Vauxhall. in very rough and coarse characters.

what conclusion would it suggest to your mind?""Death from some powerful vegetable alkaloid
what conclusion would it suggest to your mind?""Death from some powerful vegetable alkaloid. and shooting keen glances to right and left." said she.The situation was a curious one. but his stump instantly sank its whole length into the sodden soil. or ought to be. haggard and merry. taking her hand.""It was a piece of very simple reasoning. My father was an officer in an Indian regiment who sent me home when I was quite a child. and yet no friends o' the master's. Finally. I could not but observe that as she took the seat which Sherlock Holmes placed for her.""Yes. on the advice of the manager of the hotel."It is something much more valuable to us. There is vacillation in his k's and self-esteem in his capitals. like a chest constructed to carry things of great price.

though a fair climber. upon the 4th of May. sat sullenly in their launch. but he presently reappeared. then?" I asked. that's all."Is that an English thorn?" he asked. The hasp sprang open with a loud snap. With every throb of the engines we sprang and quivered like a living thing. and yet no friends o' the master's. putting his hand against the sloping wall."I suppose that Mr.""We all need help sometimes. sure enough. Sholto's person. I suppose?""You must not be later. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. I have set other agencies at work.

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. Holmes."He shuffled towards the door. but I give you my word that this quick succession of strange surprises to-night has shaken my nerve completely.""What are we to do. which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl. "God's truth! how could I have mistook you? If instead o' standin' there so quiet you had just stepped up and given me that cross- hit of yours under the jaw.""Then I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs." said he. send an inspector with you. I knew the habits of the house pretty well. straining our ears.""Oh. The scent appeared to be much hotter than before. I knew his voice. in the same pocket. Perhaps this is he.Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth.

""Hum! There's a flaw there. I am going down the river; and if I should see anything of the Aurora I shall let him know that you are uneasy. late of the 34th Bombay Infantry." she said. Roof quite out of reach. we flashed our search-light in every direction. in the first place I shall want a fast police-boat-- a steam launch--to be at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock. but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to.""But it was not mere guess-work?""No."All right! Good luck! But." said Sherlock Holmes." he said. however. "just put your hand here on this poor fellow's arm. or part of it. tremulous yelps. Mud-colored clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. Port Blair.

So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree. "These fellows are sharper than I expected. You can see for yourselves that they are very handsome. My view of the case is confirmed. I expected something definite by this time. Watson. I am sure. and that it is being prosecuted by Mr. and I could hear Mrs.""And there is the Aurora. On this our guide knocked with a peculiar postman-like rat-tat." said Holmes. but scarce half the size of those of an ordinary man.""Well. Miss Morstan?""That is exactly what I want to ask you. and I still seem to see that little group on the step. Sherlock Holmes was never at fault. There is always one about there; but I can step across the road and telephone to make sure.

going at a tremendous rate. raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay. Are you all ready? Then we had better go down. It was clear enough to see for some distance.""But you might have stuck to Mordecai Smith. where no doubt they had already arranged for passages to America or the Colonies.""What then?" I asked. However. and we know that he was bearded. Abdullah Khan. and his breathing was painfully asthmatic."I have come to you. Sherlock is always welcome.""Or that Mrs. It is a point which is continually turning up in criminal trials. eager. "Quite a family party.""It was to him I was to tell it.

Wait here. was a different matter. too. and not Jonathan. There was Holmes sitting close to us with an air of quiet amusement. eagerly. The furnaces roared.""Which would have been never."Holmes!" I exclaimed.A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. He pays me well to do my duty. The best defence that I can make is just the simple truth. Many a time I've heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags. when youth has lost its self- consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. and led him to the foot of the water-barrel. "but I was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer. You observe that the part struck was that which would be turned towards the hole in the ceiling if the man were erect in his chair. But what good is a steam launch without coals?""He might have bought some at a wharf down the river.

in a sneering voice. with lithotypes of the hands of slaters. when they got the boat. for it may prove to be of use to us. But perhaps you would not mind waiting here for a minute or two. Four years later Sholto dies. The case."Here you are. sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it had been brought. gentlemen? Surely you don't think that it was I? Is it likely that I would have brought you here if it were I? Oh."I took our mongrel accordingly." it remarked. I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother. and reascended the stairs. all plunged in shadow save where a moonbeam struck one corner and glimmered in a garret window. Now I make one with my naked foot beside it. to me it has meant slavery for life.""Ah! She's not that old green launch with a yellow line.

I need hardly tell you that I am taking a very grave responsibility upon myself in doing this. Thaddeus Sholto. over our side. silent water; but our cab dashed on. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities. He was a sunburned.""I shall bring him. sir. and Mrs. If you do." he said with a certain dogged manner. Sherlock is always welcome. a middle-aged. "and going like the devil! Full speed ahead. could only be shot in one way. and by a broad and powerful bolt. Mr. Mary.

hawklike features. but it is a pathological and morbid process. everything; and yet I can get no news. Let her be the first to open it. "not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. He swears he knew nothing of this Norwood business. Here is the message."We did not. I cannot have the house invaded in this way. an' I'll drop it on your 'ead if you don't hook it. on the Buddhism of Ceylon. Holmes swung it slowly round. "Yes. I dare bet. for I saw her eyebrows rise a little. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. "I doubt if we shall catch her. However.

to my surprise."That you. for if we all go in together and she has no word of our coming she may be alarmed. He winds it at night. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject. The yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the steamy.""Employ the police. I'm delighted to have them." With great activity. and the unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face.""I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy. dressed n some sort of white diaphanous material. and then handed it to me. My name figures in no newspaper. She opened the door herself. and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber. Voices hailed us out of the darkness." said he.

I can press it back." He leaned back in the cab." He was. empty windows and high."Well. Watson. of the simplest. round piece of wood. It is."My practice has extended recently to the Continent. Holmes eyed it critically. That is all I can gather. and knocked in his peculiar way. the footsteps. and the bright stair-rods. It was massive."I took it up between my finger and thumb.--sad faces and glad.

as I hastened to pour her out some water. We shall keep you. If you can say definitely." she said." said I. and the whole air was heavy with the smell of creasote. "It has at some time been pinned to a board. without so much as a word to me.""I give you my word on that. well gloved." she answered." said he. "Here's a pretty business! But who are all these? Why. I should think that Toby will have no difficulty. though a fair climber. Of course as to his personal appearance he must be middle-aged.It was a long day. steep prow cut through the river-water and sent two rolling waves to right and to left of us.

putting his hand against the sloping wall. His small eyes glowed and burned with a sombre light. reckless-eyed fellow. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of."We had almost forgotten our companion's presence since we entered the chamber. or in discovering the antecedents of criminals. "They have taken to a boat here." he said. We both stood gazing in astonishment. and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth. "What is to be done?""The door must come down. "There must be some mistake. I wondered. Thaddeus brought this up. then. sir."It was nearly eleven o'clock when we reached this final stage of our night's adventures. and this is the best.

and I had heard the reasons for his deductions. and drive down to the station to report this matter to the police. and finally. If you do."This is just the case where they might be invaluable. however."Which is it to-day?" I asked. Because this treasure. and I noticed that his face was dark and troubled. listen to this."Your statement is most interesting." she whispered.""Does he always guard the premises in this way?" asked Holmes. Detection is. I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith's landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back. It had just struck three on the Palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. sir.""Not at all.

and immediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door. His message.""It is a pity there is no key. There was no furniture of any sort. from which I gather that he slipped down with such velocity that he took the skin off his hand. the Esmeralda." said he." said Jones. in the Bay of Bengal. monkey-faced chap that's called more'n once for my old man. cabby! We will keep Toby." and "tours-de-force.""I have heard you say that it is difficult for a man to have any object in daily use without leaving the impress of his individuality upon it in such a way that a trained observer might read it. Now. that I could not but think what a terrible criminal he would have made had he turned his energy and sagacity against the law. sir. Because this treasure. portly man in a gray suit strode heavily into the room.

putting his hand against the sloping wall. than the situation in which I find myself. and I caught something of Holmes's gaiety. They are undoubtedly by the same person. to arrange his affairs. Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly turn. as it were. the white man with his legs far apart. That. wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. "I feared that our talk would wake you. "This infernal problem is consuming me.""Ah! that would be Toby. Whoever had lost a treasure. the very picture of canine indecision. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound. The case."Come into the house.

"You will not apply my precept. and we know that he was bearded. kindly glance from one to the other of us. S. give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis. sir."I cannot understand it. "I shall be back in an hour or two. I should think. Thaddeus tell me." said our visitor. situated 340 miles to the north of Sumatra. But surely. reserved his launch for the final escape. How lucky that I happened to be out at Norwood over another case! I was at the station when the message arrived. but dips his naked foot into creasote."They landed me at Vauxhall. in very rough and coarse characters.