rn from the book. it was

at that moment i found myself a prisoner in your hands."

"is that all?" asked hopkins.

"yes, that is all." his eyes shifted as he said it.

"you have nothing else to tell us?"

he hesitated.

"no; there is nothing."

"you have not been here before last night?"

"no."

"then how do you account for _that_?" cried hopkins, as he

held up the damning note-book, with the initials of our

prisoner on the first leaf and the blood-stain on the cover.

the wretched man collapsed. he sank his face in his hands

and trembled all over.

"where did you get it?" he groaned. "i did not know.

i thought i had lost it at the hotel."

"that is enough," said hopkins, sternly. "whatever else

you have to say you must say in court. you will walk down

with me now to the police-station. well, mr. holmes, i am

very much obliged to you and to your friend for coming down

to help me. as it turns out your presence was unnecessary,

and i would have brought the case to this successful issue

without you; but none the less i am very grateful. rooms

have been reserved for you at the brambletye hotel, so we

can all walk down to the village together."

"well, watson, what do you think of it?" asked holmes,

as we travelled back next morning.

"i can see that you are not satisfied."

"oh, yes, my dear watson, i am perfectly satisfied.

at the same time stanley hopkins's methods do not commend

themselves to me. i am disappointed in stanley hopkins.

i had hoped for better things from him. one should always

look for a possible alternative and provide against it.

it is the first rule of criminal investigation."

"what, then, is the alternative?"

"the line of investigation which i have myself been

pursuing. it may give us nothing. i cannot tell.

but at least i shall follow it to the end."

several letters were waiting for holmes at baker street.

he snatched one of them up, opened it, and burst out into

a triumphant chuckle of laughter.

"excellent, watson. the alternative develops. have you

telegraph forms? just write a couple of messages for me:

'sumner, shipping agent, ratcliff highway. send three men

on, to arrive ten to-morrow morning. -- basil.' that's my

name in those parts. the other is: 'inspector stanley

hopkins, 46, lord street, brixton. come breakfast

to-morrow at nine-thirty. important. wire if unable to

come. -- sherlock holmes.' there, watson, this infernal

case has haunted me for ten days. i hereby banish it

completely from my presence. to-morrow i trust that we

shall hear the last of it for ever."

sharp at the hour named inspector stanley hopkins appeared,

and we sat down together to the excellent breakfast which

mrs. hudson had prepared. the young detective was in high

spirits at his success.

"you really think that your solution must be correct?"

asked holmes.

"i could not imagine a more complete case."

"it did not seem to me conclusive."

"you astonish me, mr. holmes. what more could one ask

for?"

"does your explanation cover every point?"

"undoubtedly. i find that young neligan arrived at the

brambletye hotel on the very day of the crime. he came

on the pretence of playing golf. his room was on the

ground-floor, and he could get out when he liked. that

very night he went down to woodman's lee, saw peter carey

at the hut, quarrelled with him, and killed him with the

harpoon. then, horrified by what he had done, he fled out

of the hut, dropping the note-book which he had brought

with him in order to question peter carey about these

different securities. you may have observed that some of

them were marked with ticks, and the others -- the great

majority -- were not. those which are ticked have been

traced on the london market; but the others presumably

were still in the possession of carey, and young neligan,

according to his own account, was anxious to recover them

in order to do the right thing by his father's creditors.

after his flight he did not dare to approach the hut again

for some time; but at last he forced himself to do so in

order to obtain the information which he needed. surely

that is all simple and obvious?"

holmes smiled and shook his head.

"it seems to me to have only one drawback, hopkins, and

that is that it is intrinsically impossible. have you

tried to drive a harpoon through a body? no? tut, tut,

my dear sir, you must really pay attention to these details.

my friend watson could tell you that i spent a whole

morning in that exercise. it is no easy matter, and

requires a strong and practised arm. but this blow was

delivered with such violence that the head of the weapon

sank deep into the wall. do you imagine that this anaemic

{1} youth was capable of so frightful an assault? is he

the man who hobnobbed in rum and water with black peter in

the dead of the