Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-14
THE SIGN OF THE FOUR.
By A. CONAN DOYLE.
CHAPTER 1

upon the >lurwy imvuFm and wri>t all dotted and s,y3rrd with Iunutn, smble punCturc marks Finally Ee thrust the sharp point home. prvssCd ,iuwn thu tiny piston and sank back into the velvet lined armchair with Il long sigh of satisfaction
 Thres times day for many months l had witnessed this performance, but GUS tom had not rccOnciled my mind tO 1t On tho contrary, from day to day had become more irritable at the sight, and my conscience swelled nightly within me at the thought that had lacked the cOur age to protest Again and again l had registered a VOW that l should deliver my soul upon the subject, but there was that in the cool, nonchalaHt air of my compan ion which made him the last man with whom one would care 10 take anything approaching to liberty His great pow CTS, his masterly manner and the cxpe, rtence which had had of his many OK traorriinary qualities, all made mo diif dent and backward in crossing him
 Yet upon that afternoon, whether it was the Bcaunc which had taken with my lunch or the additional eNaspcration produced hy the CXtrCme dcliberation of hIs manner. l suddenly felt that l could hold out no longer
 (Which Is it today |" l asked, "mor, phine or c0Caiuef
 He raised his eyes languidly from the old black letter volumo which he had opened It Is cocaine" he said, "a per cent solution Would you care to try itf'
 No indeed. l answered brusquely My constitution has not got over the Afghan campaign yet I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it.
 He smiled at my vchcmCnce. Perhaps yon are right, WatSon," he said II sup pose that it's influence is physically a bad one l find 1t, however. so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is matter of small moment
 But consider" said earnestly Count the cost Your brain may, as you say, be reused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid process which in wolves increased tissue change and may at last leave permanent weakness. You know. too. what n black reaction comes upon yuu Surely the game is hardly worth the candle Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powers with which you havo been endowed: Remember that 1 speak not only as ono COmrade to another, but as a medical man to one for whose consti- tuition he is to some extent answerable."
 He did not seem offended On the con trary. he put his finger tips together and leaned his elbows on the arms of his chair, like one who has a relish for conversation.
 My mind, he said, "rebels at stagna- ton Give me problems, give mo work, give me tho most Rbstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and 1 am in my own proper atmosphere l can dis pense then with artificial stimulants, But I hN ,l.,l ~F crave for mental cxaltation. That is why have chosen my own particular profes- sion or rather crrated it, for am tho only one in the world
 The only unofficial detcctivc!' I said, raising my Cythruws
 The only unofficial consulting detect i've" he answered T am the last and highest court of appeal in detection. When GregsOn and Lcstradc and Atholney Jones are out of their depths, whiCh, by the way, Is their normal s:a:c the matter Is laid before mo examine the data us an ex- pert and rronOuncc a specialists opinion. l claim no credit in such cases My name figures in no newspaper The work itself the pleasure of finding field for my pe- culiar powers. is my highest reward But you have yourself had some experience of my methods of work in the Jefferson Hope case
 Yes. lndcsI s>,l cordially Twas never SO struck ny anything in my life. 1 even emhudied it in small brochure with the somewhat fantastic title of A study In scarlet
 lie shook hls head sadly II glanced over II. sand he Honestly I cannot congratulate vou upon it Detection is pr ought to ho an exact science and should be troatCd III the same cold and unemo- tlonal manrcr You have attempted to tingc II with romantiCism. which produces much tho same effect as if you worked a love story CT an clopomont into tho fifth proposition of Euclid
 But the romance was there. remon- strated T could not tampCr with the facts
 Some facts should be suppressed, or al least just sVE~S of proportion should be observed in trrating them The only point in the case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes by which succeeded in | Unravcliug II
 was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had hocn specially designed tC | please him l confess, too, that was ir ritated by the cgotism which seemed tC | dcmaul that every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own special do | inps More than once during the year: | that had lived with him in Baker street | l had observed that q small vanity under | lay my companion $ quiet and didactit manner l made no remark, however, bu sat nursing my wounded leg l had haC a Jezail bullet through it some time bc fore, and though it did not prevent m, | from walking II aChCd wcarily at ever! l change of tho weather
 My practice has extended recently [, the continent, said Holmes aftor awhile filling up his old bricr root pipe. II wa l consulted last week by Francois Ia Vii lard, who as you probably know. has com rather to the front lately in the Frencl detective service He has all the Celti power of quick intuition, but he is def
 rient in the wide range of exact knowl
 edge essential to the higher develop
 mcnts of his art. The caso was conccrne'
 with a will and possessed some features 0 l interest l was ablc to refer him to tw
 parallel casCs-the one At Riga in 1855
 and the other at St. Louis in lS7i-whic
 have suggested to him the true solution
 Hero is tho letter which 1 had this morn
 ing acknowledging my assistance" H
 tossed over as he spoke a cFumpled shoe
 of foreign note paper l glAnced my eye
 down it, catching a profusion of notes C
 admiration, with stray magnihques, cou
 de mnitres and tours de force, all testify
 ing to the ardent admiration of th
 Frcnchman
 He speaks as pupil to his master.
 said |
 'Oh. he rates my assistance too highly,
 said Sherlock Holmes lightly He h.
 considerable gifts himself He possess
 two out of the threo qualities necessa
 for the ideal detective. He has the DOW
 of observation and that of deduction. I is only wanting in knowledge, and th
 may come in time, He is now translatiI my small works into French"
 Your worksY"
 Oh, didn't you knowS" he erie
 laughing. Yes, have been guilty several monographs, They are all upC
 technical subjects. Here, for example,
 one Upon the Distinction Between t
 Asbn of tho Tn, SS