The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-03-07
~ glancing over the somewhat inco,

WHICH 1 nave e~HQtdNOTeQ u Iluo-
trate a few of the mental peculiarities
of my friend, MIR. Sherlock Holmes, I
have been struck by the difficulty which
| have experienced in picking out ex-
amples which shall in every way an
swer my 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 I could
not feel justified in laying them before
the public. On he other hand, 1t has
frequently happened that he has been
concerned 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
determining their causes has been less
pronounced than |, as his biographer,
could wish. The small matter which
I have 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 his Scylla and Charybdis which are
forever threatening the historian. 1t
may be that in the business of which
. III " atoAA L otiAC Aiio lfdA L iAiN
my friend played is not sufficiently ac-
~centuated. and yet the whole train Of
circumstances is SO remarkable that [
cannot bring myself to omit it entirely
form this series.
1t had been a close, rainy day in Oc-
tober. Our blinds were half-drawn.
and Holmes lay curled upon the sofa,
reading and ~re-reading a letter which
Tho had rnnpiynd INV tho papruninp most
For myself, my term of service in India
had trained me to stand heat better
than cold, a thermometer of 80
was no hardship. But the paper was
undressing. Parliament had risen.
Everybody was out of town. and
yearned for the glades of the New
Forest or the single of Southsea. A
depleted bank account had caused me
to postpone my holiday. and as to my
companion, neither the country nor the
sea presented the slightest attraction
to him. He loved to lie in the very
centre of five millions of people, with
his filaments stretching put and rum
ming through them, responsive to every
little rumor or suspicion of ~unsolved
crime. Appreciation of nature found 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, L had tossed
aside the barren paper. and leaning
back in my chair. l fell into a brown
study. Suddenly my companions voice
broke in upon my thoughts.
You are right, Watson" said he
1T does seem a very preposterous way
of settling a dispute
Most preposterous!" 1 exclaimed
and then. suddenly realizing how he
had echoed the inmost thought of my
soul. l sat up in my chair and stared
at him in blank amazement.
What is this. Holmes?" I cried.
i'"This is beyond anything which 1 could
have imagined"
He laughed heartily at my perplex-
ity.
You remember said he, chat some
little time ago, when l read you the
passage in one of Poe's sketches, in
which a close reasoner follows the un
spoken thoughts of his companion you
were inclined to treat the matter as a
mere tour-de-force of the author. On
my remarking that 1 was constantly
in the habit of doing the same thing
you expressed incredulity.'
ooh, mol"
Perhaps not with your tongue, my
dear Watson, but certainly with your
eyebrows. So when I saw you throw
down your paper and enter upon a
train of thought. I was very happy to
have the opportunity Of reading it off,
and eventually of breaking into it, as
a uronf that hod haan -, ron,or
with you"
But / was still far from satisfied.
I'm the example which you read to me-
said 1, "the reasoner drew his conclu-
slons from the actions of the man
whom he observed. If I remember
right. he stumbled over a heap OF
stones, looked up at the stars, and so
on. But l have been seated quietly in
my chair. and what clues can | have
given you?'
You do yourself an Injustice. The
features are given to man as the
means by which he shall express his
emotions, and yours are faithful SER
wants"
do you mean to say that you read
my train OF thoughts from my fea-
tures?"
your features. n especially your
eyes. Perhaps you cannot yourself re-
call how your reverie commenced?"
mo, L cannot"
"Then I will tell you. After throw
ing down you paper, which was the
action which drew my attention to you,
you sat for half a minute with a vacant
expression. Then your eyes fixed them
selves p o your newly-framed picture
of General Gordon, and I saw by the
alteration in our face that a train of
thought had been started. But it did
not lead very far. Your eyes turned
across to the unframed portrait of
Henry Ward Beecher which stands
upon the top of your books. You then
glanced up at the wall, and, of course,
your meaning was obvious. You were
thinking that if the portrait were
framed it would just cover that bare
space and correspond with Gordon's
picture over there"
"You have followed me wonderful
ly" 1 exclaimed.
So far I could hardly have gone
astray. But now your thoughts went
back to Beecher, and you looked hard
across as if you were studying the
character in his features. Then your
eyes ceased to pucker, but you con-
tinued to look across, and YOU face