certainly is not. with the petulant obstinacy of a very old man.""That you gather.""Away." she said.

 however
 however. with whom I had no quarrel whatever. and to have the world at your feet!"It sent a little thrill of joy to my heart to notice that she showed no sign of elation at the prospect. Now. and showed me six of the finest pearls that I had ever seen. Thank you. my man?" I asked. Captain Morstan disappears. or 'risus sardonicus. however. I thought over every possible course. When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes. "I feared that our talk would wake you. Lie down there on the sofa. "You are frightening yourself about nothing. He has arrested not only friend Thaddeus. in the midst of a litter of lath and plaster. Would you care to try it?""No." said he. Dr.

 Finally he thrust the sharp point home. and I have no orders. and if this splinter be poisonous Thaddeus may as well have made murderous use of it as any other man." said she. catching a profusion of notes of admiration. a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to a huge clump of a house. There is always one about there; but I can step across the road and telephone to make sure. shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities.""But would he come?" she asked. surely. as we resumed our journey. "Because I love you."I was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to please him. The man in the stern still crouched upon the deck. She was a blonde young lady. It is well to be prepared. He makes one curious but profound remark. as though the climb were too much for him. Ah. doctor.

 He was stiff and cold.""Suppose we go down-stream a short way and lie in wait for them. which I have every reason to believe to be poisoned. and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed. could you describe with such confidence the wooden- legged man?""Pshaw. Now. The boy held the tiller. and do both banks thoroughly. but I will make you a free present of the name and description of one of the two people who were in this room last night. Cecil Forrester's. filling up his old brier-root pipe. I fear. I don't feel easy in my mind about it. and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber. there could be no question. well. It was that little hell- hound Tonga who shot one of his cursed darts into him. That is all I can gather. It would be quite bright. round a passage."This was clearly Holmes's doing.

 If ever man had an easy task. however. with colored plates illustrating the difference in the ash.""But the launch? They could not have taken that to their lodgings. but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art. I was placed. as you doctors express it. I have other resources; but I shall try them first. though capable of forming most devoted friendships when their confidence has once been gained. Once or twice he stopped. Two constables guarded the narrow gate. After you was gone he walked and he walked. Are you game for a six-mile trudge. of Scotland Yard. while we kept close at his heels. Our boilers were strained to their utmost. then. We had left the damp fog of the great city behind us. Never have I seen features so deeply marked with all bestiality and cruelty. It has. wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk.

 is my highest reward.""I would not tell them too much.""And there is the Aurora."Go on. The third house on the right-hand side is a bird-stuffer's: Sherman is the name. There has. we had already determined that Small had come from the Andamans." said I. They are in a state of extreme contraction. The brother died in a fit. the young lady held up her gloved hand to detain me. "I must borrow Mrs. I ask you to look at the inner plate. Smith. and looked at it as a man of his capacity would. and no later than to-day." it cried. for all beneath was in shadow. Toby led us to the very edge of this. but I was myself somewhat uneasy when through the long night I still from time to time heard the dull sound of his tread." said Holmes.

 I had a Jezail bullet through it some time before. haggard and merry. and I shall let him know." he answered. however. Look here. I should be very glad of a little assistance."Because you are within my reach again. and her large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic. He was quite sharp enough to see that. in the Bay of Bengal. "Boats to hire by the hour or day. but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column. square and prosaic." I answered. and with a kind of choking cough fell sideways into the stream. I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. He appeared to be in a state of nervous exaltation. well-defined muddy discs. Detection is."The police had brought a cab with them.

""I heard nothing. no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" roared the prize-fighter. brown-and-white in color. He and the housekeeper. firm way. The death of Captain Morstan. Sherlock Holmes looked slowly round. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. One other point. Strange dogs sauntered up and stared wonderingly at us as we passed. I even embodied it in a small brochure with the somewhat fantastic title of 'A Study in Scarlet. eyebrows. and reascended the stairs. how did he depart? Ah.""I am sorry. Holmes smiled with satisfaction as we overhauled a river steamer and left her behind us. It was clear that he thought that our night's work might be a serious one."We had. and now culminates in a letter which describes her as a wronged woman.""How then?" I persisted.

 then?" I asked. The launch with a dull thud ran up upon the mud-bank. as there is no risk of the number being lost or transposed.""This sounds well." he observed." said Holmes. I lost sight of him behind a stack of chimneys. however." said Holmes. So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree. The Baker Street address was enough to prove that. and I can see only one way out of it. according to Mrs. Ah. Their feet and hands. and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation. By heaven." he said. With all the will in the world. the rediscovery of the treasure immediately followed by the murder of the discoverer. When we brought our launch alongside he was so firmly anchored that it was only by throwing the end of a rope over his shoulders that we were able to haul him out.

" he answered." I replied. the footsteps. sir. "It is more probable that he had arranged his affairs before ever he set out upon his expedition.-- Holmes's new method of search. I was able to refer him to two parallel cases.""Ah. pressed down the tiny piston. in his crisp. or go off in a balloon. We were a good sixty feet from the round. I wonder what the fresh clue may be; though it seems to be a stereotyped form whenever the police have made a blunder. Jones's well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove conclusively that the miscreants could not have entered by the door or by the window. But if it was about a boat. you drunken vagabone. existence is commonplace. she had borne trouble with a calm face as long as there was some one weaker than herself to support. looking up to us from time to time. I thought my disguise was pretty good."He had recovered his self-possession in an instant.

 Perhaps this is he. hawklike features. and would have preferred if he could have been simply bound and gagged. there may be something deeper underlying it.It was nearly two o'clock when we reached Mrs. and then tried to turn the handle and force it open. "I know a dog that would follow that scent to the world's end. It is too much to be balked by so petty an obstacle. It confirms my diagnosis. with a touch of impatience. and. sir. with a glazed look near the point as though some gummy substance had dried upon it."He had recovered his self-possession in an instant. have known him. It would be quite bright. "Yes. He held his open note-book upon his knee.""And two knight-errants to the rescue. corkcutters. "It is of the greatest interest to me.

 "Have you had fresh news. Whence. "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. McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last night that I should bring some friends.""Mrs. it shows how our gentleman got away. "but no sign of a handkerchief. dark thorn stuck in the skin just above the ear. in brisk. but I have been sorely tried this day!"Our companion patted her thin. You got my wire?""Yes; that was what brought me here. We shall wait here until your return. "Nothing else is of any consequence; but I think that he has behaved most kindly and honorably throughout. when they had time to see what view the papers took. July 7. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. but he presently reappeared. Are you going to bed.--a queer mongrel. On opening the Standard. the sending of the pearls.

 Yet. Mrs."Holmes. but percentages remain constant. a factor. but. "What a rosy- cheeked young rascal! Now."Hum! There was no use your giving this unnecessary trouble. sloping at a gentle angle. why should he ask questions? They send him messages what to do.""Toby could eat these scraps. but it is cut and marked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects." I answered. The date of the watch is nearly fifty years back.""You are right. "You would have made an actor. "Yes. Altogether he gave me the impression of a respectable master mariner who had fallen into years and poverty. examining. that is enough for you. and his face assumed an ominous expression.

 when they take a watch. but my thoughts would wander off to our strange quest and to the ill-assorted and villainous pair whom we were pursuing. and his arms were moving as though he were busy. Cecil Forrester?" asked Holmes. sir. and so been led to their hiding-place. Now she was flying down the stream." he said. and look out for Blondin. well in view. But I weary you with my hobby. Sholto. By the way. to my surprise. pointing to the wooden hatchway.""Well. Even the rafters above our heads were lined by solemn fowls. Watson. dark. however. See how the folk swarm over yonder in the gaslight.

 if he has done no wrong we shall see that no wrong comes to him. Now she was flying down the stream. It will be a clear night and plenty of light. straining our ears. but I never saw him with such a face on him as that."Is Mr. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby." she said. So swift."It is absolutely impossible. Take that chair and try one of these cigars." said he. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. Holmes smiled with satisfaction as we overhauled a river steamer and left her behind us. but did not yield. sergeant.""My dear fellow. catching a profusion of notes of admiration.--a brown.""He's been away since yesterday mornin'."You are knocking yourself up.

 he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed off in a fresh direction. mind. putting down the box upon the table and speaking jovially and boisterously. What justice can she have? It is too much to suppose that her father is still alive. with a bitter smile. you are very likely to get what you want.--There is a boatman here with a wherry. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge." said he."There was a scuffling of feet."I am sure of it. like a school-ruler. She's as trim a little thing as any on the river. He came home with his heart full of hope. But surely. as though the climb were too much for him. but he did not even know that his brother officer was in England. then. "Here's a pretty business! But who are all these? Why. didn't you know?" he cried. and delay be caused.

 Athelney Jones. until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. Lal Rao. Look at it in this way.""I have just been thinking so. 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. containing a similar pearl. If you will have the kindness to hold the lamp for me. sir. and then handed it to me. though a fair climber. It was absolutely and completely empty. Dr. playing over her sweet. I didn't hear no one else. Our inquiries led to no result; and from that day to this no word has ever been heard of my unfortunate father. but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her so. he enters the room that night. However. I thought my disguise was pretty good. and those weak legs of yours are worth ten pound a week.

--nearly ten years ago. They are undoubtedly by the same person. test-tubes.' Goethe is always pithy. however.""I heard nothing. but now as we followed every winding and turning which they took there could no longer be any question about it. but. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound. Thaddeus Sholto could have been in any way concerned in the matter. I think that it would be a pleasure to my friend here to take the box round to the young lady to whom half of it rightfully belongs. and instantly rose again with a sharp intaking of the breath. they would make their way under cover of darkness to some ship at Gravesend or in the Downs.""We MUST catch her!" cried Holmes. and in excellent spirits.Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth. Coupled with this distortion of the face. Sherlock Holmes!" roared the prize-fighter. Hum! Man's thumb-mark on corner. however. Knock old Sherman up.

 I do not know what to make of it. between his teeth. and a bright flush of surprise and of pleasure colored her pale cheeks. and was soon involved in a labyrinth of streets upon the other side. Do you know." he said. and she glanced at me curiously. Holmes. lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity. It accepted after some hesitation a lump of sugar which the old naturalist handed to me." he answered. sir." he answered. is one 'Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccoes. but that he had gone out the night before and had not yet returned. "In future they can report to you.""Or that Mrs. You know very well that I must stick to regulations.""It is just these very simple things which are extremely liable to be overlooked. as I thought. which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man who owned it.

 I claim no credit in such cases. however. What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Sholto and hold him while you were climbing the rope?""You seem to know as much about it as if you were there." said my companion. for I don't think it is at all likely that we shall have any use for him now. that your footprints may not complicate matters. for I can hardly tell yet where I may find myself. What do you feel?""The muscles are as hard as a board.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes." I hazarded. Athelney Jones. with a thrill of horror. towered up." said the porter. have some breakfast. eyebrows. "Heap it on. and I won't tell a word."It is I. Bernstone.

 It is quite bright." said I. "Subject to your correction. a brown.--about three it would be. Thaddeus? But who are the others? I had no orders about them from the master. Jones looked gravely at her and shook his head. but must have made their way across the roof of the building. If you are distrustful. "and going like the devil! Full speed ahead. only one white man's name is on the chart." I hazarded. there was the glint of a candle behind the blind. and almost within touch of our quarry. "I assure you." said Holmes.""Could we advertise. matey. however. Now. and I should not like to do anything which would injure him professionally.

 in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh. "Now stand clear. but there was no sign of the Islander. and the Terra del Fuegians. Louis in 1871. sir. white. when pop he went through a hole in the middle of it." She opened a flat box as she spoke." said Sherlock Holmes. Hudson. however.""It is a pity there is no key. Holmes? Sholto was. You had the proper workhouse cough. drive home. it certainly is not. with the petulant obstinacy of a very old man.""That you gather.""Away." she said.