The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-06-14

Of the mental peculiarities of my friend
MIR. Sherlock Holmes, l have been
struck by the difficulty which L have
Theh a6a IN a plerg way gut answer my
purpose. For in those cases in which
Holmes has performed some tour de
force of analytical reasoning, and has
demonstrated the value. of his peculiar
methods of investigation, the facts
themselves have often been SO slight
or SO commonplace that | could not
feel justified in laying them before the
public. On the other hand, it has fire.
quently happened that he has been con
cerned in some research where the facts
have been of the most remarkable and
dramatic character, but where the share
which he has himself taken in determ-
lining their causes has been less pro;
nounced than I, as his biograPhnerf could Sana
chronicled under the heading. Of "a
Study in Scarlet,'' and that other later
one connected with the loss OF the
Gloria Scott, may serve as examples
Of this scylla and Charyb{dii s. which are re-
may be that in the business of which
I am now about write, the part which
my friend played is not sufficiently &C
centuated and yet the whole train Of
cannot bring myself to omit 1t entirely
from this series.
It had been a close, rainy day in o.
tober. Our blinds were half drawn,
and Holmes lay curled upon the. sofa,
reading and rereading letter which he
had received by the morning post: For
trained me to stand heat better than
cold, and thermometer Of 90 was no
hardship. But the paper was uninter-
esting. Parliament had risen. Every
for soay th was ge es Of 'G tno Se~ FSres
the shingle Of Southsea. A depleted
bank account had caused me to post
pone my holiday, and as to my com
panion, neither the country nor the
sea presented the slightest attraction
to him. He loved to lie in the very
center Of five millions Of people, with
his filaments stretching out and run
ming thru them, responsive to every
little rumor Of suspicion Of unsolved
no place among his many gifts, and his
only change was when he turned his
mind from the evildoer Of the town to
track down his brother of the country.
Finding that Holmes was too alb,
sorbed for conversation, ! had tossed
Back in my chair, t fell into brown
study. Suddenly my companion g voice
broke in upon my thoughts.
you are right, Watson, said ne:
1T ss d4es seem very prep0sterous way
rMost preposterous!n I exclaimed
and then, suddenly realizing, how he
had echoed the. inmost thought of my
soul, I sat up in my chair and stared
at him in plank 1hia am p H5eaaeqt or;oa
"This is beyond anything which /
could have imagined.'
He laughed heartily at my perplexity;
"You remember said he, that
G ts time o ago Tf Poe sEetches
in which close reasoner follows the
unspoken thoughts of his companion
you were inclined to treat the matter
as mere our-de-force Of the author
On my remarking that was constantly
you expressed incredulity.'
"Oh, ho!'
"Perhaps not with your tongue, my
dear Watson, but certainly with you
5 ESSEowdi Down So Your Th paper anG
upon upon a train of thought, I wa
t tHpfH of sP Fading it off, and eventppall,
of breaking into it, as 9 proof that
had been in rapport with you: . <,1,
the example which you read to me,
said I, "the reasoner drew his con
illusions from the actions of the MAJ
whom he observed. If remember right
he stumbled over heap OF stones
looked up at the stars, and so on. Bu
I have been seated quietly in MY chair
and what cleWs can L have give
you?' ~,
"You do yourself an Injustice. TIL
features are given to man as the mean
by which he shall express his emotions
and yours are faithful servants.'
"Do YOU mean to say that you rea
my train of thoughts from my fes
tures9'
"Your features, and especially you
eyes. Perhaps you cannot yourseaiii, II
L annmanrpHT
emo, I cannot
'sThen I will tell you. After throv
ing down your paper, which was tn
action which drew my attention to yo1
YOU sat for half minute with v:
cant expression. Then your eyes IKE
tenle of ee pn your Gordon Snd
by the alteration in your face that
train Of thought had been started. B,
it did not lead very far. Your ey'
turned across to the unframed portra
of Henry Ward Beecher which stant
glanced up at the wall. and of cour
Tour meaning was obvious. You we
thinking that if the portrait we
framed it would just cover that ba
space and correspond with Gordon
"You have followed me wonderfr
ly,' I exclaimed.
astray. But now your thoughts we
back to Beecher. and you looked ha
across as if yotl were studying t.
character Of his features. Then yo
eyes ceased to pucker. but you co
=. .:nued to look across, and your ia
was thoughtful. You were recalli1
the incidents Of Beecher's career:
was well aware that you. could not ):
this without thinking Of the. missi
which he undertook on behalf OF t
north at the time Of the civil war,
] remember you expressing your ps
sionate indignation at the way
which he was received by the mo
- turbulent of our people. You felt
strongly about it that [ knew "
could not think of Beecher witho
thinking of that also. When n
ment later I saw your eyes wand
away from The picture, I suspectad tn
your mind had now turned to the cir
war, and when I observed that 70
lips set. your eyes sparkled and 70
hands clinched, I was positive that Y
- were indeed thinking of the gallant
which was shown by both sides in til
desperate struggle. But then, aga
your face grew sadder; you shook 70
head. You were dwelling upon
sadness and horror and useless was
of life. Your hand stole towards We
own old wound, and smile quiyered
your lips. which showed me that t
ridiculOuS side of this method of settli