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publishing these short sketches based upon the numerous cases in which my companion's
singular gifts have made us the listeners to, and eventually the actors in, some
strange drama, it is only natural that I should dwell rather upon his successes
than upon his failures. And this not so much for the sake of his reputation --
for, indeed, it was when he was at his wit's end that his energy and his versatility
were most admirable -- but because where he failed it happened too often that
no one else succeeded. and that the tale was left forever without a conclusion.
Now and again, however. it chanced that even when he erred the truth was still
discovered. I have notes of some half-dozen cases of the kind, the adventure of
the Musgrave Ritual and that which I am about to recount are the two which present
the strongest features of interest. Sherlock
Holmes was a man who seldom took exercise for exercise's sake. Few men were capable
of greater muscular effort, and he was undoubtedly one of the finest boxers of
his weight that I have ever seen; but he looked upon aimless bodily exertion as
a waste of energy, and he seldom bestirred himself save where there was some professional
object to be served. Then he was absolutely untiring and indefatigable. That he
should have kept himself in training under such circumstances is remarkable, but
his diet was usually of the sparest, and his habits were simple to the verge of
austerity. Save for the occasional use of cocaine, he had no vices, and he only
turned to the drug as a protest against the monotony of existence when cases were
scanty and the papers uninteresting. One
day in early spring he had so far relaxed as to go for a walk with me in the Park,
where the first faint shoots of green were breaking out upon the elms, and the
sticky spear-heads of the chestnuts were just beginning to burst into their five-fold
leaves. For two hours we rambled about together, in silence for the most part,
as befits two men who know each other intimately. It was nearly five before we
were back in Baker Street once more.
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