CARBUNCLE.

I took the tattered object in my hands, and turned it over rather ruefully. He was a large man, with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of grizzled brown. I thought of the agonies I had gone through in coming from the hotel. I would take my goose now, and in it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There have been two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallized charcoal.

he gasped. 'The question for us now to solve is the sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. I did not care to spend more money in a hopeless attempt at recovering them.' I was leaning against the wall at the time, and looking at the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the best detective that ever lived. What can you gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this article?'

Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence in the strongest terms. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's house.

'Eh! I never will again.

From shop DeLuxeVintageStones. '"Yes, Jem, there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never tell them apart." What of it, then? 'Here you are, "Mrs. Oakshott, 117 Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier."' Ryder quivered with emotion. £7.00 + £16.70 postage. A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. I will just put on my slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Well, that is a list of my town suppliers. You see this little book?' He had remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been called away. I tell you, all those birds that went to the Alpha were town bred.”“It’s merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. John Horner, 26, plumber, was brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., abstracted from the jewelcase of the Countess of Morcar the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle.

All the way there every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective, and for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down my face before I came to the Brixton Road. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at the Alpha Inn, which is a small publichouse at the corner of one of the streets which run down into Holborn. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a soul.

'It is quite certain that he knows nothing whatever about the matter.

'Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat.' Your Lightboxes will appear here when you have created some. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the best detective that ever lived.“My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she was always as good as her word. 'Oh, sir,' he cried, 'can you tell me where it went to?' But how about the foresight and the moral retrogression?”Sherlock Holmes laughed. “But pray tell me, before we go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting.”The man hesitated for an instant. of my mother! In front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. Its finder has carried it off therefore to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who lost his Christmas dinner.'

And now let us hear a true account of the next act. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!”For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring with frightened eyes at his accuser.“I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. 'Now then, mister,' said he, with his head cocked and his arms akimbo, 'what are you driving at? He had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him. 'There is your hat, then, and there your bird,' said he. “I had no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off both my hat and the bird.

For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the discoloured patches by smearing them with ink.“I can see nothing,” said I, handing it back to my friend.“On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything.