Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-05-31


vealed. That all united should fail to
enlighten the competent inquirer in
any case is almost inconceivable."
"What ineffable twaddle!'' I cried,
slapping the magazine down on the
table; II never read such rubbish in
my life"
"What is it?" asked Sherlock Holmes
'Why, this article" said, pointing
at it with my egg spoon as sat down
to my breakfast. Il see that you have
read it, since you have marked it. I
don't deny that it is smartly writ
ten. It irritates me, though. 1t is
evidently the theory of some armchair
lounger who evolves all these neat lit
tie paradoxes in the seclusion of his
own study. 1t is not practical. I
should like to see him clapped down in
third-class carriage on the Under
ground, and asked to give the trades of
all his fellow travellers. would lay a
thousand to one against him.
''You would lose your money!" Sher-
lock Holmes remarked, calmly. "As
for the article, wrote it myself"
"You.'
eyes, have turn both for observa-
ton and for deduction. The theories
which l have expressed there, and
which appear to you to be so chimeri-
cal, are really extremely practical-so
practical that depend upon them for
my bread and cheese"
''And how?" 1 asked, involuntarily
"Well, have trade of my own.
suppose am the only one in the world
I'm consulting detective, if you can
understand what that 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 strong family resemblance
about misdeeds, and if you have all the
details of thousand at your finger
ends, it is odd if you can't unravel the
thousand and first. Lestrade is we'll
known de:ective. He got himself into
a fog recently over a forgery case, and
that was what brought him here"
''And these other people?'
lucy dIC uOStly otut ny private
inquiry agencies. They are all people
who are in trouble about something,
and want little enlightening. 1
listen to their story, they listen to my
comments, and then 1 pocket my fee. -
''But do you mean to say" I 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
selves?'
''Quite so. I have a kind of intui-
ton that way. Now and again case
turns up which is little more COM
pick. Then 1 have to hustle about and
see things with my own eyes. You
see, have a lot of special knowledge
which l 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 me is second nature.
You appeared to be surprised when l
told you, on our first meeting, thatyou
had come from Afghanistan."
''You were told, no doubt"
Nothing of the sort. / knew you
came from Afghanistan. From long
habit the train of thought ran SO swift
ly through my mind that arrived at
the conclusion without being conscious
of intermediate steps. There were
such steps, however. The train of
reasoning ran: Here is a gentleman
of a medical type, but with the air of a
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, for
his wrists are fair. He has undergone
hardship and sickness, as his haggard
face says clearly. His left arm has
been injured. He holds it in q stiff
and unnatural manner. Where in the
tropics could an English army doctor
have seen much hardship and got his
arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanis-
tan The whole train of thought did
not occupy second. then remarked
that you came from Afghanistan, and
you were astonished.''
''It is simple enough as you explain
it." said, smiling. ''You remind me
of Edgar Allan Poe's 'Dupin.' / had
no idea that such individuals did exist
outside Of stories"
no m oox1uUxD.l