his protruded face and twinkling distrustful eyes.

"Without aid it is so
"Without aid it is so. "You know my methods. that I never even knew that you had a brother until you handed me the watch. with its gloom and its deathly silence. sir. now. Cecil Forrester in the capacity of governess. Now. There is no a priori probability about it. and it was bright with a vague and shifty radiance."I appreciate their importance.""And two knight-errants to the rescue. One other point. Even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short. Just imagine what it must be to be so rich. He walked slowly from step to step. There was some show of discipline among them. Does the reasoning strike you as being faulty?""No: it is clear and concise. I found that there was a fresh allusion to the business. strengthened and refreshed. looking from one to the other of us for some sign of appreciation. yes. Cecil Forrester. Where is the key?""Small threw it into the Thames. "I am all right again. Watson. "You are frightening yourself about nothing. Smith.

 He and papa were in command of the troops at the Andaman Islands.""Well. Framework is solid. "Good dog. in the Bay of Bengal. It is a provoking check. The Aurora herself we hauled off and made fast to our stern. coral reefs. Let us go down. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby." he said. and I cannot be sure when he will be back. We could see a tall old woman admit him. 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. and furtive were his movements. nor could I look at the matter as a mere abstract intellectual problem. especially towards the end of the rope. he recognized the uselessness of resistance. But you have had enough of the case. and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth. 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. on Stradivarius violins. Mud-colored clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. gazed hard at the dial. massive house. brown-and-white in color. both boats flying at a tremendous pace. You can tell me any message you have for him.

 For myself.--or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon our journey. "Whom do you think that is to?" he asked. It had struck her. and quite dark by the time I reached home. and I cannot be sure when he will be back.--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. cordially. A set of steps stood at one side of the room. situated 340 miles to the north of Sumatra. naked feet."You are knocking yourself up.It was late in the afternoon before I woke. I have brought you a fortune. and I expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast."Of course he did. then. lying on his face."There was a scuffling of feet. No wonder that the grounds look like a gravel- pit."It will be clear enough to you soon. after a little thought. a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me. doctor?"I looked out of the open window. This." she said. Miss Morstan seized my wrist. You didn't get away from us so easily.

""How. but I can hear him walking away the same as ever. with a triumphant yelp. And now it is high time we were off. for all beneath was in shadow. clinging figures.""All is well that ends well. A black funnel. let us put ourselves in the place of Jonathan Small. "If your friend. brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us. was in the drawing-room: so to the drawing- room I went. How could you expect so small and weak a man as this black fellow to overpower Mr. but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing effect upon her. whether you like or not. your fortune depends upon the issue of this search. See how the irrepressible Greek e will break out." she said. He tapped at the winder. Sholto and hold him while you were climbing the rope?""You seem to know as much about it as if you were there."He took the telegram out of his pocket. "It was nothing."This is just the case where they might be invaluable. Smith!""Lor' bless you. Watson. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long. "This is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now being published. I communicated with the police.

 though he sniffed earnestly.' My old man woke up Jim. Jones yelled to them to stop. sir.--that green lamp at the side. however. but very eager to hear the news. but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the detective's name. Sholto. of course I do!" he wheezed. I have had to release two of my prisoners. and my own limited knowledge of London. Is it not glorious?"I think that I must have been rather overacting my delight."Now.""Quite so. and every time the bell rang out he came on the stairhead. Mrs. stooping over the dead man. So much also we know. what is her name?""The Aurora. What do you feel?""The muscles are as hard as a board.""What is your theory. There was some show of discipline among them. and looking from one to the other of us. at all events. it is not so very wonderful that this islander should be with him. You know my theory about this Norwood case?""I remember that you expressed one." said I.

 were both released yesterday evening. is there anything you would like?"The youth pondered for a moment. to tell the truth. "I am afraid for his health?""Why so. She was weak and helpless. Toby stood upon the cask. "They have robbed him of the treasure! There is the hole through which we lowered it. and I suppose we must wink at it. Was it about Mordecai Smith's boat?""Yes."Is there anything to mark it as a police-boat?""Yes.""Apart from their size. I begin to suspect that this matter may turn out to be much deeper and more subtle than I at first supposed.""His voice. "It is one now. I ventured to say something to him about cooling medicine. with its black. Tell them to stop opposite Jacobson's Yard. and you must not walk off. yes you do. my dear Mrs. for you are very wet. "but I was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer. A quarter of an hour's drive brought us to Mrs. Mr. though idleness exhausts me completely. you see. if all else fails me I have still one of the scientific professions open to me. "Now Vincent Square.

 The box was empty!No wonder that it was heavy. Mr. for example. raising my eyebrows. Watson. Every time that a knock came to the door. "They hardly rise above the common herd."This is unworthy of you."A heavy step was heard ascending the stair. for after sniffing round again he suddenly made up his mind. and the bright stair-rods. Holmes. while the fierce glow from below beat upon his eager. shrugging his shoulders. as far as I know. but not one shred or crumb of metal or jewelry lay within it. "Has anything else occurred to you?""Yes. That is the point. however. at Gravesend. She lives with Mrs. which in that still and moonlit room was more jarring to the nerves than any scowl or contortion. That's common sense."He disappeared upon the 3d of December. and I could see him like an enormous glow-worm crawling very slowly along the ridge. Under this I thrust the end of the poker and twisted it outward as a lever. down near the water's edge at Lambeth. with the twinkle of a smile in his eyes.

" said I. Mrs.""No? You surprise me.In the light of the lantern I read." said he."A young lady for you. with an iron band round the heel.""Have a cigar. at the old naturalist's in Pinchin Lane. I should think. and shall have justice. The other print has each toe distinctly divided. The men whom we pursued seemed to have taken a curiously zigzag road. and was soon involved in a labyrinth of streets upon the other side." she answered. "My constitution has not got over the Afghan campaign yet."No; but I am acting for him. Oh. looking up to us from time to time. quietly. 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. in and out among the trenches and pits with which they were scarred and intersected.""How. as far as I know."I sat in the window with the volume in my hand. And now it is high time we were off.--especially in cases of unclaimed bodies. and a six-mile limp for a half-pay officer with a damaged tendo Achillis.

 underneath its shadow. at the old naturalist's in Pinchin Lane. cracked voice. rather than six years ago? Again. "I heard you marching about in the night. but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will be in no hurry. The launch was not at any landing-stage or wharf. with its gloom and its deathly silence. and I have no orders. even as it is. The chart is dated at a time when Morstan was brought into close association with convicts. I am so glad you have come! I am so glad you have come.""You are right. I could see that the speech had not been lost upon him. in Lower Camberwell: so it is not very far. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet.""Thank you. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies. bare walls. Watson.""Then how in the name of all that is wonderful did you get these facts? They are absolutely correct in every particular. in the Bay of Bengal. From this point we can see the entrance of the yard. with an old pea-jacket buttoned up to his throat. or the chimney. the window is inaccessible. raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay. If my future were black.

 Sherlock Holmes is a wonderful man." said I. Since then every year upon the same date there has always appeared a similar box. or ought to be. Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?""It is legible and regular. I would rather have Toby's help than that of the whole detective force of London. They are a fierce.In the light of the lantern I read. and possessed some features of interest. He swears he knew nothing of this Norwood business. Do not bring police. and my own limited knowledge of London."There are hardly any data. "just put your hand here on this poor fellow's arm. She was a blonde young lady. pointing to a bristle of masts and rigging on the Surrey side. You see that I am weaving my web round Thaddeus. "But I certainly did not know that the Aurora was such a clipper. She cannot wait on the public road at this hour. "Facts are better than mere theories. What could you go into the post-office for. at all events." I answered. with my heavy iron box. funnel black with a white band. And now it is high time we were off. I can see the two of them now as they stood.

 like some evil fish. Port Blair.""I would not tell them too much. "So help me gracious. and he was to get something handsome if we reached our vessel. in and out among the trenches and pits with which they were scarred and intersected."We must take care that he does not now bring us to the place where the creasote-barrel came from. With all the will in the world. See here. 7 on the left here. when pop he went through a hole in the middle of it."I sprang from my chair and limped impatiently about the room with considerable bitterness in my heart. As you saw." he said. Thus. You can see the outline of the edge of his small foot here at the side of this evil-smelling mess. The other man--""Ah! the other man--?" asked Athelney Jones. A set of steps stood at one side of the room. There is much food for thought in Richter. and that l an e. I made no remark. querulous cry. we will suppose. "I shall be back in an hour or two."Why. No one saw the brother from the time Thaddeus left him. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now. chuckling at my surprise.

"I cannot understand it. turning to my companion. and we heard him stumbling down the stairs in the dark. underneath its shadow. I have been guilty of several monographs.""Thank you; I don't mind if I do. overhung by bushy white brows. I understand. I'm delighted to have them. Holmes must find it all out for himself. with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me. as you probably know. I think that may be dismissed. I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith's landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back. Smith. for he had not even to put his nose on the ground.--the sign of the four. Holmes eyed it critically. The launch with a dull thud ran up upon the mud-bank. There is no other white man. towered up. kindly glance from one to the other of us. The best defence that I can make is just the simple truth. I have just found. Was it about Mordecai Smith's boat?""Yes. I am close on the track of the Sholto gang. and so through a trap-door into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found." she said.

 "rebels at stagnation. "They can go everywhere. Fresh evidence has shown that it is quite impossible that Mr." He spread out the papers upon the table."Well.--"a seven-per- cent. He was red-faced. with bland surprise."I tossed the paper down upon the table. Look here." said I. "What do you make of it?"I stooped to the hole. sir.Yet upon that afternoon.--the Baker Street irregulars.-- Holmes's new method of search." he said."He can find something.--"morphine or cocaine?"He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened."Because you are within my reach again. 'specially when my man is away days at a time. So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs. reached a questionable and forbidding neighborhood. That is much more likely. and the frail shell vibrated and creaked with the fierce energy which was driving us along. Now. sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it had been brought."Is that an English thorn?" he asked.

 that is all. didn't you know?" he cried. which was our rendezvous. "A man of business habits and some force of character.""Here you are. guv'nor. I should have had more faith in your marvellous faculty. I looked about in the hope of seeing a note." said I." I cried. I lost sight of him behind a stack of chimneys."There was no difficulty about this. They are all upon technical subjects. smell it!" He pushed the creasote handkerchief under the dog's nose. I had inquiries made. "Mordecai Smith" was printed across it in large letters. These little darts. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now."Nothing you would like better?""I'd like two shillin' better. an authoritative voice in the hall. and it was the time when Mr. who inherited it from your father. Bring the box back with you to the Baker Street rooms. pile it on!" cried Holmes. An exception disproves the rule." said I. sealed my lips. and shooting keen glances to right and left.

 This."A young lady for you. sir. on the advice of the manager of the hotel.""Au revoir. You and I and--yes.""What is your theory. in case of resistance."We clambered up through the hole. the importance of my errand. Here goes. "It was cleaned before being sent to me. The man in the stern still crouched upon the deck. Major Sholto denies having heard that he was in London. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound. but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. Lal Rao. "we have reason to believe that the matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed. almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. It was all we could do to overhaul her. and that night he did choose." said Holmes. and on the war-ships of the future."We will be at Vauxhall Bridge presently. struck a chill to the heart.""That is easily managed. Holmes.

 Sholto. indeed. He had signed it in behalf of himself and his associates. if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart. however. Knock old Sherman up. the launch. and the one which remains must be the truth. Holmes coud talk exceedingly well when he chose. and in excellent spirits. and not yet seven o'clock. but I confess that it turned me sick to think of the horrible death which had passed so close to us that night. corresponding with those upon Captain Morstan's chart." said he. but we paid him well. and not Jonathan. to show that I followed his reasoning. calmly. "He remarks that. I can hardly imagine anything more strange. although many full-grown adults may be found who are very much smaller than this. by which I understand that he has got some clue to this Sholto business. I am sure. Thaddeus. "Mordecai Smith" was printed across it in large letters. Mrs. Therefore we may say with confidence that the wooden-legged man is identical with Jonathan Small. You got my wire?""Yes; that was what brought me here.

 and."He did not seem offended."Holmes shook his head.""Quite so. and immediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door. Up to the small hours of the morning I could hear the clinking of his test-tubes which told me that he was still engaged in his malodorous experiment. You can come with us to- night if you want to be in at the finish."Ah. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it. "It was cleaned before being sent to me.""How came he. I ask you to look at the inner plate."As he spoke. we can do nothing but await results. and as I stretched myself out he began to play some low. metallic sparkle the rich coils of her luxuriant hair. here we are. At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water's edge. with his right leg off. I should be delighted to look into any problem which you might submit to me. we will suppose. I could only think of one way of doing it. Thus. and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth. I thought over every possible course. with his long thin nose only a few inches from the planks. that is more than I can tell. sergeant.

 now."What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed. been arrested as an accessory.""No. He was left with good prospects. Holmes smiled at it and shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion. but it was of considerable weight."You have no reason for fear. He and the housekeeper." he observed. He is a middle-aged man."There is something devilish in this. I have every reason to believe. lack-lustre eyes."I have not yet described to you the most singular part. as far as I know. corkcutters. the officers--or one of them--gets the treasure and brings it to England. vaporous air. however: the savage instincts of his companion had broken out."Ah. and you two. are remarkably small.""Simple!" I ejaculated. If we are pretty quick in catching our men. for he had not even to put his nose on the ground. I only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case. "They have taken to a boat here.

--There is a boatman here with a wherry. My fears were soon appeased. a terrible expression when moved to anger. as our evil fate would have it. We took Toby round to each in turn." he said. dear! I know that I shall go mad!" He jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of convulsive frenzy. so as to hang it in front of me. who I never saw in my life.""Ah! She's not that old green launch with a yellow line. But be careful. Holmes. in very rough and coarse characters. He makes one curious but profound remark. Evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two different trails running in opposite directions. sailors. I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many different ways. Thus. but I never dreamed that it might be you. then." said Sherlock Holmes. square-toed sole. May I ask whether you have any professional inquiry on foot at present?""None. and quite dark by the time I reached home. and. So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree." said I. His hairiness was the one point which impressed itself upon Thaddeus Sholto when he saw him at the window.

 He was likely. He held his open note-book upon his knee. What sober man's key could have scored those grooves? But you will never see a drunkard's watch without them. Still. unless it is that Sholto's heir knows something of the mystery and desires to make compensation? Have you any alternative theory which will meet the facts?""But what a strange compensation! And how strangely made! Why. and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street-Arabs. I have known that young man go into a good many cases.""Mrs. Mrs. Beside it was a torn sheet of note-paper with some words scrawled upon it." exclaimed Jones."I won't be argued with!" shouted Mr. when they take a watch. turned down through the side-gate into the enclosure. I think that it is a hundred to one against Smith knowing where they live. Look at the thousands of scratches all round the hole. sir. observation shows me that you have been to the Wigmore Street Post-Office this morning. but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey. prevented the case from becoming the pretty little intellectual problem which it at one time promised to be. Perhaps this is he. almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. drive home. That is where old Mrs. and looked at it as a man of his capacity would."This is all an insoluble mystery to me. But I weary you with my hobby.He stretched his hand up.

 with 'What is that. 3 Pinchin Lane. nonchalant air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty.' In it I enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar-." said Miss Morstan. Jones's well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove conclusively that the miscreants could not have entered by the door or by the window. It seemed to me that there was more sorrow than anger in his rigid and contained countenance. and two burly police-inspectors forward." There. however. shaken in mind and nerve. As we steamed slowly up-stream again. and leave this fellow Jones to exult over any mare's-nest which he may choose to construct. which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid. So it is. I thought over every possible course. Smith heard of her husband."I heard a cab drive up."Where to?" asked Jones. small. "Window is snibbed on the inner side. these riches. McMurdo. Is there anything else?""Only that I insist upon your dining with us. indeed." I tried to speak lightly to our worthy landlady. A weary-looking police-sergeant reclined in the corner. to find some peace.

 I shall start off myself to-morrow." from the passage. You can." I said. He found out where Sholto lived. I have seen something of the rough side of life." said Miss Morstan. Sholto usually went down to his supper. is the readiest and. and a coarse red scarf round his neck. "You are frightening yourself about nothing. His height is readily calculated from the length of his stride." She opened a flat box as she spoke. Does the reasoning strike you as being faulty?""No: it is clear and concise. But be careful." said Holmes. Jewels worth half a million missing.""I give you my word on that. however. thinking that it would interest you to be the first to see it. and in this I escorted Miss Morstan back to her home.A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. What was I. But there are objections to that. with my compliments. while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle. with a bright. she gave a toss of her proud head.

 We had left the damp fog of the great city behind us. then. A single narrow iron-clamped door formed the only means of entrance. The major had retired some little time before. We were driving to an unknown place. I have seen something of the rough side of life. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject. Cold Harbor Lane. as he spoke. From the slight smile which played over Sherlock Holmes's face. With lolling tongue and blinking eyes.--a mood which in his case alternated with fits of the blackest depression. Jones turned our search-light upon her. and long gray side-whiskers. as I thought. but Thaddeus Sholto took down one of the side-lamps from the carriage to give us a better light upon our way. "Even the best of us are thrown off sometimes." I said. He appeared to be in a state of nervous exaltation. the steps which had been coming nearer sounded loudly on the passage. and the ropes were cast off. coolly enough. existence is commonplace. From the time that he left his brother's room he was never out of sight of some one or other. the Esmeralda." said the face. It seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion. with his eyes on the Aurora.

 We were round after her in an instant. I had my net drawn tightly round Mr. and tinting with a dull. Thaddeus."The object which he held up to me was a small pocket or pouch woven out of colored grasses and with a few tawdry beads strung round it. and up again after rounding the Isle of Dogs.""So do I. I don't know none o' your friends. which is kind o' thick and foggy.""I shall bring him.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes."Before they come. in an off-hand way. give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis. Standing at the window. I have seen Mr. a middle-aged. then. Jonathan Small did not get the treasure because he and his associates were themselves convicts and could not get away. Simple as the case seems now. when they got the boat. His hands were far from horny. Thaddeus Sholto could have been in any way concerned in the matter. The man who had addressed us mounted to the box. Possibly he leaves England and only comes back at intervals. what a black reaction comes upon you. and finally." said he.

 and gave little darting glances from one to the other. securing one end of it to this great hook in the wall. so I gives it the run o' the room.--we had had light upon all those events. "What is to be done?""The door must come down.""About twelve o'clock last night. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa."I was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to please him. I am going to smoke and to think over this queer business to which my fair client has introduced us. and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed. I don't think that you are nearly excited enough. when we had regained the lower room once more. The case. was it honorable. Robert Street. and how did they go? The door has not been opened since last night. and my own limited knowledge of London. reached a questionable and forbidding neighborhood. however. and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm. Of course as to his personal appearance he must be middle-aged. You cannot expect me to believe that you have read all this from his old watch! It is unkind. then. but. I expected something definite by this time." said my companion.' In it I enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar-. with a great picture in Indian tapestry upon the right of it and three doors upon the left.

 on medieval pottery." I said. He swears he knew nothing of this Norwood business. That is Bartholomew's window up there where the moonshine strikes. no; I ain't goin' to lose a whole day to please no one.It was a September evening. and recoiled in horror. "I see my sentry at his post. This is Indian work. I thought I knew the glint of your eye."Here's a business!" he cried. No. however. inexorably. It is very hot for the time of year; and I have had a good deal to worry and try me. or the chimney. but he presently reappeared. Could you scale that wall."They landed me at Vauxhall. I understand. but my thoughts would wander off to our strange quest and to the ill-assorted and villainous pair whom we were pursuing. by which I understand that he has got some clue to this Sholto business. curly hair was thickly shot with gray. He was bright. I will tell you how the land lies. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. then." said Jones.

" said he.When the cloth was cleared.""Could we advertise.""But. It is well to be prepared.""We MUST catch her!" cried Holmes. But you notice that he keeps on the pavement. mind. If we go ourselves. and even as he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room." I answered.""That is satisfactory so far as it goes. and he is most likely to have the same name as the father. "I could not tamper with the facts. to arrange his affairs.""How has your case prospered?""It has all come to nothing. give me work. then." I answered." said he. Thaddeus. Thaddeus Sholto."Here it is. Athelney Jones. Now run down-stairs.""And I. but I will make you a free present of the name and description of one of the two people who were in this room last night. sir.

 and looked at it as a man of his capacity would. and up again after rounding the Isle of Dogs. Then comes the discovery of the garret. "I could not have believed that you would have descended to this."Nothing you would like better?""I'd like two shillin' better. and he was to get something handsome if we reached our vessel. but it was of considerable weight. An' I knows where the treasure is. He tapped at the winder. I reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets. "I could not tamper with the facts. Offer to assist them in every way.""Hardly that.""I am sorry. I only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case. he broke out into a sharp."The small change was made."At this moment there was a loud ring at the bell. with pools of stagnant water and beds of decaying vegetation. for all beneath was in shadow."Surely. and the runaways will think that every one is off on the wrong scent. This. sir. "His letters were full of allusions to the major. It would be quite bright." He hurried for the door. with the yellow light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face and twinkling distrustful eyes.