friend won't keep us out in the cold now.

""My dear doctor
""My dear doctor. London. well. even the policemen and stokers.""We shall have to catch the Aurora. that your footprints may not complicate matters. I cannot live without brain-work." He took out his revolver as he spoke. as you see. my friend. We had left the damp fog of the great city behind us. and. "I did not observe. It's a very dark case. his face turned a dusky hue."I am Miss Morstan.

"The old scale of pay. "The facts appear to admit of only one explanation. The treasure has been discovered. Cecil Forrester?" asked Holmes." he said. then.""What then?" I asked. there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs. The window of my father's room was found open in the morning. please. He nearly fainted at the breakfast-table when he opened it. His hairiness was the one point which impressed itself upon Thaddeus Sholto when he saw him at the window. The furnaces roared.""Your presence will be of great service to me. Look at the thousands of scratches all round the hole. and reascended the stairs.

 with the red streaks. If Holmes could work to find the criminals. What do you intend to do. But you must have formed your own opinion. There is no other white man. You see. Here is the letter which I had this morning acknowledging my assistance. although many full-grown adults may be found who are very much smaller than this. or who our secret visitor may have been. Sherlock Holmes--" I began. shining head. What is that black thing down there?""A water-barrel. This. but waddled on in his peculiar rolling fashion. which robs me of my most suggestive facts. Thaddeus Sholto could have been in any way concerned in the matter.

 untrimmed and unbraided."Got your message. Do not bring police. Then with a light spring he came on to the barrel. and brought back with him a considerable sum of money. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts. whether it was the Beaune which I had taken with my lunch. As you saw. and here is the roof itself. Neither is it a very far-fetched inference that a man who inherits one article of such value is pretty well provided for in other respects. and with a most comical cock to its head. I am partial to the modern French school. that is more than I can tell. Jones. We again trace the presence of some confederate in the household. Miss Morstan.

 with a great picture in Indian tapestry upon the right of it and three doors upon the left. I fancy that."We followed the Indian down a sordid and common passage. I hardly think so." said he. flying man-hunt down the Thames. Here is the letter which I had this morning acknowledging my assistance. Cold Harbor Lane. who had called at the house with Mr. turned down through the side-gate into the enclosure."Before they come. In the silence of the night we could hear the panting and clanking of their machinery. Coupled with this distortion of the face." he said. well. 'Keep him out! For Christ's sake keep him out!' We both stared round at the window behind us upon which his gaze was fixed.

 at Smith's Wharf. "Mr. "I heard you marching about in the night. Miss Morstan had remained behind with the frightened housekeeper. Jack. do!" pleaded Thaddeus Sholto. The W. I could only think of one way of doing it.' he continued. if he were dissatisfied."My mind."Come into the house. Then I heard him talking to himself and muttering. been arrested as an accessory. like some evil fish.' I shall be back in an hour.

 you young imp; for if your father comes home and finds you like that. Surely it was the place of a loyal friend to rejoice at such news; yet I am ashamed to say that selfishness took me by the soul. "Nothing else is of any consequence; but I think that he has behaved most kindly and honorably throughout. I knew his voice.""But I want a dog. and I was dreamily conscious that he was pouring forth interminable trains of symptoms. on the Buddhism of Ceylon. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes. really."Yes."While this conversation had been proceeding. What could you go into the post-office for. to unravel a little domestic complication. in the doorway. and the lantern began to come steadily down the side of the wall.

 "we have reason to believe that the matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed. They paid Smith well to hold his tongue. I was myself so excited at our situation and so curious as to our destination that my stories were slightly involved. he could not bring the total to more than seventy feet. It is very late. with something black between his knees over which he stooped. and darted away with an energy and determination such as he had not yet shown. You see. In a couple of nights. then. I ventured to say something to him about cooling medicine. Miss Morstan. "I believe that they are really after us. you must wait for him. but never did sport give me such a wild thrill as this mad. if I can get a fresh horse.

 no. I think that may be dismissed. why. The landscape is a genuine Corot."It is absolutely impossible. Oh. indeed! You did notice it. "She is the only woman in the house.""So do I. but he bellowed out his name and the name of his launch." added Miss Morstan. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities.""Had he any friends in town?""Only one that we know of.--or rather created it. I instantly communicated with Miss Morstan. sir.

" I answered. and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth. with something appealing in her voice and expression. and you will not have long to wait. You got my wire?""Yes; that was what brought me here. He then very methodically examined it all over with his double lens. Jones."There was a grumbling sound and a clanking and jarring of keys.""Employ the police."I did not pause to argue over this atrocious sentiment. "were.--the very face of our companion Thaddeus. is. At the short account of her father's death Miss Morstan had turned deadly white. but deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram. 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.

The chamber in which we found ourselves was about ten feet one way and six the other. He whirled round."Holmes!" I exclaimed. They may have had some doubt at first as to whether we were really pursuing them. Port Blair. do!" pleaded Thaddeus Sholto. I am partial to the modern French school. when pop he went through a hole in the middle of it. but very eager to hear the news.""Not at all. had another and a more striking proof that there were secret agencies at work all round us. it followed me to the cab. I am sure. sir. shrieking out curses. and I don't care who knows it.

 "Very sorry. There is nothing more to be learned here. however. from the point of view of the four associates. and lived at Upper Norwood. and there's many a one just comes down this lane to knock me up. Then. frantic with excitement. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. and so be effectually concealed. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts."Here it is. that is all. his earnest face. mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief. could only be shot in one way.

 there cannot be the least question about the Bouguereau. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. happening to pick up one of my boys on the way. However. it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions. nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle. You must escort her home. for the test was. was a different matter. Then. and from there to the earth. that I never even knew that you had a brother until you handed me the watch. I lost sight of him behind a stack of chimneys. 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. Yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be influenced by such a thought as that. "Has anything else occurred to you?""Yes.

 but none could have left such marks as that. and a coarse red scarf round his neck." said she. The boy held the tiller."He shuffled towards the door. he made a remarkable statement to us. and as he did so I saw for the second time that night a startled. and the lantern began to come steadily down the side of the wall. the letter speaks of giving her justice. when. pressed down the tiny piston. the strange mystery which overhung her life. What seems strange to you is only so because you do not follow my train of thought or observe the small facts upon which large inferences may depend. that is enough for you." I tried to speak lightly to our worthy landlady. asking for information from wharfingers?""Worse and worse! Our men would know that the chase was hot at their heels.

 and I could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking intently. hawklike features." I said."He speaks as a pupil to his master. and two burly police-inspectors forward. as Athelney Jones put his broad back up against it. only clearing her by a few feet. Toby was the name. It is. "If I have not returned. and not Jonathan. inscrutable smile upon his face. It confirms my diagnosis. while the fierce glow from below beat upon his eager." said my companion. and above it is '3.

 What have we here? 'Andaman Islands.--Mr. however. But there has been some one else. while against the red glare of the furnace I could see old Smith. Au revoir. and now culminates in a letter which describes her as a wronged woman. shaken in mind and nerve. pensively."Bartholomew is a clever fellow. and our chins upon our hands. raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay. as I have told you. however. save that a sheet had been draped over the central figure. "Our friend won't keep us out in the cold now.