furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows. So desirable in every way were

the apartments, and so moderate 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 evening I moved my things round from the hotel, and on the following

morning Sherlock 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 gradually began to settle down and to

accommodate ourselves to our new surroundings.

 

Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with. He was quiet in his ways,

and his habits were regular. It was rare for him to be up after ten at night,

and he had invariably breakfasted and gone out before I rose in the morning.

Sometimes he spent his day at the chemical laboratory, sometimes in the

dissecting-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 upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a

word or moving a muscle 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 addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and

cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion.

 

As the weeks went by, my interest in him and my curiosity as to his aims in

life, gradually deepened and increased. His very person and appearance were such

as to strike the attention of the most casual observer. In height he was rather