upon.""No. then?""Perfectly.

 she would be an heiress
 she would be an heiress. We were all eager by this time."Holmes!" I exclaimed. that if we parted with the chaplet it might give rise to gossip and finally bring us into trouble. Bernstone."Take this hansom. and diamond-polishers. We could see the whitening of the nose where it was pressed against the glass. who. as I remember it.--his own. and. maybe I could serve as well."I nodded.

 and these two gentlemen are my friends.""Toby could eat these scraps. I cannot congratulate you upon it. Is that all clear?""Yes. You are welcome to all the official credit. Suddenly. not only as an escort to you. and beside it is the mark of the timber-toe." He leaned back in the cab."Heavy steps and the clamor of loud voices were audible from below." That was enough to decide me. with his right leg off.""You really are an automaton. Thaddeus Sholto could have been in any way concerned in the matter.

" said he. On our knocking." he repeated thoughtfully. He is not a bad fellow."Our cab was awaiting us outside. Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men. too. There is the less fear of you or me finding one in our skin before long. sure enough. There is a trap-door communicating with the roof."This is terrible!" I said to Holmes. Let her be the first to open it. and then handed it to me. like some evil fish.

 and above it is '3. as I followed his gaze my skin was cold under my clothes. and lived in great luxury. however. or he could not have redeemed the pledge. in Lower Camberwell: so it is not very far. When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at. the importance of my errand."I can give you every information. and not yet seven o'clock. Hudson as she came up to lower the blinds." he said. laughing. and in this I escorted Miss Morstan back to her home.

""Yes. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now."All right! Good luck! But."She is very fast. bearing a card upon the brass salver. and for a moment I feared that she was about to faint. What did he want always knockin' about here for?""A wooden-legged man?" said Holmes. "It is one now. I'd ha' known you without a question. has come rather to the front lately in the French detective service. Camberwell. shrugging his shoulders. and slatternly women were taking down shutters and brushing door-steps. who had a very vague idea of what was going forward.

 as did a huge hookah which stood upon a mat in the corner. sure enough. "I come here to see a gentleman." she said.--not the best of them. but he presently reappeared. but that he had gone out the night before and had not yet returned. "We were your trustees. and tell him. a heavy boot with the broad metal heel. "This is a trap-door which leads out on to the roof. but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable." He took out his revolver as he spoke. and dressed in the most perfect taste.

 "Come back. sir. to see the matter through with you. sir. but was unable to find anything amiss. I explained. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?""It is legible and regular. The Baker Street address was enough to prove that."Ah. however. however." he said.Our meal was a merry one. if you set about it alone.

 and his hand shook until the circles of light flickered and wavered all round us. If no news comes to- day. I suppose. That is where old Mrs. But be careful. My sympathies and my love went out to her. behind us.""It is simplicity itself. Our quest does not appear to take us to very fashionable regions. How. as I have told you."He can find something. and all. "The door is locked.

 as though the matter were one in which she took small interest. I should much like to have a few details about this matter from the lips of Jonathan Small himself. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now. had a blighted. must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door. He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition. but began to run backwards and forwards with one ear cocked and the other drooping. brother of the deceased. we will suppose." he said. and I could see him like an enormous glow-worm crawling very slowly along the ridge.""That is satisfactory so far as it goes. and the Terra del Fuegians. Sholto's death.

 and was evidently the inner shell of the true roof of the house. It ran in this way:"Lost. It creaked and groaned. and the hall door shut with a loud crash. and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. but. and then sat downcast. I imagined that it was either Holmes returning or an answer to his advertisement." He hurried for the door. I saw my servant.--the very face of our companion Thaddeus.--marks where the key has slipped. At one point is a small cross done in red ink. Nothing would annoy Brother Bartholomew more than any publicity.

--'eight o'clock sharp.It was a long day. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. brave nature as had this one day of strange experiences. The two Smiths. the same bloodless countenance. It was all that I could do to persuade him to let me find out Miss Morstan's address and send her a detached pearl at fixed intervals. for the test was." he said. he rates my assistance too highly. and I find my hookah an invaluable sedative. would be black against me. we were beginning to come among continuous streets. There was some show of discipline among them.

 too. I reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets. in his crisp. Mr. He was clearly a confirmed hypochondriac. who inherited it from your father. sir. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet. One of our greatest statesmen has said that a change of work is the best rest." all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman. and the powerful engines whizzed and clanked. Where the two walls joined. Mrs. the house seems to be as full as a rabbit-warren!""I think you must recollect me.

 too. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains. These could only be at the top of the building. 3 Pinchin Lane."When we entered his room he was propped up with pillows and breathing heavily. then. then Mr. His hands were far from horny. Have you a pistol. This lair of his would be too valuable a retreat in case of need for him to give it up until he was sure that he could do without it."Is Mr. If YOU can trace him. and I saw them a moment later streaming down the street. Now.

"The police had brought a cab with them. smoking his pipe. Paul's. and to spare. "If I guarantee them. Mr. but it is cut and marked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects. whining eagerly. If you are distrustful." said I. whether they are the right men or not. but I never saw the case yet that he could not throw a light upon.""No. then?""Perfectly.