inutes when

the maid entered to say that a person desired to see me.

to my astonishment it was none other than my strange old

book-collector, his sharp, wizened face peering out from a

frame of white hair, and his precious volumes, a dozen of

them at least, wedged under his right arm.

"you're surprised to see me, sir," said he, in a strange,

croaking voice.

i acknowledged that i was.

"well, i've a conscience, sir, and when i chanced to see

you go into this house, as i came hobbling after you,

i thought to myself, i'll just step in and see that kind

gentleman, and tell him that if i was a bit gruff in my

manner there was not any harm meant, and that i am much

obliged to him for picking up my books."

"you make too much of a trifle," said i. "may i ask how

you knew who i was?"

"well, sir, if it isn't too great a liberty, i am a

neighbour of yours, for you'll find my little bookshop at

the corner of church street, and very happy to see you,

i am sure. maybe you collect yourself, sir; here's 'british

birds,' and 'catullus,' and 'the holy war' -- a bargain

every one of them. with five volumes you could just fill

that gap on that second shelf. it looks untidy, does it

not, sir?"

i moved my head to look at the cabinet behind me. when i

turned again sherlock holmes was standing smiling at me

across my study table. i rose to my feet, stared at him

for some seconds in utter amazement, and then it appears

that i must have fainted for the first and the last time

in my life. certainly a grey mist swirled before my eyes,

and when it cleared i found my collar-ends undone and the

tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips. holmes was

bending over my chair, his flask in his hand.

"my dear watson," said the well-remembered voice, "i owe

you a thousand apologies. i had no idea that you would be

so affected."

i gripped him by the arm.

"holmes!" i cried. "is it really you? can it indeed be

that you are alive? is it possible that you succeeded in

climbing out of that awful abyss?"

"wait a moment," said he. "are you sure that you are

really fit to discuss things? i have given you a serious

shock by my unnecessarily dramatic reappearance."

"i am all right, but indeed, holmes, i can hardly believe

my eyes. good heavens, to think that you -- you of all men

-- should be standing in my study!" again i gripped him

by the sleeve and felt the thin, sinewy arm beneath it.

"well, you're not a spirit, anyhow," said i. "my dear chap,

i am overjoyed to see you. sit down and tell me how you came

alive out of that dreadful chasm."

he sat opposite to me and lit a cigarette in his old

nonchalant manner. he was dressed in the seedy frock-coat

of the book merchant, but the rest of that individual lay

in a pile of white hair and old books upon the table.

holmes looked even thinner and keener than of old, but

there was a dead-white tinge in his aquiline face which

told me that his life recently had not been a healthy one.

"i am glad to stretch myself, watson," said he. "it is no

joke when a tall man has to take a foot off his stature for

several hours on end. now, my dear fellow, in the matter

of these explanations we have, if i may ask for your

co-operation, a hard and dangerous night's work in front

of us. perhaps it would be better if i gave you an account

of the whole situation when that work is finished."

"i am full of curiosity. i should much prefer to hear

now."

"you'll come with me to-night?"

"when you like and where you like."

"this is indeed like the old days. we shall have time for

a mouthful of dinner before we need go. well, then, about

that chasm. i had no serious difficulty in getting out of

it, for the very simple reason that i never was in it."

"you never were in it?"

"no, watson, i never was in it. my note to you was

absolutely genuine. i had little doubt that i had come to

the end of my career when i perceived the somewhat sinister

figure of the late professor moriarty standing upon the

narrow pathway which led to safety. i read an inexorable

purpose in his grey eyes. i exchanged some remarks with

him, therefore, and obtained his courteous permission to

write the short note which you afterwards received. i left

it with my cigarette-box and my stick and i walked along

the pathway, moriarty still at my heels. when i reached

the end i stood at bay. he drew no weapon, but he rushed

at me and threw his long arms around me. he knew that his

own game was up, and was only anxious to revenge himself

upon me. we tottered together upon the brink of the fall.

i have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the japanese

system of wrestling, which has more than once been very

useful to me. i slipped through his grip, and he with a

horrible scream kicked madly for a few seconds and clawed

the air with both his hands.