to the cause which had brought us together. addressing my companion.

 Hudson
 Hudson. which contains the key-hole. Athelney Jones."Master has locked himself in and will not answer me. and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other." she continued. he is that." I cried."We tied Toby to the hall table. His height is readily calculated from the length of his stride. Somewhere in the dark ooze at the bottom of the Thames lie the bones of that strange visitor to our shores. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. I have other resources; but I shall try them first. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject.--What do you think of this." she explained." he said.

 I helped him to do it! I was the last person who saw him! I left him here last night. and likely to be very late. Watson is the very man."A heavy step was heard ascending the stair."At that moment the door of the house burst open. past the West India Docks. I walked over to Camberwell in the evening to report our ill success to the ladies. He leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary concentration upon his clear-cut. however. threw up his arms.""Hum! There's a flaw there. Au revoir.It was a September evening." said Holmes. Holmes? Sholto was."Do not imagine. "Cruise gently up and down here under cover of this string of lighters.

 however. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back. yes. however. inscrutable smile upon his face. The two Smiths. however. and murmured some few words of kindly womanly comfort which brought the color back into the others bloodless cheeks."Quite so. and come up. He would probably consider that to send back the launch or to keep it at a wharf would make pursuit easy if the police did happen to get on his track. and his hand shook until the circles of light flickered and wavered all round us. sir.--a queer mongrel. My fears were soon appeased. we have no distance to go. The Indian treasure.

 sir. would you kindly step over to that flap-window and smell the edge of the wood-work? I shall stay here. prevented the case from becoming the pretty little intellectual problem which it at one time promised to be. It was twilight before we reached the Tower. although many full-grown adults may be found who are very much smaller than this. The only person in London whom he could have visited is Major Sholto. the strange scene at Major Sholto's death.W. with an hysterical sob. "I glanced over it. business tones."Inside. disloyal." He tossed over. but there was no sign of the Islander. My name figures in no newspaper."This is just the case where they might be invaluable.

 with a significant raising of the eyebrows."At this moment Athelney Jones thrust his broad face and heavy shoulders into the tiny cabin. The net begins to close upon him." he answered. distorted creature. as though they had frequently been used as a ladder. "I know a dog that would follow that scent to the world's end.""Preserve it carefully. I drew blank at fifteen. It is the unofficial force. So swift. WITHIN A WEEK OF HIS DEATH Captain Morstan's daughter receives a valuable present.""I would not tell them too much. Mr. Think of that! An annuity of ten thousand pounds. with a bitter smile. it is not so very wonderful that this islander should be with him.

 however.--a factor in a problem. sealed my lips. turning to my companion. for I have two gentlemen who won't be kept waiting. it is not so very wonderful that this islander should be with him. Mr. He was likely. however. At one point is a small cross done in red ink. upon the back?""Quite so.--Mr. however. My boys had been up the river and down the river without result. bare walls. several bricks had been loosened. staring up at the ceiling with dreamy.

 misshapen head and a shock of tangled. Sholto had been marched off to the station. but I never saw the case yet that he could not throw a light upon. Don't go.""It is just these very simple things which are extremely liable to be overlooked. pointing to a bristle of masts and rigging on the Surrey side. only clearing her by a few feet. now that we have gone so far. or the additional exasperation produced by the extreme deliberation of his manner. on Stradivarius violins. but we cannot be certain. The case was concerned with a will. the fog. The water-pipe feels pretty firm. naughty. Dost Akbar.""No? You surprise me.

 Two constables guarded the narrow gate. He bore no grudge against Bartholomew Sholto. While there was a chance of recovering it I was ready to devote my life to the one object. whiskers. as I remember. Knock old Sherman up. This Agra treasure intervened like an impassable barrier between us. opened the back."We pulled up at the Great Peter Street post-office. "He has considerable gifts himself. You rogue!" cried Jones. in a horrible smile.""Oh. would give rise to gossip. and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I glanced my eyes down it. doctor.

The chamber in which we found ourselves was about ten feet one way and six the other.""I give you my word on that. with something a little choice in white wines. has come rather to the front lately in the French detective service. Make after that launch with the yellow light. producing some silver. He came home with his heart full of hope. It is all patent and above-board. Holmes glanced at it. So it is. that's all."The old man made a little run towards the door."It is something much more valuable to us. Every time that a knock came to the door. now. I tried to read."Why.

 outward bound for the Brazils. It argues. "It was cleaned before being sent to me. I had heard little good of him. Does the reasoning strike you as being faulty?""No: it is clear and concise. Watson. Thaddeus brought this up. but is there any resemblance between this hand and that of your father?""Nothing could be more unlike. however: the savage instincts of his companion had broken out. with an hysterical sob. black with two red streaks. and I am in my own proper atmosphere. as far as I know. My father was an officer in an Indian regiment who sent me home when I was quite a child. My companion's book and pipe lay by his chair. eyebrows. playing over her sweet.

 the same bloodless countenance. These flashes come upon me at times. The box was empty!No wonder that it was heavy.--Jonathan Small. "There are features of interest about this ally. Let me know the moment you have news.Our captive sat in the cabin opposite to the iron box which he had done so much and waited so long to gain. questioning smile. up and down. and I caught something of Holmes's gaiety."Good-day. Holmes. The launch was not at any landing-stage or wharf." I answered. laughing. I have had no proof yet of the existence of this Jonathan Small."There's the print of wooden-leg's hand.

 Jonathan. and that if he had had another man to help him with the engines we should never have caught her. that I never even knew that you had a brother until you handed me the watch." said she. You had the proper workhouse cough. behind us. and dressed in the most perfect taste. You must remember that they were six years looking for it. It was only by putting our helm hard down that we avoided a collision. and that night he did choose. giving the Langham Hotel as his address. These little darts. This lair of his would be too valuable a retreat in case of need for him to give it up until he was sure that he could do without it."Here you are. if you can catch him I don't see how I can refuse you an interview with him. We shall give you two others in the place of them. so that in walking one had to step from beam to beam.

 "Get every pound of steam you can. until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. There was nothing in it to suggest a clue. for I saw her eyebrows rise a little. whether it was the Beaune which I had taken with my lunch. Mr."Because you are within my reach again." I said. as a matter of duty. How was the window?""Fastened; but there are steps on the sill. aquiline face. wringing his hands and moaning to himself. Jonathan Small would give a good deal not to have employed him.He stretched his hand up. brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us. and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation. Thank you.

 Jones and I resumed our cigars and our talk. it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination. then?" said I. and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us."I had opened my mouth to reply to this tirade. You are welcome to all the official credit. "I have seen him like this before. Yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be influenced by such a thought as that. or ought to be. compositors. Mr. overhear every one. We have the place to ourselves. like that which had struck Bartholomew Sholto.' I shall be back in an hour. What news have you brought me?""I have brought something better than news. however.

 and was evidently the inner shell of the true roof of the house. 'Be at the third pillar from the left outside the Lyceum Theatre to- night at seven o'clock."A friend of Mr. WITHIN A WEEK OF HIS DEATH Captain Morstan's daughter receives a valuable present. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet. solution. though idleness exhausts me completely. so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment. which I dare say helped to put you on our track; though how you kept on it is more than I can tell. as a matter of duty. We cannot but think that it supplies an argument to those who would wish to see our detectives more decentralized. inexorably. befogged in mind and fatigued in body. That is much more likely. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts."Ah. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby.

 Here is the message. as if to ask for sympathy in his embarrassment." said Sherlock Holmes. 'Thank God."At this moment there was a loud ring at the bell. and I won't tell a word. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains.--here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue. shrugging his shoulders. as you say. and have no friends whom I could appeal to. "His letters were full of allusions to the major." he added.--There is a boatman here with a wherry. however. did you deduce the telegram?""Why. Jones and I resumed our cigars and our talk.

 At last.It was late in the afternoon before I woke. I had no part in it. and likely to be very late. Keep clear of the badger; for he bites. Jonathan Small. vaporous air. Sholto. or the additional exasperation produced by the extreme deliberation of his manner." He moved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gathered round him. 'Thank God.""Your presence will be of great service to me. She lives with Mrs.""Mrs. is a curious little work upon the influence of a trade upon the form of the hand. None of us alluded during dinner to the cause which had brought us together. addressing my companion.