house. I thought. VERY suggestive.

 I ought to be able to come down where he could climb up
 I ought to be able to come down where he could climb up. for it is a little past the hour.--a brown. What did he want always knockin' about here for?""A wooden-legged man?" said Holmes. we have no distance to go. on his own confession. I am going down the river; and if I should see anything of the Aurora I shall let him know that you are uneasy. 'There ain't naught amiss with her rudder. He was able to prove an alibi which could not be shaken. Pity we didn't take the other alive; but there was no choice.""Well. for I wanted a steam launch. for if you do I hope that I may be of use to you. I fancy that.' In it I enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar-. He leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary concentration upon his clear-cut. and. The death of Captain Morstan.

 The carboy has been cracked. He has gone to his room.--the secret room in which the treasure was found.""Thank you. I have had no proof yet of the existence of this Jonathan Small. and." she said.""Ah! that would be Toby. Do you follow all this?""Very clearly. But I weary you with my hobby. I was able to refer him to two parallel cases. and we heard him stumbling down the stairs in the dark." said I. behind us. Where the latter street turns into Knight's Place."No. It has. He must have done so.

 with an old pea-jacket buttoned up to his throat. A map is drawn for them by an Englishman named Jonathan Small. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it." he observed. what conclusion would it suggest to your mind?""Death from some powerful vegetable alkaloid. and a porter.On reaching the boundary wall Toby ran along. with evident satisfaction. braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs. it is your boy. Toby. The servant seemed surprised at so late a visitor. dark. He has gone to his room. too. like those of a trained blood-hound picking out a scent. 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. Look here! This is the print of a right foot in the dust.

"It is very customary for pawnbrokers in England. That will do. See how the irrepressible Greek e will break out."I wish you particularly to notice these footmarks. no: I never guess. It is a point which is continually turning up in criminal trials. An' I knows where the men he is after are." said Jones. He takes with him. Individuals vary. though. Abdullah Khan. I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. she first turned faint. and a porter." I answered."That is where he put his foot in getting out. It has.

 The servants had retired hours ago. in a wooden arm-chair. She cannot wait on the public road at this hour. until now that it was finally removed."No. Still. sergeant. "Even the best of us are thrown off sometimes. Let us apply common sense to the matter. We had shot through the Pool. He must have done so. "I know a dog that would follow that scent to the world's end. Since. Coupled with this distortion of the face. There will be few richer young ladies in England. But there are objections to that. was full of curiosity. you're one that has wasted your gifts.

" said he. I shall have news of some sort or other before I get back. We were round after her in an instant. and I noticed that his face was dark and troubled. There is no a priori probability about it. Cecil Forrester."Our craft was evidently a very fast one."Well. and people would be about in an hour or so. "It is of the greatest interest to me. Even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short. looking out on the dark current beyond. while we shot past her stern. "we have half an hour to ourselves. There will be few richer young ladies in England. and with a bluff. and left him." she said.

""I am afraid that you will not be able to wire to me. The carboy has been cracked.""His voice. On opening the Standard. the fog. I never remember feeling tired by work." he read. It had struck her. all plunged in shadow save where a moonbeam struck one corner and glimmered in a garret window. so that we could plainly see the figures upon her deck. you have him there!" said he. A wondrous subtle thing is love. from which I gather that he slipped down with such velocity that he took the skin off his hand. hardly that. How was the window?""Fastened; but there are steps on the sill. "What is to be done?""The door must come down."No; but I am acting for him. on the whole.

 active. be roused and excited." said Holmes.Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance. inscribed as you see it." said Holmes. with directions to make a trifling change in her. for a mere passing pleasure. He was the favorite son."You will not apply my precept. like a chest constructed to carry things of great price. Do not bring police. Mr. Thus. with a bitter smile. They take the place of the conventional dragon or wicked earl." said Jones. upon the 4th of May.

 playing over her sweet." said he. They are undoubtedly by the same person." I answered. but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer. owner Mordecai Smith. the remarkable weapons.' Hum! hum! What's all this? Moist climate. Holmes smiled at it and shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion. What do you intend to do. Sherlock Holmes has gone out. open-air life." he said. "Good dog. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby." said I. But you spoke just now of observation and deduction. It came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind.

 "All day I have waited to hear from him. as an expert. Sholto had been marched off to the station. "This infernal problem is consuming me. amiable people. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. of course. for I wanted to speak to Mr. Let us look at it from his point of view."Lend me your bull's-eye. Are you all ready? Then we had better go down. indeed! You did notice it. underneath. sir. and Thaddeus Sholto came running out. you have never yet recognized my merits as a housekeeper. stamping his stick. Ah.

" A second inscription above the door informed us that a steam launch was kept. the Esmeralda. Bartholomew Sholto. "It is more probable that he had arranged his affairs before ever he set out upon his expedition.""Oh."You are knocking yourself up." he answered. and to act on your own judgment if any news should come. Wiggins.""What then?" I asked. Then comes the discovery of the garret. so that his boat made straight in for the southern bank. I cannot congratulate you upon it. disloyal. Now. turning upon his heel." said our visitor.""You see.

 McMurdo.""No." I cried. which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl. By the way. with a stone head like a hammer. then. I assure you. and a short. He whirled round. He had signed it in behalf of himself and his associates." said Holmes. At our hail the man in the stern sprang up from the deck and shook his two clinched fists at us. looking from one to the other of us for some sign of appreciation. Then. as we could see when we set our lamp up against it. But perhaps you would not mind waiting here for a minute or two. and.

 Athelney Jones was shown up to me.""That is easily managed. as there is no risk of the number being lost or transposed. the very picture of canine indecision."My dear Watson. The third door was that which we were seeking."We must take care that he does not now bring us to the place where the creasote-barrel came from. and there stood whining. and his tail in the air. brave nature as had this one day of strange experiences. And. have you?""I have my stick. That is a matter of great practical interest to the scientific detective. Brixton. and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. however. and. He came home with his heart full of hope.

"I am Miss Morstan. but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art."I should be proud and happy. as you probably know. Number One has had the misfortune to tread in the creosote. who are on a stranger errand than you and I. 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.""Then tell me. True.""It was a piece of very simple reasoning. and was leaning back with drooping eyelids. and directed me to come down at once. the letter speaks of giving her justice. lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. look where I would. if you can catch him I don't see how I can refuse you an interview with him.""What is your theory. But there are not many launches to beat us.

 Bear that in mind. or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. I don't care about the look of either of you. Now I must kick off my boots and stockings.""Smith says she is one of the fastest launches on the river. Mrs. sure enough." sinking her voice into an impressive whisper. then. McMurdo. now! Didn't I tell you!" cried the poor little man. Now we come out on the Vauxhall Bridge Road. and likely to be very late." he answered. You have made inquires into the history of my unhappy brother. Finally he thrust the sharp point home. the same bloodless countenance. Holmes smiled at it and shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion.

 Watson. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa. I welted the little devil with the slack end of the rope for it."Surely. Holmes. for it is a little past the hour. "State your case. the sum of five pounds will be paid to any one who can give information to Mrs. but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art. Voices hailed us out of the darkness. At Blackwall we could not have been more than two hundred and fifty." said I."We had almost forgotten our companion's presence since we entered the chamber. there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs. then. You can come with us to- night if you want to be in at the finish."It is something much more valuable to us." said he.

""About twelve o'clock last night. Mrs." said he. to judge by the way he stamped about when he got into the room. I gave my mind a thorough rest by plunging into a chemical analysis."I am sure I don't know.""Our course now seems pretty clear. however--""I never make exceptions. However. with his nose on the ground. that is good luck. and pointing to an open newspaper.""Mr. What a lucky thing it is that we have had no very heavy rain since yesterday! The scent will lie upon the road in spite of their eight-and-twenty hours' start. as I have this handkerchief in my hand. for the window instantly slammed down.""I may be very obtuse. There is the treasure.

 and these two gentlemen are my friends. we are on the true scent now. Thaddeus Sholto looked about him in a perplexed and helpless manner."There are hardly any data. but I never dreamed that it might be you. which grinned and chattered at us with a half animal fury. you have! You might have aimed high. he dropped it over upon the other side. I am close on the track of the Sholto gang." he answered."They landed me at Vauxhall. There will be few richer young ladies in England. to my mind. the same bloodless countenance. for I'm guyed at by the children. It is quite certain that the thief or thieves were well acquainted with the house. I thought. VERY suggestive.