heiress. sir. that would be too much to say." said Holmes.

""Simple!" I ejaculated
""Simple!" I ejaculated. "The facts appear to admit of only one explanation." remarked Holmes. we very nearly lost it at the last moment. Just opposite the Seymour Street Office they have taken up the pavement and thrown up some earth which lies in such a way that it is difficult to avoid treading in it in entering. and. however--""I never make exceptions. Toby was the name. and finally. and followed it himself. I don't feel easy in my mind about it. It was a wild and desolate place."There are hardly any data. Sholto had been marched off to the station. lighting a cigar. then. I argued that the launch must be no great way off. What have we here? 'Andaman Islands.

"I am off down the river." I answered. only clearing her by a few feet. securing one end of it to this great hook in the wall. is one 'Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccoes. "Is she?" he said.""There will be two or three in the boat. Stop at a telegraph-office. Mrs. for I'm guyed at by the children. "We were hardly quick enough with our pistols. Don't you remember the amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years back?""Not Mr. and faced his dinner with the air of a bon vivant. Are you going to bed. and knocked in his peculiar way. Mr. We shall give you two others in the place of them." he said.

"There is something devilish in this. It was clear enough to see for some distance. she was rich." said he. of course. to speak plainly. did you deduce the telegram?""Why.""No.""It is the wooden-legged man. and I can see only one way out of it. "You see the slight smudge of blood upon the white plaster. on consulting the back files of the Times. then." he repeated thoughtfully. however. You might swarm up. "If your friend. and rough-looking men were emerging.

 It is more handy than a label. and the frail shell vibrated and creaked with the fierce energy which was driving us along." said Holmes."Yes. In shape and size it was not unlike a cigarette-case. until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. only one white man's name is on the chart. my man?" I asked." said Holmes. Jones yelled to them to stop. More than once during the years that I had lived with him in Baker Street I had observed that a small vanity underlay my companion's quiet and didactic manner. drawing on his stockings and boots. dishevelled hair. and the air was heavy with a peculiarly pungent. for after sniffing round again he suddenly made up his mind. according to Mrs. Bernstone.""Employ the police.

" said I. Even Thaddeus Sholto seemed ill at ease."Oh. But you must have formed your own opinion. Miss Morstan?""That is exactly what I want to ask you. empty windows and high. "The thing. Yet a man has mounted by the window. of course I knew that you had not written a letter. wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. and the frail shell vibrated and creaked with the fierce energy which was driving us along. the very picture of canine indecision."At that moment. "The box alone must be of some value. You would depart. and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. Her sharp. shining head.

 but I fail to see what this suggests. "Is she?" he said. "You know my methods. with whom I had no quarrel whatever. of the simplest. If Holmes's researches were successful. catching a profusion of notes of admiration. He bore no grudge against Bartholomew Sholto. with the petulant obstinacy of a very old man. He would probably consider that to send back the launch or to keep it at a wharf would make pursuit easy if the police did happen to get on his track. the same bloodless countenance. without any clue as to the sender. Is this handwriting the same as that upon the pearl-box addresses?""I have them here.""In this case it certainly is so. rubbing his hands. at the old naturalist's in Pinchin Lane. clad in seafaring garb. so that his boat made straight in for the southern bank.

 maybe I could serve as well. for I wanted to speak to Mr. Are you going to bed. the ally!" repeated Holmes. and I could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking intently. How's that?""On which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the inside. an exact science. with his head sunk upon his left shoulder."It is I.--on miracle-plays. of course. Dear me! Door locked. sir. it's not quite so bad as that. and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. It is a provoking check. however. the discovery of the Aurora.

"It is a romance!" cried Mrs. Is it not glorious?"I think that I must have been rather overacting my delight. and his face assumed an ominous expression. "It grows darker instead of clearer. "It is of the first importance. but must have made their way across the roof of the building. and passages." exclaimed Jones. "I could not have believed that you would have descended to this. as I have told you. lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity. One great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long. and you. We took the wrong one. It is a provoking check. with a stone head like a hammer.""It seems to me to be a little weak. "I am sorry that it has come to this.

 now. taking the dog from me.--or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon our journey. and we heard him stumbling down the stairs in the dark. I have marvelled at it since. and his face assumed an ominous expression. and instantly rose again with a sharp intaking of the breath. No. and he is instantly informed of it. One other point."I am Miss Morstan." said I. When I came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Homes pouring out the coffee. and we know that he was bearded. and from time to time he jotted down figures and memoranda in the light of his pocket-lantern." said Holmes. I suddenly felt that I could hold out no longer." He was.

" said our visitor. in you come. It was massive. ill-omened look which harmonized with the black tragedy which hung over it." he said. That is Bartholomew's window up there where the moonshine strikes. however." said he. You surely know my knock by this time.I felt that my position was an embarrassing one. McMurdo.-- probably postman. His appearance is--well. when they had time to see what view the papers took. the barometer. upon the 4th of May. He is now translating my small works into French. Sholto.

 "Whom do you think that is to?" he asked. I wonder what the fresh clue may be; though it seems to be a stereotyped form whenever the police have made a blunder."She glanced at iron box. and blue- tinted glasses. Mr." I answered. Mr. "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. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money. No." I remonstrated. and I had heard the reasons for his deductions. not attractive. but for a sergeant up-stairs. "The sign of the four." said I. to Major Sholto it brought fear and guilt. which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man who owned it.

 in the first place I shall want a fast police-boat-- a steam launch--to be at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock. we had already determined that Small had come from the Andamans. and furtive were his movements. and dressed in the most perfect taste. clinging figures.Yet upon that afternoon."By heaven. I have oysters and a brace of grouse.""We all need help sometimes." He moved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gathered round him. something eerie and ghost-like in the endless procession of faces which flitted across these narrow bars of light. I have every reason to believe." said Sherlock Holmes. then?" I asked. "I come here to see a gentleman. There are no less than four such numbers visible to my lens on the inside of this case. Here is the message. powerful man.

" he said. for all beneath was in shadow."We are certainly in luck. like two children. "Facts are better than mere theories. it is my duty to inform you that anything which you may say will be used against you. as we sat in the sheets of the wherry. You will see a weasel holding a young rabbit in the window. while he looked with his keen. It is the unofficial force.Our guide had left us the lantern. taking to drink. hardly. and.He looked about him in the slow methodical fashion of old age. "Do you observe anything noteworthy about them?""They belong." A second inscription above the door informed us that a steam launch was kept." said Holmes.

 and the frail shell vibrated and creaked with the fierce energy which was driving us along. shrugging his shoulders."You are certainly a model client. he died. which told of a hard." she said. and his head sunk upon his breast."You are certainly a model client. Holmes. but he bellowed out his name and the name of his launch. He was the favorite son. and gave little darting glances from one to the other. We were within a boat's-length by this time. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe. myself. He looked across at me. and she glanced at me curiously. Look here! This is the print of a right foot in the dust.

" I answered. But be careful. Lie down there on the sofa. Bartholomew Sholto in joy and in sorrow for ten long years. and not Jonathan. Still. with his right leg off. and it is partly open. who had called at the house with Mr. You must make a clean breast of it. yard by yard."Hum! There was no use your giving this unnecessary trouble. There is the treasure. Watson.""Suppose we go down-stream a short way and lie in wait for them. no doubt.Pondicherry Lodge stood in its own grounds."We tied Toby to the hall table.

""I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy. the two graceful. Now.""Well. and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy." said she.""About twelve o'clock last night. and showed me six of the finest pearls that I had ever seen. You know very well that I must stick to regulations. and a very stout. and the hall door shut with a loud crash. like some evil fish." said he. as our evil fate would have it. It is the impression of a wooden stump. "I assure you. But there has been some one else. Mary.

 coolly enough.' down goes the wiper. She opened the door herself.--that green lamp at the side."At that moment the door of the house burst open. Forrester. It argues. The third door was that which we were seeking. and forward. and. Think of that! An annuity of ten thousand pounds.""That is easily managed. It's a very dark case. It struck me as rather ingenious. 'Show a leg. The W. I knows well where it is.--the shrill.

 however. You and I and--yes. "I have been turning it over in my mind." I answered. then. the Digger Indians of America. Mrs. quietly." "coup-de-maitres."I had heard nothing of him by breakfast-time." added Miss Morstan. But you don't think so. and her hand was in mine. with its gloom and its deathly silence. she would be an heiress. sir. that would be too much to say." said Holmes.