git-scribe 0.0.4 → 0.0.5
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- data/.gitignore +1 -0
- data/Rakefile +31 -0
- data/SPEC.asciidoc +126 -0
- data/TODO.txt +29 -0
- data/bin/git-scribe +2 -1
- data/docbook-xsl/.CatalogManager.properties.example +61 -0
- data/docbook-xsl/.urilist +1 -0
- data/git-scribe.gemspec +32 -0
- data/lib/git-scribe.rb +21 -315
- data/lib/git-scribe/check.rb +60 -0
- data/lib/git-scribe/cli.rb +84 -0
- data/lib/git-scribe/generate.rb +222 -0
- data/lib/git-scribe/init.rb +16 -0
- data/lib/git-scribe/version.rb +3 -0
- data/template/.gitignore +1 -0
- data/template/.gitscribe +5 -0
- data/test/check_test.rb +12 -0
- data/test/gen_test.rb +78 -0
- data/test/init_test.rb +36 -0
- data/test/test_helper.rb +44 -0
- metadata +49 -161
- data/example/book/big.asc +0 -5604
- data/example/book/holmes.asc +0 -12983
- data/example/output/META-INF/container.xml +0 -6
- data/example/output/OEBPS/ar01s02.html +0 -15
- data/example/output/OEBPS/ar01s03.html +0 -3
- data/example/output/OEBPS/content.opf +0 -21
- data/example/output/OEBPS/index.html +0 -5
- data/example/output/OEBPS/toc.ncx +0 -37
- data/example/output/a_case_of_identity.html +0 -725
- data/example/output/a_example_appendix.html +0 -63
- data/example/output/a_migration_notes.html +0 -95
- data/example/output/apa.html +0 -20
- data/example/output/apb.html +0 -6
- data/example/output/apc.html +0 -24
- data/example/output/apd.html +0 -30
- data/example/output/ape.html +0 -26
- data/example/output/apf.html +0 -9
- data/example/output/apg.html +0 -42
- data/example/output/aph.html +0 -89
- data/example/output/ar01s02.html +0 -12
- data/example/output/ar01s03.html +0 -34
- data/example/output/ar01s04.html +0 -77
- data/example/output/ar01s05.html +0 -272
- data/example/output/ar01s06.html +0 -35
- data/example/output/ar01s07.html +0 -105
- data/example/output/ar01s08.html +0 -33
- data/example/output/ar01s09.html +0 -12
- data/example/output/ar01s10.html +0 -14
- data/example/output/ar01s11.html +0 -34
- data/example/output/ar01s12.html +0 -63
- data/example/output/ar01s13.html +0 -156
- data/example/output/ar01s14.html +0 -330
- data/example/output/ar01s15.html +0 -22
- data/example/output/ar01s16.html +0 -27
- data/example/output/ar01s17.html +0 -94
- data/example/output/ar01s18.html +0 -359
- data/example/output/ar01s19.html +0 -373
- data/example/output/ar01s20.html +0 -27
- data/example/output/ar01s21.html +0 -33
- data/example/output/ar01s22.html +0 -351
- data/example/output/ar01s23.html +0 -21
- data/example/output/ar01s24.html +0 -69
- data/example/output/ar01s25.html +0 -60
- data/example/output/ar01s26.html +0 -217
- data/example/output/ar01s27.html +0 -88
- data/example/output/ar01s28.html +0 -237
- data/example/output/ar01s29.html +0 -68
- data/example/output/ar01s30.html +0 -154
- data/example/output/ar01s31.html +0 -6
- data/example/output/ar01s32.html +0 -22
- data/example/output/ar01s33.html +0 -209
- data/example/output/asciidoc_backends.html +0 -190
- data/example/output/asciidoc_document_types.html +0 -131
- data/example/output/attribute_entries.html +0 -185
- data/example/output/attribute_lists.html +0 -157
- data/example/output/attribute_references.html +0 -414
- data/example/output/attributelist_element.html +0 -143
- data/example/output/b_packager_notes.html +0 -68
- data/example/output/bi01.html +0 -18
- data/example/output/big.asc +0 -5604
- data/example/output/block_element_definitions.html +0 -448
- data/example/output/block_titles.html +0 -83
- data/example/output/blockid_element.html +0 -80
- data/example/output/book.asc +0 -5604
- data/example/output/book.epub +0 -0
- data/example/output/book.fo +0 -3788
- data/example/output/book.html +0 -8793
- data/example/output/book.xml +0 -8265
- data/example/output/c_asciidoc_safe_mode.html +0 -105
- data/example/output/callouts.html +0 -214
- data/example/output/catalog +0 -10
- data/example/output/colophon.html +0 -397
- data/example/output/configuration_files.html +0 -672
- data/example/output/converting_docbook_to_other_file_formats.html +0 -324
- data/example/output/d_using_asciidoc_with_non-english_languages.html +0 -107
- data/example/output/delimited_blocks.html +0 -455
- data/example/output/document_attributes.html +0 -95
- data/example/output/document_processing.html +0 -116
- data/example/output/document_structure.html +0 -493
- data/example/output/e_vim_syntax_highlighter.html +0 -111
- data/example/output/example_bibliography.html +0 -82
- data/example/output/example_colophon.html +0 -58
- data/example/output/example_glossary.html +0 -73
- data/example/output/example_index.html +0 -108
- data/example/output/f_attribute_options.html +0 -129
- data/example/output/filters.html +0 -179
- data/example/output/footnotes.html +0 -103
- data/example/output/g_diagnostics.html +0 -148
- data/example/output/generating_plain_text_files.html +0 -68
- data/example/output/getting_started.html +0 -87
- data/example/output/glossary.html +0 -95
- data/example/output/go01.html +0 -24
- data/example/output/h_backend_attributes.html +0 -308
- data/example/output/help_commands.html +0 -96
- data/example/output/holmes.asc +0 -12983
- data/example/output/image/octocat_professor.png +0 -0
- data/example/output/include/hello.c +0 -10
- data/example/output/index.html +0 -656
- data/example/output/indexes.html +0 -104
- data/example/output/intrinsic_attributes.html +0 -165
- data/example/output/ix01.html +0 -3
- data/example/output/lists.html +0 -666
- data/example/output/macros.html +0 -737
- data/example/output/manpage_documents.html +0 -124
- data/example/output/master.css +0 -281
- data/example/output/mathematical_formulas.html +0 -125
- data/example/output/page.html +0 -60
- data/example/output/paragraphs.html +0 -192
- data/example/output/pr01.html +0 -3
- data/example/output/source_code_highlighting.html +0 -59
- data/example/output/stylesheets/handbookish-quirks.css +0 -0
- data/example/output/stylesheets/handbookish.css +0 -233
- data/example/output/tables.html +0 -797
- data/example/output/text_formatting.html +0 -273
- data/example/output/the_adventure_of_the_beryl_coronet.html +0 -968
- data/example/output/the_adventure_of_the_blue_carbuncle.html +0 -825
- data/example/output/the_adventure_of_the_copper_beeches.html +0 -998
- data/example/output/the_adventure_of_the_engineer_s_thumb.html +0 -851
- data/example/output/the_adventure_of_the_noble_bachelor.html +0 -861
- data/example/output/the_adventure_of_the_speckled_band.html +0 -1015
- data/example/output/the_boscombe_valley_mystery.html +0 -974
- data/example/output/the_first_chapter.html +0 -110
- data/example/output/the_five_orange_pips.html +0 -776
- data/example/output/the_man_with_the_twisted_lip.html +0 -946
- data/example/output/the_red-headed_league.html +0 -950
- data/example/output/the_second_chapter.html +0 -95
- data/example/output/the_third_chapter.html +0 -58
- data/example/output/tips_and_tricks.html +0 -452
- data/example/output/title.html +0 -120
- data/example/output/titles.html +0 -126
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>The second chapter</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheets/handbookish.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.74.1"/></head><body><div class="section" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="_the_second_chapter"/>The second chapter</h1></div></div></div><p>Ut suspendisse nulla. Auctor felis facilisis. Rutrum vivamus nec
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lectus porttitor dui dapibus eu ridiculus tempor sodales et. Sit a
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cras. Id tellus cubilia erat.</p><p>Quisque nullam et. Blandit dui tempor. Posuere in elit diam egestas
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sem vivamus vel ac.</p><div class="tip" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Tip</h3><p>Tip.</p></div><div class="important" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Important</h3><p>This is important.</p></div><div class="warning" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Warning</h3><p>This is a warning.</p></div><div class="caution" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Caution</h3><p>Tread lightly.</p></div><pre class="programlisting">#include <stdio.h>
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main()
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{
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char hex[] = "599955586da1c3ad514f3e65f1081d2012ec862d";
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git_oid oid;
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git_oid_mkstr(&oid, hex);
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printf("Raw 20 bytes: [%s]\n", (&oid)->id);
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}</pre></div></body></html>
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>Source Code Highlighting</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheets/handbookish.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.74.1"/></head><body><div class="section" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="_source_code_highlighting"/>Source Code Highlighting</h1></div></div></div><pre class="programlisting">if n < 0: print 'Hello World!'</pre></div></body></html>
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<dc:title xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">The Book Title</dc:title>
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>The Book Title</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheets/handbookish.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.74.1"/></head><body><div class="article" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="id36120919"/>The Book Title</h1></div></div><hr/></div><div class="section" xml:lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="_the_first_chapter"/>The first chapter</h1></div></div></div><p>Nec vitae mus fringilla eu vel pede sed pellentesque. Nascetur fugiat
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nobis. Eu felis id mauris sollicitudin ut. Sem volutpat feugiat.
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Ornare convallis urna vitae.</p><div class="informalfigure"><div class="mediaobject"><img src="image/octocat_professor.png" alt="image/octocat_professor.png"/></div></div><p>Nec mauris sed aliquam nam mauris dolor lorem imperdiet.</p></div></div></body></html>
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<text>Source Code Highlighting</text>
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<title>A Case of Identity</title>
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The Red-Headed League
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<a href="index.html">Home</a><br/>
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<strong>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</strong>
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<a href="the_boscombe_valley_mystery.html">Next</a><br/>
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The Boscombe Valley Mystery
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<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">
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<a id="_a_case_of_identity"></a>A Case of Identity</h2></div></div></div>
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<p>"My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side
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of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely
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stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We
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would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere
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commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window
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hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the
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roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the
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strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the
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wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and
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leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with
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its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and
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unprofitable."</p>
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<p>"And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which
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come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and
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vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to
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its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed,
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neither fascinating nor artistic."</p>
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<p>"A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a
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realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the
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police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the
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platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an
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observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend
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upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace."</p>
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<p>I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking
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so." I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser
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and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout
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three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is
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strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper
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from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the
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first heading upon which I come. <span class="emphasis"><em>A husband’s cruelty to his
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wife.</em></span> There is half a column of print, but I know without
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reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of
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course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the
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bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of
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writers could invent nothing more crude."</p>
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<p>"Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument,"
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said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This
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is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged
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in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The
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husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the
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conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of
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winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling
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them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely
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to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a
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pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over
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you in your example."</p>
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<p>He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in
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the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his
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homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon
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it.</p>
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<p>"Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks.
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It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my
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assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers."</p>
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90
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<p>"And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which
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sparkled upon his finger.</p>
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<p>"It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in
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which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it
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even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of
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my little problems."</p>
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<p>"And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest.</p>
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<p>"Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of
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interest. They are important, you understand, without being
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interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in
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unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation,
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and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the
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charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the
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simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is
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the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter
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which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing
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which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however,
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that I may have something better before very many minutes are
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over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken."</p>
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<p>He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted
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blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street.
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Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite
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there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck,
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and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was
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tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her
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ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous,
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hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated
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backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove
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buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves
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the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp
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clang of the bell.</p>
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<p>"I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his
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cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always
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means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure
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that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet
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even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously
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wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom
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is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love
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matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or
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grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts."</p>
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<p>As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons
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entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself
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loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed
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merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed
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her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and,
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having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked
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her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was
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peculiar to him.</p>
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<p>"Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a
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little trying to do so much typewriting?"</p>
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<p>"I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters
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are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport
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of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear
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and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You’ve
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heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know
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all that?"</p>
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<p>"Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know
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things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others
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overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?"</p>
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<p>"I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege,
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whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had
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given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as
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much for me. I’m not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in
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my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and
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I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel."</p>
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<p>"Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked
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Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to
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the ceiling.</p>
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<p>Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss
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Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said,
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"for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr.
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Windibank—that is, my father—took it all. He would not go to
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the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he
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would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done,
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it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away
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to you."</p>
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<p>"Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the
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name is different."</p>
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<p>"Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny,
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too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself."</p>
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<p>"And your mother is alive?"</p>
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<p>"Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn’t best pleased, Mr.
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Holmes, when she married again so soon after father’s death, and
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a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father
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was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy
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business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the
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foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the
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business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines.
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They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn’t
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near as much as father could have got if he had been alive."</p>
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<p>I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this
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rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he
|
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had listened with the greatest concentration of attention.</p>
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<p>"Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the
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business?"</p>
|
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<p>"Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle
|
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Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per
|
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cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can
|
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only touch the interest."</p>
|
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<p>"You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so
|
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|
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large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the
|
191
|
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bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in
|
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every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely
|
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upon an income of about 60 pounds."</p>
|
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<p>"I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you
|
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|
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understand that as long as I live at home I don’t wish to be a
|
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|
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burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while
|
197
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I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the
|
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time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it
|
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over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I
|
200
|
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earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can
|
201
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often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day."</p>
|
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<p>"You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes.
|
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"This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as
|
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freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your
|
205
|
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connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel."</p>
|
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<p>A flush stole over Miss Sutherland’s face, and she picked
|
207
|
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nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the
|
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gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets
|
209
|
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when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and
|
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sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He
|
211
|
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never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I
|
212
|
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wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I
|
213
|
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was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to
|
214
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prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all
|
215
|
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father’s friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing
|
216
|
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fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much
|
217
|
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as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do,
|
218
|
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he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went,
|
219
|
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mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it
|
220
|
-
was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel."</p>
|
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|
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<p>"I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from
|
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|
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France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball."</p>
|
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|
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<p>"Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and
|
224
|
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shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying
|
225
|
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anything to a woman, for she would have her way."</p>
|
226
|
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<p>"I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a
|
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|
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gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel."</p>
|
228
|
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<p>"Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if
|
229
|
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we had got home all safe, and after that we met him—that is to
|
230
|
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say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father
|
231
|
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came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house
|
232
|
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any more."</p>
|
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|
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<p>"No?"</p>
|
234
|
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<p>"Well, you know father didn’t like anything of the sort. He
|
235
|
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wouldn’t have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to
|
236
|
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say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But
|
237
|
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then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to
|
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|
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begin with, and I had not got mine yet."</p>
|
239
|
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<p>"But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see
|
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|
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you?"</p>
|
241
|
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<p>"Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer
|
242
|
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wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each
|
243
|
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other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he
|
244
|
-
used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so
|
245
|
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there was no need for father to know."</p>
|
246
|
-
<p>"Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?"</p>
|
247
|
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<p>"Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that
|
248
|
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we took. Hosmer—Mr. Angel—was a cashier in an office in
|
249
|
-
Leadenhall Street—and--"</p>
|
250
|
-
<p>"What office?"</p>
|
251
|
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<p>"That’s the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don’t know."</p>
|
252
|
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<p>"Where did he live, then?"</p>
|
253
|
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<p>"He slept on the premises."</p>
|
254
|
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<p>"And you don’t know his address?"</p>
|
255
|
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<p>"No—except that it was Leadenhall Street."</p>
|
256
|
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<p>"Where did you address your letters, then?"</p>
|
257
|
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<p>"To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called
|
258
|
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for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be
|
259
|
-
chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady,
|
260
|
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so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn’t
|
261
|
-
have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come
|
262
|
-
from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the
|
263
|
-
machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he
|
264
|
-
was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think
|
265
|
-
of."</p>
|
266
|
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<p>"It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom
|
267
|
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of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.
|
268
|
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Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?"</p>
|
269
|
-
<p>"He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me
|
270
|
-
in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to
|
271
|
-
be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his
|
272
|
-
voice was gentle. He’d had the quinsy and swollen glands when he
|
273
|
-
was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat,
|
274
|
-
and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always
|
275
|
-
well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just
|
276
|
-
as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare."</p>
|
277
|
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<p>"Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather,
|
278
|
-
returned to France?"</p>
|
279
|
-
<p>"Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we
|
280
|
-
should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest
|
281
|
-
and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever
|
282
|
-
happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite
|
283
|
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right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion.
|
284
|
-
Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder
|
285
|
-
of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the
|
286
|
-
week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to
|
287
|
-
mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother
|
288
|
-
said she would make it all right with him. I didn’t quite like
|
289
|
-
that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as
|
290
|
-
he was only a few years older than me; but I didn’t want to do
|
291
|
-
anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the
|
292
|
-
company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on
|
293
|
-
the very morning of the wedding."</p>
|
294
|
-
<p>"It missed him, then?"</p>
|
295
|
-
<p>"Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived."</p>
|
296
|
-
<p>"Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for
|
297
|
-
the Friday. Was it to be in church?"</p>
|
298
|
-
<p>"Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour’s, near
|
299
|
-
King’s Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St.
|
300
|
-
Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were
|
301
|
-
two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a
|
302
|
-
four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the
|
303
|
-
street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler
|
304
|
-
drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and
|
305
|
-
when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one
|
306
|
-
there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become
|
307
|
-
of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was
|
308
|
-
last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything
|
309
|
-
since then to throw any light upon what became of him."</p>
|
310
|
-
<p>"It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said
|
311
|
-
Holmes.</p>
|
312
|
-
<p>"Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all
|
313
|
-
the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to
|
314
|
-
be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to
|
315
|
-
separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him,
|
316
|
-
and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed
|
317
|
-
strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since
|
318
|
-
gives a meaning to it."</p>
|
319
|
-
<p>"Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some
|
320
|
-
unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?"</p>
|
321
|
-
<p>"Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he
|
322
|
-
would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw
|
323
|
-
happened."</p>
|
324
|
-
<p>"But you have no notion as to what it could have been?"</p>
|
325
|
-
<p>"None."</p>
|
326
|
-
<p>"One more question. How did your mother take the matter?"</p>
|
327
|
-
<p>"She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter
|
328
|
-
again."</p>
|
329
|
-
<p>"And your father? Did you tell him?"</p>
|
330
|
-
<p>"Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had
|
331
|
-
happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said,
|
332
|
-
what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of
|
333
|
-
the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my
|
334
|
-
money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him,
|
335
|
-
there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about
|
336
|
-
money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what
|
337
|
-
could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me
|
338
|
-
half-mad to think of it, and I can’t sleep a wink at night." She
|
339
|
-
pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob
|
340
|
-
heavily into it.</p>
|
341
|
-
<p>"I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and
|
342
|
-
I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the
|
343
|
-
weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind
|
344
|
-
dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel
|
345
|
-
vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life."</p>
|
346
|
-
<p>"Then you don’t think I’ll see him again?"</p>
|
347
|
-
<p>"I fear not."</p>
|
348
|
-
<p>"Then what has happened to him?"</p>
|
349
|
-
<p>"You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an
|
350
|
-
accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can
|
351
|
-
spare."</p>
|
352
|
-
<p>"I advertised for him in last Saturday’s Chronicle," said she.
|
353
|
-
"Here is the slip and here are four letters from him."</p>
|
354
|
-
<p>"Thank you. And your address?"</p>
|
355
|
-
<p>"No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell."</p>
|
356
|
-
<p>"Mr. Angel’s address you never had, I understand. Where is your
|
357
|
-
father’s place of business?"</p>
|
358
|
-
<p>"He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers
|
359
|
-
of Fenchurch Street."</p>
|
360
|
-
<p>"Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will
|
361
|
-
leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given
|
362
|
-
you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it
|
363
|
-
to affect your life."</p>
|
364
|
-
<p>"You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be
|
365
|
-
true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back."</p>
|
366
|
-
<p>For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was
|
367
|
-
something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which
|
368
|
-
compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon
|
369
|
-
the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever
|
370
|
-
she might be summoned.</p>
|
371
|
-
<p>Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips
|
372
|
-
still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him,
|
373
|
-
and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down
|
374
|
-
from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a
|
375
|
-
counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with
|
376
|
-
the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of
|
377
|
-
infinite languor in his face.</p>
|
378
|
-
<p>"Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found
|
379
|
-
her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way,
|
380
|
-
is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you
|
381
|
-
consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of
|
382
|
-
the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however,
|
383
|
-
there were one or two details which were new to me. But the
|
384
|
-
maiden herself was most instructive."</p>
|
385
|
-
<p>"You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite
|
386
|
-
invisible to me," I remarked.</p>
|
387
|
-
<p>"Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to
|
388
|
-
look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring
|
389
|
-
you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of
|
390
|
-
thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace.
|
391
|
-
Now, what did you gather from that woman’s appearance? Describe
|
392
|
-
it."</p>
|
393
|
-
<p>"Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a
|
394
|
-
feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads
|
395
|
-
sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her
|
396
|
-
dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little
|
397
|
-
purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and
|
398
|
-
were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn’t
|
399
|
-
observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a
|
400
|
-
general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable,
|
401
|
-
easy-going way."</p>
|
402
|
-
<p>Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled.</p>
|
403
|
-
<p>"'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have
|
404
|
-
really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed
|
405
|
-
everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and
|
406
|
-
you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general
|
407
|
-
impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My
|
408
|
-
first glance is always at a woman’s sleeve. In a man it is
|
409
|
-
perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you
|
410
|
-
observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most
|
411
|
-
useful material for showing traces. The double line a little
|
412
|
-
above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table,
|
413
|
-
was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type,
|
414
|
-
leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side
|
415
|
-
of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the
|
416
|
-
broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and,
|
417
|
-
observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I
|
418
|
-
ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed
|
419
|
-
to surprise her."</p>
|
420
|
-
<p>"It surprised me."</p>
|
421
|
-
<p>"But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and
|
422
|
-
interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots
|
423
|
-
which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were
|
424
|
-
really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and
|
425
|
-
the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower
|
426
|
-
buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and
|
427
|
-
fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly
|
428
|
-
dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned,
|
429
|
-
it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry."</p>
|
430
|
-
<p>"And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by
|
431
|
-
my friend’s incisive reasoning.</p>
|
432
|
-
<p>"I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving
|
433
|
-
home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right
|
434
|
-
glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see
|
435
|
-
that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had
|
436
|
-
written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been
|
437
|
-
this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger.
|
438
|
-
All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back
|
439
|
-
to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised
|
440
|
-
description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?"</p>
|
441
|
-
<p>I held the little printed slip to the light.</p>
|
442
|
-
<p>"Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman
|
443
|
-
named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height;
|
444
|
-
strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in
|
445
|
-
the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted
|
446
|
-
glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen,
|
447
|
-
in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert
|
448
|
-
chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over
|
449
|
-
elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in
|
450
|
-
Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--"</p>
|
451
|
-
<p>"That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued,
|
452
|
-
glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no
|
453
|
-
clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There
|
454
|
-
is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike
|
455
|
-
you."</p>
|
456
|
-
<p>"They are typewritten," I remarked.</p>
|
457
|
-
<p>"Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the
|
458
|
-
neat little <span class="emphasis"><em>Hosmer Angel</em></span> at the bottom. There is a date, you
|
459
|
-
see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is
|
460
|
-
rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive
|
461
|
-
--in fact, we may call it conclusive."</p>
|
462
|
-
<p>"Of what?"</p>
|
463
|
-
<p>"My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it
|
464
|
-
bears upon the case?"</p>
|
465
|
-
<p>"I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able
|
466
|
-
to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were
|
467
|
-
instituted."</p>
|
468
|
-
<p>"No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters,
|
469
|
-
which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the
|
470
|
-
other is to the young lady’s stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking
|
471
|
-
him whether he could meet us here at six o’clock tomorrow
|
472
|
-
evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the
|
473
|
-
male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the
|
474
|
-
answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem
|
475
|
-
upon the shelf for the interim."</p>
|
476
|
-
<p>I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend’s subtle powers
|
477
|
-
of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that
|
478
|
-
he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy
|
479
|
-
demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had
|
480
|
-
been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in
|
481
|
-
the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler
|
482
|
-
photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the
|
483
|
-
Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with
|
484
|
-
the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle
|
485
|
-
indeed which he could not unravel.</p>
|
486
|
-
<p>I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the
|
487
|
-
conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would
|
488
|
-
find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up
|
489
|
-
to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary
|
490
|
-
Sutherland.</p>
|
491
|
-
<p>A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own
|
492
|
-
attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at
|
493
|
-
the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six
|
494
|
-
o’clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a
|
495
|
-
hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too
|
496
|
-
late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found
|
497
|
-
Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin
|
498
|
-
form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable
|
499
|
-
array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell
|
500
|
-
of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the
|
501
|
-
chemical work which was so dear to him.</p>
|
502
|
-
<p>"Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered.</p>
|
503
|
-
<p>"Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta."</p>
|
504
|
-
<p>"No, no, the mystery!" I cried.</p>
|
505
|
-
<p>"Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon.
|
506
|
-
There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said
|
507
|
-
yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback
|
508
|
-
is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel."</p>
|
509
|
-
<p>"Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss
|
510
|
-
Sutherland?"</p>
|
511
|
-
<p>The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet
|
512
|
-
opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the
|
513
|
-
passage and a tap at the door.</p>
|
514
|
-
<p>"This is the girl’s stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said
|
515
|
-
Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at
|
516
|
-
six. Come in!"</p>
|
517
|
-
<p>The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some
|
518
|
-
thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a
|
519
|
-
bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and
|
520
|
-
penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of
|
521
|
-
us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a
|
522
|
-
slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair.</p>
|
523
|
-
<p>"Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that
|
524
|
-
this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an
|
525
|
-
appointment with me for six o’clock?"</p>
|
526
|
-
<p>"Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not
|
527
|
-
quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland
|
528
|
-
has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far
|
529
|
-
better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite
|
530
|
-
against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable,
|
531
|
-
impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily
|
532
|
-
controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I
|
533
|
-
did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the
|
534
|
-
official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family
|
535
|
-
misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless
|
536
|
-
expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?"</p>
|
537
|
-
<p>"On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to
|
538
|
-
believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel."</p>
|
539
|
-
<p>Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am
|
540
|
-
delighted to hear it," he said.</p>
|
541
|
-
<p>"It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has
|
542
|
-
really quite as much individuality as a man’s handwriting. Unless
|
543
|
-
they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some
|
544
|
-
letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one
|
545
|
-
side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that
|
546
|
-
in every case there is some little slurring over of the <span class="emphasis"><em>e,</em></span> and
|
547
|
-
a slight defect in the tail of the <span class="emphasis"><em>r.</em></span> There are fourteen other
|
548
|
-
characteristics, but those are the more obvious."</p>
|
549
|
-
<p>"We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office,
|
550
|
-
and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing
|
551
|
-
keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes.</p>
|
552
|
-
<p>"And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study,
|
553
|
-
Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another
|
554
|
-
little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its
|
555
|
-
relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some
|
556
|
-
little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come
|
557
|
-
from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not
|
558
|
-
only are the <span class="emphasis"><em>e’s</em></span> slurred and the <span class="emphasis"><em>r’s</em></span> tailless, but you will
|
559
|
-
observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen
|
560
|
-
other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well."</p>
|
561
|
-
<p>Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I
|
562
|
-
cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes,"
|
563
|
-
he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know
|
564
|
-
when you have done it."</p>
|
565
|
-
<p>"Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in
|
566
|
-
the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!"</p>
|
567
|
-
<p>"What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips
|
568
|
-
and glancing about him like a rat in a trap.</p>
|
569
|
-
<p>"Oh, it won’t do—really it won’t," said Holmes suavely. "There
|
570
|
-
is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too
|
571
|
-
transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that
|
572
|
-
it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That’s
|
573
|
-
right! Sit down and let us talk it over."</p>
|
574
|
-
<p>Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a
|
575
|
-
glitter of moisture on his brow. "It—it’s not actionable," he
|
576
|
-
stammered.</p>
|
577
|
-
<p>"I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves,
|
578
|
-
Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a
|
579
|
-
petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the
|
580
|
-
course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong."</p>
|
581
|
-
<p>The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his
|
582
|
-
breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up
|
583
|
-
on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands
|
584
|
-
in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed,
|
585
|
-
than to us.</p>
|
586
|
-
<p>"The man married a woman very much older than himself for her
|
587
|
-
money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the
|
588
|
-
daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable
|
589
|
-
sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have
|
590
|
-
made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it.
|
591
|
-
The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate
|
592
|
-
and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with
|
593
|
-
her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would
|
594
|
-
not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would
|
595
|
-
mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her
|
596
|
-
stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of
|
597
|
-
keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of
|
598
|
-
people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not
|
599
|
-
answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and
|
600
|
-
finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain
|
601
|
-
ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an
|
602
|
-
idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the
|
603
|
-
connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself,
|
604
|
-
covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with
|
605
|
-
a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice
|
606
|
-
into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the
|
607
|
-
girl’s short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off
|
608
|
-
other lovers by making love himself."</p>
|
609
|
-
<p>"It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never
|
610
|
-
thought that she would have been so carried away."</p>
|
611
|
-
<p>"Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very
|
612
|
-
decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that
|
613
|
-
her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never
|
614
|
-
for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the
|
615
|
-
gentleman’s attentions, and the effect was increased by the
|
616
|
-
loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began
|
617
|
-
to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as
|
618
|
-
far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There
|
619
|
-
were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the
|
620
|
-
girl’s affections from turning towards anyone else. But the
|
621
|
-
deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys
|
622
|
-
to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to
|
623
|
-
bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it
|
624
|
-
would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady’s mind and
|
625
|
-
prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to
|
626
|
-
come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and
|
627
|
-
hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening
|
628
|
-
on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss
|
629
|
-
Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to
|
630
|
-
his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not
|
631
|
-
listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her,
|
632
|
-
and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished
|
633
|
-
away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a
|
634
|
-
four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of
|
635
|
-
events, Mr. Windibank!"</p>
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636
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<p>Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes
|
637
|
-
had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold
|
638
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sneer upon his pale face.</p>
|
639
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<p>"It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you
|
640
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-
are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is
|
641
|
-
you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing
|
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actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door
|
643
|
-
locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal
|
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constraint."</p>
|
645
|
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<p>"The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking
|
646
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and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who
|
647
|
-
deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a
|
648
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-
friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!"
|
649
|
-
he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon
|
650
|
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the man’s face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but
|
651
|
-
here’s a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat
|
652
|
-
myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he
|
653
|
-
could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs,
|
654
|
-
the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr.
|
655
|
-
James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road.</p>
|
656
|
-
<p>"There’s a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he
|
657
|
-
threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will
|
658
|
-
rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and
|
659
|
-
ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not
|
660
|
-
entirely devoid of interest."</p>
|
661
|
-
<p>"I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I
|
662
|
-
remarked.</p>
|
663
|
-
<p>"Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr.
|
664
|
-
Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious
|
665
|
-
conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really
|
666
|
-
profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the
|
667
|
-
stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together,
|
668
|
-
but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was
|
669
|
-
suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice,
|
670
|
-
which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My
|
671
|
-
suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in
|
672
|
-
typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his
|
673
|
-
handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even
|
674
|
-
the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts,
|
675
|
-
together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same
|
676
|
-
direction."</p>
|
677
|
-
<p>"And how did you verify them?"</p>
|
678
|
-
<p>"Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I
|
679
|
-
knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed
|
680
|
-
description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the
|
681
|
-
result of a disguise—the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I
|
682
|
-
sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me
|
683
|
-
whether it answered to the description of any of their
|
684
|
-
travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the
|
685
|
-
typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business
|
686
|
-
address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his
|
687
|
-
reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but
|
688
|
-
characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from
|
689
|
-
Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the
|
690
|
-
description tallied in every respect with that of their employé,
|
691
|
-
James Windibank. Voilà tout!"</p>
|
692
|
-
<p>"And Miss Sutherland?"</p>
|
693
|
-
<p>"If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old
|
694
|
-
Persian saying, <span class="emphasis"><em>There is danger for him who taketh the tiger
|
695
|
-
cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.</em></span>
|
696
|
-
There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much
|
697
|
-
knowledge of the world."</p>
|
698
|
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</div>
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</div>
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702
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<hr/>
|
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704
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707
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708
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<a href="the_red-headed_league.html">Prev</a><br/>
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709
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The Red-Headed League
|
710
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|
711
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|
712
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|
713
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<a href="index.html">Home</a><br/>
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
|
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|
717
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The Boscombe Valley Mystery
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|
721
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