been.

"This is all an insoluble mystery to me," said I. "It grows darker
instead of clearer."

"On the contrary," he answered, "it clears every instant. I only
require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case."

We had almost forgotten our companion's presence since we entered the
chamber. He was still standing in the door-way, the very picture of
terror, wringing his hands and moaning to himself. Suddenly, however,
he broke out into a sharp, querulous cry.

"The treasure is gone!" he said. "They have robbed him of the
treasure! There is the hole through which we lowered it. I helped him
to do it! I was the last person who saw him! I left him here last
night, and I heard him lock the door as I came down-stairs."

"What time was that?"

"It was ten o'clock. And now he is dead, and the police will be called
in, and I shall be suspected of having had a hand in it. Oh, yes, I am
sure I shall. But you don't think so, gentlemen? Surely you don't
think that it was I? Is it likely that I would have brought you here
if it were I? Oh, dear! oh, dear! I know that I shall go mad!" He
jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of convulsive frenzy.

"You have no reason for fear, Mr. Sholto," said Holmes, kindly, putting
his hand upon his shoulder. "Take my advice, and drive down to the
station to report this matter to the police. Offer to assist them in
every way. We shall wait here until your return."

The little man obeyed in a half-stupefied fashion, and we heard him
stumbling down the stairs in the dark.

Chapter VI

Sherlock Holmes Gives a Demonstration

"Now, Watson," said Holmes, rubbing his hands, "we have half an hour to
ourselves. Let us make good use of it. My case is, as I have told
you, almost complete; but we must not err on the side of
over-confidence. Simple as the case seems now, there may be something
deeper underlying it."

"Simple!" I ejaculated.

"Surely," said he, with something of the air of a clinical professor
expounding to his class. "Just sit in the corner there, that your
footprints may not complicate matters. Now to work! In the first
place, how did these folk come, and how did they go? The door has not
been opened since last night. How of the window?" He carried the lamp
across to it, muttering his observations aloud the while, but
addressing them to himself rather than to me. "Window is snibbed on
the inner side. Framework is solid. No