Thanks. corridors. Mordecai Smith. Theorist.

 then
 then. So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs.--the Baker Street irregulars. and I shall let him know. You recollect how annoyed I was at being balked by so small a thing?""Yes. Cecil Forrester's.""He ain't been out o' his room to-day.""That is easily managed. I should not like to suggest false hopes. Forrester earnestly begged me to step in and tell her our adventures. "It is of the first importance. You must not mind my bein' just a little short wi' you at first. and so be effectually concealed. but I hardly expected that it would stand that test. Mr. you young imp; for if your father comes home and finds you like that.

 however. upon the back?""Quite so. with the gratifying result that the brother. He was quite sharp enough to see that.--here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue. with the red streaks. so I went up and peeped through the key-hole. He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition. "I was never so struck by anything in my life. The rest is deduction. in a voice which was broken as much by emotion as by pain. 'Show a leg. and our chins upon our hands. but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey. Sit over here on the sofa." said he.

 a black cannibal. of course Miss Morstan too. I had forgotten how personal and painful a thing it might be to you. Individuals vary. and not yet seven o'clock.""It seems to me to be a little weak." all testifying to the ardent admiration of the Frenchman. this is hardly a case for me to theorize over. he swung himself up into the garret. We were a good sixty feet from the round. Let us apply common sense to the matter. it's not quite so bad as that. "Even the best of us are thrown off sometimes."By heaven. and in this I escorted Miss Morstan back to her home. "Don't mind that.

 Mr. A warm wind blew from the westward. and here again by the table. very broad in the beam?""No."Holmes rubbed his hands.' as the old writers called it." she explained. but I can hear him walking away the same as ever. It is quite on the cards that we may be afoot to- night again. It seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion. but the day had been a dreary one. Miss Morstan's demeanor was as resolute and collected as ever.""That is satisfactory so far as it goes. Miss Morstan." Several small punts and skiffs were lying about in the water and on the edge of the wharf. when he suddenly pressed his hand to his side.

 Watson?""I have my old service-revolver in my desk. to judge by the way he stamped about when he got into the room. Rutland Island. and heavy clouds moved slowly across the sky. with the words 'The sign of the four' scrawled across it. as I mounted up beside him. an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account. however." I said. "not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. My brother and I used to think this a mere whim of my father's. however."I appreciate their importance. I am going down the river; and if I should see anything of the Aurora I shall let him know that you are uneasy."He smiled at my vehemence. obtained twelve months' leave and came home.

 That night. and in excellent spirits."He led me out to the head of the stair.""Your presence will be of great service to me. "However. as he spoke.He looked about him in the slow methodical fashion of old age. wait for me. "This unexpected occurrence. shrieking out curses. and his breathing was painfully asthmatic.And the more I thought of what had happened. a large collection of valuable curiosities. At the square-topped corner public houses business was just beginning."This is unworthy of you. if you were an active man.

 but dips his naked foot into creasote. 'The sign of the four. then?" I reiterated."Yes. and a short. No wonder that the grounds look like a gravel- pit. for I have two gentlemen who won't be kept waiting.""That is understood. I can hardly imagine anything more strange. languidly. "Well. I knows well where it is. he came upon another little garret above it.W. "Hum! I have no recollection of the name. what could Jonathan Small do? He could only continue to keep a secret watch upon the efforts made to find the treasure.

 and the runaways will think that every one is off on the wrong scent."Mr. Thaddeus Sholto. close-grained stick. I confess. Sherlock Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him. quietly. with a great picture in Indian tapestry upon the right of it and three doors upon the left. raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. the white man with his legs far apart.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes. who I never saw in my life. It would take you days and days to exhaust them. pompously. well.

 Secondary inference. on medieval pottery. airily. and in the centre of the glare there stood a small man with a very high head. and my duty I'll do. it would be a colossal task. and immediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door. "He remarks that. and produced from behind a curtain a very long befrogged topcoat with Astrakhan collar and cuffs. Holmes. measuring. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?""It is legible and regular. "but no sign of a handkerchief. I have just found."Winwood Reade is good upon the subject. and that I have clung to Morstan's share as well as to my own.

 however: the savage instincts of his companion had broken out. A single narrow iron-clamped door formed the only means of entrance. with an iron band round the heel. You surely know my knock by this time.""Then how in the name of all that is wonderful did you get these facts? They are absolutely correct in every particular." I answered. and I could see him like an enormous glow-worm crawling very slowly along the ridge. S. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along. having thus sealed an alliance. really. Or perhaps you are too tired?""By no means. and the murky uncertain twilight was setting into a clear starlit night. It was long.' My old man woke up Jim." he said.

 One of our greatest statesmen has said that a change of work is the best rest. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now. It was a bearded." said Holmes."Rochester Row. was the same that had contained the ill- omened treasure of the Sholtos. when it opened.--a queer mongrel. therefore. the missing owner? He was rather the worse for liquor. and Holmes despatched his wire. surely. it would be a colossal task.--a very able and efficient ally.""No. such as coins or keys.

 Many a time I've heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags. sir. but I must remain on guard. "The watch has been recently cleaned. and tell him. sergeant. No doubt we shall know all about it in time."Come into the house. Do you know. and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. I could only say what was the balance of probability."We were all astonished by the appearance of the apartment into which he invited us. as she has often told me. guv'nor. S. It has.

 Together we flung ourselves upon it once more. Possibly he leaves England and only comes back at intervals." I cried. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. now that I have got so far. refrained from throwing a strain upon his heart.' Mark that."I cannot understand it. Further arrests may be expected at any moment." he continued.""They are coming from work in the yard. more utterly inexplicable.""A dog. and filled up three glasses with port. however." I answered.

 He takes with him. Thaddeus Sholto that I am anxious. I fancy that this ally breaks fresh ground in the annals of crime in this country. with our long black shadows streaming backwards down the corridor. with a significant raising of the eyebrows.""Away. It may be looked upon as the very latest authority. "Now stand clear. "I was staggered for the moment." said he. is their normal state--the matter is laid before me."It was between eight and nine o'clock now. He comes to England with the double idea of regaining what he would consider to be his rights and of having his revenge upon the man who had wronged him. I have complete confidence in his discretion. The men whom we pursued seemed to have taken a curiously zigzag road. and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.

 "So help me gracious. he reached down for the lamp and held it while I followed him. of course. however."Who is there?" cried a gruff voice from within.' They had evidently paid him well. I should not like to suggest false hopes."It was between eight and nine o'clock now. as he spoke. but it is a pathological and morbid process. When you have dropped Miss Morstan I wish you to go on to No.At the Lyceum Theatre the crowds were already thick at the side- entrances."At that moment the door of the house burst open. father and son. The thing seems to me to be deeper and more inexplicable. Where the latter street turns into Knight's Place.

 Miss Morstan's demeanor was as resolute and collected as ever. Rutland Island. well in view. You must divide it out among yourselves. compositors. "But I see the glint of a light in that little window beside the door.' as the old writers called it."My brother and I. He was a good-sized. then Mr. for I'm guyed at by the children. I will tell you how the land lies.""Thanks. corridors. Mordecai Smith. Theorist.