The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-06
MR- sHERLoCK HoLMEs.

allX very ldIe III ALlN Aito4 AAAAAosf 80
upon those not infrequent occasions
when he was up all night, was seated
at the breakfast table. I stood upon
the hearth-rug and picked up the stick
which our visitor had left behind him
the night before. 1t was a fine, thick
niece of wood, Dubious headed, of the
sort which is known as d Penang
lawyer" Just under the head was
broad silver band. nearly an inch
across ITO James Mortimer. NJ. r.
q s from his friends of the c. c. H, "
was engraved upon it, with the date
"1ss4." 1t was just such a stick as the
old-fashioned family practitioner used
to carry-dignified, solid, and reassur-
ing.
~wen, Watson, what do you make
of it?"
Holmes was sitting with his back
to me. and had given him no sign OF
my occupation.
How did you know what was do
ing? I believe you have eyes in the
back of your head
II have, at least, a well-polished sill
yer-plated coffeepot in front OF me-
ssid he But. tell me, Watson, what
do YOU make OF our visitor SUCK
since we have been so unfortunate as
to miss him and have no notlon
of his errand, this accldentdI
souvenir becomes of Importance Lei
me hear you reconstruct the man ~
an examina ton OF It,
II think" said l, following as far as
I could the methods of my companion
chat DR.. Mortimer is a successIul Ell
dsrIv medical man, well-esteemed,
since those who know him give MIN
this mark of their appreciation.
"Goodl" said Holmes. Excellent.
Al think also that the probability Is
IN favor of his being country prac-
tioner who does a great deal of his
visiting on foot"
"Recause this stick. though origi-
palIv a very handsome one, has oeen
so knocked about that / can hardly
inoag CINE a town practitioner carrying
a. The thick iron ferrule is worn down,
81 II is evident that he has done
great amount of walking with 1t.
~Perfectlv sound!" said Holmes.
oknd then again, there is the
friends of the c. c. H 1 should guess
that to be the Something Hunt the
local hunt to whose members he mas
nossiblv given some surgical assist
AnCe, ana WlllCiA los AAi'tN@~ $500
presentation in return.
"Really, Watson, you excel yourself,
said Holmes, pushing back his chalr
and lighting cigarette. Il am bound
10 saw that in all the accounts when
Won have been so good as TO give OF
nv own small achievements you nave
hapitually moderated your own
abilities. 1t may be that you
are not yourself luminous, but
YOU are conductor of hght
Some people without possessing genius
have a remarkable power of stimulat-
ing il. l confess, my dear fellow, that
/ am very much in your debt
He had never said as much before,
ard 1 must admit that his words gave
me keen pleasure, for | had often Deen
pioued by his indifference to my adj
miration and to the attempts which
had made to give publicity to his
methods. 1 was proud too to think
that l had so far mastered his system
as to apply it in a way which earned
his approval He now took the stick
from my hands and examined 1t for a
few minutes with his naked eyes. Then
with an expression of interest he laid
down his cigarette and, carrying the
cane to the window he looked over it
again with a convex lens.
Interesting, though elementary,
said he, as he returned to his favorite
corner of the settee. There are GER
tainly one or two indications upon the
stick 1t gives us the basis for several
deductions
HAS anything escaped me?" 1 ask
ed. with some self-importance. II trust
that there is nothing of consequence
which l have overlooked"
Il am afraid, my dear Watson, that
most of your conclusions We're enron
7 "a cit, "a 4
me I meant, to be frank, that in noting
your fallacies I was occasionally guild
ed towards the truth. Not that you are
entirely wrong in this instance. The
man is certainly country practition-
er. And he walks a good deal"
''Then I was right"
''To that extent"
But that was ALL
mo, no. my dear Watson. not all
by no means all. I would suggest for
example. that presentation to doc
tor is more likely to come from hos
pital than from hunt, and that when
the initials C. c.. are placed before
that hospital the words 'Charing Cross
very naturally suggest themselves"
You may be right
THE probability lies in that direc-
ton And if We take this as a WORKING
hypothesis we have a fresh basis from
unknown visitor
well, then, supposing that C. C. H.
does stand for 'Charing Cross Hospital
what further differences may We
draw"
DO none suggest themselves? Yor
know my methods. Apply them"
Il can only think of the obvious con.
ciusion that the man has practiced II
town before going to the country"
I think that we might venture a lit.
tie further than this. Look at il in this
light. On what occasion would it bt
most probable that such a presenta tfOr
would be made? When would hi,
friends unite to give him a pledge NJ
their good will? Obviously at the mo
ment when DR.. Mortimer withdrew
from the service of the hospi.
tai in order to start in prac.
tice for himself We know there has
been presentation. We believe there
has been change from town hos.
pital to country practice Is it
then, stretching our inference too fan
TO say that the presentation was or
the occasion of the change?"
1T certainly seems probable
Now, you will observe that he
could not have been on the staff OF
the hospital, since only a man well.
established in London practice coul6
hold such a position, and such a one
would not drift into TIL, country
What was he. then? If he was ir
the hospital and yet not on the staff
he could only have been a house-sur-
geon or a house-phys ician-little more
than senior student. And he left
nEe years ago-the date is on the