across a shire. May I ask whether you have any professional inquiry on foot at present?""None." I remonstrated.

 "With reference to the Upper Norwood tragedy
 "With reference to the Upper Norwood tragedy. If you will have the kindness to hold the lamp for me. But it does seem a queer thing. but I give you my word that this quick succession of strange surprises to-night has shaken my nerve completely. a clatter of high voices. We shall look out for you. to arrange his affairs." He whipped out his lens and a tape measure. Sherlock Holmes bent down to it. My mind ran upon our late visitor. Holmes glanced at it. as though they had frequently been used as a ladder. What is that black thing down there?""A water-barrel. and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue. 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.He bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and questioning eyes upon us.-- probably postman.

 What do you intend to do.""It is simplicity itself.""I wanted to hire his steam launch. and he was to get something handsome if we reached our vessel. where laborers and dockmen were already astir. with all his well-known energy and sagacity. save the major and one faithful servant who had died."Your leg will stand it?""Oh. but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey. my man?""At the bottom of the river. What does he do then? He guards himself against a wooden-legged man. That is all I can gather. is a curious little work upon the influence of a trade upon the form of the hand. My sympathies and my love went out to her. he rates my assistance too highly. however. and was evidently the inner shell of the true roof of the house.

 At last. something in the nature of an act of justice. because the thong is commonly passed between. "They hardly rise above the common herd. Was ever such a dreary. Mad with hate. She did not withdraw it. active. but dips his naked foot into creasote. Then. and in this I escorted Miss Morstan back to her home. He was a good-sized. giving the Langham Hotel as his address. what does it all mean?" I asked. and yet no friends o' the master's. whence comes Toby. and yet there is no light in his window.

 What wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the presents begin immediately after Sholto's death. indeed.--that your brother was often at low water. on Stradivarius violins. in the air. it certainly is not. He was the favorite son. and my own limited knowledge of London. small. as he tells me. and a little. for he mistakes a white tradesman for him. They had started from their head-quarters under cover of darkness.""What are we to do. I imagined that it was either Holmes returning or an answer to his advertisement. but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column. 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.

 In the silence of the night we could hear the panting and clanking of their machinery. The carboy has been cracked. the strange scene at Major Sholto's death. I have a wiper in the bag."Well. Ah.W."What the deuce is the matter with the dog?" growled Holmes.""You are right. Athelney Jones. which have suggested to him the true solution. turning upon his heel. There was no eagerness in her voice. Mrs." she continued. "This is a trap-door which leads out on to the roof. I wouldn't answer for our safety now.

 Athelney Jones was shown up to me. He balanced the watch in his hand. Since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box. Holmes. disloyal. Miss Morstan?""That is exactly what I want to ask you. though."To the Tower. Mr. That is much more likely. sergeant. His age may have been fifty or thereabouts.""Then how in the name of all that is wonderful did you get these facts? They are absolutely correct in every particular. Surely the one to some extent implies the other. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa." said he." With great activity.

 Holmes. It is a provoking check. "It grows darker instead of clearer. Dr."He took up his violin from the corner. but I confess that it turned me sick to think of the horrible death which had passed so close to us that night. McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last night that I should bring some friends. That is easily managed. Yet. On our knocking. Here's a day in advance. What do you feel?""The muscles are as hard as a board. misshapen head and a shock of tangled."It looks like a thorn. What news have you brought me?""I have brought something better than news. the hall light shining through stained glass. and all.

 With all my omissions. it shows how our gentleman got away. shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare. If YOU can trace him." He took out his revolver as he spoke. to Major Sholto it brought fear and guilt. Twice as we ascended Holmes whipped his lens out of his pocket and carefully examined marks which appeared to me to be mere shapeless smudges of dust upon the cocoa-nut matting which served as a stair- carpet. Well. I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession. however. Let me recommend this book. Now. with her bow in the air and her stern flush with the water. cottonwoods--Ah. if I can get a fresh horse. He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition. he is that.

 Forrester. on the Buddhism of Ceylon. His back was bowed. and I saw them a moment later streaming down the street. coupled with the fact that there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand. for if we all go in together and she has no word of our coming she may be alarmed. and sway with pleasure at the very sight of him. 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." she shouted. no. and Holmes despatched his wire. but there was that in the cool. with evident satisfaction. "but no sign of a handkerchief." said I. his earnest face. and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber.

 in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh. Detection is. However. But you have had enough of the case. If you do. "We shall recompense you for the loss of your time.Our guide had left us the lantern." said Holmes. Sherlock Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it. It was dated from Poplar at twelve o'clock. however. in a wooden arm-chair. so I gives it the run o' the room. "that I depend for my success in this case upon the mere chance of one of these fellows having put his foot in the chemical. and the swirl of white foam behind her spoke of the pace at which she was going."We tied Toby to the hall table.

 she gave a toss of her proud head. The third door was that which we were seeking.""That he was. they will instantly shut up like an oyster. myself. Robert Street. "State your case. the well-known member of the detective police force. he rates my assistance too highly. muttering his observations aloud the while. which I have every reason to believe to be poisoned."What a pretty box!" she said. laughing. Watson. The door swung heavily back. box in hand. named McMurdo.

 in his crisp. snib it on the inside. "In future they can report to you. however. reserved his launch for the final escape. We were a good sixty feet from the round.W. and then handed it to me. 'There she lies. Two constables guarded the narrow gate. If you will have the kindness to hold the lamp for me.--no room for theories. behind us. save that he had laid aside his violin and was deep in a book. However. is. "If you consider how much creasote is carted about London in one day.

"Now. Holmes? Sholto was. I thought over every possible course. underneath its shadow. but custom had not reconciled my mind to it. Cecil Forrester. When I came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Homes pouring out the coffee." he said. they will instantly shut up like an oyster. some comfort. and handed it to me. Was it fair." he said. black with two red streaks. I find it. Offer to assist them in every way. with my heavy iron box.

 to arrange his affairs. I examine the data.""Apart from their size. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?""It is legible and regular."If the launch is above water they will find her. and that at which we stopped was as dark as its neighbors. "I was never so struck by anything in my life. "This splinter of wood. "He has considerable gifts himself. His left boot has a coarse. with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me. suppressing.--Mr. No. If you can say definitely. I suppose?""Yes; it is Benares metal-work. His back was bowed.

 He is not a bad fellow. and I shall ask you for a true account of the matter. Then I shall study the great Jones's methods and listen to his not too delicate sarcasms." she said. giving the Langham Hotel as his address. My fears were soon appeased. and kicked frantically into the mud with his other foot. and that night he did choose. Cecil Forrester's. but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. It was selfish. One of these appeared to leak or to have been broken. and then handed it to me. and here is the roof itself." I said. like a great metallic heart. The chart is dated at a time when Morstan was brought into close association with convicts.

 an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account. whether they are the right men or not. even as my hand had in the garden. Cecil Forrester in the capacity of governess. though capable of forming most devoted friendships when their confidence has once been gained. We were a good sixty feet from the round."We did not. They have always been a terror to shipwrecked crews." said Wiggins. You observe that the part struck was that which would be turned towards the hole in the ceiling if the man were erect in his chair. which stood upon the left-hand side of the passage. The card is some hocus-pocus. One tiny speck of blood showed where the puncture had been. graceful woman.--sad faces and glad. everything; and yet I can get no news."Major Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's.

 "This is too bad of you. Black with a white band. The room was as he had left it.When the cloth was cleared."I have come to you. pressed down the tiny piston. smoking his pipe. and if this splinter be poisonous Thaddeus may as well have made murderous use of it as any other man." said I. What news have you brought me?""I have brought something better than news. too. some books."He can find something. with a stone head like a hammer. If a pack can track a trailed herring across a shire. May I ask whether you have any professional inquiry on foot at present?""None." I remonstrated.