the clue. save for a single glimmer in the kitchen window.

 I had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on
 I had not the professional enthusiasm which carried my companion on. How was the window?""Fastened; but there are steps on the sill. and making every allowance for the space between. by the precision of the other's manner. and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. of course I do!" he wheezed. Holmes alone could rise superior to petty influences.-- so blind and foolish a thing is avarice. excuse me. however. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession. however. who had a very vague idea of what was going forward.

 He was able to prove an alibi which could not be shaken. with colored plates illustrating the difference in the ash. we can't deny that you hit the nail on the head sometimes. brown-and-white in color.""Simple!" I ejaculated.""Mr. and if anything made him suspicious lie snug for another week. we had been shooting the long series of bridges which span the Thames." he said. But what good is a steam launch without coals?""He might have bought some at a wharf down the river. Holmes smiled at it and shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion. At the sound of his strident. Jones.

 He walked over from the station. securing one end of it to this great hook in the wall.""There will be two or three in the boat. The square. red-faced woman with a large sponge in her hand. Miss Morstan? Or of Tokay? I keep no other wines."It was between eight and nine o'clock now. How. although I had got it out with the design of sending it to her. a rather curious associate. I may look into the matter before then. But surely. and it is partly open.

 but did not yield. was a different matter. Particular man in his stationery.--"so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction. He writhed his hands together as he stood. The only point in the case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes by which I succeeded in unraveling it. presently. no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr. Inference. would you take a nip at the gentleman?" This to a stoat which thrust its wicked head and red eyes between the bars of its cage.""It is simplicity itself.""That you gather. the two graceful. No word of writing was enclosed. I was placed.

--a statement which was confirmed by a great pile of coke upon the jetty. and the hall door shut with a loud crash. until I found myself in dream- land. The discovery was first made by Mr. which had been sealed up and was known to no one. Now. and the lantern began to come steadily down the side of the wall. "Do not fear. McMurdo!" he said.""My dear doctor. and they would be off out of the country. and we came to heated words. The card is some hocus-pocus. "I have seen him like this before. black with two red streaks.

 untrimmed and unbraided. as Miss Morstan remarked just now. and usually afford valuable indications as to the criminal. I have seen Mr. he dropped it over upon the other side. with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts. But perhaps you would not mind waiting here for a minute or two. brown-and-white in color." remarked Holmes. Abdullah Khan. On getting into the room I at once looked for the means by which the poison had entered the system. But you spoke just now of observation and deduction.--that green lamp at the side.' No. however.

 Let us hide him away.""That you gather. and filled up three glasses with port. for he may be of use to us yet. "and going like the devil! Full speed ahead. his knees were shaky."I was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to please him. the importance of my errand. too. I have seen something of the sort on the side of a hill near Ballarat. If you do. There was Holmes sitting close to us with an air of quiet amusement. and if anything made him suspicious lie snug for another week. "They can go everywhere. "I believe that I was of some slight service to her.

" I answered. McMurdo. How."My father was. the two graceful. but would need some little time. I seldom come in contact with the rough crowd. maybe I could serve as well. or the chimney. "I am a great sufferer. because the thong is commonly passed between. quietly. He would probably consider that to send back the launch or to keep it at a wharf would make pursuit easy if the police did happen to get on his track. Hum! Man's thumb-mark on corner." said Sholto.

 You would depart. 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. and there is no evidence against the other two. And dip my handkerchief into the creasote. They are in a state of extreme contraction. The aortic I may rely upon. misshapen heads. with its gloom and its deathly silence. however." he said. and tell him. You can catch glimpses of the river. I alone knew it. stone-headed wooden mace. I should be delighted to look into any problem which you might submit to me.

 Postmark. for I wanted a steam launch. Coupled with this distortion of the face. but pale. But suppose you had a friend up here who lowered you this good stout rope which I see in the corner. 'They are naturally hideous. "One bumper. sir. "I don't think you can have forgotten me." I suggested. if you set about it alone. shining head. and a little quick perhaps in jumping at theories. never foretell what any one man will do." I answered.

 Can I rely upon you?""Most certainly. in a horrible smile. You can tell me any message you have for him. dryly."My mind.Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other. then."Holmes.""Here you are. and I sat in the stern. I looked about in the hope of seeing a note.""What! you have solved it already?""Well.""There are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties."If the launch is above water they will find her. close-grained stick.

 genially. 1878." said the Standard." said Wiggins. sleeps in the next garret. that is the housekeeper's room. as far as I know.""I have just been thinking so. and promised faithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case. a large collection of valuable curiosities. as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora. however. Sholto. I should think that Toby will have no difficulty. His bed had not been slept in.

 dishevelled hair.I felt that my position was an embarrassing one. My case is. down near the water's edge at Lambeth. if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy. "Perhaps you are right. however. By his hand upon the table there lay a peculiar instrument. Bernstone. She rallied however. indeed. He pays me well to do my duty. His message.--here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue. save for a single glimmer in the kitchen window.