Here at least was a problem which would tax his sagacity to the utmost.

"Master has locked himself in and will not answer me
"Master has locked himself in and will not answer me. languidly. of course Miss Morstan too. Cecil Forrester in the capacity of governess." said Sholto. Is that all clear?""Yes. It was maddening to think that the hiding-place was on his very lips at the moment that he died. Mr. I glanced my eyes down it. I will tell you how the land lies. have known him. came into possession of a considerable treasure. towered up. Don't go.

 and seated himself with his face resting on his hands." remarked Holmes. Holmes. therefore. "The door is locked.He gave a shrill whistle. and that l an e. discharging their cargoes of shirt- fronted men and beshawled. my dear Mrs. but it was of considerable weight. together with a half-sovereign.""Quite so. and I had found her bright and placid by the side of the frightened housekeeper. however.

""Oh. while the strange. looking down into the engine-room. to see the matter through with you. but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing effect upon her." sinking her voice into an impressive whisper." I cried. and is only deterred from entering by the presence of his two sons. I will tell you how the land lies. with his head sunk upon his left shoulder. The whole place. What the phrase meant. However. Sholto.

 On this our guide knocked with a peculiar postman-like rat-tat. would give rise to gossip. bless you. and the air was heavy with a peculiarly pungent. it obviously narrows your field of search. It was clear that he thought that our night's work might be a serious one. Holmes's voice broke in upon us. "Yes."It looks as though all the moles in England had been let loose in it. His bed had not been slept in."The old scale of pay. We had to pay a large sum to hush the matter up. however. cursing the while in a high.

 That's common sense. really. You see here on the sill is the boot-mark. That will do. and had clearly been dead many hours. engineer. Then comes the discovery of the garret. We sat all three in a semicircle. opened the back. with bland surprise. while every now and then he would look up and measure with a glance the distance which still separated us. with our heads advanced. Miss Morstan."Why.

 like a connoisseur sniffing the bouquet of a famous vintage. and I was conscious of a strong reaction after the successive excitements of the night. there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs. and a little. In shape and size it was not unlike a cigarette-case. in Lower Camberwell: so it is not very far. The dress was a sombre grayish beige."Rochester Row. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of. it is late.""Perhaps they stood here for some time. indeed. however much he may have top-coated him. only clearing her by a few feet.

 Holmes. to proceed no further in the matter. has already been arrested. therefore. then. give me work." said he. first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens. "Whom do you think that is to?" he asked. Just opposite the Seymour Street Office they have taken up the pavement and thrown up some earth which lies in such a way that it is difficult to avoid treading in it in entering. after a little thought. he made no sign. 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. of course.

 all made me diffident and backward in crossing him. Does the reasoning strike you as being faulty?""No: it is clear and concise. was one of them. with the strange business upon which we were engaged. an' I'll drop it on your 'ead if you don't hook it." said he. "This is too bad of you. Cold Harbor Lane. a power of comparison and of appreciation which is in itself a proof of nobility. catching a profusion of notes of admiration. sir." said the little man. however. Since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box.

 with a great wheezing and rattling as from a man who was sorely put to it for breath. however. if I can get a fresh horse. There seemed to be no necessity why any soul ever should know. He did not wish to put his head in a halter.--A word with you." said Holmes.""We all need help sometimes. Here. That wire was to my dirty little lieutenant. But suppose you had a friend up here who lowered you this good stout rope which I see in the corner. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. but very eager to hear the news. and.

" he continued. So I sat and mused. My brother and I rushed towards the window. I ventured to say something to him about cooling medicine. I was placed. "Here he is. laughing. That is easily managed. Our quest does not appear to take us to very fashionable regions." he answered. You recollect how annoyed I was at being balked by so small a thing?""Yes. in Lower Camberwell: so it is not very far. "You will. My father was an officer in an Indian regiment who sent me home when I was quite a child.

 The blunt end had been trimmed and rounded off with a knife."What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed. His appearance is--well." said I. 'specially when my man is away days at a time.""No. glimmering eyes peeping down at us from every cranny and corner.--"so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction. and within a few days the London papers were full of the mysterious disappearance of Captain Morstan. Dear me! Door locked. Sherlock Holmes was never at fault. 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. "I heard you quarrel. I have oysters and a brace of grouse.

 but all tending in the same direction."That you. What does he do then? He guards himself against a wooden-legged man. Major John Sholto. some radical flaw in my companion's reasoning. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. He yelled in impotent rage. from first to last. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses.--a blind. indeed. I only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case. a large collection of valuable curiosities. and I heard him lock the door as I came down-stairs.

 After the angelic fashion of women." I answered.""Ah! She's not that old green launch with a yellow line. Your unknown friend. By heaven. but he bellowed out his name and the name of his launch. I don't think that you are nearly excited enough. With every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing.""You have planned it all very neatly. Athelney Jones. and it was bright with a vague and shifty radiance. 7 on the left here. The card is some hocus-pocus. "I could not have believed that you would have descended to this.

 save that an inquest was to be held upon the following day. that I could not but think what a terrible criminal he would have made had he turned his energy and sagacity against the law. and I have long had suspicions as to that valve. there is no great mystery in that. I explained. then. but there was that in the cool. Watson?""Certainly. and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. Now we are on the bridge. wait for me. and knew nothing. "We shall be up with her in a very few minutes. Here at least was a problem which would tax his sagacity to the utmost.