The Washington times., 1905-07-02
Copyright, 1898. by Conan Doyle,

Copyright, 1893, by Conan Doyle.l
Copyright, 1894. by Harper & Bros.)
r is with heavy heart that I
take UP my pen to write these last
4 words in which / shall ever record
the singular gifts by which my
friend Mr.. Sherlock Holmes was dis
tinguished. In an incohsrent and, as |
deeply feel, an entirely inadequate
fashion, l have erdeavored to give some
account of my strange experiences in
his company from the chance which
first brought us together at the period
of the Study in Scarlet" up to the
time of his interference in the matter
of the Naval Treaty"-an interference
which had the unquestionable effect of
preventing a serious International COM
piicatfon. 1t Tas my intention to have
stopped there and 10 have said Iioohing
of that event which has created a void
in my life which the lapse of two .tears
has done little to fill. My hand has been
forced, however, by the recent letters
In which Col. James Moriarty defends
the memory of his brother, and I Lave
no choice but to lay the facts before
the public exactly as they occurred L
alone know the absolute truth OF the
has come when no good purpose is to be
served by its suppression. AS far as
know. there have been only three ac-
counts in the public press: That in the
Journal de Geneve on May 6, 1891, the
Reuters dispatch in the English papers
on May 2, and finally the recent letters
to which / have alluded. OF these the
first and second were extremely con-
densed, while the last is, as / shall
now show, an absolute preversion of
the facts 1t lies with me to tell for
the first time what really took place
between Prof. Moriarty and Mr.. Sher-
lock Holmes. -----~-s--s---ss----
~ ~
1t may be remembered that after nv
marriage, and ny subsequent start in
private practice, the very intimate re-
1atfons which had existed between
Holmes and myself became to some ex-
tent modified. He still came to me from
time to time when he desired a COM
panion in his investigations, but these
occasions grew more and more seldom
until / find that in the year 1890 there
were only three cases of which I retain
any record. During the winter of that
year and the early spring of 1891. / saw
in the pa pers that he had been eIiga eed
by the French government -.pon a mat
ter of supreme Importance, and / re-
ceived two notes from Holmes dated
from NaTbonne and from Mines from
which / gathered that his stay in
France was likely to be a long one It
was with some surprise. therefore, that
j saw him walk into my consulting room
upon the evening of April "a. 1t struck
me that he was looking even paler and
thinner than usual.
Vest, have been using myself I'D
rather too freely" he remarked in
answer to my look rather than to my
words; 81 have been little pressed of
late. Have you any objections to my
closing your shutters?''
The only light in the room came from
the lamp upon the table at which l
had been reading. Holmes edged his
way round the wall. and fiinging the
shutters together, he bolted them Sc
curely-
You are afraid OF something's" I
asked
We'll. am"
"Of WHAT.
-tOf air-yuns."
my dear Holmes, what do you
mean?n
Il think that you know me well
enough. Watson. to understand that ]
am by no means a nervous man. AT
the same time, it is stupidity rather
than courage to refuse to recognize
danger when 1t is close upon you. Might
I trouble you for match?" He drew
in the smoke of his cigarette as if
the soothing influence was grateful
to him.
g..
said he. land / must further beg you
to be so unconventional as to allow
me to leave your house presently by
scrambling over your back garden
wall"
But what does it all mean?" I
asked.
He held out his hand, and I saw in
the light of the lamp that two of his
kuuckles were burst and bleeding.
ITS not an airy nothing, you see,"
said he. smiling 'On the contrary. 1t
Is solid enough for a man to break
his hand over Is Mrs. Watson in?"
.She is away upon visit"
Indeed. You are nlone?"
quite
.Then it makes it the easier for me
to propose that you should come away
with me for a week to the Continent
..Where?"
.tOh anywhere. It's all the same to
me-
There was something very strange in
all this. 1t was not Holmes nature
20 take an aim1ess holiday. and some
thing about his pale, worn face told me
that his nerves were at their highest
tension. He saw the question in my
ewes and, putting his finger-tips together
and his elbows upon his knees, he ex-
~Iained the sit latfon.