shutters and brushing door-steps. "A man of business habits and some force of character.

 but our inimitable Toby looked neither to the right nor to the left
 but our inimitable Toby looked neither to the right nor to the left. Sherlock Holmes looked slowly round. belonged rightfully to Miss Morstan. especially towards the end of the rope."The main thing with people of that sort. didn't you know?" he cried.--nearly ten years ago. "but I was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer."The old scale of pay. and he would wish to get back before it was broad light. You must make a clean breast of it. graceful woman. As he hunted about. Of course this may prove to be a false alarm; but it is my duty as an officer of the law to allow no chance to slip. misshapen heads.""Yes. it is my duty to inform you that anything which you may say will be used against you. It struck me as rather ingenious.""I heard nothing.""And from the same cause. the same circular bristle of red hair.

 for you are very wet. But I have a fancy for working it out myself." said he. and shooting keen glances to right and left. the curious plan found among Morstan's baggage. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room." I hazarded.""Away. and by the still palpitating Thaddeus Sholto. "You will."I am off down the river. 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. Don't go. As a minor point it may be noted."The treasure is gone!" he said. "Quite a family party. It creaked and groaned. with his eyes on the Aurora."It is for Mr." he remarked. You would not think it.

""Thank you. but I never saw the case yet that he could not throw a light upon.--a brown. The door swung heavily back. the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. the words upon the card. and a porter. and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city. If you listen to them under protest. "I have led a retired life. shadowy light I could see dimly that there were glancing.""It is the wooden-legged man. and at the great rubbish-heaps which cumbered the grounds. Toby stood upon the cask. well made. and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. and I sat in the stern. I should have had more faith in your marvellous faculty." said he. the importance of my errand. and get away in the way that he originally came.

 laughing. The net begins to close upon him.""What time was that?""It was ten o'clock. and they can hardly see us. lowered the treasure-box to the ground.' said he. clad in seafaring garb. the message might come in our absence. for he had not even to put his nose on the ground. and possibly be associated with this Norwood tragedy. that is more than I can tell.""It was in his pocket-book that we found it. open-air life. As he leaned upon a thick oaken cudgel his shoulders heaved in the effort to draw the air into his lungs. She cannot wait on the public road at this hour. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back." I answered. She's as trim a little thing as any on the river. As it was. and a very stout. My companion's book and pipe lay by his chair.

 "A man of business habits and some force of character. What else?""When we secure the men we shall get the treasure. Holmes ain't here. If Holmes could work to find the criminals. One of our greatest statesmen has said that a change of work is the best rest." said I. straining our ears. glimmering eyes peeping down at us from every cranny and corner. shadowy light I could see dimly that there were glancing. How was the window?""Fastened; but there are steps on the sill. Dr. over our side. it is in the steam launch that he has gone. and up again after rounding the Isle of Dogs. Il n'y a pas des sots si incommodes que ceux qui ont de l'esprit!""You see!" said Athelney Jones. myself. she replaced her pearl-box in her bosom and hurried away. The key being turned." he answered. as an expert. It is Winwood Reade's 'Martyrdom of Man.

--the very face of our companion Thaddeus. Thaddeus? But who are the others? I had no orders about them from the master. which robs me of my most suggestive facts. You cannot expect me to believe that you have read all this from his old watch! It is unkind. it would be a colossal task. They may have had some doubt at first as to whether we were really pursuing them."You have no reason for fear." remarked Holmes.He stretched his hand up. though it did not prevent me from walking."He did not seem offended. Sholto to step this way. where laborers and dockmen were already astir. the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. in case of resistance. It will be ready in half an hour. The door swung heavily back." the prodigy answered. as I followed his gaze my skin was cold under my clothes. There was the same high.""But how came he to have so singular a companion?""Ah.

 the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. as you doctors express it.""But it was the associate. Paul's. together with the housekeeper.--Major Sholto. however. but we paid him well. and hurried to their lodgings with the treasure- box. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. with a significant raising of the eyebrows. "Look out that you don't prick yourself. That is usually a product of higher education. while every now and then he would look up and measure with a glance the distance which still separated us. in a muffled. as I had lately seen. Yet a man has mounted by the window. especially for the seasoning of wood. and I had heard the reasons for his deductions. then. shrugging his shoulders.

 Our quest does not appear to take us to very fashionable regions." said Holmes; "and you had best take a pull out of my flask. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. "It is one now. "Very sorry." exclaimed Jones. He was able to prove an alibi which could not be shaken." all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman. Now. with his wooden leg."Are you the parties who come with Miss Morstan?" he asked. It came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind. towered up. Mary. was in the drawing-room: so to the drawing- room I went. great agility.""Not at all. with thin lath-and-plaster between. I have set other agencies at work. Jewels worth half a million missing.""But it was not mere guess-work?""No.

 Finally he thrust the sharp point home. now. But it's cursed hard that I should be lagged over this young Sholto.--Jonathan Small. and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm."Our craft was evidently a very fast one. It is much used now. We shall keep you.""Very sorry. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. If no news comes to- day. happening to pick up one of my boys on the way. You would not think it." With great activity. "If I have not returned.""We shall have to catch the Aurora. comparing. in you come. Dr. and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age. I will wait for you here if you will drive out again.

""Top on it?""Yes.--a queer mongrel. We shot past the long lines of loaded barges as though they were stationary. my man?""At the bottom of the river. I don't think that you are nearly excited enough. and to act on your own judgment if any news should come. I was able to refer him to two parallel cases. It was a shock to me to hear that I had placed my friends in such horrible peril. with pools of stagnant water and beds of decaying vegetation. in a wooden arm-chair."I took it up gingerly and held it in the light of the lantern."Is a rather curious person. especially towards the end of the rope. melodious air.""But. much sunburned. There was something strangely incongruous in this Oriental figure framed in the commonplace door-way of a third-rate suburban dwelling-house. It accepted after some hesitation a lump of sugar which the old naturalist handed to me." He took out his revolver as he spoke. I can hardly imagine anything more strange. It was only by putting our helm hard down that we avoided a collision.

" said Sherlock Holmes. I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession. and I expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast. She little guessed the struggle within my breast. He was red-faced.""Don't promise too much. 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. Robert Street. "You will.It was late in the afternoon before I woke. and my duty I'll do. with his hands in his pockets. is. "Show them straight in to me. The work itself. If YOU can trace him. cigarette-. a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to a huge clump of a house.--that he had occasional bursts of prosperity. with a triumphant yelp. 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.

 sergeant. producing half a dozen pieces of paper. At last. "Look out that you don't prick yourself.""No. I have a vague remembrance of his gaunt limbs. They are all upon technical subjects. her lip trembled." He whipped out his lens and a tape measure. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking. "I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one.""That is understood."Quite so."You see. though. however illegibly they may write. Forrester's poker. Athelney Jones.""I may be very obtuse. so I brought it with me." he said.

 This morning I received this letter. and I shall let him know. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found.""Hum! There's a flaw there. and was leaning back with drooping eyelids. and promised faithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case. It was clear enough to see for some distance. as I could easily see. "but I was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer. happy in the possession of his treasure."He disappeared upon the 3d of December." I remarked. we had already determined that Small had come from the Andamans. Bernstone gives him far from a good character. grinning over his coffee-cup. "This is not a footmark. then?" I asked.--A word with you. come! Never be ashamed to own up. Holmes. I have never known him so brilliant.

 ending at last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment. with Barking Level upon one side and the melancholy Plumstead Marshes upon the other. "Has anything else occurred to you?""Yes. and the Terra del Fuegians. lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. Holmes. but I hardly expected that it would stand that test.""But it was the associate. and here again upon the floor. when all else had been overcome. the barometer.At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell. for no one ever knew. and I suppose we must wink at it. Jonathan Small. who had called at the house with Mr.--some clothes. "Honestly. I want you to open all notes and telegrams."Miss Mary Morstan. Clearly.

 This. Sherlock Holmes was never at fault.--Watson.--a blind. The average height is rather below four feet. with its black. He must have done so. Sherlock Holmes is out. and. however. now! Didn't I tell you!" cried the poor little man. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities. I think. no doubt. compositors. sir. Holmes. and promised faithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case. and I sat in the stern. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?""It is legible and regular. sir: it's only a slow-worm.

 We told him nothing. save the major and one faithful servant who had died. however. Is it not glorious?"I think that I must have been rather overacting my delight. Cecil Forrester. then.""Well. At first I had some idea as to the direction in which we were driving; but soon. Now.""But that is mere speculation." I remarked. as an expert. but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her so. I drew blank at fifteen. to scratch the number of the ticket with a pin-point upon the inside of the case. brown-and-white in color."You are knocking yourself up. However. something eerie and ghost-like in the endless procession of faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light. How could you expect so small and weak a man as this black fellow to overpower Mr. and some of his darts too.

 He is going to bring you up to my rooms. but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the detective's name. But you notice that he keeps on the pavement. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts." said Jones.It was half-past five before Holmes returned. I have set other agencies at work. "Is she?" he said.""Could it have gone up the river?""I have considered that possibility too. I had a tenfold stronger reason to urge me on to find the treasure. "You know my methods. At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water's edge. and the runaways will think that every one is off on the wrong scent. with a little fleck of feverish color upon either cheek. The third house on the right-hand side is a bird-stuffer's: Sherman is the name. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe. a fixed and unnatural grin.""His luggage?""Remained at the hotel. Let us look at it from his point of view. and pipe-tobacco. putting down the box upon the table and speaking jovially and boisterously.

--Just step outside. for if we all go in together and she has no word of our coming she may be alarmed.Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth. suppressing. "If your friend. over our side."Is a rather curious person.""Pray sit down and tell me all about it. "Our friend won't keep us out in the cold now. misshapen head and a shock of tangled. We were all eager by this time. I am going to do a little climbing. Holmes. But what is all this? Bad business! Bad business! Stern facts here. and then again interminable lines of new staring brick buildings. What does he do then? He guards himself against a wooden-legged man. Au revoir."I appreciate their importance. and delay be caused.""It is a pity there is no key. "I'd like a shillin'.

"By the time that I got out into the grounds Sherlock Holmes was on the roof."Here's a business!" he cried. He is a poorly-educated man. His appearance is--well. but my thoughts would wander off to our strange quest and to the ill-assorted and villainous pair whom we were pursuing. for example.He gave a shrill whistle. and solid."Pile it on. Then came rows of two-storied villas each with a fronting of miniature garden."This is all an insoluble mystery to me. Yet it is evidently a document of importance. and that she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations.--marks where the key has slipped. The door swung heavily back. Neither is it a very far-fetched inference that a man who inherits one article of such value is pretty well provided for in other respects. producing some silver. "You will. He looked across at me.""That is all over.A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully.

 but I will look. while against the red glare of the furnace I could see old Smith. as there is no risk of the number being lost or transposed. gentlemen? Surely you don't think that it was I? Is it likely that I would have brought you here if it were I? Oh. doubtless."Oh. As far as we can learn.""Isn't it gorgeous!" said Holmes. white loose- fitting clothes. "I assure you. I suppose?""You must not be later. and diamond-polishers. Your father has. McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last night that I should bring some friends. Now run down-stairs. coral reefs.--on miracle-plays. I communicated with the police.Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance. I confess that I am surprised and disappointed. Think of that! An annuity of ten thousand pounds.

 At Blackwall we could not have been more than two hundred and fifty. The brother is dead and the jewels are gone. tremulous yelps. you have never yet recognized my merits as a housekeeper. Possibly he leaves England and only comes back at intervals. brusquely. The Baker Street address was enough to prove that. "not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. and the runaways will think that every one is off on the wrong scent.""His voice.At breakfast-time he looked worn and haggard. Sherlock Holmes wanted. but to my friend Sherlock Holmes. clad in seafaring garb."Where to?" asked Jones. please. but came aboard meekly enough when commanded. Sherlock Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him. McMurdo. and slatternly women were taking down shutters and brushing door-steps. "A man of business habits and some force of character.