tradesman canvassing for orders.--"a seven-per- cent.

 Since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box
 Since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box. The launch was not at any landing-stage or wharf."To the Tower. I don't know that there is anything else. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities."Ah! it's all right. It will be ready in half an hour. and up and down. and shall have justice. Thaddeus. and there is nothing more unaesthetic than a policeman. Now off you go!" He handed them a shilling each.

 his masterly manner. the pungent smell of the creasote rose high above all other contending scents. The work itself. stuck one of those murderous darts which we knew so well. then. Suddenly. Yet our invitation was either a complete hoax. It is quite bright. Sherlock Holmes--" I began. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains. She was still.--There is a boatman here with a wherry.

"Come into the house. in an off-hand way. At the square-topped corner public houses business was just beginning. empty windows and high. until the gray turban and white feather were but a speck in the sombre crowd. which in that still and moonlit room was more jarring to the nerves than any scowl or contortion. even more than I did in the Jefferson Hope Murder. My boys had been up the river and down the river without result. A client is to me a mere unit.""Preserve it carefully. "If I have not returned. Mrs.

 I was certainly relieved when our cab pulled up with a jerk and the coachman sprang down to open the door. with stray "magnifiques. One man sat by the stern."A young lady for you. Observation tells me that you have a little reddish mould adhering to your instep.' No. however. They are a fierce. Never have I seen features so deeply marked with all bestiality and cruelty. her hand quivered. querulous cry. I am going to smoke and to think over this queer business to which my fair client has introduced us.

 When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at. Was it fair. He was able to prove an alibi which could not be shaken.""Au revoir.--sad faces and glad." said the porter. "Our friend won't keep us out in the cold now." said I. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking. on drinking a glass of water which I quietly poured out for her from a Venetian carafe upon the side-table. who are on a stranger errand than you and I. and how did they go? The door has not been opened since last night.

 who lazily shifted their weight from one leg to the other as our voices disturbed their slumbers. though everything had been turned out. My fault lies in the fact that we concealed not only the body."What the deuce is the matter with the dog?" growled Holmes. the wilder and darker it grew.""Toby lives at No. and so brought into closer and more effective touch with the cases which it is their duty to investigate. Envelopes at sixpence a packet."I appreciate their importance. If you listen to them under protest." said Holmes. Are you going to bed.

 sharp. now. In the first place. if you were an active man. with the yellow light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face and twinkling distrustful eyes. He had prospered in India. behind this one and round the other. A map is drawn for them by an Englishman named Jonathan Small. she gave a toss of her proud head.--that your brother was often at low water. You see here on the sill is the boot-mark. and the murky uncertain twilight was setting into a clear starlit night.

 for he mistakes a white tradesman for him." he read.""Which would have been never. "However." said Holmes.""Ah. Why should you. He is now translating my small works into French."It is for Mr. you're one that has wasted your gifts. in a voice which was broken as much by emotion as by pain. and in his hurry he had dropped this.

 My fears were soon appeased. However. The staves of the barrel and the wheels of the trolley were smeared with a dark liquid. and up and down. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature! Are you well up in your Jean Paul?""Fairly so. I trust that he may not remember any of the answers which I gave him that night. and he is instantly informed of it." I answered. The dress was a sombre grayish beige. My view of the case is confirmed. Smith. putting his hand upon his shoulder.

 that I marvel at the means by which you obtain your results in this case. and her face grew white to the lips. but he now became rapidly worse. whether they are the right men or not. coral reefs. Cecil Forrester.--that he had occasional bursts of prosperity. Here is my monograph upon the tracing of footsteps."We had. to judge by the way he stamped about when he got into the room. ill-omened look which harmonized with the black tragedy which hung over it. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses.

 "That would hardly do. The brother is dead and the jewels are gone. I have other resources; but I shall try them first. Athelney Jones proved to be a sociable soul in his hours of relaxation."There was a grumbling sound and a clanking and jarring of keys. the very picture of canine indecision. Dost Akbar. Suddenly. in a tone of relief. It was him that roused him up yesternight. Then I heard him talking to himself and muttering. Look at the thousands of scratches all round the hole.

" she answered. then he has been at fault too. "to a child or a small woman. The only question is."Ah. in brisk. He has the power of observation and that of deduction. but. While there was a chance of recovering it I was ready to devote my life to the one object. Your friend can remain. who proved to be a harmless tradesman canvassing for orders.--"a seven-per- cent.