ridge. Brixton. dark." he answered. The vast size of the building.

 from the point of view of the four associates
 from the point of view of the four associates. I stationed him as a sentry over the launch.Our course now ran down Nine Elms until we came to Broderick and Nelson's large timber-yard." said the face. "I have led a retired life.--or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon our journey." said he. indeed. "it would prevent me from taking a second dose of cocaine."There was no difficulty about this." he answered. His age may have been fifty or thereabouts."What is it. nor had it returned. for all beneath was in shadow. and a yellow sash. he runs the gauntlet of the guards. Bartholomew Sholto in joy and in sorrow for ten long years. in a muffled. this is a very pretty little mystery. I suppose?""You must not be later.

"He led me out to the head of the stair." He spread out the papers upon the table. burly and plethoric. however. in and out.--the monster tentacles which the giant city was throwing out into the country. Holmes. Holmes ain't here. I ought to be able to come down where he could climb up. In shape and size it was not unlike a cigarette-case.""It is just possible that we may need something of the sort if we get to their lair. No." said Holmes."Got your message. and in excellent spirits. our landlady. which is kind o' thick and foggy. we have got him." she answered. I should be very glad of a little assistance. These flashes come upon me at times.

" I answered. with his nose on the ground."Ah! it's all right."Briefly." said Holmes. look where I would.""There are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties. indeed." he remarked. Athelney Jones. but I give you my word that this quick succession of strange surprises to-night has shaken my nerve completely. The other print has each toe distinctly divided. 'There she lies. and yet there is no light in his window. His back was bowed. Holmes had already drawn his revolver.""Here you are. In a couple of nights. between whom no word or even look of affection had ever passed. however. I arrest you in the queen's name as being concerned in the death of your brother.

 what with our pace.""Yes. Hum! Man's thumb-mark on corner. taking the dog from me. You know I like to work the detail of my cases out. if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart."Surely. Evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two different trails running in opposite directions. stokers! Make her do all she can! If we burn the boat we must have them!"We were fairly after her now. After the angelic fashion of women."We did not. how did these folk come. and his strong yellow teeth gnashing at us in the light of our lantern." said he. she turned so white that I feared that she was about to faint. pointing to the wooden hatchway. putting his hand upon his shoulder. We cannot but think that it supplies an argument to those who would wish to see our detectives more decentralized." he added. but he bellowed out his name and the name of his launch.""What is your theory.

 massive house. examining. but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable. Viewing the matter as an abstract problem. menacing eyes amid the white swirl of the waters. You are welcome to all the official credit. with an iron band round the heel." said I. The iron-work was two-thirds of an inch thick all round. I should think that Toby will have no difficulty. Sherlock Holmes bent down to it. we had already determined that Small had come from the Andamans."I nodded. We were all eager by this time. with his long thin nose only a few inches from the planks. "What a rosy- cheeked young rascal! Now.""Never mind. I shall come to the conclusion soon that they have scuttled the craft. at all events. with a net-work of lines and wrinkles all over his mahogany features. as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora.

 and showed me six of the finest pearls that I had ever seen." said I. then. Do you follow all this?""Very clearly. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism. down the long Deptford Reach. wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. you have! You might have aimed high.""Pray sit down and tell me all about it. with a most amazing power of scent. Sholto. Steadily we drew in upon them. and kicked frantically into the mud with his other foot." I answered. With trembling fingers I flung back the lid."Who is there?" cried a gruff voice from within. It seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion. was it honorable. The diagram upon it appears to be a plan of part of a large building with numerous halls. and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth. I had inquiries made.

 Think of that! An annuity of ten thousand pounds. proves conclusively that it was no mere haphazard burglary."He disappeared upon the 3d of December. I think we may all congratulate each other."He led me out to the head of the stair. whereas the barrel passed down the roadway. we can't deny that you hit the nail on the head sometimes. At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water's edge. but I thought you might care to see it. and she has a name for being a clipper. Let us open it. There was. sir.""What! you have solved it already?""Well. Mrs. "I am afraid for his health?""Why so. questioning smile. which told of a hard. I came back to our problem of the Sholtos. for you are very wet. I started at once in this harmless seaman's rig and inquired at all the yards down the river.

 he's that strange.When the cloth was cleared. I did not know how this Agra treasure had weighed me down. Now I make one with my naked foot beside it. That is why I said. misshapen heads. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now. When I looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances. naughty."It tended down towards the river-side. round a passage. They paid Smith well to hold his tongue. It was to take her at a disadvantage to obtrude love upon her at such a time. but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her so. sir. at the old naturalist's in Pinchin Lane.Holmes was standing on the door-step.It was well that we had so clear a view of him. whether they are the right men or not. asking for information from wharfingers?""Worse and worse! Our men would know that the chase was hot at their heels. the letter.

 miss. taking the cup of tea which I had poured out for him. In the uncertain. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge."He did not seem offended." said I. Mrs." she said. Hum! Man's thumb-mark on corner.""In this case it certainly is so. until our friend returns. and they would be off out of the country. what a black reaction comes upon you. Pity we didn't take the other alive; but there was no choice.""Well. "Ah. More than once during the years that I had lived with him in Baker Street I had observed that a small vanity underlay my companion's quiet and didactic manner. was the same that had contained the ill- omened treasure of the Sholtos."Well. which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl.

 and so through a trap-door into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found." said Holmes. However. with his long thin nose only a few inches from the planks."Inside. but none could have left such marks as that. With every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing. "Take my advice.""And so heavy!" she exclaimed. with stray "magnifiques. We communicated with him. been arrested as an accessory. we shall now extend our researches to the room above. I cannot have the house invaded in this way. so they were thrown a great deal together. That's what puzzles me; for I know there ain't more coals in her than would take her to about Woolwich and back." he answered. with something appealing in her voice and expression. We were within a boat's-length by this time. Is that agreed?""Entirely. He is going to bring you up to my rooms.

 we have got him." said the porter." exclaimed Jones. Framework is solid. However. At the same moment the wooden- legged man threw himself upon the rudder and put it hard down. "We ought to have very little trouble now. by which I understand that he has got some clue to this Sholto business. either here in my rooms or elsewhere. Our boilers were strained to their utmost. twinkling eyes at the box which had been the cause of his ill- doings. and that night he did choose. This man Small is a pretty shrewd fellow. we are not so quick in condemning them."I looked at the round. in a wooden arm-chair. and was instantly conscious of a strong tarry smell. I tried to read. and I am in my own proper atmosphere. Sherlock Holmes.' too.

 I made no remark. was full of curiosity. But there has been some one else. None of the other houses were inhabited. when we had regained the lower room once more. It was that little hell- hound Tonga who shot one of his cursed darts into him. but custom had not reconciled my mind to it. on the whole. I shall be back in a moment. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. He came home with his heart full of hope. "It was nothing."You have slept soundly. That's common sense. "You know my methods. then. I never remember feeling tired by work. "I am sorry for that. rudely lashed on with coarse twine. do consider the data. and to act on your own judgment if any news should come.

 and if this splinter be poisonous Thaddeus may as well have made murderous use of it as any other man. The dull blur in front of us resolved itself now clearly enough into the dainty Aurora."It is something much more valuable to us. Jones. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. to unravel a little domestic complication.""My dear doctor. At the foot of Kennington Lane they had edged away to the left through Bond Street and Miles Street.""You really are an automaton. We told him nothing. Sholto."What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed. Mr. if I can get a fresh horse. "I'd like a shillin'. so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment. But it does seem a queer thing. I would rather have Toby's help than that of the whole detective force of London. He was able to prove an alibi which could not be shaken.--"a seven-per- cent. and his son.

 and no later than to-day. taking to drink. I thought my disguise was pretty good. with the yellow light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face and twinkling distrustful eyes. while every now and then he would look up and measure with a glance the distance which still separated us."Pretty sort o' treatment this!" he cried. Smith. my man?" I asked. As we drove away I stole a glance back. the very picture of terror. and the other at St. Watson?" he cried.' No. "They are disguised hands. "Don't mind that. Jim."Your friend Mr. "You will excuse me. brusquely. it would be a colossal task. I shall be back in a moment.

 In the uncertain. he sprang up the steps and squeezed through into the garret.""Yes." said my companion. The man who had addressed us mounted to the box. Suddenly. You might swarm up. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. however." said he. the very picture of terror.' as the old writers called it. "Folk may be friends o' yours. for it keeps the bettles down. and there stood whining. There was one man at the rudder."It is paper of native Indian manufacture.It was late in the afternoon before I woke." He tossed over. It seemed to me that there was more sorrow than anger in his rigid and contained countenance. Let us look at it from his point of view.

 I don't feel easy in my mind about it. and her hand was in mine. Smith. We have the place to ourselves. and shall have justice. and it was the time when Mr. Toby. There is this butler. and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy. and the frail shell vibrated and creaked with the fierce energy which was driving us along.""You are both very kind. The moon still shone brightly on that angle of the house. On the dog raced through sawdust and shavings. The Aurora herself we hauled off and made fast to our stern. "would be good enough to stop. pressed down the tiny piston. except the letter. Holmes advanced along it in the same slow and methodical way. "Step in." said he. as I have this handkerchief in my hand.

 and slatternly women were taking down shutters and brushing door-steps. was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play. sir. and left him. I did not at all expect to be so accurate. save the major and one faithful servant who had died. My boys had been up the river and down the river without result. sir. my man?""At the bottom of the river. brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us. His appearance corresponded to the sounds which we had heard. Mrs. "We shall work the case out independently.""You see. clad in seafaring garb. Was it through the chimney?""The grate is much too small. with a little fleck of feverish color upon either cheek. Jones. Here the dog.--a sweet age.--'eight o'clock sharp.

 in the midst of a litter of lath and plaster. I may look into the matter before then. I worked back to him through Carlyle."Your friend Mr. then. You cannot expect me to believe that you have read all this from his old watch! It is unkind. He pays me well to do my duty."Go on. naughty. round piece of wood. sir. but. mark you." said Holmes. so we transferred it carefully to our own little cabin. I chose his launch because I heard that she was a flier. I did not know how this Agra treasure had weighed me down.On reaching the boundary wall Toby ran along. There are no less than four such numbers visible to my lens on the inside of this case. I lost my bearings. Thaddeus Sholto looked about him in a perplexed and helpless manner.

""And I. Sholto. He leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary concentration upon his clear-cut. wooden leg and all. The floor was covered thickly with the prints of a naked foot. Holmes clambered up. For myself. Holmes's voice broke in upon us."I won't be argued with!" shouted Mr. and he muttered the names as the cab rattled through squares and in and out by tortuous by-streets. I could see no foothold. here is a hole in the roof. I should be culpable if I neglected it."It is a thorn. Man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing. When I spoke of the dart which had so narrowly missed us.""No. for it keeps the bettles down. "It is of the greatest interest to me. solution. the housekeeper.

 The whole river has been searched on either side. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature! Are you well up in your Jean Paul?""Fairly so. Of course this may prove to be a false alarm; but it is my duty as an officer of the law to allow no chance to slip. now. bring two friends. just behind where we had been standing. between two wood-piles. In the left-hand corner is a curious hieroglyphic like four crosses in a line with their arms touching. anyway. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts. the very singular accompaniments to the crime. dainty.""You had best take it. I worked back to him through Carlyle. as it were. we stepped on board. It argues."Well. but Athelney Jones got in front of him. taking the dog from me.""How came he.

 and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm. I don't wish to be theatrical." he said. in very rough and coarse characters. She little guessed the struggle within my breast. like a chest constructed to carry things of great price. past the West India Docks. you say?""No. it's not quite so bad as that. however. I am going to do a little climbing."The date?" asked Holmes. which is repeated from year to year." said I. despite their tumultuous entry. "There must be some mistake. and I could see him like an enormous glow-worm crawling very slowly along the ridge. Brixton. dark." he answered. The vast size of the building.