The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-05-03
ADVENTURE VIII
THE YELLOW FACE

and eventually the actors in. some strange
drama it is only natural III mat ndr s h ares
And this no. so much for ':he sake Of his rep
utation-for indeed, it was when he was at his
wits end that his energy and his versatility were
most admiral le--but because where he failed 1t
happened too often that no one else succeeded,
and that the tale Left forever without
conclusion. Now and again, however. it CHANGED
that even when he erred; the truth was still
cases of The tina the Advere Of the Musgrave
Ritual and that which l am about to recount
are the two which present the strongest features
of INTEREST," ..-- ....
Sherlock Holmes was a man who sell
dom took exercise for exercise sake.
Few men were capable of greater mus
cular effort, and he was undoubtedly
one of the finest boxers of his weight
that I have ever seen; but he looked
upon aimless bodily exertion as a waste
OF energy, and he seldom bestirled him
self save where there was some profess
sional object to be served: Then he was
absolutely untiring and interchangeable.
That he should have kept himself in
training under such circumstances is re-
markable, but his diet was usually Of
the sparest, and his habits were simple
to the verge of austerity. Save for the
occasional use of COCAINE. he had no
vices, and he only turned to the drug
as a protest against the monotony of
existence when cases were scanty and
One day in early spring he had so far
relaxed as to go for a walk with me
in the park, where the first faint shoots
of green were breaking out upon the
elms, and the sticky spear-heads of the
chestnuts were just beginning to burst
into their fve.fold leaves. For two
hours we rambled about togethep, in 81
men who know each other intimately
1t was nearly 5 before we were back in
Baker street once more.
"Beg pardon, sir, said our page-boy
as he opened the door. "There s been
a gentleman here asking for you, sir.
$50 much for afternoon walks'l' saiG
he. "Has this gentleman gone, then2'
eyes sir. -
-..'Didn It you ask him in7''
eyes, sir; he came in.
E.How long did he wait9''
.' Half an hour, sir: He was a very
restless gentleman, sir, a-wallzin' anc
] was waitin outside the door, sir, ant
I could hear him. At last he out into
the passage, and he cries, Us that mar
never goin to Gomez Those were hi
very words, sir. you'll only need tt
wait a little longer, says 7. Then I i
Wait in the open air j, for I feel hal
long And with that he ups and h
outs. and all I could say wouldn't hole
him back
l.. "Well we'll, you did your best,' sal,
Holmes, as we walked into our room
s very annoying. tho, Watson.
was badly in need Of a case, and thi
it were of Importance. Hullo! That
not your pipe on the table. He mus
have left his behind him. A nice oil
brier with good long stem of what tn
tobacconists call amber. I wonder hoy
many real amber mouthpieces there al
in London? Some people think that
been disturbed in his mind to leave
pipe behind him which he evidentl
values highly.'
GLOW do you know that he values
highly?' ] asked.
"Well should put the original cos
Of the pipe at seven and sixpence. No
it has, you see, been twice mended, one
in the wooden stem and once in the an
ber Each Of these mends, done, as 20
J observe, with silver bands, must hav
cost him more than the pipe did orig
inal1v. The man must value the pip
highly when he prefers to patch it u
rather than buy a new one with tn
same money! 'f-E .., |.--f-
-. HAnything else?'' ~ asked, f
Holmes was turning the pipe about
his hand, and staring at it in his p
culiar pensive way. :.
He held it up and tapped on it wit
his long, thin forefnger, as professt
might do who was eesTrln n e on bon
airy INTEREST," said he. "Nothing. h;
watches and bootlaces. The indie
tions here, however, are neither vel
marked or very important. The own
is obviously a muscular man, LET
handed, with an excellent set Of teet
careless in his habits. and with no ne'
to practice economy
My friend threw out the informati'
In very off-hand way, but ! saw tn
he cooked his eye at me to see
7 had followed his reasoning.
"You think a man must be well to-
If he smokes seven-shilling pipe
esThis is Grosvenor mixture at eigl
pence an ounce Holmes answere
knocking out little on his palm. *
he might get an excellent smoke f
half the price: he has no need to PR
tiee economy
6 He has been in the habit Of light
his pipe at lamps and gas-jets. Y
can see that it is quite charred all do
one side. Of course match could I
have done that. Why should m
hold match to the side of the pir
But you cannot light it at lamp wi
out getting the bowl charred And
is all on the right side Of the pi
From that T gather that he is a lie
handed man. You hold your own pipe
the lamp and see how naturally you,
ing right handed, hold the left side
the flame. You might do it once the OF.
way, but not as constancy. This
always been held so. Then he has I
ten thru his amber. It takes a mus
lar. energetic fellow, and one with
good set of teeth, to do that. But i
am not mistaken I hear him upon
stair, so we shall have something m
interesting than his pipe to study. ,
An instant later our door opened q
Is a tall, young man entered the roc
He was well but quietly dressed il
3@ dark-gray suit, and carried a bro
wideawake in his hand. / should hs
put him at about 80, tho he was rea
some years older.
81 beg your pardon, said he, w
some embarrassment; ~ suppose
should have knocked. Yes, Of cou
] should have knocked The fact is Il
] am little upset and you must put
- Gll down to that He passed his hs
over his forehead like man who is h
1dazed and then fell rather than
down upon a chair.
q can see that you have not slept
night or two, said Holmes, in
easy, genial way. "That tries a ma
B nerves more than work and more e.
than pleasure. May I ask how /
help youa