The Press., 1895-05-02

l is 8. 37 from left in faded pencil writing | In the left hand corner is a curious hiero l glyphic like four crosses in a limo, with their arms touching Beside it is written in very rough and coarse characters, The sign of the four-JOnathan Small, Mo- hammed Singh, Adlullah Khan, Dost Ak bar. No, confess that do not see how this bears upon the matter. Yet it is evil dently document of importance. It has been kept carefully in a pocketbook, for the one side is as clean as the other.''
 Ut was in his pocketbook that we found it.
 Preserve it carefully, then, Miss Nor stan, for it may prove to be of use to us. l begin to suspect that this matter may turn out to be much deeper and more sub tie than at first supposed. must re- consider my ideas" He leaned back in the cab, and I could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking intently. Miss Morstan and chatted in an undertone about our pres ent expedition and its possible outcome but our companion maintained his i'm penetrable reserve until the end of our journey.
 It was September evening and not yet o'clock, but the day had been a dreary one, and dense drizzling fog lay low upon the great city, Mud colored clouds dropped sadly over the muddy streets Down the Strand the lamps were but misty splotches of diffused light which | threw feeble circular glimmer upon the slimy pavement. The yellow glare from the shop windows streamed out into the steamy, vaporous air and threw a murky, l shifting radiance across the crowded thor | oughfare. There was to my mind some 1 thing eerie and ghostlike in the endless procession of faces which fitted across these narrow bars of light-sad faces and | glad, haggard and merry. Like all hu mankind, they fitted from the gloom into the light, and so back into the gloom onco more I am not subject to impress sions, but the dull, heavy evening, with the strange business upon which we were | engaged, combined to make me nervous and depressed l could see from Miss Morstan's manner that she was suffering from the same feeling Holmes alone could rise superior to petty influences. He held his open notebook upon his knee, and from tilzsS to time he jOGted down fig ures and memoranda in the light of his pocket lantern. At the Lyceum theater the crowds we're already thick at the side entrances In front a continuous stream of hansoms and four wheelers were ruttling up, discharging their cargoes of shirt 
 women. We had hardly reached the third pillar, which was our rendezvous before small, dark, brisk man in the dress of cOachlnan accO5ted us.
 Are you the parties who came with Miss Morstan?'' he asked
 II am Miss Morstan, and these two gentlemen are my friends, " said she
 He bent pair of wonderfully penetrat- ing and questioning eyes upon us.
 You will excuse me, miss," he said, with a certain dogged manner, but l was to ask you 70 give me your word that neither of your conpanlnI,s Is a police officer
 II give you my word on that, she an swered.
 He gave a shrill whistle, on which street Arab led across a four wheeler and opened the door. The man who had ad- dressed us mounted to the box, while we took our places inside We had hardly done so before the driver whipped up his horse and we plunged away at a furious pace through the foggy streets. The situa- tion was a curious one We were driving to an unknown place on an unknown CT rand Yet our invitation was either complete hoax, which was an incOnceivu ble hypothesis, or else we had good reason to think that important issues might hang upon our journey. Miss MOrstAns de meanor was as resolute and cCllcctr> q ever 1 endcavOred to cheer and i::iiIIs' her by "reminiscences of my adventure in Afghanistan; but, to tell the truth, was myself so excited at our SituuiInI and so curious as to our destination thu, my stories were slightly involved To this day she declares that told her ont moving anecdote as to how nuskct look ed into my tent at the dead of night, ant how l fired double barreled tiger cub a; it. At first had some idea as to the di rection in which we were driving, bui soon, what with our pace, the fog and Ill! own limited knowledge of London, lost my bearings and knew nothing save that we seemed to be going a very long way Sherlock Holmes was never at fault, how ever, and he muttered the names as the cab rattled through squares and in and out by tortuous bystreets.
 Rochester row, said he. Now Yin cent square. Now we come out on the Vauxhall Bridge road, We are making for tho Surrey side apparently, Yes, thought SO Now we are on the bridge You can catch glimpses of the river. "
 We did indeed get feeting view of the stretch of the Thames, with the lamps shining upon the broad, silent water, but our cab dashed on and was soon involved in labyrinth of streets upon the other side.
 Wordsworth road" said my Compan ion. Priory road, Lark Hall lane, Stock we'll place. Robert street, Cold Harbor lane Our quest does not appear to take us to very fashionable regions.
 We had indeed reached a questionable and fOrbidding neighborhood. Long lines of 61ll bri,E ho1CaG xUoro nIv PnlipVp1 bv the coarse glare and tawdry brilliancy of public houses at the corner. Then came rows of two storied villas, each with a fronting of miniature garden, and then again interminable lines of new staring brick buildings, the monster tcntaCles which the giant city was throwing out into the country. At last the cab drew up at the third house in new terrace None of the other houses was inhabited. and that at which we stopped was as dark as it's neighburs, savo for a single glimmer in the kitchen window On our knock ing however, the door was instantly thrown open by a Hindoo servant clad in a yellow turban, white, loose fitting clothes and yellow sash There was something strangely incCngruous in this ori Sntal figure framed in the commonplace door way of a third rate suburban dwelling house
 ''The sahib awaits you, said he, and even as he spoke there came high piping voice from some inner room Show them in to me, khitmutgar " it cried. Show them straight in to me. -
 CHAPTER "
 We followed the Indian down the sordid and common passage, i'll lit and worse furnished, until he came to door upon the right, which he threw open A blaze of yellow light streamcd out upon us. and in the center uf the glare there stood a small man, with vRry high head, a bris tie of red hair all around the fringe of it, and the bald, shining scalp, which shot out from among it like mountain peak