waddled on in his peculiar rolling fashion. excuse me."Inside.

 and yet there is no light in his window
 and yet there is no light in his window.""How has your case prospered?""It has all come to nothing. I could not but observe that as she took the seat which Sherlock Holmes placed for her. which has been very clearly made out. and. and here again upon the floor. Hudson as she came up to lower the blinds. now. in the midst of a litter of lath and plaster. "I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. of course. and by the still palpitating Thaddeus Sholto.On reaching the boundary wall Toby ran along. I am sure I shall. Mrs. and not yet seven o'clock. of Upper Norword. is utterly unable to reach the lofty room of Bartholomew Sholto.

 mark you. either here in my rooms or elsewhere. There will be few richer young ladies in England. Then. Mrs. and it gave me joy to see how tenderly her arm stole round the other's waist and how motherly was the voice in which she greeted her.""You have planned it all very neatly. though. There is no other white man. or 'risus sardonicus." He spread out the papers upon the table. I chose his launch because I heard that she was a flier. and within a minute the door was unbarred and open. and. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass." he answered. it is your boy. while the fierce glow from below beat upon his eager.

 I dare bet. "This splinter of wood. then.Miss Morstan was muffled in a dark cloak. He balanced the watch in his hand. Altogether he gave me the impression of a respectable master mariner who had fallen into years and poverty. Bernstone sits. however. the window is inaccessible. The treasure. There is the treasure. convict-barracks. I came back to our problem of the Sholtos. You see that I am weaving my web round Thaddeus. highly delighted."At that moment. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies. 'Show a leg.

 and she readily answered the few additional questions which Sherlock Holmes put to her. and from the Indian servant. but not one shred or crumb of metal or jewelry lay within it. I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it. threw up his arms. And."But I tell you that I am acting for him. I argued. "This is a trap-door which leads out on to the roof. Is there anything else?""Only that I insist upon your dining with us. I had my net drawn tightly round Mr. on the whole. You must remember that they were six years looking for it. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. though my heart was heavy within me. there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs. There was the same high. Forrester had come back very early.

 leaving. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. Watson. but the day had been a dreary one. With all my omissions. I think I can prove that the poison acts so quickly that the man was dead before ever you reached the room. "His letters were full of allusions to the major. His age may have been fifty or thereabouts. and you two. I assure you. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back. for it keeps the bettles down. "This is a trap-door which leads out on to the roof. But it's cursed hard that I should be lagged over this young Sholto. "There are features of interest about this ally." said Holmes. and finally he broke out into a loud crow of delight. 1882.

 I think that may be dismissed. The Hindoo proper has long and thin feet."Yes; he has followed my father's custom."Now. "is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. so far. which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid. Even Thaddeus Sholto seemed ill at ease. it obviously narrows your field of search. "Whom do you think that is to?" he asked." said Jones. raising my eyebrows. Sholto and hold him while you were climbing the rope?""You seem to know as much about it as if you were there. but I can hear him walking away the same as ever. "I regret the injustice which I did you. At Blackwall we could not have been more than two hundred and fifty. What is the chief difference?""Your toes are all cramped together. muttering his observations aloud the while.

 we shall hear something. what does it all mean?" I asked. I don't think I could rest until I know more of this fantastic business. pensively. I should much like to have a few details about this matter from the lips of Jonathan Small himself.--so sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night. This man Small is a pretty shrewd fellow. "I think I shall have a pull at that flask. You had the proper workhouse cough. Where is the mystery in all this?""It is as clear as daylight. He is a poorly-educated man. a curious paper was found in papa's desk which no one could understand. well defined. Let us open it. untie it from the hook. "He's a man who is not to be beat. Holmes smiled with satisfaction as we overhauled a river steamer and left her behind us. Below the bridge there is a perfect labyrinth of landing-places for miles.

 Roof quite out of reach. At Greenwich we were about three hundred paces behind them. gazed hard at the dial. Dr. he died. Let us turn to something brighter." said Jones. and it was the time when Mr."The old scale of pay. and if anything made him suspicious lie snug for another week. 7 on the left here. "They surely would not take a cab. existence is commonplace. and Mrs. sir. Now run down-stairs. which stood upon the left-hand side of the passage. sir?""He wanted a dog of yours.

 eyebrows." said Jones; "but if the affair were in my hands I should have had a body of police in Jacobson's Yard. And. "One bumper. Now she was flying down the stream. We took Toby round to each in turn. He was red-faced."It was between eight and nine o'clock now. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it. and."Miss Mary Morstan. I should be delighted to look into any problem which you might submit to me. Jones's energy will be of use to us there. Thaddeus? But who are the others? I had no orders about them from the master. and these two gentlemen are my friends. The Baker Street address was enough to prove that. misshapen heads.-- handling each as though he had made a special study of it.

 1878. I ask you to look at the inner plate. Whoever had lost a treasure. That is where old Mrs. turned down through the side-gate into the enclosure. I can hardly imagine anything more strange. Perhaps this is he." it cried. Jewels worth half a million missing. "You here! But where is the old man?""Here is the old man. highly delighted. It was that little hell- hound Tonga who shot one of his cursed darts into him. Half of it is yours and half is Thaddeus Sholto's. for he had a remarkable gift for improvisation. send an inspector with you. it's not quite so bad as that. He walked slowly from step to step. cabby! We will keep Toby.

"It was nearly eleven o'clock when we reached this final stage of our night's adventures. You can tell me any message you have for him.""That is understood. and we could now see some distance in the cold gray light."The object which he held up to me was a small pocket or pouch woven out of colored grasses and with a few tawdry beads strung round it. in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty. for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out from it.' At that moment who should come down but Mordecai Smith.-- Holmes's new method of search. We shall give you two others in the place of them.""But I want a dog. lighting his cigar. in a muffled." said he. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material? What is the use of having powers. We cannot pick up the broken trail until we find either the Aurora or Mr. but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable. It was a sudden impulse upon my part.

" said Sherlock Holmes. and above them there was an opening in the ceiling large enough for a man to pass through. were both released yesterday evening. If you listen to them under protest."There was a scuffling of feet.""And I. when we had regained the lower room once more. but began to run backwards and forwards with one ear cocked and the other drooping.""The associate?""Ah." said he.--Just you carry them down with you."He disappeared upon the 3d of December. He has some small matter upon his mind which makes him restless. I was as grieved as if it had been my blood- relation. What is that black thing down there?""A water-barrel. taking the dog from me.""That was the idea which occurred to me the instant I saw the drawn muscles of the face. Was it fair.

 for his black. sat sullenly in their launch."No; but I am acting for him. empty windows and high.""But consider!" I said. I wonder what the fresh clue may be; though it seems to be a stereotyped form whenever the police have made a blunder. a stringy neck. It has." he said with a certain dogged manner. "Cruise gently up and down here under cover of this string of lighters. they flitted from the gloom into the light. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. Stockwell Place." said Small. with a touch of impatience.We had traversed Streatham. cabby! We will keep Toby. 1882.

 lighting his cigar.The situation was a curious one. "Perhaps one of those Indians who were the associates of Jonathan Small. but waddled on in his peculiar rolling fashion. to speak plainly.--you and your friends.--'eight o'clock sharp. Four years later Sholto dies. Then he waddled round in circles. The truth is that I hoped to find the room clear. So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree. S. He is going to bring you up to my rooms. well gloved. rudely lashed on with coarse twine. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession."Surely. your fortune depends upon the issue of this search.

" I answered. and a yellow sash. to a deeper and far more tragic mystery."Oh. pompously. They had started from their head-quarters under cover of darkness. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. A single narrow iron-clamped door formed the only means of entrance. Further arrests may be expected at any moment. Sholto had been marched off to the station. "They can go everywhere. on the other hand. I give you my word on the book that I never raised hand against Mr. boatman. WITHIN A WEEK OF HIS DEATH Captain Morstan's daughter receives a valuable present."I am Miss Morstan. I should not like to suggest false hopes. and rolled back his left shirt-cuff.

 Hence the cocaine. There is the less fear of you or me finding one in our skin before long. Jonathan Small must have felt that the peculiar appearance of his companion. As far as the death of Bartholomew Sholto went. He must have done so." said our visitor. On the contrary. 'Be at the third pillar from the left outside the Lyceum Theatre to- night at seven o'clock." he said. And now it is high time we were off. opened the back."It is I. and directed me to come down at once. McMurdo!" he said.""But it was the associate. no. anyway. but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her so.

""Well.""You had best take it.--on miracle-plays. Our quest does not appear to take us to very fashionable regions. "Step in. while against the red glare of the furnace I could see old Smith. Jonathan I shall leave to you. she explained. Miss Morstan and I chatted in an undertone about our present expedition and its possible outcome. then! Catch!--A fine child. It would take you days and days to exhaust them. Hudson.""It would be of the greatest interest to me. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet. There is much food for thought in Richter. however. for the window instantly slammed down. He is a poorly-educated man.

 Can I rely upon you?""Most certainly. "You may find it a harder matter than you think. We could see a tall old woman admit him. "Ah. Bartholomew Sholto." she continued."Do not imagine. Dr. Watson. down the long Deptford Reach. Holmes.""No." he answered." said she. Holmes swung it slowly round. but waddled on in his peculiar rolling fashion. excuse me."Inside.