"There are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties," said
Sherlock Holmes, pensively. "But our expedition of to-night will
solve them all. Ah, here is a four-wheeler, and Miss Morstan is
inside. Are you all ready? Then we had better go down, for it
is a little past the hour."

I picked up my hat and my heaviest stick, but I observed that
Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his
pocket. It was clear that he thought that our night's work might
be a serious one.

Miss Morstan was muffled in a dark cloak, and her sensitive face
was composed, but pale. She must have been more than woman if
she did not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon
which we were embarking, yet her self-control was perfect, and
she readily answered the few additional questions which Sherlock
Holmes put to her.

"Major Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's," she said.
"His letters were full of allusions to the major. He and papa
were in command of the troops at the Andaman Islands, so they
were thrown a great deal together. By the way, a curious paper
was found in papa's desk which no one could understand. I don't
suppose that it is of the slightest importance, but I thought you
might care to see it, so I brought it with me. It is here."

Holmes unfolded the paper carefully and smoothed it out upon his
knee. He then very methodically examined it all over with his
double lens.