-------------------}
{------------------------- textual notes --------------------------}
{source: strand magazine, 27 (feb. 1904)}
{italics in the text are indicated with (_)}
{1} {"encyclopaedia": the a&e are a ligature}
{2} {only an approximation of the cattle track graphics. see the}
{original for comparison}
{3} {...holmes": this extra quote is in the text.}
{---------------------- end of textual notes ----------------------}
{------------------------------------------------------------------}
{blac, rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 3rd proofing}
{the adventure of the black peter, arthur conan doyle}
{source: the strand magazine, 27 (march 1904)}
{etext prepared by roger squires rsquires@nmia.com}
{braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}
vi. -- the adventure of black peter.
i have never known my friend to be in better form, both
mental and physical, than in the year '95. his increasing
fame had brought with it an immense practice, and i should
be guilty of an indiscretion if i were even to hint at the
identity of some of the illustrious clients who crossed our
humble threshold in baker street. holmes, however, like
all great artists, lived for his art's sake, and, save in
the case of the duke of holdernesse, i have seldom known
him claim any large reward for his inestimable services.
so unworldly was he -- or so capricious -- that he
frequently refused his help to the powerful and wealthy
where the problem made no appeal to his sympathies, while
he would devote weeks of most intense application to the
affairs of some humble client whose case presented those
strange and dramatic qualities which appealed to his
imagination and challenged his ingenuity.
in this memorable year '95 a curious and incongruous
succession of cases had engaged his attention, ranging from
his famous investigation of the sudden death of cardinal
tosca -- an inquiry which was carried out by him at the
express desire of his holiness the pope -- down to his
arrest of wilson, the notorious canary-trainer, which
removed a plague-spot from the east-end of london. close
on the heels of these two famous cases came the tragedy of
woodman's lee, and the very obscure circumstances which
surrounded the death of captain peter carey. no record of
the doings of mr. sherlock holmes would be complete which
did not include some account of this very unusual affair.
during the first week of july my friend had been absent so
often and so long from our lodgings that i knew he had
something on hand. the fact that several rough-looking men
called during that time and inquired for captain basil made
me understand that holmes was working somewhere under one
of the numerous disguises and names with which he concealed
his own formidable identity. he had at least five small
refuges in different parts of london in which he was able
to change his personality. he said nothing of his business
to me, and it was not my habit to force a confidence.
the first positive sign which he gave me of the direction
which his investigation was taking was an extraordinary one.
he had gone out before breakfast, and i had sat down to mine,
when he strode into the room, his hat upon his head and a huge
barbed-headed spear tucked like an umbrella under his arm.
"good gracious, holmes!" i cried. "you don't mean to say
that you have been walking about london with that thing?"
"i drove to the butcher's and back."
"the butcher's?"
"and i return with an excellent appetite. there can be no
question, my dear watson, of the value of exercise before
breakfast. but i am prepared to bet that you will not
guess the form that my exercise has taken."
"i will not attempt it."
he chuckled as he poured out the coffee.
"if you could have looked into allardyce's back shop you
would have seen a dead pig swung from a hook in the
ceiling, and a gentleman in his shirt-sleeves furiously
stabbing at it with this weapon. i was that energetic
person, and i have satisfied myself that by no exertion
of my strength can i transfix the pig with a single blow.
perhaps you would care to try?"
"not for worlds. but why were you doing this?"
"because it seemed to me to have an indirect bearing upon
the mystery of woodman's lee. ah, hopkins, i got your wire
last night, and i have been expecting you. come and join us."
our visitor was an exceedingly alert man, thirty years of
age, dressed in a quiet tweed suit, but retaining the erect
bearing of one who was accustomed to official uniform.
i recognised him at once as stanley hopkins, a young police
inspector for whose future holmes had high hopes, while he
in turn professed the admiration and respect of a pupil for
the scientific methods of the famous amateur. hopkins's
brow was clouded, and he sat down with an air of deep
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