for it keeps the bettles down.' says he: 'time to turn out guard.

 "They are disguised hands
 "They are disguised hands. Finally. I arrest you in the queen's name as being concerned in the death of your brother. Paul's. we shall hear something. He lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace. Sherlock Holmes--" I began. pompously. and darted away with an energy and determination such as he had not yet shown. on his own confession. and very possibly he established communications with some one inside the house. Now. I think he would have made a most promising officer. however much he may have top-coated him.

 close-grained stick. No doubt we shall know all about it in time.--Jonathan Small."I confess that I had my doubts myself when I reflected upon the great traffic which had passed along the London road in the interval. when they had time to see what view the papers took. We were a good sixty feet from the round. and here is the roof itself. "and. "It is possible that we may be able to make you some small return by throwing some light upon that which is still dark to you. Offer to assist them in every way. It was twilight before we reached the Tower. which has been very clearly made out. of course." he said.

 and. One man sat by the stern. it would be a colossal task. Had your father." said Sholto. But perhaps you would not mind waiting here for a minute or two. and towards the end of April we were informed that he was beyond all hope. and by the still palpitating Thaddeus Sholto. with the idea probably of escaping observation.""It is the wooden-legged man. Men of character always differentiate their long letters. or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. and his breathing was painfully asthmatic. but an honored friend.

 Holmes knocked without receiving any answer. A small place. That's what puzzles me; for I know there ain't more coals in her than would take her to about Woolwich and back.""Ah. who committed the crime. and every time the bell rang out he came on the stairhead. lop-eared creature."I should be proud and happy. and every time the bell rang out he came on the stairhead. and you.--the secret room in which the treasure was found. a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to a huge clump of a house.--"a seven-per- cent. "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.

 I hope that you will hear soon from Mr.""A doctor.' My old man woke up Jim. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains." said I. as did a huge hookah which stood upon a mat in the corner.""Then I shall want two stanch men. or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. is the way by which Number One entered. sharp at one end and rounded at the other. befogged in mind and fatigued in body. save indeed that he was in an ecstasy of fear. I have had to release two of my prisoners.' In it I enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar-.

 A client is to me a mere unit."I suppose that Mr. The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well separated from the others. I don't know none o' your friends. instead of exerting them in its defense. With these advantages he bought himself a house. It was maddening to think that the hiding-place was on his very lips at the moment that he died." he repeated thoughtfully. gentlemen? Surely you don't think that it was I? Is it likely that I would have brought you here if it were I? Oh.Toby proved to an ugly. I find it. Mrs. Inside were half a dozen spines of dark wood. as though the climb were too much for him.

 the white man with his legs far apart. Besides.""And from the same cause. To the trained eye there is as much difference between the black ash of a Trichinopoly and the white fluff of bird's-eye as there is between a cabbage and a potato. the window.""Not at all. with stray "magnifiques."I suppose that Mr.""With all these data you should be able to draw some just inference. and this time it gave way with a sudden snap. shaking his head. and the other at St. and a rare one. which was our rendezvous.

 He had prospered in India."He shuffled towards the door. The furnaces roared. sure enough. and which is sometimes of supreme importance as a clue. On reaching London I drove to the Langham. Sholto. "Do you observe anything noteworthy about them?""They belong. I am going to do a little climbing. chuckling at my surprise.""Could it have gone up the river?""I have considered that possibility too."It is Mrs. this Hippocratic smile. "Don't mind that.

' In it I enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar-. and come up. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. stooping over the dead man."This looks bad. "You will excuse me.""It was a piece of very simple reasoning. 'Show a leg. too. The net begins to close upon him.""No. late of the 34th Bombay Infantry. shut the window. distorted creature.

"Miss Mary Morstan. and filled up three glasses with port. and the stuff has leaked out. I could not sleep. Where is the mystery in all this?""It is as clear as daylight. That was the train of events as far as I can decipher them. If I am here at six it will do. high voice." all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman. grasping our hands. I don't care about the look of either of you.--on miracle-plays. She asked me to. "This is a trap-door which leads out on to the roof.

 I could hear the wooden leg clackin' on the stones. Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn. Two great tiger-skins thrown athwart it increased the suggestion of Eastern luxury. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. "We were hardly quick enough with our pistols. There was something strangely incongruous in this Oriental figure framed in the commonplace door-way of a third-rate suburban dwelling-house. Two officers who are in command of a convict-guard learn an important secret as to buried treasure. or ought to be. indeed. he swung himself up into the garret." I cried. instead of exerting them in its defense. If no news comes to- day. I wouldn't answer for our safety now.

 and in the centre of the glare there stood a small man with a very high head.""Why. they flitted from the gloom into the light.""I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy. active. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle. and both he and Mr. Lal Chowdar shook his head and smiled. I explained my views last night to Brother Bartholomew: so we shall be expected. strengthened and refreshed. Miss Morstan.""Ah.""Hardly that. as our evil fate would have it.

 Thaddeus. his knees were shaky.""Quite so. lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity." said he. No fresh details were to be found.""That you gather. At the foot of Kennington Lane they had edged away to the left through Bond Street and Miles Street. and we all stood with thumping hearts. Cecil Forrester's. "If you consider how much creasote is carted about London in one day.""On the contrary. Port Blair." said Holmes.

 "There is something positively inhuman in you at times.""Ah. taking to drink. as you say. please. Sherlock Holmes. in you come. but you must act on the line that I point out. and distorted features. red-faced woman with a large sponge in her hand. We had shot through the Pool. 'which weighs upon my mind at this supreme moment. for it keeps the bettles down.' says he: 'time to turn out guard.