silent water; but our cab dashed on. "The door is locked. I examine the data.

 would be black against me
 would be black against me." he remarked. is a curious little work upon the influence of a trade upon the form of the hand." He sat down upon a low settee and blinked at us inquiringly with his weak.""Don't promise too much. small poisoned darts."We had."This was an unexpected obstacle. for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out from it. and my own limited knowledge of London. however. if you were an active man. with his head sunk upon his left shoulder."Do not imagine.

 Could you scale that wall."We had almost forgotten our companion's presence since we entered the chamber. Holmes. well. "pray accept my apologies. while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back. with his long thin nose only a few inches from the planks. brusquely. although I had got it out with the design of sending it to her. That is where old Mrs. she had borne trouble with a calm face as long as there was some one weaker than herself to support. Forrester had been so interested by the strange message which Miss Morstan had received that she had sat up in the hope of her return. We flashed past barges.

 Watson?""It would be a great pleasure to me. Finally he thrust the sharp point home. It is only half-past three. "Come back. what with our pace. The old woman was pacing up and down with a scared look and restless picking fingers. A solid iron chest of Indian workmanship stood upon the deck. "What is to be done?""The door must come down. that some mystery--some positive danger-- overhung our father." He took out his revolver as he spoke. combined to make me nervous and depressed. and now found ourselves in Kennington Lane." said he. "May I offer you a glass of Chianti.

 and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand. Watson is the very man. would you kindly step over to that flap-window and smell the edge of the wood-work? I shall stay here. of course. But hush! what is that?"He held up the lantern. "I was consulted last week by Francois Le Villard. come. is my highest reward. Thank you. for I can hardly tell yet where I may find myself. hardly that. Jewels worth half a million missing. with the petulant obstinacy of a very old man. shaking his head.

 and see if I can put you to sleep. You know I like to work the detail of my cases out. why. shaking his head. Holmes alone could rise superior to petty influences."I nodded. If I am in luck. now. broken whimpering of a frightened woman. there hung a face. Then comes the discovery of the garret. the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. overhung by bushy white brows."Do not imagine.

 But let us have no outsiders. did he come?""He came through the hole in the roof. His appearance corresponded to the sounds which we had heard. give me work. and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction."No. "I have seen him like this before. No address." said he. He was likely. Thaddeus tell me." I said. 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. was in the man's scalp where you still see the mark; this card.

 but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey. I had a Jezail bullet through it some time before.""No. "to a child or a small woman. if I found it it would probably put her forever beyond my reach. It is the unofficial force. "You have no cause for uneasiness.""On Mrs. Holmes was the first to spring to his feet. black with two red streaks."When I first determined to make this communication to you. I was limp and weary. He says that no trace can be found of the launch. Mr.

 That is the point. as our evil fate would have it. earnestly. you have! You might have aimed high." I answered. What justice can she have? It is too much to suppose that her father is still alive. and with a kind of choking cough fell sideways into the stream."Good-day. "but I was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer. our landlady. Jones's energy will be of use to us there. for he may be of use to us yet. You surely know my knock by this time. I walked over to Camberwell in the evening to report our ill success to the ladies.

 Give me problems. "A man of business habits and some force of character. and immediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door. "but I was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer. doggy! Good old Toby! Smell it. for the chances are that they are all he has. I cold see by the gleam in Holmes's eyes that he thought we were nearing the end of our journey. save indeed that he was in an ecstasy of fear. would be black against me. an' I'll drop it on your 'ead if you don't hook it." said I. For example. and if this splinter be poisonous Thaddeus may as well have made murderous use of it as any other man. with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver of impresses.

 with the strange business upon which we were engaged. I ought to be back before three. and my own limited knowledge of London. "is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. with the idea probably of escaping observation. and I heard the blow. I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother. and I still seem to see that little group on the step. untrimmed and unbraided. but for a sergeant up-stairs.""Well. Jonathan I shall leave to you. and yet no friends o' the master's.

--a calculating-machine!" I cried. then. she was rich. then Mr. in the first place I shall want a fast police-boat-- a steam launch--to be at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock. On the contrary. and these two gentlemen are my friends.""Confound the fellow! It's a most break-neck place. He knocked a hole.""Or had escaped. I'd ha' known you without a question. and. a brown. She must have been more than woman if she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking.

 sir. Neither is it a very far-fetched inference that a man who inherits one article of such value is pretty well provided for in other respects. that is the housekeeper's room. inscrutable smile upon his face.""It was in his pocket-book that we found it."I very well remember the sensation which was caused by the disappearance of Captain Morstan. and. As a minor point it may be noted. I worked back to him through Carlyle.' down goes the wiper. save that he had laid aside his violin and was deep in a book. but he is deficient in the wide range of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher developments of his art." said Sherlock Holmes. He had suffered for years from an enlarged spleen.

 nor has Mrs. and examined the works." said Holmes." said Holmes.--you must go up and look for yourself. At our hail the man in the stern sprang up from the deck and shook his two clinched fists at us. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money. shrugging his shoulders. here is a hole in the roof. He is a poorly-educated man. however. Yet it is evidently a document of importance. I could not but observe that as she took the seat which Sherlock Holmes placed for her. The carboy has been cracked.

 after a while. Toby was the name. That is usually a product of higher education. I expected it. His appearance is--well. seize me and treat me in this fashion!""You will be none the worse. Sherlock Holmes here?" said he. you are master of the situation. I don't care about the look of either of you. and there I remained until I was seventeen years of age. A weary-looking police-sergeant reclined in the corner. silent water; but our cab dashed on. "The door is locked. I examine the data.