mised,' said i, 'and not an instant sooner or later.'

and my words were true, for shortly after eight a hansom dashed up to the door andour friend got out of it. standing in the window, we saw that his left hand wasswathed in a bandage and that his face was very grim and pale. he entered the house,but it was some little time before he came upstairs.

'he looks like a beaten man,' cried phelps.

i was forced to confess that he was right. 'after all,' said i, 'the clue of the matterlies probably here in town.'

phelps gave a groan.

'i don't know how it is,' said he, 'but i had hoped for so much from his return. butsurely his hand was not tied up like that yesterday? what can be the matter?'

'you are not wounded, holmes?' i asked, as my friend entered the room.

'tut, it is only a scratch through my own clumsiness,' he answered, nodding hisgood morning to us. 'this case of yours, mr. phelps, is certainly one of the darkestwhich i have ever investigated.'

'i feared that you would find it beyond you.'

'it has been a most remarkable experience.'

'that bandage tells of adventures,' said i. 'won't you tell us what has happened?'

'after breakfast, my dear watson. remember that i have breathed thirty miles ofsurrey air this morning. i suppose there has been no answer to my cabmanadvertisement? well, well, we cannot expect to score every time.'

the table was all laid, and, just as i was about to ring, mrs. hudson entered withthe tea and coffee. a few minutes later she brought in the covers, and we all drew upto the table, holmes ravenous, i curious, and phelps in the gloomiest state ofdepression.

'mrs. hudson has risen to the occasion,' said holmes, uncovering a dish of curriedchicken. 'her cuisine is a little limited, but she has as good an idea of breakfast as ascotchwoman. what have you there, watson?'

'ham and eggs,' i answered.

'good! what are you going to take, mr. phelps: curried fowl, eggs, or will you helpyourself?'

'thank you, i can eat nothing,' said phelps.

'oh, come! try the dish before you.'

'thank you, i would really rather not.'

'well, then,' said holmes, with a mischievous twinkle, 'i suppose that you have noobjection to helping me?'

phelps raised the cover, and as he did so he uttered a scream, and sat there staringwith a face as white as the plate upon which he looked. across the centre of it waslying a little cylinder of blue-grey paper. he caught it up, devoured it with his eyes,and then danced madly about the room, pressing it to his bosom and shrieking out inhis delight. then he fell back into an arm-chair, so limp and exhausted with his ownemotions that we had to pour brandy down his throat to keep him from fainting.

'there! there!' said holmes, soothingly, patting him upon the shoulder. 'it was toobad to spring it on you like this; but watson here will tell you that i never can resist atouch of the dramatic.'

phelps seized his hand and kissed it. 'god bless you!' he cried; 'you have saved myhonour.'

'well, my own was at stake, you know,' said holmes. 'i assure you, it is just ashateful to me to fail in a case as it can be to you to blunder over a commission.'

phelps thrust away the precious document into the innermost pocket of his coat.

'i have not the heart to interrupt your breakfast any further, and yet i am dying toknow how you got it and where it was.'

sherlock holmes swallowed a cup of coffee and turned his attention to the ham andeggs. then he rose, lit his pipe, and settled himself down into his chair.

'i'll tell you what i did first, and how i came to do it afterwards,' said he. 'afterleaving you at the station i went for a charming walk through some admirable surreyscenery to a pretty little village called ripley, where i had my tea at an inn, and tookthe precaution of filling my flask and of putting a paper of sandwiches in my pocket.there i remained until evening, when i set off for woking again and found myself inthe high-road outside briarbrae just after sunset.

'well, i waited until the road was clear—it is never a very frequented one at anytime, i fancy—and then i clambered over the fence into the grounds.'

'surely the gate was open?' ejaculated phelps.

'yes; but i have a peculiar taste in these matters. i chose the place where the threefir trees stand, and behind their screen i got over without the least chance of anyone inthe house being able to see me. i crouched down among the bushes on the other side,and crawled from one to the other—witness the disreputable state of my trouserknees—until i had reached the clump of rhododendrons just opposite to your bedroomwindow. there i squatted down and awaited developments.

'the blind was not down in your room, and i could see miss harrison sitting therereading by the table. it was a quarter past ten when she closed her book, fastened theshutters, and retired. i heard her shut the door, and felt quite sure that she