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m A STUDY IN SCARLET By Sir A. Conan Doyle*. CHAPTKK II. The Science of Deduction. We met next day, as he had arru?6d, and inspected the rooms at No 20 Baker Street, of which he had spoken at our meeting. They consisted of a couple of comfortable bedrooms and a single, large, airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows. So desirable in every way were the apartments and so moderate did the terms seem when divided between us. that tho bargain was concluded upon the spot, and we at once entered into l>ossession. That very evening I moved my things round from the hotel, and on the following morning Sherlock Holmes followed me with several boxes and portmanetaus. For a day or two we wore busily employed In unpacking and laying out our property to the host advantage. That done, we gradually began to settle down and to accommodate ourselves to our new surroundings. Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with. He was quiet in his ways, and his habits were regular. It was rare for him to ho up after ten at night, and he had invariably breakfasted and gone out before 1 rose in the morning. Sometimes lie spent his day at the chemical laboratory, sometimes in the dissecting-rooms, and occasionally in long walks, which appeared to tako felm into the lowest portions of the I filty. ^Nothing could exceed his energy when the working fit was upon film; but now and again a reaction would seize him and for days on end he would lie upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a word or moving a muscle from mornlag to night. On these occasions I liare noticed such a dreamy, vacant <?Aprossion in his eyes, that 1 might have suspected him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic had not the temperance and cleanliness of his Vfc'bole life forbidden such a notion. As the weeks went by my interest in him and my curiosity as to his aims in life gradually deepened and increased. His very person and appearance were such as to strike the attention of the most casual observer. In height he was rather over six feet, .and so excessively loan that he seemed to he considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too.h dah the prominence and squareness which mark the -man of determination. His hands were invariably blotted witli ink and stained with chemicals, yet ho was possessed of extraordinary delicacy \jf touch, as 1 frequently had occasion to observe when I watched him manipulating his fragilo nhilosonhl cal instruments. The reader may set me down as a "iiopeless busybody when I confess how much this man stimulated my curiosity, and how often I endeavored to break through the reticence which he showed on all that concerned himself. Ilefore pronouncing 1 judgment, however, be it remember- , how objectless was my life, and i f*ow little there was to engage my attention.* My health forbade me i from venturing out unless the weath- | er was exceptionally gonial and I had , no friends who would call upon mo i and break the monotony of my daily ( existence. Under these circumstances ( If eagerly hailed the little mystery ( -?hieh hung around my companion, l stnd spent much of my time in en- j ?leavoring to unravel it. I He was not studying medicine. He < had himself, in reply to a question, ] frmfirmed Stamford's opinion upon ' f.hat point. Neither did he appear to < tiavo pursued any course of reading ] which might fit him for a degree in ( science or any other recognized por- i which would give him an entrance i *nto the learned world. Yet his zeal | for certain studies was remarkable, and within eccentric limits his knowl- ( vrdge was so extraordinary ample and j miifjuto that his observations have fairly astounded me. Surely no man i would work so hard to attain such i precise information unless he had f 5?ome definite end in view. Desultory I readers are seldom remarkable for s the exactness of their learning. No t man burdens his mind with small 1 matters unless he has some very good c reason for doing so. His ignorance was as remarkable 1; ns his knowledge. Of contemporary I literature, philosophy, and politics he a appeared to know next to nothing, n Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he 1; inquired in the naivest way who he t might be and what he had done. My n surprise reached a climax, however, \ when I found incidentally that he r was ignorant of the Copernican the- c ory and of the composition of the T solar system. That any civilized hu- t man being in this nineteenth century a .should not be aware that the earth p traveled round the sun appeared to be C to me such an extraordinary fact that a .3 could hardly realize it. K "'Yon appear to l?e astonished," he wald, smiling at my expression of sur- ?? I>rise. "Now that I do know it, I t< ushall do my best to forget it." n "To forget it!" t< "You 8Co." he exclaimed, "1 consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him j.*ts crowded out, or at best is jumbleu up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it Now. the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the toolR which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room hat elastic walls and can dlstonrt to niu extent. Depend upon it, there come? a time when for every addition ol knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the usefu ones." "Hut the solar system!" I protest ed. "What the douce is it to me?" he interrupter impatiently; "you sa> that we go round the sun. If wc went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference tc me or to my work." I was on the point of asking hiit what that work might be, but some thing in his manner showed me that the question would be an unwelcome one. T pondered over our short ron versation, however, and endeavorec to draw my deductions from it. II( said that he would acquire no knowl edge which did not hear upon his sub jeot. Therefore all the knowledge which he possessed was such as woulc be useful to him. I enumerated ii my own mind all the various points upon which he had shown me that h< was exceptionally well informed. "If I cannot find what the follow is driving at by reconciling all these accomplishments, and discovering r calling which needs them all," 1 saic to myself, "I may as well give up tin attempt at once." I see that I have all tided above tc his powers upon the violin. These ttciu wry reiuarKanie, out as eecon trie as ail his other accomplishments That lie could play pieces, and diflicult pieces, 1 knew well, because at my request he has played me some ol Mendelssohn's Lieder, and other favorites. When left to himself, however, he would seldom produce any music or attempt any recognized air Leaning back in his armchair ol an evening, he would close his eyes and escape carelessly at the fiddle, which was thrown across his knee, Sometimes the chords were sonorous and melancholy; occasionally they were fantastic and cheerful. Clearly they reflected the thoughts which possessed him, but whether the music aided those thoughts, or whether the playing was simply the result of a whim or fancy, was more than I could determine. I might have rebelled against these exasperating solos had it not been that he usually terminated them by playing in quick succession a whole series of my favorite airs, as a slight compensation for the trial upon my patience. During the first week or so we had no callers, and I had begun to think that my companion was as friendless a man as I was myself. Presently, however, I found that he had many acquaintanaces, and those in the most different classes of society. Thero was one little sallow, rat-faced, dark-eyed fellow who was introduced to me as Mr. Lestrade, and who came three or four times in a single week. One morning a young girl called, fashionably dressed, and stayed for half an hour or more. The same afternoon brought a gray-headed, seedy visitor, looking Jew peddler, who appeared to me to be much excited, and who was closely followed by a slipshod elderly woman. On another occasion an old white-haired gentleman had an interview with my companion, and on another a railway porter in his velveteen uniform. When any of these nondescript individuals put in an appearance Sherlock Holmes used to beg for the use of the sitting-room, and I would relire to my bedroom. He always apologized to me for putting me to .his inconvenience. "I have to use this room as a place )f business," he said, "and these peo)le are my clients." Again I had an opportunity of askng him a point-blank question, and igain my delicacy prevented me from orcing another man to confide in me. Imagined at the time that he had lonifi strong reason for not alluding o it, but he soon dispelled the idea >y coining round to the subject of his iwn accord. It was upon the 4th of March, as I lavo good reason to remember, that rose somewhat earlier than usual, nd found that Sherlock Holmes had lot yet finished his breakfast. The andlady had become so accustomed o my late habits that my place had ot been laid nor my coffee prepared. Vith the unreasonable petulance of nankind T rang the bell and gave a urt intimation that I was ready. 'hen I picked up a magazine from ho table and attempted to while way the time with it, while my comanion munched silently at his toast, ine of the articles had a pencil-mark t the heading, and I naturally bean to run my through it. Its somewhat abtltious title was The Hook of Life", and it atempted ) show how much an observant man iight learn by an accurate and sysimatlc examination of all that came in l is ? . L 1 M , retnut 4 a l 4 4 \ . and tubm i i v > close atui n p.. as uppearet 'c e v' and exaggerated. iio _>} a monu'ii ary *. x a oi <1 0 1 to , fathom man's 1 glils. i Deceit, according i n impossibility in the c inei to observation ind ? oni elusions were as Jnf # o iu *ny i propositions of Hucl. ? in.? would his results a; n. ^ uni! Hated that, until they (.urn d the i processes by wliich he h.ad trrlved at them, tliey might well consider him \ as a necromancer. "From a drop of water," sa.d the 5 writer, "a logician could Infer the ' possibility of an Atlantic or a Niat gar a without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a 5 great chain, the nature of which is ' known whenever we are shown a single link of it. Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one whioh can only bo acquired * by long and patient study, nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to J attain the highest possible perfection t in it. Before turning to those moral * and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difllcul1 ties, let the inquirer begin by mas * tering more elementary problems, t Let him, on meeting a fellow-mortal, ? learn at a glance to distinguish the * history of the man, and the trade or 1 profession to which ho belongs. ' Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it sharpens the faculties of - observation and teaches one where to 5 look and what to look for. By a ' man's finger-nails, by his coat-sleeve, 1 by his boot, by his trouser-knees, by * the callosities of his forefinger and 5 thumb, by his expression, by his shirt-cuffs by each of these things a r man's calling is plainly revealed, i That all united should fail to eni lighten the competent inquirer in I any case is almost inconceivable." 5 "What ineffable twaddle!" I cried, slapping the magazine down on the ) table; "I never read such rubbish in ' my life." "What i Si It.'" flfiVfift Chorlnnb Holmes. "What, this article," I said, pointing at it with ray egg-spoon as I sat down to my breakfast. "I see that you have read it, since you have marked it. I don't deny that it is smartly written. It irritates rae, though, it is evidently the theory of some archair lounger who evolves all i these neat little paradoxes in the seclusion of liis own study, it is not practical. I should like to see him i clapped down in a third-class carriage on the Underground, and asked to give the trades of all his fellowtravelers. 1 would lay a thousand to i one against him." "Your would lose your money," Sherlock Holmes remarked, calmly. "As for the .article, I wrote it myself." "You1" "Yes; I have a turn both for obser- ' vation and for deduction. The theories which I have expressed there, 1 and which appear to you to be so chimerical, are really extremely practical?so practical that 1 depend upon them for my bread and cheese." "And how?" I asked involuntarily. "Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose 1 am the only one in the ( world. I'm a consulting detective, if , you can understand what that is. ( Here in London we have lots of gov- 1 eminent detectives and lots of pri- j vate ones. When these follows are j at fault they come to me, and I man- f age to put them on the right scent. They lay all the evidence before me, and I am generally able, by the help j of my knowledge of the history ot crime, to set them straight. There is t a strong family resemblance about ( misdeeds, and if you have all the de- r tails of a thousand at your fingerends, it is odd if you can't unravel j the thousand and first. Lestrade is a well known detective. He got himself into a fog recently over a for- * gery case, and that was what brought him here." "And these other people?" 1 "They are mostly sent out by pri- j vate inquiry agencies. They are all j people who are in trouble about something, and want a little enlight- Q ening. I listen to th pir clnrv tlior I ? -- ? J ' ?-?W ? listen to my comments, and then I pocket my fee." "But do you mean to say," I said, "that without leaving your room you can unravel some knot which other men can make nothing of, although p they have seen every detail for them- ^ selves?" 11 "Quite so. 1 have a kind of intuition that way. Now and again a case turns up which is a little more complex. Then I have to bustle about and see things with my own eyes. You see, I have a lot of special b knowledge which I apply to the prob- ri lem, and which facilitates matters wonderfully. Those rules of deduc- h tion laid down in that article which n aroused your scorn are invaluable to me in practical work. Observation with me is second nature. You appeared to be surprised when I told si you, our first meeting, that you had t< come from AefhaniKtan " w v\ "Your were told, no doubt." oi "Nothing of the sort. I know you S came from Afghanistan. From long habit the train of thought ran so swiftly through my mind that I arrived at the conclusion without being dl conscious of intermediate steps, gl There were such steps, however. The tt train of reasoning ran: Tlere is a fr gentleman of a medical type, but'iz .vith the air of a military man. Clear-j y an army doctor, then. He has just come from the tropics, for his utce is d.ii:;, and tiiat is not the natal al tint oi his skin, for his wrists .ic fait. lie lias undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard face says clearly. His left arm has .mii injured. He holds it in a stilt and unnatural manner. Where in the tropics could an English army doctor have seen much hardship and got his arm woun ied? Clearly in Afghanistan.' The whole train of thought did not occupy a second. 1 then remarked that you came from Afghanistan, and you were astonished." "It is simple enough as you explain it." I said, smiling. "You remind ine of Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin. 1 had 1 no idea that such individuals did exist outside of stories." Shot lock Holmes rose and lighted his pipe. "No doubt you think you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin," he observed. "Now, "hi my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior ! fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends' thoughts with an apropos remark after a quar*er of an hour's silence is really very showy and superficial. He had some analytical genius, 110 doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as , Poe appeared to imagine." "Have you read (laboriou's work?" I asked. "Does Lecop come up to your idea of a detective?" Sherlock Holmes sniffed sardonically. "Lecoq was a miserable bungler," he said, in an angry voice; "he had only one thing to recommend him, and that was his energy. That book made me positively ill. The question was how to identify an unknown prisoner. I could have done it in twenty-four hours. Lecoq took six months or so. It might oe made a text-book for detectives to teach them what to avoid." I felt rather indignant at having two characters whom 1 had admired treated in this cavalier style. I said to myself, "but ho Is certainly very clever," I said to myself, "but he is certainly very conceited." "There are 110 crimes and no criminals in these days," he said, querulously. "What is the use of hnvino ..V ? *MD brains in our profession? I know well that I have it in me to make my name famous. No man lives or has ever lived who has brought the same amount of study and of natural talent to the detection of crime which I have done. And what is the result? There is no crime to detect, or, at most, some bungling villainy with a motive so transparent that even a Scotland Yard official can see through it." I was still annoyed at his bumptious style of conversation. I thought it best to change the topic. I wonder what that fellow is looking for?" I asked, pointing to a stalwart, plainly dressed individual who was walking slowly down the other side of the street, looking anxiously at the numbers. He had a large blue envelope in his hand, and was evidently the bearer of a message. "You mean the retired sergeant of marines," said Sherlock Holmes. " Brag and bounce!" thought I to myself. "He knows that 1 cannot verify his guess." The thought had hardly passed through my mind when the man whom we were watching caught sight if the number on our door, and ran rapidly across the roadway. \Ve ! leard a loud knock, a deep voice beow, and heavy stei>s ascending the , itair. j "For Mr. Sherlock Holmes," he laid, stepping into the room and landing my friend the letter. Here was an opportunity of taking he conceit out of him. He little ' bought of this when he made that andom shot. 'Wiay I ask, my lad," I said, blandy, "what your trade may be?" i n commissionaire, sir," he said, . jruffly. "Uniform away for repairs." ] "And you were?" I asked, with a lightly malicious glance at my com>anion. "A sergeant, sir; Royal Marine jight Infantry, sir. No answer? tight, sir." Ho clicked his heels together, rais- ? d his hand In a salute, and was ;one. (To bo continued.) Fined for Wearing Slit Skirt. On a warrant charging indecent exosure, Mayor Ainslie and Police ;hief of Werner Tuesday afternoon lade the first arrest on record for he wearing of slit skirts. She was l ned $25. ? ? Toy Balloon Causes Heavy Boss. A toy balloon with its torch still ^ urning landed upon the roof of a esidencc in Norwood, Ala., and be3re the flames could be checked four omes had been consumed at an estllated loss of $25,000. Roosevelt's Assailant to Prison. \ John Schrank who attempted to asissinate Theodore Roosevelt on Ociber 12 last at Milwaukee, probably ill shortly be taken from the North rn hospital for the Insane to the tate's prison at Waupn. I fas Xot 1k?en Pardoned. It turns out that the Washington F ispateh of last Friday purporting to Ivo the news of a communtatlon of le Sentence of Milton A. Carlisle om five years to one was unauthored and not true. f WOFFORD COLLEGE S ? IIENKY \. SXY11 A REAL COLLEGE WITH HIG SHIP AND CHARACTER. 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