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We had an early dinner and then went to the Westminster wharf. A police boat was waiting for us. We got on, and the ropes were untied.

"Where are we going?" Jones asked.

"To the Tower of London," said Holmes. "Tell them to stop across from Jacobson's Yard."

The boat moved onto the river, going faster and faster. We passed barges as if they weren’t moving at all.

"I hope we’re fast enough to catch the Aurora. It's supposed to be very quick," said Holmes.

"How did you find it?" I asked.

"Do you remember I said I had one last idea to try? I thought Small might have hidden the Aurora by taking it to a boatyard for a small repair. That way, no one would see it, but it would still be ready to use."

"That makes sense," I said.

"I checked 15 boatyards and finally got lucky at the 16th—Jacobson’s Yard. The foreman told me that two days ago, Mordecai Smith and his wooden-legged partner brought the Aurora there. They asked for a small and unnecessary repair to the rudder. They plan to pick it up at eight tonight. I have one of my Irregulars watching the yard. He’ll wave a handkerchief to signal us when they leave with the boat. I’m confident we’ll catch them—with the treasure."

"You’ve planned it well," said Jones. "But why not have the police wait at the yard and arrest them there?"

"Small is clever," Holmes replied. "He would send someone ahead to check. If he saw police, he’d escape before we could catch him."

We passed under the bridges of the Thames as the last rays of sunlight lit up St. Paul’s Cathedral. By the time we reached the Tower of London, it was twilight.

"There’s Jacobson’s Yard," said Holmes, pointing to a group of masts on the southern side of the river. He looked at the shore through his binoculars.

"I see my lookout, but no handkerchief yet," he said.

We waited with excitement. Even the policemen and crew looked eager to begin the chase.

"There it is!" Holmes shouted at last. "That’s the Aurora! It’s moving fast! Full speed ahead! Stoker, add more coal! Helmsman, aim for the boat with the yellow light!"

We all saw it then. The Aurora was speeding along the river, close to the shore. We went as fast as we could and slowly caught up with it. We rushed past steamships and cargo boats, our engine making a loud, powerful noise. We passed the West India Docks and turned around the Isle of Dogs, getting closer to the Aurora every minute.

Jones pointed the searchlight at the boat, and we could see people on its deck. When we were only four boat lengths away, Jones called out, "Stop!"

A man at the back of the Aurora turned and shook his fists angrily at us, shouting curses. From his thigh down, his right leg was a wooden stump. Next to him stood a smaller man, who got up as we drew nearer—it was Small’s accomplice.

"If the smaller man raises his hand, fire!" said Holmes.

At that moment, the smaller man lifted a pipe to his mouth as if he were about to blow into it. Both policemen fired their guns. The man gave a cry and fell into the water.

Small turned the boat sharply toward the shore. The Aurora hit the bank with a soft crash, and Small tried to escape by climbing out. But his wooden leg sank deep into the wet mud. He struggled hard, but he couldn’t free himself.

We brought our boat alongside his. Throwing a rope over his shoulders, we pulled him onto our deck like a big fish. Mordecai Smith, the boat’s owner, also came aboard without a fight.

We tied the Aurora to our boat and pulled it off the mudbank. On its deck, we found a beautiful iron chest. It had to contain the Sholto family treasure.

Our prisoner, Jonathan Small, sat in the cabin of the police boat with his hands cuffed on his lap. His face was wrinkled and sunburned, showing that he had lived a hard life outside. His dark eyes were full of anger and hatred.

Sherlock Holmes, sitting across from him, said, "Well, Mr. Small, I'm sorry it has come to this."

"I’m sorry too, sir," Small replied. "I swear to you, I didn’t kill Bartholomew Sholto. I would have killed his father, the major, in a second, but I had no reason to hurt the son. It was my partner, Tonga, who shot one of his poisoned darts at Bartholomew while I was still climbing the rope. That was not part of our plan. I thought the room would be empty because Bartholomew usually went to dinner at that time. I was angry at Tonga for killing him, but what could I do? At least I got the treasure."

"The treasure," said Athelney Jones, "belongs to Miss Mary Morstan and Thaddeus Sholto. You, Mr. Small, will spend the rest of your life in prison."

Jones allowed me to take the treasure chest to Miss Mary Morstan to show her the part that belongs to her. After that, we had to return it to the police until the investigation was finished.

I went with a policeman to Miss Morstan’s house at Vauxhall. When I carried the chest into her living room, she wasn’t as excited as I thought she’d be.

The key was missing, so I used a poker from the fireplace to force open the chest. When I did, the lock broke with a loud snap. To our surprise, the chest was empty!

"The treasure is gone," said Mary calmly. "Honestly, I’m glad. It’s caused nothing but problems for my family."

Athelney Jones was much more upset when I showed him the empty chest an hour later. "This is your fault, Small!" he said angrily. "Where did you hide the treasure?"

We were meeting at Baker Street. Jones and Holmes had brought Small there after taking him to the police station.

Small, sitting in a chair with his wooden leg crossed over his other leg, laughed defiantly. "No one has any right to that treasure except me and my friends. I did everything for them and for myself. It’s always been the sign of four for us. They would have done the same thing—thrown the treasure into the river rather than let the Sholtos or Morstans have it."

"You're lying, Small," said Jones. "If you threw the treasure into the river, it would have been easier to throw it in with the chest. Why not do that?"

"It would have been easier for you to get it back if it was still in the chest. But now the jewels are spread across five miles of riverbed. It’s much harder for you. I was almost crazy with sadness when I did it, but that’s what my life has brought me to."

"Well let's hear about that life," said Holmes. "That way, we can see if justice was ever on your side."

Small leaned back in his chair and began to tell his story.

"I was born in Worcestershire. When I turned eighteen, I joined the army and was sent to India. Not long after I finished my training, I went swimming in the Ganges River. A crocodile attacked me and bit off my right leg above the knee. Luckily, my sergeant was with me and helped me get to the shore.

"Five months later, I left the hospital with a wooden leg. I couldn’t be a soldier anymore, but I could still ride horses, so I got a job as a supervisor on a plantation.

"I stayed there until 1857 when the rebellion against British rule in India started. The whole country was filled with violence, and we had to escape to a fortress in Agra for safety. I was put in charge of guarding a gate along with two Sikh soldiers, Mahomet Singh and Abdullah Khan. On the third night of our watch, around two o’clock, Mahomet grabbed me, and Abdullah put a knife to my throat.

"Abdullah said, 'Listen, you’re either with us or you must die.' At first, I thought they were working with the rebels and wanted to open the gate for them. But then they told me they wanted to make me rich.

"They said a rich rajah in the north was sending his treasure to Agra to keep it safe during the rebellion. The treasure was being brought by a servant who would soon arrive at our gate. They planned to steal it. The man bringing the treasure, Dost Akbar, was Abdullah’s cousin and part of the plan.

"They told me that if I joined them, I would get one quarter of the treasure. I imagined returning to England with pockets full of gold, impressing my family and friends, and I agreed.

"Everything went as planned. The servant was killed when he arrived, and we took the treasure. When we opened the chest, I was amazed to see such beautiful gems—diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and many others.

"We hid the chest behind some bricks in the fortress. The next day, I made four plans, one for each of us, and wrote the sign of four at the bottom to show our loyalty. Soon after, the rebellion was over, and we thought we could each take our share of the treasure and go our separate ways. But then disaster happened...

"It turned out that the rajah didn’t fully trust his servant, so he sent a second servant to spy on him. This second servant didn’t know about the treasure, but he saw us kill the first servant and went to the police.

"We were arrested and put on trial for murder. The treasure wasn’t mentioned in the trial because, by then, the rajah had been overthrown and killed. No one knew he had sent the treasure to Agra.

"The four of us were sentenced to life in prison on a remote island in the Andaman Islands. It was frustrating to work as slaves on the island when we could have lived like kings if we had been free."

"Among the commanders, there were Major Sholto and Captain Morstan. They played cards for money in the evenings with their friends, but they often lost. Both men often complained about being poor. One night, after Sholto had lost a lot of money, I gathered the courage to talk to him.

"I told him the whole story about the treasure, but I didn’t tell him where it was hidden. When I finished, I could see that he was interested. I asked him what he thought we should do, and he told me not to tell anyone else and that he would speak with me again soon.

"Two nights later, Sholto came to my hut with Captain Morstan and asked me to repeat the story. I did, and then Sholto said he could get the treasure for me if he and Morstan could have one-fifth of it. I agreed, but only if they promised to help me and my companions escape the island. I spoke with the others, and we made a deal with Sholto. How foolish we were to trust him! He sailed away with the treasure map we gave him, and of course, we never saw or heard from him again. He even betrayed his friend, Morstan.

"My companions seemed to accept this new disappointment, but I could only think about revenge. All I wanted was to find Sholto and kill him. Many years went by, and I became friends with another prisoner named Tonga, who also wanted to escape.

"Tonga knew how to navigate a canoe and make poison darts, which he could shoot through a blowpipe. After making our plans carefully, one night, we broke out of the prison. Tonga killed a guard with his blowpipe, and then we rushed to the wharf where a friendly islander had left us a canoe and supplies for our journey."

"We survived on the ocean for ten days until a trading ship picked us up. Eventually, we made it back to England. I quickly found out where Sholto lived and that he had the treasure. I tried many times to kill him, but he was always too well protected.

"One day, I heard that he was dying, so I hurried to his house. I saw him lying in his bed through the window. I think the shock of seeing me made him die. It’s a little comforting to know that my hateful look was the last thing he saw. That night, I broke into his house and searched his papers for clues about where the treasure was, but I found nothing. Six more years passed before I heard that the treasure had been found. I asked Tonga to help me get it. I think you know the rest."

"That's an amazing story!" said Sherlock Holmes.

"Yes, indeed!" said Jones. "And now it's time to put our storyteller where he belongs: behind bars."

"Goodnight, gentlemen!" Jonathan Small said as he was taken away.

After they left, I said to Holmes, "It seems a little unfair that Athelney Jones gets all the credit after all the work you've done on this case."

My friend just smiled. "You should know by now, Watson, that the joy of solving the mystery is all the reward I need."