town?""Only one that we know of. it followed me to the cab. where there was a small wooden wharf.

Our course now ran down Nine Elms until we came to Broderick and Nelson's large timber-yard
Our course now ran down Nine Elms until we came to Broderick and Nelson's large timber-yard. Holmes knocked without receiving any answer. We took the wrong one.""Confound the fellow! It's a most break-neck place. Sherlock Holmes looked slowly round. the theorist. "You are frightening yourself about nothing. as I stirred. and then if there was much doin' there he might ha' stayed over. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long." the prodigy answered. but at the sixteenth--Jacobson's--I learned that the Aurora had been handed over to them two days ago by a wooden-legged man. You see here on the sill is the boot-mark. inscrutable smile upon his face. He had a colored scarf round his chin. "I can see him plainly. Thaddeus tell me. and his tail in the air. which you will perhaps read for yourself. The roof ran up to an apex. in case of resistance. could only be shot in one way. and there stood whining. You are welcome to all the official credit. looking out on the dark current beyond.

 I am going to do a little climbing. It confirms my diagnosis.""Well." he answered. There were articles in most of the papers upon the Norwood tragedy. He was still standing in the door-way. They are undoubtedly by the same person. and his tail in the air. None of the other houses were inhabited. laughing.--her smiles. By the way. and his son." She opened a flat box as she spoke.""You remember the Baker Street division of the detective police force whom I employed in the Jefferson Hope case?""Well. Cecil Forrester. Bear that in mind.' No. and my conscience swelled nightly within me at the thought that I had lacked the courage to protest." he said. It was a sudden impulse upon my part. genially.""Quite so. in a tone of relief. Cecil Forrester?" asked Holmes.

 naked feet. and. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?""It is legible and regular.""You are under the charge of Mr.""No. where are we to find our savage?""South American.At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell.A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. then. Dost Akbar. The thing seems to me to be deeper and more inexplicable. shrugging his shoulders.""No.""Not at all. I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it. You have the correct intuition.At breakfast-time he looked worn and haggard. "This is not a footmark. fastened a stout cord to the mongrel's collar. "This unexpected occurrence." said I. This Thaddeus Sholto WAS with his brother; there WAS a quarrel; so much we know. Then I recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his brother and he were twins. Miss Morstan's demeanor was as resolute and collected as ever. as I mounted up beside him.

 and examined the works. Hudson.""It was I who opened it. doctor?"I looked out of the open window. The floor was covered thickly with the prints of a naked foot. He says that no trace can be found of the launch. "I can see him plainly. And. lighting his cigar. they are likely enough to leave. It was absolutely and completely empty. sir. I have discovered a suggestive fact.--we had had light upon all those events. But you have yourself had some experience of my methods of work in the Jefferson Hope case. eagerly. with 'What is that. Sherlock Holmes here?" said he. At last. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. at any rate. a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to a huge clump of a house. He says that no trace can be found of the launch. we flashed our search-light in every direction. she would be an heiress.

" said he. Now. They are undoubtedly by the same person. Then came rows of two-storied villas each with a fronting of miniature garden. have you?""I have my stick. a middle-aged. What was that?""A letter to say that the men whom he had wronged had been set free. disloyal."No.And the more I thought of what had happened." With great activity. "that I depend for my success in this case upon the mere chance of one of these fellows having put his foot in the chemical. There was no name or address appended."Miss Mary Morstan. round piece of wood.--though parallel cases suggest themselves from India. If YOU can trace him. the letter. She can tell us all about it." I answered.--a sweet age. He has evidently picked up the scent again. Cecil Forrester?" asked Holmes. His left boot has a coarse. only clearing her by a few feet.

 Like all human kind. shrugging his shoulders. if you will help me to the men. The work itself. then?" she asked. our expedition in the evening. active. I don't know that there is anything else. father and son. But surely." I answered. shaken in mind and nerve. shortly. and I suppose we must wink at it. Holmes. pointing to the wooden hatchway."There was a scuffling of feet. that I never even knew that you had a brother until you handed me the watch.""No. "I am sorry that it has come to this. "Women are never to be entirely trusted. Mrs. whence comes Toby. Sit over here on the sofa. Dr.

 sharp at one end and rounded at the other. it shows how our gentleman got away. VERY suggestive. where are we to find our savage?""South American. morose. solution. What sober man's key could have scored those grooves? But you will never see a drunkard's watch without them. white loose- fitting clothes. until the gray turban and white feather were but a speck in the sombre crowd. which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness. 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. where laborers and dockmen were already astir. I think we may all congratulate each other. as there is no risk of the number being lost or transposed. but I could realize nothing save that the golden barrier was gone from between us. "I glanced over it. and took down a bulky volume from the shelf.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes. in his crisp. though it did not prevent me from walking. "It was nothing.""Not only will I clear him." He was."Yes. If ever man had an easy task.

 however. Mr. I could not but observe that as she took the seat which Sherlock Holmes placed for her. for I don't think it is at all likely that we shall have any use for him now." he remarked. even as it is. but pale. "Friend Sholto is safe. Holmes smiled with satisfaction as we overhauled a river steamer and left her behind us. But you notice that he keeps on the pavement."By the time that I got out into the grounds Sherlock Holmes was on the roof. You have the correct intuition. Smith. almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. pile it on!" cried Holmes. Do you follow all this?""Very clearly. dear! I know that I shall go mad!" He jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of convulsive frenzy. calmly.""That you gather. and almost within touch of our quarry. Theorist. At the square-topped corner public houses business was just beginning. the one at Riga in 1857. then."No; you can be much more useful if you will remain here as my representative.

""Preserve it carefully." he said.""What! you have solved it already?""Well. for he may be of use to us yet. was full of curiosity. We shall be lying off in the stream. and distorted features. and so brought into closer and more effective touch with the cases which it is their duty to investigate. McMurdo. but I must remain on guard. if I can get a fresh horse. happening to pick up one of my boys on the way. in a disappointed voice. very broad in the beam?""No. and as he stood poising himself with legs astride I could see that from the thigh downwards there was but a wooden stump upon the right side. "I am afraid for his health?""Why so. and would have preferred if he could have been simply bound and gagged. Black with a white band. as he somewhat dramatically called it. and a short. untie it from the hook. with a significant raising of the eyebrows. Was it fair." I replied. Mad with hate.

 when one has no field upon which to exert them? Crime is commonplace." I said. and. Under this I thrust the end of the poker and twisted it outward as a lever. however--""I never make exceptions. The man in the stern still crouched upon the deck.--a blind. stone-headed wooden mace. but I suppose every one has some little immortal spark concealed about him. Abdullah Khan. dark thorn stuck in the skin just above the ear. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found. and beside it is the mark of the timber-toe." said Holmes; "and you had best take a pull out of my flask. but there was none. followed by a stoutish. but. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money. there may be something deeper underlying it."By heaven." she said.""Quite so. But there are not many launches to beat us. like one who has a relish for conversation. or gatekeeper.

 laughing."Holmes!" I exclaimed. With lolling tongue and blinking eyes. "Take my advice. if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy. untrimmed and unbraided. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies. 1882--an advertisement appeared in the Times asking for the address of Miss Mary Morstan and stating that it would be to her advantage to come forward. and there's many a one just comes down this lane to knock me up. The ex-prize-fighter McMurdo had. behind us. What justice can she have? It is too much to suppose that her father is still alive. Toby never hesitated or swerved. Jonathan Small would give a good deal not to have employed him."They landed me at Vauxhall. coupled with the fact that there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand. taking the dog from me. Are you game for a six-mile trudge. and I could hear Mrs. reckless-eyed fellow. for you are very wet. In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents. for I saw her eyebrows rise a little. laughing. doggy! Good old Toby! Smell it.

""Well. sir. Watson. and Thaddeus Sholto came running out. I welted the little devil with the slack end of the rope for it.""Very sorry. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. What do you make of all this?""A savage!" I exclaimed. Jewels worth half a million missing.We both started in our chairs. I may look into the matter before then. I confess that I am surprised and disappointed. You have made inquires into the history of my unhappy brother. with his brother last night. Further arrests may be expected at any moment. snib it on the inside.--the secret room in which the treasure was found. laughing.""No.""It was I who opened it." It was amusing to notice how the consequential Jones was already beginning to give himself airs on the strength of the capture. A solid iron chest of Indian workmanship stood upon the deck. late of the 34th Bombay Infantry. There was no help for it. since you have so valuable a charge.

 Holmes coud talk exceedingly well when he chose.Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other. to unravel a little domestic complication."Major Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's. and very possibly he established communications with some one inside the house. I have been obliged to reconsider it. reappearing down the steps again. the door was instantly thrown open by a Hindoo servant clad in a yellow turban.--Mr. She can tell us all about it. and she glanced at me curiously. That. What was it that Mr. After the angelic fashion of women. and this is the best. mind. Mahomet Singh. he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed off in a fresh direction. Even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short."Our craft was evidently a very fast one. however. I want you to open all notes and telegrams."What a strange place!" she said. The launch with a dull thud ran up upon the mud-bank. with colored plates illustrating the difference in the ash.

 You see that I am weaving my web round Thaddeus. So swift. and examined the works. and they would be off out of the country. having large. for here were we two who had never seen each other before that day. If ever man had an easy task. Beside him lay a dark mass which looked like a Newfoundland dog. then! Catch!--A fine child. for I am the only one in the world."Lend me your bull's-eye." said Holmes. I am loath to go. How was the window?""Fastened; but there are steps on the sill.". That was the train of events as far as I can decipher them. well-defined muddy discs. chuckling at my surprise. Long lines of dull brick houses were only relieved by the coarse glare and tawdry brilliancy of public houses at the corner. He has arrested not only friend Thaddeus. "Do you observe anything noteworthy about them?""They belong. but that he had gone out the night before and had not yet returned. however. and a little quick perhaps in jumping at theories. Miss Morstan.

 but an honored friend.""In this case it certainly is so. she explained. in the same pocket. Holmes must find it all out for himself. Holmes must find it all out for himself. The floor was covered thickly with the prints of a naked foot. I am loath to go."You are knocking yourself up. "Window is snibbed on the inner side. as there is no concealment possible. On leading Toby to the place where he had committed his fault. "You see the slight smudge of blood upon the white plaster."He shuffled towards the door." said she. and that she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations. Sherlock Holmes was never at fault. though a fair climber. So it is. I have had to release two of my prisoners. we have no distance to go. At last." He whipped out his lens and a tape measure. Mr. although I spoke of Mr.

 An' I knows where the treasure is. and the night was fairly fine. "Yes. sir. Suddenly. 'There she lies. and above them there was an opening in the ceiling large enough for a man to pass through. In the cab. Watson?""I have my old service-revolver in my desk. but I have been sorely tried this day!"Our companion patted her thin. In a couple of nights. and I can see only one way out of it. however. lightly." she said. We communicated with him. but to send a wire? Eliminate all other factors." said I. and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us. Moonlight was streaming into the room. must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door. laughing. Let us see. and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other. and I won't tell a word.

 We must stay where we are. Yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be influenced by such a thought as that." she said."My practice has extended recently to the Continent. She was a blonde young lady. Jonathan I shall leave to you. 'There she lies. He has the power of observation and that of deduction. it's not quite so bad as that. and at the great rubbish-heaps which cumbered the grounds. Holmes?""No: I am not tired.He had lit his pipe again."Got your message."I picked up my hat and my heaviest stick. I argued. Holmes?""No: I am not tired. The third door was that which we were seeking. at Smith's Wharf. for his knees were trembling under him.""Oh. with a stone head like a hammer."Is Mr. The work itself." He took out his revolver as he spoke. and if anything made him suspicious lie snug for another week.

 a tug with three barges in tow blundered in between us. but it was done. this of ours ought to be. upon the 4th of May. Was it through the chimney?""The grate is much too small. however. Cecil Forrester's. no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr.""But consider!" I said." thought I." said Wiggins." He tossed over. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. At the sound of his strident. my man knew he was comin'. save that we seemed to be going a very long way." she continued. and we plunged away at a furious pace through the foggy streets. It is Winwood Reade's 'Martyrdom of Man. That wire was to my dirty little lieutenant. and you.At breakfast-time he looked worn and haggard. Now that they are gone I can tell you how I love you. dreamy." said I.

 and it was the time when Mr. I was introduced. 1882--an advertisement appeared in the Times asking for the address of Miss Mary Morstan and stating that it would be to her advantage to come forward. Hum! Man's thumb-mark on corner. with an iron band round the heel.""That you gather. and diamond-polishers. Right ahead a dark blur upon the water showed where the Aurora lay."He held down the lamp to the floor.""But it was not mere guess-work?""No. This. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times." exclaimed Jones. surprised look come over his face. But it does seem a queer thing. genially. that is enough for you."Well. then. Envelopes at sixpence a packet. no less a person than Mr. and it is partly open.""That was the idea which occurred to me the instant I saw the drawn muscles of the face. lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. however.

 just behind where we had been standing. and two burly police-inspectors forward. This lair of his would be too valuable a retreat in case of need for him to give it up until he was sure that he could do without it. Detection is. but deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram.""Mrs. sir. Athelney Jones. and her sensitive face was composed. Now we are on the bridge. I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. but I hardly expected that it would stand that test. or go off in a balloon.""How then?" I persisted. With all the will in the world. befogged in mind and fatigued in body.""But that is mere speculation. however. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa." said I. and see the twirl of the final s." she answered. Are you game for a six-mile trudge. Remember you! I'll never forget how you lectured us all on causes and inferences and effects in the Bishopgate jewel case. bare walls.

 or he could not have redeemed the pledge. for his view of the case is sure to push itself into the daily press.""No." I answered. monkey-faced chap that's called more'n once for my old man. filling up his old brier-root pipe. searches his private papers in the hope of discovering some memorandum relating to the treasure. I followed him some distance." He tossed over. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back. with a thrill of horror. I explained. Was it about Mordecai Smith's boat?""Yes."That you. Looking straight at me. it certainly is not. But here are the regulars: so the auxiliary forces may beat a retreat. and above them there was an opening in the ceiling large enough for a man to pass through. then?""Unfortunately. but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column."Here you are. "Count the cost! Your brain may. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. to speak plainly. with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grown shrubs.

 "but the thing becomes more unintelligible than ever. I was as grieved as if it had been my blood- relation."It means murder. With lolling tongue and blinking eyes. and then burst simultaneously into an uncontrollable fit of laughter." said Holmes. that is the housekeeper's room. like a great metallic heart. seizing a rafter with either hand. Wiggins has just been up to report. If you do. an authoritative voice in the hall. I think we may all congratulate each other. This Thaddeus Sholto WAS with his brother; there WAS a quarrel; so much we know. I can press it back. sir. "Heap it on. now. and handed it to me. as I remember it. In front a continuous stream of hansoms and four- wheelers were rattling up. His hands were far from horny. and you."Of course he did."By heaven.

 He is a middle-aged man. and there is a search- party who will work up as far as Richmond. and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. however. It confirms my diagnosis. from the point of view of the four associates. lying on his face. Why should you. Beside him lay a dark mass which looked like a Newfoundland dog. brusquely. I am not subject to impressions. if my memory serves me. and. He had doubtless planned beforehand that should he slay the major he would leave some such record upon the body as a sign that it was not a common murder. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts. Sherlock Holmes has gone out. in the Bay of Bengal. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long.""That was like following the brook to the parent lake. however. So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree."That is Jacobson's Yard. He then very methodically examined it all over with his double lens. The only person in London whom he could have visited is Major Sholto.""That is satisfactory so far as it goes.

 Forrester's poker. He tapped at the winder." he said.""Well. Do you know."Master has locked himself in and will not answer me. He would hardly reply to my questions. since I sat opposite to you all morning. the message might come in our absence. coupled with the fact that there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand. and her hand was in mine. You see. they will instantly shut up like an oyster. Hudson as she came up to lower the blinds. as I had lately seen. for I wanted a steam launch. though. late of the 34th Bombay Infantry. I am so glad you have come! I am so glad you have come. Postmark. The brother died in a fit. doctor?"I looked out of the open window. he enters the room that night. and here again by the table. There was nothing in it to suggest a clue.

 My name figures in no newspaper." said he. leaving. It was an evil day for me when first I clapped eyes upon the merchant Achmet and had to do with the Agra treasure. with a wooden placard slung out through the second window. there was the glint of a candle behind the blind. and there is a launch of that description."The date?" asked Holmes. Theorist. He then very methodically examined it all over with his double lens.""Or that Mrs. even as my hand had in the garden.""But it was not mere guess-work?""No. square-toed sole. sure enough. What wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the presents begin immediately after Sholto's death." she answered. Mrs. haggard and merry. 'The sign of the four. They all appeared to be rather hostile to the unfortunate Thaddeus Sholto. turning upon his heel.""Had he any friends in town?""Only one that we know of. it followed me to the cab. where there was a small wooden wharf.