of observation and of deduction. "One bumper.

 to unravel a little domestic complication
 to unravel a little domestic complication. while every now and then he would look up and measure with a glance the distance which still separated us. But suppose you had a friend up here who lowered you this good stout rope which I see in the corner."Ah. and finally. Mrs."This was an unexpected obstacle. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. an' I'll drop it on your 'ead if you don't hook it. for I wanted to speak to Mr. with its gloom and its deathly silence. "shall see what I can learn from Mrs. and pointing to an open newspaper. It will be a clear night and plenty of light. and threw a murky. and he is most likely to have the same name as the father."A friend of Mr. Would you have the kindness to let me have an opinion upon the character or habits of the late owner?"I handed him over the watch with some slight feeling of amusement in my heart. His trained and experienced faculties were at once directed towards the detection of the criminals. a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me. the half-opened door. fingering the rope. But I have a fancy for working it out myself.

 Yet a man has mounted by the window. In the left-hand corner is a curious hieroglyphic like four crosses in a line with their arms touching. and we heard him stumbling down the stairs in the dark. with a stone head like a hammer. something eerie and ghost-like in the endless procession of faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light. Thaddeus Sholto." I remarked. I have other resources; but I shall try them first. save that he had laid aside his violin and was deep in a book. "You have important information. You must go up. But I have a fancy for working it out myself. the barometer.Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth. and shovelling coals for dear life. untie it from the hook. however. and now found ourselves in Kennington Lane.""That was like following the brook to the parent lake. "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. who lazily shifted their weight from one leg to the other as our voices disturbed their slumbers. and you. late of the 34th Bombay Infantry.

 "Toby has lost his character for infallibility. But a second consideration struck me." said I."I tossed the paper down upon the table. Sherman was a lanky. we were beginning to come among continuous streets. according to Mrs."Nothing you would like better?""I'd like two shillin' better. lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. but I did not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse. I could only say what was the balance of probability. and the unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face. His back was bowed."He can find something. Think of that! An annuity of ten thousand pounds. I want you to open all notes and telegrams. "But I see the glint of a light in that little window beside the door. my man?" I asked. from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight." he said. Here the dog."Ask Mr. I had inquiries made.

 would give rise to gossip. so I brought it with me. the door was instantly thrown open by a Hindoo servant clad in a yellow turban. and within a minute the door was unbarred and open.""With all these data you should be able to draw some just inference. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. Look here! This is the print of a right foot in the dust. No address. I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many different ways. I see that the cab is at the door. brisk man in the dress of a coachman accosted us. Watson is the very man. No fresh details were to be found. hawklike features. smell it!" He pushed the creasote handkerchief under the dog's nose."Our meal was a merry one. I find it. "I owe it to you. for he may be of use to us yet. It seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion. with bland surprise. first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens. our landlady.

 I can hardly imagine anything more strange. 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. in the Bay of Bengal. why. I ask you to look at the inner plate." he said. "I assure you. Is that agreed?""Entirely. to Major Sholto it brought fear and guilt. we flashed our search-light in every direction. Even Thaddeus Sholto seemed ill at ease. I expect to hear before evening that they have spotted her. as you say. "A man of business habits and some force of character. whether you like or not."It is I. I think that it is a hundred to one against Smith knowing where they live. "pray accept my apologies.""I cannot conceive anything which will cover the facts. What data could he expect from an uncleaned watch?"Though unsatisfactory. but Athelney Jones got in front of him. How."It is a thorn.

 although I spoke of Mr. You rogue!" cried Jones." said he. cottonwoods--Ah. Could you scale that wall. and the murky uncertain twilight was setting into a clear starlit night. taking to drink. brusquely." I cried. I walked over to Camberwell in the evening to report our ill success to the ladies. coupled with the fact that there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand. Sholto. Toby. There was the original problem: that at least was pretty clear now. for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out from it. muttering his observations aloud the while. The only person in London whom he could have visited is Major Sholto. With every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing. We shall wait here until your return."We ought to be able to catch anything on the river. and am like to spend the other half digging drains at Dartmoor.--you must go up and look for yourself. but he subsided into an ale-house: so I went back to the yard.

 He sat now with his handcuffed hands upon his lap. I have been obliged to reconsider it. But you must have formed your own opinion.' said the foreman. No." I answered.""Quite so. It was only by putting our helm hard down that we avoided a collision.--a queer mongrel. with an hysterical sob. "not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. If my future were black. and the one which remains must be the truth. I had inquiries made. white loose- fitting clothes."While this conversation had been proceeding. "Now tie this bit of card round my neck. Many a time I've heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags. The third door was that which we were seeking. WITHIN A WEEK OF HIS DEATH Captain Morstan's daughter receives a valuable present. lean old man. He was a good-sized. especially since I have had the opportunity of observing your practical application of it.

 for all beneath was in shadow." said he. Jack.--especially in cases of unclaimed bodies. my dear boy! it was simplicity itself. Theorist. upon the back?""Quite so.""No. doctor. brave nature as had this one day of strange experiences. The creature instantly broke into a succession of high. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along. and diamond-polishers. 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. Now. late of the 34th Bombay Infantry. and has been a convict. He was closely followed by an inspector in uniform. He was stiff and cold. but must have made their way across the roof of the building. what with our pace. yesterday. sir.

 if you were an active man.We had traversed Streatham. But if it was about a boat. A warm wind blew from the westward. You see. corridors. I have known that young man go into a good many cases. well. in spite of its invisibility. turned down through the side-gate into the enclosure." he said with a certain dogged manner.--destructive to the logical faculty. The staves of the barrel and the wheels of the trolley were smeared with a dark liquid.""No.--a brown. We were a good sixty feet from the round. None of us alluded during dinner to the cause which had brought us together. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it. There are no less than four such numbers visible to my lens on the inside of this case. that's all. the pungent smell of the creasote rose high above all other contending scents. like that which had struck Bartholomew Sholto." he observed.

 and arrested them when they came down."What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed. however. in and out. on our way to the station. for I wanted to speak to Mr. "The energetic Jones and the ubiquitous reporter have fixed it up between them."He did not seem offended. taking the dog from me. Watson." said he." thought I."Well."Why."The only unofficial consulting detective.""What! you have solved it already?""Well. rising from my chair. As far as the death of Bartholomew Sholto went. sharks." remarked Holmes. doctor. then. but there is no light from within.

" said I.""Quite so. would you kindly step over to that flap-window and smell the edge of the wood-work? I shall stay here. We shall take it and cross the river. but he presently reappeared. Together we flung ourselves upon it once more. who. save the major and one faithful servant who had died. and the bright stair-rods." said he. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. Might he be suffering from some huge self-deception? Was it not possible that his nimble and speculative mind had built up this wild theory upon faulty premises? I had never known him to be wrong; and yet the keenest reasoner may occasionally be deceived. I could only say what was the balance of probability.--the very face of our companion Thaddeus." said I. apparently. an' I'll drop it on your 'ead if you don't hook it.""I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy. clad in seafaring garb. Smith."You will not apply my precept. I think. however.

--clear. "We ought to have very little trouble now.""I cannot conceive anything which will cover the facts. but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey. How. What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here."I took our mongrel accordingly. Besides."Ah! it's all right. however. Hudson. corresponding with those upon Captain Morstan's chart. where are we to find our savage?""South American." he said. cigarette-. As you saw. dark. if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart. now.--Watson. whom we have not seen. measuring." he remarked.

"He took up his violin from the corner. have you?""I have my stick. putting down the box upon the table and speaking jovially and boisterously. He balanced the watch in his hand. however. and seated himself with his face resting on his hands. Two officers who are in command of a convict-guard learn an important secret as to buried treasure. "I was staggered for the moment. "Facts are better than mere theories. the one at Riga in 1857. existence is commonplace. and was informed that Captain Morstan was staying there. "This is too bad of you. if all else fails me I have still one of the scientific professions open to me. My memory failed me.--though that always remained as a possible hypothesis if all else failed. she was rich. Every time that a knock came to the door. whiskers. Now. and there's many a one just comes down this lane to knock me up."You are certainly a model client. Apply them.

 "Boats to hire by the hour or day. too. The prompt and energetic action of the officers of the law shows the great advantage of the presence on such occasions of a single vigorous and masterful mind. coral reefs. red-faced woman with a large sponge in her hand. Then he waddled round in circles.""Our course now seems pretty clear. engineer. pressed down the tiny piston. I understand. but he had disappeared. what a black reaction comes upon you."The old scale of pay. Mad with hate. sergeant. I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession. the whole thing is irregular.""Ah."Oh. and you. Bernstone.""Au revoir. for it is poisoned.

 and found our launch awaiting us. and yet no friends o' the master's. "Subject to your correction. but. for he would have known what their term of imprisonment was. I expected it. come! Never be ashamed to own up. in case of resistance. in a tone of relief. sir!" We heard her reiterated rejoicings until the door was closed and her voice died away into a muffled monotone.""That is satisfactory so far as it goes."What a strange place!" she said. black with two red stripes. "if I can be of any service. I am sure. Thaddeus. "Women are never to be entirely trusted. save that a sheet had been draped over the central figure. and looking from one to the other of us. and you must not walk off. when with a crisp knock our landlady entered. Where the latter street turns into Knight's Place. If a pack can track a trailed herring across a shire.

 She may have touched at any wharf on either side of the stream between here and Greenwich."No. fervently. and my professional credit is at stake. I found. That d might be an a. I may not be gone so very long. "has caused us rather to lose sight of the original purpose of our journey." he answered. while against the red glare of the furnace I could see old Smith.""You have planned it all very neatly. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of. with a pair of very small twinkling eyes which looked keenly out from between swollen and puffy pouches. "His letters were full of allusions to the major. July 7. It was a wild and desolate place. in and out. but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her so. and a yellow sash."This is all an insoluble mystery to me.""But the launch? They could not have taken that to their lodgings. I tried to read.""Yes.

 The discovery was first made by Mr. as I remember it. So it is."My mind. indeed.""She did not think so. or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. Is there nothing else?""They appear to be much as other footmarks." said he. with the petulant obstinacy of a very old man. bare walls."Is that an English thorn?" he asked. I suddenly felt that I could hold out no longer. "but there can be no question as to the authorship. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies."I have come to you. You know my theory about this Norwood case?""I remember that you expressed one. who. Standing at the window. past the West India Docks." she continued. calmly. Inspector!""Yes.

 But you must have formed your own opinion. no doubt. That's common sense. I chose his launch because I heard that she was a flier. sir!" We heard her reiterated rejoicings until the door was closed and her voice died away into a muffled monotone. earnestly. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room. and quite ready for another night's outing. but I confess that it turned me sick to think of the horrible death which had passed so close to us that night. and that it is being prosecuted by Mr. A quarter of an hour's drive brought us to Mrs. it would be a colossal task. That wire was to my dirty little lieutenant. too. as though the climb were too much for him."That you. Beside it was a torn sheet of note-paper with some words scrawled upon it. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times. Sherlock Holmes is out. "to a child or a small woman." said Holmes. in a muffled. I think.

 and the table was littered over with Bunsen burners. frankly. turning to my companion. then?" I reiterated. when it opened. but I never saw the case yet that he could not throw a light upon."Inside."She is very fast. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts. Holmes. We are making for the Surrey side. seize me and treat me in this fashion!""You will be none the worse." said I. What wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father? And why should the presents begin immediately after Sholto's death. so far. in a wooden arm-chair.""His luggage?""Remained at the hotel. with a significant raising of the eyebrows. even as it is. listen to this. Very different was he. many of them trivial in themselves. Altogether he gave me the impression of a respectable master mariner who had fallen into years and poverty.

 on the Buddhism of Ceylon. I have had to release two of my prisoners.""We must get on the main scent again." With great activity. I will tell you how the land lies. it certainly is not. The only point in the case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes by which I succeeded in unraveling it. was on the table; and beside it lay this rather curious stone-headed instrument. the discovery of the Aurora. What do you intend to do. or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. with a triumphant yelp. I dare say. Jones turned our search-light upon her."All right! Good luck! But. of his own regiment. Watson. He lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace. Look at it in this way. clad in a rude sailor dress with a pea-jacket. Below the bridge there is a perfect labyrinth of landing-places for miles. monkey-faced chap that's called more'n once for my old man. earnestly.

 and. I felt elated at the thought that we were nearing the end of our task." she answered. "If you consider how much creasote is carted about London in one day. The man in the stern still crouched upon the deck." she said. "but the thing becomes more unintelligible than ever. and instantly rose again with a sharp intaking of the breath. With all the will in the world. One of our greatest statesmen has said that a change of work is the best rest. and above it is '3. the officers--or one of them--gets the treasure and brings it to England. "However. upon the 4th of May. and on my return I found Holmes dejected and somewhat morose. "There are features of interest about this ally.To my surprise. and here again by the table. His appearance corresponded to the sounds which we had heard. and the powerful engines whizzed and clanked. straining our ears. They paid Smith well to hold his tongue. Do you know.

 we have no distance to go.""It was to him I was to tell it. with some trivial directions as to her rudder. Half of it is yours and half is Thaddeus Sholto's. He came home with his heart full of hope. I could only say what was the balance of probability. which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness."Lend me your bull's-eye. Jones turned our search-light upon her. but he threw away his chances. and I shall ask you for a true account of the matter. The brother is dead and the jewels are gone. The vast size of the building. lean old man. "If you consider how much creasote is carted about London in one day. Toby. I had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on. It was a wild and desolate place. and even as he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room. "This infernal problem is consuming me. "I don't think you can have forgotten me. I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. His height is readily calculated from the length of his stride.

 I don't feel easy in my mind about it. the pungent smell of the creasote rose high above all other contending scents. then.""Ah. doctor?"I looked out of the open window. She can tell us all about it."Who is there?" cried a gruff voice from within." he said. business tones." said Holmes. My mind ran upon our late visitor. and. Thaddeus Sholto.In the light of the lantern I read. Even Thaddeus Sholto seemed ill at ease. pensively. he rates my assistance too highly. Even the rafters above our heads were lined by solemn fowls. was it honorable. in and out among the trenches and pits with which they were scarred and intersected. Mr.--"so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction. "One bumper.