withhis head thrown back and his eyes closed in an attitude which might seem listless to astranger, but which i knew betokened the most intense absorption.

'your statement has been so explicit,' said he at last, 'that you have really left mevery few questions to ask. there is one of the very utmost importance, however. didyou tell anyone that you had this special task to perform?'

'no one.'

'not miss harrison here, for example?'

'no. i had not been back to woking between getting the order and executing thecommission.'

'and none of your people had by chance been to see you?'

'none.'

'did any of them know their way about in the office?'

'oh, yes; all of them had been shown over it.'

'still, of course, if you said nothing to anyone about the treaty, these inquiries areirrelevant.'

'i said nothing.'

'do you know anything that he is an old soldier.'

'what regiment?'

'oh, i have heard—coldstream guards.'

'thank you. i have no doubt i can get details from forbes. the authorities areexcellent at amassing facts, though they do not always use them to advantage. what alovely thing a rose is!'

he walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of amoss rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green. it was a new phaseof his character to me, for i had never before seen him show any keen interest innatural objects.

'there is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion,' said he, leaningwith his back against the shutters. 'it can be built up as an exact science by thereasoner. our highest assurance of the goodness of providence seems to me to rest inthe flowers. all other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are really necessaryfor our existence in the first instance. but this rose is an extra. its smell and its colourare an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. it is only goodness which givesextras, and so i say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.'

percy phelps and his nurse looked at holmes during this demonstration withsurprise and a good deal of disappointment written upon their faces. he had falleninto a reverie, with the moss rose between his fingers. it had lasted some minutesbefore the young lady broke in upon it.

'do you see any prospect of solving this mystery, mr. holmes?' she asked, with atouch of asperity in her voice.

'oh, the mystery!' he answered, coming back with a start to the realities of life.'well, it would be absurd to deny that the case is a very abstruse and complicated one;but i can promise you that i will look into the matter and let you know any pointswhich may strike me.'

'do you see any clue?'

'you have furnished me with seven, but of course i must test them before i canpronounce upon their value.'

'you suspect someone?'

'i suspect myself—'

'what?'

'of coming to conclusion too rapidly.'

'then go to london and test your conclusions.'

'your advice is very excellent, miss harrison,' said holmes, rising. 'i think,watson, we cannot do better. do not allow yourself to indulge in false hopes, mr.phelps. the affair is a very tangled one.'

'i shall be in a fever until i see you again,' cried the diplomatist.

'well, i'll come out by the same train to-morrow, though it's more than likely thatmy report will be a negative one.'

'god bless you for promising to come,' cried our client. 'it gives me fresh life toknow that something is being done. by the way, i have had a letter from lordholdhurst.'

'ha! what did he say?'

'he was cold, but not harsh. i dare say my severe illness prevented him from beingthat. he repeated that the matter was of the utmost importance, and added that nosteps would be taken about my future—by which he means, of course, mydismissal—until my health was restored and i had an opportunity of repairing mymisfortune.'

'well, that was reasonable and considerate,' said holmes. 'come, watson, for wehave a good day's work before us in town.'

mr. joseph harrison drove us down to the station, and we were soon whirling up ina portsmouth train. holmes was sunk in profound thought, and hardly opened hismouth until we had passed clapham junction.

'it's a very cheering thing to come into london by any of these lines which runhigh and allow you to look down upon the houses like this.'

i thought he was joking, for the view was sordid enough, but he soon explainedhimself.

'look at those big, isolated clumps of buildings rising up above the slates, likebrick islands in a lead-coloured sea.'

'the board schools.'

'lighthouses, my boy! beacons of the future! capsules, with hundreds of brightlittle seeds in each, out of which will spring the wiser, better england of the future. isuppose that man phelps does not drink?'

'i should not think so.'

'nor should i. but we are bound to take every possibility into account. the poordevil has certainly got himself into very dee