+++ /dev/null
-CHAPTER I. MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES.
-
-
-IN the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the
-University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course
-prescribed for surgeons in the army. Having completed my studies there,
-I was duly attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as Assistant
-Surgeon. The regiment was stationed in India at the time, and before
-I could join it, the second Afghan war had broken out. On landing at
-Bombay, I learned that my corps had advanced through the passes, and
-was already deep in the enemy's country. I followed, however, with many
-other officers who were in the same situation as myself, and succeeded
-in reaching Candahar in safety, where I found my regiment, and at once
-entered upon my new duties.
-
-The campaign brought honours and promotion to many, but for me it had
-nothing but misfortune and disaster. I was removed from my brigade and
-attached to the Berkshires, with whom I served at the fatal battle of
-Maiwand. There I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which
-shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery. I should have
-fallen into the hands of the murderous Ghazis had it not been for the
-devotion and courage shown by Murray, my orderly, who threw me across a
-pack-horse, and succeeded in bringing me safely to the British lines.
-
-Worn with pain, and weak from the prolonged hardships which I had
-undergone, I was removed, with a great train of wounded sufferers, to
-the base hospital at Peshawar. Here I rallied, and had already improved
-so far as to be able to walk about the wards, and even to bask a little
-upon the verandah, when I was struck down by enteric fever, that curse
-of our Indian possessions. For months my life was despaired of, and
-when at last I came to myself and became convalescent, I was so weak and
-emaciated that a medical board determined that not a day should be lost
-in sending me back to England. I was dispatched, accordingly, in the
-troopship "Orontes," and landed a month later on Portsmouth jetty, with
-my health irretrievably ruined, but with permission from a paternal
-government to spend the next nine months in attempting to improve it.
-
-I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as
-air--or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will
-permit a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to
-London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of
-the Empire are irresistibly drained. There I stayed for some time at
-a private hotel in the Strand, leading a comfortless, meaningless
-existence, and spending such money as I had, considerably more freely
-than I ought. So alarming did the state of my finances become, that
-I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis and rusticate
-somewhere in the country, or that I must make a complete alteration in
-my style of living. Choosing the latter alternative, I began by making
-up my mind to leave the hotel, and to take up my quarters in some less
-pretentious and less expensive domicile.
-
-On the very day that I had come to this conclusion, I was standing at
-the Criterion Bar, when some one tapped me on the shoulder, and turning
-round I recognized young Stamford, who had been a dresser under me at
-Barts. The sight of a friendly face in the great wilderness of London is
-a pleasant thing indeed to a lonely man. In old days Stamford had never
-been a particular crony of mine, but now I hailed him with enthusiasm,
-and he, in his turn, appeared to be delighted to see me. In the
-exuberance of my joy, I asked him to lunch with me at the Holborn, and
-we started off together in a hansom.
-
-"Whatever have you been doing with yourself, Watson?" he asked in
-undisguised wonder, as we rattled through the crowded London streets.
-"You are as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut."
-
-I gave him a short sketch of my adventures, and had hardly concluded it
-by the time that we reached our destination.
-
-"Poor devil!" he said, commiseratingly, after he had listened to my
-misfortunes. "What are you up to now?"
-
-"Looking for lodgings." [3] I answered. "Trying to solve the problem
-as to whether it is possible to get comfortable rooms at a reasonable
-price."
-
-"That's a strange thing," remarked my companion; "you are the second man
-to-day that has used that expression to me."
-
-"And who was the first?" I asked.
-
-"A fellow who is working at the chemical laboratory up at the hospital.
-He was bemoaning himself this morning because he could not get someone
-to go halves with him in some nice rooms which he had found, and which
-were too much for his purse."
-
-"By Jove!" I cried, "if he really wants someone to share the rooms and
-the expense, I am the very man for him. I should prefer having a partner
-to being alone."
-
-Young Stamford looked rather strangely at me over his wine-glass. "You
-don't know Sherlock Holmes yet," he said; "perhaps you would not care
-for him as a constant companion."
-
-"Why, what is there against him?"
-
-"Oh, I didn't say there was anything against him. He is a little queer
-in his ideas--an enthusiast in some branches of science. As far as I
-know he is a decent fellow enough."
-
-"A medical student, I suppose?" said I.
-
-"No--I have no idea what he intends to go in for. I believe he is well
-up in anatomy, and he is a first-class chemist; but, as far as I know,
-he has never taken out any systematic medical classes. His studies are
-very desultory and eccentric, but he has amassed a lot of out-of-the way
-knowledge which would astonish his professors."
-
-"Did you never ask him what he was going in for?" I asked.
-
-"No; he is not a man that it is easy to draw out, though he can be
-communicative enough when the fancy seizes him."
-
-"I should like to meet him," I said. "If I am to lodge with anyone, I
-should prefer a man of studious and quiet habits. I am not strong
-enough yet to stand much noise or excitement. I had enough of both in
-Afghanistan to last me for the remainder of my natural existence. How
-could I meet this friend of yours?"
-
-"He is sure to be at the laboratory," returned my companion. "He either
-avoids the place for weeks, or else he works there from morning to
-night. If you like, we shall drive round together after luncheon."
-
-"Certainly," I answered, and the conversation drifted away into other
-channels.
-
-As we made our way to the hospital after leaving the Holborn, Stamford
-gave me a few more particulars about the gentleman whom I proposed to
-take as a fellow-lodger.
-
-"You mustn't blame me if you don't get on with him," he said; "I know
-nothing more of him than I have learned from meeting him occasionally in
-the laboratory. You proposed this arrangement, so you must not hold me
-responsible."
-
-"If we don't get on it will be easy to part company," I answered. "It
-seems to me, Stamford," I added, looking hard at my companion, "that you
-have some reason for washing your hands of the matter. Is this fellow's
-temper so formidable, or what is it? Don't be mealy-mouthed about it."
-
-"It is not easy to express the inexpressible," he answered with a laugh.
-"Holmes is a little too scientific for my tastes--it approaches to
-cold-bloodedness. I could imagine his giving a friend a little pinch of
-the latest vegetable alkaloid, not out of malevolence, you understand,
-but simply out of a spirit of inquiry in order to have an accurate idea
-of the effects. To do him justice, I think that he would take it himself
-with the same readiness. He appears to have a passion for definite and
-exact knowledge."
-
-"Very right too."
-
-"Yes, but it may be pushed to excess. When it comes to beating the
-subjects in the dissecting-rooms with a stick, it is certainly taking
-rather a bizarre shape."
-
-"Beating the subjects!"
-
-"Yes, to verify how far bruises may be produced after death. I saw him
-at it with my own eyes."
-
-"And yet you say he is not a medical student?"
-
-"No. Heaven knows what the objects of his studies are. But here we
-are, and you must form your own impressions about him." As he spoke, we
-turned down a narrow lane and passed through a small side-door, which
-opened into a wing of the great hospital. It was familiar ground to me,
-and I needed no guiding as we ascended the bleak stone staircase and
-made our way down the long corridor with its vista of whitewashed
-wall and dun-coloured doors. Near the further end a low arched passage
-branched away from it and led to the chemical laboratory.
-
-This was a lofty chamber, lined and littered with countless bottles.
-Broad, low tables were scattered about, which bristled with retorts,
-test-tubes, and little Bunsen lamps, with their blue flickering flames.
-There was only one student in the room, who was bending over a distant
-table absorbed in his work. At the sound of our steps he glanced round
-and sprang to his feet with a cry of pleasure. "I've found it! I've
-found it," he shouted to my companion, running towards us with a
-test-tube in his hand. "I have found a re-agent which is precipitated
-by hoemoglobin, [4] and by nothing else." Had he discovered a gold mine,
-greater delight could not have shone upon his features.
-
-"Dr. Watson, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said Stamford, introducing us.
-
-"How are you?" he said cordially, gripping my hand with a strength
-for which I should hardly have given him credit. "You have been in
-Afghanistan, I perceive."
-
-"How on earth did you know that?" I asked in astonishment.
-
-"Never mind," said he, chuckling to himself. "The question now is about
-hoemoglobin. No doubt you see the significance of this discovery of
-mine?"
-
-"It is interesting, chemically, no doubt," I answered, "but
-practically----"
-
-"Why, man, it is the most practical medico-legal discovery for years.
-Don't you see that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains. Come
-over here now!" He seized me by the coat-sleeve in his eagerness, and
-drew me over to the table at which he had been working. "Let us have
-some fresh blood," he said, digging a long bodkin into his finger, and
-drawing off the resulting drop of blood in a chemical pipette. "Now, I
-add this small quantity of blood to a litre of water. You perceive that
-the resulting mixture has the appearance of pure water. The proportion
-of blood cannot be more than one in a million. I have no doubt, however,
-that we shall be able to obtain the characteristic reaction." As he
-spoke, he threw into the vessel a few white crystals, and then added
-some drops of a transparent fluid. In an instant the contents assumed a
-dull mahogany colour, and a brownish dust was precipitated to the bottom
-of the glass jar.
-
-"Ha! ha!" he cried, clapping his hands, and looking as delighted as a
-child with a new toy. "What do you think of that?"
-
-"It seems to be a very delicate test," I remarked.
-
-"Beautiful! beautiful! The old Guiacum test was very clumsy and
-uncertain. So is the microscopic examination for blood corpuscles. The
-latter is valueless if the stains are a few hours old. Now, this appears
-to act as well whether the blood is old or new. Had this test been
-invented, there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who would long
-ago have paid the penalty of their crimes."
-
-"Indeed!" I murmured.
-
-"Criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point. A man is
-suspected of a crime months perhaps after it has been committed. His
-linen or clothes are examined, and brownish stains discovered upon them.
-Are they blood stains, or mud stains, or rust stains, or fruit stains,
-or what are they? That is a question which has puzzled many an expert,
-and why? Because there was no reliable test. Now we have the Sherlock
-Holmes' test, and there will no longer be any difficulty."
-
-His eyes fairly glittered as he spoke, and he put his hand over his
-heart and bowed as if to some applauding crowd conjured up by his
-imagination.
-
-"You are to be congratulated," I remarked, considerably surprised at his
-enthusiasm.
-
-"There was the case of Von Bischoff at Frankfort last year. He would
-certainly have been hung had this test been in existence. Then there was
-Mason of Bradford, and the notorious Muller, and Lefevre of Montpellier,
-and Samson of new Orleans. I could name a score of cases in which it
-would have been decisive."
-
-"You seem to be a walking calendar of crime," said Stamford with a
-laugh. "You might start a paper on those lines. Call it the 'Police News
-of the Past.'"
-
-"Very interesting reading it might be made, too," remarked Sherlock
-Holmes, sticking a small piece of plaster over the prick on his finger.
-"I have to be careful," he continued, turning to me with a smile, "for I
-dabble with poisons a good deal." He held out his hand as he spoke, and
-I noticed that it was all mottled over with similar pieces of plaster,
-and discoloured with strong acids.
-
-"We came here on business," said Stamford, sitting down on a high
-three-legged stool, and pushing another one in my direction with
-his foot. "My friend here wants to take diggings, and as you were
-complaining that you could get no one to go halves with you, I thought
-that I had better bring you together."
-
-Sherlock Holmes seemed delighted at the idea of sharing his rooms with
-me. "I have my eye on a suite in Baker Street," he said, "which would
-suit us down to the ground. You don't mind the smell of strong tobacco,
-I hope?"
-
-"I always smoke 'ship's' myself," I answered.
-
-"That's good enough. I generally have chemicals about, and occasionally
-do experiments. Would that annoy you?"
-
-"By no means."
-
-"Let me see--what are my other shortcomings. I get in the dumps at
-times, and don't open my mouth for days on end. You must not think I am
-sulky when I do that. Just let me alone, and I'll soon be right. What
-have you to confess now? It's just as well for two fellows to know the
-worst of one another before they begin to live together."
-
-I laughed at this cross-examination. "I keep a bull pup," I said, "and
-I object to rows because my nerves are shaken, and I get up at all sorts
-of ungodly hours, and I am extremely lazy. I have another set of vices
-when I'm well, but those are the principal ones at present."
-
-"Do you include violin-playing in your category of rows?" he asked,
-anxiously.
-
-"It depends on the player," I answered. "A well-played violin is a treat
-for the gods--a badly-played one----"
-
-"Oh, that's all right," he cried, with a merry laugh. "I think we may
-consider the thing as settled--that is, if the rooms are agreeable to
-you."
-
-"When shall we see them?"
-
-"Call for me here at noon to-morrow, and we'll go together and settle
-everything," he answered.
-
-"All right--noon exactly," said I, shaking his hand.
-
-We left him working among his chemicals, and we walked together towards
-my hotel.
-
-"By the way," I asked suddenly, stopping and turning upon Stamford, "how
-the deuce did he know that I had come from Afghanistan?"
-
-My companion smiled an enigmatical smile. "That's just his little
-peculiarity," he said. "A good many people have wanted to know how he
-finds things out."
-
-"Oh! a mystery is it?" I cried, rubbing my hands. "This is very piquant.
-I am much obliged to you for bringing us together. 'The proper study of
-mankind is man,' you know."
-
-"You must study him, then," Stamford said, as he bade me good-bye.
-"You'll find him a knotty problem, though. I'll wager he learns more
-about you than you about him. Good-bye."
-
-"Good-bye," I answered, and strolled on to my hotel, considerably
-interested in my new acquaintance.
-
-
-CHAPTER II. THE SCIENCE OF DEDUCTION.
-
-
-WE met next day as he had arranged, and inspected the rooms at No. 221B,
-Baker Street, of which he had spoken at our meeting. They
-consisted of a couple of comfortable bed-rooms and a single large
-airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad
-windows. So desirable in every way were the apartments, and so moderate
-did the terms seem when divided between us, that the bargain was
-concluded upon the spot, and we at once entered into possession.
-That very evening I moved my things round from the hotel, and on the
-following morning Sherlock Holmes followed me with several boxes and
-portmanteaus. For a day or two we were busily employed in unpacking and
-laying out our property to the best advantage. That done, we
-gradually began to settle down and to accommodate ourselves to our new
-surroundings.
-
-Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with. He was quiet
-in his ways, and his habits were regular. It was rare for him to be
-up after ten at night, and he had invariably breakfasted and gone out
-before I rose in the morning. Sometimes he spent his day at the chemical
-laboratory, sometimes in the dissecting-rooms, and occasionally in long
-walks, which appeared to take him into the lowest portions of the City.
-Nothing could exceed his energy when the working fit was upon him; but
-now and again a reaction would seize him, and for days on end he would
-lie upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a word or moving
-a muscle from morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such
-a dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him
-of being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance
-and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion.
-
projects / mmh / commitdiff