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' within eccentric limits his knowledge H eâ€"câ€"o-oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"o~oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"o-oâ€"oâ€"vâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€" IT WILL OUT... A GREAT MYSTERY. ,r oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"o-oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"o-oâ€"câ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"o-oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"oâ€"o -0â€"0â€"0â€"0â€"0â€" . CHAPTER; II. We met next day, as he, had arrangâ€" ed. and inspected the rooms at No.) 221b Baker street, of which he had 51mg) at our meeting. They con-. sisi of a couple of comfortable bed- rooms and a single, large, airy sitting- room. cheerfully furnished, and Hum- inaied by two broad windows. So dPSl- rable in every way were the apart- ments, and so moderated did the terms seem when divided between us. that} the bargain was concluded upon'the spot. and we at once entered into possession. That very eveningI moved my things round from the hotel, and on the following morning SherIOCk Holmes followed me with several boxes and portmanteaus. For a day or two we were busily employed in unpacking and laying out our property to the best advantage. That done, we gradâ€" ually began to settle down and to accommodate ourselves to our new surroundings. . . Holmes was certainly nota diffi- cult man to live with. He was quiet in his ways. and his habits were regu- lar. It was rare for him to_be up after ten at night) and he had invariâ€" ably breakfasted and gone out. be- fore I rose in the morning. Sometimes he spent his day at the chemical! labora- tory, sometimes in the dissectingâ€" rooms, and occasionally in long walks, which appeared to take him into the lowest portions of the city. Nothing could exceed his energy when the working fit was upon him; but now and again a reaction would seize him. and for days on end he would lie up- on the sofa in the sittingâ€"room. hardlly uttering a word or moving a muscel from morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such a dreamy vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him of being ad- dicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanli- ness of his whole life forbidden such a notion. . As the weeks went by, my interest. lnl him and my curiosity as to his aims in life. gradually deepened and increasâ€" ed. His very person and appearance were such as to strike the attention of the most casual observer. In height , he was rather over six feet, and so; exceSSively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes lwerei‘ sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawkâ€"like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin. too, had the prominence and squareness WhICh mark the man of determination. His hands were invariably blotted with ink and stained with chemicals: yet he was possessed of extraordinary delicacy of touch, as I frequently hadl occasion to observe when I watched him manipulating his fragile philoso-‘ phical instruments. l The reader may set me down as a‘ hopeless busybody, when I confess how much this man stimulated my‘ curiosity, and how often, I endeavored‘ to break through the reticence whichJ he showed on all that concerned him- self. Before pronouncing judgment however, be it remembered how object- less was my life,, and how little there was to engage my attention. My health forbade me from venturing out unless the weather was excepts ionally genial, and I had no friends who would call upon me and break the monotony of my daily existence. Under these circumstances, I eagerly hailed the little mystery which hung around my companion, and spent much of my time in endeavoring to unravel it. He was not studying medicine. He had himself, in reply to a question, confirmed Stamford‘s opinion upon that point. Neither did he appear to have pursued any course of reading which might fit him for a degree in science or any other recognized portal which would give him an entrance into the learned world. Yet his zeal for certain studies was remarkable, and was so extraordinarily ample and min- ute that his observations have fairly astounded me. Surely no man would work so hard to attain such precise information unless he had some definite end in view. Desultory readrrs are seldom remarkable for the exactness of their learning. No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so. His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. 0f contemporary literature, philosophy, and politics he appeared to know next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way who he. might be and what he had done. My surprise reached a climax, howevir, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican iheory and of t he composition of ‘lhe solar system. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth traveled round the sun appeared to be 10 mil such an extraordinary fact that 1 t-ould hardly realize it. “You appear to be astonished," he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. "Now that I do know ii, I shall do my best to forget it." “To forget it!" "You see,” he explained, “I conâ€" sider that a man's brain originally is like an empty attic, and you have to leI'k it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across. so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up' with a lot ofother things, so that he h'lS a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful in- deed as to what he takes into’ his brainâ€" attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work. but of these he has a large as- sortment, and all in the most perfect d-ko-O-o order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and loan distend to any exrent. Depend upâ€" on it, ,there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you for- get something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, there- fore. not to have useless facts elbow- ing out the useful ones.” "But the solar system!" I prostested. "What the deuce is it. to me?” he interrupted, . impatiently; "you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon, it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.” ‘ l was on the point of asking him what that Work might be. but someâ€" thing in his manner showed me that the question would be an unwelcone one. I pondered over our short con- versation, however, and endeavored to draw my deductions from. it. He said that he would acquire no knowledge whichl did not bear upon his object. Therefore all the. knowledge which he possessed was such as would be use- ful to him. I enumerated in my own mind all the various points upon which he had shown me that he. was exocp- tionally well informed. I even‘ took a pencil and jetted them down. I could not help smiling at the document when I had completed it. It. ran this way; SHERLOCK HOLMESâ€"his limits. 1. Knowledge of Literatureâ€"Nil. 2. Phi‘.osopny.â€"â€"Nil. 3. Astronomyâ€"Nil. 4. Pnlitics.â€"B‘eeble. _ 5. Botany.â€"Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons gener- allY- Knows nothing of practical gardening. _ 6. Geo.ogy.-Practical. but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers. and told me by their color and consistence In What part of London he had receive- ed them. 7. Chemistryâ€"Profound. 9. Anatomy.-â€"~Accurat8. hull tematic. 9. Sensational mense. He appears detail of every horror unsys- Literature. to know every perpetrated i in the century. 10. Plays the violin well, 11. Is an expert singleâ€"stick player. boxer. and swordsman. 12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law. When I had got so far in my 'list I threw it into the fire in despair. . "If I cannot find what the fellow is driving at by reconciling all these ac< melishments, and discovering a_call-= Jng which needs them all," I said to myself, "I may as well give up the attempt at once." I see that I have alluded above to his powers upon the violin. There were very remarkable. but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments. That he could play pieces, and difficult pieces, I knew well, because at my IG'. quest he has played me 50min of Mien- delssohn's Lieder. and other favorites. When left to himself. however, he would seldom produce any music or at- tempt any recognized air. Leaning back in his arm-chair of an evening he would close his eyes and scrape carelessly at the fiddle. which was thrown across his knee. Some- times the chords were sonorous and melancholy. Occasionally they were fantastic and cheerful. Clearly they reflected the thoughts which pos- sessed him, but whether playing was simply the - lmw and attempted to while away the, time with it, while my companion munched silently at his toast. One of the articles had a pencilâ€"mark at \the heading, and I naturally began to run my eye through it. Its somewhat ambitious title was, "The. Book of Life," and it attempted to show how much an observant man might learn by an accurate and systcr matic examination of all that came in his way. It struck me as being a reâ€" markable mixture of shrewdncss and of absurdity. The reasoning was close and intense, but the deductions appearâ€" ed to me to be far-fetched and exag- gerated. The writer claimed by a momentary expression, a twitch of a muscle, or a glance of an eye, to fath- om a man's inmost thoughts. Deceit, according to him, was an impossibility in the case of one trained to observaâ€" tion and analysis. His conclusions were as infallible as so many proposiâ€" tions of Euclid. So startling would his results appear to the uninitiated that, until they learned the process by which he had arrived at them, they might well consider him as a necro- mancer. "From a drop of water," said the writer, "a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it. Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be. acquired by long and paâ€" tient study, nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to attain thchighest possible. perfection in it. Before turn ing to those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatâ€" est difficulties, let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary proâ€" bL-ms. Let him, on meeting a fellow- mortal. learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the. trade or profession to which he belongs. Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it sharpens the faculties of observation and teaches one where to look and what to look for. By a man’s finger-nails, by his coatâ€"sleeve, by his boot, by his trouser~knees. by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expres- sion, by his shirtâ€"cuffsâ€"by each of thcse things a man's calling is plainly reâ€" vealed. That all united shruld fail to enlighten the competent inquirer in any case. is almost inconceivable." "What ineffable twaddlel" I cried, slapping the ‘my life." “What is it 2" asked Sherlock Homes. "This article,"lsaid, pointing at it with my spoon, as I sat down to break- fast. "I see that you have read it, since you have marde it. I don't deny - that it is smartly written. of some arm-chair loungvr who evolves all these neat little paradoxes in the seclusion of his own study. It is not practical. I'should like to see him clapped L???) in a third-class carriage on the Underground, and asked to give lthe trades of all his fellow-travelers. I would lay a thousand to one against him." ‘ "You would lose your money," Sher- .lock Holmes remarked, calmly. “As ,for the article, I wrote it myself." ; “Youl” “Yes; I have a turn both for obser- vation and for deduction. The theor- ‘ies which I have expressed there, and s which appear to you to be so chimeri- ‘cal, are really extremely practicalâ€"so , practical that I depend upon them for ; my bread and cheese." .1"And how?" I asked, involuntarâ€" i y. . , “Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I'm a consulting detective, if .you can understand what that is. ,Here in London we have lots of gov- . the mus“? l ernment detectives and lots of private aided those thoughts, or whether the l (mes, \Vhen these fellows are at fault, resu“: 0f 3 ‘ they come to me, and I manage to put whim or fancy, was more than I 00'qu l them on the right scent. They lay all determine. I might against these exasperating solos had it not been that he usually terminated have “baled the evidence before me, and I am gen- ,lerally able, by the help of my know- lledge of the history of crime, to set then} by Playing in quick succession a them straight. There is a strong fam- “',h°‘8 Series 0‘ my favorltfi 3}“ as a ily resemblance about misdeeds, and if Shghl compensatlon for 1118 trial “POD you have all the details of a thousand my patience. lat your fingerâ€"ends, it is odd if you During the first week or so we had l ozin'l. unravel the thousand and first. no callers, and I had begun to think , Lestrade is a that my companion was as friendlesmHe got himself into Presently, 1 own a forgery case, and that was what a man as I was myself. well-known detective. a fog recently however. I found that he had many ac- brought him berth" quaintances, and those in the most difâ€". of souiety. There wasl ferent classes “And these other people 'l" I "They are mostly sent out by private one little sallow, rat-faced, dark-eyed I in’lllll‘y useful“. TINY are a” pet’ple fellow who was introduced to me us,whu are in trouble about something, Mr. Lesirade, and who came three or 1 and want a little enlightening. I lis‘ four [lined in a single week. One niorn- ten to their story, they listen to Illy ing a young girl called, dressed. and stayed for half an hour fashionably .' comments, and then I pocket my fee." "But do you mean to say," I said, or more. The same :ifieriinon brought l "lhill Will-10m lem’lng W1” 1'00!“ You a. gray-headed. seedy like a Jew peddler, who appeared to me, to be much excited. and who was closer followed by a slip-shod elderly woman. On another occasion an old “hue-haired gentleman had an interâ€" view with my companion; and on “11-. other, a railway porter in his velveteen uniform. When any of ihese nonde- scripl individuals put in an appearance, Sherlock Holmes used to beg for the use of the sitting-room, and I would l‘elll‘t,‘_lO my bed-room. He always apologized to me for putting me to lhh‘ inconvenience. “I have to use this room as a p'ace of business," he said, "and these psopllu are my clients." V Again I had an opportunity of askâ€" inghim a point blank question, and again my delicacy prevented me, from foroing another man to confide in me. I imagined at the time that he had sum.- sirong reason for not aliuding to it, but, he soon diSpclled the idea by GUIDng round to the subject of his own accord. It was upon the 4th of March, as l have good reason to remember, that I rose somewhat earlier than usual, and found that Sherlock Holmes had not yet finished his breakfast. The land- lady had become so aceustomed to my late habits that my place had not born laid nor my coffee prepared. With the unreasonable kind I rang the bell and gave a curt .ntimation that I was ready. Then I petulance of m:in-. visitor, ioikinglcui unravel some knot .nf reasoning ran : which other men can make nothing of, although they have seen every detail for them- se l ves f" "Quite so. I have a kind of intuiâ€" tion that “my. New and again a case turns up which is a little more ('Olll- plex. Th :1 l lILIVt‘. lo bustle about and see things with my own eyes. You see, I have a lot of rp't'ltll knowledge, which lapply lo the [)I'tllll III, and which facil- itates matters wtnitei'fully. 'l'liirse rules of deduction laid down in that article which aroused your scorn are. invaluable to me in practical work. (lbservati: n, with inr, is Second nature. You appeared to be surprised when I told you, on our first meeting, thrit you Il'lLl C(llllt‘ from Afghanistan." "You \iei'c told, no doubt." “Nothing of the sort. I knv-w you came from Afghanistan. From long ll'ibil the train of ill iiiglil run so s\\if1~ ly through my mini tliit I. arrived :it the conclusion without being coir sciuus of intermediate steps. 'l‘here werc sur‘li sli-ps, limim'ci‘. 'l'lii‘ li‘aiii lI:-i‘» is 21 gvnllcâ€" iiiin of a medical typa, but with 1h» air of a military IIlttll, Clearly an army tIUtJIUI‘, tlieii. lll.’ has just come from the tropics, for his face is (talk, will that is not the natural lint of his skin for his w lists :1 re. fair. He has iiii lt‘l‘r gone hardship curl >l1'kllt‘HS, as llln In,â€" gilril fare says clearly. llis left arm has been injured. IIu holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. Where in the picked up a magazine from the table tropics could an English army doctor have seen much hardship and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan.‘ The whole train of thought did not occupy a second. I then remarked that: you came from Afghanistan, and you were astonished'." "It is simple enough as you explain it,” I said, smiling. “ You remind me of Edgar Allan I’ne‘s Dupin. I had no idea that such individuals did exist out- side of stories.“‘ Sherlock Holmes rose and lighted his pipe. "No doubt you think you are com- plimenting me in comparing me to D_u- pin,“ he observed. " Now, in my opin- ion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends’ thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an hour’s silence is really very showy and super- ficial. He had some analytical genius, no doubt 1 but he, was by no means such .a phenomenon as Poe appeared to 1mâ€" agine." “ Have you read Gaboriau‘s work 2‘ I asked. "Does Lccoq come up to your idea of a detective?" Sherlock Holmes sniffed sardonically. “ Lecoq was a miserable bungler,” he said, in an angry voice; " he had only one thing to recommend him, and that was his energy. That book made me positively ill. The question was how to identify an unknown prisoner. I could have done it in twenty-four hours. Lecoq took six months or so. It might be made a text-book for detecâ€" tives to teach them what to avoid.” I falt rather indignant at having two in this cavalier style. I walked over to the window, and stood looking out into the busy ’street. ‘ "This fellow may be very clever,‘ very conceited.“ magazine down on the, :table; "I never read such rubbish in‘ It irritates, me, though. It is evidently the, theory , inals in these days," he said querulousâ€" ,ly. " \thit is the use of having brains ,in our profession? I know well that if have. it in me to make. my name 3 famous. No man lives or has ever lived twho has brought the same amount of ‘study and natural talent to the de- ltection of crime which I have done. 1And what is the result? There is no :crime to detect. or, at most, some bung~ lling villainy with a motive so trans~ lparent that even a Scotland Yard of- lficial can see through it." i I was still annoyed at his bumptious ,style of conversation. lthoughl it best to change the topic. "I wonder what that fellow is look- ,‘ing for i” I asked, pointing to a stalâ€" ‘wart, plainly dressed individual who was walking slowly down the other side of the street, looking anxiously at the. numbers. He had a large blue enâ€" ‘velope in his hand. and was evidently the. bearer of a message. " You mean the retired sergeant of 'marines," said Sherlock Holmes. " Brag and bounce!“ thought, I to myself. “ He knows that I cannot ver- ify his guess." The thought had hardly passed through my mind when the man whom we were watching caught sight of the, ‘number on our door, and ran rapidly across the loud knock, a deep voice below. heavy steps ascending the stair. "For Mr. Sherlock Holmes.” he said. ,stepping into the room and handing my :friend the letter. J Here was an opportunity of taking ‘lhs conceit out him. He little thought ofthis when he made that random ‘ shoi . “May I ask, my lad," I said, bland- ly, “what your trade may be?" "CommiSSionaire, sir." he said, grufâ€" ,fly. “Uniform away for repairs." l "And you were?" I asked, with a lsliglitly malicious glance at my com- panion. "A sergeant, sir; Royal Marine Light Infantry, sir. No answer? Right, sir." He clicked his heels together. raised his hand in a salute, and was gone. (To be Continued.) -â€"â€"â€".~â€"â€"â€" NOW FOR MEDICATED EG‘GS.’ ~â€" An Ingenious Frenchman Hus Invented a “my by “'hlch “'e May Take our Mull- olne hi Eggs. There is scarcely any branch in which medicine has not. advanced with- and in the last twenty years, but in no one branch has more improvement been shown than in the compoundâ€" ing and putting together of drugs. No more isthe unwilling patient made to swallow medicine, for sugar coated pills, cap- sules and wafers have come into use and patients can now take the most vile tasting medicines without any dis- comfort. Now comes along a French- 111.111 with a still more ingenious plan which opens up to phai‘micy unbound- ed possibilities of going still further ahead. On account of the difficulty of usâ€" :imiluting iron as a medicine, a lt‘rcm‘h di‘uggist has sought to introduce it in a digestible way by what he terms fer- ruginous eggs. Hciis can digest iron easily, while rendering it back thiougli ihe albu- men of lilrll‘ eggs in a form which is {‘ilSlly digested by the weakerstomaclis ()l mankind. A salt of iron is given to li]~‘ liens with grains of wheat. A dozen of them- m-dicuted grains of \\h at :i (by makes llielieiisuftei‘three or four duys, lay eggs which are very llt‘ll in iron already digested. ‘llie Frenchman is experimenting further with other drugs, and it is not over a new li-if, .loliii, ‘llt‘ said. I was, hi replied, but I fillll lcziii't. Why not? ’l'heie won't be any new leaves until spring characters whom I had admired treated , I said to myself, “ but he is certainly: ‘came home with a severe cold, Partial Paralysis. A SEVERE COLDâ€"ERINGS A WIFE AND MOTHER LOW. _â€" I’m-Hal l'aralysls Accompzuilecl by Faliit- In: Fm Follows»noclors Fall to living lf(-llcl>lli'. “’lllinius' l‘lnk I‘m. Re. lure IIcnllh. Brookholm.asuburb of Owen Sound, is fairly vibrating with interest in the wonderful cures effected in that place by the use of Dr. Williams‘ Pink Pills. A newspaper man of Toronto, spend- ing some time in the vicinity, was directed toahouse on ahill overlook- ing Owen Sound's beautiful bay, and was told that there he would learn sumcthing about a cure effected by Dr. “‘illiams’ Pink Pills. The bill was climbed and it is \to hit. J. F. Goodfel- ltlw, the genial owner and occupant of that pleasant home, that he is indebt~ ed for the following factszâ€""My wife mws her good measure of health to- day to Dr. Williams‘ Pink Pills,” said lVIr. Goodfellow. “0n the 12th of July, 1895, Mrs. Goodfcllow went on an ex- cursion to Collingwood by boat and which dweloped into a partial or slight at« tack of paralysis in the left side and limb. In addition, at times she would be seized with a dizziness which often resulted in sudden and severe 1 falls. The paralysis made he: unable to lift any weight with her left hand. She called in medical aid and for some months followed the advice and took the mediâ€" cines prescribed. But it was only ‘muncy wasted as she did not get "There are no crimes and no crim-‘ large doses of nauseating, wi bout the bounds of possibilily that \\'c sliall shortly be. able to lake tllll our medicine in the forum of eggs. . WW. -.., NONE TO TURN OVER. I thought you. were going to turn feeling quite well again, ‘tako the pills. roadway. \Ye heard a1 any better. As Mrs. Goodfellow has thrce children and her husband to care for it was a deep trouble to the family for her to be so afflicted. For eight months these dizzy spells and the plI‘lefllS continued. Then some friend asked her to try a box of Dr. VVil- li ims' Pink Pills. v To please the friendl she consented to purchase a few boxes. When these had been taken she felt decidedly better. The faint- ing spells came less frequent, her Strength returned to her side and arm and she was delighted with the result. After taking about sixi boxes, and she discon- the pills for a time, but. later felt) some of the old symptoms returning. She again procureda supply and recom- mended their use, and was overjoyed to find th-it these valuable little pel- lets agiin gave relief. She continued taking them until she ,felt that she must certainly be over the effects of the trouble when she again ceased to That is over a yearand a hilf ago, and only once or twice-since has she had any slight symptoms of the old trouble, and then a few doses ofthe pills would give full relief. Mrs. Uoodfellow is decidedly of the opinion that She owes her present health to Dr. Williams' Pink Pills, and is most enthusiastic in her recommendation of them to her friends and acquain- tances. tinued the use of RAG CARPERTS. In a family where there are several children there is always a quantity of faded and worn clothing, also sheets. pillow cases and other things that are no longer useful in their original capacity. Very pretty and servicable carpets may be made of them, and as I have just put a new one down on our dining room floor, I will tell you. about it. When the weekly washing was done, every soiled garment was put in. Those intended for the carpet did not: need ironing, but: were sorted out, all the buttons cut off and saved for fu- ture use. All seams and other thick places were cut out, as they would make rough places in the carpet, the white and light colored rags put in one box. and the dark ones in another, both boxes have close fitting lids, which keep out the dust. My last carpet is very pretty indeed, and is composed of wide hit or miss stripes of dark rags. alternating with the bright stripes. If you wish to make a carpet of that kind, save the dark rags until you have the amount required, then cut or tear them in narrow strips. Of course thin goods must be wider than thick, so they will make a thread of the same size when beaten up, and the texture will be uniform. When you have enough for your carpet, mix them thoroughly so that all lhe stripes will be. alike, and begin sewing. The white and Very light rags must be colored for the bright stripes, and diamond dyes for rootwn are excellent for ihat purpose. Red, yellow, blue, and green are pretty and brighten a carpet wonderfully. Do not leave the arrangement of the colors to the weaver. Wind the stripe that you wish copied on a board. being careful to have the amount of each color used, c irrespond with the amount of that clvlor you have on hand. A little study will enable any one of fair judgment to decide which colors should be used together to pm» mic.- harmonious eif-cts. Very pretty carpets are sometimes made by sewing all the rugs hit or miss style, when Hare are a variety of bright col 31‘s to mix with the dark ones. ’l‘wo contrasting Colors of warp are often used, woven in Checks (no or two inches square. El'l‘l'y weaver knows how this IS done. Get the best four or five ply warp, as it is u~‘u:lly the warp that wears out first. It is easy to estimate the qiiunthy of mu- teruil needed, for one and one fourth pounds of rags will make a square yard of carpet. and one pound of chain is enough for three yards.