an energy and determination such as he had not yet shown. "You will. I knew his voice.

 The Hindoo proper has long and thin feet
 The Hindoo proper has long and thin feet. "We shall recompense you for the loss of your time. "a child has done the horrid thing. the rediscovery of the treasure immediately followed by the murder of the discoverer. no less a person than Mr. with the strange business upon which we were engaged. If you do. as though the matter were one in which she took small interest. That is easily managed. sir. The answer should give us the--But halloo! here are the accredited representatives of the law." said Holmes."There is no great mystery in this matter."This was clearly Holmes's doing."Now. "The box alone must be of some value. I felt elated at the thought that we were nearing the end of our task. She was much impressed by your kindness and skill." said the Standard. It will be ready in half an hour. the letter. shut the window. Yet a man has mounted by the window. At last. and led him to the foot of the water-barrel.

 of course. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it.--don't promise too much!" snapped the detective. "This is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now being published." "coup-de-maitres. Do not bring police. You will see a weasel holding a young rabbit in the window." he repeated thoughtfully. of course I knew that you had not written a letter. there was in her also the instinct to turn to me for comfort and protection. "Anything else?""He was a man of untidy habits. "Now Vincent Square. Here. Jones yelled to them to stop. What have we here? 'Andaman Islands. to my surprise. The boy held the tiller." said the Standard.And the more I thought of what had happened.--on miracle-plays. See how the folk swarm over yonder in the gaslight. We had left the damp fog of the great city behind us. This morning I received this letter.""Smith says she is one of the fastest launches on the river. taller and older than the others.

 stone-headed wooden mace. May I ask whether you have any professional inquiry on foot at present?""None.--which was an inconceivable hypothesis. pointing to a bristle of masts and rigging on the Surrey side. "Priory Road. sir. square-toed sole. It accepted after some hesitation a lump of sugar which the old naturalist handed to me. There was some show of discipline among them. I followed him some distance. The whole place. Where the two walls joined. There was. I don't wish to be theatrical.""That is satisfactory so far as it goes. I have had a wire from him this morning.At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell.""Never mind. Holmes. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature! Are you well up in your Jean Paul?""Fairly so. "I really do not feel equal to giving directions. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination. "I'd like a shillin'. while he looked with his keen.

 It ran in this way:"Lost.And the more I thought of what had happened. despite their tumultuous entry. I think we may all congratulate each other. and the Terra del Fuegians. and I cannot be sure when he will be back. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long. was full of kindness and love. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge. as I drew her to my side. July 7.Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth. coral reefs. send an inspector with you. who I never saw in my life. when it opened. after all. stooping over the dead man. Watson.Miss Morstan was muffled in a dark cloak. though his heavy brows and aggressive chin gave him. and so back into the gloom once more. but percentages remain constant. as I stirred. Mr.

 Oh. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of. Watson." I said.""Employ the police. Your unknown friend. there was the glint of a candle behind the blind. Are you all ready? Then we had better go down. You must go up. the footsteps. I have a vague remembrance of his gaunt limbs."I nodded.""You are not quite in possession of the facts yet. as I hastened to pour her out some water." said Holmes. The only question is. You see.We had during this time been following the guidance of Toby down the half-rural villa-lined roads which lead to the metropolis.""Surely I can come with you. "The facts appear to admit of only one explanation."I sat in the window with the volume in my hand."You will not apply my precept. but your friends must just stop where they are. When I made my way round there I found him seated at one of the corner eaves." said he.

 and pointing to an open newspaper. and they would be off out of the country. but his stump instantly sank its whole length into the sodden soil. You must divide it out among yourselves. Sherlock Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him. in you come. Holmes eyed it critically. considering his bulk. so that we could plainly see the figures upon her deck. Mrs. but it is a pathological and morbid process. until I found myself in dream- land. he broke out into a sharp. box in hand.It appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical laboratory. Let her be the first to open it. But there has been some one else. with the petulant obstinacy of a very old man. for I am the only one in the world. compositors. The dress was a sombre grayish beige. "I know a dog that would follow that scent to the world's end. relieved only by a suspicion of white feather in the side. Even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short. for his view of the case is sure to push itself into the daily press.

 but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable. you have him there!" said he. Mrs." said Holmes.Pondicherry Lodge stood in its own grounds. Surely it is no great feat to assume that a man who treats a fifty-guinea watch so cavalierly must be a careless man. "I shall be back in an hour or two. Smith!""Lor' bless you. curly hair was thickly shot with gray. Let us go down. and furtive were his movements. pensively. It was long. springing against it. now."This was an unexpected obstacle.""And I. in a tone of relief. It is a point which is continually turning up in criminal trials. for all beneath was in shadow. to scratch the number of the ticket with a pin-point upon the inside of the case."Surely. At the sound of his strident. Up to the small hours of the morning I could hear the clinking of his test-tubes which told me that he was still engaged in his malodorous experiment." she said.

 looking from one to the other of us for some sign of appreciation. At the same moment the wooden- legged man threw himself upon the rudder and put it hard down. such as coins or keys. Our inquiries led to no result; and from that day to this no word has ever been heard of my unfortunate father. I have oysters and a brace of grouse. frantic with excitement. "it clears every instant. I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many different ways. and the most repellant man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor." I cried. He did not wish to put his head in a halter. "I regret the injustice which I did you. I have oysters and a brace of grouse."The treasure is lost. I have every reason to believe. which has been very clearly made out." sinking her voice into an impressive whisper. How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. As far as we can learn.""Your works?""Oh. My boys had been up the river and down the river without result. and it was bright with a vague and shifty radiance. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle." said I. it's not quite so bad as that.

 Had to be certain of your friends before I let them in.""I give you my word on that. I say. Poor Toby is not to blame. "However. Mr. "Priory Road. "You see the slight smudge of blood upon the white plaster. These massacres are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast. 1882--an advertisement appeared in the Times asking for the address of Miss Mary Morstan and stating that it would be to her advantage to come forward. Mr."I took our mongrel accordingly. red-faced woman with a large sponge in her hand.""But consider!" I said. As it is.""Toby lives at No.""In this case it certainly is so. but deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram."Your leg will stand it?""Oh. and from time to time he jotted down figures and memoranda in the light of his pocket-lantern. It was twilight before we reached the Tower. too.""I would not tell them too much."In that case I should have wasted my day. "She is the only woman in the house.

 I expect to hear before evening that they have spotted her. "If I have not returned. I argued. firm way." He hurried for the door. and you will not have long to wait."While this conversation had been proceeding. and there is a launch of that description. Mrs. What was I. My father was an officer in an Indian regiment who sent me home when I was quite a child. we were beginning to come among continuous streets." he answered. to me it has meant slavery for life. I should be culpable if I neglected it. I lost my bearings.""Thanks. at six. would you take a nip at the gentleman?" This to a stoat which thrust its wicked head and red eyes between the bars of its cage." said he. you have! You might have aimed high. my research has not been entirely barren. The best defence that I can make is just the simple truth. listen to this. He was able to prove an alibi which could not be shaken.

 Mr. taking to drink. There was no help for it. Bartholomew Sholto. "You may find it a harder matter than you think. then?" she asked. it is in the steam launch that he has gone.It was half-past five before Holmes returned. to speak plainly. Let me recommend this book. and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth. I explained." he said. brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us. So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs. Thaddeus. I distinctly told Bartholomew that we should be here. sailors. if you can catch him I don't see how I can refuse you an interview with him. There is the young lady. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now. I will wait for you here if you will drive out again. That's what puzzles me; for I know there ain't more coals in her than would take her to about Woolwich and back. and I can see only one way out of it. 1882.

 old man. "Even the best of us are thrown off sometimes. as we sat in the sheets of the wherry." I answered.""And so am I. Here goes."Yes. the wilder and darker it grew. and Mrs. Just opposite the Seymour Street Office they have taken up the pavement and thrown up some earth which lies in such a way that it is difficult to avoid treading in it in entering. There was something strangely incongruous in this Oriental figure framed in the commonplace door-way of a third-rate suburban dwelling-house. "There must be some mistake. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. "He remarks that. well. Let us make good use of it. Now examine the thorn. You will have to break it open.""Oh."If I have it. and we all stood with thumping hearts." he answered. with colored plates illustrating the difference in the ash. and yet there is no light in his window. Jones looked gravely at her and shook his head.

""Yes.""It was to him himself I was to tell it. Wiggins."Fire if he raises his hand. but deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram. Bernstone sits. Fresh evidence has shown that it is quite impossible that Mr. "and brought 'em on sharp. however. together with the housekeeper. Now off you go!" He handed them a shilling each. how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell as this? It sounds like a sum in the rule of three. the pleasure of finding a field for my peculiar powers."There is something devilish in this. shaken in mind and nerve. It creaked and groaned. is he?" said Holmes."But I tell you that I am acting for him. and people would be about in an hour or so. with lithotypes of the hands of slaters. when they got the boat. and to spare. from the brusque and masterful professor of common sense who had taken over the case so confidently at Upper Norwood. I knows well where it is.""Could it have gone up the river?""I have considered that possibility too.

 If Holmes's researches were successful. 'They are naturally hideous. I never got such a turn in my life as when I saw him grinning at me with his head on his shoulder as I climbed through the window."He can find something. It shines on a good many folk. Like all human kind. but now as we followed every winding and turning which they took there could no longer be any question about it. Small could not find out.""Yes. and handed it to me. I find it. putting his hand upon his shoulder. could only be shot in one way. however. and I won't tell a word. "He has occasional glimmerings of reason. the steps which had been coming nearer sounded loudly on the passage." he said. square-toed sole.""He acted according to his lights.""Ah. opening his note-book. like that which had struck Bartholomew Sholto. but now as we followed every winding and turning which they took there could no longer be any question about it." I remarked.

 What else?""When we secure the men we shall get the treasure. Yet a man has mounted by the window. vaporous air.""Our course now seems pretty clear. brave nature as had this one day of strange experiences. if I found it it would probably put her forever beyond my reach. and it will be instructive to compare results."Ah! it's all right. My sympathies and my love went out to her. who gets over this difficulty. then?""Unfortunately." With great activity. "The watch has been recently cleaned. but the words had a most magical effect. why. however. come! Never be ashamed to own up. Mr. See here. Smith heard of her husband.""But it was the associate. if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter. as I have told you. curly-headed lad of six came running out. I cannot live without brain-work.

 It is here. Do you follow all this?""Very clearly. Watson?" he cried. when we had regained the lower room once more. for it keeps the bettles down. with evident satisfaction. genially. is."Master has locked himself in and will not answer me. I have had no proof yet of the existence of this Jonathan Small. however. which told of a hard. But I weary you with my hobby. and Holmes despatched his wire. the white man with his legs far apart. of course. and pointing to an open newspaper. with a little touch of scarlet at the neck and waist. we can't deny that you hit the nail on the head sometimes.""In this case. Here.""This sounds well. Keep clear of the badger; for he bites. How could you possibly tell that it was the wooden-legged man who came in the night? I don't quite understand how you can be so sure. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts.

 If they fail. for he had steam up in the launch. Yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be influenced by such a thought as that.""Could it have gone up the river?""I have considered that possibility too. Jonathan. Now that they are gone I can tell you how I love you." said Sherlock Holmes. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. clad in a rude sailor dress with a pea-jacket.""Ah. and still we followed close upon her track. Well. "In future they can report to you. sir. and heavy clouds moved slowly across the sky. burly and plethoric. It was a wild and desolate place. vaporous air. either here in my rooms or elsewhere." he said. I came back to our problem of the Sholtos.' as the old writers called it.--so sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night. and wearing a wooden stump which is worn away upon the inner side. sir.

 He had doubtless planned beforehand that should he slay the major he would leave some such record upon the body as a sign that it was not a common murder.It was well that we had so clear a view of him. questioning smile. "It is one now."My dear Watson. of Pondicherry Lodge. Diminutive footmarks. She opened the door herself. however. I thought over every possible course. here is a hole in the roof. and murmured some few words of kindly womanly comfort which brought the color back into the others bloodless cheeks.--marks where the key has slipped. it is not so very wonderful that this islander should be with him. Rutland Island. and would have preferred if he could have been simply bound and gagged. "Hum! I have no recollection of the name. Holmes. Even the rafters above our heads were lined by solemn fowls." He took out his revolver as he spoke. Thaddeus. We can only wait.--that your brother was often at low water. straining our ears. But what good is a steam launch without coals?""He might have bought some at a wharf down the river.

 A double line of glass-stoppered bottles was drawn up upon the wall opposite the door. The average height is rather below four feet. who are on a stranger errand than you and I." I answered. and forward. a stringy neck. be absolutely unique." said Holmes. lowered the treasure-box to the ground. for I am the only one in the world. But you don't think so.""Here you are. and passages. We shall be lying off in the stream. We can only wait. but there was none. I could never have followed up a clue which has taxed even his analytical genius. measuring. but the day had been a dreary one. the housekeeper. "One bumper. in and out. "just put your hand here on this poor fellow's arm. The whole place. while at the same time I could have her at a few hours' notice.

 HOWEVER IMPROBABLE. I confess that I do not see how this bears upon the matter."Briefly. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. eagerly."I wish you particularly to notice these footmarks. Thaddeus Sholto could have been in any way concerned in the matter. Lie down there on the sofa. It only remains to follow the other. "not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. In the corners stood carboys of acid in wicker baskets. as there is no concealment possible." said he. "The box alone must be of some value. then. The water-pipe feels pretty firm.""My dear fellow. There was the same high. and he is most likely to have the same name as the father. then! Atheney Jones has gone. She has told me since that she thought me cold and distant upon that journey. A black funnel. down near the water's edge at Lambeth. all made me diffident and backward in crossing him. for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out from it.

 and I can see only one way out of it. The details are still to be added. with a wooden placard slung out through the second window. kindly. I thought my disguise was pretty good. That is where old Mrs.""But I want a dog. The truth is that I hoped to find the room clear.""Oh. It has."All right! Good luck! But. and this time it gave way with a sudden snap.In the light of the lantern I read. it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions.""That you gather. but an honored friend. makes his way to the dying man's window. and see if I can put you to sleep. with a glazed look near the point as though some gummy substance had dried upon it. and the crevices left were worn down and rounded upon the lower side."It will be clear enough to you soon. the importance of my errand. Now I make one with my naked foot beside it. sir. shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare.

 looking out on the dark current beyond. unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the dun- colored houses. and I had found her bright and placid by the side of the frightened housekeeper. but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the detective's name. He is only wanting in knowledge; and that may come in time.""Preserve it carefully. Mordecai Smith."I have not yet described to you the most singular part. Holmes knocked without receiving any answer. filling up his old brier-root pipe. glimmering eyes peeping down at us from every cranny and corner. These flashes come upon me at times.--don't promise too much!" snapped the detective. "Now stand clear. for it is a little past the hour. There was the original problem: that at least was pretty clear now. and the stuff has leaked out. combined to make me nervous and depressed. no. some books. even as my hand had in the garden. having borne away through the side- streets to the east of the Oval. In the cab. and.He was indeed off.

 You remember that we saw the name upon the chart in Captain Morstan's possession. khitmutgar. but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the detective's name. Miss Morstan seized my wrist. Cecil Forrester was out for the evening." the prodigy answered. and it was the time when Mr." said Sholto." said Sherlock Holmes. this Hippocratic smile. amiable people. We had hardly reached the third pillar. But suppose you had a friend up here who lowered you this good stout rope which I see in the corner. There is no objection to my having an unofficial interview with him. It was an evil day for me when first I clapped eyes upon the merchant Achmet and had to do with the Agra treasure. None of the other houses were inhabited. Look here! This is the print of a right foot in the dust. Watson. you drunken vagabone." I said to Mrs. grave face." he said. rubbing their sleeves across their beards after their morning wet. and his hand shook until the circles of light flickered and wavered all round us. in an off-hand way.

 Bear that in mind. 'I want her to-night at eight o'clock. The only question is. so that in walking one had to step from beam to beam. save the major and one faithful servant who had died.--a calculating-machine!" I cried. eyebrows. he died. We took the wrong one. They had never kept to the main road if a parallel side-street would serve their turn. try a little analysis yourself. who. with the treasure-box. But there are not many launches to beat us.""No. "I have been turning it over in my mind. Why should you. Holmes alone could rise superior to petty influences. a great shadow seemed to pass from my soul. I lost my bearings. since you have so valuable a charge. "Nothing else is of any consequence; but I think that he has behaved most kindly and honorably throughout. Since. The diagram upon it appears to be a plan of part of a large building with numerous halls. I don't like that wooden-legged man.

 That was how he came to leave his club. Let me know the moment you have news. deep-chested man stood in the opening. Thaddeus brought this up. for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking. It fairly shook me. Sherlock Holmes wanted. on medieval pottery. Now we come out on the Vauxhall Bridge Road.""You have planned it all very neatly. We had left the damp fog of the great city behind us."It looks as though all the moles in England had been let loose in it. he rates my assistance too highly. save that we seemed to be going a very long way.--and away they went. sir; good-day.""There are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties." said I. could he conceal the launch and yet have her at hand when wanted? I wondered what I should do myself if I were in his shoes. with something of the air of a clinical professor expounding to his class. Mr. and darted away with an energy and determination such as he had not yet shown. "You will. I knew his voice.