, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"At the wedding breakfast.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite\n",
            "     dramatic, in fact.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during the\n",
            "     honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt as\n",
            "     this. Pray let me have the details.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I warn you that they are very incomplete.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Perhaps we may make them less so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a\n",
            "     morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is headed,\n",
            "     'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding':\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the\n",
            "     greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which have\n",
            "     taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as shortly\n",
            "     announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the previous\n",
            "     morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to confirm the\n",
            "     strange rumours which have been so persistently floating about. In\n",
            "     spite of the attempts of the friends to hush the matter up, so much\n",
            "     public attention has now been drawn to it that no good purpose can be\n",
            "     served by affecting to disregard what is a common subject for\n",
            "     conversation.\n",
            "     \"'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover Square,\n",
            "     was a very quiet one, no one being present save the father of the\n",
            "     bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, Lord Backwater,\n",
            "     Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the younger brother and sister\n",
            "     of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia Whittington. The whole party\n",
            "     proceeded afterwards to the house of Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster\n",
            "     Gate, where breakfast had been prepared. It appears that some little\n",
            "     trouble was caused by a woman, whose name has not been ascertained,\n",
            "     who endeavoured to force her way into the house after the bridal\n",
            "     party, alleging that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was\n",
            "     only after a painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the\n",
            "     butler and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the\n",
            "     house before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast\n",
            "     with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and\n",
            "     retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some\n",
            "     comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that she\n",
            "     had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an ulster\n",
            "     and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the footmen\n",
            "     declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus apparelled, but\n",
            "     had refused to credit that it was his mistress, believing her to be\n",
            "     with the company. On ascertaining that his daughter had disappeared,\n",
            "     Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with the bridegroom, instantly put\n",
            "     themselves in communication with the police, and very energetic\n",
            "     inquiries are being made, which will probably result in a speedy\n",
            "     clearing up of this very singular business. Up to a late hour last\n",
            "     night, however, nothing had transpired as to the whereabouts of the\n",
            "     missing lady. There are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is\n",
            "     said that the police have caused the arrest of the woman who had\n",
            "     caused the original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or\n",
            "     some other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange\n",
            "     disappearance of the bride.'\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And is that all?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is a\n",
            "     suggestive one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And it is--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, has\n",
            "     actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a danseuse\n",
            "     at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom for some years.\n",
            "     There are no further particulars, and the whole case is in your hands\n",
            "     now--so far as it has been set forth in the public press.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would not\n",
            "     have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, Watson,\n",
            "     and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I have no doubt\n",
            "     that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not dream of going,\n",
            "     Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, if only as a check\n",
            "     to my own memory.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Lord Robert St. Simon,\" announced our page-boy, throwing open the\n",
            "     door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, high-nosed\n",
            "     and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about the mouth, and\n",
            "     with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose pleasant lot it had\n",
            "     ever been to command and to be obeyed. His manner was brisk, and yet\n",
            "     his general appearance gave an undue impression of age, for he had a\n",
            "     slight forward stoop and a little bend of the knees as he walked. His\n",
            "     hair, too, as he swept off his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled\n",
            "     round the edges and thin upon the top. As to his dress, it was\n",
            "     careful to the verge of foppishness, with high collar, black\n",
            "     frock-coat, white waistcoat, yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and\n",
            "     light-coloured gaiters. He advanced slowly into the room, turning his\n",
            "     head from left to right, and swinging in his right hand the cord\n",
            "     which held his golden eyeglasses.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good-day, Lord St. Simon,\" said Holmes, rising and bowing. \"Pray\n",
            "     take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson.\n",
            "     Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this matter over.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you have\n",
            "     already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, though I\n",
            "     presume that they were hardly from the same class of society.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, I am descending.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I beg pardon.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My last client of the sort was a king.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The King of Scandinavia.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What! Had he lost his wife?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You can understand,\" said Holmes suavely, \"that I extend to the\n",
            "     affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to you\n",
            "     in yours.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to my\n",
            "     own case, I am ready to give you any information which may assist you\n",
            "     in forming an opinion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public prints,\n",
            "     nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this article,\n",
            "     for example, as to the disappearance of the bride.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lord St. Simon glanced over it. \"Yes, it is correct, as far as it\n",
            "     goes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could offer\n",
            "     an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most directly by\n",
            "     questioning you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray do so.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In San Francisco, a year ago.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You were travelling in the States?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Did you become engaged then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But you were on a friendly footing?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was amused.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Her father is very rich?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And how did he make his money?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold,\n",
            "     invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your wife's\n",
            "     character?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down into\n",
            "     the fire. \"You see, Mr. Holmes,\" said he, \"my wife was twenty before\n",
            "     her father became a rich man. During that time she ran free in a\n",
            "     mining camp and wandered through woods or mountains, so that her\n",
            "     education has come from Nature rather than from the schoolmaster. She\n",
            "     is what we call in England a tomboy, with a strong nature, wild and\n",
            "     free, unfettered by any sort of traditions. She is\n",
            "     impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She is swift in making up\n",
            "     her mind and fearless in carrying out her resolutions. On the other\n",
            "     hand, I would not have given her the name which I have the honour to\n",
            "     bear\"--he gave a little stately cough--\"had not I thought her to be\n",
            "     at bottom a noble woman. I believe that she is capable of heroic\n",
            "     self-sacrifice and that anything dishonourable would be repugnant to\n",
            "     her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Have you her photograph?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I brought this with me.\" He opened a locket and showed us the full\n",
            "     face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an ivory\n",
            "     miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect of the\n",
            "     lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the exquisite mouth.\n",
            "     Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he closed the locket and\n",
            "     handed it back to Lord St. Simon.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your\n",
            "     acquaintance?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I met\n",
            "     her several times, became engaged to her, and have now married her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a fait\n",
            "     accompli?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I really have made no inquiries on the subject.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the\n",
            "     wedding?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Was she in good spirits?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our future\n",
            "     lives.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the\n",
            "     wedding?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She was as bright as possible--at least until after the ceremony.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And did you observe any change in her then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had ever\n",
            "     seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident however,\n",
            "     was too trivial to relate and can have no possible bearing upon the\n",
            "     case.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray let us have it, for all that.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards the\n",
            "     vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it fell over\n",
            "     into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the gentleman in the\n",
            "     pew handed it up to her again, and it did not appear to be the worse\n",
            "     for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of the matter, she answered me\n",
            "     abruptly; and in the carriage, on our way home, she seemed absurdly\n",
            "     agitated over this trifling cause.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of the\n",
            "     general public were present, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is open.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a\n",
            "     common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But really I\n",
            "     think that we are wandering rather far from the point.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less cheerful\n",
            "     frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do on re-entering\n",
            "     her father's house?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I saw her in conversation with her maid.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And who is her maid?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California with\n",
            "     her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A confidential servant?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed her\n",
            "     to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they look upon\n",
            "     these things in a different way.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How long did she speak to this Alice?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You did not overhear what they said?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was\n",
            "     accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she meant.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your wife\n",
            "     do when she finished speaking to her maid?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She walked into the breakfast-room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On your arm?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that.\n",
            "     Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose\n",
            "     hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She\n",
            "     never came back.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to her\n",
            "     room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a bonnet,\n",
            "     and went out.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in\n",
            "     company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who had\n",
            "     already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that morning.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, and\n",
            "     your relations to her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. \"We\n",
            "     have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on a very\n",
            "     friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have not treated\n",
            "     her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of complaint against me,\n",
            "     but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. Flora was a dear little\n",
            "     thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and devotedly attached to me. She\n",
            "     wrote me dreadful letters when she heard that I was about to be\n",
            "     married, and, to tell the truth, the reason why I had the marriage\n",
            "     celebrated so quietly was that I feared lest there might be a scandal\n",
            "     in the church. She came to Mr. Doran's door just after we returned,\n",
            "     and she endeavoured to push her way in, uttering very abusive\n",
            "     expressions towards my wife, and even threatening her, but I had\n",
            "     foreseen the possibility of something of the sort, and I had two\n",
            "     police fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out\n",
            "     again. She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a\n",
            "     row.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Did your wife hear all this?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, thank goodness, she did not.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as so\n",
            "     serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid some\n",
            "     terrible trap for her.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, it is a possible supposition.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You think so, too?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon this\n",
            "     as likely?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I do not think Flora would hurt a fly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray what is\n",
            "     your own theory as to what took place?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I have\n",
            "     given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may say that it\n",
            "     has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of this affair,\n",
            "     the consciousness that she had made so immense a social stride, had\n",
            "     the effect of causing some little nervous disturbance in my wife.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I will\n",
            "     not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to without\n",
            "     success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis,\" said Holmes,\n",
            "     smiling. \"And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have nearly all my\n",
            "     data. May I ask whether you were seated at the breakfast-table so\n",
            "     that you could see out of the window?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We could see the other side of the road and the Park.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. I\n",
            "     shall communicate with you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem,\" said our\n",
            "     client, rising.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have solved it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Eh? What was that?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I say that I have solved it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Where, then, is my wife?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is a detail which I shall speedily supply.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lord St. Simon shook his head. \"I am afraid that it will take wiser\n",
            "     heads than yours or mine,\" he remarked, and bowing in a stately,\n",
            "     old-fashioned manner he departed.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting it on\n",
            "     a level with his own,\" said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. \"I think that\n",
            "     I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all this\n",
            "     cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the case before\n",
            "     our client came into the room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear Holmes!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I remarked\n",
            "     before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination served to\n",
            "     turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial evidence is\n",
            "     occasionally very convincing, as when you find a trout in the milk,\n",
            "     to quote Thoreau's example.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But I have heard all that you have heard.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which serves\n",
            "     me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some years\n",
            "     back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich the year\n",
            "     after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these cases--but, hullo,\n",
            "     here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! You will find an extra\n",
            "     tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are cigars in the box.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, which\n",
            "     gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a black\n",
            "     canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated himself and\n",
            "     lit the cigar which had been offered to him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What's up, then?\" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. \"You look\n",
            "     dissatisfied.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage\n",
            "     case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Really! You surprise me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip\n",
            "     through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And very wet it seems to have made you,\" said Holmes laying his hand\n",
            "     upon the arm of the pea-jacket.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In heaven's name, what for?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In search of the body of Lady St. Simon.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?\" he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why? What do you mean?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in the\n",
            "     one as in the other.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. \"I suppose you know\n",
            "     all about it,\" he snarled.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in the\n",
            "     matter?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think it very unlikely.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found this in\n",
            "     it?\" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the floor a\n",
            "     wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin shoes and a\n",
            "     bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked in water.\n",
            "     \"There,\" said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the top of the\n",
            "     pile. \"There is a little nut for you to crack, Master Holmes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, indeed!\" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air.  \"You\n",
            "     dragged them from the Serpentine?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. They\n",
            "     have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me that if the\n",
            "     clothes were there the body would not be far off.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found in\n",
            "     the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope to\n",
            "     arrive at through this?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am afraid that you will find it difficult.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Are you, indeed, now?\" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. \"I am\n",
            "     afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your deductions\n",
            "     and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as many minutes.\n",
            "     This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And how?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the\n",
            "     card-case is a note. And here is the very note.\" He slapped it down\n",
            "     upon the table in front of him. \"Listen to this:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You will see me when all is ready. Come at once.\n",
            "     \"'F.H.M.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     Now my theory all along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away\n",
            "     by Flora Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was\n",
            "     responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her initials, is\n",
            "     the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped into her hand at the\n",
            "     door and which lured her within their reach.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very good, Lestrade,\" said Holmes, laughing. \"You really are very\n",
            "     fine indeed. Let me see it.\" He took up the paper in a listless way,\n",
            "     but his attention instantly became riveted, and he gave a little cry\n",
            "     of satisfaction. \"This is indeed important,\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha! you find it so?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. \"Why,\" he\n",
            "     shrieked, \"you're looking at the wrong side!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On the contrary, this is the right side.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil over\n",
            "     here.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel bill,\n",
            "     which interests me deeply.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There's nothing in it. I looked at it before,\" said Lestrade.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s.\n",
            "     6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the note,\n",
            "     it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I congratulate\n",
            "     you again.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I've wasted time enough,\" said Lestrade, rising. \"I believe in hard\n",
            "     work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. Good-day,\n",
            "     Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom of the matter\n",
            "     first.\" He gathered up the garments, thrust them into the bag, and\n",
            "     made for the door.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Just one hint to you, Lestrade,\" drawled Holmes before his rival\n",
            "     vanished; \"I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady St.\n",
            "     Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any such\n",
            "     person.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, tapped\n",
            "     his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and hurried away.\n",
            "\n",
            "     He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on his\n",
            "     overcoat. \"There is something in what the fellow says about outdoor\n",
            "     work,\" he remarked, \"so I think, Watson, that I must leave you to\n",
            "     your papers for a little.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had no\n",
            "     time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a confectioner's\n",
            "     man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked with the help of a\n",
            "     youth whom he had brought with him, and presently, to my very great\n",
            "     astonishment, a quite epicurean little cold supper began to be laid\n",
            "     out upon our humble lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of\n",
            "     brace of cold woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a\n",
            "     group of ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these\n",
            "     luxuries, my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the\n",
            "     Arabian Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been\n",
            "     paid for and were ordered to this address.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the\n",
            "     room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his eye\n",
            "     which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his\n",
            "     conclusions.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They have laid the supper, then,\" he said, rubbing his hands.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You seem to expect company. They have laid for five.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in,\" said he. \"I am\n",
            "     surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I fancy\n",
            "     that I hear his step now upon the stairs.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in,\n",
            "     dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very\n",
            "     perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My messenger reached you, then?\" asked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure.\n",
            "     Have you good authority for what you say?\" \n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The best possible.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his\n",
            "     forehead.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What will the Duke say,\" he murmured, \"when he hears that one of the\n",
            "     family has been subjected to such humiliation?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any\n",
            "     humiliation.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the lady\n",
            "     could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of doing it was\n",
            "     undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she had no one to\n",
            "     advise her at such a crisis.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was a slight, sir, a public slight,\" said Lord St. Simon, tapping\n",
            "     his fingers upon the table.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so\n",
            "     unprecedented a position.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have been\n",
            "     shamefully used.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that I heard a ring,\" said Holmes. \"Yes, there are steps on\n",
            "     the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view of the\n",
            "     matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here who may be\n",
            "     more successful.\" He opened the door and ushered in a lady and\n",
            "     gentleman. \"Lord St. Simon,\" said he \"allow me to introduce you to\n",
            "     Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I think, you have already\n",
            "     met.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his seat\n",
            "     and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand thrust\n",
            "     into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended dignity. The\n",
            "     lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out her hand to him,\n",
            "     but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was as well for his\n",
            "     resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was one which it was hard\n",
            "     to resist.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You're angry, Robert,\" said she. \"Well, I guess you have every cause\n",
            "     to be.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray make no apology to me,\" said Lord St. Simon bitterly.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I should\n",
            "     have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of rattled, and from\n",
            "     the time when I saw Frank here again I just didn't know what I was\n",
            "     doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't fall down and do a faint\n",
            "     right there before the altar.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave the\n",
            "     room while you explain this matter?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If I may give an opinion,\" remarked the strange gentleman, \"we've\n",
            "     had just a little too much secrecy over this business already. For my\n",
            "     part, I should like all Europe and America to hear the rights of it.\"\n",
            "     He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, clean-shaven, with a sharp face\n",
            "     and alert manner.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I'll tell our story right away,\" said the lady. \"Frank here and\n",
            "     I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa was\n",
            "     working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; but then\n",
            "     one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, while poor Frank\n",
            "     here had a claim that petered out and came to nothing. The richer pa\n",
            "     grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa wouldn't hear of our\n",
            "     engagement lasting any longer, and he took me away to 'Frisco. Frank\n",
            "     wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so he followed me there, and he\n",
            "     saw me without pa knowing anything about it. It would only have made\n",
            "     him mad to know, so we just fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said\n",
            "     that he would go and make his pile, too, and never come back to claim\n",
            "     me until he had as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to\n",
            "     the end of time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he\n",
            "     lived. 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and\n",
            "     then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your husband\n",
            "     until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had fixed it all\n",
            "     up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, that we just did\n",
            "     it right there; and then Frank went off to seek his fortune, and I\n",
            "     went back to pa.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then he\n",
            "     went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New Mexico.\n",
            "     After that came a long newspaper story about how a miners' camp had\n",
            "     been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was my Frank's name among\n",
            "     the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was very sick for months\n",
            "     after. Pa thought I had a decline and took me to half the doctors in\n",
            "     'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a year and more, so that I never\n",
            "     doubted that Frank was really dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to\n",
            "     'Frisco, and we came to London, and a marriage was arranged, and pa\n",
            "     was very pleased, but I felt all the time that no man on this earth\n",
            "     would ever take the place in my heart that had been given to my poor\n",
            "     Frank.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done my\n",
            "     duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our actions. I\n",
            "     went to the altar with him with the intention to make him just as\n",
            "     good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may imagine what I felt\n",
            "     when, just as I came to the altar rails, I glanced back and saw Frank\n",
            "     standing and looking at me out of the first pew. I thought it was his\n",
            "     ghost at first; but when I looked again there he was still, with a\n",
            "     kind of question in his eyes, as if to ask me whether I were glad or\n",
            "     sorry to see him. I wonder I didn't drop. I know that everything was\n",
            "     turning round, and the words of the clergyman were just like the buzz\n",
            "     of a bee in my ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the\n",
            "     service and make a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and\n",
            "     he seemed to know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to\n",
            "     his lips to tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece\n",
            "     of paper, and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his\n",
            "     pew on the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped\n",
            "     the note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a\n",
            "     line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. Of\n",
            "     course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now to\n",
            "     him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, and\n",
            "     had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but to get\n",
            "     a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to have\n",
            "     spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before his mother\n",
            "     and all those great people. I just made up my mind to run away and\n",
            "     explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten minutes before I\n",
            "     saw Frank out of the window at the other side of the road. He\n",
            "     beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. I slipped out,\n",
            "     put on my things, and followed him. Some woman came talking something\n",
            "     or other about Lord St. Simon to me--seemed to me from the little I\n",
            "     heard as if he had a little secret of his own before marriage\n",
            "     also--but I managed to get away from her and soon overtook Frank. We\n",
            "     got into a cab together, and away we drove to some lodgings he had\n",
            "     taken in Gordon Square, and that was my true wedding after all those\n",
            "     years of waiting. Frank had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had\n",
            "     escaped, came on to 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead\n",
            "     and had gone to England, followed me there, and had come upon me at\n",
            "     last on the very morning of my second wedding.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I saw it in a paper,\" explained the American. \"It gave the name and\n",
            "     the church but not where the lady lived.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all for\n",
            "     openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I should\n",
            "     like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just sending a\n",
            "     line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It was awful to me\n",
            "     to think of all those lords and ladies sitting round that\n",
            "     breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So Frank took my\n",
            "     wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of them, so that I\n",
            "     should not be traced, and dropped them away somewhere where no one\n",
            "     could find them. It is likely that we should have gone on to Paris\n",
            "     to-morrow, only that this good gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to\n",
            "     us this evening, though how he found us is more than I can think, and\n",
            "     he showed us very clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank\n",
            "     was right, and that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we\n",
            "     were so secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to\n",
            "     Lord St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at\n",
            "     once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if I\n",
            "     have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very meanly of\n",
            "     me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but had\n",
            "     listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this long\n",
            "     narrative.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Excuse me,\" he said, \"but it is not my custom to discuss my most\n",
            "     intimate personal affairs in this public manner.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure.\" He put out his\n",
            "     hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I had hoped,\" suggested Holmes, \"that you would have joined us in a\n",
            "     friendly supper.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that there you ask a little too much,\" responded his\n",
            "     Lordship. \"I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent developments,\n",
            "     but I can hardly be expected to make merry over them. I think that\n",
            "     with your permission I will now wish you all a very good-night.\" He\n",
            "     included us all in a sweeping bow and stalked out of the room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your company,\"\n",
            "     said Sherlock Holmes. \"It is always a joy to meet an American, Mr.\n",
            "     Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the folly of a\n",
            "     monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone years will not\n",
            "     prevent our children from being some day citizens of the same\n",
            "     world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the\n",
            "     Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The case has been an interesting one,\" remarked Holmes when our\n",
            "     visitors had left us, \"because it serves to show very clearly how\n",
            "     simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight seems\n",
            "     to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural than the\n",
            "     sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing stranger\n",
            "     than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. Lestrade of\n",
            "     Scotland Yard.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You were not yourself at fault at all, then?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that the\n",
            "     lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, the\n",
            "     other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of returning\n",
            "     home. Obviously something had occurred during the morning, then, to\n",
            "     cause her to change her mind. What could that something be? She could\n",
            "     not have spoken to anyone when she was out, for she had been in the\n",
            "     company of the bridegroom. Had she seen someone, then? If she had, it\n",
            "     must be someone from America because she had spent so short a time in\n",
            "     this country that she could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so\n",
            "     deep an influence over her that the mere sight of him would induce\n",
            "     her to change her plans so completely. You see we have already\n",
            "     arrived, by a process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have\n",
            "     seen an American. Then who could this American be, and why should he\n",
            "     possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might be\n",
            "     a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in rough\n",
            "     scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got before I ever\n",
            "     heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us of a man in a pew,\n",
            "     of the change in the bride's manner, of so transparent a device for\n",
            "     obtaining a note as the dropping of a bouquet, of her resort to her\n",
            "     confidential maid, and of her very significant allusion to\n",
            "     claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance means taking possession of\n",
            "     that which another person has a prior claim to--the whole situation\n",
            "     became absolutely clear. She had gone off with a man, and the man was\n",
            "     either a lover or was a previous husband--the chances being in favour\n",
            "     of the latter.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And how in the world did you find them?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held information\n",
            "     in his hands the value of which he did not himself know. The initials\n",
            "     were, of course, of the highest importance, but more valuable still\n",
            "     was it to know that within a week he had settled his bill at one of\n",
            "     the most select London hotels.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How did you deduce the select?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence for a\n",
            "     glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive hotels. There\n",
            "     are not many in London which charge at that rate. In the second one\n",
            "     which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I learned by an inspection\n",
            "     of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an American gentleman, had left\n",
            "     only the day before, and on looking over the entries against him, I\n",
            "     came upon the very items which I had seen in the duplicate bill. His\n",
            "     letters were to be forwarded to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I\n",
            "     travelled, and being fortunate enough to find the loving couple at\n",
            "     home, I ventured to give them some paternal advice and to point out\n",
            "     to them that it would be better in every way that they should make\n",
            "     their position a little clearer both to the general public and to\n",
            "     Lord St. Simon in particular. I invited them to meet him here, and,\n",
            "     as you see, I made him keep the appointment.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But with no very good result,\" I remarked. \"His conduct was\n",
            "     certainly not very gracious.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, Watson,\" said Holmes, smiling, \"perhaps you would not be very\n",
            "     gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and wedding, you\n",
            "     found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of fortune. I think\n",
            "     that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully and thank our stars\n",
            "     that we are never likely to find ourselves in the same position. Draw\n",
            "     your chair up and hand me my violin, for the only problem we have\n",
            "     still to solve is how to while away these bleak autumnal evenings.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                       THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Holmes,\" said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking\n",
            "     down the street, \"here is a madman coming along. It seems rather sad\n",
            "     that his relatives should allow him to come out alone.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands in\n",
            "     the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It was a\n",
            "     bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day before still\n",
            "     lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the wintry sun. Down\n",
            "     the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed into a brown crumbly\n",
            "     band by the traffic, but at either side and on the heaped-up edges of\n",
            "     the foot-paths it still lay as white as when it fell. The grey\n",
            "     pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but was still dangerously\n",
            "     slippery, so that there were fewer passengers than usual. Indeed,\n",
            "     from the direction of the Metropolitan Station no one was coming save\n",
            "     the single gentleman whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention.\n",
            "\n",
            "     He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a\n",
            "     massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was dressed\n",
            "     in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining hat, neat\n",
            "     brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet his actions were\n",
            "     in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress and features, for he\n",
            "     was running hard, with occasional little springs, such as a weary man\n",
            "     gives who is little accustomed to set any tax upon his legs. As he\n",
            "     ran he jerked his hands up and down, waggled his head, and writhed\n",
            "     his face into the most extraordinary contortions.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What on earth can be the matter with him?\" I asked. \"He is looking\n",
            "     up at the numbers of the houses.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I believe that he is coming here,\" said Holmes, rubbing his hands.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Here?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I\n",
            "     think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?\" As he\n",
            "     spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and pulled at\n",
            "     our bell until the whole house resounded with the clanging.\n",
            "\n",
            "     A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still\n",
            "     gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in his\n",
            "     eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and pity.\n",
            "     For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his body and\n",
            "     plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the extreme\n",
            "     limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his feet, he beat\n",
            "     his head against the wall with such force that we both rushed upon\n",
            "     him and tore him away to the centre of the room. Sherlock Holmes\n",
            "     pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting beside him, patted\n",
            "     his hand and chatted with him in the easy, soothing tones which he\n",
            "     knew so well how to employ.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?\" said he. \"You\n",
            "     are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have recovered\n",
            "     yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into any little\n",
            "     problem which you may submit to me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting\n",
            "     against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his brow,\n",
            "     set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No doubt you think me mad?\" said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I see that you have had some great trouble,\" responded Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my reason, so\n",
            "     sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might have faced,\n",
            "     although I am a man whose character has never yet borne a stain.\n",
            "     Private affliction also is the lot of every man; but the two coming\n",
            "     together, and in so frightful a form, have been enough to shake my\n",
            "     very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. The very noblest in the land\n",
            "     may suffer unless some way be found out of this horrible affair.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray compose yourself, sir,\" said Holmes, \"and let me have a clear\n",
            "     account of who you are and what it is that has befallen you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My name,\" answered our visitor, \"is probably familiar to your ears.\n",
            "     I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Stevenson, of\n",
            "     Threadneedle Street.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior\n",
            "     partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City of\n",
            "     London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the foremost\n",
            "     citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We waited, all\n",
            "     curiosity, until with another effort he braced himself to tell his\n",
            "     story.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I feel that time is of value,\" said he; \"that is why I hastened here\n",
            "     when the police inspector suggested that I should secure your\n",
            "     co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and hurried\n",
            "     from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this snow. That is\n",
            "     why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who takes very little\n",
            "     exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the facts before you as\n",
            "     shortly and yet as clearly as I can.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking\n",
            "     business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative\n",
            "     investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection and\n",
            "     the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means of\n",
            "     laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security is\n",
            "     unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction during the\n",
            "     last few years, and there are many noble families to whom we have\n",
            "     advanced large sums upon the security of their pictures, libraries,\n",
            "     or plate.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a card\n",
            "     was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I saw the\n",
            "     name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps even to you I\n",
            "     had better say no more than that it was a name which is a household\n",
            "     word all over the earth--one of the highest, noblest, most exalted\n",
            "     names in England. I was overwhelmed by the honour and attempted, when\n",
            "     he entered, to say so, but he plunged at once into business with the\n",
            "     air of a man who wishes to hurry quickly through a disagreeable task.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the\n",
            "     habit of advancing money.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have\n",
            "     £50,000 at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a sum ten\n",
            "     times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it a matter of\n",
            "     business and to carry out that business myself. In my position you\n",
            "     can readily understand that it is unwise to place one's self under\n",
            "     obligations.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most\n",
            "     certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you think it\n",
            "     right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the money should\n",
            "     be paid at once.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my own\n",
            "     private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be rather\n",
            "     more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do it in the\n",
            "     name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must insist that,\n",
            "     even in your case, every businesslike precaution should be taken.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a square,\n",
            "     black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair.  'You have\n",
            "     doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft,\n",
            "     flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery which\n",
            "     he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said he, 'and\n",
            "     the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The lowest estimate\n",
            "     would put the worth of the coronet at double the sum which I have\n",
            "     asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my security.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some perplexity\n",
            "     from it to my illustrious client.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You doubt its value?' he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Not at all. I only doubt--'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest about\n",
            "     that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely certain\n",
            "     that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a pure matter\n",
            "     of form. Is the security sufficient?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Ample.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof of\n",
            "     the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I have\n",
            "     heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to refrain\n",
            "     from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to preserve this\n",
            "     coronet with every possible precaution because I need not say that a\n",
            "     great public scandal would be caused if any harm were to befall it.\n",
            "     Any injury to it would be almost as serious as its complete loss, for\n",
            "     there are no beryls in the world to match these, and it would be\n",
            "     impossible to replace them. I leave it with you, however, with every\n",
            "     confidence, and I shall call for it in person on Monday morning.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but,\n",
            "     calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty £1000 notes.\n",
            "     When I was alone once more, however, with the precious case lying\n",
            "     upon the table in front of me, I could not but think with some\n",
            "     misgivings of the immense responsibility which it entailed upon me.\n",
            "     There could be no doubt that, as it was a national possession, a\n",
            "     horrible scandal would ensue if any misfortune should occur to it. I\n",
            "     already regretted having ever consented to take charge of it.\n",
            "     However, it was too late to alter the matter now, so I locked it up\n",
            "     in my private safe and turned once more to my work.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave so\n",
            "     precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had been\n",
            "     forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how terrible\n",
            "     would be the position in which I should find myself! I determined,\n",
            "     therefore, that for the next few days I would always carry the case\n",
            "     backward and forward with me, so that it might never be really out of\n",
            "     my reach. With this intention, I called a cab and drove out to my\n",
            "     house at Streatham, carrying the jewel with me. I did not breathe\n",
            "     freely until I had taken it upstairs and locked it in the bureau of\n",
            "     my dressing-room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to\n",
            "     thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep out\n",
            "     of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three\n",
            "     maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose\n",
            "     absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy Parr,\n",
            "     the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few months.\n",
            "     She came with an excellent character, however, and has always given\n",
            "     me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has attracted admirers\n",
            "     who have occasionally hung about the place. That is the only drawback\n",
            "     which we have found to her, but we believe her to be a thoroughly\n",
            "     good girl in every way.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it will\n",
            "     not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an only son,\n",
            "     Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. Holmes--a grievous\n",
            "     disappointment. I have no doubt that I am myself to blame. People\n",
            "     tell me that I have spoiled him. Very likely I have. When my dear\n",
            "     wife died I felt that he was all I had to love. I could not bear to\n",
            "     see the smile fade even for a moment from his face. I have never\n",
            "     denied him a wish. Perhaps it would have been better for both of us\n",
            "     had I been sterner, but I meant it for the best.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my\n",
            "     business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, wayward,\n",
            "     and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the handling of\n",
            "     large sums of money. When he was young he became a member of an\n",
            "     aristocratic club, and there, having charming manners, he was soon\n",
            "     the intimate of a number of men with long purses and expensive\n",
            "     habits. He learned to play heavily at cards and to squander money on\n",
            "     the turf, until he had again and again to come to me and implore me\n",
            "     to give him an advance upon his allowance, that he might settle his\n",
            "     debts of honour. He tried more than once to break away from the\n",
            "     dangerous company which he was keeping, but each time the influence\n",
            "     of his friend, Sir George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back\n",
            "     again.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George\n",
            "     Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently\n",
            "     brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could hardly\n",
            "     resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than Arthur, a man\n",
            "     of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been everywhere, seen\n",
            "     everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of great personal beauty.\n",
            "     Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far away from the glamour of\n",
            "     his presence, I am convinced from his cynical speech and the look\n",
            "     which I have caught in his eyes that he is one who should be deeply\n",
            "     distrusted. So I think, and so, too, thinks my little Mary, who has a\n",
            "     woman's quick insight into character.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but when\n",
            "     my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the world I\n",
            "     adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my daughter. She\n",
            "     is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, a wonderful\n",
            "     manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and gentle as a\n",
            "     woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know what I could do\n",
            "     without her. In only one matter has she ever gone against my wishes.\n",
            "     Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for he loves her devotedly,\n",
            "     but each time she has refused him. I think that if anyone could have\n",
            "     drawn him into the right path it would have been she, and that his\n",
            "     marriage might have changed his whole life; but now, alas! it is too\n",
            "     late--forever too late!\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and I\n",
            "     shall continue with my miserable story.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after\n",
            "     dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious\n",
            "     treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name of my\n",
            "     client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am sure,\n",
            "     left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. Mary and\n",
            "     Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous coronet, but\n",
            "     I thought it better not to disturb it.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'In my own bureau.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the\n",
            "     night.' said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'It is locked up,' I answered.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I have\n",
            "     opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of what\n",
            "     he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with a very\n",
            "     grave face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let me\n",
            "     have £200?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too generous\n",
            "     with you in money matters.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, or\n",
            "     else I can never show my face inside the club again.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And a very good thing, too!' I cried.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' said\n",
            "     he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money in some\n",
            "     way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try other\n",
            "     means.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the month.\n",
            "     'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which he bowed\n",
            "     and left the room without another word.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my treasure\n",
            "     was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go round the house\n",
            "     to see that all was secure--a duty which I usually leave to Mary but\n",
            "     which I thought it well to perform myself that night. As I came down\n",
            "     the stairs I saw Mary herself at the side window of the hall, which\n",
            "     she closed and fastened as I approached.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little disturbed,\n",
            "     'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out to-night?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Certainly not.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she has\n",
            "     only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that it is\n",
            "     hardly safe and should be stopped.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer it.\n",
            "     Are you sure that everything is fastened?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Quite sure, dad.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom again,\n",
            "     where I was soon asleep.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may have\n",
            "     any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question me upon\n",
            "     any point which I do not make clear.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be\n",
            "     particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety in my\n",
            "     mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. About two\n",
            "     in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in the house. It\n",
            "     had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an impression behind\n",
            "     it as though a window had gently closed somewhere. I lay listening\n",
            "     with all my ears. Suddenly, to my horror, there was a distinct sound\n",
            "     of footsteps moving softly in the next room. I slipped out of bed,\n",
            "     all palpitating with fear, and peeped round the corner of my\n",
            "     dressing-room door.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you touch\n",
            "     that coronet?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, dressed\n",
            "     only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the light,\n",
            "     holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be wrenching at it,\n",
            "     or bending it with all his strength. At my cry he dropped it from his\n",
            "     grasp and turned as pale as death. I snatched it up and examined it.\n",
            "     One of the gold corners, with three of the beryls in it, was missing.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have\n",
            "     destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the jewels\n",
            "     which you have stolen?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Stolen!' he cried.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I call\n",
            "     you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to tear off\n",
            "     another piece?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it any\n",
            "     longer. I shall not say another word about this business, since you\n",
            "     have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in the morning and\n",
            "     make my own way in the world.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried half-mad\n",
            "     with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to the bottom.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such as I\n",
            "     should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to call the\n",
            "     police, let the police find what they can.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my voice in\n",
            "     my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, at the sight\n",
            "     of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the whole story and,\n",
            "     with a scream, fell down senseless on the ground. I sent the\n",
            "     house-maid for the police and put the investigation into their hands\n",
            "     at once. When the inspector and a constable entered the house,\n",
            "     Arthur, who had stood sullenly with his arms folded, asked me whether\n",
            "     it was my intention to charge him with theft. I answered that it had\n",
            "     ceased to be a private matter, but had become a public one, since the\n",
            "     ruined coronet was national property. I was determined that the law\n",
            "     should have its way in everything.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It\n",
            "     would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the house\n",
            "     for five minutes.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you\n",
            "     have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position in\n",
            "     which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only my\n",
            "     honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at stake; and\n",
            "     that he threatened to raise a scandal which would convulse the\n",
            "     nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell me what he had\n",
            "     done with the three missing stones.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught in\n",
            "     the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. If you\n",
            "     but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling us where the\n",
            "     beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered,\n",
            "     turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened for\n",
            "     any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for it. I\n",
            "     called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search was made\n",
            "     at once not only of his person but of his room and of every portion\n",
            "     of the house where he could possibly have concealed the gems; but no\n",
            "     trace of them could be found, nor would the wretched boy open his\n",
            "     mouth for all our persuasions and our threats. This morning he was\n",
            "     removed to a cell, and I, after going through all the police\n",
            "     formalities, have hurried round to you to implore you to use your\n",
            "     skill in unravelling the matter. The police have openly confessed\n",
            "     that they can at present make nothing of it. You may go to any\n",
            "     expense which you think necessary. I have already offered a reward of\n",
            "     £1000. My God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and\n",
            "     my son in one night. Oh, what shall I do!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to and\n",
            "     fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got beyond\n",
            "     words.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows\n",
            "     knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you receive much company?\" he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of\n",
            "     Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No one\n",
            "     else, I think.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you go out much in society?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is unusual in a young girl.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She is\n",
            "     four-and-twenty.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to her\n",
            "     also.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Terrible! She is even more affected than I.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet in\n",
            "     his hands.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of the\n",
            "     coronet at all injured?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, it was twisted.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to straighten\n",
            "     it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. But it\n",
            "     is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If his purpose\n",
            "     were innocent, why did he not say so?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? His\n",
            "     silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several singular\n",
            "     points about the case. What did the police think of the noise which\n",
            "     awoke you from your sleep?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his\n",
            "     bedroom door.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door so as\n",
            "     to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the disappearance of\n",
            "     these gems?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture in\n",
            "     the hope of finding them.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Have they thought of looking outside the house?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has\n",
            "     already been minutely examined.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, my dear sir,\" said Holmes. \"is it not obvious to you now that\n",
            "     this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you or the\n",
            "     police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you to be a\n",
            "     simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider what is\n",
            "     involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came down from his\n",
            "     bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, opened your bureau,\n",
            "     took out your coronet, broke off by main force a small portion of it,\n",
            "     went off to some other place, concealed three gems out of the\n",
            "     thirty-nine, with such skill that nobody can find them, and then\n",
            "     returned with the other thirty-six into the room in which he exposed\n",
            "     himself to the greatest danger of being discovered. I ask you now, is\n",
            "     such a theory tenable?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But what other is there?\" cried the banker with a gesture of\n",
            "     despair. \"If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain\n",
            "     them?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is our task to find that out,\" replied Holmes; \"so now, if you\n",
            "     please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, and\n",
            "     devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into details.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition,\n",
            "     which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy were\n",
            "     deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I confess that\n",
            "     the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be as obvious as it\n",
            "     did to his unhappy father, but still I had such faith in Holmes'\n",
            "     judgment that I felt that there must be some grounds for hope as long\n",
            "     as he was dissatisfied with the accepted explanation. He hardly spoke\n",
            "     a word the whole way out to the southern suburb, but sat with his\n",
            "     chin upon his breast and his hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the\n",
            "     deepest thought. Our client appeared to have taken fresh heart at the\n",
            "     little glimpse of hope which had been presented to him, and he even\n",
            "     broke into a desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A\n",
            "     short railway journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the\n",
            "     modest residence of the great financier.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing back\n",
            "     a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a snow-clad\n",
            "     lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates which closed\n",
            "     the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden thicket, which led\n",
            "     into a narrow path between two neat hedges stretching from the road\n",
            "     to the kitchen door, and forming the tradesmen's entrance. On the\n",
            "     left ran a lane which led to the stables, and was not itself within\n",
            "     the grounds at all, being a public, though little used, thoroughfare.\n",
            "     Holmes left us standing at the door and walked slowly all round the\n",
            "     house, across the front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by\n",
            "     the garden behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr.\n",
            "     Holder and I went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until\n",
            "     he should return. We were sitting there in silence when the door\n",
            "     opened and a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle\n",
            "     height, slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker\n",
            "     against the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have\n",
            "     ever seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were\n",
            "     bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept\n",
            "     silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of grief\n",
            "     than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the more striking\n",
            "     in her as she was evidently a woman of strong character, with immense\n",
            "     capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding my presence, she went\n",
            "     straight to her uncle and passed her hand over his head with a sweet\n",
            "     womanly caress.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you not,\n",
            "     dad?\" she asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's\n",
            "     instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will be\n",
            "     sorry for having acted so harshly.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should suspect\n",
            "     him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with the\n",
            "     coronet in his hand?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take my\n",
            "     word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say no more.\n",
            "     It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in a prison!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary!\n",
            "     Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences to\n",
            "     me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman down\n",
            "     from London to inquire more deeply into it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This gentleman?\" she asked, facing round to me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in the\n",
            "     stable lane now.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The stable lane?\" She raised her dark eyebrows. \"What can he hope to\n",
            "     find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, that you will\n",
            "     succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, that my cousin\n",
            "     Arthur is innocent of this crime.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may prove\n",
            "     it,\" returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the snow from\n",
            "     his shoes. \"I believe I have the honour of addressing Miss Mary\n",
            "     Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You heard nothing yourself last night?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard that,\n",
            "     and I came down.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you fasten\n",
            "     all the windows?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Were they all fastened this morning?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked to\n",
            "     your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and who\n",
            "     may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her sweetheart,\n",
            "     and that the two may have planned the robbery.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But what is the good of all these vague theories,\" cried the banker\n",
            "     impatiently, \"when I have told you that I saw Arthur with the coronet\n",
            "     in his hands?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this\n",
            "     girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I\n",
            "     presume?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I met\n",
            "     her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you know him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. \n",
            "     His name is Francis Prosper.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He stood,\" said Holmes, \"to the left of the door--that is to say,\n",
            "     farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, he did.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And he is a man with a wooden leg?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive black\n",
            "     eyes. \"Why, you are like a magician,\" said she. \"How do you know\n",
            "     that?\" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in Holmes' thin,\n",
            "     eager face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I should be very glad now to go upstairs,\" said he. \"I shall\n",
            "     probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps I\n",
            "     had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at the\n",
            "     large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. This he\n",
            "     opened and made a very careful examination of the sill with his\n",
            "     powerful magnifying lens. \"Now we shall go upstairs,\" said he at\n",
            "     last.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little chamber,\n",
            "     with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. Holmes went to\n",
            "     the bureau first and looked hard at the lock.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Which key was used to open it?\" he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the\n",
            "     lumber-room.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Have you it here?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is it on the dressing-table.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is a noiseless lock,\" said he. \"It is no wonder that it did not\n",
            "     wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must have a\n",
            "     look at it.\" He opened the case, and taking out the diadem he laid it\n",
            "     upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the jeweller's art,\n",
            "     and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I have ever seen. At\n",
            "     one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, where a corner holding\n",
            "     three gems had been torn away.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Now, Mr. Holder,\" said Holmes, \"here is the corner which corresponds\n",
            "     to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I beg that you\n",
            "     will break it off.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The banker recoiled in horror. \"I should not dream of trying,\" said\n",
            "     he.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then I will.\" Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but without\n",
            "     result. \"I feel it give a little,\" said he; \"but, though I am\n",
            "     exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my time to\n",
            "     break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do you think\n",
            "     would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would be a noise\n",
            "     like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this happened within a\n",
            "     few yards of your bed and that you heard nothing of it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, Miss\n",
            "     Holder?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary luck\n",
            "     during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault if we do\n",
            "     not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your permission, Mr.\n",
            "     Holder, I shall now continue my investigations outside.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any\n",
            "     unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an hour\n",
            "     or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet heavy with\n",
            "     snow and his features as inscrutable as ever.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. Holder,\"\n",
            "     said he; \"I can serve you best by returning to my rooms.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot tell.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The banker wrung his hands. \"I shall never see them again!\" he cried.\n",
            "     \"And my son? You give me hopes?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My opinion is in no way altered.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was acted in\n",
            "     my house last night?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow morning\n",
            "     between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to make it\n",
            "     clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to act for you,\n",
            "     provided only that I get back the gems, and that you place no limit\n",
            "     on the sum I may draw.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I would give my fortune to have them back.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. \n",
            "     Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here again\n",
            "     before evening.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up about\n",
            "     the case, although what his conclusions were was more than I could\n",
            "     even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward journey I\n",
            "     endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always glided away to\n",
            "     some other topic, until at last I gave it over in despair. It was not\n",
            "     yet three when we found ourselves in our rooms once more. He hurried\n",
            "     to his chamber and was down again in a few minutes dressed as a\n",
            "     common loafer. With his collar turned up, his shiny, seedy coat, his\n",
            "     red cravat, and his worn boots, he was a perfect sample of the class.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that this should do,\" said he, glancing into the glass above\n",
            "     the fireplace. \"I only wish that you could come with me, Watson, but\n",
            "     I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in this matter, or I\n",
            "     may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I shall soon know which it\n",
            "     is. I hope that I may be back in a few hours.\" He cut a slice of beef\n",
            "     from the joint upon the sideboard, sandwiched it between two rounds\n",
            "     of bread, and thrusting this rude meal into his pocket he started off\n",
            "     upon his expedition.\n",
            "\n",
            "     I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in excellent\n",
            "     spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his hand. He chucked\n",
            "     it down into a corner and helped himself to a cup of tea.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I only looked in as I passed,\" said he. \"I am going right on.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Where to?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time before I\n",
            "     get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be late.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"How are you getting on?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham\n",
            "     since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a very\n",
            "     sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a good deal.\n",
            "     However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get these\n",
            "     disreputable clothes off and return to my highly respectable self.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for\n",
            "     satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, and\n",
            "     there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He hastened\n",
            "     upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of the hall door,\n",
            "     which told me that he was off once more upon his congenial hunt.\n",
            "\n",
            "     I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so I\n",
            "     retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away for\n",
            "     days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that his\n",
            "     lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he came\n",
            "     in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there he was\n",
            "     with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the other, as fresh\n",
            "     and trim as possible.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson,\" said he, \"but you\n",
            "     remember that our client has rather an early appointment this\n",
            "     morning.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Why, it is after nine now,\" I answered. \"I should not be surprised\n",
            "     if that were he. I thought I heard a ring.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the change\n",
            "     which had come over him, for his face which was naturally of a broad\n",
            "     and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, while his hair\n",
            "     seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered with a weariness and\n",
            "     lethargy which was even more painful than his violence of the morning\n",
            "     before, and he dropped heavily into the armchair which I pushed\n",
            "     forward for him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried,\" said he.\n",
            "     \"Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without a care\n",
            "     in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured age. One\n",
            "     sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, Mary, has\n",
            "     deserted me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Deserted you?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was empty,\n",
            "     and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to her last\n",
            "     night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had married my boy all\n",
            "     might have been well with him. Perhaps it was thoughtless of me to\n",
            "     say so. It is to that remark that she refers in this note:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'My dearest Uncle:\n",
            "     \"'I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, and that if I had\n",
            "     acted differently this terrible misfortune might never have occurred.\n",
            "     I cannot, with this thought in my mind, ever again be happy under\n",
            "     your roof, and I feel that I must leave you forever. Do not worry\n",
            "     about my future, for that is provided for; and, above all, do not\n",
            "     search for me, for it will be fruitless labour and an ill-service to\n",
            "     me. In life or in death, I am ever\n",
            "     \"'Your loving\n",
            "     \"'Mary.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it points\n",
            "     to suicide?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible\n",
            "     solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of your\n",
            "     troubles.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have\n",
            "     learned something! Where are the gems?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You would not think £1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for them?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I would pay ten.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. And\n",
            "     there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book?  Here is\n",
            "     a pen. Better make it out for £4000.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes\n",
            "     walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of gold\n",
            "     with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table.\n",
            "\n",
            "     With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have it!\" he gasped. \"I am saved! I am saved!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and he\n",
            "     hugged his recovered gems to his bosom.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder,\" said Sherlock Holmes\n",
            "     rather sternly.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Owe!\" He caught up a pen. \"Name the sum, and I will pay it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that\n",
            "     noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I\n",
            "     should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to have\n",
            "     one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then it was not Arthur who took them?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him know\n",
            "     that the truth is known.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an interview\n",
            "     with him, and finding that he would not tell me the story, I told it\n",
            "     to him, on which he had to confess that I was right and to add the\n",
            "     very few details which were not yet quite clear to me. Your news of\n",
            "     this morning, however, may open his lips.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary\n",
            "     mystery!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached it.\n",
            "     And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me to say\n",
            "     and for you to hear: there has been an understanding between Sir\n",
            "     George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now fled together.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My Mary? Impossible!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither you\n",
            "     nor your son knew the true character of this man when you admitted\n",
            "     him into your family circle. He is one of the most dangerous men in\n",
            "     England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely desperate villain, a man\n",
            "     without heart or conscience. Your niece knew nothing of such men.\n",
            "     When he breathed his vows to her, as he had done to a hundred before\n",
            "     her, she flattered herself that she alone had touched his heart. The\n",
            "     devil knows best what he said, but at least she became his tool and\n",
            "     was in the habit of seeing him nearly every evening.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I cannot, and I will not, believe it!\" cried the banker with an\n",
            "     ashen face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. Your\n",
            "     niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, slipped down\n",
            "     and talked to her lover through the window which leads into the\n",
            "     stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right through the snow, so\n",
            "     long had he stood there. She told him of the coronet. His wicked lust\n",
            "     for gold kindled at the news, and he bent her to his will. I have no\n",
            "     doubt that she loved you, but there are women in whom the love of a\n",
            "     lover extinguishes all other loves, and I think that she must have\n",
            "     been one. She had hardly listened to his instructions when she saw\n",
            "     you coming downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and\n",
            "     told you about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged\n",
            "     lover, which was all perfectly true.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but he\n",
            "     slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. In the\n",
            "     middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, so he rose\n",
            "     and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin walking very\n",
            "     stealthily along the passage until she disappeared into your\n",
            "     dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad slipped on some\n",
            "     clothes and waited there in the dark to see what would come of this\n",
            "     strange affair. Presently she emerged from the room again, and in the\n",
            "     light of the passage-lamp your son saw that she carried the precious\n",
            "     coronet in her hands. She passed down the stairs, and he, thrilling\n",
            "     with horror, ran along and slipped behind the curtain near your door,\n",
            "     whence he could see what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her\n",
            "     stealthily open the window, hand out the coronet to someone in the\n",
            "     gloom, and then closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing\n",
            "     quite close to where he stood hid behind the curtain.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action without\n",
            "     a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the instant that\n",
            "     she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune this would be for\n",
            "     you, and how all-important it was to set it right. He rushed down,\n",
            "     just as he was, in his bare feet, opened the window, sprang out into\n",
            "     the snow, and ran down the lane, where he could see a dark figure in\n",
            "     the moonlight. Sir George Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur\n",
            "     caught him, and there was a struggle between them, your lad tugging\n",
            "     at one side of the coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the\n",
            "     scuffle, your son struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then\n",
            "     something suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the\n",
            "     coronet in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to\n",
            "     your room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in\n",
            "     the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you appeared\n",
            "     upon the scene.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Is it possible?\" gasped the banker.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when he\n",
            "     felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not explain\n",
            "     the true state of affairs without betraying one who certainly\n",
            "     deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He took the more\n",
            "     chivalrous view, however, and preserved her secret.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the coronet,\"\n",
            "     cried Mr. Holder. \"Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have been! And his\n",
            "     asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! The dear fellow\n",
            "     wanted to see if the missing piece were at the scene of the struggle.\n",
            "     How cruelly I have misjudged him!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"When I arrived at the house,\" continued Holmes, \"I at once went very\n",
            "     carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in the snow\n",
            "     which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since the evening\n",
            "     before, and also that there had been a strong frost to preserve\n",
            "     impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but found it all\n",
            "     trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, however, at the\n",
            "     far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood and talked with a\n",
            "     man, whose round impressions on one side showed that he had a wooden\n",
            "     leg. I could even tell that they had been disturbed, for the woman\n",
            "     had run back swiftly to the door, as was shown by the deep toe and\n",
            "     light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had waited a little, and then had\n",
            "     gone away. I thought at the time that this might be the maid and her\n",
            "     sweetheart, of whom you had already spoken to me, and inquiry showed\n",
            "     it was so. I passed round the garden without seeing anything more\n",
            "     than random tracks, which I took to be the police; but when I got\n",
            "     into the stable lane a very long and complex story was written in the\n",
            "     snow in front of me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second\n",
            "     double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked\n",
            "     feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the\n",
            "     latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the other\n",
            "     had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over the\n",
            "     depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed after the\n",
            "     other. I followed them up and found they led to the hall window,\n",
            "     where Boots had worn all the snow away while waiting. Then I walked\n",
            "     to the other end, which was a hundred yards or more down the lane. I\n",
            "     saw where Boots had faced round, where the snow was cut up as though\n",
            "     there had been a struggle, and, finally, where a few drops of blood\n",
            "     had fallen, to show me that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run\n",
            "     down the lane, and another little smudge of blood showed that it was\n",
            "     he who had been hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end,\n",
            "     I found that the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to\n",
            "     that clue.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the\n",
            "     sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could at\n",
            "     once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the outline\n",
            "     of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming in. I was\n",
            "     then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what had occurred.\n",
            "     A man had waited outside the window; someone had brought the gems;\n",
            "     the deed had been overseen by your son; he had pursued the thief; had\n",
            "     struggled with him; they had each tugged at the coronet, their united\n",
            "     strength causing injuries which neither alone could have effected. He\n",
            "     had returned with the prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of\n",
            "     his opponent. So far I was clear. The question now was, who was the\n",
            "     man and who was it brought him the coronet?\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the\n",
            "     impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.\n",
            "     Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, so there\n",
            "     only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were the maids, why\n",
            "     should your son allow himself to be accused in their place? There\n",
            "     could be no possible reason. As he loved his cousin, however, there\n",
            "     was an excellent explanation why he should retain her secret--the\n",
            "     more so as the secret was a disgraceful one. When I remembered that\n",
            "     you had seen her at that window, and how she had fainted on seeing\n",
            "     the coronet again, my conjecture became a certainty.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, for\n",
            "     who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must feel to\n",
            "     you? I knew that you went out little, and that your circle of friends\n",
            "     was a very limited one. But among them was Sir George Burnwell. I had\n",
            "     heard of him before as being a man of evil reputation among women. It\n",
            "     must have been he who wore those boots and retained the missing gems.\n",
            "     Even though he knew that Arthur had discovered him, he might still\n",
            "     flatter himself that he was safe, for the lad could not say a word\n",
            "     without compromising his own family.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took next. I\n",
            "     went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, managed to pick\n",
            "     up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that his master had cut\n",
            "     his head the night before, and, finally, at the expense of six\n",
            "     shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of his cast-off shoes. With\n",
            "     these I journeyed down to Streatham and saw that they exactly fitted\n",
            "     the tracks.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening,\" said\n",
            "     Mr. Holder.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home and\n",
            "     changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to play then,\n",
            "     for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert scandal, and I\n",
            "     knew that so astute a villain would see that our hands were tied in\n",
            "     the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of course, he denied\n",
            "     everything. But when I gave him every particular that had occurred,\n",
            "     he tried to bluster and took down a life-preserver from the wall. I\n",
            "     knew my man, however, and I clapped a pistol to his head before he\n",
            "     could strike. Then he became a little more reasonable. I told him\n",
            "     that we would give him a price for the stones he held--£1000 apiece.\n",
            "     That brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why,\n",
            "     dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the\n",
            "     three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had\n",
            "     them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I set\n",
            "     to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 pounds\n",
            "     apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all was right,\n",
            "     and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after what I may call\n",
            "     a really hard day's work.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"A day which has saved England from a great public scandal,\" said the\n",
            "     banker, rising. \"Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but you shall\n",
            "     not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your skill has indeed\n",
            "     exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I must fly to my dear\n",
            "     boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I have done him. As to\n",
            "     what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my very heart. Not even\n",
            "     your skill can inform me where she is now.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I think that we may safely say,\" returned Holmes, \"that she is\n",
            "     wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that\n",
            "     whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than sufficient\n",
            "     punishment.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "                       THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"To the man who loves art for its own sake,\" remarked Sherlock\n",
            "     Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily Telegraph,\n",
            "     \"it is frequently in its least important and lowliest manifestations\n",
            "     that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is pleasant to me to\n",
            "     observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped this truth that in\n",
            "     these little records of our cases which you have been good enough to\n",
            "     draw up, and, I am bound to say, occasionally to embellish, you have\n",
            "     given prominence not so much to the many causes célèbres and\n",
            "     sensational trials in which I have figured but rather to those\n",
            "     incidents which may have been trivial in themselves, but which have\n",
            "     given room for those faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis\n",
            "     which I have made my special province.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And yet,\" said I, smiling, \"I cannot quite hold myself absolved from\n",
            "     the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my\n",
            "     records.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have erred, perhaps,\" he observed, taking up a glowing cinder\n",
            "     with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood pipe which\n",
            "     was wont to replace his clay when he was in a disputatious rather\n",
            "     than a meditative mood--\"you have erred perhaps in attempting to put\n",
            "     colour and life into each of your statements instead of confining\n",
            "     yourself to the task of placing upon record that severe reasoning\n",
            "     from cause to effect which is really the only notable feature about\n",
            "     the thing.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter,\" I\n",
            "     remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism which\n",
            "     I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my friend's\n",
            "     singular character.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No, it is not selfishness or conceit,\" said he, answering, as was\n",
            "     his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. \"If I claim full justice\n",
            "     for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a thing beyond\n",
            "     myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon the\n",
            "     logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell. You have\n",
            "     degraded what should have been a course of lectures into a series of\n",
            "     tales.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after breakfast\n",
            "     on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at Baker Street. A\n",
            "     thick fog rolled down between the lines of dun-coloured houses, and\n",
            "     the opposing windows loomed like dark, shapeless blurs through the\n",
            "     heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit and shone on the white cloth\n",
            "     and glimmer of china and metal, for the table had not been cleared\n",
            "     yet. Sherlock Holmes had been silent all the morning, dipping\n",
            "     continuously into the advertisement columns of a succession of papers\n",
            "     until at last, having apparently given up his search, he had emerged\n",
            "     in no very sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"At the same time,\" he remarked after a pause, during which he had\n",
            "     sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, \"you can\n",
            "     hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of these cases\n",
            "     which you have been so kind as to interest yourself in, a fair\n",
            "     proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, at all. The\n",
            "     small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King of Bohemia, the\n",
            "     singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the problem connected\n",
            "     with the man with the twisted lip, and the incident of the noble\n",
            "     bachelor, were all matters which are outside the pale of the law. But\n",
            "     in avoiding the sensational, I fear that you may have bordered on the\n",
            "     trivial.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The end may have been so,\" I answered, \"but the methods I hold to\n",
            "     have been novel and of interest.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant\n",
            "     public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a compositor\n",
            "     by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of analysis and\n",
            "     deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot blame you, for\n",
            "     the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at least criminal man,\n",
            "     has lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little\n",
            "     practice, it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering\n",
            "     lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from\n",
            "     boarding-schools. I think that I have touched bottom at last,\n",
            "     however. This note I had this morning marks my zero-point, I fancy.\n",
            "     Read it!\" He tossed a crumpled letter across to me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and ran\n",
            "     thus:\n",
            "\n",
            "     Dear Mr. Holmes:\n",
            "     I am very anxious to consult you as to whether I should or should not\n",
            "     accept a situation which has been offered to me as governess. I shall\n",
            "     call at half-past ten to-morrow if I do not inconvenience you.\n",
            "     Yours faithfully,\n",
            "     Violet Hunter.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you know the young lady?\" I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Not I.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is half-past ten now.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You remember\n",
            "     that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to be a mere\n",
            "     whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. It may be so\n",
            "     in this case, also.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, for\n",
            "     here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. She\n",
            "     was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled\n",
            "     like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a woman who has had\n",
            "     her own way to make in the world.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure,\" said she, as my\n",
            "     companion rose to greet her, \"but I have had a very strange\n",
            "     experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort from\n",
            "     whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be kind\n",
            "     enough to tell me what I should do.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything that\n",
            "     I can to serve you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner and\n",
            "     speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching\n",
            "     fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and his\n",
            "     finger-tips together, to listen to her story.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have been a governess for five years,\" said she, \"in the family of\n",
            "     Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel received an\n",
            "     appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his children over to\n",
            "     America with him, so that I found myself without a situation. I\n",
            "     advertised, and I answered advertisements, but without success. At\n",
            "     last the little money which I had saved began to run short, and I was\n",
            "     at my wit's end as to what I should do.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End called\n",
            "     Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in order to\n",
            "     see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. Westaway was\n",
            "     the name of the founder of the business, but it is really managed by\n",
            "     Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, and the ladies who\n",
            "     are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, and are then shown in one\n",
            "     by one, when she consults her ledgers and sees whether she has\n",
            "     anything which would suit them.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office as\n",
            "     usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A prodigiously\n",
            "     stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy chin which\n",
            "     rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at her elbow with a\n",
            "     pair of glasses on his nose, looking very earnestly at the ladies who\n",
            "     entered. As I came in he gave quite a jump in his chair and turned\n",
            "     quickly to Miss Stoper.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better.\n",
            "     Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his hands\n",
            "     together in the most genial fashion. He was such a\n",
            "     comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes, sir.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'As governess?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Yes, sir.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And what salary do you ask?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I had £4 a month in my last place with Colonel Spence Munro.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his fat\n",
            "     hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling passion. 'How\n",
            "     could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with such attractions\n",
            "     and accomplishments?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. 'A\n",
            "     little French, a little German, music, and drawing--'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. The\n",
            "     point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment of a\n",
            "     lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are not fitted\n",
            "     for the rearing of a child who may some day play a considerable part\n",
            "     in the history of the country. But if you have why, then, how could\n",
            "     any gentleman ask you to condescend to accept anything under the\n",
            "     three figures? Your salary with me, madam, would commence at £100 a\n",
            "     year.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, such an\n",
            "     offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, however,\n",
            "     seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, opened a\n",
            "     pocket-book and took out a note.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant\n",
            "     fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid the\n",
            "     white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies half their\n",
            "     salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little expenses of their\n",
            "     journey and their wardrobe.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so\n",
            "     thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the\n",
            "     advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something\n",
            "     unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know a\n",
            "     little more before I quite committed myself.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles on\n",
            "     the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my dear\n",
            "     young lady, and the dearest old country-house.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would be.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if you\n",
            "     could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! smack!\n",
            "     smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back in his chair\n",
            "     and laughed his eyes into his head again.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, but\n",
            "     the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was joking.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single\n",
            "     child?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he cried.\n",
            "     'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would suggest, to\n",
            "     obey any little commands my wife might give, provided always that\n",
            "     they were such commands as a lady might with propriety obey. You see\n",
            "     no difficulty, heh?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I should be happy to make myself useful.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you\n",
            "     know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress\n",
            "     which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim.\n",
            "     Heh?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to you?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, no.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, my\n",
            "     hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of\n",
            "     chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of\n",
            "     sacrificing it in this offhand fashion.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been\n",
            "     watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a shadow\n",
            "     pass over his face as I spoke.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a little\n",
            "     fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, ladies'\n",
            "     fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your hair?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a pity,\n",
            "     because in other respects you would really have done very nicely. In\n",
            "     that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more of your young\n",
            "     ladies.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers without a\n",
            "     word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so much\n",
            "     annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting that she had\n",
            "     lost a handsome commission through my refusal.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'If you please, Miss Stoper.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the most\n",
            "     excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You can hardly\n",
            "     expect us to exert ourselves to find another such opening for you.\n",
            "     Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong upon the table, and\n",
            "     I was shown out by the page.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found little\n",
            "     enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the table. I\n",
            "     began to ask myself whether I had not done a very foolish thing.\n",
            "     After all, if these people had strange fads and expected obedience on\n",
            "     the most extraordinary matters, they were at least ready to pay for\n",
            "     their eccentricity. Very few governesses in England are getting £100\n",
            "     a year. Besides, what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved\n",
            "     by wearing it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next\n",
            "     day I was inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day\n",
            "     after I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to\n",
            "     go back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open\n",
            "     when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it\n",
            "     here and I will read it to you:\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester.\n",
            "     \"'Dear Miss Hunter:\n",
            "     \"'Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your address, and I write from\n",
            "     here to ask you whether you have reconsidered your decision. My wife\n",
            "     is very anxious that you should come, for she has been much attracted\n",
            "     by my description of you. We are willing to give £30 a quarter, or\n",
            "     £120 a year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience\n",
            "     which our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all.\n",
            "     My wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would like\n",
            "     you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need not,\n",
            "     however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one\n",
            "     belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which\n",
            "     would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting here or\n",
            "     there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that need cause\n",
            "     you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no doubt a pity,\n",
            "     especially as I could not help remarking its beauty during our short\n",
            "     interview, but I am afraid that I must remain firm upon this point,\n",
            "     and I only hope that the increased salary may recompense you for the\n",
            "     loss. Your duties, as far as the child is concerned, are very light.\n",
            "     Now do try to come, and I shall meet you with the dog-cart at\n",
            "     Winchester. Let me know your train.\n",
            "     \"'Yours faithfully,\n",
            "     \"'Jephro Rucastle.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and my\n",
            "     mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, that\n",
            "     before taking the final step I should like to submit the whole matter\n",
            "     to your consideration.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the\n",
            "     question,\" said Holmes, smiling.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But you would not advise me to refuse?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to see a\n",
            "     sister of mine apply for.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself formed\n",
            "     some opinion?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr.\n",
            "     Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not\n",
            "     possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the\n",
            "     matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that he\n",
            "     humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an outbreak?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is the\n",
            "     most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a nice\n",
            "     household for a young lady.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what makes\n",
            "     me uneasy. Why should they give you £120 a year, when they could have\n",
            "     their pick for £40? There must be some strong reason behind.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would understand\n",
            "     afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so much stronger if I\n",
            "     felt that you were at the back of me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that your\n",
            "     little problem promises to be the most interesting which has come my\n",
            "     way for some months. There is something distinctly novel about some\n",
            "     of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt or in danger--\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Danger! What danger do you foresee?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes shook his head gravely. \"It would cease to be a danger if we\n",
            "     could define it,\" said he. \"But at any time, day or night, a telegram\n",
            "     would bring me down to your help.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is enough.\" She rose briskly from her chair with the anxiety\n",
            "     all swept from her face. \"I shall go down to Hampshire quite easy in\n",
            "     my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, sacrifice my poor\n",
            "     hair to-night, and start for Winchester to-morrow.\" With a few\n",
            "     grateful words to Holmes she bade us both good-night and bustled off\n",
            "     upon her way.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"At least,\" said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending the\n",
            "     stairs, \"she seems to be a young lady who is very well able to take\n",
            "     care of herself.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And she would need to be,\" said Holmes gravely. \"I am much mistaken\n",
            "     if we do not hear from her before many days are past.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. A\n",
            "     fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts\n",
            "     turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of\n",
            "     human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual\n",
            "     salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to\n",
            "     something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether the\n",
            "     man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond my powers\n",
            "     to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat frequently for\n",
            "     half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an abstracted air, but he\n",
            "     swept the matter away with a wave of his hand when I mentioned it.\n",
            "     \"Data! data! data!\" he cried impatiently. \"I can't make bricks\n",
            "     without clay.\" And yet he would always wind up by muttering that no\n",
            "     sister of his should ever have accepted such a situation.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The telegram which we eventually received came late one night just as\n",
            "     I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down to one of\n",
            "     those all-night chemical researches which he frequently indulged in,\n",
            "     when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a test-tube at\n",
            "     night and find him in the same position when I came down to breakfast\n",
            "     in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, and then, glancing at\n",
            "     the message, threw it across to me.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Just look up the trains in Bradshaw,\" said he, and turned back to\n",
            "     his chemical studies.\n",
            "\n",
            "     The summons was a brief and urgent one.\n",
            "\n",
            "     Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday to-morrow\n",
            "     [it said]. Do come! I am at my wit's end.\n",
            "     Hunter.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Will you come with me?\" asked Holmes, glancing up.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I should wish to.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Just look it up, then.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There is a train at half-past nine,\" said I, glancing over my\n",
            "     Bradshaw. \"It is due at Winchester at 11.30.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my\n",
            "     analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the\n",
            "     morning.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the old\n",
            "     English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers all the\n",
            "     way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he threw them\n",
            "     down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal spring day, a\n",
            "     light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white clouds drifting\n",
            "     across from west to east. The sun was shining very brightly, and yet\n",
            "     there was an exhilarating nip in the air, which set an edge to a\n",
            "     man's energy. All over the countryside, away to the rolling hills\n",
            "     around Aldershot, the little red and grey roofs of the farm-steadings\n",
            "     peeped out from amid the light green of the new foliage.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Are they not fresh and beautiful?\" I cried with all the enthusiasm\n",
            "     of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street.\n",
            "\n",
            "     But Holmes shook his head gravely.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Do you know, Watson,\" said he, \"that it is one of the curses of a\n",
            "     mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with\n",
            "     reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered\n",
            "     houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, and\n",
            "     the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their isolation\n",
            "     and of the impunity with which crime may be committed there.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Good heavens!\" I cried. \"Who would associate crime with these dear\n",
            "     old homesteads?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, Watson,\n",
            "     founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in\n",
            "     London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the\n",
            "     smiling and beautiful countryside.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You horrify me!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion can\n",
            "     do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so\n",
            "     vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a drunkard's\n",
            "     blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the neighbours,\n",
            "     and then the whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a word\n",
            "     of complaint can set it going, and there is but a step between the\n",
            "     crime and the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own\n",
            "     fields, filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know\n",
            "     little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden\n",
            "     wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and\n",
            "     none the wiser. Had this lady who appeals to us for help gone to live\n",
            "     in Winchester, I should never have had a fear for her. It is the five\n",
            "     miles of country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she\n",
            "     is not personally threatened.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Quite so. She has her freedom.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What can be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would\n",
            "     cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is correct\n",
            "     can only be determined by the fresh information which we shall no\n",
            "     doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of the cathedral,\n",
            "     and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has to tell.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no distance\n",
            "     from the station, and there we found the young lady waiting for us.\n",
            "     She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch awaited us upon the\n",
            "     table.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am so delighted that you have come,\" she said earnestly. \"It is so\n",
            "     very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I should do.\n",
            "     Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray tell us what has happened to you.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. Rucastle\n",
            "     to be back before three. I got his leave to come into town this\n",
            "     morning, though he little knew for what purpose.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Let us have everything in its due order.\" Holmes thrust his long\n",
            "     thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, with no\n",
            "     actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is only fair to\n",
            "     them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and I am not easy in\n",
            "     my mind about them.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What can you not understand?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just as\n",
            "     it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and drove me\n",
            "     in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he said, beautifully\n",
            "     situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, for it is a large square\n",
            "     block of a house, whitewashed, but all stained and streaked with damp\n",
            "     and bad weather. There are grounds round it, woods on three sides,\n",
            "     and on the fourth a field which slopes down to the Southampton\n",
            "     highroad, which curves past about a hundred yards from the front\n",
            "     door. This ground in front belongs to the house, but the woods all\n",
            "     round are part of Lord Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper\n",
            "     beeches immediately in front of the hall door has given its name to\n",
            "     the place.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, and\n",
            "     was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. There\n",
            "     was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to us to be\n",
            "     probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is not mad. I\n",
            "     found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much younger than her\n",
            "     husband, not more than thirty, I should think, while he can hardly be\n",
            "     less than forty-five. From their conversation I have gathered that\n",
            "     they have been married about seven years, that he was a widower, and\n",
            "     that his only child by the first wife was the daughter who has gone\n",
            "     to Philadelphia. Mr. Rucastle told me in private that the reason why\n",
            "     she had left them was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her\n",
            "     stepmother. As the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I\n",
            "     can quite imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with\n",
            "     her father's young wife.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as in\n",
            "     feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. She was\n",
            "     a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately devoted\n",
            "     both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey eyes\n",
            "     wandered continually from one to the other, noting every little want\n",
            "     and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her also in his\n",
            "     bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they seemed to be a happy\n",
            "     couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, this woman. She would\n",
            "     often be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face.\n",
            "     More than once I have surprised her in tears. I have thought\n",
            "     sometimes that it was the disposition of her child which weighed upon\n",
            "     her mind, for I have never met so utterly spoiled and so ill-natured\n",
            "     a little creature. He is small for his age, with a head which is\n",
            "     quite disproportionately large. His whole life appears to be spent in\n",
            "     an alternation between savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of\n",
            "     sulking. Giving pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be\n",
            "     his one idea of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in\n",
            "     planning the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would\n",
            "     rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he has\n",
            "     little to do with my story.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am glad of all details,\" remarked my friend, \"whether they seem to\n",
            "     you to be relevant or not.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one unpleasant\n",
            "     thing about the house, which struck me at once, was the appearance\n",
            "     and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a man and his wife.\n",
            "     Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, uncouth man, with grizzled\n",
            "     hair and whiskers, and a perpetual smell of drink. Twice since I have\n",
            "     been with them he has been quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed\n",
            "     to take no notice of it. His wife is a very tall and strong woman\n",
            "     with a sour face, as silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable.\n",
            "     They are a most unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my\n",
            "     time in the nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in\n",
            "     one corner of the building.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was very\n",
            "     quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after breakfast and\n",
            "     whispered something to her husband.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to you,\n",
            "     Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut your\n",
            "     hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest iota from\n",
            "     your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue dress will\n",
            "     become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in your room, and\n",
            "     if you would be so good as to put it on we should both be extremely\n",
            "     obliged.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade of\n",
            "     blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it bore\n",
            "     unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not have been\n",
            "     a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. and Mrs.\n",
            "     Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which seemed quite\n",
            "     exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for me in the\n",
            "     drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching along the entire\n",
            "     front of the house, with three long windows reaching down to the\n",
            "     floor. A chair had been placed close to the central window, with its\n",
            "     back turned towards it. In this I was asked to sit, and then Mr.\n",
            "     Rucastle, walking up and down on the other side of the room, began to\n",
            "     tell me a series of the funniest stories that I have ever listened\n",
            "     to. You cannot imagine how comical he was, and I laughed until I was\n",
            "     quite weary. Mrs. Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of\n",
            "     humour, never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap,\n",
            "     and a sad, anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr.\n",
            "     Rucastle suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of\n",
            "     the day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in\n",
            "     the nursery.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Two days later this same performance was gone through under exactly\n",
            "     similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I sat in the\n",
            "     window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny stories of\n",
            "     which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which he told\n",
            "     inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and moving my\n",
            "     chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not fall upon the\n",
            "     page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for about ten\n",
            "     minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then suddenly, in\n",
            "     the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and to change my\n",
            "     dress.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to what\n",
            "     the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly be. They\n",
            "     were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face away from the\n",
            "     window, so that I became consumed with the desire to see what was\n",
            "     going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be impossible, but I\n",
            "     soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been broken, so a happy\n",
            "     thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of the glass in my\n",
            "     handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst of my laughter, I\n",
            "     put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able with a little\n",
            "     management to see all that there was behind me. I confess that I was\n",
            "     disappointed. There was nothing. At least that was my first\n",
            "     impression. At the second glance, however, I perceived that there was\n",
            "     a man standing in the Southampton Road, a small bearded man in a grey\n",
            "     suit, who seemed to be looking in my direction. The road is an\n",
            "     important highway, and there are usually people there. This man,\n",
            "     however, was leaning against the railings which bordered our field\n",
            "     and was looking earnestly up. I lowered my handkerchief and glanced\n",
            "     at Mrs. Rucastle to find her eyes fixed upon me with a most searching\n",
            "     gaze. She said nothing, but I am convinced that she had divined that\n",
            "     I had a mirror in my hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose\n",
            "     at once.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the road\n",
            "     there who stares up at Miss Hunter.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No, I know no one in these parts.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to him\n",
            "     to go away.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Surely it would be better to take no notice.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn round\n",
            "     and wave him away like that.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew down\n",
            "     the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have not sat\n",
            "     again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor seen the man\n",
            "     in the road.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Pray continue,\" said Holmes. \"Your narrative promises to be a most\n",
            "     interesting one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may prove to\n",
            "     be little relation between the different incidents of which I speak.\n",
            "     On the very first day that I was at the Copper Beeches, Mr. Rucastle\n",
            "     took me to a small outhouse which stands near the kitchen door. As we\n",
            "     approached it I heard the sharp rattling of a chain, and the sound as\n",
            "     of a large animal moving about.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two\n",
            "     planks. 'Is he not a beauty?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a\n",
            "     vague figure huddled up in the darkness.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start which\n",
            "     I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, but\n",
            "     really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do anything with\n",
            "     him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, so that he is\n",
            "     always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose every night, and God\n",
            "     help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs upon. For goodness' sake\n",
            "     don't you ever on any pretext set your foot over the threshold at\n",
            "     night, for it's as much as your life is worth.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to look\n",
            "     out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. It was a\n",
            "     beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the house was\n",
            "     silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was standing, rapt in\n",
            "     the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was aware that something was\n",
            "     moving under the shadow of the copper beeches. As it emerged into the\n",
            "     moonshine I saw what it was. It was a giant dog, as large as a calf,\n",
            "     tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting\n",
            "     bones. It walked slowly across the lawn and vanished into the shadow\n",
            "     upon the other side. That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart\n",
            "     which I do not think that any burglar could have done.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as you\n",
            "     know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a great coil\n",
            "     at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the child was in bed, I\n",
            "     began to amuse myself by examining the furniture of my room and by\n",
            "     rearranging my own little things. There was an old chest of drawers\n",
            "     in the room, the two upper ones empty and open, the lower one locked.\n",
            "     I had filled the first two with my linen, and as I had still much to\n",
            "     pack away I was naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third\n",
            "     drawer. It struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere\n",
            "     oversight, so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The\n",
            "     very first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open.\n",
            "     There was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never\n",
            "     guess what it was. It was my coil of hair.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, and\n",
            "     the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing obtruded\n",
            "     itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in the drawer?\n",
            "     With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the contents, and\n",
            "     drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two tresses together,\n",
            "     and I assure you that they were identical. Was it not extraordinary?\n",
            "     Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at all of what it meant. I\n",
            "     returned the strange hair to the drawer, and I said nothing of the\n",
            "     matter to the Rucastles as I felt that I had put myself in the wrong\n",
            "     by opening a drawer which they had locked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, and\n",
            "     I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. There\n",
            "     was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited at all. A\n",
            "     door which faced that which led into the quarters of the Tollers\n",
            "     opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. One day,\n",
            "     however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle coming out\n",
            "     through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on his face which\n",
            "     made him a very different person to the round, jovial man to whom I\n",
            "     was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his brow was all crinkled with\n",
            "     anger, and the veins stood out at his temples with passion. He locked\n",
            "     the door and hurried past me without a word or a look.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the\n",
            "     grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I\n",
            "     could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four of\n",
            "     them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the fourth was\n",
            "     shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I strolled up and\n",
            "     down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle came out to me,\n",
            "     looking as merry and jovial as ever.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you without a\n",
            "     word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with business matters.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, 'you\n",
            "     seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one of them\n",
            "     has the shutters up.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled at my\n",
            "     remark.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my dark\n",
            "     room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we have\n",
            "     come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever believed\n",
            "     it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest in his eyes as\n",
            "     he looked at me. I read suspicion there and annoyance, but no jest.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there was\n",
            "     something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, I was\n",
            "     all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, though I have\n",
            "     my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a feeling that some\n",
            "     good might come from my penetrating to this place. They talk of\n",
            "     woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's instinct which gave me that\n",
            "     feeling. At any rate, it was there, and I was keenly on the lookout\n",
            "     for any chance to pass the forbidden door.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that,\n",
            "     besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to do\n",
            "     in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large black\n",
            "     linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been drinking\n",
            "     hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when I came\n",
            "     upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at all that\n",
            "     he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both downstairs, and\n",
            "     the child was with them, so that I had an admirable opportunity. I\n",
            "     turned the key gently in the lock, opened the door, and slipped\n",
            "     through.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and uncarpeted,\n",
            "     which turned at a right angle at the farther end. Round this corner\n",
            "     were three doors in a line, the first and third of which were open.\n",
            "     They each led into an empty room, dusty and cheerless, with two\n",
            "     windows in the one and one in the other, so thick with dirt that the\n",
            "     evening light glimmered dimly through them. The centre door was\n",
            "     closed, and across the outside of it had been fastened one of the\n",
            "     broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked at one end to a ring in the\n",
            "     wall, and fastened at the other with stout cord. The door itself was\n",
            "     locked as well, and the key was not there. This barricaded door\n",
            "     corresponded clearly with the shuttered window outside, and yet I\n",
            "     could see by the glimmer from beneath it that the room was not in\n",
            "     darkness. Evidently there was a skylight which let in light from\n",
            "     above. As I stood in the passage gazing at the sinister door and\n",
            "     wondering what secret it might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of\n",
            "     steps within the room and saw a shadow pass backward and forward\n",
            "     against the little slit of dim light which shone out from under the\n",
            "     door. A mad, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes. My overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and\n",
            "     ran--ran as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the\n",
            "     skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, and\n",
            "     straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting outside.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it must be\n",
            "     when I saw the door open.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how\n",
            "     caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened you,\n",
            "     my dear young lady?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I was\n",
            "     keenly on my guard against him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. 'But\n",
            "     it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was frightened and\n",
            "     ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in there!'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Why, what did you think?' I asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Why do you think that I lock this door?'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I am sure that I do not know.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you see?'\n",
            "     He was still smiling in the most amiable manner.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'I am sure if I had known--'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over that\n",
            "     threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into a grin\n",
            "     of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a demon--'I'll\n",
            "     throw you to the mastiff.'\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that I\n",
            "     must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing until I\n",
            "     found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I thought of\n",
            "     you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without some advice. I\n",
            "     was frightened of the house, of the man, of the woman, of the\n",
            "     servants, even of the child. They were all horrible to me. If I could\n",
            "     only bring you down all would be well. Of course I might have fled\n",
            "     from the house, but my curiosity was almost as strong as my fears. My\n",
            "     mind was soon made up. I would send you a wire. I put on my hat and\n",
            "     cloak, went down to the office, which is about half a mile from the\n",
            "     house, and then returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt\n",
            "     came into my mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be\n",
            "     loose, but I remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of\n",
            "     insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one in\n",
            "     the household who had any influence with the savage creature, or who\n",
            "     would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and lay awake\n",
            "     half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. I had no\n",
            "     difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this morning, but\n",
            "     I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle are\n",
            "     going on a visit, and will be away all the evening, so that I must\n",
            "     look after the child. Now I have told you all my adventures, Mr.\n",
            "     Holmes, and I should be very glad if you could tell me what it all\n",
            "     means, and, above all, what I should do.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. My\n",
            "     friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in his\n",
            "     pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon his\n",
            "     face.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Is Toller still drunk?\" he asked.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do nothing\n",
            "     with him.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, the wine-cellar.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very\n",
            "     brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could\n",
            "     perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not think\n",
            "     you a quite exceptional woman.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will try. What is it?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend and I.\n",
            "     The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, we hope, be\n",
            "     incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might give the alarm.\n",
            "     If you could send her into the cellar on some errand, and then turn\n",
            "     the key upon her, you would facilitate matters immensely.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will do it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of course\n",
            "     there is only one feasible explanation. You have been brought there\n",
            "     to personate someone, and the real person is imprisoned in this\n",
            "     chamber. That is obvious. As to who this prisoner is, I have no doubt\n",
            "     that it is the daughter, Miss Alice Rucastle, if I remember right,\n",
            "     who was said to have gone to America. You were chosen, doubtless, as\n",
            "     resembling her in height, figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers\n",
            "     had been cut off, very possibly in some illness through which she has\n",
            "     passed, and so, of course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a\n",
            "     curious chance you came upon her tresses. The man in the road was\n",
            "     undoubtedly some friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt,\n",
            "     as you wore the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced\n",
            "     from your laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your\n",
            "     gesture, that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no\n",
            "     longer desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to\n",
            "     prevent him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is\n",
            "     fairly clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition\n",
            "     of the child.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"What on earth has that to do with it?\" I ejaculated.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining light\n",
            "     as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the parents. Don't\n",
            "     you see that the converse is equally valid. I have frequently gained\n",
            "     my first real insight into the character of parents by studying their\n",
            "     children. This child's disposition is abnormally cruel, merely for\n",
            "     cruelty's sake, and whether he derives this from his smiling father,\n",
            "     as I should suspect, or from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor\n",
            "     girl who is in their power.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes,\" cried our client. \"A\n",
            "     thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you have\n",
            "     hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to this poor\n",
            "     creature.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning man.\n",
            "     We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall be with\n",
            "     you, and it will not be long before we solve the mystery.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we reached\n",
            "     the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside public-house.\n",
            "     The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining like burnished\n",
            "     metal in the light of the setting sun, were sufficient to mark the\n",
            "     house even had Miss Hunter not been standing smiling on the\n",
            "     door-step.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Have you managed it?\" asked Holmes.\n",
            "\n",
            "     A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. \"That is Mrs.\n",
            "     Toller in the cellar,\" said she. \"Her husband lies snoring on the\n",
            "     kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates of Mr.\n",
            "     Rucastle's.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have done well indeed!\" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. \"Now lead\n",
            "     the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black business.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a\n",
            "     passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss\n",
            "     Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the transverse\n",
            "     bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but without success.\n",
            "     No sound came from within, and at the silence Holmes' face clouded\n",
            "     over.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I trust that we are not too late,\" said he. \"I think, Miss Hunter,\n",
            "     that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put your shoulder\n",
            "     to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our way in.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united\n",
            "     strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There was\n",
            "     no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a basketful\n",
            "     of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner gone.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"There has been some villainy here,\" said Holmes; \"this beauty has\n",
            "     guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim off.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But how?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it.\" He swung\n",
            "     himself up onto the roof. \"Ah, yes,\" he cried, \"here's the end of a\n",
            "     long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did it.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But it is impossible,\" said Miss Hunter; \"the ladder was not there\n",
            "     when the Rucastles went away.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and\n",
            "     dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were he\n",
            "     whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it would\n",
            "     be as well for you to have your pistol ready.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at the\n",
            "     door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy stick in his\n",
            "     hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the wall at the sight\n",
            "     of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and confronted him.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You villain!\" said he, \"where's your daughter?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open skylight.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"It is for me to ask you that,\" he shrieked, \"you thieves! Spies and\n",
            "     thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll serve\n",
            "     you!\" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he could go.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"He's gone for the dog!\" cried Miss Hunter.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I have my revolver,\" said I.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Better close the front door,\" cried Holmes, and we all rushed down\n",
            "     the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we heard the\n",
            "     baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a horrible\n",
            "     worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An elderly man\n",
            "     with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out at a side door.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"My God!\" he cried. \"Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been fed\n",
            "     for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with Toller\n",
            "     hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its black\n",
            "     muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and screamed\n",
            "     upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and it fell over\n",
            "     with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great creases of his\n",
            "     neck. With much labour we separated them and carried him, living but\n",
            "     horribly mangled, into the house. We laid him upon the drawing-room\n",
            "     sofa, and having dispatched the sobered Toller to bear the news to\n",
            "     his wife, I did what I could to relieve his pain. We were all\n",
            "     assembled round him when the door opened, and a tall, gaunt woman\n",
            "     entered the room.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mrs. Toller!\" cried Miss Hunter.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he went\n",
            "     up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know what you\n",
            "     were planning, for I would have told you that your pains were\n",
            "     wasted.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ha!\" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. \"It is clear that Mrs.\n",
            "     Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several\n",
            "     points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I will soon make it clear to you,\" said she; \"and I'd have done so\n",
            "     before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's\n",
            "     police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the one\n",
            "     that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend too.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time that\n",
            "     her father married again. She was slighted like and had no say in\n",
            "     anything, but it never really became bad for her until after she met\n",
            "     Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could learn, Miss Alice\n",
            "     had rights of her own by will, but she was so quiet and patient, she\n",
            "     was, that she never said a word about them but just left everything\n",
            "     in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was safe with her; but when there\n",
            "     was a chance of a husband coming forward, who would ask for all that\n",
            "     the law would give him, then her father thought it time to put a stop\n",
            "     on it. He wanted her to sign a paper, so that whether she married or\n",
            "     not, he could use her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on\n",
            "     worrying her until she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at\n",
            "     death's door. Then she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and\n",
            "     with her beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in\n",
            "     her young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Ah,\" said Holmes, \"I think that what you have been good enough to\n",
            "     tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce all that\n",
            "     remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this system of\n",
            "     imprisonment?\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Yes, sir.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of the\n",
            "     disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"That was it, sir.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should be,\n",
            "     blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain\n",
            "     arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your\n",
            "     interests were the same as his.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman,\" said Mrs.\n",
            "     Toller serenely.\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"And in this way he managed that your good man should have no want of\n",
            "     drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment when your\n",
            "     master had gone out.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"You have it, sir, just as it happened.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     \"I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller,\" said Holmes, \"for you\n",
            "     have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And here comes\n",
            "     the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, Watson, that we\n",
            "     had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, as it seems to me\n",
            "     that our locus standi now is rather a questionable one.\"\n",
            "\n",
            "     And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the copper\n",
            "     beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but was always a\n",
            "     broken man, kept alive solely through the care of his devoted wife.\n",
            "     They still live with their old servants, who probably know so much of\n",
            "     Rucastle's past life that he finds it difficult to part from them.\n",
            "     Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were married, by special license, in\n",
            "     Southampton the day after their flight, and he is now the holder of a\n",
            "     government appointment in the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet\n",
            "     Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no\n",
            "     further interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of\n",
            "     one of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at\n",
            "     Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success.\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "     ----------\n",
            "     This text is provided to you \"as-is\" without any warranty. No\n",
            "     warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, are made to you as to\n",
            "     the text or any medium it may be on, including but not limited to\n",
            "     warranties of merchantablity or fitness for a particular purpose.\n",
            "\n",
            "     This text was formatted from various free ASCII and HTML variants.\n",
            "     See http://sherlock-holm.es for an electronic form of this text and\n",
            "     additional information about it.\n",
            "\n",
            "     This text comes from the collection's version 3.1.\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n",
            "\n"
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "tokenizer = Tokenizer()\n",
        "tokenizer.fit_on_texts([data])"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "aeHb1DzQgHf6"
      },
      "execution_count": 8,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "pickle.dump(tokenizer,open('token.pkl','wb'))"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "5Kn3B60So-YN"
      },
      "execution_count": 9,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "sequence_data=tokenizer.texts_to_sequences([data])[0]\n",
        "print(len(sequence_data))\n",
        "vocab_size= len(tokenizer.word_index)+1  # as index starts fro 0"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/"
        },
        "id": "HkdBYMjkpHCS",
        "outputId": "2f973305-fac6-4969-9e5e-e5ab7ff6f074"
      },
      "execution_count": 10,
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "stream",
          "name": "stdout",
          "text": [
            "105879\n"
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "sequence = []\n",
        "for i in range(3,len(sequence_data)):\n",
        "  words=sequence_data[i-3:i+1]\n",
        "  sequence.append(words)"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "wtoUVY7ApWox"
      },
      "execution_count": 11,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "len(sequence)"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/"
        },
        "id": "Kplk66Rupm76",
        "outputId": "76395c0d-606f-4b19-ec36-e81d4d25e916"
      },
      "execution_count": 12,
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "execute_result",
          "data": {
            "text/plain": [
              "105876"
            ]
          },
          "metadata": {},
          "execution_count": 12
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "sequence = np.array(sequence)"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "8G0hKcq9MoYm"
      },
      "execution_count": 13,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "X=[]\n",
        "y=[]\n",
        "for i in sequence:\n",
        "  X.append(i[0:3])\n",
        "  y.append(i[3])"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "HUcQOMmsNPNZ"
      },
      "execution_count": 14,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "X=np.array(X)\n",
        "y=np.array(y)"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "zK2_9ZNqNkzP"
      },
      "execution_count": 15,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "y=to_categorical(y,num_classes=vocab_size)\n",
        "print(y[:5])"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/"
        },
        "id": "NPEpW1FPNq21",
        "outputId": "4b3c1a51-72d0-4f57-bd6f-007399fc97e3"
      },
      "execution_count": 16,
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "stream",
          "name": "stdout",
          "text": [
            "[[0. 0. 0. ... 0. 0. 0.]\n",
            " [0. 0. 0. ... 0. 0. 0.]\n",
            " [0. 0. 0. ... 0. 0. 0.]\n",
            " [0. 0. 0. ... 0. 0. 0.]\n",
            " [0. 0. 0. ... 0. 0. 0.]]\n"
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "# Building a LSTM Model"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "JBBm-n8nOJUB"
      },
      "execution_count": 17,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "# !pip install --upgrade tensorflow"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "G5TVxNpmRwbY"
      },
      "execution_count": 18,
      "outputs": []
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "model = Sequential()\n",
        "model.add(Embedding(input_dim=vocab_size,output_dim=10,input_length=3))\n",
        "model.add(LSTM(1000,return_sequences=True))\n",
        "model.add(LSTM(1000))\n",
        "model.add(Dense(1000,activation='relu'))\n",
        "model.add(Dense(vocab_size,activation='softmax'))"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/"
        },
        "id": "sZGtzWqUPTWt",
        "outputId": "6f0ee979-258f-4607-f3e9-08b34bbc9718"
      },
      "execution_count": 19,
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "stream",
          "name": "stderr",
          "text": [
            "/usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages/keras/src/layers/core/embedding.py:90: UserWarning: Argument `input_length` is deprecated. Just remove it.\n",
            "  warnings.warn(\n"
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "model.summary()"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/",
          "height": 306
        },
        "id": "4Qt8t30BQJqS",
        "outputId": "6eb0f634-ecba-4894-ff74-50e092dd70b8"
      },
      "execution_count": 20,
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "display_data",
          "data": {
            "text/plain": [
              "\u001b[1mModel: \"sequential\"\u001b[0m\n"
            ],
            "text/html": [
              "<pre style=\"white-space:pre;overflow-x:auto;line-height:normal;font-family:Menlo,'DejaVu Sans Mono',consolas,'Courier New',monospace\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold\">Model: \"sequential\"</span>\n",
              "</pre>\n"
            ]
          },
          "metadata": {}
        },
        {
          "output_type": "display_data",
          "data": {
            "text/plain": [
              "┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓\n",
              "┃\u001b[1m \u001b[0m\u001b[1mLayer (type)                        \u001b[0m\u001b[1m \u001b[0m┃\u001b[1m \u001b[0m\u001b[1mOutput Shape               \u001b[0m\u001b[1m \u001b[0m┃\u001b[1m \u001b[0m\u001b[1m        Param #\u001b[0m\u001b[1m \u001b[0m┃\n",
              "┡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┩\n",
              "│ embedding (\u001b[38;5;33mEmbedding\u001b[0m)                │ ?                           │     \u001b[38;5;34m0\u001b[0m (unbuilt) │\n",
              "├──────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤\n",
              "│ lstm (\u001b[38;5;33mLSTM\u001b[0m)                          │ ?                           │     \u001b[38;5;34m0\u001b[0m (unbuilt) │\n",
              "├──────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤\n",
              "│ lstm_1 (\u001b[38;5;33mLSTM\u001b[0m)                        │ ?                           │     \u001b[38;5;34m0\u001b[0m (unbuilt) │\n",
              "├──────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤\n",
              "│ dense (\u001b[38;5;33mDense\u001b[0m)                        │ ?                           │     \u001b[38;5;34m0\u001b[0m (unbuilt) │\n",
              "├──────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤\n",
              "│ dense_1 (\u001b[38;5;33mDense\u001b[0m)                      │ ?                           │     \u001b[38;5;34m0\u001b[0m (unbuilt) │\n",
              "└──────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────┘\n"
            ],
            "text/html": [
              "<pre style=\"white-space:pre;overflow-x:auto;line-height:normal;font-family:Menlo,'DejaVu Sans Mono',consolas,'Courier New',monospace\">┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓\n",
              "┃<span style=\"font-weight: bold\"> Layer (type)                         </span>┃<span style=\"font-weight: bold\"> Output Shape                </span>┃<span style=\"font-weight: bold\">         Param # </span>┃\n",
              "┡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┩\n",
              "│ embedding (<span style=\"color: #0087ff; text-decoration-color: #0087ff\">Embedding</span>)                │ ?                           │     <span style=\"color: #00af00; text-decoration-color: #00af00\">0</span> (unbuilt) │\n",
              "├──────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤\n",
              "│ lstm (<span style=\"color: #0087ff; text-decoration-color: #0087ff\">LSTM</span>)                          │ ?                           │     <span style=\"color: #00af00; text-decoration-color: #00af00\">0</span> (unbuilt) │\n",
              "├──────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤\n",
              "│ lstm_1 (<span style=\"color: #0087ff; text-decoration-color: #0087ff\">LSTM</span>)                        │ ?                           │     <span style=\"color: #00af00; text-decoration-color: #00af00\">0</span> (unbuilt) │\n",
              "├──────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤\n",
              "│ dense (<span style=\"color: #0087ff; text-decoration-color: #0087ff\">Dense</span>)                        │ ?                           │     <span style=\"color: #00af00; text-decoration-color: #00af00\">0</span> (unbuilt) │\n",
              "├──────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤\n",
              "│ dense_1 (<span style=\"color: #0087ff; text-decoration-color: #0087ff\">Dense</span>)                      │ ?                           │     <span style=\"color: #00af00; text-decoration-color: #00af00\">0</span> (unbuilt) │\n",
              "└──────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────┘\n",
              "</pre>\n"
            ]
          },
          "metadata": {}
        },
        {
          "output_type": "display_data",
          "data": {
            "text/plain": [
              "\u001b[1m Total params: \u001b[0m\u001b[38;5;34m0\u001b[0m (0.00 B)\n"
            ],
            "text/html": [
              "<pre style=\"white-space:pre;overflow-x:auto;line-height:normal;font-family:Menlo,'DejaVu Sans Mono',consolas,'Courier New',monospace\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold\"> Total params: </span><span style=\"color: #00af00; text-decoration-color: #00af00\">0</span> (0.00 B)\n",
              "</pre>\n"
            ]
          },
          "metadata": {}
        },
        {
          "output_type": "display_data",
          "data": {
            "text/plain": [
              "\u001b[1m Trainable params: \u001b[0m\u001b[38;5;34m0\u001b[0m (0.00 B)\n"
            ],
            "text/html": [
              "<pre style=\"white-space:pre;overflow-x:auto;line-height:normal;font-family:Menlo,'DejaVu Sans Mono',consolas,'Courier New',monospace\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold\"> Trainable params: </span><span style=\"color: #00af00; text-decoration-color: #00af00\">0</span> (0.00 B)\n",
              "</pre>\n"
            ]
          },
          "metadata": {}
        },
        {
          "output_type": "display_data",
          "data": {
            "text/plain": [
              "\u001b[1m Non-trainable params: \u001b[0m\u001b[38;5;34m0\u001b[0m (0.00 B)\n"
            ],
            "text/html": [
              "<pre style=\"white-space:pre;overflow-x:auto;line-height:normal;font-family:Menlo,'DejaVu Sans Mono',consolas,'Courier New',monospace\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold\"> Non-trainable params: </span><span style=\"color: #00af00; text-decoration-color: #00af00\">0</span> (0.00 B)\n",
              "</pre>\n"
            ]
          },
          "metadata": {}
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [
        "from tensorflow.keras.callbacks import ModelCheckpoint\n",
        "checkpoint = ModelCheckpoint(\"next_words.keras\",monitor=\"loss\",verbose =1,save_best_only=True)\n",
        "model.compile(loss=\"categorical_crossentropy\",optimizer=Adam(learning_rate=0.001))\n",
        "model.fit(X,y,epochs=2,batch_size=64,callbacks=[checkpoint])"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "colab": {
          "base_uri": "https://localhost:8080/"
        },
        "id": "tnsvHqR-R79R",
        "outputId": "8399477a-f20c-47d9-c4f8-152b9c3410af"
      },
      "execution_count": 21,
      "outputs": [
        {
          "output_type": "stream",
          "name": "stdout",
          "text": [
            "Epoch 1/2\n",
            "\u001b[1m1655/1655\u001b[0m \u001b[32m━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u001b[0m\u001b[37m\u001b[0m \u001b[1m0s\u001b[0m 630ms/step - loss: 6.6190\n",
            "Epoch 1: loss improved from inf to 6.32161, saving model to next_words.keras\n",
            "\u001b[1m1655/1655\u001b[0m \u001b[32m━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u001b[0m\u001b[37m\u001b[0m \u001b[1m1061s\u001b[0m 634ms/step - loss: 6.6189\n",
            "Epoch 2/2\n",
            "\u001b[1m1655/1655\u001b[0m \u001b[32m━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u001b[0m\u001b[37m\u001b[0m \u001b[1m0s\u001b[0m 612ms/step - loss: 5.7900\n",
            "Epoch 2: loss improved from 6.32161 to 5.75122, saving model to next_words.keras\n",
            "\u001b[1m1655/1655\u001b[0m \u001b[32m━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━\u001b[0m\u001b[37m\u001b[0m \u001b[1m1018s\u001b[0m 615ms/step - loss: 5.7900\n"
          ]
        },
        {
          "output_type": "execute_result",
          "data": {
            "text/plain": [
              "<keras.src.callbacks.history.History at 0x7fc641a36620>"
            ]
          },
          "metadata": {},
          "execution_count": 21
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "cell_type": "code",
      "source": [],
      "metadata": {
        "id": "KuP3SqWkQMcb"
      },
      "execution_count": 21,
      "outputs": []
    }
  ]
}