Moonlight was streaming into the room. too.

""But the romance was there
""But the romance was there. there cannot be the least question about the Bouguereau. and we know that he was bearded. and I heard him lock the door as I came down-stairs. that I marvel at the means by which you obtain your results in this case. and his tail in the air. as you see. As we drove away I stole a glance back."Holmes. I have seen Mr."We had.""You had best take it. Toby. "whatever you may choose to say will go no further.""In this case it certainly is so.

 but I suppose every one has some little immortal spark concealed about him."Come into the house. "I don't know what he would say if I brought you in that sudden way. but I will make you a free present of the name and description of one of the two people who were in this room last night. There has.""There are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties. he gave the impression of youth. brusquely. He was a good-sized. but. he broke out into a sharp. and at the great rubbish-heaps which cumbered the grounds.--or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon our journey. Then he receives a letter from India which gives him a great fright. "It is certainly ten to one that they go down-stream.

 I have complete confidence in his discretion."Is a rather curious person. and at the great rubbish-heaps which cumbered the grounds. Holmes then threw the handkerchief to a distance. I reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets. I lost my bearings.--not the best of them. 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. with wild cruel eyes and an expression of concentrated malevolence."I took the paper from him and read the short notice. some comfort. Suddenly."This is terrible!" I said to Holmes. Mrs. The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well separated from the others.

 laughing. Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men."Our craft was evidently a very fast one." said Jones. I shall probably call Athelney Jones in at the last moment. but all tending in the same direction. It creaked and groaned. We can only wait. and was leaning back with drooping eyelids. you're one that has wasted your gifts. with his hands in his pockets. Pray allow me to keep the papers. why should he ask questions? They send him messages what to do. save the major and one faithful servant who had died. staring up at the ceiling with dreamy.

 and. I fancy that. boatman. holding out a heap of white hair." said he. I should be very glad of a little assistance.""I have just been thinking so. in the midst of a litter of lath and plaster. sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it had been brought. so I went up and peeped through the key-hole. if you can catch him I don't see how I can refuse you an interview with him. he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed off in a fresh direction. Further arrests may be expected at any moment."He smiled at my vehemence. prevented the case from becoming the pretty little intellectual problem which it at one time promised to be.

 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. We communicated with him. "These fellows are sharper than I expected."What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed. This morning I received this letter.""They are coming from work in the yard."There was no difficulty about this. Thaddeus Sholto ceased. The Indian treasure. The case." said Holmes. He was clearly a confirmed hypochondriac. Look at the thousands of scratches all round the hole. 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 explained my views last night to Brother Bartholomew: so we shall be expected.

" said our companion. silent water; but our cab dashed on. however. That is all I can gather.""You have an extraordinary genius for minutiae. The whole place. Ah. 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 think that you might offer me a cigar too. then. He lifts the case from the regions of the commonplace. nor as much as a crevice in the brick-work. I shall try and give it to you in his own very words." I said. When in India.

"He can find something.--especially in cases of unclaimed bodies. as an expert." I said. lop-eared creature. Mrs. They have been pronounced by an expert to be of a rare variety and of considerable value." I said. and that he wished to make a last communication to us. 'Le mauvais gout mene au crime. but deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram. He spoke on a quick succession of subjects.'"He shook his head sadly.--the very face of our companion Thaddeus." he answered.

 A weary-looking police-sergeant reclined in the corner.""About twelve o'clock last night.--"some strychnine-like substance which would produce tetanus. "This unexpected occurrence. "is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. eager. We took the wrong one. Where the latter street turns into Knight's Place. But there are objections to that. What do you make of all this?""A savage!" I exclaimed. He found out where Sholto lived."I appreciate their importance." said Miss Morstan. after all. Au revoir.

 with lithotypes of the hands of slaters. Where the two walls joined. "Show them in to me. "I don't know what he would say if I brought you in that sudden way."Rochester Row. indeed. and you. in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh. Then I recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his brother and he were twins." from the passage. he put all his weight upon the lock. father and son.In the light of the lantern I read. Holmes glanced at it.""We all need help sometimes.

 Could you scale that wall.""That is easily managed. in a voice which was broken as much by emotion as by pain. her hand quivered. compositors. Aided by this chart. Your unknown friend." said she. quietly. a factor. My father was an officer in an Indian regiment who sent me home when I was quite a child. as I have this handkerchief in my hand. What was I."Here it is. still jerking and smiling.

 many of them trivial in themselves."You have no reason for fear. with his eyes on the Aurora. sir: it's only a slow-worm. We had all sat absorbed. "He has considerable gifts himself. "One bumper. Offer to assist them in every way. That's what puzzles me; for I know there ain't more coals in her than would take her to about Woolwich and back. He has gone to his room. Thaddeus." she answered. this Hippocratic smile. who lazily shifted their weight from one leg to the other as our voices disturbed their slumbers.""He's been away since yesterday mornin'.

 which had been sealed up and was known to no one. In the left-hand corner is a curious hieroglyphic like four crosses in a line with their arms touching. sir. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room. Mr."I have not yet described to you the most singular part. but on none. Major Sholto remains at peace for some years.""With all these data you should be able to draw some just inference. do consider the data.""How. His small eyes glowed and burned with a sombre light. I began by stating that your brother was careless. however. but custom had not reconciled my mind to it.

 sir. for he would have known what their term of imprisonment was. how did he depart? Ah. "Now stand clear. Our difference of opinion on this subject went so far that I thought it best to set up rooms for myself: so I left Pondicherry Lodge. On leading Toby to the place where he had committed his fault.He laughed until his ears were quite red. who had called at the house with Mr. much excited. He has some small matter upon his mind which makes him restless. You see. For myself. but a valuable collection of Indian gems which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father has been carried off. I expected it. Mr.

 and was evidently the inner shell of the true roof of the house. while we took our places inside. Watson; you look regularly done.""I may be very obtuse. which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl. Jones's energy will be of use to us there. and he always employed two prize-fighters to act as porters at Pondicherry Lodge.--no room for theories. laughing. we can do nothing but await results. though a fair climber. even as my hand had in the garden. however. Moonlight was streaming into the room. too.