The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-09-25
CHAPTER l..


scribed for surgeons In the army.
Having completed my studies there, /
was duly attached to the Fifth North
cumberland FusiIiers as assistant sur
geon. The regiment was stationed In
India at the time, Ind before 1 could
Join 1t the second Afghan war had
broken out. On landing at Bombay, 1
learned that my corps had advanced
through the passes, and was already
deep In the enemy's country. l fol-
lowed, however, with many other off,
GERS who were In the same situation
as myself, and succeeded in reaching
Candahar in safety, where l found my
regiment, and at once entered upon
my new duties.
The campaign brought honors and
promotions to many. but for me 1t had
nothing but misfortune and disaster.
l was removed from my brigade and
attached 10 the Berkshires, with whom
I served at the fatal battle Of Mai
wand. There I was struck On the
shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shat
tered the bone and grazed h sub
clavfan artery. ] should have fallen
into the hands of the murderous Ghazis
had 1t not beer for the devotion and
courage shown by Murray, my orderly,
who threw me across a pack-horse n
succeeded in bringing me safely to the
British lines.
Worn with pain, and weak from the
prolonged hardships which I had I'M
dergone, I was removed, with a great
train Of wounded sufferers, to the base
hospital at Peshawur. Here I rallied,
and had already improved so far as to
be able to walk about the wards, and
even to bask a little upon the veranda,
when I was struck down by enteric
fever, that curse of our Indian possess
sions. For months my life was de-
SPARED of, and when at last l came
= to myself and became convalescent, !
was so weak and emaciated that a
medical board determined that not a
day should be lost in sending me back
to England. I was dispatched, accord
ingly, in the troopship Orontes. and
landed a month later on Portsmouth
jetty, with my health i~rretrievably
ruined, but with permission from a pa
ternal government to spend the next
nine months in attempting to Improve
It.
1 had neither kith nor kin In Eng
land, and was therefore as free as air
or as free as IN income OF eleven
shillings and sixpence a day VIII per-
nit a man to be. Under such circum-
stances, I naturally g%ravitated to Lon
don, that great cesspool Into which all
the ~loungeis and idlers OF the empire
are lrresistibly drained. Their I stayed
for some time at a private hotel In the
Strand, leading a comfortless. mean
ing1ess existence. and spending such
money as I had considerably more
freely than l ought. SO alarming dld
the state of my fnances become, that
! soon realized that l must either leave
the metropolis and rusticate some
where in the country, or that | must
make a complete alteration in my
.ss.yle of living. Choosing the latter
alternative. I began by making up my
mind to leave the hotel, and to take up
my quarters In some less pretentious
and less expensive domicile.
On the very day that l had come to
this conclusion, I was standing at the
Criterion bar, when some one tapped
me on the shoulder, and turning roqnd
I recognized young Stamford, who had
been a dresser under me at Bart's-
The sight of a friendly face in the
great wilderness of London is a pleas
ant thing indeed to a lonely man. In
Ola GAYS oIdI1lOTu a. UCNCt bCui -
particular crony of mine, blu now !
hailed him with enthusiasm, and he.
in his turn, appeared to be delighted
to see me. In the exuberance of my
Joy, asked him to lunch with me at
the Holborn, and we started off to-
gether In a hanson
what ever have you been doing
with yourself. Watson?" he asked, In
..-aa--.l nyA1dAE nc UA fQfflld
Through the crowded London streets.
"You are as thin as a latn ana as
brown as a nut"
I gave him a short sketch of my adj
ventures, and had hardly concluded 1t
bv the time that we reached our
destination. :
N-AFoor DEVIL" he said, commiserat-
ingly. after he had listened to my mis-
fortunes. "wha are you up to now"
Looking for lodgings" l answered.
"Trying to solve the problem as to
whether It is possible to get comfort
able rooms at a reasonable price"
'"That's a strange thing" remarked
my companion: "you are the second
man today that has used that express
sion to me-"
And who was the frst?" I asked.
"a fellow who is working at the
chemical laboratory up at the hospital.
He was bemoaning himself this morn
fng because he could not get some one
to go halves with him In some nice
rooms which he had found, and which
were too much for his purse"
"Ry Jove." I cried. "ff he really
wants some one to share the rooms
and the exnerse, I am the very man
for him. I should prefer having a
partner to being alone"
Young Stamford looked rather
strangely at me over his wine glass.
"You don't know Sherlock Holmes
yet" he said: perhaps you would not
care for him as n constant companion.
why, what is there against him.
"Oh. / didn't say there was anything
against him. He Is a little queer In
his ideas-an enthusiast in some
branches of science AS far as know,
he is o decent fellow enough"
"a medical student. I s~uppose?'
said L.
mo; I have no idea what he intends
10 20 In for. I believe he is we'll up
in anatomy. and he Is a frst-class
chemist; but, as far as I know, he has
never taken out any systematic medl-
cal classes. His studies are very desul-
tory and eccentric. but he has amassed