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THE MORNING STAR, WILMINGTON N. C.. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, . 1921 FOURTEEN MOT painy Wilmington, North Carplina - - - . . Com w $ V i BUILDING MvrERIAE PAINT ROOFINCj SASH DOORS v BLINDS CORNELL-BOARD LIME PLASTER PLASTER-PARIS CEMENT NAILS LATHS SHINGLES SHINGLES PEE DEE BRICK GALVANIZED CORRUGATED ROOFING All Above Material Carried in Stock ERLOCK JO MES STOR 5 THE RESIDENT PATIENT By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE Copyright, 1921, by Harper A. Bros.. Published by special ammsraeat rrith The McClnre Newspaper Syndicate This Is a eoattnnatton of tbe fa mous Sherlock Holme detective stories -which are bp pen ring: ench Sunday morning; In Tbe Star. Tbe title of the atory for next Sunday 1st "The Fire Orange Pip-." I In glancing over the somewhat in- coherent series of memoirs with which I have endeavored to illustrate a few of the mental peculiarities of my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the difficulty which I have experienced in picking out exam ples which shall In every way answer my purpose. Fpr in those cases In which Mr. Holmes has performed some tour de foree 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 be fore the public. On the other hand.. It . has frequently happened that he has been concerned in some research where the facts have been of the most re- markable and dramatic character, but where the share which he has himself taken in determining their causes has been Jess pronounced than I, as his biographer, could wish. It may be that in the business of which I am now about to write tbe part which ray friend played Is not sufficiently accent ; uated; and yet the whole train of cir cumstances is so remarkable that I cannot bring myself to omit it entirely from this series. It had been a close, rainy day in October. Our blinds were "half-drawn, and Holmes lay curled upon the sofa. reading' and rereading; a letter which he had received by the morning post. , For myself, my term of service In India 1 had trained me to stand heat better than cold, and a thermometer of 90 ,f was "no hardship.' But the paper was ; uninteresting. Parliament had risen. Everybody was out of town, and I yearned for the glades of the New For . est or the shingle of Southsea. A de pleted 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 He in the very center' of five millions of people, with bis filaments stretching out and run ning 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 evil-doer of the town to track down 'his brother of the country. Finding that Holmes was too ab sorbed for conversation, I had tossed aside the barren paper, anl leaning dear Watson, but certainly with your brought a breezewith it. What do you 1 back in my chair, I fell into . a-brown J . fsiudy. Suddenly my companion's voice broke in upon my thoughts. "You are right, Watson," said he. "It does seem a very preposterous way of settling a dispute." ' "Most preposterous!" I exclaimed, ; and then, suddenly realizing how he hafl; echoed the inmost, thought of my soul, I sat up in my chair and stared at him in blank amazement. - "What 19 this, Holmes?" I cried. "This is beyond anything which I.cxmid , 1 He laughed heartily at my perplex ity; -. ' ' -Tou rertember," said he. "that some little, time ago, when I read you the ' passage in f ono of Poe's Sketches, in which a close reasoner follows the un spoken thoughts of hts companion, you Were inclined to treat the matter as a mere tour-de-force of the-author. -On my remarking that I was constantly In the habit of doing the same thing you expressed incredulity.'., , "Oh, no!" . 1 - ' " "Perhaps not -with your tonsrue, my j eyebrows. So when 1 nir you throw train of thought, I was very happy to have the opportunity of reading It off. ; and eventually of breaking into it, as a proof that I had been in rapport with you." But I was & till far from satisfied. In the example whch you read to r,ie, said I, thj reasoner drew his con clusions from the actions of the man hom he observed. If 1 remember right, he stumbled over a heap of stones, looked up at the stars, and so on. But I have been seated auietlv in my chair, and what clews can I 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 servants." "Do you mean to say that you read my train of thoughts from my fea tures?" "Your features, and especially your eyes. Perhaps you cannot yourself re call how your reverie commenced?" "No, I cannot." "Then I will tell you. After throw ing down your 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 upon your newly-framed pic ture of General Gordon, and I saw by the alteration in , your 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 whioh 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 wonderfully!" I exclaimed.' ' . v , , "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 your face was thoughtful. You were recalling the incidents of ABeecher'' career. I was well aware that you could not do this without thinking of the mission which he undertook on Jsehalf of the north at the time of the Civil war, for I remember you expressing your pas sionate indignation at -the way in which lie was received iy the more turbulent of our people. ; You felt so strongly about it ..that I knew you could not think of Beecher without i thinking of that also. When a moment say to a ramble through London?" I was weary of out little sitting room and gladly acquiesced. For three hours we strolled about together, watching the ever-charming kaleido scope of life as it ebbs and flows through Fleet street and the Strand. His characteristic talk, with its keen observance of detail and subtle. power of Inference, held me amused and en thralled. It was l& o'clock before we reached Baker street again. A brough am was 'waiting at our door. "Hum! A doctor's general practi tioner, I perceive," said Holmes. "Not been long in practice,, but has had a good deal to do. Come to consult us, I fancy! Lucky we came baek!" I was sufficiently conversant with Holmes's methods to be able to follow his reasoning, and to see that the na ture and state of the various medical instruments In the wicker basket wlileh hung in the lamplight inside the brougham had given him the data for his swift deduction. The light in our window above showed that this late visit was indeed Intended for us. With some curiosity as to what could have sent a brother mediyy to us at such an hour, I followed Holmes Into, our sanc tum. A pale, paper-faced man with sandy whiskers rose up from a chair by the fire as we entered. His age may not have been more than three or four and thirty, but his .haggard expression and unhealthy hue told of a life which had sapped his strength and -robbed him of his youth. His manner was nervous and shy, like that of a sensitive gentle jiLan, and the thin white hand which he laid en the mantelpiece as he rose was that of an artist rather than a surgeon. His dress waa quiet and'aombre a black frocks-coat, dark' trousers, and a touch of color bout his necktie. "Good-evening, doctorVsald Holmes, cheerily. "I am glad to ie thai you hT only been waiting a, very few minutes You spoke to my coachman, then?" "Na. It. was the candle on the side- table that told me. Pray resume your j you in Brook street? seat and let me know how I can serve i stared at him in elaborate, that X shall lay it all before you, and you .shall, judge, what is es sential and what Is not. "I amv compel led, to begin with, to say something of my own college ca reer. I am' a London university man. you know, and I am sure that you will not think that I am unduly sing ing my own praises if I say that my student career was "considered by my professors tobe a very promising one. After I had graduated I continued to devote myself to research, occupying a minor position In King's College hos pital, and I waa fortunate enough to excite considerable interest by my re search into the pathology of catalepsy, and finally to win the Bruce Pinkerton prise and medal by the monograph on nervous lesions to which your friend has just alluded. I should not go too far if I were to say that there was a general impression at that time that a distinguished career, lay before me. "But the one great stumbling-block lay in my want of capital. As you will readily understand, a specialist who aims high is compelled to start in one of a dozen streets in the Cavendish square Quarter, all : of which entail enormous rents and furnishing ex penses. Besides this preliminary out lay, he must be prepared to keep him self for some years, and to hire a pre sentable carriage and horse. To do this was quite beyond my power, and I coujd only hope that by economy I might in ten years' time save enough to enable me to put up my plate. Sud denly, however, an unexpected Incident opened up quite a new prospect to me. "This was a visit from a gentleman of the name of Blessington, who was a complete stranger to me. He came up into my room one morning, and plunged Into business in an instant. " 'You are- the same Percy Trevelyan who has had so distinguished a career and won a great prize lately?" said he. "I bowed. " 'Answer me frankly," he continued, 'for you will find it to your interest to do so. You have all the cleverness which makes a successful man. Have you the tactr , x "1 could not help smiling at the abruptness of the question. . M I - trust that I have my share I said. ' ' "Any bad habits? Not drawn to ward drink, ehr 'Really, sir!" I cried. 'Qurte -right! Thafs all right! But I was bound :to ask. With all these qualities,, why are you not in practice?" "t" shrugged my shoulders. '"Come, come!' said he, in hie bust ling way. 'It's the old story! More In your brains than in your , pocket, eh? What would you say if I were to start down five and three-pence for every guinea that I had earned, and carried the rest off to the strong-box in his own room. "I may say with confidence that he never had occasion to regret his specu lation. - From the first it was a suc cess. A few good cases and the repu tation which I had won In the hospital brought me rapidly to the front, and during the last few years I have made him a rich man. "So much, Mr. Holmes, for my past history and my relations with Mx. Blessington. It only remains for me now to tell you what has occurred to bring me here tonight." yon." '' - v - . . "My name Is Dr.: Percy Trevelyan," said- our visitor, "and I live at 403 Brook street' :W'-r'i : ' - . ' "Are you not the author of a mono graph upon obscure nervous lesions?" I asked. ' His pale cheeks flushed with pleas ure at hearing that his work w,as known to me. . "I so seldom hear of the work that I thought It was quite dead," said he. "My. publishers gave me a most dis couraging account f its sale. You are yourself, I presume," a medical man?" ""A. retired army aurgeon. " "'My own ; hobby has always been nervous disease. I should wish to make it ait absolute specialty, Jant, of course, a man roust take what he can eret at first. This, however, is beside the question, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and I quite appreciate how valuable your tiTn i. The fact is that a very singu- of life. .Your, hand stole toward your, la train of ovents ns wurrea re own old. wound, , artd 9r mile ' quivered eently at my house in Brooke street. on your lips; which showed me that the rldlculbus' side of tlils method of settling international;; questions . had forced itself . upon your jmlnd. At this point I agreed with you. that it wae preposterous,, and was glad to find that all my deductions ;had ' been correct." "Absolutely J" said I. - "And now that am as amased aa befora."- "It was very superficial, my "dear Watson, I assure 'you; I should - not have intruded' it Upon' your attention had you j not shown some incredulity the other- dy. But - the-- evening ha later I saw your,, eyes wander away from the picture, I suspected that your mind had now turned to the Civil war, and when X observed that your, lips set, your eyes sparkled, and your hands clinched, I was positive that you were indeed thinking of the gallantry which was shown tiy both sides in. that des perate struggle. But then, again; your face grew sadder;, you "shook your head. You were . dwelling upon ' the sadness and horror c and useless waste and tonight they came- to such a head that I felt it was quite impossible for me to wait another hour before asking for yeur dv,ce and assistance.' -Sherlock Holmes eat down and "lit his pipe. YoU are vary welcome tbboth," said he. "Pray let me have a detailed account of what the circumstances -are which haro disturbed you." . "One w two of them are so trivial," said Dr. Trevelyan, "that really I am almost ashamed to mention them. But tx u? was Jbe matter Is so mexpllcable, and the thT3 r' l f t recent turn which it has taken is so suiting astonishment. "Oh, it's for my sake, not for youra,' he. cried. 'I'll be perfectly frank with you, and if it suits you it will suit ma very well. I have a few thousand to invest, d' ye see,' and I think Til sink them In you." "'But why?" I gasped. "Well, it's Just like any other specu lation, and aafer than most.' "'What am I to do, then?' r "Til tell you. I'll talc e the house, furnish it, pay the maids, and run the whole place. All you have to do is Just to wear out your chair in the con suiting-room. I'll let you have pocket money and everything. Then you hand over to me three-quarters of what you earn, and you keep the other quarter for yourself." "This was. the atrarrge proposal, M. Hplmes, with, which the man Blessing ton approached me. I won't weary you w;lth the account of how" we bargained "and negotiated. It ended -in my . mov ing into the house next Lady-day, and starting in practice- on veryj much the earns conditions as he had suggested. He came himself to live with me in the Character of a tesldent ' patient. His heart wa weak, it appears, and he needed constant medical supervision. He turned the two "best rooms of the first-floor Into a sitting-room and bed room" for himself. He- was a man of singular habits, shunning company .nd very seldom are In "Ymt. 1 . Irregular, but in one- respect he was the same hour, he walked Into the con. room, examined the hooks, put II. Mr. Trevelyan went on with his story: "Some weeks ago Mr. Blessington came down to me in. as it seemed to me, a state of considerable agitation. He spoke of some burglary which, he said, had been committed in the west end, and he appeared, I remember, to be quite unnecessarily excited about it, declaring that a day should not pass before we should add stronger bolts to our . windows and doors. For a week he continued to be in a peculiar state of restlessness, peering continually out of the windows, and ceasing to take the short walk which had usually been the prelude to his dinner. From .his manner it struck me that he was in mortal dread of something or some body, but when T questioned him upon the point he became so offensive that I was compelled to drop the sabject. Gradually, as time passed, his fears ap peared to die away, and he had renew ed his former habits, when a fresh event reduced him to the pitiable state of prostration in which he now lies. "What happened was this. Two days ago I received the letter which I now read to you. Neither address nor date is attached to It. " A Russian nobleman who is now resident in England,' it runs, 'would be glad to avail himself of the profes sional assistance of Dr. Percy Trevel yan. He has been for some years e victim of cataleptic attacks, on which, as is well known. Dr. Trevelyan is an authority. He proposes to call at about a quarter past six tomorrow eve ning. If Dr. Trevelyan will make it convenient to be at home. "This letter Interested me . deeply, because the chief difficulty in the study of catalepsy is the rareness of the dis ease. You may believe, then, that I was in my consulting-room when, at the appointed hour, the page' showed In the patient. , "H.wa$ an elderly man, thin, de-j mure, and commonplace--by no means j the conception one forms of a Russian nobleman. I was much mora struck by the appearance of his companion. This . was a tall young man, surprisingly! handsome, with a dark, fleroe face, and the limbs and chest of a Hercules. He had his hand under the others arm aa they entered, and helped him to a chair with a tenderness which one would hardly" have expected from his appearance. ?v x V Y6u will excuse my coming in, doo tor," said he to me, speaking .English with a slight lisp. 'This is my father, and his" health is a matter of the most overwhelming Importance to me "I was touched by this filial anxiety. You would, perhaps, care to remain during the consultation? said X. "Not for lb,e world he rled, wlthA! a gesture of horror. It i more painful fto me than I can express. If I were to see my father, in one of these dreadful ealsures I am convinced that J should never survive it. My own nervous sys tem is an exceptionally sensitive one. With your permission, l will remain in the waiting-room while you go lnterqy father's case v- v . ;. "To this, of course, I assented1 and the young man withdrew. The patient and I then plunged Into a dlsoussion of his ease. He waa not remarkable fori intelligence,, and his answers were fro- ' quently obsoure, which I attributed toj his limited acquaintance with our lan-' guage. Suddenly, however, as 1 tat writing, he ceased to give any answer ! at all to my inquiries, and on my turn-: lng toward him I was shocked to see that he was sitting holt upright in his chair, staring at m' with a perfectly blank and rigid face. He was again in the grip of his mysterious malady. "My first feeling, as I have jujt said, was one of pity and horror. My second, I fear, was rather one of pro fessional satisfaction. I made notes of my patient's pulse and temperature, tested the rigidity of his muscles, and examined his reflexes. There was noth ing markedly abnormal in any of these conditions, which harmonized with my former experiences. I had obtained good results in such" cases by the in halation of nitrite of amyl, and the present seemed an admirable oppor tunity of testing its virtues. The bottle was downstairs in my laboratory, so leaving my patient seated in his chair. I ran down to get it- There was some little delay in finding It five minutes, let us say ana then I returned. 11 agine my amazement to find the rol empty and the patient gone. ts- vi course, my nrst act wag to rl into the waiting-room. The son If gone also. The hall door had M closed, but not shut. My page who ; mits patients is a new boy and by means quick. He waits downjtail and runs up to show patients out wli I ring the . consultlngr-room bell. had heard nothing, and the affair i mained a complete mystery. Mr. Bief ington came in from his walk shorl afterwards, but I did not eay anythl to him upon the sub.-ect, for, to tell truth, I have got in the way of latel holding as little communication v him as possible. (Continued on Page Fifteen) i rune k iiatio 757 753 JOSEY'S COTTONSEED MEAL AND FISH SCRAP MIXTURES 8 14 833 822 ACID PHOSPHATE POTASH As Good As the Best And Better Than the Rest May we serve you this spring for a poH tion of your Fertilizer requirements? N. B. Josey Guano Company , WILMINGTON, N. C. i i -
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Feb. 27, 1921, edition 1
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