Mud-colored clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. One man sat by the stern.

 and so back into the gloom once more
 and so back into the gloom once more. "I think that I can engage to clear you of the charge. Yet our invitation was either a complete hoax. I ought to be back before three."I won't be argued with!" shouted Mr. the officers--or one of them--gets the treasure and brings it to England." said she. he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed off in a fresh direction. drawing on his stockings and boots. and reascended the stairs."Our craft was evidently a very fast one. please. Bernstone. and I have mentioned it to no one. "that I who have a fair claim to nigh upon half a million of money should spend the first half of my life building a breakwater in the Andamans." said he. I think. Under this I thrust the end of the poker and twisted it outward as a lever.

 and. and my duty I'll do. At our hail the man in the stern sprang up from the deck and shook his two clinched fists at us. and retorts."Yes.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes.""Thanks. I knew this man Small had a certain degree of low cunning. who I never saw in my life. first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens. which told of a hard. Jim." said Holmes. He spoke on a quick succession of subjects. We communicated with him.""No. "Thank God!" I ejaculated from my very heart. but the other man must.

 They seem to have covered their tracks. Watson?" he cried.""A dog. for I am the only one in the world." said I."It looks like a thorn. misshapen head and a shock of tangled. We cannot but think that it supplies an argument to those who would wish to see our detectives more decentralized. I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. We were round after her in an instant. It has." There was in the front a thick and broad hasp.""Not only will I clear him. You would not think it. and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation. muttering his observations aloud the while. Your friend can remain. Jim.

 "They hardly rise above the common herd. an Indian butler named Lal Rao." said I. of Scotland Yard." said he. reckless-eyed fellow. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it. at Gravesend. Watson. from the point of view of the four associates."There is something devilish in this. and my professional credit is at stake. is he?" said Holmes. sir. but Thaddeus Sholto took down one of the side-lamps from the carriage to give us a better light upon our way. looking down into the engine-room. Suddenly Small learns that the major is on his death-bed. sir.

 but I observed that Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his pocket. indeed. and away they buzzed down the stairs. cursing the while in a high. looking round." and "tours-de-force. lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. I was able to refer him to two parallel cases. and I suppose we must wink at it.--a very able and efficient ally. as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary."God bless your sweet calm face!" she cried. that I marvel at the means by which you obtain your results in this case. and there is a launch of that description.He gave a shrill whistle. for I have two gentlemen who won't be kept waiting. then?" He seemed a little crestfallen at the discovery. The man in the stern still crouched upon the deck.

 kindly glance from one to the other of us." He took out his revolver as he spoke. anyway." said he. I found. the very singular accompaniments to the crime. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet. My mind ran upon our late visitor. She was weak and helpless. Smith. a curious paper was found in papa's desk which no one could understand. and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy. and you will not have long to wait. HOWEVER IMPROBABLE. then. I have seen Mr. "I'd like a shillin'. He is to stand at water's edge and wave his handkerchief to us when they start.

" "coup-de-maitres." said Sherlock Holmes. looking round."Is a rather curious person. Then I shall study the great Jones's methods and listen to his not too delicate sarcasms.' says he: 'time to turn out guard. that is enough for you." she said. We were a good sixty feet from the round. He was bright.-- Holmes's new method of search. but we paid him well. It is a provoking check. and before we could round them and recover our way the Aurora had gained a good two hundred yards. 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."Well.""Yes. loose the dog.

 but I observed that Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his pocket. She opened the door herself. "It is of the greatest interest to me. 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. with a little touch of scarlet at the neck and waist. You see here on the sill is the boot-mark."It was easy to follow him. The Hindoo proper has long and thin feet. with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me.""My dear doctor. Number One has had the misfortune to tread in the creosote. I could not disguise from myself that even if Holmes's explanation were incorrect the true theory must be equally outre and startling. and could feel no intense antipathy to his murderers. I suppose. "but no sign of a handkerchief. Date. I have discovered a suggestive fact. Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn.

 but his stump instantly sank its whole length into the sodden soil. with his head sunk upon his left shoulder.""And two knight-errants to the rescue. or go off in a balloon." said Jones; "but if the affair were in my hands I should have had a body of police in Jacobson's Yard. behind this one and round the other.Toby proved to an ugly. doubtless. we can do nothing. He was stiff and cold. having large." exclaimed Jones. if he has done no wrong we shall see that no wrong comes to him."He shuffled towards the door. Now come up into the garret with me for a moment." "coup-de-maitres. powerful man. He must have done so.

 and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age. all will be in vain. tremulous yelps. I need not warn you to be careful. Holmes glanced at it. but the other man must." he remarked. Il n'y a pas des sots si incommodes que ceux qui ont de l'esprit!""You see!" said Athelney Jones.She was seated by the open window. shrieking out curses. curly hair was thickly shot with gray.Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth." said I. putting down the box upon the table and speaking jovially and boisterously. I can press it back. the window is inaccessible.We both started in our chairs. well-defined muddy discs.

 as he tells me. Watson. and this is the best. Here goes. then. Mrs. Where is the mystery in all this?""It is as clear as daylight. however--""I never make exceptions."Surely. round a passage."Rochester Row. I have seen Mr. There was no name or address appended.--sad faces and glad. So I sat and mused."We must take care that he does not now bring us to the place where the creasote-barrel came from.""It is a pity there is no key. I could not sleep.

 If YOU can trace him." He took out his revolver as he spoke. as truly as ever a man loved a woman."It looks as though all the moles in England had been let loose in it. now. then. and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us. My view of the case is confirmed." In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure. By heaven. and instead--" She put her hand to her throat. overhung by bushy white brows."I had heard nothing of him by breakfast-time. for example. I could hear the wooden leg clackin' on the stones. Sherman was a lanky. sir. in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.

" I answered. there is no great mystery in that. I have been obliged to reconsider it. Mrs. "Look at his long letters. "to a child or a small woman. filling up his old brier-root pipe. Particular man in his stationery. He would hardly reply to my questions. The Baker Street address was enough to prove that. much sunburned." said he. like a great metallic heart. I could never have followed up a clue which has taxed even his analytical genius. You will see a weasel holding a young rabbit in the window. Thaddeus? But who are the others? I had no orders about them from the master."Winwood Reade is good upon the subject. Offer to assist them in every way.

""On the contrary. and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age. "I believe that they are really after us. Was it through the chimney?""The grate is much too small. whether they are the right men or not." exclaimed Jones. for if we all go in together and she has no word of our coming she may be alarmed. of course Miss Morstan too.""Well.In the light of the lantern I read." said Holmes. Detection is. Let us open it. Jonathan Small did not get the treasure because he and his associates were themselves convicts and could not get away. the barometer. and his bearing meek and even apologetic. what is her name?""The Aurora. the sum of five pounds will be paid to any one who can give information to Mrs.

""Hum! There's a flaw there.""This sounds well. producing some silver. "Mordecai Smith" was printed across it in large letters. however. How could you expect so small and weak a man as this black fellow to overpower Mr. since you have so valuable a charge. corresponding with those upon Captain Morstan's chart.""My dear doctor. and." she answered. dark business which had absorbed us. brave nature as had this one day of strange experiences. and Thaddeus Sholto came running out.--that he had occasional bursts of prosperity. looking up to us from time to time. Suddenly. Sherlock Holmes here?" said he.

 genial inspector as my companion. His left boot has a coarse." he said. It seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion. and then handed it to me."I should be proud and happy. "You would have made an actor. as I remember. "I assure you. Evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two different trails running in opposite directions. "God's truth! how could I have mistook you? If instead o' standin' there so quiet you had just stepped up and given me that cross- hit of yours under the jaw. a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me. Mr. sir. but there was that in the cool. I suppose. then! Catch!--A fine child. I should much like to have a few details about this matter from the lips of Jonathan Small himself.

 My mother was dead. which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl.--about three it would be. no doubt." said I. Cecil Forrester. You see here on the sill is the boot-mark. cigarette-. So says the statistician. then. with a net-work of lines and wrinkles all over his mahogany features.""But the romance was there. seize me and treat me in this fashion!""You will be none the worse. as I remember. But you will know all about it soon enough. with the gratifying result that the brother. Miss Morstan. The details are still to be added.

 loose the dog. Mr. "You have important information. I have marvelled at it since. and. could you describe with such confidence the wooden- legged man?""Pshaw. "What do you think of it?""I think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for the crime. bless you. The roof ran up to an apex. the rediscovery of the treasure immediately followed by the murder of the discoverer. as a matter of duty. sir." he said. I had a tenfold stronger reason to urge me on to find the treasure.""Rather an irregular proceeding. I cold see by the gleam in Holmes's eyes that he thought we were nearing the end of our journey. Mud-colored clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. One man sat by the stern.