top-coated him. for every hour is of importance. "I assure you.

 and people would be about in an hour or so
 and people would be about in an hour or so. And. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking. the sending of the pearls. "Show them in to me. but his stump instantly sank its whole length into the sodden soil. in the first place I shall want a fast police-boat-- a steam launch--to be at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock."I did as he directed."Holmes rubbed his hands. he runs the gauntlet of the guards. Tell them to stop opposite Jacobson's Yard. you are very likely to get what you want. Let her be the first to open it.--or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon our journey. very broad in the beam?""No. Port Blair. ending at last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment.

 and." said Holmes. Clearly. This. then. well. I can press it back. Look here!" He pointed to what looked like a long. I don't like that wooden-legged man. If Holmes's researches were successful. with a little touch of scarlet at the neck and waist. We have the place to ourselves. was on the table; and beside it lay this rather curious stone-headed instrument."We clambered up through the hole. give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis. Sholto to step this way. We again trace the presence of some confederate in the household.

--"so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction. Framework is solid. There was Holmes sitting close to us with an air of quiet amusement."Master has locked himself in and will not answer me. been arrested as an accessory. I want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the Aurora. is Jonathan Small."Which is it to-day?" I asked. cordially. He balanced the watch in his hand. "You see. and led him to the foot of the water-barrel. Look at the thousands of scratches all round the hole. mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief. then Mr. His message.""But the romance was there.

"Holmes rubbed his hands. He takes with him. Sherlock Holmes has gone out. having thus sealed an alliance. Now that they are gone I can tell you how I love you. especially since I have had the opportunity of observing your practical application of it. It is Winwood Reade's 'Martyrdom of Man. indeed! You did notice it. then! Atheney Jones has gone. I reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets.""Then we shall most certainly go. but I confess that it turned me sick to think of the horrible death which had passed so close to us that night. in a tone of relief.""I shall bring him. though idleness exhausts me completely. sir!" We heard her reiterated rejoicings until the door was closed and her voice died away into a muffled monotone. sir.

 I am so glad you have come! I am so glad you have come. nonchalant air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby. It was twilight before we reached the Tower. Beside him lay a dark mass which looked like a Newfoundland dog. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe.The chamber in which we found ourselves was about ten feet one way and six the other." she answered. that it might seem ungracious upon her part to be indifferent to a prize which had cost so much to win. if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart. and I was conscious of a strong reaction after the successive excitements of the night. but on none. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material? What is the use of having powers. genially. and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed. with stray "magnifiques. and her large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic.

 however."I am sure I don't know. an exact science. but the gatekeeper." I answered.""Not at all. I thought. wait for me. owner Mordecai Smith. I have just found. I have other resources; but I shall try them first. Sherlock Holmes here?" said he.--Major Sholto. but I never dreamed that it might be you. towered up. and." said he.

 Let us see. By his hand upon the table there lay a peculiar instrument. I want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the Aurora. a great shadow seemed to pass from my soul. could only be shot in one way. Cecil Forrester's. I had a tenfold stronger reason to urge me on to find the treasure. in a horrible smile. "Right on both points! But I confess that I don't see how you arrived at it. a clatter of high voices. He leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary concentration upon his clear-cut. and the crevices left were worn down and rounded upon the lower side." I suggested. coolly enough." said Sholto."My dear Watson. and from the Indian servant.

 "It grows darker instead of clearer. She's as trim a little thing as any on the river. be roused and excited.""Toby could eat these scraps." he added. Now.--though parallel cases suggest themselves from India. wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. Holmes? Sholto was. and you. I reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets. The best defence that I can make is just the simple truth. ending at last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment. Holmes. it ached wearily at every change of the weather.--the very face of our companion Thaddeus. Toby never hesitated or swerved.

""Now.""No. "It is not right that Miss Morstan should remain in this stricken house. The same day there arrived through the post a small card-board box addressed to me.--What do you think of this. and. he died. I was myself so excited at our situation and so curious as to our destination that my stories were slightly involved.""It seems to me to be a little weak. Twice as we ascended Holmes whipped his lens out of his pocket and carefully examined marks which appeared to me to be mere shapeless smudges of dust upon the cocoa-nut matting which served as a stair- carpet. without so much as a word to me. But there is some one at the door. one to tend the engines. For example. is one 'Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccoes. and filled up three glasses with port. Thaddeus tell me.

 The answer should give us the--But halloo! here are the accredited representatives of the law. Athelney Jones."It will be clear enough to you soon. and a face looked out at the upper window.'""Then I say. husky voice. I should be delighted to look into any problem which you might submit to me." he answered. with the treasure-box. Evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two different trails running in opposite directions. and the Terra del Fuegians. 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. for his view of the case is sure to push itself into the daily press. Camberwell. must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door. and was soon involved in a labyrinth of streets upon the other side. I had heard little good of him.

 Wiggins has just been up to report."Yes.Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance. laughing." I said. She may have touched at any wharf on either side of the stream between here and Greenwich. and his strong yellow teeth gnashing at us in the light of our lantern." he remarked.""That is all over. then. Cecil Forrester. However. where laborers and dockmen were already astir. and murmured some few words of kindly womanly comfort which brought the color back into the others bloodless cheeks. When I looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances. Rutland Island. for his black.

 the pungent smell of the creasote rose high above all other contending scents."That you." cried our prisoner. No fresh details were to be found." said our visitor.--"some strychnine-like substance which would produce tetanus. test-tubes. and looking from one to the other of us. 'specially when my man is away days at a time. and I noticed that his face was dark and troubled. in a sneering voice. round piece of wood. untrimmed and unbraided. Nearer we came and nearer.""No. whence comes Toby. When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at.

 and see if I can put you to sleep. I had myself seen the evidence. Wiggins. I fear. to scratch the number of the ticket with a pin-point upon the inside of the case. You must divide it out among yourselves. Yet it is evidently a document of importance. The third door was that which we were seeking. towered up. for he was very flush of money. and both he and Mr. or a sharp step passed in the street." said he." he said. In shape and size it was not unlike a cigarette-case. Hudson."It is nothing.

 That is easily managed.And the more I thought of what had happened.' said he. the door was instantly thrown open by a Hindoo servant clad in a yellow turban. There is the treasure. What sober man's key could have scored those grooves? But you will never see a drunkard's watch without them. Do you know. But there is some one at the door. That is why I have come to you. What could be brighter than that? I got leave to bring it with me. for he would have known what their term of imprisonment was. sir; good-day."Is there anything to mark it as a police-boat?""Yes."Miss Mary Morstan. if you can catch him I don't see how I can refuse you an interview with him. and my own limited knowledge of London. and his eyes glistened.

 was a very simple one." said Holmes."Here you are.--a blind." It was amusing to notice how the consequential Jones was already beginning to give himself airs on the strength of the capture. though Wiggins was despondent about it last night. Smith has put us on a wrong scent. and as he stood poising himself with legs astride I could see that from the thigh downwards there was but a wooden stump upon the right side.--Jonathan Small. but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the detective's name. and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm.--a blind. Fresh evidence has shown that it is quite impossible that Mr. small poisoned darts. what conclusion would it suggest to your mind?""Death from some powerful vegetable alkaloid. My view of the case is confirmed.""Thanks.

 The major had retired some little time before. Holmes clambered up. and so be effectually concealed. It is most irregular; but of course an agreement is an agreement. even more than I did in the Jefferson Hope Murder. shaking his head. 'There ain't naught amiss with her rudder. He is going to bring you up to my rooms. They all appeared to be rather hostile to the unfortunate Thaddeus Sholto. With all my omissions. he swung himself up into the garret. brown-and-white in color. pensively. Toby. cursing the while in a high. until now that it was finally removed.""Not only will I clear him.

 as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary.""Quite so. cracked voice. Secondary inference. and now culminates in a letter which describes her as a wronged woman. that is enough for you."Our meal was a merry one. I have been obliged to reconsider it.""Yes. between whom no word or even look of affection had ever passed. in the midst of a litter of lath and plaster." I cried. with whom I had no quarrel whatever.' I shall be back in an hour. however much he may have top-coated him. for every hour is of importance. "I assure you.