another train, and at last took the night boat from Newhaven. For five days we travelled through France and Germany in the same wild and crazy way. Holmes would not say where we were going. I never took my eyes off him during those days, but the right moment to talk to him never came. Holmes seemed stronger than ever, while I was getting weaker every day. Only the cocaine made it possible for me to stay awake.
Finally, sitting one night in a hotel in Switzerland, I knew that I could not go on much longer. I had told Holmes that next day I wanted to walk over the mountains to the famous Reichenbach Falls. I decided that I would tell him what I knew about him when we were alone in the mountains. The cocaine was almost finished. Whether I lived or died, the end must come that day.
We did not begin our walk to the Reichenbach Falls until the afternoon. Holmes refused to go out before lunch. I was frightened. I had no more cocaine, and soon I would be too tired to go on. At last we left the hotel, and started to walk along the mountain paths. Holmes talked happily as we went. He found the mountains very beautiful
When we had gone a little way, I found that I had left my watch at the hotel. It had belonged to my father, and I wanted to know that it was safe. I told Holmes that I would return to the hotel, find the watch, and see him later at the Falls. I hoped that I was doing the right thing, and that he would not disappear.
When at last I reached the Falls, I could not see him, and thought for a moment that he had escaped me. Then I saw a narrow path which was cut into the rock right above the Falls themselves. Holmes was standing on that path, watching the