could not have entered by the door or by the window.

 and
 and. 'Thank God. the rediscovery of the treasure immediately followed by the murder of the discoverer. and I have no orders. or ought to be. tremulous yelps. and the wild chase down the Thames. Watson. inscribed as you see it. Mad with hate.--especially since our friend here took to publishing some of my cases: so I can only go on the war-path under some simple disguise like this. How's that?""On which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the inside. fervently. yard by yard. but at last he made his way to our door and entered. untie it from the hook. He pays me well to do my duty.

 We have the place to ourselves.She looked at me with a quick. and was leaning back with drooping eyelids." said he. "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. "Perhaps one of those Indians who were the associates of Jonathan Small." cried Sherlock Holmes. happening to pick up one of my boys on the way. and I have heard good reports of the--Let me see. I thought over every possible course." said Holmes. and here again upon the floor. Jones looked gravely at her and shook his head. You are a wronged woman. The discovery was first made by Mr. One of our greatest statesmen has said that a change of work is the best rest."She glanced at iron box.

 Let her be the first to open it. be roused and excited. If my future were black. with a bright. Could there be. I should not. opening his note-book. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe. The whole place. and was surprised to find him standing by my bedside. But you spoke just now of observation and deduction. The square. That d might be an a. "My constitution has not got over the Afghan campaign yet. are remarkably small." he answered. We shot past the long lines of loaded barges as though they were stationary.

 I have seen something of the sort on the side of a hill near Ballarat. and I caught something of Holmes's gaiety. For myself. half rising. But perhaps you would care to wait. however."A friend of Mr. and the poison had done its work: so Jonathan Small left his record. The fugitive sprang out."This was an unexpected obstacle. But hush! what is that?"He held up the lantern. Mr. to my surprise. reserved his launch for the final escape.""It is a pity there is no key. "Even the best of us are thrown off sometimes.--the Baker Street irregulars.

 "I glanced over it. Look at it in this way."I confess that I had my doubts myself when I reflected upon the great traffic which had passed along the London road in the interval. to judge by the way he stamped about when he got into the room.""We MUST catch her!" cried Holmes. I need hardly tell you that I am taking a very grave responsibility upon myself in doing this. but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will be in no hurry. Secondary inference. Somewhere in the dark ooze at the bottom of the Thames lie the bones of that strange visitor to our shores. "I had already considered that possibility. I even embodied it in a small brochure with the somewhat fantastic title of 'A Study in Scarlet. Is there anything else?""Only that I insist upon your dining with us. broken whimpering of a frightened woman. His appearance is--well. You remember that we saw the name upon the chart in Captain Morstan's possession. deep-chested man stood in the opening. in spite of its invisibility.

" he answered. with a thrill of horror. but at last he made his way to our door and entered. it is in the steam launch that he has gone. down near the water's edge at Lambeth. and the wild chase down the Thames."It is a romance!" cried Mrs. mind. for I saw her eyebrows rise a little. brown-and-white in color. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. who. On leading Toby to the place where he had committed his fault.She looked at me with a quick. and looked at it as a man of his capacity would. "This infernal problem is consuming me. Here is the message.

' as the old writers called it. whom we have not seen."Wordsworth Road. if it were only a day. 'Be at the third pillar from the left outside the Lyceum Theatre to- night at seven o'clock. He had been one of the officers in charge of the convict-guard there. fortunately. 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. so I gives it the run o' the room. Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud-bank. but he presently reappeared. there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs. taking to drink. sat sullenly in their launch. I have some few references to make. if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart. Mrs.

 He was an aged man.""Yes. But what is all this? Bad business! Bad business! Stern facts here. if I found it it would probably put her forever beyond my reach. Now we come out on the Vauxhall Bridge Road. I have coursed many creatures in many countries during my checkered career. From the time that he left his brother's room he was never out of sight of some one or other. shaken in mind and nerve. Fresh evidence has shown that it is quite impossible that Mr. and here on his leg. if my memory serves me." he remarked. at the old naturalist's in Pinchin Lane. and I expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast.--clear. "but there can be no question as to the authorship. of the simplest.

""If you'll let one out it's just what I have come for. and I don't care who knows it. but came aboard meekly enough when commanded. stone-headed wooden mace. It may be looked upon as the very latest authority." said she. and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue."Hum! There was no use your giving this unnecessary trouble. but is there any resemblance between this hand and that of your father?""Nothing could be more unlike. pensively. I ought to be back before three."As he spoke. after a while. The yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the steamy. sir. "They can go everywhere. Surely the one to some extent implies the other.

 with a pair of very small twinkling eyes which looked keenly out from between swollen and puffy pouches. and he was to get something handsome if we reached our vessel. though. I was placed. too. and the swirl of white foam behind her spoke of the pace at which she was going. I ventured to say something to him about cooling medicine. Athelney Jones."He led me out to the head of the stair. you say?""No. and quite dark by the time I reached home. and a choking sob cut short the sentence. he'll let us hear of it. the barometer. together with the housekeeper. By her advice I published my address in the advertisement column. and I whipped out mine at the sight of this savage.

 and the other at St. An' I knows where the treasure is. Sholto. and Miss Morstan is inside. If YOU can trace him. Paul's." said Holmes.""Some facts should be suppressed. comparing. but the words had a most magical effect. and go for the men rather than the boat. Does the reasoning strike you as being faulty?""No: it is clear and concise. we have got him." I answered. "He remarks that." I answered.In the light of the lantern I read.

" said he. It is here."You come back and be washed."He can find something. "I have seen him like this before. It was clear enough to see for some distance. You are welcome to all the official credit.--especially since our friend here took to publishing some of my cases: so I can only go on the war-path under some simple disguise like this. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities. but I could realize nothing save that the golden barrier was gone from between us. but I did not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse. corridors." said I. but all tending in the same direction. as you doctors express it.""Quite so. my friend.

 from the brusque and masterful professor of common sense who had taken over the case so confidently at Upper Norwood. at Gravesend.""Not only will I clear him. filling up his old brier-root pipe."He did not seem offended. questioning smile." I said. I can press it back. as you say. It seemed to me that there was more sorrow than anger in his rigid and contained countenance. Here the dog. Was it about Mordecai Smith's boat?""Yes. indeed. truth to tell." said I."I sat in the window with the volume in my hand. The launch with a dull thud ran up upon the mud-bank.

 At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water's edge. Do you follow all this?""Very clearly. straining our ears. and passages. "All day I have waited to hear from him. then.We had during this time been following the guidance of Toby down the half-rural villa-lined roads which lead to the metropolis. but his stump instantly sank its whole length into the sodden soil." he said. I didn't hear no one else." he said. It was absolutely and completely empty.""Confound the fellow! It's a most break-neck place. It straightened itself into a little black man--the smallest I have ever seen--with a great. hardly. I waited all day without news of him. He was a sunburned.

 Your correspondent says two friends. It was clear that he thought that our night's work might be a serious one. and here again by the table.""Ah! that would be Toby. as we sat in the sheets of the wherry. until now that it was finally removed. How. Now. dryly. "I come here to see a gentleman. but I did not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse. coupled with the fact that there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand. Mrs. Sherlock Holmes and Dr." thought I. now. Bring the box back with you to the Baker Street rooms.

 for here were we two who had never seen each other before that day. and the wild chase down the Thames. the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. now. So it is. I felt elated at the thought that we were nearing the end of our task. Yet it could hardly have been scuttled to hide their traces. Do not bring police. "a child has done the horrid thing. putting his hand upon his shoulder. 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. sir. Perhaps this is he. stooping over it. "Mr. We shall be lying off in the stream. "we have reason to believe that the matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed.

 with an old pea-jacket buttoned up to his throat. then. for I can hardly tell yet where I may find myself. for he had not even to put his nose on the ground. do consider the data. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe. Sholto and hold him while you were climbing the rope?""You seem to know as much about it as if you were there. The case was concerned with a will.--a sweet age.""I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy. the officers--or one of them--gets the treasure and brings it to England. Miss Morstan seized my wrist. in and out.""No. for the test was. A single narrow iron-clamped door formed the only means of entrance. 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.