The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes

I have often had occasion to point out to him how superficial are his own accounts and to accuse him of pandering to popular taste instead of confining himself rigidly to facts and figures. “Try it y

if I burden myself with a companion in my various little inquiries it is not done out of sentiment or caprice, but it is that Watson has some remarkable characteristics of his own to which in his modesty he has given small attention amid his exaggerated es

ad my visit from Mr. James M. Dodd, a big, fresh, sunburned, upstanding Briton. The good Watson had at th

em. Mr. James M. Dodd seemed somewhat at a loss how to begin the interview. I did not attempt to help him, for his silence gave me

Africa, sir,

answered, wit

Yeomanry

act

x Corps,

r. Holmes, you

his bewilder

sleeve instead of in his pocket, it is not difficult to place him. You wear a short beard, which shows that you were not a regular. You have the cut of

e every

owever, Mr. Dodd, it was not to discuss the science of observation that yo

Holme

eading, and as you fixed this appointment in very pressing term

afternoon, and a good deal has happened since th

ed yo

e greatest martinet in the Army in his day, and it was a day of rough language,

and leaned bac

explain what you a

grinned mi

I will give you the facts, and I hope to God that you will be able to tell me what they mean. I’v

n the regiment. We formed a friendship — the sort of friendship which can only be made when one lives the same life and shares the same joys and sorrows. He was my mate — and that means a good deal in the Army. We took the rough and the smooth together for a year of hard fight

o answer. I waited a bit and then I wrote again. This time I had a reply, short and gruff. Godfrey had

s father and he did not always hit it off too well. The old man was sometimes a bully, and young Godfrey had too much spirit to stand it. No, I wasn’t satisfied, and I determined that I would get to the root of the matter. It happened, however, t

ould be better to have as a friend than as an enemy. His blue

have you don

curmudgeon of a father — and I made a clean frontal attack: Godfrey was my chum, I had a great deal of interest which I might tell her of our common experiences, I should be in the

tarting on a half-timbered Elizabethan foundation and ending in a Victorian portico. Inside it was all panelling and tapestry and half-effaced old pictures, a house of shadows and mystery. There was a butler, old Ralph, who seemed about the same age as the house, and there was his wife, who might

traight into his study, and there I found him, a huge, bow-backed man with a smoky skin and a straggling gray beard, seated behind his littered desk. A red-veined

voice, ‘I should be interested to kn

d explained them in m

known Godfrey in Africa. We have, o

letters to me

let me s

hich I handed him, and t

hat then?’

s united us. Is it not natural that I should wonder at his su

on a voyage round the world. His health was in a poor way after his African experiences, and both his mother and I were of opinion

ave the name of the steamer and of the line by which he sailed, together with t

eyes, and he tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. He looked up at last with the expressio

at your infernal pertinacity and would think that this i

own, sir, to my real

motives, which cannot always be made clear to outsiders, however well-intentioned. My wife is anxious to hear something of Godfrey’s past which you are in a position to

, but the old man seemed morose and depressed. I was so bored by the whole proceeding that I made an excuse as soon as I decently could and retired to my bedroom. It was a large, bare room on the ground floor, as gloomy as the rest of the house, but after a year of sleeping upon the veldt, Mr. Holmes, one is not too particular about one’s

n the night-time, sir. It is bitte

hen I looked round he was standing facing me

ey at dinner. You know, sir, that my wife nursed him, and so I may say I am his foster-fa

He pulled me out once from under the rifles

er rubbed his

eous. There’s not a tree in the park, sir, that he has not climbed. Not

ng to m

speak as if he were dead. What is all this

man by the shoulder

k the master about Master Godfrey. He

g the room, bu

wer one question before you leave if I ha

n hypnotized The answer was dragged from his

cried, and, tearing himself

which touched the family honour. That stern old man had sent his son away and hidden him from the world lest some scandal should come to light. Godfrey was a reckless fellow. He was easily influenced by those around him. No doubt he had fallen into bad han

paused as one

“Your problem presents so

s framed in this gap. The window came down to the ground and I could see the whole length of it, but it was his face which held my gaze. He was deadly pale — never have I seen a man so whit

te as cheese in the darkness. It was more subtle than that — something slinking, something furtive, something

. Godfrey had hardly vanished before I was at the window. There was an awkward catch, and I was some little time before I

several others branching in different directions to various outhouses. I stood hesitating, and as I did so I heard distinctly the sound of a closing door. It was not behind me in the house, but ahead o

iliatory, and as his wife remarked that there were some places of interest in the neighbourhood, it gave me an opening to ask whether my presence for one more night would incommode them. A somewhat grudgi

fficult for me to penetrate it. But the door which I had heard close was certainly not in the house. I must explore the garden and see

hence the sound of that shutting door had come? I approached it in a careless fashion as though I were strolling aimlessly round the grounds. As I did so, a small, brisk, bearded man in a black c

visitor her

was and that I was a

ay on his travels, for he would hav

visit at some more propitious time.’ He passed on, but when I turned I observed that

and even be ordered off the premises if I were too audacious, for I was still conscious that I was being watched. Therefore, I strolled back to the house and waite

d my attention upon this. I was in luck, for the curtain had not been quite closed, and there was a crack in the shutter, so that I could see the inside of the room. It was

aper?”

oyed at the interrup

matter?”

most es

y took n

broad-leafed paper or of that smaller

the window, and I could swear that this second man was Godfrey. I could not see his face, but I knew the familiar slope of his shoulders. He was leaning upon his elbow in an attitud

in silence to the house, and I followed him into my o

at 8:30,’ said he. ‘The trap

a position that I could only stammer out a few incoherent apologies

e intrusion into the privacy of our family. You were here as a guest and you have become

per, Mr. Holmes, and I

off in this fashion, but I am sure that he is no longer a free agent. I warn you, Colonel Emsworth, that until I am assured as to the safety and well-being of my frie

have been hard put to it to hold my own against him. However, after a long glare of rage he turned upon his heel and walked out of the room. For my part, I took the appoi

for a very limited choice of alternatives must get to the root of the matter. Still, elementary as it was, there were points of interest and novelty a

asked; “how many w

nly the old butler and his wife. They

vant, then, in th

e beard acted as such. He seemed, ho

any indication that food was convey

sket down the garden walk and going in the direction of thi

ke any loca

anything of my old comrade, Godfrey Emsworth. Both of them assured me that he had gone for a voyage round the wor

thing of you

thi

d certainly be inquired into. I will

-da

tan of Turkey which called for immediate action, as political consequences of the gravest kind might arise from its neglect. Therefore it was not until the beginning of the next week, as my diary records, that I was a

e may be entirely unnecessary, and, on the other hand, it may be essentia

oughts while a case is actually under consideration. Dodd seemed surprised, but nothing more was said, and the three o

ce quite clearly at the window, so cle

is nose was pressed against the glass

ve been someone

o, it

say he wa

shall I describe it? — it was of a f

ually pale

which I saw so clearly as it w

u call

r the moment. Then I pursued him, as

low, was in the conventional costume of black coat and pepper-and-salt trousers, with only one curious variant. He wore brown leather gloves, which at sight of us he instantly shuffled off, laying them down on the hall-table as we passed in. I have, as my friend Watson may have remarked, an abnormally acute set of senses, and a faint but incisive scent was apparent. It seemed to centre on the hall table. I turned, p

eavy step in the passage. The door was flung open and he rushed in with bristling beard and twisted features, as terr

hout my leave I shall be within my rights if I use violence. I’ll shoot you, sir! By God, I will! As to you, sir,” turning upon me, “I extend the same wa

firmly, “until I hear from Godfrey’s o

tary host r

police and ask the inspector to send up two cons

hin his house. On the other hand, he should recognize that your action is prompted entirely by solicitude for his son. I venture to

ier. “Ralph, do what I have told you. What the

about the very catastrophe which you dread.” I took out my notebook and scribbled one word upon

face from which every expressi

gasped, sitting down

s to know things.

nd tugging at his straggling beard.

of mine, but you have forced my hand. Ralph, tell Mr. Godfr

lves in front of the mystery house at the end. A small bearded man sto

Emsworth,” said he. “This wi

. Our hands have been forc

furnished front room. A man was standing with his back to the fire, a

y, old man,

ther wave

, you may well stare! I don’t quite look the sma

andsome man with clear-cut features sunburned by an African sun, but mottled in patch

Jimmie, but I could have done without your friend. I suppose ther

saw you that night when you looked into my window, and I c

ing a peep at you. I hoped you would not have seen me, and

eaven’s name i

rette. “You remember that morning fight at Buffelsspruit, outsi

at but I never g

mpson — and Anderson, and I. We were clearing brother Boer, but he lay low and got the three of us. The other two were killed. I got an ele

eadly, sickening sort of cold, very different from a crisp healthy frost. Well, I was chilled to the bone, and my only hope seemed to lie in reaching that house. I staggered to my feet and dragged myself along, hardly conscious of what I did. I have a dim memory of slowly ascending the st

mitory stood out hard and clear. In front of me was standing a small, dwarf-like man with a huge, bulbous head, who was jabbering excitedly in Dutch, waving two horrible hands which looked to me like brown sponges. Behind him stood a group of people who seemed to b

d hands upon me and was dragging me out of bed, regardless of the fresh flow of blood from my wound. The little monster was as strong as a bull, and I don’t know what he might have done to me had not an elde

shoulder of yours wants looking after. I am a doctor, and I’ll soon have you tied up. But, man alive! you are in far great

anced, they had been brought back by this, their medical superintendent, who assured me that, though he believed he was immune to the disease, he would none the le

trust. There was a house where I could live. Under pledge of secrecy, Mr. Kent, who is a surgeon, was prepared to stay with me. It seemed simple enough on those lines. The alternative was a dreadful one — segregation for life among strangers with never a hope of r

sworth poi

paper on which I had written the word “Leprosy.” “It seemed to me t

ly Mr. Kent has seen the patient. May I ask, sir, if you are an authority on such

of the educated medical man,” h

gree that in such a case a second opinion is valuable. You have avoided this, I un

” said Colon

tion may absolutely be trusted. I was able once to do him a professional service, and he i

t have excited greater wonder and pleasure in a raw sub

ed be proud,”

arriage outside the door. Meanwhile, Colonel Emsworth, we may perhaps

h is but systematized common sense, into a prodigy. When I tell my own story I have no such aid. And yet I will give my pr

r of them has a convincing amount of support. We will now apply this principle to the case in point. As it was first presented to me, there were three possible explanations of the seclusion or incarceration of this gentleman in an outhouse of his father’s mansion. There was t

at. If it were some crime not yet discovered, then clearly it would be to the interest of the family to get rid of the del

g man could not have got loose and come down to have a look at his friend. You will remember, Mr. Dodd, that I felt round for points, asking you, for example, about the paper which Mr. Kent was reading. Had it been the Lancet or the British Medical Journal it would have helped

nt rumours from getting about and subsequent interference by the authorities. A devoted medical man, if sufficiently paid, would easily be found to take charge of the sufferer. There would be no reason why the latter should not be allowed freedom after dark. Bleaching of the skin is a common result of the disease. The case was a strong one — so strong that I

of the great dermatologist was ushered in. But for once his sphinx-like features had relaxed and

and seldom good,” said he. “This occasion

ha

it coincidence? Are there not subtle forces at work of which we know little? Are we assured that the apprehension from which this young man has no doubt suffered terribly since his exposure to its contagion may not produc