The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

early life. This reticence upon his part had increased the somewhat inhuman effect which he produced upon me, until sometimes I found mys

but not more so than his complete suppression of every reference to his own people. I had come to believe that he was

e causes of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of atavism and hereditary aptitudes. The

seems obvious that your faculty of observation and your peculiar

life as is natural to their class. But, none the less, my turn that way is in my veins, and may have come with my g

u know that it

roft possesses it in a

that neither police nor public had heard of him? I put the question, with a hint that it was my compa

exactly as they are, and to underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers. When I s

your

ears my

it that he

well known in

re,

Diogenes Club,

d my face must have proclaimed as much,

’s always there from quarter to five to twenty to eight. It’s six now, so if you care for

re in the street, walkin

is that Mycroft does not use his powers f

hought y

on and no energy. He will not even go out of his way to verify his own solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself right. Again and again I have taken a problem to him, and have r

his profess

books in some of the government departments. Mycroft lodges in Pall Mall, and he walks round the corner into Whitehall every morning and back every evenin

recall t

r the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one. Save in the Stranger’s Room, no talki

, he led the way into the hall. Through the glass panelling I caught a glimpse of a large and luxurious room, in which a considerable number of men were sitting about and reading papers, each in

d something of the sharpness of expression which was so remarkable in that of his brother. His eyes, which were of a peculiarly light, watery

of Sherlock everywhere since you became his chronicler. By the way, Sherlock, I expected to see you rou

it,” said my f

Adams, o

it was

club. “To anyone who wishes to study mankind this is the spot,” said Mycroft. “Look at

d-marker and

at do you make

et were the only signs of billiards which I could see in one of them. The other was a

r, I perceive,

y discharged,” re

in India

commissione

ry, I fancy,”

a wid

ith a

my dear boy

ughing, “this is a

th that bearing, expression of authority, and sun-baked skin, i

hown by his still wearing his ammunition bo

, as is shown by the lighter skin on that side of his brow. His

gh it were his wife. He has been buying things for children, you perceive. There is a rattle, which shows that one of them is very young.

ties than he did himself. He glanced across at me and smiled. Mycroft took snuff from a tortoise-she

oblem — submitted to my judgment. I really had not the energy to follow it up save in a very incomplet

oft, I should

eaf of his pocket-book, and, ringing

exity. Mr. Melas is a Greek by extraction, as I understand, and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living partly as interpreter in the law courts and partly by act

uthern origin, though his speech was that of an educated Englishman. He shook hands eagerly with Sherlock Holme

use they have never heard of it before, they think that such a thing cannot be. But I know that I shall nev

ntion,” said S

as perhaps my neighbour there has told you. I interpret all languages — or nearly all — but as I am a Greek by birth and with a Grecian name, it is with that p

fashionably dressed young man, came up to my rooms and asked me to accompany him in a cab which was waiting at the door. A Greek friend had come to see him upon business, he said, and as he could speak nothing but his own tongue, the se

ondon, and the fittings, though frayed, were of rich quality. Mr. Latimer seated himself opposite to me and we started off through Charing Cross and up the Shaftesbury Avenue. We ha

al times, as if to test its weight and strength. Then he placed it without a word upon the seat beside him. Having done this, he drew

e no intention that you should see what the place is to which we are driving. I

panion was a powerful, broad-shouldered young fellow, and, apart from the

Latimer,’ I stammered. ‘You must be aware

ime to-night you attempt to raise an alarm or do anything which is against my interest, you will find it a very serious thing. I beg y

g what on earth could be his reason for kidnapping me in this extraordinary fashion. Whatever it might be, it was

to where we were. The paper over each window was impenetrable to light, and a blue curtain was drawn across the glasswork in front. It was a quarter-past seven when we left Pall Mall, and my watch showed me that it was ten minutes to nine when we at last came to a standstill. My companion let down the window, and I caught a glimp

d hung with pictures. In the dim light I could make out that the person who had opened the door was a small, mean-looking, m

. Melas, Har

Ye

ir with us you’ll not regret it, but if you try any tricks, God help you!’ He spoke in a nervous, jerky fas

u want with

to let us have the answers. But say no more than you are told to say, or —’

t seemed to be a suit of Japanese armour at one side of it. There was a chair just under the lamp, and the elderly man motioned that I should sit in it. The younger had left us, but he suddenly returned through another door, leading with him a gentleman clad in some sort of loose dressing-gown who moved slowly towards us. As he came into the circle of dim light which enabled me to s

nto a chair. ‘Are his hands loose? Now, then, give him the pencil. You are to ask the questions, Mr.

s eyes fl

rote in Greek

’ I asked at the bi

ied in my presence by a

gled in his

what awaits

nothing f

ocuments. Again and again I had the same indignant reply. But soon a happy thought came to me. I took to adding on little sentences of my own to each question, innocent ones at first, to

ood by this obsti

I am a stran

your own head. How lo

be so. Th

an never be your

to villains. The

ee if you sign. W

er sign. I d

g her any service.

r her say so

er if you sign. W

ll never see

might have cleared the matter up, but at that instant the door opened and a woman stepped into the room. I could not see her

n accent. ‘I could not stay away longer. It is so

the younger man seized the woman and pushed her out of the room, while the elder easily overpowered his emaciated victim and dragged him away through the other door. For a moment I was left alone in the room, and I sprang to my feet with

e should not have troubled you, only that our friend who speaks Greek and who began these negotiations has been forced to return

bow

ient fee. But remember,’ he added, tapping me lightly on the chest and giggling, ‘if you speak

le pointed beard was thready and illnourished. He pushed his face forward as he spoke and his lips and eyelids were continually twitching like a man with St. Vitus’s dance. I could not help thinking that his

e our own means of information. Now you will find the c

Mr. Latimer followed closely at my heels and took his place opposite to me without a word. In silence we again dro

eave you so far from your house, but there is no alternative. Any attempt

. I looked around me in astonishment. I was on some sort of a heathy common mottled over with dark clumps of furze-bushes. Far away s

nd and wondering where on earth I might be, when I saw someone coming towards m

me what place t

th Common,

t a train

ham Junction,’ said he, ‘you’ll just

thing save what I have told you. But I know that there is foul play going on, and I want to help that unhap

ter listening to this extraordinary narrative

eps?” h

Daily News, which was

as to the whereabouts of a Greek

le to speak English

id to anyone giving

e first name is

all the daili

the Greek

ired. They k

ead of the Athen

Mycroft, turning to me. “Well, you take the case u

las also. In the meantime, Mr. Melas, I should certainly be on my guard if I were you,

lmes stopped at a telegraph of

resting cases have come to me in this way through Mycroft. The problem which we have just list

hopes of s

we fail to discover the rest. You must yourself have formed som

ague wa

your ide

s Greek girl had been carried off by th

off fro

s, per

of Greek. The lady could talk English fairly well. Inference — that sh

nce come on a visit to England, and that th

more pr

ze him and use violence towards him in order to make him sign some papers to make over the girl’s fortune of which he may be trustee — to them. This he refuses to do. In order to negotiate with hi

the truth. You see that we hold all the cards, and we have only to fear some

e find where t

urse, a complete stranger. It is clear that some time has elapsed since this Harold established these relations with the girl — some weeks at any rate — since the brother in Greece

r first, and as he opened the door of our room he gave a start of surprise. Looking over his

g at our surprised faces. “You don’t expect such energy fr

d you g

you in a

een some new

swer to my a

A

hin a few minutes

what e

s took out a

a J pen on royal cream paper by a mid

[he s

ung lady in question very well. If you should care to call upon me I could give you some

faith

DAVE

lmes. “Do you not think that we might drive to

hink we should call at Scotland Yard for Inspector Gregson and go straight out to

n our way,” I suggested. “W

e table-drawer as he spoke, and I noticed that he slipped his revolver into his pocket. “Yes,” said he in answe

n Pall Mall, at the rooms of Mr. Melas. A gent

e where?” asked

had opened the door; “I only know that he

entleman g

, s

ll, handsome, d

s, thin in the face, but very pleasant in his ways,

man of no physical courage, as they are well aware from their experience the other night. This villain was able to terrorize him the instant that he got into h

on and comply with the legal formalities which would enable us to enter the house. It was a quarter to ten before we reached London Bridge, and half past before the four of us alighted on the Becken

” remarked the inspector.

wn and the nest em

o you

d with luggage has passed

l-tracks in the light of the gate-lamp

outward-bound ones were very much deeper — so much so that we can say fo

hrugging his shoulders. “It will not be an easy door to f

the bell, but without any success. Holmes had

window ope

remarked the inspector as he noted the clever way in which my friend had forced back th

f. The inspector had lit his lantern, and by its light we could see the two doors, the curtain, the lamp, and the suit o

t?” asked Ho

rushed to the door and out into the hall. The dismal noise came from upstairs. He dashed up, the inspe

sinking sometimes into a dull mumble and rising again into a shrill whine. It was locked, but the key had been left on

cried. “Give it ti

loor, while in the shadows beyond we saw the vague loom of two figures which crouched against the wall. From the open door there reeked a horrible poisonous exhalation which set us gaspi

a candle? I doubt if we could strike a match in that atmosphere. H

arted from us only a few hours before at the Diogenes Club. His hands and feet were securely strapped together, and he bore over one eye the marks of a violent blow. The other, who was secured in a similar fashion was a tall man in the last stage of emaciation, with several strips of sticking-plaster arranged in a grotesque pattern over his face. He

his giggling ruffian had produced upon the unfortunate linguist, for he could not speak of him save with trembling hands and a blanched cheek. He had been taken swiftly to Beckenham, and had acted as interpreter in a second interview, even more dramatic than the first, in which the two Englishmen had menaced their prisoner with instant deat

atter. The brother, on his arrival in England, had imprudently placed himself in the power of Latimer and of his associate, whose name was Wilson Kemp — a man of the foulest antecedents. These two, finding that through his ignorance of the language he was helpless in their hands, had kept him a prisoner, and had endeavoured by cruelty and starvation to make him sign away his own and his sister’s property. They had kept him in the house without the girl’s knowledge, and the plaster over the face had been for the purpose of making recognition difficult in case she should ever catch a glimpse of him. Her feminine perceptions,

een stabbed, it seems, and the Hungarian police were of opinion that they had quarrelled and had inflicted mortal injuries upon each other. Holmes, however, is, I fancy, of a diffe