The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-11-05
Sherlock Holiness.


though in his methods OF thought he
was the neatest and most methodical
of mankind, and although also he af-
fected a certain quiet primncss Of dress,
he was none the less In his personal
habits one OF the most untidy men that
ever drove fellow lodger 10 distrac-
ton. Not that 1 am in the least con-
Ventional in that respect myself. The
Uough-and- tumble work in Afghanistau.
coming on the top Of natural BO-
hemianism Of disposition has made me
rather more lax than BELTS a medical
man. But with me there is a limit,
and when | find "a man who keeps his
cigars in the coal scuttle, his tobacco
in the toe end of a Persian slipper. and
his unanswered correspondence trans
fixed by a jack-knife into the very cen
ter of his wooden mantelpiece, then /
begin 10 give myself virtuous airs. l
have always held, TOO, that pistol prac-
tice should be distinctly an open air
pastime; and when Holmes, i'm one of
his queer humors, would sit in an arm
chair with his hair trigger and hun
dred Boxer cartridges and proceed TO
adOrn the opposite wall with a pari-
otto V. II. done in bullet-pOcks, 1 felt
strongly that neither the atmosphere
nor the appearance Of our room was
improved by il.
Our chambers were always fun of
chemicals and Of criminal relics which
had a way Of wandering into unlikely
positions, and OF turning up in the
butter dish or in even less desira bic
places. But his papers were my great
CruX. He had a horror of destroying
documents, especially those which
we're connected with his past cases, and
yet IL was only once in every year or
two that he would muster energy 10
docket and arrange them; for, as l have
mentioned somewhere in these incoher-
ent memoirs, the outbursts of passion
ate energy when he performed the re-
markable featS with which his name Is
associated were followed by reactions
OF lethargy during which ne would lie
about with his violin and his books,
hardly moving save from the sofa TO
the table. Thus month after month
his papers accumulated. until every
corner of the room was stacked with
bundles Of manuscript which were on
10 account 10 be burned. and which
could not be put away save by their
owner. One winter night, as we sat
together by the fire, / yentured 10 sug-
gest to him that. as he had finished
pasting extracts into his commonplace
book, lie might employ the next two
hours In making our room little more
habitable. He could not deny the JUS
tice OF my request 50 with a rather
Tueful face he went off TO his bed room,
from which he returned presently, pull
ing a large tin box behind him. This
he placed in the middle of the floor,
and, squatung down upon stool in
front Of il, he threw back the lid. ]
could see that il was already third
full of bundles OF papers tied up with
red tape into separate package
There are. cases enough here. Wat
son" said he looking at me with mis-
chieyous eyes. II think that If YOU
knew All thai had ia this buZ you
would ask me to pull some out instead
az putting others in
These are the records of your early
work them" l asked. 81 have often
wished that ! had notes Of those cases.
Yes. my boy, these were all done
prematurely before my biOgrapher had
come 70 glorify me-" He lifted bundle
after bundle in a tender. caressing sort
OF way. They are not all successes,
Watson" said he. But there are some
pretty little problems among them.
Here's the record Of the Tarlton muir
wine merchant. and the adventure OF
the old Russian woman. and the sin
gular affair of the aluminium Crutch.
as Well az "a fun account OF R.coletJl
Of the clubl(oO and his abominable
Wife And heTe-ah, now, this really
is something "a little recherche.
He diVed his arm down TO the bottom
Of the chest, and brought up a small
wooden box with sliding lid, such rs
children's toys are kept in. From With
in he produced a crumpled piece OF pa
per. an old-fashioned brass key, a pes
az wood with "a ball Of string attached
10 il. and three rusty old disks oil
metal.
We'll, my boy, what do you make
OF this lott" be asked, smiling at my
expression.
1T is a curious collection.
VERY curious, and the story that
bangs round il will strike YOU as beins
more curious still
These relics have "a history. then
$50 much SO that they are history.
What do you mean by that
Sherlock Holmes picked them up one
by one and laid them along the edge OF
the table. Then he reseated himself IN
his chair and looked them over with a
CLEAN of satisfaction i'm his eyes.
These" said he, are all that / have
left 10 remind me of the adventure OF
the Musgrave Ritual
had heard him mention the case
more than once, though L had never
been able to gather the details
should be So glad said !, II you
would give me an account Of n.
"And leave the litter as 1t istI nc
cried. mischievously. Your tldines-
won't bear much strain, after all, Wat
son. But / should be glad that you
should add this 20 your annals. Tor
there are points in it which make il
quite unique i'm the criminal records
OF this, or, ! believe, OF any other cOun-
try. 4 collection of my thrilling
achievements would certainly be in
complete which contained no account
OF this veiy singular business.
You may remember how the affair
Of the Gloria Scott and my converse
tiOn with the unhappy man whose fate
] told you of, first turned my atten-
ton In the direction Of the profession
which has become my lifc's work. You
see me now when my name has became
known far and wide, and when I am
KeneraIly recognized both by the public
and by the official force as being q
final court OF appeal In doubtful cases
Even when you knew me first at the
time of the affair which YOU have
commemorated in 4 Study IN Scarlet,
! had already established a consider
able. though not a very lucrative, con-
nectiOn You can hardly realize then,
how difficult ] found il AT first, and
saw long | had 10 wait before / sue
.sseded in making any Roadway.
when ] first came up 10 London
had rooms in Montague street, Just
around the corner from the British
museum, and there I waited, filling in
my too abundant leisure time by
.t.,duIna- al thn-- hLancLes OF a-Len.c