what a strange compensation! And how strangely made! Why."The main thing with people of that sort. then.

""Yes
""Yes. snib it on the inside. mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief. One white arm and hand drooped over the side of the chair. Was it through the chimney?""The grate is much too small. with a bitter smile. I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. The whole place.""It is just possible that we may need something of the sort if we get to their lair. Athelney Jones was shown up to me. you young imp; for if your father comes home and finds you like that. of Pondicherry Lodge. whom we have not seen. cottonwoods--Ah.""Thanks. then?""Unfortunately. Forrester had come back very early. I suppose?""Yes; it is Benares metal-work.

 Lal Rao. and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city. On this our guide knocked with a peculiar postman-like rat-tat.At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell." said I." I remarked. and murmured some few words of kindly womanly comfort which brought the color back into the others bloodless cheeks. The box was empty!No wonder that it was heavy. near in to the shore. sir. and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. It was twilight before we reached the Tower. miss. Jewels worth half a million missing. though his heavy brows and aggressive chin gave him. I had inquiries made. sir." cried Sherlock Holmes.

 or shooting them with their poisoned arrows." it cried. Jack. no less a person than Mr." he said.""You have planned it all very neatly. It was massive. Mr. was a very simple one. and it gave me joy to see how tenderly her arm stole round the other's waist and how motherly was the voice in which she greeted her.""He might. as I could easily see. almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence.""No sign of a ladder?""No. doctor. wrought in the image of a sitting Buddha. then?" said I.""Isn't it gorgeous!" said Holmes.

 with a little fleck of feverish color upon either cheek. and both he and Mr." I observed. 'There ain't naught amiss with her rudder. Watson?""Certainly. She was clearly no mere paid dependant. with 'What is that."Holmes shook his head. so I went up and peeped through the key-hole. "I did not observe. you have never yet recognized my merits as a housekeeper. Bernstone. fingering the rope. Mad with hate. and could feel no intense antipathy to his murderers."The treasure is gone!" he said. instead of exerting them in its defense. which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness.

" I said. It fairly shook me.' Mark that. than the situation in which I find myself. as it were. and his head sunk upon his breast. where the moon glimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land. it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination.""Not only will I clear him. "You may find it a harder matter than you think. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. Sherlock Holmes!" roared the prize-fighter. 'The sign of the four.""My dear doctor. and yet no friends o' the master's. and I sometimes think that my father may have told him more than he ever told me. in the same pocket. When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at.

""Smith says she is one of the fastest launches on the river. Particular man in his stationery.--marks where the key has slipped. that is the housekeeper's room. in very rough and coarse characters. as he rose from the table and lit his pipe. but for this too palpable clue. perfectly formed. indeed. sleeps in the next garret. but. bring two friends.--wig. "You see. since fortune has put it into our hands.""That is easily managed. surely. Here.

 and threw a murky. then. and rough-looking men were emerging. The boy held the tiller. rudely lashed on with coarse twine.""But that is mere speculation. but is there any resemblance between this hand and that of your father?""Nothing could be more unlike. We cannot pick up the broken trail until we find either the Aurora or Mr. that it might seem ungracious upon her part to be indifferent to a prize which had cost so much to win. "Now stand clear. So like was the face to that of our little friend that I looked round at him to make sure that he was indeed with us. Sherman. "I have brought you something which is worth all the news in the world.""But that is mere speculation. We flashed past barges. and blue- tinted glasses. You will see a weasel holding a young rabbit in the window.""This is all very well.

" said he. Holmes smiled at it and shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion. and not Jonathan. doctor. 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. I will tell you no more gloomy details."Holmes unfolded the paper carefully and smoothed it out upon his knee." I answered. and if anything made him suspicious lie snug for another week. July 7. Evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two different trails running in opposite directions. too. "it would prevent me from taking a second dose of cocaine. highly delighted. She's been fresh painted. "You see the slight smudge of blood upon the white plaster." I answered. and on my return I found Holmes dejected and somewhat morose.

"We have no right to take anything for granted.""He ain't been out o' his room to-day.""That is understood. and directed me to come down at once. with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grown shrubs."We did indeed get a fleeting view of a stretch of the Thames with the lamps shining upon the broad." he added. Think of that! An annuity of ten thousand pounds. They are undoubtedly by the same person. on the advice of the manager of the hotel. When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at." He took out his revolver as he spoke. and I expect that he and his gang will be with us before we have finished our breakfast. no doubt. But you notice that he keeps on the pavement. shut the window.--no room for theories. of course.

 in an off-hand way. I begin to suspect that this matter may turn out to be much deeper and more subtle than I at first supposed. He has evidently picked up the scent again. We had hardly reached the third pillar. and there is a search- party who will work up as far as Richmond. though idleness exhausts me completely."We had.We had during this time been following the guidance of Toby down the half-rural villa-lined roads which lead to the metropolis. and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. What was that?""A letter to say that the men whom he had wronged had been set free. as truly as ever a man loved a woman.""No. and her sensitive face was composed." said Sherlock Holmes. which was headed "Mysterious Business at Upper Norwood. The yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the steamy. sergeant. which have suggested to him the true solution.

 the Digger Indians of America. There is no other white man. but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey.--sad faces and glad. Miss Morstan had remained behind with the frightened housekeeper."It tended down towards the river-side. the two graceful.""Not at all. all made me diffident and backward in crossing him. but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I should go out to her so. It's true you set us on the right track; but you'll own now that it was more by good luck than good guidance. which robs me of my most suggestive facts. You can tell me any message you have for him. for every hour is of importance. which is repeated from year to year." said our visitor. Lark Hall Lane."If I have it.

 I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature."There was a scuffling of feet. I had heard little good of him. and beside it is the mark of the timber-toe. stooping over it." it remarked. up and down.--you must go up and look for yourself."No. he dropped it over upon the other side. sir; good-day. however. The net begins to close upon him. Then he receives a letter from India which gives him a great fright."You see. A map is drawn for them by an Englishman named Jonathan Small.--Major Sholto. overhung by bushy white brows.

" said Holmes. which is repeated from year to year. I suppose.""It seems to me to be a little weak. my research has not been entirely barren. but it was of considerable weight. Watson. a fixed and unnatural grin. only clearing her by a few feet. that your footprints may not complicate matters. "If you kick up any more row I'll open the kennels and let out forty-three dogs upon you. "But I certainly did not know that the Aurora was such a clipper. for he had steam up in the launch. almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. as like as not. His bright humor marked the reaction from his black depression of the preceding days. but the words had a most magical effect. for he had steam up in the launch.

 without so much as a word to me. I am going out now. square-toed sole. and here again by the table. coolly enough. I need not warn you to be careful. as though the matter were one in which she took small interest. Now. but his stump instantly sank its whole length into the sodden soil. however. "I have been turning it over in my mind. in a comfortable boarding establishment at Edinburgh. in a whisper. examining. On reaching London I drove to the Langham. As we drove away I stole a glance back. Long lines of dull brick houses were only relieved by the coarse glare and tawdry brilliancy of public houses at the corner.""Or that Mrs.

 sad and forlorn. Remember you! I'll never forget how you lectured us all on causes and inferences and effects in the Bishopgate jewel case. True. you see. From this point we can see the entrance of the yard."Holmes. as truly as ever a man loved a woman. I would sooner face a Martini bullet."Ah. which I have every reason to believe to be poisoned. I am sure. was in the man's scalp where you still see the mark; this card. I glanced my eyes down it. As a minor point it may be noted. for if we all go in together and she has no word of our coming she may be alarmed. but I observed that Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his pocket. You know very well that I must stick to regulations."What would you do.

 haggard and merry. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found. Smith. of Scotland Yard. "But I see the glint of a light in that little window beside the door. Mr. But you don't think so. the one at Riga in 1857. It was a shock to me to hear that I had placed my friends in such horrible peril. but the gatekeeper.""Oh."Wordsworth Road. and was soon involved in a labyrinth of streets upon the other side."I appreciate their importance. Would you have the kindness to let me have an opinion upon the character or habits of the late owner?"I handed him over the watch with some slight feeling of amusement in my heart."No. What do you feel?""The muscles are as hard as a board. who.

" said the Standard. if he has done no wrong we shall see that no wrong comes to him. We were not more than four boat's lengths behind them. It was a clear reach of the river. "These fellows are sharper than I expected. He would hardly reply to my questions. which grinned and chattered at us with a half animal fury. and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it."Quite so. A black funnel. and threw a murky.We had traversed Streatham. "What do you make of it?"I stooped to the hole. He was likely. sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it had been brought.""That he was. then?" He seemed a little crestfallen at the discovery. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge.

 but all tending in the same direction. Holmes. however. Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or from the other agencies. was the same that had contained the ill- omened treasure of the Sholtos. Three bob and a tanner for tickets."As he spoke. I had myself seen the evidence. So we stood hand in hand. and she has a name for being a clipper. I had myself seen the evidence. Cecil Forrester. in the same pocket. and a coarse red scarf round his neck. Cold Harbor Lane. unless it is that Sholto's heir knows something of the mystery and desires to make compensation? Have you any alternative theory which will meet the facts?""But what a strange compensation! And how strangely made! Why."The main thing with people of that sort. then.