The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-24

yIc HOIlldh- 4
him mention her under any other
name. In his eyes she eclipses anu
predominates the whole of her sex
1T was not hat he felt any emotion
akin to love for Irene Adler Al
emotions, and that one Particularly
were abhorrent to his cold, precise,
but admirably balanced mind. He
was, | take it, the most perfect rea-
soning and observing machine that
the world has seen; but, as a rover,
h would have placed himself In a
false position. He never spoke OF
the softer passions, save with a g1be
and a sheer. They were admirable
things for the observer-e1cellent Tor
drawing the veil from mems motives
and actions. But for the trained
reasoner to admit such lntruslons
into his own delicate and finely ad-
iusted temperament was to introduce
a d]istracting factor which might
throw a doubt upon all his mental
results. Grit in a sensitive instru-
ment, or a crack in one of his own
high-pOWer lenses, would not pc more
disturbing than a strong emotion IN
a nature such as his. And yet there
was but one woman to him ana that
woman was the late Irene Adler, Of
dubious and questionable memory.
I had seen little Of Holmes lately.
My marriage had drifted us away
from each Otnor. NV own plctc
happiness, and the ~home-centred in
terests which rise up around the man
who first finds himself master of his
own establishment, were sufficient to
absorb all my attention.; while
Holmes, who loathed every form OF
society with his whole Bohemian soul,
remained in our lodgings in Baker
street, buried among his old books,
and alternating from week to week
between cocaine and ambition. the
droWsiness Of the drug, and the fierce
energy of his own keen nature. He
was still, as ever, deeply attracted by
the study of crime, and occupied his
immense faculties and extraordinary
powers Of observation In following out
those clues, and clearing up those
mysteries, which had been abandoned
as hopeless by the official police.
From time to time | heard some va
quo account of his do1ngs; OF his
summons to Odessa in the case of the
Trepoff murder, of his clearing up
CT the singular tragedy Of the Al
Einson brothers at Trfncomalee, and
finally of the mission which he Ead
accomplished SO ~delicately and sue.
cessfully for the reigning family Cf
Holland. Beyond these signs of his
activity, however, which I merely
shared with all the readers OF the
daily press. I knew little Of my form
er friend and companion.
oD0 ulSll-lt Was Oh me LOIn CI
March, 1851 was returning from
a journey to a patient (for l had now
returned to civil practice), when my
Nay led me through Bake stree. As
I passed the Well-remembered door,
which must always be associated in
my mind with my wooing, and with
she dark incidents of the Study in
Scarlet, l was seized with a keen de-
sire to see Holmes again, and TO know
how he was employing his extra
ordinary powers. His rooms We're
brilliantly lit, and, ven as l looked
twice In a dark silhouette against the
Bind. He was pacing the room
swiftly, eagerly, with mis- head sunk
upon his chest and his hands clasp
ed behind him. To me, who knew
his every mood and habit, his atti-
story. He was at work again. He
had arisen out of his drug created
dreams, and was hot upon the scent
OF some new problem. I rang the
bell, and was shown up to the cham
Der which had formerly been in part
my own.
His was not effusive. 1t sell
dom was; but he was glad, l think,
to see me. With hardly a word
spoken, but with a kindly eye, he
wave me to an armchair. threw
across his case OF cigars, and indi-
Gated a spirit case and a asoge in
the conner. Then he stood before
the fire. and looked me over in his
singular retrospective fashion.
"Wedlock suits you" he remarked.
Il think. Watson. that you have put
on sever and a half pounds since ]
saw you"
"Seven!" I answered.
Indeed, I should have thought a
little more. Just a trife more, ]
fancy, Watson. And in uractice
again, / observe. You did not tell
me that you intended to go into
harness
Then, how do you know
Il see it, l deduce 1t. How do
know that you have been getting
yourself very wet lately, and that you
have a most clumsy and careless ser
want girl?"
My dear Holiness" said>1, this j:
too much. You would certainly have
been burned had you lived a few
centuries ago. 1t is true that I hat