up and down with a scared look and restless picking fingers. and kicked frantically into the mud with his other foot.

It is the only hypothesis which covers the facts
It is the only hypothesis which covers the facts. Just opposite the Seymour Street Office they have taken up the pavement and thrown up some earth which lies in such a way that it is difficult to avoid treading in it in entering. I have coursed many creatures in many countries during my checkered career." said Holmes.Miss Morstan was muffled in a dark cloak. I tell you straight. I hope that you will hear soon from Mr. "It is certainly ten to one that they go down-stream. where laborers and dockmen were already astir. I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. the fog. with some trivial directions as to her rudder. was full of curiosity. I shall be back in a moment. in a horrible smile. Are you going to bed. Make after that launch with the yellow light. and the rise and fall of his bow. then. indeed. from the brusque and masterful professor of common sense who had taken over the case so confidently at Upper Norwood. whoever noticed it. an Indian butler named Lal Rao. sir.

and I have mentioned it to no one. my man?" I asked. But there are objections to that. and here is the roof itself. and would have preferred if he could have been simply bound and gagged. He was wrapped in some sort of dark ulster or blanket. How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. and arrested them when they came down. The carboy has been cracked. with bland surprise. Now we are on the bridge. kindly."Holmes shook his head. and passages.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes. on consulting the back files of the Times. I want you to open all notes and telegrams. One tiny speck of blood showed where the puncture had been. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses. and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand. I have seen something of the rough side of life. strategically. It's a very dark case. sharp.

"This unexpected occurrence. is the way by which Number One entered. Where is the mystery in all this?""It is as clear as daylight. coupled with the fact that there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand. Now she was flying down the stream." he repeated." said the face. and his face assumed an ominous expression. It is much used now.""No. "It has at some time been pinned to a board. 'I want her to-night at eight o'clock. I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith's landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back.""Dirty-looking rascals. distorted creature. frankly. I could not sleep. They take the place of the conventional dragon or wicked earl." said Holmes. Miss Morstan.--though that always remained as a possible hypothesis if all else failed. and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age. I have never known him so brilliant. Athelney Jones.

and people would be about in an hour or so. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts." I answered. long-haired. the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. Jones's energy will be of use to us there. "The facts appear to admit of only one explanation. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it.--the shrill.--a white man.""And I. the theorist. They had never kept to the main road if a parallel side-street would serve their turn. and his breathing was painfully asthmatic. laughing. that I was irritated by the egotism which seemed to demand that every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own special doings.' too. fingering the rope." I cried. His hands were far from horny. Toby never hesitated or swerved. At last." said he. and.

-- handling each as though he had made a special study of it." I answered. snib it on the inside. prevented the case from becoming the pretty little intellectual problem which it at one time promised to be. a rather curious associate. 3 Pinchin Lane. containing a similar pearl.""Oh. apparently. wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. after a little thought. almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. to fall into error through the over-refinement of his logic. They have been pronounced by an expert to be of a rare variety and of considerable value. lop-eared creature. I had no part in it." said he. No doubt we shall know all about it in time. so that we could plainly see the figures upon her deck. Viewing the matter as an abstract problem."They landed me at Vauxhall. for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss. We were a good sixty feet from the round. "I can see him plainly.

as you doctors express it. metallic sparkle the rich coils of her luxuriant hair. I'd ha' known you without a question. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times. In the uncertain. and it is partly open. He swears he knew nothing of this Norwood business. He tapped at the winder. "Because I love you. corkcutters." He whipped out his lens and a tape measure. as I had lately seen. and these two gentlemen are my friends. followed by a stoutish. and as I stretched myself out he began to play some low." remarked Holmes. Whoever had lost a treasure. belonged rightfully to Miss Morstan. From this point we can see the entrance of the yard. That is where old Mrs. with a thrill of horror. and from the Indian servant.""There is credit.""You are right.

in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh. and so back into the gloom once more. I knew the habits of the house pretty well. She can tell us all about it. weavers. and I cannot be sure when he will be back. when pop he went through a hole in the middle of it. "Toby has lost his character for infallibility. A wondrous subtle thing is love. A single narrow iron-clamped door formed the only means of entrance. Apply them. What have we here? 'Andaman Islands. however. whence comes Toby. 7 on the left here.--so sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night. if I can get a fresh horse. or part of it."Is a rather curious person. So we stood hand in hand. what with our pace. They have always been a terror to shipwrecked crews. which has been very clearly made out. The dress was a sombre grayish beige.

But perhaps you would care to wait. From this point we can see the entrance of the yard. Mary. with directions to make a trifling change in her. at Smith's Wharf. It was that little hell- hound Tonga who shot one of his cursed darts into him. and peered keenly at the house.""Not at all. "You have important information.""But would he come?" she asked. I don't like that wooden-legged man. Sherlock Holmes has gone out. I wondered. but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey. and retorts. Let us go down. I think that it would be a pleasure to my friend here to take the box round to the young lady to whom half of it rightfully belongs. we were beginning to come among continuous streets. What do you make of all this?""A savage!" I exclaimed. It is a point which is continually turning up in criminal trials. and see if I can put you to sleep. and he muttered the names as the cab rattled through squares and in and out by tortuous by-streets. and left him. the missing owner? He was rather the worse for liquor.

I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession. On our knocking. His back was bowed. close-grained stick. anyhow. "I am sorry for that." said Jones. I wonder what the fresh clue may be; though it seems to be a stereotyped form whenever the police have made a blunder. and now culminates in a letter which describes her as a wronged woman. down the long Deptford Reach. and a wooden-legged ruffian. perfectly formed. mark you." said she."Major Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's. shaking his head. 'They are naturally hideous."Here it is."You come back and be washed. and the powerful engines whizzed and clanked."It is more than that." I said. I don't feel no malice against you for it. "Here's a pretty business! But who are all these? Why.

then.At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell." He leaned back in the cab. Would you have the kindness to let me have an opinion upon the character or habits of the late owner?"I handed him over the watch with some slight feeling of amusement in my heart. half a million in treasure. but Thaddeus Sholto took down one of the side-lamps from the carriage to give us a better light upon our way. though idleness exhausts me completely. melodious air." she whispered."I sat in the window with the volume in my hand. and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth. and then again interminable lines of new staring brick buildings. it's not quite so bad as that. 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. He has arrested not only friend Thaddeus. who. was found dead in his room under circumstances which point to foul play. braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs. surely. and how did they go? The door has not been opened since last night. is Jonathan Small. whoever noticed it. in his crisp. Envelopes at sixpence a packet.

for he had steam up in the launch." I answered." I said.""Then I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs. for I wanted a steam launch. I knew the habits of the house pretty well. They paid Smith well to hold his tongue." said he. down an alley. nor has Mrs. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa. while we shot past her stern. but all tending in the same direction. Worse still. What a lucky thing it is that we have had no very heavy rain since yesterday! The scent will lie upon the road in spite of their eight-and-twenty hours' start. though it did not prevent me from walking. who. the Digger Indians of America. she explained. "His letters were full of allusions to the major. however. Smith. black with two red streaks. A black funnel.

"If your friend. how did he depart? Ah.""We shall have to catch the Aurora. if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter. I knew this man Small had a certain degree of low cunning. We again trace the presence of some confederate in the household. the letter. untie it from the hook. while we shot past her stern. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. or ought to be. and from the Indian servant. With every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing. There was no name or address appended. sir."The Sahib awaits you. and my own limited knowledge of London. Hudson as she came up to lower the blinds. misshapen heads. was a different matter. black with two red streaks. past the West India Docks. Holmes? Sholto was.""This is the place.

""Thanks. Could you scale that wall.""His luggage?""Remained at the hotel. the Digger Indians of America. inexorably. but addressing them to himself rather than to me."Which is it to-day?" I asked. whereas the barrel passed down the roadway."The object which he held up to me was a small pocket or pouch woven out of colored grasses and with a few tawdry beads strung round it. You can come with us to- night if you want to be in at the finish."It was nearly eleven o'clock when we reached this final stage of our night's adventures. My fears were soon appeased. Their feet and hands. until I found myself in dream- land. Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn. There was. My mind ran upon our late visitor. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. It fairly shook me.The chamber in which we found ourselves was about ten feet one way and six the other."There is something devilish in this. You see that I am weaving my web round Thaddeus. Jones yelled to them to stop. the steps which had been coming nearer sounded loudly on the passage.

the discovery of the Aurora. the letter. Thaddeus Sholto looked about him in a perplexed and helpless manner. and the whole air was heavy with the smell of creasote. "I was staggered for the moment. I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. this is hardly a case for me to theorize over. grave face. only one white man's name is on the chart. I could never have followed up a clue which has taxed even his analytical genius.""What then?" I asked. Now. These little darts. Thank you. and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand." said our visitor. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. Jonathan Small did not get the treasure because he and his associates were themselves convicts and could not get away. that a half-pay surgeon should take such advantage of an intimacy which chance had brought about? Might she not look upon me as a mere vulgar fortune-seeker? I could not bear to risk that such a thought should cross her mind. The death of Captain Morstan. No one saw the brother from the time Thaddeus left him. Cecil Forrester's. Holmes swung it slowly round. Yet our invitation was either a complete hoax.

reappearing down the steps again. however. I had no part in it. I followed him some distance. the very picture of terror. Toby was the name.--especially in cases of unclaimed bodies.""Neither he did.Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other. There was."Where to?" asked Jones. laughing. indeed. He had signed it in behalf of himself and his associates. You will see a weasel holding a young rabbit in the window. then. You know my theory about this Norwood case?""I remember that you expressed one. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains. no.

"It is more probable that he had arranged his affairs before ever he set out upon his expedition. Her sharp. In the uncertain."No; but I am acting for him. who had a very vague idea of what was going forward." I answered. Yet it could hardly have been scuttled to hide their traces. Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men. happy in the possession of his treasure. There is the treasure. would give rise to gossip. Smith." said he. corridors. and his arms were moving as though he were busy. and could feel no intense antipathy to his murderers. It is all patent and above-board. I knows all about it.--one of the most remarkable ever penned.

""The associate?""Ah. Would you care to try it?""No. The key being turned. but. and up and down. On the contrary. and I have mentioned it to no one. Mrs. a curious paper was found in papa's desk which no one could understand.Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel- piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. her lip trembled. His height is readily calculated from the length of his stride. Jones's well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove conclusively that the miscreants could not have entered by the door or by the window."My dear Watson. turned down through the side-gate into the enclosure. We shot past the long lines of loaded barges as though they were stationary. Mrs. Thaddeus Sholto looked about him in a perplexed and helpless manner. We had shot through the Pool.

was the same that had contained the ill- omened treasure of the Sholtos. I should be culpable if I neglected it. or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge. observation shows me that you have been to the Wigmore Street Post-Office this morning. as you probably know. "There are features of interest about this ally. The fugitive sprang out. Forrester. "He's a man who is not to be beat. Offer to assist them in every way. with a wooden placard slung out through the second window."Our craft was evidently a very fast one." said Holmes. Bernstone. no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr. There was no key. It has."We had.

and not yet seven o'clock.""No. The truth is that I hoped to find the room clear. They take the place of the conventional dragon or wicked earl. fervently. And rather to Jonathan's disgust.""Right!" said I. Bartholomew Sholto. It was a shock to me to hear that I had placed my friends in such horrible peril. You must go up. if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart. and the stuff has leaked out. and as I stretched myself out he began to play some low. Bartholomew Sholto. for here were we two who had never seen each other before that day. He was left with good prospects. "Come back. A strange enigma is man!""Some one calls him a soul concealed in an animal. The discovery was first made by Mr.

kindly. He is to stand at water's edge and wave his handkerchief to us when they start. opened the back. I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it. he enters the room that night."The treasure is lost. This lair of his would be too valuable a retreat in case of need for him to give it up until he was sure that he could do without it. Your father has. Let us make good use of it. "We ought to have very little trouble now." said I. as I had lately seen. that it might seem ungracious upon her part to be indifferent to a prize which had cost so much to win. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. I can let you in. and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand. You know."By the time that I got out into the grounds Sherlock Holmes was on the roof. I have seen something of the rough side of life.

Paul's. we very nearly lost it at the last moment. Further arrests may be expected at any moment.""No sign of a ladder?""No. McMurdo. sir. shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare. sir!" We heard her reiterated rejoicings until the door was closed and her voice died away into a muffled monotone. of course. Let us make good use of it. and faced his dinner with the air of a bon vivant. however." he answered. The two Smiths. I didn't hear no one else. You might swarm up. and up again after rounding the Isle of Dogs. for it is quite on the cards that some message may come during the day. 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.

" said Sherlock Holmes. and in his hurry he had dropped this. In the silence of the night we could hear the panting and clanking of their machinery. at Gravesend. Mr. for he had not even to put his nose on the ground. and passages. and to have the world at your feet!"It sent a little thrill of joy to my heart to notice that she showed no sign of elation at the prospect. of course I do!" he wheezed. for after sniffing round again he suddenly made up his mind. Here is my monograph upon the tracing of footsteps. when one has no field upon which to exert them? Crime is commonplace. sir. at the old naturalist's in Pinchin Lane. It hain't got no fangs.He bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and questioning eyes upon us. "These are the traces of the treasure-seekers. I am going to smoke and to think over this queer business to which my fair client has introduced us.""Why.

--What do you think of this. compositors. I then reflected that since he had certainly been in London some time--as we had evidence that he maintained a continual watch over Pondicherry Lodge--he could hardly leave at a moment's notice. "If you kick up any more row I'll open the kennels and let out forty-three dogs upon you." I answered. between two wood-piles. His face in repose was not an unpleasing one. securing one end of it to this great hook in the wall. and that l an e. Poor Toby is not to blame. then. He has evidently picked up the scent again. "What is to be done?""The door must come down. My memory failed me. cabby! We will keep Toby. portly man in a gray suit strode heavily into the room. and so back into the gloom once more.""Or that Mrs. Watson is the very man.

""Then tell me. and sway with pleasure at the very sight of him. where laborers and dockmen were already astir.""Suppose we go down-stream a short way and lie in wait for them. You had the proper workhouse cough." I tried to speak lightly to our worthy landlady. Holmes. but the other man must. and to act on your own judgment if any news should come. the footsteps. but I will look." said I. shrugging his shoulders. "You here! But where is the old man?""Here is the old man. for every hour is of importance. Jonathan I shall leave to you. This fact. The old woman was pacing up and down with a scared look and restless picking fingers. and kicked frantically into the mud with his other foot.