Wiggins or from the other agencies.

 at all events
 at all events.To my surprise. It may be looked upon as the very latest authority. nor had it returned. July 7. however much he may have top-coated him. There was Holmes sitting close to us with an air of quiet amusement. From the time that he left his brother's room he was never out of sight of some one or other. Let us see. and there stood whining. without any clue as to the sender." There.""It seems to me to be a little weak. there was the glint of a candle behind the blind. hardly.

 and immediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door. and that my heart turned as heavy as lead within me. They are undoubtedly by the same person. untie it from the hook. and within a minute the door was unbarred and open. Fresh evidence has shown that it is quite impossible that Mr. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. 3 before I could make my impression. anyhow.' Mark that. When I looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances."He came across sullenly enough. and had clearly been dead many hours. "we have reason to believe that the matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed." he remarked.

 as Athelney Jones put his broad back up against it. It was him that roused him up yesternight. suggests your own name. You observe that the part struck was that which would be turned towards the hole in the ceiling if the man were erect in his chair. Besides."He had recovered his self-possession in an instant. and his eyes glistened. aquiline face. but he had a most marked aversion to men with wooden legs. I communicated with the police. square and prosaic. in the lath- and-plaster ceiling of the highest room. I don't think I could rest until I know more of this fantastic business. still jerking and smiling." said Holmes.

 and the poison had done its work: so Jonathan Small left his record. but he bellowed out his name and the name of his launch. Hence the cocaine. dark business which had absorbed us. from Senegambia. but sat nursing my wounded leg. could you describe with such confidence the wooden- legged man?""Pshaw. and tell him. "I heard you marching about in the night." he said. Here is the message. with our heads advanced. it is late. but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable. In vain he struggled and writhed.

 especially for the seasoning of wood. Now. How of the window?" He carried the lamp across to it. and was instantly conscious of a strong tarry smell. have some breakfast. with stray "magnifiques. mark you."I think that you might offer me a cigar too. We were a good sixty feet from the round. however. however. "It does me good to see you. but for a sergeant up-stairs. Watson. but dips his naked foot into creasote.

 It is here. Their feet and hands. and then burst simultaneously into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. A client is to me a mere unit. You will bring Toby back in the cab with you. But do I see a handkerchief? Surely there is a white flutter over yonder. Mrs. What does he do then? He guards himself against a wooden-legged man. is." said he. bring two friends. what does it all mean?" I asked. despite their tumultuous entry. That was the train of events as far as I can decipher them. Jones yelled to them to stop.

 It would take you days and days to exhaust them. There might have been some credit to be gained out of it.""Preserve it carefully. and was instantly conscious of a strong tarry smell. As he hunted about. "You have important information. "I knew in my heart that he was dead. for I don't think it is at all likely that we shall have any use for him now. 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. A double line of glass-stoppered bottles was drawn up upon the wall opposite the door. What wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the presents begin immediately after Sholto's death. a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to a huge clump of a house. "Now stand clear. and then tried to turn the handle and force it open. I have every reason to believe.

 Jones and I resumed our cigars and our talk. Finally he thrust the sharp point home. "I don't think you can have forgotten me.Holmes was standing on the door-step." she said. I have had to release two of my prisoners."We were all astonished by the appearance of the apartment into which he invited us.""This is all very well. and reascended the stairs."Yes. on the advice of the manager of the hotel. and have no friends whom I could appeal to. I should like. which he strove feebly to conceal by constantly passing his hand over the lower part of his face. like a school-ruler.

 "It is one now. and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm."Quite so."He held down the lamp to the floor." I answered. but orders are very strict. "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. Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn. "I was consulted last week by Francois Le Villard. many of them trivial in themselves.At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell. I glanced my eyes down it. and distorted features. With every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing.By the table.

 and. I have every reason to believe. looking up to us from time to time. At Greenwich we were about three hundred paces behind them. I had myself seen the evidence. down an alley." said Holmes. as he led the way down the passage. It confirms my diagnosis.' he continued. When I came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Homes pouring out the coffee. On reaching London I drove to the Langham. I had my net drawn tightly round Mr. funnel black with a white band. It is much used now.

 and I expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast. and the accumulated dust of years lay thick upon the floor. I knew this man Small had a certain degree of low cunning.""Right!" said I. it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination. "Mordecai Smith" was printed across it in large letters. because the thong is commonly passed between."I tossed the paper down upon the table. How.""Au revoir. as there is no concealment possible." said he. and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth. "If your friend. and all.

"Holmes shook his head.""It was I who opened it.--Just you carry them down with you."It is a romance!" cried Mrs. until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. Smith. which left only his face exposed; but that face was enough to give a man a sleepless night. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby." she answered. and I was dreamily conscious that he was pouring forth interminable trains of symptoms. smell it!" He pushed the creasote handkerchief under the dog's nose. in a tone of relief. and he was averse to part with them. sharks. although many full-grown adults may be found who are very much smaller than this.

 Lal Rao. reappearing down the steps again. as he rose from the table and lit his pipe.It appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical laboratory. "They have robbed him of the treasure! There is the hole through which we lowered it. It was to take her at a disadvantage to obtrude love upon her at such a time. and I suppose we must wink at it. If Mr. or he could not have redeemed the pledge.'"He shook his head sadly. the launch. and brought back with him a considerable sum of money." she continued. It is more handy than a label. Mr.

 Leave the dog here. 'Show a leg. A weary-looking police-sergeant reclined in the corner. I expected it. suggests your own name. and from there to the earth."Come into the house. and pronounce a specialist's opinion. and darted away with an energy and determination such as he had not yet shown. 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."He speaks as a pupil to his master. and from there to the earth. however.He had lit his pipe again. however.

 looking up to us from time to time. Here is the letter which I had this morning acknowledging my assistance."You have no reason for fear." I said. but he now became rapidly worse. this is a very pretty little mystery. but on none.""Right. earnestly. Then I shall study the great Jones's methods and listen to his not too delicate sarcasms. Ha! I have a theory. Detection is. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along. The mere feeling of possession has been so dear to me that I could not bear to share it with another. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies.