Then there was Mason of Bradford, and the notorious Muller, andLefevre of Montpellier, and Samson of new Orleans. I could namea score of cases in which it would have been decisive.”
“You seem to be a walking calendar of crime,” said Stamfordwith 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,” remarkedSherlock Holmes, sticking a small piece of plaster over the prickon his finger. “I have to be careful,” he continued, turning to mewith a smile, “for I dabble with poisons a good deal.” He held outhis hand as he spoke, and I noticed that it was all mottled overwith similar pieces of plaster, and discoloured with strong acids.
“We came here on business,” said Stamford, sitting down on ahigh three-legged stool, and pushing another one in my directionwith his foot. “My friend here wants to take diggings; and as youwere 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 hisrooms 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 thesmell of strong tobacco, I hope?”
“I always smoke ‘ship’s’ myself,” I answered.
“That’s good enough. I generally have chemicals about, andoccasionally do experiments. Would that annoy you?”
“By no means.”
“Let me see—what are my other shortcomings. I get in thedumps at times, and don’t open my mouth for days on end. Youmust not think I am sulky when I do that. Just let me alone, and I’llsoon be right. What have you to confess now? It’s just as well fortwo fellows to know the worst of one another before they begin tolive together.”
I laughed at this cross-examination. “I keep a bull pup,” I said, “andI object to rows because my nerves are shaken, and I get up at allsorts of ungodly hours, and I am extremely lazy. I have another setof vices when I’m well, but those are the principal ones at present.”
“Do you include violin-playing in your category of rows?” heasked, anxiously.
“It depends on the player,” I answered. “A well-played violin is atreat for the gods—a badly-played one——”
“Oh, that’s all right,” he cried, with a merry laugh. “I thinkwe may consider the thing as settled—that is, if the rooms areagreeable to you.”
“When shall we see them?”
“Call for me here at noon to-morrow, and we’ll go together andsettle everything,” he answered.
“All right—noon exactly,” said I, shaking his hand.
We left him working among his chemicals, and we walkedtogether towards my hotel.
“By the way,” I asked suddenly, stopping and turning uponStamford, “how the deuce did he know that I had come fromAfghanistan?”
My companion smiled an enigmatical smile. “That’s just his littlepeculiarity,” he said. “A good many people have wanted to knowhow he finds things out.”
“Oh! a mystery is it?” I cried, rubbing my hands. “This is verypiquant. I am much obliged to you for bringing us together. ‘theproper study of mankind is man,’ you know.”
“You must study him, then,” Stamford said, as he bade me goodbye.
“You’ll find him a knotty problem, though. I’ll wager he learnsmore about you than you about him. Good-bye.”
“Good-bye,” I answered, and strolled on to my hotel, considerablyinterested in my new acquaintance.
The Science of Deduction
WE met next day as he had arranged, and inspected therooms at No. 221B, Baker Street, of which he had spoken at ourmeeting. They consisted of a couple of comfortable bedroomsand a single large airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, andilluminated by two broad windows. So desirable in every waywere the apartments, and so moderate did the terms seem whendivided between us, that the bargain was concluded upon thespot, and we at once entered into possession. That very eveningI moved my things round from the hotel, and on the followingmorning Sherlock Holmes followed me with several boxes andportmanteaus. For a day or two we were busily employed inunpacking and laying out our property to the best advantage. Thatdone, we gradually began to settle down and to accommodateourselves to our new surroundings.
Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with. He wasquiet in his ways, and his habits were regular. It was rare for himto be up after ten at night, and he had invariably breakfasted andgone out before I rose in the morning. Sometimes he spent hisday at the chemical laboratory, sometimes in the dissecting-rooms,and occasionally in long walks, which appeared to take him intothe lowest portions of the City. Nothing could exceed his energywhen the working fit was upon him; but now and again a reactionwould seize him, and for days on end he would lie upon the sofa inthe sitting-room, hardly uttering a word or moving a muscle frommorning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such a dreamy,vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him ofbeing addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperanceand cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion.
As the weeks went by, my interest in him and my curiosity asto his aims in life, gradually deepened and increased. His veryperson and appearance were such as to strike the attention ofthe most casual observer. In height he was rather over six feet,and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller.
His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals oftorpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gavehis whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin,too, had the prominence and squareness which mark the man ofdetermination. His hands were invariably blotted with ink andstained with chemicals, yet he was possessed of extraordinarydelicacy of touch, as I frequently had occasion to observe when Iwatched him manipulating his fragile philosophical instruments.