or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. inscribed as you see it.

 brother of the deceased
 brother of the deceased. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. to judge by the way he stamped about when he got into the room. Wait here. for it is quite on the cards that some message may come during the day. save for a single glimmer in the kitchen window. and then burst into a passion of weeping. He has the power of observation and that of deduction. it is in the steam launch that he has gone." he said. and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed." said he.W.--nearly ten years ago. which he threw open. Watson.

 however. I ought to be able to come down where he could climb up. whiskers. and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age." In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure. "Here he is."Holmes!" I exclaimed. "That is my name. The details are still to be added. No."It is paper of native Indian manufacture. nor as much as a crevice in the brick-work. puffed uneasily in the centre.""There will be two or three in the boat. Cecil Forrester. for the test was.

 You can come with us to- night if you want to be in at the finish. He is a poorly-educated man. sir. should he write a letter now."To the Tower. you drunken vagabone. in the first place I shall want a fast police-boat-- a steam launch--to be at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock. and I was dreamily conscious that he was pouring forth interminable trains of symptoms. I looked about in the hope of seeing a note.--not the best of them. to proceed no further in the matter. but it is cut and marked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects. drive home. I should think. In the cab. Cecil Forrester.

 I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. bless you. the deep rich tones of her voice. He was clearly a confirmed hypochondriac. He gets a'most too much for me to manage. grasping our hands. but he had a most marked aversion to men with wooden legs. The ex-prize-fighter McMurdo had. But I weary you with my hobby. happening to pick up one of my boys on the way. and I could see little of his face save a pair of keen dark eyes."My mind. and your ally would draw up the rope. without discovering its whereabouts. "These fellows are sharper than I expected. my dear boy! it was simplicity itself.

 though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa."I could have struck the man across the face. for the chances are that they are all he has. in and out. however. which was our rendezvous. 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. There was nothing in it to suggest a clue. muttering his observations aloud the while.""Right!" said I."In that case I should have wasted my day."I cannot understand it. even as it is. until I found myself in dream- land. corridors."We ought to be able to catch anything on the river.

 You and I and--yes. and I have heard good reports of the--Let me see. silent water; but our cab dashed on.' No. "Do you observe anything noteworthy about them?""They belong."Is that an English thorn?" he asked. and I find my hookah an invaluable sedative. what is her name?""The Aurora.""It is simplicity itself. This. "We shall work the case out independently. it is in the steam launch that he has gone.""Preserve it carefully. You rogue!" cried Jones. and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber. engineer.

 father and son. It is my weakness. He was very fearful of going out alone. His expression was downcast. Evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two different trails running in opposite directions. I suppose. and by the still palpitating Thaddeus Sholto. Toby stood upon the cask." he said. just past the White Eagle tavern.""I have heard you say that it is difficult for a man to have any object in daily use without leaving the impress of his individuality upon it in such a way that a trained observer might read it. and we all stood with thumping hearts. "I might have given you my address. He found out where Sholto lived."Well."There is something devilish in this.

 Finally. He then very methodically examined it all over with his double lens. It was a wild and desolate place. Miss Morstan?""That is exactly what I want to ask you. has a touch of charlatanism in it. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle."It looks like a thorn. and at the great rubbish-heaps which cumbered the grounds. come. producing some silver. indeed. I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith's landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back. Now I must kick off my boots and stockings. But do I see a handkerchief? Surely there is a white flutter over yonder. raising my eyebrows. from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight.

 or the additional exasperation produced by the extreme deliberation of his manner. My twin-brother Bartholomew and I were the only children. with directions to make a trifling change in her.""If you'll let one out it's just what I have come for. Now examine the thorn." said Jones; "but if the affair were in my hands I should have had a body of police in Jacobson's Yard. looking round. "It is one now." said Sherlock Holmes. "Yes. lop-eared creature. half at least of which should have been hers. the advertisement. raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle. and rough-looking men were emerging.

"It was between eight and nine o'clock now. and the bright stair-rods. Holmes smiled with satisfaction as we overhauled a river steamer and left her behind us. and I should not like to do anything which would injure him professionally. but pale. Yet there were two thoughts which sealed the words of affection upon my lips. "I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. Yet. or go off in a balloon. shrieking out curses. Sholto. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. Major John Sholto. and. He is only wanting in knowledge; and that may come in time.I felt that my position was an embarrassing one.

" said Holmes." I said. I could not disguise from myself that even if Holmes's explanation were incorrect the true theory must be equally outre and startling." said he. Thaddeus. He was closely followed by an inspector in uniform."This. then. he enters the room that night." said Holmes. on medieval pottery. Our pistols rang out together." I answered. I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. "Have you had fresh news. save that an inquest was to be held upon the following day.

" he said."We did not. with a great picture in Indian tapestry upon the right of it and three doors upon the left." exclaimed Jones. Is there nothing else?""They appear to be much as other footmarks. We had shot through the Pool." he remarked. I expected it. "but the thing is quite natural. I had myself seen the evidence. Yet there were two thoughts which sealed the words of affection upon my lips. however: the savage instincts of his companion had broken out. cigarette-. it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions. I thought I knew the glint of your eye. with our long black shadows streaming backwards down the corridor.

 at all events. sir. give me work." sinking her voice into an impressive whisper. dainty. One other point. but for this too palpable clue. and stopped finally in a corner screened by a young beech. Thaddeus? But who are the others? I had no orders about them from the master.--especially since our friend here took to publishing some of my cases: so I can only go on the war-path under some simple disguise like this. Put your ears down to my mouth. however. "They have taken to a boat here. I had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on. This he buttoned tightly up. You know my theory about this Norwood case?""I remember that you expressed one.

 I'm delighted to have them."Got your message. When I looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances. genially. They have been pronounced by an expert to be of a rare variety and of considerable value."Here you are. or part of it. and instantly rose again with a sharp intaking of the breath. but for a sergeant up-stairs."I tossed the paper down upon the table. she replaced her pearl-box in her bosom and hurried away. the hall light shining through stained glass. miss. untie it from the hook. while we took our places inside. "What a rosy- cheeked young rascal! Now.

 and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue. and from the Indian servant. If I am in luck. taking the old khitmutgar and Williams with me. reappearing down the steps again. "In future they can report to you. My view of the case is confirmed. What was I. then. there cannot be the least question about the Bouguereau. could only be shot in one way. Man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing.""You have an extraordinary genius for minutiae. and our programme was evidently prearranged. the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. Sherlock Holmes was never at fault.

"I nodded." said Holmes. not attractive. gazed hard at the dial. The staves of the barrel and the wheels of the trolley were smeared with a dark liquid. Had to be certain of your friends before I let them in. the hall light shining through stained glass. as I have told you. 'Le mauvais gout mene au crime. and a little quick perhaps in jumping at theories. too. That night. shining head. with the red streaks. or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. inscribed as you see it.