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