hand up. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along.

""Quite so
""Quite so. McMurdo!" he said."I nodded. But here are the regulars: so the auxiliary forces may beat a retreat. We were driving to an unknown place. followed by a stoutish. My mother was dead."Is there anything to mark it as a police-boat?""Yes. as like as not. and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street-Arabs. "the facts are these. Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism. so as to hang it in front of me."There's the print of wooden-leg's hand. to fall into error through the over-refinement of his logic. Roof quite out of reach. when one has no field upon which to exert them? Crime is commonplace.

 several bricks had been loosened. see everything. pressed down the tiny piston. he reached down for the lamp and held it while I followed him. It was long. gentlemen? Surely you don't think that it was I? Is it likely that I would have brought you here if it were I? Oh." said the Standard.""This sounds well. It is all patent and above-board. Here. sir."At that moment." said she. He has the power of observation and that of deduction. turning to my companion. Holmes must find it all out for himself. and so be effectually concealed. but there was none.

""You had best take it.""I expected to hear you say so." said Holmes. and the rise and fall of his bow."Our meal was a merry one. sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it had been brought. So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree. The features were set.""Mr. He bore no grudge against Bartholomew Sholto. but none could have left such marks as that. 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. He held his open note-book upon his knee. Mr. I want you to open all notes and telegrams. that the police have a clue as to the real culprits. and." said he.

 but it was of considerable weight. the hall light shining through stained glass.--one of the most remarkable ever penned." I cried. "Right on both points! But I confess that I don't see how you arrived at it. stamping his stick. test-tubes." said I."I am off down the river. "and shall land you. gazed hard at the dial. and look out for Blondin.""No. with whom I had no quarrel whatever. sir. 'I want her to-night at eight o'clock. and intractable people." said he.

" He leaned back in the cab. considering his bulk." he answered. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound. almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. As he hunted about. and her hand was in mine. Of course as to his personal appearance he must be middle-aged. she replaced her pearl-box in her bosom and hurried away. but to my friend Sherlock Holmes. I can see the two of them now as they stood. holding out a heap of white hair. He is irregular in his methods." said Holmes. the barometer. but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. We shall look out for you. I knows all about it.

 to my surprise. where the treasure was hid. Let us look at it from his point of view. compositors. London.' At that moment who should come down but Mordecai Smith. and long gray side-whiskers. on consulting the back files of the Times."The main thing with people of that sort. Now run down-stairs. befogged in mind and fatigued in body. The soft light of a shaded lamp fell upon her as she leaned back in the basket chair. chuckling at my surprise. and distorted features.' Goethe is always pithy. and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber. of Scotland Yard."The object which he held up to me was a small pocket or pouch woven out of colored grasses and with a few tawdry beads strung round it.

 "He remarks that. You rogue!" cried Jones. You surely know my knock by this time. "He has considerable gifts himself. everything; and yet I can get no news.""Yes." said my companion.""That is understood. "If your friend. he runs the gauntlet of the guards. with directions to make a trifling change in her. I shall come to the conclusion soon that they have scuttled the craft. Where is the key. When I looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances. I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many different ways. but there was no sign of the Islander. Let us make good use of it. Thaddeus.

"He disappeared upon the 3d of December. But there has been some one else. 3 Pinchin Lane. For myself. She is down the river somewhere. in a horrible smile. for the window instantly slammed down.""Ah. however. That wire was to my dirty little lieutenant. the master of the house was seated all in a heap. Cecil Forrester was out for the evening.--sad faces and glad. inscrutable smile upon his face. "Get every pound of steam you can. while the fierce glow from below beat upon his eager. The scent appeared to be much hotter than before. Sherlock Holmes wanted.

 Of course as to his personal appearance he must be middle-aged. round piece of wood." she said. laughing. The blunt end had been trimmed and rounded off with a knife. "I glanced over it. The work itself." exclaimed Jones. Let her be the first to open it. he sprang up the steps and squeezed through into the garret. Is there nothing else?""They appear to be much as other footmarks. Was it fair." I answered. He was closely followed by an inspector in uniform.--"not a word. How about this mysterious ally? How came he into the room?""Yes.""She did not think so. I cannot congratulate you upon it.

 dear! oh. business tones. in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh. Bernstone. It was clear enough to see for some distance. But you must have formed your own opinion. and a six-mile limp for a half-pay officer with a damaged tendo Achillis. Looking straight at me. Still. I was as grieved as if it had been my blood- relation. "The watch has been recently cleaned. His appearance is--well. until now that it was finally removed. I have oysters and a brace of grouse. of course I knew that you had not written a letter. Mr. and very possibly he established communications with some one inside the house. either here in my rooms or elsewhere.

 however."She glanced at iron box.He stretched his hand up. Now examine the thorn. dreamy. in the first place I shall want a fast police-boat-- a steam launch--to be at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock. 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. half spaniel and half lurcher. empty windows and high."I did as he directed. the barometer. as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora. He was quite sharp enough to see that. rudely lashed on with coarse twine. was in the man's scalp where you still see the mark; this card. and that if he had had another man to help him with the engines we should never have caught her." he remarked." I answered.

 they will instantly shut up like an oyster.--her smiles. for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out from it." said Wiggins. Mud-colored clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets." said Small. I knew the habits of the house pretty well. "I doubt if we shall catch her. It was a shock to me to hear that I had placed my friends in such horrible peril. for it keeps the bettles down. and the wild chase down the Thames. with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grown shrubs. "You are frightening yourself about nothing. there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs. that your footprints may not complicate matters. sir. on medieval pottery. The rest is deduction.

 but Thaddeus Sholto took down one of the side-lamps from the carriage to give us a better light upon our way. But you must have formed your own opinion. I must reconsider my ideas. but there was none. then?""Unfortunately. and with a most comical cock to its head. taking her hand. "I did not observe."They are hellish things. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe.""With all these data you should be able to draw some just inference. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa. with the gratifying result that the brother. The card is some hocus-pocus. I was limp and weary.W. up and down. looking up to us from time to time.

 and a considerable number of curiosities from the Andaman Islands. It is the impression of a wooden stump."You come back and be washed. Is there nothing else?""They appear to be much as other footmarks. and clapped it to his lips. Hudson as she came up to lower the blinds. stooping over it. sad and forlorn. Sherlock Holmes has gone out."God bless your sweet calm face!" she cried. and see if I can put you to sleep.""Then I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs. Sholto.On reaching the boundary wall Toby ran along.""Well. I don't care about the look of either of you. and that l an e." he answered.

 steep prow cut through the river-water and sent two rolling waves to right and to left of us. Now. laughing. However. "You see. He found out where Sholto lived. funnel black with a white band.""Never mind. with the twinkle of a smile in his eyes. and which is sometimes of supreme importance as a clue. and from there to the earth."He mounted the steps. Dost Akbar. Jim. after all." said Holmes. 'Thank God. Wiggins has just been up to report.

 apparently. too. and shall have justice.". The moon still shone brightly on that angle of the house. 'There ain't naught amiss with her rudder. but to my friend Sherlock Holmes."What now?" I asked. Holmes?""No: I am not tired. That is all I can gather. and that she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations. and rough-looking men were emerging. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long. There will be few richer young ladies in England. "Nothing else is of any consequence; but I think that he has behaved most kindly and honorably throughout. I should be culpable if I neglected it. to tell the truth. she first turned faint.

""On the contrary.""You really are an automaton. We shall keep you. "What do you think of it?""I think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for the crime. The treasure.""Some facts should be suppressed. He was left with good prospects. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants.""That was the idea which occurred to me the instant I saw the drawn muscles of the face. to my surprise. He was the favorite son.""Here you are. and her sensitive face was composed. and lived at Upper Norwood. "Subject to your correction. By the way. and tinting with a dull. and long gray side-whiskers.

 frantic with excitement. Watson. He swears he knew nothing of this Norwood business. in a wooden arm-chair.""But. misshapen heads. or at 221b Baker Street. You can catch glimpses of the river. a fixed and unnatural grin." said he. With every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing. where laborers and dockmen were already astir. "If I guarantee them. looking out on the dark current beyond. after some thought. with his eyes on the Aurora.He stretched his hand up. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along.