ItmayhavebeenalittleoveranhourbeforeI
　　reachedMeiringen。OldSteilerwasstandingattheporchofhishotel。”Well，”saidI，asIcamehurryingup，”Itrustthatsheisnoworse?”
　　alookofsurprisepassedoverhisface，andatthefirstquiverofhiseyebrowsmyheartturnedtoleadinmybreast。”Youdidnotwritethis?”Isaid，pullingtheletterfrommypocket。”ThereisnosickEnglishwomaninthehotel?””Certainlynot！”hecried。”Butithasthehotelmarkuponit！Ha，itmusthavebeenwrittenbythattallEnglishmanwhocameinafteryouhadgone。Hesaid——”
　　butIwaitedfornoneofthelandlord’sexplanations。
　　InatingleoffearIwasalreadyrunningdownthevillagestreet，andmakingforthepathwhichIhadsolatelydescended。Ithadtakenmeanhourtocomedown。ForallmyeffortstwomorehadpassedbeforeI
　　foundmyselfatthefallofReichenbachoncemore。
　　TherewasHolmes’sAlpine-stockstillleaningagainsttherockbywhichIhadlefthim。Buttherewasnosignofhim，anditwasinvainthatIshouted。Myonlyanswerwasmyownvoicereverberatinginarollingechofromthecliffsaroundme。
　　ItwasthesightofthatAlpine-stockwhichturnedmecoldandsick。HehadnotgonetoRosenlaui，then。
　　Hehadremainedonthatthree-footpath，withsheerwallononesideandsheerdropontheother，untilhisenemyhadovertakenhim。TheyoungSwisshadgonetoo。HehadprobablybeeninthepayofMoriarty，andhadleftthetwomentogether。Andthenwhathadhappened?Whowastotelluswhathadhappenedthen?
　　Istoodforaminuteortwotocollectmyself，forI
　　wasdazedwiththehorrorofthething。ThenIbegantothinkofHolmes’sownmethodsandtotrytopractisetheminreadingthistragedy。Itwas，alas，onlytooeasytodo。Duringourconversationwehadnotgonetotheendofthepath，andtheAlpine-stockmarkedtheplacewherewehadstood。Theblackishsoiliskeptforeversoftbytheincessantdriftofspray，andabirdwouldleaveitstreaduponit。Twolinesoffootmarkswereclearlymarkedalongthefartherendofthepath，bothleadingawayfromme。
　　Therewerenonereturning。Afewyardsfromtheendthesoilwasallploughedupintoapatchofmud，andthebranchesandfernswhichfringedthechasmweretornandbedraggled。Ilayuponmyfaceandpeeredoverwiththesprayspoutingupallaroundme。IthaddarkenedsinceIleft，andnowIcouldonlyseehereandtheretheglisteningofmoistureupontheblackwalls，andfarawaydownattheendoftheshaftthegleamofthebrokenwater。Ishouted；butonlythesamehalf-humancryofthefallwasbornebacktomyears。
　　ButitwasdestinedthatIshouldafterallhavealastwordofgreetingfrommyfriendandcomrade。I
　　havesaidthathisAlpine-stockhadbeenleftleaningagainstarockwhichjuttedontothepath。Fromthetopofthisbowlderthegleamofsomethingbrightcaughtmyeye，and，raisingmyhand，Ifoundthatitcamefromthesilvercigarette-casewhichheusedtocarry。AsItookitupasmallsquareofpaperuponwhichithadlainfluttereddownontotheground。
　　Unfoldingit，Ifoundthatitconsistedofthreepagestornfromhisnote-bookandaddressedtome。Itwascharacteristicofthemanthatthedirectionwasaprecise，andthewritingasfirmandclear，asthoughithadbeenwritteninhisstudy。
　　MydearWatson[itsaid]，IwritethesefewlinesthroughthecourtesyofMr。Moriarty，whoawaitsmyconvenienceforthefinaldiscussionofthosequestionswhichliebetweenus。HehasbeengivingmeasketchofthemethodsbywhichheavoidedtheEnglishpoliceandkepthimselfinformedofourmovements。TheycertainlyconfirmtheveryhighopinionwhichIhadformedofhisabilities。IampleasedtothinkthatIshallbeabletofreesocietyfromanyfurthereffectsofhispresence，thoughI
　　fearthatitisatacostwhichwillgivepaintomyfriends，andespecially，mydearWatson，toyou。I
　　havealreadyexplainedtoyou，however，thatmycareerhadinanycasereacheditscrisis，andthatnopossibleconclusiontoitcouldbemorecongenialtomethanthis。Indeed，ifImaymakeafullconfessiontoyou，IwasquiteconvincedthattheletterfromMeiringenwasahoax，andIallowedyoutodepartonthaterrandunderthepersuasionthatsomedevelopmentofthissortwouldfollow。TellInspectorPattersonthatthepaperswhichheneedstoconvictthegangareinpigeonholeM。，doneupinablueenvelopeandinscribed”Moriarty。”ImadeeverydispositionofmypropertybeforeleavingEngland，andhandedittomybrotherMycroft。PraygivemygreetingstoMrs。
　　Watson，andbelievemetobe，mydearfellow，Verysincerelyyours，SherlockHolmesAfewwordsmaysufficetotellthelittlethatremains。Anexaminationbyexpertsleaveslittledoubtthatapersonalcontestbetweenthetwomenended，asitcouldhardlyfailtoendinsuchasituation，intheirreelingover，lockedineachother’sarms。Anyattemptatrecoveringthebodieswasabsolutelyhopeless，andthere，deepdowninthatdreadfulcaldronofswirlingwaterandseethingfoam，willlieforalltimethemostdangerouscriminalandtheforemostchampionofthelawoftheirgeneration。
　　TheSwissyouthwasneverfoundagain，andtherecanbenodoubtthathewasoneofthenumerousagentswhomMoriartykeptinthisemploy。Astothegang，itwillbewithinthememoryofthepublichowcompletelytheevidencewhichHolmeshadaccumulatedexposedtheirorganization，andhowheavilythehandofthedeadmanweighteduponthem。Oftheirterriblechieffewdetailscameoutduringtheproceedings，andifI
　　havenowbeencompelledtomakeaclearstatementofhiscareeritisduetothoseinjudiciouschampionswhohaveendeavoredtoclearhismemorybyattacksuponhimwhomIshalleverregardasthebestandthewisestmanwhomIhaveeverknown。
　　End