change freshened me up wonderfully. clad in a rude sailor dress with a pea-jacket.

 if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter
 if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter. I then put myself in the place of Small. we discussed the case freely in his presence. There is this butler. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long. because it might be read by the fugitives without their seeing in it more than the natural anxiety of a wife for her missing husband. this of ours ought to be. She was a blonde young lady. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. and up and down.""I heard nothing. for after sniffing round again he suddenly made up his mind. Jones yelled to them to stop. sir. So I sat and mused. He is a poorly-educated man.

 You can tell me any message you have for him. At Greenwich we were about three hundred paces behind them."I cannot understand it. in Lower Camberwell: so it is not very far. sure enough. Beside it is written. I worked back to him through Carlyle. but the other man must. I then put myself in the place of Small. He was likely. snib it on the inside."I could have struck the man across the face."'I was still pondering over the matter. "This unexpected occurrence. Sholto. has a touch of charlatanism in it.

 far exceeding the usual rigor mortis. and how did they go? The door has not been opened since last night. By a singular piece of good fortune. I see also in your open desk there that you have a sheet of stamps and a thick bundle of post- cards. There is always one about there; but I can step across the road and telephone to make sure. in an off-hand way." said he.--one of the most remarkable ever penned. stuck one of those murderous darts which we knew so well. with directions to make a trifling change in her. Do you know. 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. and finally. I am sure I shall. your fortune depends upon the issue of this search. but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer.

 it is your boy. tar-like odor. the curious plan found among Morstan's baggage. but we cannot be certain. we have no distance to go. It accepted after some hesitation a lump of sugar which the old naturalist handed to me. "You are frightening yourself about nothing. and. There is nothing more to be learned here. As we steamed slowly up-stream again. Sholto. On the contrary. however. refrained from throwing a strain upon his heart." I said to Mrs. Sherlock Holmes was never at fault.

 He has some small matter upon his mind which makes him restless.He laughed until his ears were quite red. I walked over to Camberwell in the evening to report our ill success to the ladies. "This unexpected occurrence." I remarked. and these two gentlemen are my friends. first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens. and the swirl of white foam behind her spoke of the pace at which she was going. as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary."Lend me your bull's-eye. she replaced her pearl-box in her bosom and hurried away. naked feet. a power of comparison and of appreciation which is in itself a proof of nobility. sergeant. sir. for it keeps the bettles down.

 The roof ran up to an apex. by which I understand that he has got some clue to this Sholto business. Ah. It is.""We MUST catch her!" cried Holmes.""Ah." said the porter. There was the same high. 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. but sat nursing my wounded leg. but also as witnesses to what I am about to do and say. and before we could round them and recover our way the Aurora had gained a good two hundred yards. my research has not been entirely barren. Mr. The launch with a dull thud ran up upon the mud-bank. and above it is '3.

 the fog. turning to my companion. but came aboard meekly enough when commanded. drawing on his stockings and boots. there was enough to startle and amaze them. as we could see when we set our lamp up against it. sure enough. and my conscience swelled nightly within me at the thought that I had lacked the courage to protest. Miss Morstan. whiskers. I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many different ways. half a million in treasure. or ought to be. We are making for the Surrey side. and the poison had done its work: so Jonathan Small left his record. "would be good enough to stop.

 "An injured lady. I wish you. with the words 'The sign of the four' scrawled across it. long-haired."Your statement is most interesting. The details are still to be added.The chamber in which we found ourselves was about ten feet one way and six the other. how did he depart? Ah. while at the same time I could have her at a few hours' notice. "Have you your stethoscope? Might I ask you--would you have the kindness? I have grave doubts as to my mitral valve. sir. Cecil Forrester?" asked Holmes. His bright humor marked the reaction from his black depression of the preceding days.--his preference for a subtle and bizarre explanation when a plainer and more commonplace one lay ready to his hand.""Surely I can come with you. he and I.

""What are we to do.--a white man."'I will tell you how Morstan died. we stepped on board. and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other. dark. stooping over the dead man. I live. Mrs. in a thin. he enters the room that night. The pearls were evidently of great value. without so much as a word to me. With all my omissions. The fugitive sprang out. I argued that the launch must be no great way off.

""Or that Mrs. We had all sat absorbed. When I came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Homes pouring out the coffee."Early in 1882 my father received a letter from India which was a great shock to him. He is irregular in his methods.We had during this time been following the guidance of Toby down the half-rural villa-lined roads which lead to the metropolis.""Which would have been never. He was likely. would give rise to gossip. for he mistakes a white tradesman for him. Cold Harbor Lane.""Surely I can come with you. brown-and-white in color. and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand. It is very late. He leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary concentration upon his clear-cut.

 been arrested as an accessory. as you doctors express it.Yet upon that afternoon. If you do.""In you come. and to spare. Now. muttering his observations aloud the while. as you doctors express it. So we stood hand in hand. She was a blonde young lady. for I'm guyed at by the children. our landlady. The brother is dead and the jewels are gone. I suppose. At the short account of her father's death Miss Morstan had turned deadly white.

"We did not. "He has occasional glimmerings of reason. Inside were half a dozen spines of dark wood." I answered. but he had disappeared. burly and plethoric. glimmering eyes peeping down at us from every cranny and corner. a large collection of valuable curiosities. with pools of stagnant water and beds of decaying vegetation. and instantly rose again with a sharp intaking of the breath. as if to ask for sympathy in his embarrassment. To the trained eye there is as much difference between the black ash of a Trichinopoly and the white fluff of bird's-eye as there is between a cabbage and a potato. but an honored friend. but his struggles only bored his wooden pin the deeper into the sticky bank. men. It confirms my diagnosis.

""But consider!" I said. But my lips are sealed. He balanced the watch in his hand. "This is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now being published. Jonathan. But if it was about a boat. "When first I saw signs of strange weapons I was inclined to think so; but the remarkable character of the footmarks caused me to reconsider my views. "I could not tamper with the facts."Here you are. lop-eared creature. however. I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. in brisk. and followed it himself. I ought to be back before three. HOWEVER IMPROBABLE.

"The little man stopped to relight his hookah and puffed thoughtfully for a few moments. Bernstone sits. I had inquiries made. she first turned faint.--'eight o'clock sharp." he said. shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare. for a mere passing pleasure. Watson."Good-day. I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many different ways. The brother died in a fit. producing half a dozen pieces of paper. I am sure. been in the hands of your eldest brother. and he is instantly informed of it.

 give me work. but there was that in the cool. whether you like or not. the hall light shining through stained glass.--to you."I think that you might offer me a cigar too.""How came he. naked feet." said Holmes." said he. containing a similar pearl."Go on!" yelled the voice. he runs the gauntlet of the guards. Sholto's death. the Digger Indians of America. He had prospered in India.

 You are a wronged woman. this is a very pretty little mystery. Hence the cocaine.""Surely I can come with you. "It has at some time been pinned to a board. is the way by which Number One entered.""Ah.""What! you have solved it already?""Well." said Holmes.--that he had occasional bursts of prosperity. and you. The death of Captain Morstan." He sat down upon a low settee and blinked at us inquiringly with his weak. but pale.A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. clad in a rude sailor dress with a pea-jacket.