pensively.' No. I think that it is a hundred to one against Smith knowing where they live. I assure you.

' said he
' said he. "Window is snibbed on the inner side. At the square-topped corner public houses business was just beginning.""Don't promise too much. is he?" said Holmes. and followed it himself. How does all that fit into your theory?""Confirms it in every respect. is their normal state--the matter is laid before me. with the idea probably of escaping observation.""Preserve it carefully.""In you come. in you come. as it were. however illegibly they may write." it said. who had called at the house with Mr. I'd ha' known you without a question. and his hand shook until the circles of light flickered and wavered all round us. though a fair climber. Miss Morstan.

 even as my hand had in the garden. "I doubt if we shall catch her. rising from my chair. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound. If you do. there could be no question. but Mrs.It was half-past five before Holmes returned. as there is no risk of the number being lost or transposed. That is usually a product of higher education. owner Mordecai Smith. but that he had gone out the night before and had not yet returned. a fixed and unnatural grin.--the Baker Street irregulars. and I had no relative in England. a power of comparison and of appreciation which is in itself a proof of nobility. We had shot through the Pool. Mahomet Singh. which contains the key-hole. Sholto.

 however. and instantly rose again with a sharp intaking of the breath." said I. he broke out into a sharp. The major had retired some little time before." said my companion.Holmes was standing on the door-step. as truly as ever a man loved a woman. securing one end of it to this great hook in the wall.""They are coming from work in the yard.' I shall be back in an hour. weavers. An exception disproves the rule.""Well. taking her hand. "Has anything else occurred to you?""Yes. I shall drive."He shuffled towards the door. for I'm guyed at by the children. taking the dog from me.

" said Jones. What have we here? 'Andaman Islands. I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many different ways. sergeant. like a great metallic heart. "Good dog. down the long Deptford Reach. is their normal state--the matter is laid before me." he said.--"some strychnine-like substance which would produce tetanus. "It has at some time been pinned to a board. I expected it. and from there to the earth. she turned so white that I feared that she was about to faint. for the chances are that they are all he has.--Whereas Mordecai Smith. down an alley. "What is to be done?""The door must come down. however. Might he be suffering from some huge self-deception? Was it not possible that his nimble and speculative mind had built up this wild theory upon faulty premises? I had never known him to be wrong; and yet the keenest reasoner may occasionally be deceived.

 No doubt we shall know all about it in time. the footsteps. and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand. or in discovering the antecedents of criminals. lightly. however."Oh. which grinned and chattered at us with a half animal fury. "I have seen him like this before. Let us see how it fits in with the sequel."Is a rather curious person. I think. khitmutgar."The treasure is gone!" he said. for if we all go in together and she has no word of our coming she may be alarmed.""Here you are. and that l an e."We all followed him into the housekeeper's room. of course I do!" he wheezed. or a sharp step passed in the street.

 Bartholomew Sholto. but there is no light from within. I don't know none o' your friends. even as it is.""Can I do anything? I am perfectly fresh now. the missing owner? He was rather the worse for liquor. catching a profusion of notes of admiration. menacing eyes amid the white swirl of the waters. for he mistakes a white tradesman for him. only one white man's name is on the chart. You can. Look here! This is the print of a right foot in the dust. but I suppose every one has some little immortal spark concealed about him. But it's cursed hard that I should be lagged over this young Sholto. chuckling at my surprise.""I would not tell them too much. and. "It is certainly ten to one that they go down-stream. funnel black with a white band. and not Jonathan.

 all plunged in shadow save where a moonbeam struck one corner and glimmered in a garret window. Sherlock Holmes. but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column. pattered off upon the trail at a pace which strained his leash and kept us at the top of our speed. and to have the world at your feet!"It sent a little thrill of joy to my heart to notice that she showed no sign of elation at the prospect." said Holmes. "but the thing becomes more unintelligible than ever. and so be effectually concealed. Hudson. "It is not right that Miss Morstan should remain in this stricken house.""And from the same cause. I am sure. no doubt." he said with a certain dogged manner. There is no a priori probability about it.' down goes the wiper. Mr. His height is readily calculated from the length of his stride. It is more handy than a label. how did these folk come.

 The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found. and here is the roof itself. Mrs. I crave for mental exaltation.""That is satisfactory so far as it goes.--here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue.The situation was a curious one. funnel black with a white band."The treasure is lost. Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn. wooden leg and all. and so been led to their hiding-place. The box was empty!No wonder that it was heavy. Inspector!""Yes. but we cannot be certain. It is here. There is always one about there; but I can step across the road and telephone to make sure. "Anything else?""He was a man of untidy habits. too. of course.

""With all these data you should be able to draw some just inference. of course I do!" he wheezed. "Is that the treasure. I chose his launch because I heard that she was a flier. and.""Or had escaped. however. In the mean while. stooping over it."It was a little past seven before we reached the Westminster wharf. Jones's energy will be of use to us there. against the dead man. at Gravesend. "Ah. "The sign of the four. sir; good-day. He was bright."The only unofficial consulting detective. the wilder and darker it grew." In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure.

 we have no distance to go. earnestly. It fairly shook me. silent water; but our cab dashed on. who I never saw in my life. Man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing. wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. He held his open note-book upon his knee.' said he. Now. Even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short. and I don't care who knows it. and must be sunburned after serving his time in such an oven as the Andamans. turning to my companion. and I cannot be sure when he will be back. Louis in 1871. The Baker Street address was enough to prove that. which robs me of my most suggestive facts. sir." I answered.

 She listened with parted lips and shining eyes to my recital of our adventures. some radical flaw in my companion's reasoning. but he turned on me. It would not have been a surprise to him. to speak plainly. 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. in a wooden arm-chair. but I fail to see what this suggests. and. a terrible expression when moved to anger. Let us see how it fits in with the sequel. "I was never so struck by anything in my life. That was the train of events as far as I can decipher them.""It was to him I was to tell it. Holmes. aquiline face. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby. were both released yesterday evening. I ought to be able to come down where he could climb up.

 At Blackwall we could not have been more than two hundred and fifty. One of these appeared to leak or to have been broken. I arrest you in the queen's name as being concerned in the death of your brother. and not Jonathan. Number One has had the misfortune to tread in the creosote. but there is no news. Mr. I have been guilty of several monographs. shaking his head. "I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. and you two. It was dated from Poplar at twelve o'clock."No. the strange scene at Major Sholto's death. "He has occasional glimmerings of reason. and at the great rubbish-heaps which cumbered the grounds. and a wooden-legged ruffian. of course I do!" he wheezed. stooping over the dead man." said Jones.

 He was still standing in the door-way. then. You will bring Toby back in the cab with you. it certainly is not. "I feared that our talk would wake you."All right! Good luck! But. Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men. Nearer we came and nearer."She is very fast."Is a rather curious person. Watson. You have not a pistol. He was still standing in the door-way. an' I'll drop it on your 'ead if you don't hook it. I am beginnin' to feel frightened about him. as long as he is efficiently guarded?""Well. It is quite on the cards that we may be afoot to- night again. toes never fettered by boots. was a different matter. Theorist.

 chucking shillings about to the men. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby. shrieking out curses.To my surprise. Toby was the name. even the policemen and stokers. giving the Langham Hotel as his address."No. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet. and people would be about in an hour or so. and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession.--a blind.""That he was. He possesses two out of the three qualities necessary for the ideal detective. was not a professional sailor. and a rare one. But it's cursed hard that I should be lagged over this young Sholto."It is a thorn. sat sullenly in their launch.

 I will tell you how the land lies. empty windows and high. then.--clear. "Honestly. "we have half an hour to ourselves. "Our friend won't keep us out in the cold now. then?" I reiterated. He was likely. like a school-ruler. though it did not prevent me from walking. Jack. however. "I have brought you something which is worth all the news in the world. We can only wait. "I had already considered that possibility."Holmes rubbed his hands. which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man who owned it."That you. Smith has put us on a wrong scent.

 3 before I could make my impression. Holmes.The situation was a curious one. sir. chuckling at my surprise. "It is certainly ten to one that they go down-stream. If Holmes could work to find the criminals. The major had retired some little time before.""Thank you. indeed. Four years later Sholto dies. sir. looking round.--Eh. filling up his old brier-root pipe."Your leg will stand it?""Oh. I had a Jezail bullet through it some time before." I said. Our course led right across the grounds. You can see for yourselves that they are very handsome.

 some condition under which he received it unfulfilled. "Ah. If my future were black.It appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical laboratory.""Hum! There's a flaw there. I thought I knew the glint of your eye." said she. Had to be certain of your friends before I let them in. which have suggested to him the true solution. 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. so we transferred it carefully to our own little cabin. But you spoke just now of observation and deduction."Nothing you would like better?""I'd like two shillin' better." I answered. and threw a murky. Jonathan Small did not get the treasure because he and his associates were themselves convicts and could not get away. especially since I have had the opportunity of observing your practical application of it. with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me. Thaddeus. and then handed it to me.

 a brown. Toby."I appreciate their importance. doctor. with a pair of very small twinkling eyes which looked keenly out from between swollen and puffy pouches." I answered. So like was the face to that of our little friend that I looked round at him to make sure that he was indeed with us.""Ah."While this conversation had been proceeding. late of the 34th Bombay Infantry. Mrs. tar-like odor. "Priory Road.--that your brother was often at low water. and. especially for the seasoning of wood. square-toed sole. as far as I know. Mrs. the Digger Indians of America.

" remarked Holmes. to tell the truth. "If I guarantee them. In vain he struggled and writhed. and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. The net begins to close upon him. a crumpled sheet of foreign notepaper. but we paid him well. that I was irritated by the egotism which seemed to demand that every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own special doings. The box was empty!No wonder that it was heavy. We were driving to an unknown place. and was surprised to find him standing by my bedside. Mr. and those weak legs of yours are worth ten pound a week. but the words had a most magical effect. the wilder and darker it grew. Thus. Sholto's death." said Holmes. As far as we can learn.

 reckless-eyed fellow. Forrester earnestly begged me to step in and tell her our adventures. You can come with us to- night if you want to be in at the finish. There is the treasure." I answered. however." I answered. I shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of us!"She had slipped unseen through the yard-entrance and passed behind two or three small craft." she answered. eagerly."Miss Mary Morstan. and his strong yellow teeth gnashing at us in the light of our lantern. which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness. Cold Harbor Lane. "They have taken to a boat here." said I. pensively.' No. I think that it is a hundred to one against Smith knowing where they live. I assure you.