opposite the door, and the table was littered over with Bunsen
burners, test-tubes, and retorts. In the corners stood carboys
of acid in wicker baskets. One of these appeared to leak or to
have been broken, for a stream of dark-colored liquid had
trickled out from it, and the air was heavy with a peculiarly
pungent, tar-like odor. A set of steps stood at one side of the
room, in the midst of a litter of lath and plaster, and above
them there was an opening in the ceiling large enough for a man
to pass through. At the foot of the steps a long coil of rope
was thrown carelessly together.

By the table, in a wooden arm-chair, the master of the house was
seated all in a heap, with his head sunk upon his left shoulder,
and that ghastly, inscrutable smile upon his face. He was stiff
and cold, and had clearly been dead many hours. It seemed to me
that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and
turned in the most fantastic fashion. By his hand upon the table
there lay a peculiar instrument,--a brown, close-grained stick,
with a stone head like a hammer, rudely lashed on with coarse
twine. Beside it was a torn sheet of note-paper with some words
scrawled upon it. Holmes glanced at it, and then handed it to
me.

"You see," he said, with a significant raising of the eyebrows.

In the light of the lantern I read, with a thrill of horror, "The
sign of the four."

"In God's name, what does it all mean?" I asked.