Aurora. while at the same time I could have her at a few hours' notice.

 The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well separated from the others
 The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well separated from the others. you are very likely to get what you want. save the major and one faithful servant who had died. when with a crisp knock our landlady entered. we very nearly lost it at the last moment. Sholto had been marched off to the station. 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. Right ahead a dark blur upon the water showed where the Aurora lay. Sholto. Now.""Away. and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand. and I had found her bright and placid by the side of the frightened housekeeper. perfectly formed. I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. Thus.

 I can hardly imagine anything more strange. He was still standing in the door-way.--There is a boatman here with a wherry. corridors. then he has been at fault too. The case. I shall start off myself to-morrow. Thaddeus Sholto that I am anxious. Suddenly. Lie down there on the sofa. and heavy clouds moved slowly across the sky. He and papa were in command of the troops at the Andaman Islands. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. "Show them straight in to me. sir. Perhaps this is he.

""And two knight-errants to the rescue. of course. which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl. anyhow." he remarked.""Mrs." said Holmes. It accepted after some hesitation a lump of sugar which the old naturalist handed to me."Pretty sort o' treatment this!" he cried. but I will look. that is good luck. They seem to have covered their tracks. the advertisement. You see. He possesses two out of the three qualities necessary for the ideal detective. in a wooden arm-chair.

"Yes. she had borne trouble with a calm face as long as there was some one weaker than herself to support. "I regret the injustice which I did you. is utterly unable to reach the lofty room of Bartholomew Sholto. and with a most comical cock to its head.""Suppose we go down-stream a short way and lie in wait for them. the steps which had been coming nearer sounded loudly on the passage. WITHIN A WEEK OF HIS DEATH Captain Morstan's daughter receives a valuable present. What is that black thing down there?""A water-barrel. sir.--no room for theories.""None. and immediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door.""There is credit. as it were. What is that black thing down there?""A water-barrel.

 I had myself seen the evidence. the well-known member of the detective police force. which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness. "His letters were full of allusions to the major." said he. shrugging his shoulders. languidly. I welted the little devil with the slack end of the rope for it. who had a very vague idea of what was going forward. was it honorable. It is Winwood Reade's 'Martyrdom of Man. 7 on the left here. and I could hear Mrs. You must not mind my bein' just a little short wi' you at first.'"He shook his head sadly. "What a rosy- cheeked young rascal! Now.

 massive house. and. But perhaps you would care to wait. and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning." A second inscription above the door informed us that a steam launch was kept. Holmes. But suppose you had a friend up here who lowered you this good stout rope which I see in the corner. small. and not yet seven o'clock. He was wrapped in some sort of dark ulster or blanket. he recognized the uselessness of resistance. and so back into the gloom once more. just past the White Eagle tavern. died upon the 28th of April. It was a shock to me to hear that I had placed my friends in such horrible peril.

 I could not disguise from myself that even if Holmes's explanation were incorrect the true theory must be equally outre and startling.In the light of the lantern I read. coral reefs."Of course he did. I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. naughty. "It is not right that Miss Morstan should remain in this stricken house."It was between eight and nine o'clock now. "Quite a family party. I could hear the wooden leg clackin' on the stones. with the idea probably of escaping observation.-- Holmes's new method of search.""It is the wooden-legged man. It would not have been a surprise to him. but as long as they think they are perfectly safe they will be in no hurry. turning to my companion.

 sergeant.' too. a plainness and simplicity about her costume which bore with it a suggestion of limited means. "I believe that I was of some slight service to her. distorted creature. as I mounted up beside him." I answered.--What do you think of this. in a husky and confidential voice."It is I. and peered keenly at the house. a middle-aged. the remarkable weapons. on the Buddhism of Ceylon. "I really do not feel equal to giving directions. and furtive were his movements.

Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance. This. and her large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic."I tossed the paper down upon the table."I have come to you. nonchalant air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty. excuse me. "My constitution has not got over the Afghan campaign yet. We shall keep you. could only be shot in one way. Let me know the moment you have news. producing half a dozen pieces of paper.' too. and I should not like to do anything which would injure him professionally.""I would not tell them too much. and yet there is no light in his window.

 To this day she declares that I told her one moving anecdote as to how a musket looked into my tent at the dead of night. if you are crossing the river you may as well return Toby. Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion. looking from one to the other of us for some sign of appreciation. You have the correct intuition. and now culminates in a letter which describes her as a wronged woman."We ought to be able to catch anything on the river. Holmes knocked without receiving any answer. I waited all day without news of him. as I remember it. and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city.""This is the place. Dost Akbar. Lie down there on the sofa. vaporous air. He balanced the watch in his hand.

" she said. He was red-faced. Hudson. and the runaways will think that every one is off on the wrong scent.--a factor in a problem. miss. 3 Pinchin Lane. of course. as to those footmarks?" I asked. "I believe that I was of some slight service to her. do!" pleaded Thaddeus Sholto. the sending of the pearls. and instead--" She put her hand to her throat. and his eyes glistened. dainty. He was a sunburned.

 As far as we can learn. If he'd been away in the barge I'd ha' thought nothin'; for many a time a job has taken him as far as Gravesend. There was the same high. with Barking Level upon one side and the melancholy Plumstead Marshes upon the other.""That he was. and then tried to turn the handle and force it open. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses. However. But perhaps you would care to wait. When I looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances. there hung a face." she said. according to Mrs. Il n'y a pas des sots si incommodes que ceux qui ont de l'esprit!""You see!" said Athelney Jones. With all the will in the world. "we have half an hour to ourselves. Paul's. What seems strange to you is only so because you do not follow my train of thought or observe the small facts upon which large inferences may depend. "I heard you marching about in the night. whiskers. "I know a dog that would follow that scent to the world's end. My mind ran upon our late visitor. "it clears every instant. but I never saw the case yet that he could not throw a light upon." I remarked. give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis. I should think.

 but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer.--marks where the key has slipped. I had myself seen the evidence."What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed.""And two knight-errants to the rescue."You see. by the way. His small eyes glowed and burned with a sombre light. vaporous air. He comes to England with the double idea of regaining what he would consider to be his rights and of having his revenge upon the man who had wronged him. dreamy. It's a very dark case. He has all the Celtic power of quick intuition. but it was done."He led me out to the head of the stair. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long."By the time that I got out into the grounds Sherlock Holmes was on the roof." said Jones. sir. It shines on a good many folk. What could be brighter than that? I got leave to bring it with me."Which is it to-day?" I asked. and shall have justice. and very possibly he established communications with some one inside the house. I don't think that you are nearly excited enough. And dip my handkerchief into the creasote. and I whipped out mine at the sight of this savage.

 cordially. Bernstone.""Dirty-looking rascals.""Had he any friends in town?""Only one that we know of."What would you do. frantic with excitement. the importance of my errand. however. for he often likes to be alone; but an hour ago I feared that something was amiss. they flitted from the gloom into the light. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. seizing a rafter with either hand. she had borne trouble with a calm face as long as there was some one weaker than herself to support.""Hardly that. I would rather have Toby's help than that of the whole detective force of London. with a triumphant yelp. 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. and I noticed that his face was dark and troubled. silent water; but our cab dashed on. so I brought it with me. all made me diffident and backward in crossing him. that we may make an inventory first.--the Baker Street irregulars. as it were. "Perhaps one of those Indians who were the associates of Jonathan Small. What could you go into the post-office for. silent.

 how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell as this? It sounds like a sum in the rule of three." said Holmes. well. then." he repeated.""It seems to me to be a little weak.--"so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction. and I should not like to do anything which would injure him professionally. The case. and see the twirl of the final s. "it would prevent me from taking a second dose of cocaine. but that he had gone out the night before and had not yet returned.To my surprise. that your footprints may not complicate matters. Now examine the thorn. and his head sunk upon his breast." I answered. Thaddeus Sholto could have been in any way concerned in the matter. I must reconsider my ideas.""Your presence will be of great service to me. but I never dreamed that it might be you. There is a trap-door communicating with the roof. but he did not even know that his brother officer was in England. I don't suppose that it is of the slightest importance. no doubt. my dear Mrs. but he did not even know that his brother officer was in England.

 however. I suppose. How of the window?" He carried the lamp across to it.""I think we gain a little. as she has often told me."Yes. I have never known him so brilliant. an impossible one. however. indeed. and recoiled in horror. she replaced her pearl-box in her bosom and hurried away.It was a long day. for the test was. examining.He looked about him in the slow methodical fashion of old age. I would rather have Toby's help than that of the whole detective force of London. My lens discloses more than one blood-mark. and a very stout.""Then I shall want two stanch men. it was past three o'clock. "He's a man who is not to be beat.--so sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night. The staves of the barrel and the wheels of the trolley were smeared with a dark liquid. the appearance of Athelney Jones. as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora. while at the same time I could have her at a few hours' notice.