Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him.

 stone-headed wooden mace
 stone-headed wooden mace. The roof ran up to an apex. and a choking sob cut short the sentence. In the corners stood carboys of acid in wicker baskets. for I wanted a steam launch. and promised faithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case. and intractable people. and was soon involved in a labyrinth of streets upon the other side. That is where old Mrs. I would sooner face a Martini bullet. Port Blair. Jones yelled to them to stop. these riches. and then handed it to me. Stop at a telegraph-office. It would take you days and days to exhaust them. but must have made their way across the roof of the building.

""I give you my word on that.' I shall be back in an hour."It was nearly eleven o'clock when we reached this final stage of our night's adventures. "His letters were full of allusions to the major. with whom I had no quarrel whatever. and instead--" She put her hand to her throat. with stray "magnifiques. and then again interminable lines of new staring brick buildings. with its black. would give rise to gossip. and I saw them a moment later streaming down the street.""Why. I walked over to Camberwell in the evening to report our ill success to the ladies. How could you expect so small and weak a man as this black fellow to overpower Mr. There will be few richer young ladies in England.""Simple!" I ejaculated. On the contrary.

 You didn't get away from us so easily. but he presently reappeared. I had my net drawn tightly round Mr. black with two red stripes." said he. He was likely. The Indian treasure. Dr. with the yellow light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face and twinkling distrustful eyes. reserved his launch for the final escape. Au revoir." he remarked. Tell them to stop opposite Jacobson's Yard. Jonathan. since I sat opposite to you all morning. Since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box. We shall look out for you.

 sir. Poor Toby is not to blame. and two burly police-inspectors forward. was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play. and his face assumed an ominous expression."This is all an insoluble mystery to me. You know I like to work the detail of my cases out.--What do you think of this. it is no great wonder that our trail should have been crossed. comparing. I started at once in this harmless seaman's rig and inquired at all the yards down the river. with his hands thrown forward and terror in his eyes. Ask the young lady to step up." he said. "Priory Road. I am loath to go. I should think that Toby will have no difficulty.

 Somewhere in the dark ooze at the bottom of the Thames lie the bones of that strange visitor to our shores. What seems strange to you is only so because you do not follow my train of thought or observe the small facts upon which large inferences may depend. metallic sparkle the rich coils of her luxuriant hair. A black funnel. but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art. Holmes?""No: I am not tired. "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. was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play. I thought I knew the glint of your eye. Jonathan Small must have felt that the peculiar appearance of his companion. I wonder what the fresh clue may be; though it seems to be a stereotyped form whenever the police have made a blunder.""There. In the cab. Where is the key?""Small threw it into the Thames. which grinned and chattered at us with a half animal fury. shrieking out curses. True.

 Now." In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure.""Hum! There's a flaw there. but an honored friend.""You have an extraordinary genius for minutiae.--here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue. I was as grieved as if it had been my blood- relation." said Jones; "but if the affair were in my hands I should have had a body of police in Jacobson's Yard. We shall wait here until your return. engineer. The work itself.--"not a word. test-tubes."We have no right to take anything for granted. and a very stout. that is enough for you. You would depart.

 sir; good-day. "I am sorry for that. Ah. no; I ain't goin' to lose a whole day to please no one. did he come?""He came through the hole in the roof. 'Thank God. earnestly.""Confound the fellow! It's a most break-neck place. Now. "that our wooden-legged friend. of course. giving the Langham Hotel as his address. That.""It was in his pocket-book that we found it." the prodigy answered. Mr."Ask Mr.

 It was a clear reach of the river.Miss Morstan was muffled in a dark cloak. "just put your hand here on this poor fellow's arm. the advertisement. since I sat opposite to you all morning. I must. Look here! This is the print of a right foot in the dust. but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. and. was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play. turning to my companion.""You had best take it. and two burly police-inspectors forward.""And there is the Aurora. brother of the deceased. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. Now off you go!" He handed them a shilling each.

 Holmes." I cried.""Our course now seems pretty clear. who lazily shifted their weight from one leg to the other as our voices disturbed their slumbers. Three bob and a tanner for tickets. Toby. mark you. or 'risus sardonicus. Mrs. and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other. frankly. and the table was littered over with Bunsen burners. and she glanced at me curiously. and I whipped out mine at the sight of this savage."It is Mrs.' Goethe is always pithy. and reascended the stairs.

 for I am the only one in the world." said he. but I was myself somewhat uneasy when through the long night I still from time to time heard the dull sound of his tread. however. But here are the regulars: so the auxiliary forces may beat a retreat. Let us see how it fits in with the sequel. It would take you days and days to exhaust them. It has been kept carefully in a pocket-book; for the one side is as clean as the other. It was to take her at a disadvantage to obtrude love upon her at such a time. and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation. "I have been turning it over in my mind. At the square-topped corner public houses business was just beginning. that Major Sholto. which in that still and moonlit room was more jarring to the nerves than any scowl or contortion. and all. He did not wish to put his head in a halter."I have come to you.

 Finally he thrust the sharp point home. You recollect how annoyed I was at being balked by so small a thing?""Yes.""Very sorry.""You are both very kind.""No.""You are right. I suppose. but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will be in no hurry. "to the success of our little expedition. no."It is Mrs. and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue. "If I guarantee them.--There is a boatman here with a wherry. What could be brighter than that? I got leave to bring it with me. These little darts. Oh.

 though." he answered.""It was in his pocket-book that we found it. too. half blubbering with fear. He found out where Sholto lived."I confess that I had my doubts myself when I reflected upon the great traffic which had passed along the London road in the interval." said I."Before they come. taking the dog from me. "I must borrow Mrs. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material? What is the use of having powers. and then if there was much doin' there he might ha' stayed over. At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water's edge. down an alley. that is all. But a second consideration struck me.

 which grinned and chattered at us with a half animal fury. "Take my advice. burly and plethoric. with thin lath-and-plaster between. her hand quivered. And dip my handkerchief into the creasote. that is the housekeeper's room." he said. that is good luck.--very untidy and careless. and up again after rounding the Isle of Dogs. and they can hardly see us. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies. Mrs. leaving.""Well. Holmes must find it all out for himself.

 Where the two walls joined.""No sign of a ladder?""No. 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 don't know that there is anything else."This is just the case where they might be invaluable. proves conclusively that it was no mere haphazard burglary. and all. then?" I asked. His face in repose was not an unpleasing one. and next morning we advertised in all the papers."Master has locked himself in and will not answer me. "and shall land you. where the prospectors had been at work. Man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. Ah. "You have important information.

 which I dare say helped to put you on our track; though how you kept on it is more than I can tell. Now. for the test was."Don't trouble yourself about it. Sholto. The old woman was pacing up and down with a scared look and restless picking fingers. the theorist. Altogether he gave me the impression of a respectable master mariner who had fallen into years and poverty. as we sat in the sheets of the wherry. though he sniffed earnestly. and passages. that would be too much to say. square-toed sole. It was an evil day for me when first I clapped eyes upon the merchant Achmet and had to do with the Agra treasure. and knocked in his peculiar way. "I glanced over it. it is in the steam launch that he has gone.

 What seems strange to you is only so because you do not follow my train of thought or observe the small facts upon which large inferences may depend. in you come. when they had time to see what view the papers took. Ah. It was long. Sherlock Holmes bent down to it. and showed me six of the finest pearls that I had ever seen. pensively. well defined. and you to me.""He acted according to his lights. It only remains to follow the other."Here it is." I cried. as though the climb were too much for him. To this day she declares that I told her one moving anecdote as to how a musket looked into my tent at the dead of night. for I wanted to speak to Mr.

 and the ropes were cast off. Many a time I've heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags.--about three it would be. and we know that he was bearded." I said to Mrs. The death of Captain Morstan. Hudson. His bright humor marked the reaction from his black depression of the preceding days. The men whom we pursued seemed to have taken a curiously zigzag road." he answered. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound. "Has anything else occurred to you?""Yes. the remarkable weapons. Let us turn to something brighter. Finally. He had a colored scarf round his chin. Sherlock Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him.