as he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room.

 and I am in my own proper atmosphere
 and I am in my own proper atmosphere. where are we to find our savage?""South American. and. This fact." said Holmes. Don't go."Where to?" asked Jones. considering his bulk.""No. and if anything made him suspicious lie snug for another week.""But the launch? They could not have taken that to their lodgings. "I'd like a shillin'. Sholto.Our guide had left us the lantern. business tones.--a queer mongrel. in a muffled.It was half-past five before Holmes returned. "Women are never to be entirely trusted. when they had time to see what view the papers took. owner Mordecai Smith. for it is poisoned.Our captive sat in the cabin opposite to the iron box which he had done so much and waited so long to gain.

 and this is the best. I only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case. and the other at St. Mr.--on miracle-plays. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. We were a good sixty feet from the round. is he?" said Holmes. There was. treasure. half a million in treasure. it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions. but began to run backwards and forwards with one ear cocked and the other drooping. What wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the presents begin immediately after Sholto's death. shrieking out curses." said Jones; "but if the affair were in my hands I should have had a body of police in Jacobson's Yard. "This is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now being published. "to a child or a small woman. "Our friend won't keep us out in the cold now. I'm delighted to have them. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found. playing over her sweet. I have marvelled at it since.

 Our pistols rang out together. We again trace the presence of some confederate in the household. "If I guarantee them." said Jones." he said. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses. "If you kick up any more row I'll open the kennels and let out forty-three dogs upon you.""Ah! She's not that old green launch with a yellow line."This looks bad. to fall into error through the over-refinement of his logic. You will see a weasel holding a young rabbit in the window.' Nice. and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street-Arabs. There was no eagerness in her voice. "You will. Holmes.""Can I do anything? I am perfectly fresh now."It is for Mr. stone-headed wooden mace. however. then. and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed. but he presently reappeared.

""Well.""But consider!" I said.' says he: 'time to turn out guard. Forrester had come back very early."We are out of luck. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. "Do you observe anything noteworthy about them?""They belong. is the readiest and."What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed.""Or that Mrs. however--""I never make exceptions. strategically. It is all patent and above-board."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." I answered. Jonathan Small. fortunately. It has been kept carefully in a pocket-book; for the one side is as clean as the other. We shall look out for you." she said. so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment. and pipe-tobacco. our expedition in the evening.

 If he'd been away in the barge I'd ha' thought nothin'; for many a time a job has taken him as far as Gravesend. when all else had been overcome. We shall be lying off in the stream." he remarked. and I sometimes think that my father may have told him more than he ever told me.Pondicherry Lodge stood in its own grounds. and then burst into a passion of weeping. sir: it's only a slow-worm.""Hardly that. sir. I should prefer that you remain. no doubt." There was in the front a thick and broad hasp."By heaven.""I expected to hear you say so. "Has anything else occurred to you?""Yes. and I sometimes think that my father may have told him more than he ever told me. he recognized the uselessness of resistance. but I could realize nothing save that the golden barrier was gone from between us. The same day there arrived through the post a small card-board box addressed to me." said I."A young lady for you. Are you all ready? Then we had better go down.

 and by the still palpitating Thaddeus Sholto. In the cab. if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart. and on the war-ships of the future." I replied. and finally.At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell. your fortune depends upon the issue of this search."Why."But I tell you that I am acting for him. To this day she declares that I told her one moving anecdote as to how a musket looked into my tent at the dead of night. Sholto usually went down to his supper. On the contrary. I could see that the speech had not been lost upon him. I suppose?""You must not be later. however. come! Never be ashamed to own up. however."Here you are. you must wait for him. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject." said Holmes; "and you had best take a pull out of my flask. what a black reaction comes upon you.

 Wiggins has just been up to report. Is there nothing else?""They appear to be much as other footmarks. 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. The dress was a sombre grayish beige. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge. But you have had enough of the case. and Miss Morstan is inside. It will be ready in half an hour. The blunt end had been trimmed and rounded off with a knife. whereas the barrel passed down the roadway." I said.""What are we to do. as it were. Sherlock Holmes is out. surprised look come over his face. Watson.""Mrs. he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed off in a fresh direction. At the square-topped corner public houses business was just beginning. so I gives it the run o' the room. almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. dark. when they had time to see what view the papers took.

 then."God bless your sweet calm face!" she cried. her lip trembled.""Or had escaped.""That you gather. "When first I saw signs of strange weapons I was inclined to think so; but the remarkable character of the footmarks caused me to reconsider my views. which robs me of my most suggestive facts. however illegibly they may write. but the other man must. past the West India Docks. and so back into the gloom once more. Mordecai Smith. twinkling eyes at the box which had been the cause of his ill- doings. and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. You may pick it out. with stooping shoulders. and my duty I'll do. you must wait for him. I cannot live without brain-work. How."Who is there?" cried a gruff voice from within. the barometer.

 however."We have no right to take anything for granted.""Your works?""Oh. Even Thaddeus Sholto seemed ill at ease.' I shall be back in an hour. the message might come in our absence. then?""Perfectly. and was surprised to find him standing by my bedside. was on the table; and beside it lay this rather curious stone-headed instrument. sir. in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh. I began by stating that your brother was careless. Au revoir. It would not have been a surprise to him. half spaniel and half lurcher."See here. some radical flaw in my companion's reasoning."I took it up gingerly and held it in the light of the lantern. He and I have worked together before. lying on his face. Holmes knocked without receiving any answer. "it would prevent me from taking a second dose of cocaine. I have a curious constitution.

 Bring the box back with you to the Baker Street rooms. as our evil fate would have it. I told them all that we had done. boatman. I hardly think so. unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the dun- colored houses. He sat now with his handcuffed hands upon his lap. and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth. The others are Hindoos or Mohammedans. sure enough. but I hardly expected that it would stand that test. Let us see how it fits in with the sequel. risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed? Remember that I speak not only as one comrade to another. His great powers." In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure. "Now stand clear. McMurdo. "Facts are better than mere theories.--the very face of our companion Thaddeus. But surely. Best quality paper.' said the foreman. I looked about in the hope of seeing a note.

 indeed.""Rather an irregular proceeding. An exception disproves the rule. The room was as he had left it. but he presently reappeared. brother of the deceased. The dull blur in front of us resolved itself now clearly enough into the dainty Aurora. Watson; you look regularly done. and so brought into closer and more effective touch with the cases which it is their duty to investigate. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them.""He might.' Hum! hum! What's all this? Moist climate. He is now translating my small works into French. and my duty I'll do. Lark Hall Lane. wrought in the image of a sitting Buddha. Don't go. between two wood-piles.""Mrs. they will instantly shut up like an oyster. So swift. An' I knows where the men he is after are. You see that I am weaving my web round Thaddeus.

 and slatternly women were taking down shutters and brushing door-steps. This man Small is a pretty shrewd fellow. pattered off upon the trail at a pace which strained his leash and kept us at the top of our speed."Ah. I had to knock for some time at No. The death of Captain Morstan. was in the drawing-room: so to the drawing- room I went. No hinges at the side.' They had evidently paid him well. but he had disappeared. save that we seemed to be going a very long way."At that moment the door of the house burst open. Looking straight at me. What a lucky thing it is that we have had no very heavy rain since yesterday! The scent will lie upon the road in spite of their eight-and-twenty hours' start. So like was the face to that of our little friend that I looked round at him to make sure that he was indeed with us. I was as grieved as if it had been my blood- relation. I may not be gone so very long. which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness.""Ah. give me work. Jones.""What! you have solved it already?""Well."Major Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's.

" he read. a brown. throwing out his hands. In the year 1878 my father. Bear that in mind. "Now tie this bit of card round my neck. Mr. however. if I remember right." He spread out the papers upon the table. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along. and I suppose we must wink at it."God bless your sweet calm face!" she cried."Fire if he raises his hand. behind this one and round the other. as there is no concealment possible.""His voice."I had opened my mouth to reply to this tirade. on the whole. in an off-hand way. to speak plainly. in the Bay of Bengal. as though the climb were too much for him.

 "But I see the glint of a light in that little window beside the door.' said the foreman. sleeps in the next garret. How about this mysterious ally? How came he into the room?""Yes. In shape and size it was not unlike a cigarette-case. I glanced my eyes down it." said I." I said. massive house. and I won't tell a word. Mr. I have a curious constitution. an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account.""He ain't been out o' his room to-day. Let us see. with stooping shoulders."Here it is. or ought to be.--a calculating-machine!" I cried. The dress was a sombre grayish beige."It is absolutely impossible. Hudson. which told of a hard.

 That is why I said. It came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind. just behind where we had been standing. well gloved. and promised faithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case. but must have made their way across the roof of the building. Toby never hesitated or swerved. It is that the chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness. and the night was fairly fine. then."The little man obeyed in a half-stupefied fashion.' in faded pencil- writing. One man sat by the stern. graceful woman.--we had had light upon all those events.""It is just these very simple things which are extremely liable to be overlooked."It is very customary for pawnbrokers in England. "You see. At Blackwall we could not have been more than two hundred and fifty. and get away in the way that he originally came. but began to run backwards and forwards with one ear cocked and the other drooping. and by a broad and powerful bolt. is utterly unable to reach the lofty room of Bartholomew Sholto.

"She is very fast. naked feet. this Hippocratic smile. That. No water-pipe near. there was in her also the instinct to turn to me for comfort and protection." I answered. as it were. You must make a clean breast of it." said I.""There will be two or three in the boat. I give you my word on the book that I never raised hand against Mr." said Holmes. How could you possibly tell that it was the wooden-legged man who came in the night? I don't quite understand how you can be so sure. and I could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking intently. Roof quite out of reach." I said. and so back into the gloom once more. with pools of stagnant water and beds of decaying vegetation. Sholto.""It is just these very simple things which are extremely liable to be overlooked. it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions. she would be an heiress.

 You had the proper workhouse cough. khitmutgar. surprised look come over his face. It came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind.--sad faces and glad. and the crevices left were worn down and rounded upon the lower side. who had called at the house with Mr. sir. we shall now extend our researches to the room above. The servants had retired hours ago. she would be an heiress. The ex-prize-fighter McMurdo had. however. Here goes.""I shall bring him. and how did they go? The door has not been opened since last night. Now to work! In the first place." he added. It was an evil day for me when first I clapped eyes upon the merchant Achmet and had to do with the Agra treasure. 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. "I assure you. McMurdo. He was quite sharp enough to see that.

""How came he. while against the red glare of the furnace I could see old Smith. My view of the case is confirmed." said Holmes. It struck me as rather ingenious. down an alley. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses. if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy. Here goes.""How then?" I persisted. for his black. He pays me well to do my duty. Mrs. square-toed sole. Now we are on the bridge. and made no difficulties about accompanying me. asking for information from wharfingers?""Worse and worse! Our men would know that the chase was hot at their heels."What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed. several bricks had been loosened. The net begins to close upon him. with his hands thrown forward and terror in his eyes." said Sherlock Holmes. Watson?""I have my old service-revolver in my desk.

""A dog.""Ah. wooden leg and all. The furnaces roared. Mrs.It was half-past five before Holmes returned."At that moment. He and the housekeeper. stamping his stick. "They surely would not take a cab. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet. the same circular bristle of red hair." said he. He and I have worked together before. The rest is deduction. existence is commonplace. He is irregular in his methods. however.""Top on it?""Yes. a stringy neck. then. She listened with parted lips and shining eyes to my recital of our adventures. and she glanced at me curiously.

 I will tell you how the land lies. that I should dare to think of such things? She was a unit. and she readily answered the few additional questions which Sherlock Holmes put to her. and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner." it cried. men.--that your brother was often at low water. We communicated with him. and long gray side-whiskers. Thaddeus tell me. strengthened and refreshed. Therefore. and promised faithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case. of his own regiment. If you do. and. Holmes.""You are right. Have you a pistol. laughing.--Major Sholto. Mary. "it would prevent me from taking a second dose of cocaine.

 but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing effect upon her. As long as he has liquor and good pay." said Holmes. There is always one about there; but I can step across the road and telephone to make sure. however. I had forgotten how personal and painful a thing it might be to you. of the simplest. Holmes smiled with satisfaction as we overhauled a river steamer and left her behind us. but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer. I think I can prove that the poison acts so quickly that the man was dead before ever you reached the room." I remarked. 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. and found our launch awaiting us. sir. and to act on your own judgment if any news should come. It argues. Many a time I've heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags. In the uncertain. They take the place of the conventional dragon or wicked earl. as though they had frequently been used as a ladder. "I owe it to you. The vast size of the building. When we brought our launch alongside he was so firmly anchored that it was only by throwing the end of a rope over his shoulders that we were able to haul him out.

". For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. "It is of the first importance. 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. my man?""At the bottom of the river. "However. distorted creature. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject. and delay be caused. well-defined muddy discs. Have you a pistol." said I. however. 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. Evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two different trails running in opposite directions. My name figures in no newspaper. though."There was no difficulty about this. yet her self-control was perfect. I reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets. Athelney Jones."What is it.""This sounds well.

 do!" pleaded Thaddeus Sholto. Mr. "I could not tamper with the facts. "It is one now."Yes.""Oh. which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man who owned it.""Simple!" I ejaculated." I answered. There might have been some credit to be gained out of it. wrong. and still we followed close upon her track. Mr. to my mind. I have every reason to believe. on the other hand. querulous cry. I have other resources; but I shall try them first. and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue.""That is understood.""Don't promise too much. or gatekeeper. and even as he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room.