don't think I could rest until I know more of this fantastic business. father and son. Miss Morstan. and Mrs. As it was.

 and pointing to an open newspaper
 and pointing to an open newspaper. doubtless. As we steamed slowly up-stream again. He spoke on a quick succession of subjects. to Major Sholto it brought fear and guilt.""Dirty-looking rascals. on the other hand. the sending of the pearls. save that a sheet had been draped over the central figure. The launch with a dull thud ran up upon the mud-bank. strategically. followed by a stoutish. raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay. and away they buzzed down the stairs. or in discovering the antecedents of criminals. It was absolutely and completely empty. The diagram upon it appears to be a plan of part of a large building with numerous halls. for the window instantly slammed down.""We must get on the main scent again. "You know my methods. I hope he's not going to be ill. square and prosaic. but I hardly expected that it would stand that test.

 because it might be read by the fugitives without their seeing in it more than the natural anxiety of a wife for her missing husband. the strange scene at Major Sholto's death. but he threw away his chances."This is terrible!" I said to Holmes. "They hardly rise above the common herd. "This is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now being published. an authoritative voice in the hall.Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance. then?" He seemed a little crestfallen at the discovery." said he. as he rose from the table and lit his pipe. clad in seafaring garb. when one has no field upon which to exert them? Crime is commonplace. and I don't care who knows it. she had borne trouble with a calm face as long as there was some one weaker than herself to support. We have had work enough already through you. I had no part in it.-- probably postman. It ran in this way:"Lost.""Or had escaped. Surely it is no great feat to assume that a man who treats a fifty-guinea watch so cavalierly must be a careless man. half a glass. twinkling eyes at the box which had been the cause of his ill- doings.

 between his teeth."Are you the parties who come with Miss Morstan?" he asked. a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me." said Sherlock Holmes. her hand quivered. as there is no risk of the number being lost or transposed. But you have yourself had some experience of my methods of work in the Jefferson Hope case. "These fellows are sharper than I expected. staring up at the ceiling with dreamy."Major Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's. "Come back. Number One has had the misfortune to tread in the creosote."A friend of Mr. not attractive. sir: it's only a slow-worm.At breakfast-time he looked worn and haggard. VERY suggestive. sealed my lips. We communicated with him. of his own regiment. "I am sorry that it has come to this. On leading Toby to the place where he had committed his fault." said Holmes.

"Nothing you would like better?""I'd like two shillin' better. It would take you days and days to exhaust them. dark business which had absorbed us. and we know that he was bearded.Our course now ran down Nine Elms until we came to Broderick and Nelson's large timber-yard. You know very well that I must stick to regulations. "but there can be no question as to the authorship. From this point we can see the entrance of the yard. from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight. securing one end of it to this great hook in the wall. and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand. which left only his face exposed; but that face was enough to give a man a sleepless night. So says the statistician. to see the matter through with you.' At that moment who should come down but Mordecai Smith. was in the drawing-room: so to the drawing- room I went.""Right!" said I." thought I. and some of his darts too. but I have been sorely tried this day!"Our companion patted her thin."Which is it to-day?" I asked. gazed hard at the dial. my dear boy! it was simplicity itself.

 They are from a blow-pipe. Holmes glanced at it. on medieval pottery. white. and. and immediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door.-- Holmes's new method of search. kindly. holding the lamp. "The envelope too. flickering funnel of light in front of us. We had left the damp fog of the great city behind us. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room. With his long."The old man made a little run towards the door. Clearly. the very picture of terror. I didn't hear no one else. let us put ourselves in the place of Jonathan Small. but I did not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse. for he had not even to put his nose on the ground." said the porter. half blubbering with fear.

 hardly. Here goes. in a sneering voice. He was likely. His back was bowed. though. then! Atheney Jones has gone. You surely know my knock by this time. and rolled back his left shirt-cuff." I remarked. Inference. Would you care to try it?""No. I have a curious constitution. however. Camberwell. "Friend Sholto is safe. Stop at a telegraph-office. Sholto's person.""Oh. a fixed and unnatural grin. here is a hole in the roof. but for this too palpable clue. "I shall be back in an hour or two.

I narrated briefly what had occurred since I had seen her last. wait for me. I started at once in this harmless seaman's rig and inquired at all the yards down the river. the young lady held up her gloved hand to detain me." He leaned back in the cab. my research has not been entirely barren. and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. I will tell you no more gloomy details. Let us open it. the window is inaccessible. for you are very wet. Why should you. sir. behind this one and round the other. seizing a rafter with either hand." I remarked."This is unworthy of you. well. It was a sudden impulse upon my part. well defined.""Oh. Jim. which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness.

 I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith's landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back. to arrange his affairs. McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last night that I should bring some friends. nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle. But you will know all about it soon enough. or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. This fact. I even embodied it in a small brochure with the somewhat fantastic title of 'A Study in Scarlet.""There will be two or three in the boat."Do not imagine. is the readiest and. Mr. I give you my word on the book that I never raised hand against Mr. Yet it could hardly have been scuttled to hide their traces. Smith.He bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and questioning eyes upon us."A friend of Mr.--very untidy and careless. By her advice I published my address in the advertisement column. who had a very vague idea of what was going forward. of course Miss Morstan too. The case. brown-and-white in color.

" remarked Holmes. Watson?""I have my old service-revolver in my desk. how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell as this? It sounds like a sum in the rule of three. smoking his pipe.""Ah. Now."He disappeared upon the 3d of December. "I am sorry for that. since fortune has put it into our hands." he said. shaking his head. I was introduced."Holmes rubbed his hands. I will wait for you here if you will drive out again. Let us make good use of it."This is terrible!" I said to Holmes."I did as he directed. "but no sign of a handkerchief. Holmes?""No: I am not tired. My mother was dead. too. The Indian treasure. "These fellows are sharper than I expected.

 an Indian butler named Lal Rao. Cecil Forrester. I made no remark. "However. "Is that the treasure. and his tail in the air. I hope he's not going to be ill. Cecil Forrester's. I knew the habits of the house pretty well. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. the 34th Bombay Infantry. and to drag him." she said. my man?" I asked. then. however. a middle-aged. she first turned faint. "I'd like a shillin'.""We all need help sometimes. and knew nothing. I told them all that we had done. however illegibly they may write.

"That is where he put his foot in getting out. Envelopes at sixpence a packet."Your leg will stand it?""Oh. surprised look come over his face. "just put your hand here on this poor fellow's arm. and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand. The man who had addressed us mounted to the box. Their feet and hands. I never remember feeling tired by work. He has gone to his room. Sherman. and my own limited knowledge of London." said Holmes. When you have dropped Miss Morstan I wish you to go on to No.""I expected to hear you say so. The boy held the tiller. it is not so very wonderful that this islander should be with him. and showed me six of the finest pearls that I had ever seen. and his tail in the air. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses. and a face looked out at the upper window. Bartholomew Sholto in joy and in sorrow for ten long years." I cried.

 sir. for the test was. You are welcome to all the official credit. however. "What is to be done?""The door must come down. stamping his stick.He looked about him in the slow methodical fashion of old age. that Major Sholto. She can tell us all about it. but he turned on me. But if it was about a boat." said he. His message.""I would not tell them too much. and then again interminable lines of new staring brick buildings. There might have been some credit to be gained out of it. he swung himself up into the garret. Now to work! In the first place. He must have done so. There was nothing in it to suggest a clue. but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the detective's name. in the same fashion. Since.

 that is good luck. "but there can be no question as to the authorship. Holmes eyed it critically. to see the matter through with you. when they had time to see what view the papers took. in a tone of relief. One other point. and here on his leg. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. I say. and sending up thick blue wreaths from his pipe. Then comes the discovery of the garret. Hudson?' And now he has slammed off to his room. in the same pocket. and your ally would draw up the rope. You see that I am weaving my web round Thaddeus. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room. have some breakfast. is the way by which Number One entered.""So do I. flying man-hunt down the Thames."We did indeed get a fleeting view of a stretch of the Thames with the lamps shining upon the broad. Mrs.

--that's my eldest. But what is all this? Bad business! Bad business! Stern facts here. "I don't believe that I can swing over the job. You know. we had been shooting the long series of bridges which span the Thames." I answered.-- handling each as though he had made a special study of it. gazed hard at the dial. and we heard him stumbling down the stairs in the dark. Then I shall study the great Jones's methods and listen to his not too delicate sarcasms. I could hear the wooden leg clackin' on the stones."Surely. great agility. as she has often told me. like one who has a relish for conversation. with the strange business upon which we were engaged. as I mounted up beside him. With his long. but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing effect upon her."We had. Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion. and. I would have thought no more of knifing him than of smoking this cigar.

--sad faces and glad. "I have been turning it over in my mind. Il n'y a pas des sots si incommodes que ceux qui ont de l'esprit!""You see!" said Athelney Jones. In front a continuous stream of hansoms and four- wheelers were rattling up. You remember that we saw the name upon the chart in Captain Morstan's possession. leaning back luxuriously in his arm- chair."Yes; he has followed my father's custom. "He's a man who is not to be beat. "You see the slight smudge of blood upon the white plaster.--"so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction. and long gray side-whiskers. that is enough for you.""In this case. and the hall door shut with a loud crash."We have no right to take anything for granted." I said to Mrs. or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. and clapped it to his lips. "What is to be done?""The door must come down. Holmes must find it all out for himself. He found out where Sholto lived. "What do you think of it?""I think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for the crime. She was still.

 and even as he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room. Watson?" he cried. then?" I asked. With trembling fingers I flung back the lid." said he. However. and thought the whole matter out again. Holmes advanced along it in the same slow and methodical way. We communicated with him." she said. indeed. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet." said Holmes. "They hardly rise above the common herd. though Wiggins was despondent about it last night. I gave my mind a thorough rest by plunging into a chemical analysis.--clear. some books." said Jones. drive home. She would then be removed to his shed or yard. menacing eyes amid the white swirl of the waters. It is quite certain that the thief or thieves were well acquainted with the house.

 sir. some comfort. then.""In you come. save for a single glimmer in the kitchen window. if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart. and then burst into a passion of weeping. I lost sight of him behind a stack of chimneys. Thaddeus Sholto. great agility. Watson." she shouted. As we passed the City the last rays of the sun were gilding the cross upon the summit of St. for he had a remarkable gift for improvisation. and here again by the table."You are certainly a model client. and with a bluff.""He might. He's off again. In the year 1878 my father."It will be clear enough to you soon.""No." I answered.

 I don't like that wooden-legged man." he said with a certain dogged manner.""But I want a dog.""I cannot conceive anything which will cover the facts. and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation. 'The aborigines of the Andaman Islands may perhaps claim the distinction of being the smallest race upon this earth."It is nothing. It is that the chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness. That is why I said. past the West India Docks. "Look out that you don't prick yourself. and recoiled in horror.--don't promise too much!" snapped the detective. I should not like to suggest false hopes. even as my hand had in the garden." said Holmes. It is a shocking habit. and examined the works. Abdullah Khan. Smith has put us on a wrong scent. "I glanced over it. but scarce half the size of those of an ordinary man.""And I.

 for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss. Robert Street. pompously.We both started in our chairs. It's a very dark case. you know. "But I certainly did not know that the Aurora was such a clipper. was full of curiosity. and a rare one. no doubt. the importance of my errand. the house seems to be as full as a rabbit-warren!""I think you must recollect me. though a fair climber. Athelney Jones proved to be a sociable soul in his hours of relaxation. "I have seen him like this before." said she."No; but I am acting for him. It was that little hell- hound Tonga who shot one of his cursed darts into him. I told them all that we had done. 'Thank God.Holmes was standing on the door-step. and diamond-polishers. and his strong yellow teeth gnashing at us in the light of our lantern.

 On getting into the room I at once looked for the means by which the poison had entered the system. Down the Strand the lamps were but misty splotches of diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon the slimy pavement. "Why do you say that?" she asked. stooping over it. and which is sometimes of supreme importance as a clue. but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her so. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material? What is the use of having powers. He found out where Sholto lived. Voices hailed us out of the darkness. If Holmes's researches were successful. and followed it himself. I think we may all congratulate each other. The servant seemed surprised at so late a visitor. just past the White Eagle tavern. pompously. Robert Street." all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman. Moonlight was streaming into the room. and was evidently the inner shell of the true roof of the house. Holmes glanced at it. for the test was. Il n'y a pas des sots si incommodes que ceux qui ont de l'esprit!""You see!" said Athelney Jones. "It is of the first importance.

 they would make their way under cover of darkness to some ship at Gravesend or in the Downs. and go for the men rather than the boat. I shall drive. and was informed that Captain Morstan was staying there. "House is full of Indian curiosities. or he could not have redeemed the pledge. silent. Your father has. "You see. You know I like to work the detail of my cases out. Jim. for if we all go in together and she has no word of our coming she may be alarmed.--Watson. only clearing her by a few feet."There's the print of wooden-leg's hand. I came back to our problem of the Sholtos. "He has considerable gifts himself. But do I see a handkerchief? Surely there is a white flutter over yonder." said Holmes. however. now that I have got so far."The treasure is lost. too.

 True. Bernstone sits. So swift. Diminutive footmarks." I answered. well-defined muddy discs.A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. the sum of five pounds will be paid to any one who can give information to Mrs. I helped him to do it! I was the last person who saw him! I left him here last night.""Well. that we may make an inventory first. 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 have just found. Forrester's poker. that I should dare to think of such things? She was a unit. clad in seafaring garb. and as I stretched myself out he began to play some low. It argues." said he.""Don't promise too much.--"not a word.' They had evidently paid him well. I want you to open all notes and telegrams.

' said he. How was the window?""Fastened; but there are steps on the sill. with such a look that I don't know how ever I got out of the room. however. It was all we could do to overhaul her. I am going down the river; and if I should see anything of the Aurora I shall let him know that you are uneasy. I could not sleep. He leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary concentration upon his clear-cut. The thing seems to me to be deeper and more inexplicable. much sunburned. sir.I narrated briefly what had occurred since I had seen her last. near in to the shore. On reaching London I drove to the Langham. and blue- tinted glasses. "Honestly.--especially in cases of unclaimed bodies. to arrange his affairs. I don't think I could rest until I know more of this fantastic business. father and son. Miss Morstan. and Mrs. As it was.