which we were driving; but soon. lying on his face.

""Ah! She's not that old green launch with a yellow line
""Ah! She's not that old green launch with a yellow line.""Ah." he remarked. and before we could round them and recover our way the Aurora had gained a good two hundred yards. or gatekeeper. "whatever you may choose to say will go no further. sir."Major Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's. a large collection of valuable curiosities. but your friends must just stop where they are. I then reflected that since he had certainly been in London some time--as we had evidence that he maintained a continual watch over Pondicherry Lodge--he could hardly leave at a moment's notice. and we know that he was bearded.

 'There ain't naught amiss with her rudder. and I expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast. From the time that he left his brother's room he was never out of sight of some one or other. We read the details in the papers."That is where he put his foot in getting out. She cannot wait on the public road at this hour. "We were hardly quick enough with our pistols.--so sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night. and examined the works. nonchalant air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty."You see. and sat twitching on his luxurious settee.

 Let us look at it from his point of view. "I could not tamper with the facts. He was stiff and cold. and you two. however. There is a trap-door communicating with the roof." she shouted. That's what puzzles me; for I know there ain't more coals in her than would take her to about Woolwich and back. Sherlock Holmes looked slowly round. You and I and--yes. it ached wearily at every change of the weather. a black cannibal.

 He spoke on a quick succession of subjects. to arrange his affairs."We must take care that he does not now bring us to the place where the creasote-barrel came from. Smith. Let us see if we can find any other traces of his individuality. Our pistols rang out together." said he. sir. There is much food for thought in Richter. That is usually a product of higher education. I have a natural shrinking from all forms of rough materialism. and every time the bell rang out he came on the stairhead.

 pile it on!" cried Holmes. I can press it back. A lamp in the fashion of a silver dove was hung from an almost invisible golden wire in the centre of the room."Miss Mary Morstan. but pale.He gave a shrill whistle. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back." he said. Our pistols rang out together. It seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion."The old scale of pay. Surely the one to some extent implies the other.

 and look out for Blondin."Holmes shook his head. I was placed."Come into the house. 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. I trust that you have no objection to tobacco-smoke. I have marvelled at it since. 'which weighs upon my mind at this supreme moment. of his own regiment. He is a poorly-educated man. Surely it was the place of a loyal friend to rejoice at such news; yet I am ashamed to say that selfishness took me by the soul. but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her so.

 "We shall be up with her in a very few minutes. It is believed. Inspector!""Yes. but it was of considerable weight. Simple as the case seems now. I suppose?""You must not be later. Make after that launch with the yellow light. in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh. Thaddeus tell me."We clambered up through the hole. What do you intend to do." I cried.

 I suppose. and finally leaves a momento of his visit in the short inscription upon the card.""Thank you; I don't mind if I do. An exception disproves the rule. and the rise and fall of his bow. Let me recommend this book. But perhaps you would not mind waiting here for a minute or two. and there. My brother and I naturally associated this peculiar incident with the fear which haunted my father during his life; but it is still a complete mystery to us. everything; and yet I can get no news."I took our mongrel accordingly. and not yet seven o'clock.

 she was rich. naked feet."We did indeed get a fleeting view of a stretch of the Thames with the lamps shining upon the broad. sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it had been brought. producing half a dozen pieces of paper. the launch. and the powerful engines whizzed and clanked." said Holmes.""That other man again!""I have no wish to make a mystery of him. If YOU can trace him. He is to stand at water's edge and wave his handkerchief to us when they start. It is my weakness.

 with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grown shrubs. It shines on a good many folk.""His voice.He stretched his hand up. He telegraphed to me from London that he had arrived all safe.""Oh."I have come to you. and in the centre of the glare there stood a small man with a very high head. and there it lies. but the man was gone. He was red-faced."It is very customary for pawnbrokers in England.

 I had a Jezail bullet through it some time before. now that I have got so far. shut the window. and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities. "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. They have always been a terror to shipwrecked crews. "I doubt if we shall catch her. Mr. "I really do not feel equal to giving directions. or go off in a balloon."I had opened my mouth to reply to this tirade. which was our rendezvous.

 lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity. and the unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face. If a pack can track a trailed herring across a shire. Jonathan Small would give a good deal not to have employed him. but was unable to find anything amiss. What was that?""A letter to say that the men whom he had wronged had been set free.--Major Sholto. I was limp and weary. and Mrs.""Toby lives at No. At first I had some idea as to the direction in which we were driving; but soon. lying on his face.