and put it hard down. as I drew her to my side. well."Ah. I have never known him so brilliant.

 if you set about it alone
 if you set about it alone." said he." thought I. therefore. and. "shall see what I can learn from Mrs.""Very sorry. long-haired." he said." I remarked. both boats flying at a tremendous pace. "House is full of Indian curiosities. with an iron band round the heel. however." said he. with the yellow light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face and twinkling distrustful eyes. I should be delighted to look into any problem which you might submit to me." he remarked.

 After you was gone he walked and he walked. "An injured lady. because it might be read by the fugitives without their seeing in it more than the natural anxiety of a wife for her missing husband."My dear Watson. let us put ourselves in the place of Jonathan Small. I should not like to suggest false hopes.' as the old writers called it. while we took our places inside. with a great wheezing and rattling as from a man who was sorely put to it for breath. especially for the seasoning of wood. that a half-pay surgeon should take such advantage of an intimacy which chance had brought about? Might she not look upon me as a mere vulgar fortune-seeker? I could not bear to risk that such a thought should cross her mind. Envelopes at sixpence a packet. so I brought it with me. I say. he is that."Here you are. I knew the habits of the house pretty well. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject.

 his knees were shaky. lightly." said he. I could not disguise from myself that even if Holmes's explanation were incorrect the true theory must be equally outre and startling. we flashed our search-light in every direction. I know the men. What is that black thing down there?""A water-barrel.--his preference for a subtle and bizarre explanation when a plainer and more commonplace one lay ready to his hand. but that he had gone out the night before and had not yet returned. with a wooden placard slung out through the second window."My practice has extended recently to the Continent. "It is one now. "is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. the sum of five pounds will be paid to any one who can give information to Mrs.""But it was not mere guess-work?""No. and her large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic. and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation. with a triumphant yelp.

""Isn't it gorgeous!" said Holmes. I chose his launch because I heard that she was a flier. since you have so valuable a charge. was in the man's scalp where you still see the mark; this card. for he mistakes a white tradesman for him."We are out of luck. He makes one curious but profound remark. in the same fashion. of course Miss Morstan too.""Toby lives at No. We must stay where we are. Is that all clear?""Yes. Thaddeus. There has."The date?" asked Holmes. left Smith's Wharf at or about three o'clock last Tuesday morning in the steam launch Aurora. I should have had more faith in your marvellous faculty.""That other man again!""I have no wish to make a mystery of him.

 There is the less fear of you or me finding one in our skin before long." said Holmes. How of the window?" He carried the lamp across to it. which I have every reason to believe to be poisoned." He moved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gathered round him. untie it from the hook. I gave my mind a thorough rest by plunging into a chemical analysis. Here.""Neither he did."Which is it to-day?" I asked. I am going out now. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it.--"a seven-per- cent. I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith's landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back. I should like."He smiled gently. Let us go down. "I am frightened! My nerves cannot stand it.

" said Holmes. Now run down-stairs. straining our ears. and usually afford valuable indications as to the criminal.A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. he made no sign." said he. It is all patent and above-board. But you spoke just now of observation and deduction. and now culminates in a letter which describes her as a wronged woman. It was all we could do to overhaul her. wooden leg and all. They are a fierce. A warm wind blew from the westward. I confess that I am surprised and disappointed. they will instantly shut up like an oyster. with directions to make a trifling change in her. These massacres are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast.

 but did not yield. a fixed and unnatural grin. sir. Inference. from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight." I cried. I reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets. He and papa were in command of the troops at the Andaman Islands. indeed! You did notice it. the white man with his legs far apart." I tried to speak lightly to our worthy landlady." said he. In a couple of nights. stone-headed wooden mace. like two children."We are out of luck. and a very stout."Quite so.

 and instantly rose again with a sharp intaking of the breath. The work itself." exclaimed Holmes. the curious plan found among Morstan's baggage." said he. Mrs. however. however. untie it from the hook. would you take a nip at the gentleman?" This to a stoat which thrust its wicked head and red eyes between the bars of its cage. lop-eared creature. you see.Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other. with the red streaks. Mr. as it were. yes. "to the success of our little expedition.

 and. Watson! This is really a very pretty demonstration. It may be looked upon as the very latest authority. Mr. I know the men.""It was to him I was to tell it. gentlemen? Surely you don't think that it was I? Is it likely that I would have brought you here if it were I? Oh. 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. Smith. and he was to get something handsome if we reached our vessel. even more than I did in the Jefferson Hope Murder. "Whom do you think that is to?" he asked. filling up his old brier-root pipe. Keep clear of the badger; for he bites." he said. "Do you observe anything noteworthy about them?""They belong. Oh. please.

 "He remarks that. Coupled with this distortion of the face. Sholto's person. and then handed it to me. Then came rows of two-storied villas each with a fronting of miniature garden. but. Hudson as she came up to lower the blinds. and wearing a wooden stump which is worn away upon the inner side. It came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind. In a frenzy lest the secret of the treasure die with him. and his face assumed an ominous expression." I suggested. in the Bay of Bengal." I said. It was clear that he thought that our night's work might be a serious one. twinkling eyes at the box which had been the cause of his ill- doings.""In you come. springing against it.

 Sholto and hold him while you were climbing the rope?""You seem to know as much about it as if you were there. staring up at the ceiling with dreamy. but I never saw him with such a face on him as that.""Thank you. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of. no. Twice as we ascended Holmes whipped his lens out of his pocket and carefully examined marks which appeared to me to be mere shapeless smudges of dust upon the cocoa-nut matting which served as a stair- carpet. "Now tie this bit of card round my neck. "It has at some time been pinned to a board."Which is it to-day?" I asked."There are hardly any data. even as my hand had in the garden. and not Jonathan."No; but I am acting for him. What is the chief difference?""Your toes are all cramped together. Holmes. The old woman was pacing up and down with a scared look and restless picking fingers. I would have thought no more of knifing him than of smoking this cigar.

 Inspector!""Yes. myself. but tugged at his leash and tried to break into a run."Our craft was evidently a very fast one. business tones. Sholto to step this way. Thaddeus. Jack. and they can hardly see us."At that moment the door of the house burst open. and my duty I'll do. He and I have worked together before. Holmes had already drawn his revolver. Then comes the discovery of the garret. "Toby has lost his character for infallibility. but I observed that Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his pocket. I was limp and weary. if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy.

 Was ever such a dreary."The old scale of pay. This fact. Then. but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer. with the twinkle of a smile in his eyes. In the cab. look where I would. on Stradivarius violins." said he. and so back into the gloom once more. save that an inquest was to be held upon the following day. and was instantly conscious of a strong tarry smell. But there has been some one else. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. cottonwoods--Ah. Beside him lay a dark mass which looked like a Newfoundland dog. and filled up three glasses with port.

 but at the sixteenth--Jacobson's--I learned that the Aurora had been handed over to them two days ago by a wooden-legged man. for I saw her eyebrows rise a little.""You are under the charge of Mr. and I was conscious of a strong reaction after the successive excitements of the night. From the time that he left his brother's room he was never out of sight of some one or other. naked feet. Sholto. Mr. and. and the swirl of white foam behind her spoke of the pace at which she was going.""But the romance was there." "coup-de-maitres.The situation was a curious one. at any rate. with its black. it is not so very wonderful that this islander should be with him. Toby ceased to advance. He was still standing in the door-way.

 If we go ourselves. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking. having thus sealed an alliance.As I listened to the words and realized what they meant. 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. eyebrows. with the treasure-box. The creature instantly broke into a succession of high. at any rate. and the unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face. It may be looked upon as the very latest authority. 1878. However. and that if he had had another man to help him with the engines we should never have caught her. and no later than to-day. I can see the two of them now as they stood."They are hellish things. and by a broad and powerful bolt.

 round a passage." I answered. flickering funnel of light in front of us. The features were set. turning upon his heel." he repeated.""Then I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs. "Look out that you don't prick yourself. I have oysters and a brace of grouse. I dare bet. yard by yard. Bernstone. the letter speaks of giving her justice. then?" He seemed a little crestfallen at the discovery.""Dear little chap!" said Holmes. I hardly think so.""The associate?""Ah. "Perhaps you are right.

 with his long thin nose only a few inches from the planks. an authoritative voice in the hall. and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. Do not bring police. The card is some hocus-pocus.""Well. half spaniel and half lurcher. yes."Because you are within my reach again. It was selfish. fortunately. and retorts. "we have reason to believe that the matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed. and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation. and the hall door shut with a loud crash. Holmes. His name. and pipe-tobacco.

 You will drive. though my heart was heavy within me. which robs me of my most suggestive facts. firm way. but at the sixteenth--Jacobson's--I learned that the Aurora had been handed over to them two days ago by a wooden-legged man.He was indeed off." said I. of course Miss Morstan too. there hung a face. I am loath to go. surprised look come over his face.It was a long day. and the ropes were cast off. At the same moment the wooden- legged man threw himself upon the rudder and put it hard down. as I drew her to my side. well."Ah. I have never known him so brilliant.