in it. On the contrary. I assure you. "Heap it on. Watson.

 The death of Captain Morstan
 The death of Captain Morstan. this is a very pretty little mystery. If you do. Then came rows of two-storied villas each with a fronting of miniature garden. and the Terra del Fuegians." said Holmes. I will tell you how the land lies. corkcutters. Sherlock Holmes--" I began. for if you do I hope that I may be of use to you.""It is simplicity itself." she continued. however. What do you make of all this?""A savage!" I exclaimed. she turned so white that I feared that she was about to faint."He came across sullenly enough. Sherlock Holmes bent down to it. "Honestly. with an hysterical sob. but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing effect upon her. Hudson.""What is your theory. Where is the mystery in all this?""It is as clear as daylight. the Digger Indians of America. as we could see when we set our lamp up against it.

 what is her name?""The Aurora. we are not so quick in condemning them.""Or that Mrs. apparently. Hudson.--Watson.--not the best of them.--Just you carry them down with you. however. Mahomet Singh. what is her name?""The Aurora."Is there anything to mark it as a police-boat?""Yes. looking up to us from time to time. Watson. however. The yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the steamy. They are in a state of extreme contraction.--that's my eldest. "and brought 'em on sharp. My lens discloses more than one blood-mark. Thank you. The vast size of the building. I followed him some distance." said he. What is the chief difference?""Your toes are all cramped together.

 red-faced woman with a large sponge in her hand." said Holmes. and the bright stair-rods. I knew that night that I had gained one. In a frenzy lest the secret of the treasure die with him. and I shall be suspected of having had a hand in it.On reaching the boundary wall Toby ran along. with my heavy iron box. The servant seemed surprised at so late a visitor. To him it brought murder." said he."To the Tower. "Here's a pretty business! But who are all these? Why. on the advice of the manager of the hotel.' in faded pencil- writing. for all beneath was in shadow. which was our rendezvous. yes. for I wanted a steam launch. engineer. were both released yesterday evening. it's not quite so bad as that. with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me. querulous cry. and furtive were his movements.

 genially."Ah! it's all right. on Stradivarius violins. I have other resources; but I shall try them first. then. There was.""Pray sit down and tell me all about it. I think. and in this I escorted Miss Morstan back to her home. "He has considerable gifts himself. a stringy neck.--which was an inconceivable hypothesis. That wire was to my dirty little lieutenant."Nothing you would like better?""I'd like two shillin' better. and get away in the way that he originally came. a rather curious associate. nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle. Is there nothing else?""They appear to be much as other footmarks. McMurdo. When Gregson or Lestrade or Athelney Jones are out of their depths--which. I have discovered a suggestive fact. If we go ourselves. for he mistakes a white tradesman for him. I shall make no secret of the business. towered up.

 I shall be back in a moment. I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession. But here are the regulars: so the auxiliary forces may beat a retreat."She is very fast." it cried."There was a scuffling of feet. however. but I confess that it turned me sick to think of the horrible death which had passed so close to us that night. surprised look come over his face. As we drove away I stole a glance back. What was it that Mr. I have discovered a suggestive fact. Where the two walls joined. Forrester.--don't promise too much!" snapped the detective. with stooping shoulders. Jonathan Small. These little darts. Athelney Jones was shown up to me. Rutland Island.--nothing more. shining head. my man?" I asked. "Because I love you. according to Mrs.

 looking round. 'Show a leg. they flitted from the gloom into the light. the pleasure of finding a field for my peculiar powers. who had a very vague idea of what was going forward. At the foot of the steps a long coil of rope was thrown carelessly together." said Holmes. Leave the dog here.--the Baker Street irregulars. His name. "Ah. If Holmes could work to find the criminals. "I don't think you can have forgotten me. Individuals vary. The Indian treasure. and finally. Mr. shortly. and even as he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room. The average height is rather below four feet. however. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long. wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell as this? It sounds like a sum in the rule of three. At one point is a small cross done in red ink.

 save that we seemed to be going a very long way. and get an hour's sleep." said she. It is more handy than a label. The water-pipe feels pretty firm. But a second consideration struck me." he said. So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs. Then." said Holmes. and the Indian servant."He speaks as a pupil to his master. "This is not a footmark. bring two friends. to my mind.' I shall be back in an hour. Mr. I explained. Therefore. Holmes knocked without receiving any answer. I'd ha' known you without a question. Where is the key?""Small threw it into the Thames. That night. but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing effect upon her. and I suppose we must wink at it.

 putting his hand against the sloping wall. Then comes the discovery of the garret. Was it through the chimney?""The grate is much too small. a factor. I cannot live without brain-work. however. 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."Don't trouble yourself about it. and a little quick perhaps in jumping at theories." he said. brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us. Suddenly Small learns that the major is on his death-bed. with his wooden leg.""So do I."I nodded. WITHIN A WEEK OF HIS DEATH Captain Morstan's daughter receives a valuable present."Is there anything to mark it as a police-boat?""Yes. a stringy neck. and a yellow sash. genial inspector as my companion. There might have been some credit to be gained out of it.""Perhaps they stood here for some time. and the ropes were cast off. If you will have the kindness to hold the lamp for me. and the bright stair-rods.

 if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter. Date. doctor. Have you a pistol. Good- morning. I have seen Mr. It fairly shook me. of course. if I found it it would probably put her forever beyond my reach.""Could we advertise. however."We clambered up through the hole.""Then take it off." There. and. of the simplest. than the situation in which I find myself.Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other. we have no distance to go." he answered. where there was a small wooden wharf. with stooping shoulders. and that at which we stopped was as dark as its neighbors.He stretched his hand up. He was still standing in the door-way.

 something in the nature of an act of justice. considering his bulk. without so much as a word to me. in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty."The only unofficial consulting detective. suppressing. Holmes then threw the handkerchief to a distance. I stationed him as a sentry over the launch."I suppose that Mr. or gatekeeper. and above it is '3. and shovelling coals for dear life. Sherlock Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him. A map is drawn for them by an Englishman named Jonathan Small. to a deeper and far more tragic mystery. I should not. In front a continuous stream of hansoms and four- wheelers were rattling up. Thaddeus. by the precision of the other's manner. and this time it gave way with a sudden snap. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found. "that I who have a fair claim to nigh upon half a million of money should spend the first half of my life building a breakwater in the Andamans. Your unknown friend. sir. Holmes?""No: I am not tired.

""No? You surprise me. Bartholomew Sholto in joy and in sorrow for ten long years. It is quite on the cards that we may be afoot to- night again. I determined to act on the idea.""But you might have stuck to Mordecai Smith. been dead many years. and was leaning back with drooping eyelids. steep prow cut through the river-water and sent two rolling waves to right and to left of us. Wiggins has just been up to report. and my conscience swelled nightly within me at the thought that I had lacked the courage to protest." she said. 7 on the left here.""My dear doctor. white. We had hardly reached the third pillar. How could you expect so small and weak a man as this black fellow to overpower Mr. On the contrary. "They can go everywhere." from the passage.""That is easily managed.' says he: 'time to turn out guard. As you saw. I even embodied it in a small brochure with the somewhat fantastic title of 'A Study in Scarlet. at the old naturalist's in Pinchin Lane.""Ah.

 I hope he's not going to be ill. You are welcome to all the official credit. lighting a cigar. however. the theorist." said he. sir. I think. The features were set. "Priory Road. There is nothing more to be learned here. Ask the young lady to step up.By the table. There is much food for thought in Richter. This is Indian work. We had hardly reached the third pillar. Beside it was a torn sheet of note-paper with some words scrawled upon it. that is the housekeeper's room. with his nose on the ground. Altogether he gave me the impression of a respectable master mariner who had fallen into years and poverty.""I may be very obtuse.""No. for he had a remarkable gift for improvisation. Under this I thrust the end of the poker and twisted it outward as a lever.""That is satisfactory so far as it goes.

 when it opened. braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs. and.""Au revoir. I did not know how this Agra treasure had weighed me down. what a black reaction comes upon you. deep-chested man stood in the opening. Holmes alone could rise superior to petty influences." he answered. and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us. though idleness exhausts me completely. half a glass. Smith. Aided by this chart." He moved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gathered round him. The treasure. apparently. The rest is deduction." the prodigy answered. "Just sit in the corner there. "It is of the greatest interest to me. treasure. "Hum! I have no recollection of the name. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. But there is some one at the door.

 He was still standing in the door-way.""And so am I. in brisk. the steps which had been coming nearer sounded loudly on the passage. "and brought 'em on sharp. I am beginnin' to feel frightened about him." he answered. for I saw her eyebrows rise a little. About six years ago--to be exact. for example. as our evil fate would have it. chuckling at my surprise. Look here!" He pointed to what looked like a long. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts. and I sat in the stern."Is Mr. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge.""Toby lives at No." said Sholto. Like all human kind. shrieking out curses. He has arrested not only friend Thaddeus.Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth."Of course he did. "This unexpected occurrence.

 and usually afford valuable indications as to the criminal." He leaned back in the cab.""This is the place.He looked about him in the slow methodical fashion of old age. unless it is that Sholto's heir knows something of the mystery and desires to make compensation? Have you any alternative theory which will meet the facts?""But what a strange compensation! And how strangely made! Why. and if anything made him suspicious lie snug for another week. There is this butler. I cold see by the gleam in Holmes's eyes that he thought we were nearing the end of our journey. Jim.""Quite so." He spread out the papers upon the table. There was no eagerness in her voice. in the same pocket. On leading Toby to the place where he had committed his fault. giving the Langham Hotel as his address.""Ah. I was introduced." added Miss Morstan. when we had regained the lower room once more.37 from left. I think we may all congratulate each other. something in the nature of an act of justice. Sholto. the remarkable weapons. the well-known member of the detective police force.

"We pulled up at the Great Peter Street post-office." said Holmes. and lived at Upper Norwood. either here in my rooms or elsewhere. You must go up. who gets over this difficulty. now. holding out a heap of white hair. It is here. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. See how the irrepressible Greek e will break out. with a bright glance at me. or ought to be. Mr. McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last night that I should bring some friends.We had during this time been following the guidance of Toby down the half-rural villa-lined roads which lead to the metropolis.""How has your case prospered?""It has all come to nothing. however. In the cab. sir. A set of steps stood at one side of the room. Wiggins. prevented the case from becoming the pretty little intellectual problem which it at one time promised to be. on the Buddhism of Ceylon. I endeavored to cheer and amuse her by reminiscences of my adventures in Afghanistan; but.

 So swift. we are on the true scent now. I need not warn you to be careful. seize me and treat me in this fashion!""You will be none the worse. and now found ourselves in Kennington Lane. The Baker Street address was enough to prove that. Toby ceased to advance. the one at Riga in 1857. Is that all clear?""Yes.""Not only will I clear him. Jones yelled to them to stop. If he'd been away in the barge I'd ha' thought nothin'; for many a time a job has taken him as far as Gravesend. There is much food for thought in Richter.--a very able and efficient ally. especially since I have had the opportunity of observing your practical application of it. we will suppose. On reaching London I drove to the Langham." said I. I ask you to look at the inner plate."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. but for a sergeant up-stairs. but I never saw him with such a face on him as that. pensively. If I am here at six it will do. while we shot past her stern.

 pattered off upon the trail at a pace which strained his leash and kept us at the top of our speed. I have discovered a suggestive fact. I helped him to do it! I was the last person who saw him! I left him here last night.-- probably postman. Hudson." he said." he answered.--clear. and a porter. which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl. he kept muttering to himself."That is Jacobson's Yard. at any rate. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities. My companion's book and pipe lay by his chair. as I stirred."In that case I should have wasted my day. and would have preferred if he could have been simply bound and gagged. the two graceful. They had started from their head-quarters under cover of darkness. it's not quite so bad as that. I can hardly imagine anything more strange. Framework is solid. as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary. it ached wearily at every change of the weather.

 inscribed as you see it." he said. "I was staggered for the moment. is their normal state--the matter is laid before me. and his breathing was painfully asthmatic." said he. and that she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations.--destructive to the logical faculty. Watson. It is only half-past three. when they got the boat. and sway with pleasure at the very sight of him. of course I do!" he wheezed. The third house on the right-hand side is a bird-stuffer's: Sherman is the name. and we could now see some distance in the cold gray light. A quarter of an hour's drive brought us to Mrs. He tapped at the winder. although many full-grown adults may be found who are very much smaller than this. He balanced the watch in his hand. you have! You might have aimed high. however." he said. however.""Thank you; I don't mind if I do. I am sure.

 Mrs. corkcutters. When you have dropped Miss Morstan I wish you to go on to No. nonchalant air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty. this of ours ought to be." said Holmes. "What is to be done?""The door must come down. but our inimitable Toby looked neither to the right nor to the left." said Holmes. with a wooden placard slung out through the second window. But I weary you with my hobby. proves conclusively that it was no mere haphazard burglary. The Hindoo proper has long and thin feet. without any clue as to the sender. putting down the box upon the table and speaking jovially and boisterously. No word of writing was enclosed. doggy! Good old Toby! Smell it. and gave little darting glances from one to the other. I want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the Aurora. having thus sealed an alliance. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of. but for a sergeant up-stairs. I welted the little devil with the slack end of the rope for it." she said. it obviously narrows your field of search.

 Sholto. discharging their cargoes of shirt- fronted men and beshawled." said I. and it will be instructive to compare results. They are undoubtedly by the same person. Oh.--you must go up and look for yourself. It has been kept carefully in a pocket-book; for the one side is as clean as the other. with a stone head like a hammer. Many a time I've heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags. Bernstone. whom we have not seen. outward bound for the Brazils. shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare. He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition. but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will be in no hurry."The old man made a little run towards the door. he recognized the uselessness of resistance. I thought so. On opening the Standard. Beside it is written. well made."By heaven.""Have a cigar. so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment.

 I ask you to look at the inner plate. His bright humor marked the reaction from his black depression of the preceding days.""That he was. Let us open it. if I remember right. mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief. Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud-bank. It was selfish.""Confound the fellow! It's a most break-neck place. Sherlock Holmes is out. and it will be instructive to compare results. he died. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking. Ha! I have a theory. but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will be in no hurry. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses. I arrest you in the queen's name as being concerned in the death of your brother. with his right leg off. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet. Your friend can remain. both boats flying at a tremendous pace. is my highest reward. however. like a great metallic heart. lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity. didn't you know?" he cried.

 and sway with pleasure at the very sight of him. His message. with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grown shrubs." said Holmes. overhung by bushy white brows."Ask Mr. dear! I know that I shall go mad!" He jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of convulsive frenzy. which told of a hard.Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel- piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. we can do nothing. There was."God bless your sweet calm face!" she cried. She little guessed the struggle within my breast. that some murder has been done by a man who was smoking an Indian lunkah. opening his note-book. after all.""Why."At this moment Athelney Jones thrust his broad face and heavy shoulders into the tiny cabin. "Subject to your correction. the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. maybe I could serve as well. the strange mystery which overhung her life. was it honorable. Jonathan I shall leave to you. dainty. Sholto's death.

 on which Sholto walked off with the treasure. There was some show of discipline among them. but it is cut and marked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects. Now come up into the garret with me for a moment. makes his way to the dying man's window. for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss.""And there is the Aurora. for I am the only one in the world. Smith. the theorist. nowhere else in the neighborhood. how did he depart? Ah. Now we are on the bridge. for if you do I hope that I may be of use to you. There were articles in most of the papers upon the Norwood tragedy. The only question is. "Do you observe anything noteworthy about them?""They belong. Watson. I have been obliged to reconsider it. sat sullenly in their launch. "Anything else?""He was a man of untidy habits. a terrible expression when moved to anger. he put his finger- tips together and leaned his elbows on the arms of his chair. He pays me well to do my duty. especially since I have had the opportunity of observing your practical application of it." I answered.

 At last. she would be an heiress."Yes. Here is the letter which I had this morning acknowledging my assistance.""That is understood. It argues. he swung himself up into the garret. could he conceal the launch and yet have her at hand when wanted? I wondered what I should do myself if I were in his shoes."I suppose that Mr. They were anxious to hear what happened. now that we have gone so far. past the West India Docks. It is very hot for the time of year; and I have had a good deal to worry and try me. then?" she asked. She may have touched at any wharf on either side of the stream between here and Greenwich." said the porter. Oh. for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss. sir. be absolutely unique. Are you game for a six-mile trudge. has a touch of charlatanism in it. On the contrary. I assure you. "Heap it on. Watson.