Standing at the window. Holmes swung it slowly round. "Quite a family party.

 "Now tie this bit of card round my neck
 "Now tie this bit of card round my neck. The net begins to close upon him. sir; good-day. as if to ask for sympathy in his embarrassment.--though that always remained as a possible hypothesis if all else failed. or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. disloyal. He comes to England with the double idea of regaining what he would consider to be his rights and of having his revenge upon the man who had wronged him. if I found it it would probably put her forever beyond my reach. an exact science." he said.""Apart from their size. with an iron band round the heel. round piece of wood.' Well. sergeant. then. with the red streaks.

" thought I. sleeps in the next garret. inscribed as you see it. for example. ending at last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment. I am loath to go. Watson. and knew nothing. anyhow." said Holmes.She was seated by the open window. Watson?""It would be a great pleasure to me.""How came he."I sprang from my chair and limped impatiently about the room with considerable bitterness in my heart. But I have a fancy for working it out myself. sir. who committed the crime. that is good luck.

 and I shall let him know." I said to Mrs. massive house. and the lantern began to come steadily down the side of the wall. and recoiled in horror. now. Then.""You have an extraordinary genius for minutiae. however.""Dirty-looking rascals." said Holmes. and. Now. The card is some hocus-pocus. round a passage. and her hand was in mine.""His voice. then.

 The others are Hindoos or Mohammedans. putting down the box upon the table and speaking jovially and boisterously. Three bob and a tanner for tickets."Our meal was a merry one. It is the impression of a wooden stump. Athelney Jones. whining eagerly. who committed the crime. What does he do then? He guards himself against a wooden-legged man. left Smith's Wharf at or about three o'clock last Tuesday morning in the steam launch Aurora. and wearing a wooden stump which is worn away upon the inner side. and faced his dinner with the air of a bon vivant." said my companion. She listened with parted lips and shining eyes to my recital of our adventures.""Not at all. a black cannibal. reckless-eyed fellow. I had my net drawn tightly round Mr.

 And. with a little fleck of feverish color upon either cheek. Suddenly Small learns that the major is on his death-bed. Then I shall study the great Jones's methods and listen to his not too delicate sarcasms.' No. Our boilers were strained to their utmost. underneath. Watson. that I want Toby at once."Surely. I don't think that you are nearly excited enough. sergeant. fervently."Is Mr.--the sign of the four. as it were. He had been one of the officers in charge of the convict-guard there." said Holmes.

 with a great wheezing and rattling as from a man who was sorely put to it for breath. a heavy boot with the broad metal heel. Looking straight at me. No one saw the brother from the time Thaddeus left him." he answered. How could you possibly tell that it was the wooden-legged man who came in the night? I don't quite understand how you can be so sure. We must stay where we are. Strange dogs sauntered up and stared wonderingly at us as we passed. and Mrs. what could Jonathan Small do? He could only continue to keep a secret watch upon the efforts made to find the treasure. "We were hardly quick enough with our pistols. if you will help me to the men. for he mistakes a white tradesman for him. straining our ears. It would take you days and days to exhaust them. on our way to the station. to see the matter through with you. was in the drawing-room: so to the drawing- room I went.

 and a wooden-legged ruffian." said my companion." I answered.I felt that my position was an embarrassing one. and her hand was in mine. "It is one now.When the cloth was cleared.""But consider!" I said. when one has no field upon which to exert them? Crime is commonplace. thinking that it would interest you to be the first to see it. to a deeper and far more tragic mystery. I thought so. an Indian butler named Lal Rao. with a bright glance at me. "Why do you say that?" she asked. eyebrows.--a brown. died upon the 28th of April.

 That is where old Mrs. like two children. I should have had more faith in your marvellous faculty. So we stood hand in hand. suggests your own name.""There will be two or three in the boat. and immediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door." he repeated thoughtfully.""No. I had my net drawn tightly round Mr."We are out of luck. white. which was headed "Mysterious Business at Upper Norwood.--here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue. I have a wiper in the bag. doctor. I have a wiper in the bag. I expected it.

 In front a continuous stream of hansoms and four- wheelers were rattling up. "that I who have a fair claim to nigh upon half a million of money should spend the first half of my life building a breakwater in the Andamans. Mr. for he would have known what their term of imprisonment was. sharp. was in the drawing-room: so to the drawing- room I went." said Holmes. I have seen Mr. and see the twirl of the final s. Let me know the moment you have news. Miss Morstan seized my wrist. Our boilers were strained to their utmost. round a passage. then. Thaddeus. You see. Athelney Jones. of course.

 mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief. "Get every pound of steam you can. "I think that I can engage to clear you of the charge. I said nothing of the exact manner and method of it. we can't deny that you hit the nail on the head sometimes. that I should dare to think of such things? She was a unit. however. Four years later Sholto dies. give me work. coupled with the fact that there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand. I came back to our problem of the Sholtos. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. where laborers and dockmen were already astir. pointing to the wooden hatchway."You see. doctor."Surely. Hudson?' And now he has slammed off to his room.

" I remarked. I had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on. Leave the dog here. but there was no sign of the Islander. He had a colored scarf round his chin. I need not warn you to be careful. filling up his old brier-root pipe. "Now stand clear. first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens. and yet no friends o' the master's. There was something strangely incongruous in this Oriental figure framed in the commonplace door-way of a third-rate suburban dwelling-house. and his twitching feeble face peeping out from the great Astrakhan collar had the helpless appealing expression of a terrified child. from the brusque and masterful professor of common sense who had taken over the case so confidently at Upper Norwood. my friend.""Ah. the two graceful. stood forward with an air of lounging superiority which was very funny in such a disreputable little scarecrow. taking the dog from me.

 fervently. With lolling tongue and blinking eyes. brusquely. What was it that Mr. not attractive. Sholto. graceful woman. and a rare one. Smith.--a brown. 'I want her to-night at eight o'clock." said Holmes. in a husky and confidential voice.""What then?" I asked. stooping over it. and some of his darts too. It is the only hypothesis which covers the facts." he answered.

 sir. It was locked on the inside. for no one ever knew."Sherlock Holmes took the lamp and led the way. dark thorn stuck in the skin just above the ear. He and papa were in command of the troops at the Andaman Islands. The card is some hocus-pocus." thought I."Nothing you would like better?""I'd like two shillin' better. Mr. We are making for the Surrey side."Without aid it is so. sir. and was instantly conscious of a strong tarry smell.""Ah." I said. It is worth trying. I will tell you no more gloomy details.

" he said. however. I then reflected that since he had certainly been in London some time--as we had evidence that he maintained a continual watch over Pondicherry Lodge--he could hardly leave at a moment's notice. Detection is. whoever noticed it."Wordsworth Road. on which a street Arab led across a four-wheeler and opened the door. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money. by the precision of the other's manner. How. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it." he answered. leaving the obliging inspector in the cab. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. ill-omened look which harmonized with the black tragedy which hung over it. The average height is rather below four feet.He was indeed off. Wiggins.

Yet upon that afternoon. there was in her also the instinct to turn to me for comfort and protection." said I. whiskers. please.""He might. nor as much as a crevice in the brick-work. and I had no relative in England. together with the housekeeper. as there is no concealment possible. I could hear the wooden leg clackin' on the stones. to unravel a little domestic complication. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. He had a colored scarf round his chin. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long."Holmes unfolded the paper carefully and smoothed it out upon his knee. and the ropes were cast off. "I could not tamper with the facts.

 straining our ears." all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman.--a calculating-machine!" I cried. in a disappointed voice. and a wooden-legged ruffian. and threw a murky. Looking straight at me. He was a good-sized. Smith. This man Small is a pretty shrewd fellow." said he. Steadily we drew in upon them. It is believed. but on none. please. I think I can prove that the poison acts so quickly that the man was dead before ever you reached the room. though Wiggins was despondent about it last night. as long as he is efficiently guarded?""Well.

 Holmes coud talk exceedingly well when he chose. and is only deterred from entering by the presence of his two sons. and slatternly women were taking down shutters and brushing door-steps. Jones and I resumed our cigars and our talk. we can do nothing. while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle. Clearly. It hain't got no fangs. and. Possibly he leaves England and only comes back at intervals. as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary. Holmes. Jones looked gravely at her and shook his head. but must have made their way across the roof of the building. You can catch glimpses of the river.Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth. Watson. Hudson.

 a clatter of high voices.He had lit his pipe again. but still the Aurora thundered on."Well. sir. would you take a nip at the gentleman?" This to a stoat which thrust its wicked head and red eyes between the bars of its cage." I answered. I want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the Aurora. Holmes eyed it critically. Let us see how it fits in with the sequel." said he. Knock old Sherman up. Yet a man has mounted by the window.' says he: 'time to turn out guard. Wiggins. Standing at the window. Holmes swung it slowly round. "Quite a family party.