A Study In Scarlet Part 1 (2/2)
”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 hether the blood is old or new Had this test been invented, there are hundreds of o have paid the penalty of their crimes”
”Indeed!” Iupon 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 Noe have the Sherlock Holer be any difficulty”
His eyes fairly glittered as he spoke, and he put his hand over his heart and bowed as if to soination
”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 see calendar of criht start a paper on those lines Call it the `Police News of the Past'”
”Very interesting reading ita ser ”I have to be careful,” he continued, turning to ood deal” He held out his hand as he spoke, and I noticed that it was all mottled over with si acids
”We cah three-legged stool, and pushi+ng another one in ings, and as you were coo halves with you, I thought that I had better bring you together”
Sherlock Hol 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'ttobacco, I hope?”
”I always sood enough I generally have chemicals about, and occasionally do experiments Would that annoy you?”
”By no s 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 ht 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 et 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 aas settled -- that is, if the rooreeable to you”
”When shall we see theo together and settle everything,” he answered
”All right -- noon exactly,” said I, shaking his hand
We left hiether towardsand turning upon Stahanistan?”
My comatical sood s out”
”Oh! aed to you for bringing us together `The proper study of mankind is man,' you know”
”You ood-bye ”You'll find hier 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 ed, and inspected the rooms at No 221B, {5} Baker Street, of which he had spoken at ourThey consisted of a couple of co-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad s So desirable in every ere the apartments, and so moderate did the terain was concluded upon the spot, and we at once entered into possession That very evening ISherlock Holmes followed me with several boxes and portmanteaus For a day or tere busily e out our property to the best advantage That done, we gradually began to settle down and to accos
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 hiht, and he had invariably breakfasted and gone out before I rose in theSometimes he spent his day at the che-roo walks, which appeared to take hi could exceed his energy when the working fit was upon hiain a reaction would seize him, and for days on end he would lie upon the sofa in the sitting-roo to night On these occasions I have noticed such a dreaht have suspected hi addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion
As the weeks went by, radually deepened and increased His very person and appearance were such as to strike the attention of the ht 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 of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision His chin, too, had the prominence and squareness which mark the man of determination His hands were invariably blotted with ink and stained with chemicals, yet he was possessed of extraordinary delicacy of touch, as I frequently had occasion to observe when I watched hiile philosophical instruments
The reader may set me down as a hopeless busybody, when I confess how much this man stimulated h the reticence which he showed on all that concerned himent, however, be it remembered, how objectless was eout unless the weather was exceptionally genial, and I had no friends ould call upon me and break the monotony of erly hailed the littlearoundto unravel it
He was not studying medicine He had himself, in reply to a question, confirmed Stamford's opinion upon that point Neither did he appear to have pursued any course of reading which nized portal which would give him an entrance into the learned world Yet his zeal for certain studies was ree was so extraordinarily ample and minute that his observations have fairly astounded me Surely no man would work so hard or attain such precise information unless he had some definite end in view Desultory readers are seldo No man burdens his ood reason for doing so
His ignorance was as ree Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing UponThoht be and what he had done My surprise reached a clinorant of the Copernican Theory and of the co in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it
”You appear to be astonished,” he said, s at my expression of surprise ”Now that I do know it I shall do et it!”
”You see,” he explained, ”I consider that a inally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose A fool takes in all the lue which ets crowded out, or at best is jus so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic He will have nothing but the tools which e assortment, and all in the most perfect order It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent Depend upon it there coet sohest i out the useful ones”
”But the Solar System!” I protested
”What the deuce is it to o round the sun If ent round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference tohi in his manner showed me that the question would be an unwelcome one I pondered over our short conversation, however, and endeavoured to draw my deductions froe which did not bear upon his object Therefore all the knowledge which he possessed was such as would be useful to him I enumerated in my own mind all the various points upon which he had shown me that he was exceptionally well-informed I even took a pencil and jotted the at the document when I had completed it It ran in this way -- SHERLOCK HOLMES -- his lie of Literature -- Nil 2 Philosophy -- Nil 3 Astronomy -- Nil 4 Politics -- Feeble 5 Botany -- Variable Well up in belladonna, opiu 6 Geology -- Practical, but lilance different soils from each other After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them 7 Chemistry -- Profound 8 Anatomy -- Accurate, but unsystematic 9 Sensational Literature -- Immense He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century 10 Plays the violin well 11 Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordse of British law
When I had got so far in my list I threw it into the fire in despair ”If I can only find what the fellow is driving at by reconciling all these acco which needs theive up the attempt at once”
I see that I have alluded above to his powers upon the violin These were very remarkable, but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments That he could play pieces, and difficult pieces, I kneell, because at my request he has played me some of Mendelssohn's Lieder, and other favourites When left to himself, however, he would seldo back in his ar, he would close his eyes and scrape carelessly at the fiddle which was thrown across his knee Sometimes the chords were sonorous and melancholy Occasionally they were fantastic and cheerful Clearly they reflected the thoughts which possessed hihts, or whether the playing was simply the result of a whiht have rebelled against these exasperating solos had it not been that he usually ter in quick succession a whole series of ht co the first week or so we had no callers, and I had begun to think that my companion was as friendless a man as I was myself Presently, however, I found that he had many acquaintances, and those in the most different classes of society There was one little sallow rat-faced, dark-eyed felloas introduced to le week One irl called, fashi+onably dressed, and stayed for half an hour or rey-headed, seedy visitor, looking like a Jew pedlar, who appeared to me to be much excited, and as closely followed by a slip-shod elderly woentleman had an intervieith my companion; and on another a railway porter in his velveteen uniform When any of these nondescript individuals put in an appearance, Sherlock Hol-rooized tome to this inconvenience ”I have to use this room as a place of business,” he said, ”and these people arehiainanother ined at the ti to it, but he soon dispelled the idea by co round to the subject of his own accord