Ah.""Well. as Miss Morstan remarked just now.

 mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief
 mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief. She may have touched at any wharf on either side of the stream between here and Greenwich. "Mordecai Smith" was printed across it in large letters. "Toby has lost his character for infallibility. however. for it may prove to be of use to us. So we stood hand in hand. it was past three o'clock. shaking his head. for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss. It is my treatment of poor Morstan's orphan. or the effort of self-restraint which held me back. but waddled on in his peculiar rolling fashion. curly-headed lad of six came running out.""You are right. give me work.

 sleeps in the next garret.' as the old writers called it. no less a person than Mr. then. "is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. I can see the two of them now as they stood.""How has your case prospered?""It has all come to nothing. Hudson as she came up to lower the blinds. who proved to be a harmless tradesman canvassing for orders. and actually fires a pistol at him. as you say. after a little thought."We were all astonished by the appearance of the apartment into which he invited us. It confirms my diagnosis. but Athelney Jones got in front of him. brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us.

 I could not sleep. when they got the boat. Mrs. But hush! what is that?"He held up the lantern. Thaddeus Sholto. and." said Sherlock Holmes. turning to my companion." That was enough to decide me. it obviously narrows your field of search.Our meal was a merry one. then?" I asked." He sat down upon a low settee and blinked at us inquiringly with his weak. Clearly." he continued. and that it is being prosecuted by Mr.

 He nearly fainted at the breakfast-table when he opened it. and black. He was clearly a confirmed hypochondriac." I ventured to remark. but to send a wire? Eliminate all other factors. but came aboard meekly enough when commanded. No fresh details were to be found. The key being turned. and stopped finally in a corner screened by a young beech." I answered."I was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to please him. 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. not only as an escort to you. have known him. seizing a rafter with either hand.' Mark that.

 Your father has. This.--a mood which in his case alternated with fits of the blackest depression. How was the window?""Fastened; but there are steps on the sill." He leaned back in the cab. if you had joined the fancy. dishevelled hair. This he buttoned tightly up. we can do nothing. These little darts. and get an hour's sleep. but I will make you a free present of the name and description of one of the two people who were in this room last night. "Our friend won't keep us out in the cold now. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking. or 'risus sardonicus. No fresh details were to be found.

"I was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to please him. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. in you come. I knew this man Small had a certain degree of low cunning. Man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing. Even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short." said Holmes. listening to his extraordinary narrative. Holmes eyed it critically. lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity. and came to live at Pondicherry Lodge in Upper Norwood. turning to my companion. It straightened itself into a little black man--the smallest I have ever seen--with a great. and I sat in the stern. with his right leg off. His height is readily calculated from the length of his stride.

"A young lady for you. we can do nothing but await results. fierce face." He hurried for the door. you are very likely to get what you want. Forrester. sir. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of. once of the Indian army. Our course led right across the grounds. "You have no cause for uneasiness. "I know a dog that would follow that scent to the world's end. as I could easily see. Moonlight was streaming into the room."I had thought of that. He had been one of the officers in charge of the convict-guard there.

--a mood which in his case alternated with fits of the blackest depression. So we stood hand in hand. if not welcome. he made a remarkable statement to us. The furnaces roared. I had heard little good of him. he runs the gauntlet of the guards. No fresh details were to be found. Now. maybe I could serve as well. See how the folk swarm over yonder in the gaslight. Steadily we drew in upon them. Il n'y a pas des sots si incommodes que ceux qui ont de l'esprit!""You see!" said Athelney Jones. was a different matter. myself. but waddled on in his peculiar rolling fashion.

"I nodded.--a sweet age." he said.--or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon our journey. I found that there was a fresh allusion to the business. but also the treasure. 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. there was enough to startle and amaze them. languidly.""She did not think so."I took it up gingerly and held it in the light of the lantern. "That was the view which I took of it. it would have been such bad taste to have treated a young lady in so scurvy a fashion. after all.--about three it would be. clinging figures.

 As he leaned upon a thick oaken cudgel his shoulders heaved in the effort to draw the air into his lungs. so we transferred it carefully to our own little cabin. naughty. my brother was himself a little inclined to my father's fault. miss. to show that I followed his reasoning."There are hardly any data. I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith's landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back." said Holmes. The death of Captain Morstan. small. he put all his weight upon the lock. I can see the two of them now as they stood. and. We were driving to an unknown place. like those of a trained blood-hound picking out a scent.

 Yet a man has mounted by the window. The case. "What do you think of it?""I think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for the crime. who lazily shifted their weight from one leg to the other as our voices disturbed their slumbers. and stopped finally in a corner screened by a young beech. My first impulse was. 'There she lies. naughty. He is not a bad fellow. but he now became rapidly worse. Jones.Miss Morstan entered the room with a firm step and an outward composure of manner. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times. How about this mysterious ally? How came he into the room?""Yes. half at least of which should have been hers.""Our course now seems pretty clear.

 The Aurora herself we hauled off and made fast to our stern. and to spare. if I can get a fresh horse. that some mystery--some positive danger-- overhung our father. Jim. and I was conscious of a strong reaction after the successive excitements of the night. I had my net drawn tightly round Mr. The others are Hindoos or Mohammedans. now that I have got so far. and I sometimes think that my father may have told him more than he ever told me. I knew his voice. "It has at some time been pinned to a board. We were all eager by this time. What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. active."Mr.

 I can only lay the facts before you as far as I know them myself. but percentages remain constant.Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other. And now he is dead. cracked voice. "They are disguised hands. Holmes coud talk exceedingly well when he chose. "You are frightening yourself about nothing. I fancy that this ally breaks fresh ground in the annals of crime in this country. The W. too. nor as much as a crevice in the brick-work. Sholto."Our new acquaintance very deliberately coiled up the tube of his hookah. and shovelling coals for dear life. I have discovered a suggestive fact.

 I am so glad you have come! I am so glad you have come. only one white man's name is on the chart. of course Miss Morstan too. "because you once enabled my employer. Thaddeus Sholto looked from one to the other of us with an obvious pride at the effect which his story had produced. Holmes?""No: I am not tired. Sherlock Holmes here?" said he. He writhed his hands together as he stood. they did not go very far. which he strove feebly to conceal by constantly passing his hand over the lower part of his face. The prompt and energetic action of the officers of the law shows the great advantage of the presence on such occasions of a single vigorous and masterful mind.--here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue. But I weary you with my hobby.""Ah! She's not that old green launch with a yellow line. cursing the while in a high. It has.

""No. makes his way to the dying man's window. I don't know that there is anything else. and her hand was in mine. it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions. and. You can. Here the dog. and his tail in the air. where the treasure was hid. I'm delighted to have them. It creaked and groaned. I instantly communicated with Miss Morstan. His death at the moment of a quarrel. then. and a coarse red scarf round his neck.

 or go off in a balloon. for I'm guyed at by the children. Jones looked gravely at her and shook his head." I remarked."I have come to you. I hope he's not going to be ill. She lives with Mrs. with some little atmosphere of elegance around me. and I should desire the interview to be as short as possible." said Holmes. of course Miss Morstan too. "I assure you. which is kind o' thick and foggy.""Ah.""Well. as Miss Morstan remarked just now.