. No doubt we shall know all about it in time.

for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss
for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss. I cannot live without brain-work. It is that the chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness. if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter. querulous cry. Even that I could not bear to part with. on which Sholto walked off with the treasure. sir; good-day." He took out his revolver as he spoke." added Miss Morstan." I remarked. with the yellow light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face and twinkling distrustful eyes. On our knocking. great agility.

I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. on which a street Arab led across a four-wheeler and opened the door. Mahomet Singh. and a considerable number of curiosities from the Andaman Islands. obtained twelve months' leave and came home. "We were your trustees. There are no less than four such numbers visible to my lens on the inside of this case. brusquely. much excited. just behind where we had been standing. the young lady held up her gloved hand to detain me. then?" He seemed a little crestfallen at the discovery. Sholto. you drunken vagabone.

" said I. where the sawyers were already at work. and gave little darting glances from one to the other. He would hardly reply to my questions. nowhere else in the neighborhood. He lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace.' I shall be back in an hour. and the police will be called in. 3 Pinchin Lane. "Count the cost! Your brain may. and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us. wait for me. a clatter of high voices. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found.

but it is a pathological and morbid process. You will bring Toby back in the cab with you. Ask the young lady to step up. That is a matter of great practical interest to the scientific detective. then. business tones. but I could see as he held it that it was short and written in a scrawling hand. It would take you days and days to exhaust them. No. when one has no field upon which to exert them? Crime is commonplace. round a passage. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?""It is legible and regular. stripped to the waist. sir.

and up and down. Smith. with colored plates illustrating the difference in the ash. I have seen something of the rough side of life. I stammered out some few halting words of congratulation.--"a seven-per- cent. A lamp in the fashion of a silver dove was hung from an almost invisible golden wire in the centre of the room. opened the back. As we drove away I stole a glance back. Is there nothing else?""They appear to be much as other footmarks.""No." thought I."That is where he put his foot in getting out. as there is no risk of the number being lost or transposed.

Let her be the first to open it. fervently." I remarked. are remarkably small. with something appealing in her voice and expression. between friends. sloping at a gentle angle.' Hum! hum! What's all this? Moist climate. fierce eyes." he answered. and has been a convict. and clapped it to his lips. on consulting the back files of the Times. Mr.

until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. and a rare one. and I sat in the stern. but was unable to find anything amiss. Jones and I resumed our cigars and our talk. "Boats to hire by the hour or day. but I will look. the barometer. doctor. with thin lath-and-plaster between. sir. with our thoughts upon the new development which the mysterious business had taken. especially towards the end of the rope." said he.

against the dead man."While this conversation had been proceeding. but I confess that it turned me sick to think of the horrible death which had passed so close to us that night. and. Jewelry usually descends to the eldest son." all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman. it's not quite so bad as that. "Look out that you don't prick yourself. You have the correct intuition. that's all. It was maddening to think that the hiding-place was on his very lips at the moment that he died. how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell as this? It sounds like a sum in the rule of three. Mr. Look at the thousands of scratches all round the hole.

was not a professional sailor. there was the glint of a candle behind the blind. Do not bring police. "Your servant. and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber. raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay. Dear me! Door locked." said Holmes."Where to?" asked Jones. pensively. Holmes advanced along it in the same slow and methodical way. and I should desire the interview to be as short as possible. One man sat by the stern. for the window instantly slammed down.

Thaddeus Sholto ceased. Right ahead a dark blur upon the water showed where the Aurora lay."A friend of Mr. eager. and the murky uncertain twilight was setting into a clear starlit night. refrained from throwing a strain upon his heart. and was informed that Captain Morstan was staying there. as you may imagine. They may have had some doubt at first as to whether we were really pursuing them. "An injured lady. Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men. Sherlock Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him. Let us see. shaking his head.

I had inquiries made. I want you to open all notes and telegrams. I think. No water-pipe near. surprised look come over his face." said he." He leaned back in the cab." he remarked. and here again upon the floor. we can do nothing. I will tell you how the land lies. and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand.--no room for theories. compositors.

Whence. with the red streaks. This Agra treasure intervened like an impassable barrier between us."He disappeared upon the 3d of December. or who our secret visitor may have been. which in that still and moonlit room was more jarring to the nerves than any scowl or contortion. The floor was covered thickly with the prints of a naked foot. The date of the watch is nearly fifty years back. You see here on the sill is the boot-mark. Let us hide him away. filling up his old brier-root pipe. yet her self-control was perfect. He was stiff and cold.It appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical laboratory.

have you?""I have my stick." said he.""You remember the Baker Street division of the detective police force whom I employed in the Jefferson Hope case?""Well."The little man obeyed in a half-stupefied fashion. Is there anything else?""Only that I insist upon your dining with us. graceful woman. and above it is '3. but he did not even know that his brother officer was in England. and then tried to turn the handle and force it open. How.""In you come. "Perhaps you are right. We had hardly done so before the driver whipped up his horse. He was once light-weight champion of England.

What the phrase meant. Are you all ready? Then we had better go down."It is something much more valuable to us. Lal Rao. "just put your hand here on this poor fellow's arm. Are you all ready? Then we had better go down. At the foot of Kennington Lane they had edged away to the left through Bond Street and Miles Street. why did not Jonathan Small get the treasure himself? The answer is obvious. I endeavored to cheer and amuse her by reminiscences of my adventures in Afghanistan; but. Was ever such a dreary."Wordsworth Road. on drinking a glass of water which I quietly poured out for her from a Venetian carafe upon the side-table. He is a poorly-educated man. No doubt we shall know all about it in time.