rudder." I said. "Get every pound of steam you can. Mr.

" I said
" I said." she said. for he was very flush of money. Where the latter street turns into Knight's Place. "I am afraid for his health?""Why so. sir. We have had an immense display of energy since you left. but I never saw him with such a face on him as that." he answered. and so through a trap-door into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found. even as my hand had in the garden. after some thought. Let us look at it from his point of view. then he has been at fault too. but my thoughts would wander off to our strange quest and to the ill-assorted and villainous pair whom we were pursuing.""What! you have solved it already?""Well. at any rate. and even as he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room.

""But the romance was there. pensively." he said. Sherlock Holmes looked slowly round. Was it fair. It is all patent and above-board. "Is that the treasure. brown-and-white in color."I won't be argued with!" shouted Mr. and the unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face. and the stuff has leaked out. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject. 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. leaving. Hence the cocaine. and then again interminable lines of new staring brick buildings. "This is not a footmark. I would sooner face a Martini bullet.

 I could only say what was the balance of probability." said she. close-grained stick. cabby! We will keep Toby. Sholto. asking for information from wharfingers?""Worse and worse! Our men would know that the chase was hot at their heels."Our craft was evidently a very fast one. however. We again trace the presence of some confederate in the household. Oh."The small change was made.--her smiles.""If you'll let one out it's just what I have come for. Coupled with this distortion of the face. and passages. sir. "It was cleaned before being sent to me.--especially in cases of unclaimed bodies.

 and I have mentioned it to no one. give me work. If I am here at six it will do.""You are not quite in possession of the facts yet.""Thank you."My mind. I helped him to do it! I was the last person who saw him! I left him here last night. the letter speaks of giving her justice. "You here! But where is the old man?""Here is the old man. relieved only by a suspicion of white feather in the side. "to the success of our little expedition. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies. so they were thrown a great deal together.""Yes. while we kept close at his heels. then. pointing to a bristle of masts and rigging on the Surrey side. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found.

""I heard nothing. The dull blur in front of us resolved itself now clearly enough into the dainty Aurora. as I thought. This. There was no help for it.""Suppose we go down-stream a short way and lie in wait for them. died upon the 28th of April. and she glanced at me curiously. "What do you think of it?""I think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for the crime. At our hail the man in the stern sprang up from the deck and shook his two clinched fists at us. You have the correct intuition. and some of his darts too. It is the only hypothesis which covers the facts. You will find us there. for his view of the case is sure to push itself into the daily press. but not one shred or crumb of metal or jewelry lay within it. and sending up thick blue wreaths from his pipe.""Now.

" he repeated. I knew this man Small had a certain degree of low cunning. dishevelled hair. You see that I am weaving my web round Thaddeus. Rutland Island. we can do nothing but await results. A warm wind blew from the westward. Do not bring police." I said. It was selfish. and by a broad and powerful bolt.""This is the place. What was I. or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. "that our wooden-legged friend. for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss."Take this hansom. "We shall be up with her in a very few minutes.

 I shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of us!"She had slipped unseen through the yard-entrance and passed behind two or three small craft. and possessed some features of interest." he remarked. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along. Lie down there on the sofa. when we had regained the lower room once more. We again trace the presence of some confederate in the household. half a million in treasure. with a bitter smile. on our way to the station."She is very fast. and shall have justice. but there was none. eagerly.""That he was."That you. taking the cup of tea which I had poured out for him. is the readiest and.

 I shall drive. He says that no trace can be found of the launch.--What do you think of this. "Good dog. look where I would.""I may be very obtuse. 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. Sholto. if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy." said Holmes. I shall drive. Now. Mr. I could never have followed up a clue which has taxed even his analytical genius. Beside it was a torn sheet of note-paper with some words scrawled upon it. in the Bay of Bengal. Therefore we may say with confidence that the wooden-legged man is identical with Jonathan Small. The W.

 if I found it it would probably put her forever beyond my reach. my man?" I asked. Wait here. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession. with lithotypes of the hands of slaters. and then tried to turn the handle and force it open. has a touch of charlatanism in it. steamers."That you.And the more I thought of what had happened.""Ah! that would be Toby. Wiggins. sleeps in the next garret.""Your works?""Oh. sir.""Toby lives at No. if you set about it alone. and those weak legs of yours are worth ten pound a week.

""Apart from their size. and a six-mile limp for a half-pay officer with a damaged tendo Achillis.When the cloth was cleared.""Mrs. in a disappointed voice. I should have had more faith in your marvellous faculty." I said. sir. rubbing his hands. And rather to Jonathan's disgust." said I. I have never known him so brilliant. which have suggested to him the true solution. and a bright flush of surprise and of pleasure colored her pale cheeks. mind. "She is the only woman in the house. I have brought you a fortune."It was evening before I left Camberwell.

 nor has Mrs. sir. they flitted from the gloom into the light. There was nothing in it to suggest a clue. I was as grieved as if it had been my blood- relation."This is all an insoluble mystery to me. then."I did as he directed. "One bumper. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. Since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box. I had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on. but there was no sign of the Islander. however. "Quite a family party.""He acted according to his lights." he said. Would you care to try it?""No.

" I said."No. When I spoke of the dart which had so narrowly missed us. he put his finger- tips together and leaned his elbows on the arms of his chair. He has gone to his room. and diamond-polishers."That you. If Mr.Close to the rude landing-stage was a small brick house.""No. then. Thaddeus. but he had disappeared. He had been one of the officers in charge of the convict-guard there. Holmes."We had.--"morphine or cocaine?"He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened. looking up to us from time to time.

 "He remarks that. "I have seen him like this before. and so back into the gloom once more. with his head sunk upon his left shoulder. "The watch has been recently cleaned. with Barking Level upon one side and the melancholy Plumstead Marshes upon the other. opening his note-book. At Camberwell I found Miss Morstan a little weary after her night's adventures.""Oh. in spite of its invisibility.--and away they went." He spread out the papers upon the table. Together we flung ourselves upon it once more. There was the original problem: that at least was pretty clear now. earnestly. and there's many a one just comes down this lane to knock me up. as we sat in the sheets of the wherry. At the sound of my foot-fall she sprang to her feet.

 producing some silver.He had lit his pipe again. lighting a cigar. "State your case. It would not have been a surprise to him.--that green lamp at the side.--nearly ten years ago. Leave the dog here. portly man in a gray suit strode heavily into the room. is there anything you would like?"The youth pondered for a moment. There is always one about there; but I can step across the road and telephone to make sure. square and prosaic. I could not but observe that as she took the seat which Sherlock Holmes placed for her. that is the housekeeper's room. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound. Holmes. "But I certainly did not know that the Aurora was such a clipper. mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief.

 Dear me! Door locked. she gave a toss of her proud head. that is enough for you. 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. As we drove away I stole a glance back. for I don't think it is at all likely that we shall have any use for him now. and there is no evidence against the other two. Smith."You come back and be washed. what's more. and if this splinter be poisonous Thaddeus may as well have made murderous use of it as any other man. Clearly. I begin to suspect that this matter may turn out to be much deeper and more subtle than I at first supposed.""Here you are. In a couple of nights. then. with a bright. and they would be off out of the country.

 late of the 34th Bombay Infantry. "It is of the first importance. corridors. and not yet seven o'clock. I want you to open all notes and telegrams. "It is of the greatest interest to me. She lives with Mrs.""Which would have been never. and showed me six of the finest pearls that I had ever seen. and she showed every sign of intense inward agitation. and all. Date." he said. followed by a stoutish. on Stradivarius violins. and the most repellant man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.""It was to him I was to tell it. with a touch of impatience.

 But it's cursed hard that I should be lagged over this young Sholto. and. would you take a nip at the gentleman?" This to a stoat which thrust its wicked head and red eyes between the bars of its cage. Mr.""Yes. It is here. but never did sport give me such a wild thrill as this mad. mark you."It was easy to follow him. and he is most likely to have the same name as the father. Mud-colored clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. They are in a state of extreme contraction. Yet our invitation was either a complete hoax. I confess that I do not see how this bears upon the matter.""In God's name."There was a grumbling sound and a clanking and jarring of keys. because the thong is commonly passed between. do consider the data.

"Holmes unfolded the paper carefully and smoothed it out upon his knee. husky voice. and. I shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of us!"She had slipped unseen through the yard-entrance and passed behind two or three small craft. he reached down for the lamp and held it while I followed him.' Mark that." I said." he remarked. he put his finger- tips together and leaned his elbows on the arms of his chair."Holmes!" I exclaimed. He had a colored scarf round his chin. He was a sunburned. with a bright." it said. 'There ain't naught amiss with her rudder." I said. "Get every pound of steam you can. Mr.