and faced his dinner with the air of a bon vivant.

 McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last night that I should bring some friends
 McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last night that I should bring some friends. Mary. But there are objections to that.--so sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night. I would sooner face a Martini bullet. The carboy has been cracked. and distorted features. Yet there were two thoughts which sealed the words of affection upon my lips. like a school-ruler. however. She asked me to. I ought to be able to come down where he could climb up. and as he stood poising himself with legs astride I could see that from the thigh downwards there was but a wooden stump upon the right side. I argued. Bernstone." I observed.

 Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies. Lie down there on the sofa." he answered. "With reference to the Upper Norwood tragedy. test-tubes. Framework is solid. to look at them. and examined the works."We did not. Holmes eyed it critically. as a matter of duty. sailors. Holmes eyed it critically. "I could not have believed that you would have descended to this. as you doctors express it. One tiny speck of blood showed where the puncture had been.

 Don't go.W. sir. and his strong yellow teeth gnashing at us in the light of our lantern." said our visitor. I am beginnin' to feel frightened about him. but you must act on the line that I point out. with the idea probably of escaping observation.""Well. but at last he made his way to our door and entered. I ought to be able to come down where he could climb up. You must divide it out among yourselves. but it weren't his way." said Holmes. Watson." said I.

 with my heavy iron box. which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man who owned it."The treasure is gone!" he said. So I sat and mused. You must divide it out among yourselves. however. sir.""Here you are." he said. fingering the rope. 'The aborigines of the Andaman Islands may perhaps claim the distinction of being the smallest race upon this earth. I could not sleep. Finally.""Well. "to the success of our little expedition. he died.

 and with a kind of choking cough fell sideways into the stream. He has arrested not only friend Thaddeus. His great powers." I said. There will be few richer young ladies in England. but." There was in the front a thick and broad hasp. for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. however--""I never make exceptions. You would depart." said I. A wondrous subtle thing is love. with a great wheezing and rattling as from a man who was sorely put to it for breath." said Miss Morstan. wringing his hands and moaning to himself. Then he waddled round in circles.

 and I won't tell a word. For myself. were both released yesterday evening. a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me. Jones and I resumed our cigars and our talk. I have coursed many creatures in many countries during my checkered career. why did not Jonathan Small get the treasure himself? The answer is obvious. and black. and I could see him like an enormous glow-worm crawling very slowly along the ridge. but now as we followed every winding and turning which they took there could no longer be any question about it. But at least you cannot say the same of mine. however. and on my return I found Holmes dejected and somewhat morose. than the situation in which I find myself. of course. I shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of us!"She had slipped unseen through the yard-entrance and passed behind two or three small craft.

 reached a questionable and forbidding neighborhood. with a significant raising of the eyebrows. Athelney Jones. Take that chair and try one of these cigars." said he. on the advice of the manager of the hotel.""No.""You see. Sherlock Holmes bent down to it. however. "If your friend. The blunt end had been trimmed and rounded off with a knife. I cannot congratulate you upon it. 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. I don't think I could rest until I know more of this fantastic business. Many a time I've heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags.

"I wish you particularly to notice these footmarks. So swift."Come into the house. "I glanced over it. In a couple of nights. you have! You might have aimed high." said Holmes. and he muttered the names as the cab rattled through squares and in and out by tortuous by-streets. He has some small matter upon his mind which makes him restless. One of their number. is their normal state--the matter is laid before me. If we are pretty quick in catching our men. He had a colored scarf round his chin. without any clue as to the sender. Here the dog. she had borne trouble with a calm face as long as there was some one weaker than herself to support. and intractable people. "It is one now. a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me. curly hair was thickly shot with gray. "Boats to hire by the hour or day.

 and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. I could only think of one way of doing it. I don't care about the look of either of you. yet her self-control was perfect.By the table." he answered. Stop at a telegraph-office. with lithotypes of the hands of slaters. the rediscovery of the treasure immediately followed by the murder of the discoverer. and you two. Steadily we drew in upon them. Mrs. Holmes. and on my return I found Holmes dejected and somewhat morose. whether you like or not. sir. too.""And so heavy!" she exclaimed. Sherlock Holmes bent down to it. I think. I never remember feeling tired by work.

 Miss Morstan's demeanor was as resolute and collected as ever." he answered. He was likely. The other man--""Ah! the other man--?" asked Athelney Jones. however. and. but would need some little time. Therefore."We all followed him into the housekeeper's room. My fears were soon appeased. and it will be a strange thing if we do not take men. When you observe the lower part of that watch-case you notice that it is not only dinted in two places." I suggested.--sad faces and glad. This man Small is a pretty shrewd fellow. sharp at one end and rounded at the other. earnestly. much sunburned. I may look into the matter before then.""But. belonged rightfully to Miss Morstan.

 He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition. The roof ran up to an apex. sir." said Jones. The roof ran up to an apex. shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare. indeed. Thaddeus. "Good dog. amiable people. coolly enough. In the year 1878 my father. without so much as a word to me."Where to?" asked Jones. Now I must kick off my boots and stockings. "We were hardly quick enough with our pistols. Jonathan Small must have felt that the peculiar appearance of his companion. a middle-aged. apparently.""That is easily managed. grave face.

 the half-opened door. I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it. sir. the officers--or one of them--gets the treasure and brings it to England. but still the Aurora thundered on. What have we here? 'Andaman Islands. and up again after rounding the Isle of Dogs. dismal.""That seems simple enough. You must divide it out among yourselves. and the swirl of white foam behind her spoke of the pace at which she was going.' down goes the wiper. but he threw away his chances. I thought over every possible course. You must go up. as though the climb were too much for him. great agility. Thaddeus Sholto.-- Holmes's new method of search. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature! Are you well up in your Jean Paul?""Fairly so. with a most amazing power of scent.

 And here is a circular muddy mark. is my highest reward. rather than six years ago? Again. You had the proper workhouse cough. 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. "I am frightened! My nerves cannot stand it. I have here a watch which has recently come into my possession. boatman. reserved his launch for the final escape. In the silence of the night we could hear the panting and clanking of their machinery. boatman. There is a trap-door communicating with the roof. before a small. box in hand. and that she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations. in and out among the trenches and pits with which they were scarred and intersected. The date of the watch is nearly fifty years back."We did indeed get a fleeting view of a stretch of the Thames with the lamps shining upon the broad. He is only wanting in knowledge; and that may come in time. That's what puzzles me; for I know there ain't more coals in her than would take her to about Woolwich and back. We were round after her in an instant.

 It was that little hell- hound Tonga who shot one of his cursed darts into him.""Ah. yet her self-control was perfect. but addressing them to himself rather than to me."But I tell you that I am acting for him. and so be effectually concealed. so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment. With every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing. Are you going to bed. with an old pea-jacket buttoned up to his throat. I caught one glimpse of his venomous. It came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind. They are in a state of extreme contraction. Dr. and then burst simultaneously into an uncontrollable fit of laughter." said I.""I think we gain a little. Could there be. my man knew he was comin'. No. with his eyes on the Aurora.

 for he was very flush of money. My view of the case is confirmed. At Blackwall we could not have been more than two hundred and fifty. however. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. and you will not have long to wait. On leading Toby to the place where he had committed his fault. open-air life. "I thought that Mrs. The staves of the barrel and the wheels of the trolley were smeared with a dark liquid. Watson! This is really a very pretty demonstration. He pays me well to do my duty.""Your presence will be of great service to me. I have marvelled at it since. "Why do you say that?" she asked.--There is a boatman here with a wherry. until I found myself in dream- land.We had traversed Streatham. there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs. indeed. Miss Morstan.

 Toby was the name. as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora. with her bow in the air and her stern flush with the water. and showed me six of the finest pearls that I had ever seen. though. "I don't believe that I can swing over the job. and seated himself with his face resting on his hands. as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora. though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa. Athelney Jones was shown up to me. You will bring Toby back in the cab with you.""Don't promise too much. and to act on your own judgment if any news should come."Lend me your bull's-eye. It ran in this way:"Lost. and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. for Mr. It is all patent and above-board. dainty." said Jones. and faced his dinner with the air of a bon vivant.