r shoes!"

"Oh, forget it, Doc. I'll tell you more about it in the morning," was
all that my tyrannical partner would reply.

And in a short time we were both in bed, with the light out,--at last.

I was rather tired by this time, and was just dozing off when Holmes
suddenly jumped up to a sitting posture, and said:

"By the great horn spoon, I almost forgot that Letstrayed still has my
perfectly good revolver and I have his, since we exchanged this
afternoon out in the hay-loft. I must go and get it back, or there's
no telling what may happen to it in his incompetent keeping!"

Then, before I could say a word, Holmes bounced over me with his long
legs, went over to his coat-pocket, took out the Inspector's revolver,
opened the door, and started down the corridor, in his flapping
nightgown.

In a minute or so I heard a loud noise as of some one falling over a
chair in the dark, and I knew it must be Holmes in Letstrayed's room,
exchanging the guns. I had to stuff a corner of the pillow into my
mouth to keep from laughing. Holmes soon returned, with his own
revolver in his hand, and fire in his eye, so I knew it wouldn't be
safe to kid him about it. All I said was:

"What did you find?"

"Nothing," he answered. "Go to sleep."

I did so with alacrity.

_Zing-g-g-g-g!_ went the alarm-clock, which Holmes had placed on the
chair beside our bed. Jumping up to turn it off, I saw with vexation
that it was only six o'clock.

"What in thunder did you set it so early for, Holmes?" I demanded.
"They don't blow any early factory-whistle around here."

"Well, I have some work to do,--scientific work that admits of no
delay. You can lay in bed till they call you for breakfast, if you
want to," was Holmes's reply, piling out of bed and jerking his
clothes on as if he were a fireman answering a fire. Then he took out
the magnifying glass that he always carried in his pocket, and a
microscope out of our suit-case, pulled a chair over to one of the
windows, and began to go over the twelve shoes one by one, first with
the magnifying glass and then with the microscope, which was arranged
so that objects as large as the shoes could be inspected through it,
all the time taking down notes in his little notebook.

I couldn't for the life of me see what he was up to nor what he
expected to find from the shoes; and still less could I figure out why
he had insisted on our all walking out in the wet grass the morning
before.

Eve