Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-05-14
4 STUDY IN SCARLET.
By A. CONAN DOYLE.
PART ONE.

By A. CONAN DOYLE.
PART ONE.
being a reprint from the "reminiscences
Of John II. Watson, A. d., late Of the
army medical depdrtment.]
(ooSrINuEp.l
It was upon the 4th of March, as ]
have good reason to remember, that
rose somewhat earlier than usual and
found that Sherlock Holmes had not yet
finished his breakfast. The landlady had
become so accustomed to my late habits
that my place had not been laid nor my
coffee prepared. With the unreasonable
petulance OF mankind I rang the bell
and gave curt iEHmation that ! was
ready. Then l picked up magazine
from the table and ATTEMPTED to while
away the time with II, while my CON-
panion munched silently Mt his toast
| One Of the articles had pencil mark at
the heading. and naturally began to
run my eye through IL.
It's somewhat ambitious title was
1.-The Book of Life, and it attempted 10
| show how much an observant man might
learn by an accurate and systematic ex-
animation of all that came In his way.
IL struck me as being remarkable mix
ture Of shrewdness and Of absurdity.
The reasoning was close and intense,
but the deductions appeared 10 mo 20
be farfetched and exaggerated. The
writer claimed 10y momentary express
sion, twitch Of muscle or glance
Of an eye 10 fatbom q mans inmost
thoughts. Deceit, according to him. was
al impossibility in the case Of one train
ed 20 observation and analysis His con.
illusions were as infallible as so many
propositions Of Euclid So startling
would his results appear TO the uniuiti-
ated that until they learned the processes
by which he had arrived at them they
might well consider him rs n necro-
manccr.
From u drop Of water" said the
writer. "a logician could infer the pos
sibility Of an Atlantic or Niagara with.
ont having seen or heard of one or the
other. so all life is a great chain, the
nature of which is known whenever we
are shown q single link of IT, Like all
other arts. the science Of deduction and
analysis Is one which can only be- nc.
quired by long and patient study. nor Is
life long enough 10 allow any mortal to
attain the highest possible perfection in
IT, Before turning TO those moral and
mental aspects Of the matter which pre-
sent the greatest difficulties let the in.
quirer begin by mastering more elemen-
tary problems. Let him. ON meeting n
fellow mortal. learn at glance to dis
tinguish the history Of the man and the
trade or profession 10 which he belongs.
Puerile ~ such an exercise may seem, IL
sharpens the faculties Of observation and
teaches one where to look and what TO
look for BY mans finger nails, by
his boot, by his trouser knees, 10y the
callosities q his forefinger and thumb,
by his expression, by his shirt cuffs-by
each of these things mans calling is
plainly revealed. That all united should
fail To enlighten the competent inquirer
in any case is almost inconceivable.
"What ineffable twaddle" i cried,
Stamping the magazine down on the
table. 'Ineyer read such rubbish in my
life"
What is it?" asked Sherlock Holmes
"Why, this article, l said, pointing
at il with my egg spoon rs l sat down
to my breakfast. Il SEQ that you have
read it, since you have marked it. l
don't deny that it is smartly written. 1t
irritates me, though. IL is evidently the
theory of some armchair lounger who
evolves all these neat little paradoxes in
the seclusion of his own study. II is not
practical. should like to see him clap
ped down in third class carriage on
the Underground and asked to give the
trades Of all his fellow travellers. l
would lay thousand to one against
him
"You would lose your money, Sher-
lock Holmes remarked calmly. las for
the article, wrote it myself. p"
"Your'
"Yes, / have turn both for obserSa-
ton and for deduction. The theories
which have expressed there, and which
appear to you to be so chimerical, are
really extremely practical, so practical
that depend upon them for my bread
and cheese
And how?" asked involuntarily
well, / have trade Of my own.
suppose am the only one in the world.
am consulting detective, If you can
understand what that is. Here in Lon
don we have lots Of government detect
ives and lots Of private ones. When
these fellows are at fault, they come to
me. and l manage to put them on the
right scent. They lay all the evidence
before me, and l am generally able, by
the help of my knowledge Of the history
of crime, to set them straight. There Is
a strong family resemblance about mis-
deeds, 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 detect
i've. He got himself into fog recently
over forgery case, and that was what
brought him here"
"And these other people?"
"They are mostly sent out by private
INQUIRY agencies. They are all people
who are in trouble about something and
want q little enlightening. ! listen tc
their story. they listen to my comments
and then pocket my fee. "
"But do you mean TO say, said,
"that without leaving your room you
can unravel some knot which other mel
can make nothing Of, although they
have seen every detail for themselves?
"Quite SO. have kind of intuition
that way. Now and again a case turns
up which is little more complex Ther
have to hustle about and see things
with my own eyes. You see, l have
lot of special knowledge which apply
to the problem and which facilitates
matters wonderfully. Those rules of de
duction laid down in that article which
aroused your scorn are invaluable to m'
in practical work. Observation with mi
is second nature. You appeared to b.
surprised when I told you, on our frs
meeting, that You had come from Al
ghanistan.
"You were told, no doubt.
| Nothing Of the sort. / knew yo'
came from Afghanistan. From lonl
habit the train of thought ran so swift
| L. 4hrornh my mind that arrived q