Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1894-04-19

faculties of observation and teaches
one where to look and what to look
for. BY a mans f~nger-nails, by his
coat-sleeve, by his boot, by his rouser-
knees, by the callosities. of his fore
finger and thumb, by his expression,
by his shirt-cuffs-by each of these
things a mans calling is plainly re-
vealed. That all united should fail to
e%nlighten the competent inquirer in
any case is almost inconceivabIe."
'tWhat ineffable t~waddle!" l cried,
slapping the magazine down on the
table; Il never read such rubbish in
my life"
''Whatis it?' asked Sherlock Holmes.
'Why, this article" | said, pointing
at it with my egg spoon as l sat down
to my breakfast. 4 see that you have
read it, since you have marked it. J
don't deny that it is smartfy writ
ten. It irritates me though. 1t is
evidently the theory of some armchair
lounger who evolves all these neat lit
tie paradozes in The s~eclusion of his
own study. 1t is not practical. l
should like TO see him clapped down in
a third-class carriage on the Under
all his fellow travellers. | would lay a
Il l1OuS414ii " " SS Al Al
"Tou would lose your money" Sher-
lock Holmes remarked, calmly. las
for the article. | wrote it myself"
Your
YES, | have a turn both for observa-
ton and for deduction. The theories
which | have expressed there. and
which appear to you to be SO chilneri,
cal. are really extremely practical-so
practical that depend upon them for
my bread and cheese"
"And how?" | asked, involuntarily.
well, / have a trade of my own. /
suppose | am the only n in the world.
I'm a consulting detective, if you can
| understand what thai is. Here in Lon
don we have lots of government detec-
tives and lots of private ones. When
these fellows are at fault they come to
me, and | manage to put them On the
right scent. They lay all the evidence
before me, and | am generally able, by
the help of my knowledge Of the his
tory of crime, to set them straight
There is a strong family resemblance
about misdeeds, and if you have all the
details of a thousand at your finger
| ends, it is odd if you can't unravel the
| thousand and first. Lestrade is a we'll
| known detective. He got himself into
a fog recently over a forgery case, and
that was what brought him here"
"And these other people?"
"They are mostly sent outby private
inquiry agencies. They are all people
who are in trouble about something,
and want a little enlightening. 1
listen to their story. they listen to my
comments. and hen l pocket my fee"
"But do you mean to say" | said,
that without leaving your room you
| can unravel some knot which other
men can make nothing of, although
they have seen every detail for them
| s~eIvsRF"
'Quite 50. I have a kind Of intui-
ton that way. Now and again a case
turns up which is a little more com
pick. Then l have to hustle about and
see things with my own eyes. You
see, 1 have a lot of special knowledge
which I apply to the problem, and
which facilitates matters wonderfully.
Those rules of deduction laid down in
that article which aroused your scorn
are Invaluable to me in practical work.
Observation with mo is second nature.
You appeared to be surprised when
told you, on our first meeting, thatyou
had come from Afghanistan."
You were told, no doubt.
Nothing of the sort. l knew you
came from Afghanistan, From long
habit the train of thought ran SO swift
ly through my mind that l arrived al
the conclusion without being conscious
of intermediate steps. There were
such steps, however. The train OF
reasoning ran: Here is a gentleman
of Il medical type, but with the air of
military man. Clearly an army doc
tor, then. He has just come from the
tropics, for his face is dark, and that
is not the natural tint of his skin, fol
his wrists are fair. He has undergone
hardship and sickness, as his haggarC
face says clearly. His left arm ha.
been injured. lie holds it in a stiff
and unnatural manner. Where in the
tropics could an English army doctor
lhave seen much hardship and got hi.
arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanis
tam The whole train of thought die
not occupy a second. I then remarked
that you came from Afghanistan, ant
you We're astonished."
sit is simple enough as you explain
it," said, smiling. You remind me
of Edgar Allan Poc's 'Dupin.' l hat
no idea that such individuals did exis-
outside of stories"
Sherlock Holmes sse and lit hi.
pipe. mo doubt you think that you
are complimenting me in comparing
me to Dupin," he Observed. Now, il
my opinion, DCPin VS. a very inferio,
fellow. That trick of his of breaking
in on his friends thoughts with al
apropos remark after a quarter of al
hours silence is really very snowy anC
superficial. He had some analytical
genius, no doubt; but he was by NJ
means such a phenomenon as Zoe ap
peared to imagine"
Have you read Gaboriau's works?'
l asked. docs Lecoq come up to you
l idea of a detective?"
Sherlock Holmes shifted sardonically
"Lecoq was a miserable bungler," h
said, in an angry voice; "he had onl,
/ one thing to recommend him, and tina
: was his energy. That book made M
positively i'll. The question vas hov
to identify an unknown prisoner.
could have done it in twenty-fou
, hours. Lecoq took six months or SO
2 1t might be made a textbook for de
tectives to teach them what to avoid.
1 felt rather indignant at having tw,
] characters whom 1 had admired treat
! ed in this cavalier style. l walked owe
: ], Is Il
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