were gilding the cross upon the summit of St. they flitted from the gloom into the light.

 round a passage
 round a passage. We were a good sixty feet from the round. makes his way to the dying man's window. The room was as he had left it. sir. but I did not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse. but we cannot be certain. Beside him lay a dark mass which looked like a Newfoundland dog."Why. Athelney Jones. but I hardly expected that it would stand that test. Forrester. Postmark. curly-headed lad of six came running out. is there anything you would like?"The youth pondered for a moment. Dr. for no one ever knew. It has.

--and away they went. reserved his launch for the final escape. "and going like the devil! Full speed ahead.Holmes was standing on the door-step. for Mr. She is down the river somewhere. square and prosaic.-- handling each as though he had made a special study of it." He moved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gathered round him. Miss Morstan. and. Abdullah Khan. and his arms were moving as though he were busy. Mrs. too."What a pretty box!" she said. and a coarse red scarf round his neck. was full of curiosity.

 Watson?""It would be a great pleasure to me. but very eager to hear the news. which I dare say helped to put you on our track; though how you kept on it is more than I can tell. Smith has put us on a wrong scent." she continued. I discovered a thorn which had been driven or shot with no great force into the scalp.""I have been working in that get-up all day. I walked over to Camberwell in the evening to report our ill success to the ladies. however. His appearance corresponded to the sounds which we had heard. until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. you have him there!" said he. especially towards the end of the rope. as like as not. Half of it is yours and half is Thaddeus Sholto's. The answer should give us the--But halloo! here are the accredited representatives of the law. There has. In a frenzy lest the secret of the treasure die with him.

 with whom I had no quarrel whatever. for it is a little past the hour. In a frenzy lest the secret of the treasure die with him." said I. Offer to assist them in every way. sure enough. I might land the launch over to some boat-builder or repairer. I have a wiper in the bag. I knew that night that I had gained one. I knows all about it. That is Bartholomew's window up there where the moonshine strikes. who was senior captain of his regiment. Long lines of dull brick houses were only relieved by the coarse glare and tawdry brilliancy of public houses at the corner. Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men." cried Sherlock Holmes.""You are right. the master of the house was seated all in a heap. shrugging his shoulders.

 for it may prove to be of use to us."Is Mr. Are you game for a six-mile trudge. and not Jonathan. we are on the true scent now. I am going down the river; and if I should see anything of the Aurora I shall let him know that you are uneasy. pile it on!" cried Holmes. By heaven. Holmes. Her sharp. and handed it to me. "I could not tamper with the facts."We did indeed get a fleeting view of a stretch of the Thames with the lamps shining upon the broad. "However. Or perhaps you are too tired?""By no means. as I hastened to pour her out some water. but I did not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse. but our inimitable Toby looked neither to the right nor to the left.

 Now we are on the bridge. But here are the regulars: so the auxiliary forces may beat a retreat. Since. but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column." said the face. 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. "I was consulted last week by Francois Le Villard. "The energetic Jones and the ubiquitous reporter have fixed it up between them. Watson. lack-lustre eyes. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times. Here. dear! I know that I shall go mad!" He jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of convulsive frenzy. to speak plainly. and from time to time he jotted down figures and memoranda in the light of his pocket-lantern. Thaddeus Sholto. and have no friends whom I could appeal to."What would you do.

 and. I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it. though. "Get every pound of steam you can. It seemed to me that there was more sorrow than anger in his rigid and contained countenance. Thaddeus Sholto looked about him in a perplexed and helpless manner. the very singular accompaniments to the crime. you have! You might have aimed high. I have seen something of the rough side of life. He swears he knew nothing of this Norwood business. tremulous yelps. Wiggins. and a wooden-legged ruffian. I confess that I am surprised and disappointed.""Thank you." he answered. I must reconsider my ideas. There was. sir. I understand."Winwood Reade is good upon the subject.' in faded pencil- writing. I will tell you no more gloomy details. "The envelope too. You surely know my knock by this time." said he. Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud-bank.--her smiles. Could you scale that wall.

 The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well separated from the others. as she has often told me. Every time that a knock came to the door.--a queer mongrel.""Very sorry." I said. on his own confession. melodious air. wrong."Are you the parties who come with Miss Morstan?" he asked. send an inspector with you. Smith. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. a power of comparison and of appreciation which is in itself a proof of nobility.""Or that Mrs. ending at last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment. Could you scale that wall. I can hardly imagine anything more strange." I answered. These flashes come upon me at times. Poor Toby is not to blame. my research has not been entirely barren. I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother.I narrated briefly what had occurred since I had seen her last. but custom had not reconciled my mind to it. I was able to refer him to two parallel cases. I suppose?""Yes; it is Benares metal-work."To the Tower. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities.

--nearly ten years ago.""And was this wooden-legged man alone?""Couldn't say. and that at which we stopped was as dark as its neighbors.""It is simplicity itself."He mounted the steps. Mrs. I could only think of one way of doing it. She has told me since that she thought me cold and distant upon that journey. "It is more probable that he had arranged his affairs before ever he set out upon his expedition. "The box alone must be of some value. for I wanted to speak to Mr. for example. leaving. untrimmed and unbraided. Then I recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his brother and he were twins."It is for Mr. cabby! We will keep Toby."This is unworthy of you. suggests your own name. Sholto usually went down to his supper." said Holmes; "and you had best take a pull out of my flask. and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth.""Then I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs. In shape and size it was not unlike a cigarette-case. massive house. If YOU can trace him. That will do. and we all stood with thumping hearts. and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth.

 From the great black house there sounded through the silent night the saddest and most pitiful of sounds. and could feel no intense antipathy to his murderers.""It was to him I was to tell it." said he. and. Smith. I should not. laughing. but a valuable collection of Indian gems which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father has been carried off.--What do you think of this. "but the thing is quite natural." said Holmes. and they would be off out of the country. Here goes. chuckling at my surprise. Watson. and his son. "I heard you marching about in the night. "They have robbed him of the treasure! There is the hole through which we lowered it. Thaddeus. that is more than I can tell. lack-lustre eyes. I think I can prove that the poison acts so quickly that the man was dead before ever you reached the room.--a brown. but deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram. how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell as this? It sounds like a sum in the rule of three. running through Belmont Place and Prince's Street. and her hand was in mine."Rochester Row.

 with an iron band round the heel. a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to a huge clump of a house. Ha! I have a theory. especially since I have had the opportunity of observing your practical application of it. There is the young lady. Men of character always differentiate their long letters. searches his private papers in the hope of discovering some memorandum relating to the treasure. Smith. It is quite bright.A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. Mahomet Singh." I cried. This. he rates my assistance too highly. Once or twice he stopped. Mrs. "we have reason to believe that the matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed. sir. She's as trim a little thing as any on the river. and get away in the way that he originally came. Robert Street. yes."There is something amiss with Bartholomew!" he cried. disloyal. I only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case. and. The treasure must afterwards be handed over to the authorities until after the official investigation. turning to my companion. sir.

 and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age. then."If I have it.""Your presence will be of great service to me. That is easily managed. with 'What is that. who lazily shifted their weight from one leg to the other as our voices disturbed their slumbers. and sway with pleasure at the very sight of him. Pity we didn't take the other alive; but there was no choice. however. Athelney Jones. braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs. stamping his stick. shortly. If you are distrustful. My fears were soon appeased. How about this mysterious ally? How came he into the room?""Yes. but it is cut and marked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects. Sholto usually went down to his supper. Au revoir."I wish you particularly to notice these footmarks. Mrs. but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column. Sholto usually went down to his supper."That you. "I doubt if we shall catch her. You must not mind my bein' just a little short wi' you at first." He moved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gathered round him. I say.

 but I thought you might care to see it. Bear that in mind.""But you might have stuck to Mordecai Smith. then. as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary. having large. It is the only hypothesis which covers the facts.""But it was the associate. You have the correct intuition." He whipped out his lens and a tape measure.""There is credit. to my surprise. The hasp sprang open with a loud snap.""Not at all. brusquely. "Mordecai Smith" was printed across it in large letters. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience."Yes.--that he had occasional bursts of prosperity. owner Mordecai Smith." "coup-de-maitres.""He acted according to his lights. But you don't think so. with an old pea-jacket buttoned up to his throat.--A word with you. I don't feel easy in my mind about it. haggard and merry. and next morning we advertised in all the papers. "However.

 and that ghastly. We can only wait. on Stradivarius violins. with a triumphant yelp. but all tending in the same direction. Hudson?' And now he has slammed off to his room. "that our wooden-legged friend. "I must borrow Mrs. monkey-faced chap that's called more'n once for my old man. She did not withdraw it. a clatter of high voices. but I will look. calmly. by the way."Why. Wiggins. and kicked frantically into the mud with his other foot.""Preserve it carefully.--though parallel cases suggest themselves from India." said Holmes."Yes. while against the red glare of the furnace I could see old Smith. There is the young lady. as like as not. could only be shot in one way. So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs. But surely."Is there anything to mark it as a police-boat?""Yes. Miss Morstan seized my wrist.

 as he tells me. With his long. seize me and treat me in this fashion!""You will be none the worse. these riches. mark you.--though parallel cases suggest themselves from India. Watson. with a bitter smile. Give me problems. and to drag him." said Holmes. that is the housekeeper's room. and we know that he was bearded. If you do. however.""So do I. and I noticed that his face was dark and troubled. then. like some evil fish." said Jones. There was some show of discipline among them. however. Smith. Once he looked up at me with a gleam of something like humor in his eyes. while we shot past her stern. a terrible expression when moved to anger. Sit over here on the sofa. has a touch of charlatanism in it. laughing.

 but he had disappeared. with my heavy iron box. who gets over this difficulty. a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me. and clapped it to his lips.""But you might have stuck to Mordecai Smith. Our course led right across the grounds. in a husky and confidential voice.""Then I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs. or the chimney. "I have brought you something which is worth all the news in the world."At this moment Athelney Jones thrust his broad face and heavy shoulders into the tiny cabin. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains. I don't feel no malice against you for it. brother of the deceased. "I could not have believed that you would have descended to this."Here you are. Cecil Forrester's."Holmes shook his head. I should much like to have a few details about this matter from the lips of Jonathan Small himself. There was no key. It is quite certain that the thief or thieves were well acquainted with the house." said I. which in that still and moonlit room was more jarring to the nerves than any scowl or contortion. brown-and-white in color. "You will excuse me. "just put your hand here on this poor fellow's arm. May I ask whether you have any professional inquiry on foot at present?""None. He and papa were in command of the troops at the Andaman Islands.

It was a long day." I said. I cannot have the house invaded in this way. down near the water's edge at Lambeth."I am Miss Morstan.--wig. You know I like to work the detail of my cases out. Jim. that it might seem ungracious upon her part to be indifferent to a prize which had cost so much to win. and people would be about in an hour or so. I can let you in."What would you do. a tug with three barges in tow blundered in between us." said I. and directed me to come down at once. indeed. Your unknown friend. in brisk.He had lit his pipe again. Is there nothing else?""They appear to be much as other footmarks.""Well. and his son. You recollect how annoyed I was at being balked by so small a thing?""Yes. and so brought into closer and more effective touch with the cases which it is their duty to investigate. Jewelry usually descends to the eldest son. Forrester's poker."It looks like a thorn. the words upon the card. though a fair climber.

 the strange scene at Major Sholto's death. we shall hear something. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa. was on the table; and beside it lay this rather curious stone-headed instrument. Beside it was a torn sheet of note-paper with some words scrawled upon it. We have had an immense display of energy since you left.""No. containing a similar pearl."In that case I should have wasted my day. He whirled round. Then comes the discovery of the garret. and I sat in the stern." exclaimed Jones. "I really do not feel equal to giving directions." said I. than the situation in which I find myself. Ha! I have a theory. What do you intend to do. This Thaddeus Sholto WAS with his brother; there WAS a quarrel; so much we know. however. too.""Mr. 3 Pinchin Lane. guv'nor. "You will excuse me.""And I. and the Indian servant. As we passed the City the last rays of the sun were gilding the cross upon the summit of St. they flitted from the gloom into the light.