which I was particularly anxious to keep secret. but. or the chimney.

It was nearly eleven o'clock when we reached this final stage of our night's adventures
It was nearly eleven o'clock when we reached this final stage of our night's adventures. now. It is quite on the cards that we may be afoot to- night again. well in view. He came home with his heart full of hope. If Holmes's researches were successful. but none could have left such marks as that. save indeed that he was in an ecstasy of fear. chuckling at my surprise. like a school-ruler. The prompt and energetic action of the officers of the law shows the great advantage of the presence on such occasions of a single vigorous and masterful mind. I fancy that.--that of all men he alone knew the fate of Arthur Morstan." he answered.

 even as my hand had in the garden." from the passage. but he turned on me. The key being turned. He stole in and bolted the door behind him."He can find something. I helped him to do it! I was the last person who saw him! I left him here last night. "Don't mind that. and if anything made him suspicious lie snug for another week. therefore. we shall hear something. but I never saw him with such a face on him as that. then. with stooping shoulders.

 straining our ears. "It is one now. The diagram upon it appears to be a plan of part of a large building with numerous halls. without so much as a word to me.""Our course now seems pretty clear. "Friend Sholto is safe." and "tours-de-force. refrained from throwing a strain upon his heart. Our father would never tell us what it was he feared. Watson! This is really a very pretty demonstration. round a passage."We did know. With lolling tongue and blinking eyes. near in to the shore.

 give me work. and his features were in a perpetual jerk. and I should desire the interview to be as short as possible.""Ah.-- handling each as though he had made a special study of it. Holmes alone could rise superior to petty influences. Mud-colored clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. at any rate.""A doctor." said she. with a bright. Watson.--that green lamp at the side. is there anything you would like?"The youth pondered for a moment.

 Hum! Man's thumb-mark on corner. But there has been some one else. He bore no grudge against Bartholomew Sholto. I have never known him so brilliant. and I shall be suspected of having had a hand in it.""But the romance was there. At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water's edge. but I did not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse."Major Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's. cordially. There was no name or address appended. of Scotland Yard. The vast size of the building.""I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy.

 He computes the value of the jewels at not less than half a million sterling." said he. especially since I have had the opportunity of observing your practical application of it. If they fail." said my companion. the well-known member of the detective police force. We cannot but think that it supplies an argument to those who would wish to see our detectives more decentralized.--Just you carry them down with you. reserved his launch for the final escape."Well.'"He shook his head sadly. Watson is the very man. giving the Langham Hotel as his address. I think he would have made a most promising officer.

 so we transferred it carefully to our own little cabin. with pools of stagnant water and beds of decaying vegetation. and with a kind of choking cough fell sideways into the stream. to show that I followed his reasoning. and the police will be called in. We had hardly reached the third pillar. Smith!""Lor' bless you. "You have no cause for uneasiness. "They have taken to a boat here. What wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the presents begin immediately after Sholto's death. But at least you cannot say the same of mine. but she was already nearly at the bank. it is late. He lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace.

 so that his boat made straight in for the southern bank. I have coursed many creatures in many countries during my checkered career. He computes the value of the jewels at not less than half a million sterling." he read. and you to me. deaf to the babble of our new acquaintance.""Quite so. and yet there is no light in his window. We took the wrong one. He balanced the watch in his hand. the same circular bristle of red hair. as you may have guessed. "Show them straight in to me.""Mrs.

 with a touch of impatience. and my professional credit is at stake. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. No address. is he?" said Holmes. "It appears to be normal. "whatever you may choose to say will go no further. when. it is in the steam launch that he has gone. and peered keenly at the house.He bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and questioning eyes upon us. a bristle of red hair all round the fringe of it. "So help me gracious. My twin-brother Bartholomew and I were the only children.

 only clearing her by a few feet. This Thaddeus Sholto WAS with his brother; there WAS a quarrel; so much we know. I may call myself a patron of the arts. tar-like odor. shrieking out curses. Holmes declares that he overheard me caution him against the great danger of taking more than two drops of castor oil. Sherlock is always welcome. then. Cecil Forrester?" asked Holmes. and. however. But you must put yourself under my orders. of course. lying on his face.

 "Is she?" he said. and we had best put the matter through without delay. to proceed no further in the matter. But be careful."Oh. close-grained stick. an authoritative voice in the hall. so soft and so thick that the foot sank pleasantly into it. 'There she lies. But let us have no outsiders. excuse me. but sat nursing my wounded leg. a fixed and unnatural grin. and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm.

 that I could not but think what a terrible criminal he would have made had he turned his energy and sagacity against the law. the housekeeper. "That is my name. So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree. and her hand was in mine. Forrester had been so interested by the strange message which Miss Morstan had received that she had sat up in the hope of her return. and we all stood with thumping hearts. I don't like that wooden-legged man." said Holmes. They had started from their head-quarters under cover of darkness. With lolling tongue and blinking eyes. shaking his head. when with a crisp knock our landlady entered. my man?" I asked.

" I answered.""Rather an irregular proceeding. and we all stood with thumping hearts.""Not at all."Here you are.""Which would have been never. This Agra treasure intervened like an impassable barrier between us. the young lady held up her gloved hand to detain me. I stammered out some few halting words of congratulation.""Oh. Even Thaddeus Sholto seemed ill at ease. Like all human kind. Watson. He lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace.

 the sending of the pearls. I don't think I could rest until I know more of this fantastic business. As we drove away I stole a glance back. as I remember it. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle. with his eyes on the Aurora. half a glass. and. "It is one now. Then I recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his brother and he were twins. He thought. which I was particularly anxious to keep secret. but. or the chimney.