small foot here at the side of this evil-smelling mess. The
carboy has been cracked, You see, and the stuff has leaked out."

"What then?" I asked.

"Why, we have got him, that's all," said he. "I know a dog that
would follow that scent to the world's end. If a pack can track
a trailed herring across a shire, how far can a specially-trained
hound follow so pungent a smell as this? It sounds like a sum in
the rule of three. The answer should give us the--But halloo!
here are the accredited representatives of the law."

Heavy steps and the clamor of loud voices were audible from
below, and the hall door shut with a loud crash.

"Before they come," said Holmes, "just put your hand here on this
poor fellow's arm, and here on his leg. What do you feel?"

"The muscles are as hard as a board," I answered.

"Quite so. They are in a state of extreme contraction, far
exceeding the usual rigor mortis. Coupled with this distortion
of the face, this Hippocratic smile, or 'risus sardonicus,' as
the old writers called it, what conclusion would it suggest to
your mind?"

"Death from some powerful vegetable alkaloid," I answered,--"some
strychnine-like substance which would produce tetanus."

"That was the idea which occurred to me the instant I saw the