His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle (well read books .TXT) ๐
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His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes is the fourth collection of Sherlock Holmes stories published by Arthur Conan Doyles. It begins with a preface by Dr. John Watson, supposedly written in 1917, assuring the reader that Holmes is still alive but living in quiet retirement in Sussex.
This collection contains the well-known stories โThe Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans,โ in which Holmes has to track down stolen plans for a new kind of submarine; and โThe Adventure of the Devilโs Footโ in which a Cornish family is found one morning driven mad or dead, with expressions of horror on their faces. The titular story โHis Last Bowโ is set on the very eve of the outbreak of the First World War, and involves Holmes and Watson coming out of retirement to defeat a German spy.
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- Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
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By Arthur Conan Doyle.
Table of Contents Titlepage Imprint Preface His Last Bow The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles The Tiger of San Pedro The Adventure of the Red Circle Part I Part II The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans The Adventure of the Dying Detective The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax The Adventure of the Devilโs Foot His Last Bow Colophon Uncopyright ImprintThis ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.
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PrefaceThe friends of Mr. Sherlock Holmes will be glad to learn that he is still alive and well, though somewhat crippled by occasional attacks of rheumatism. He has, for many years, lived in a small farm upon the Downs five miles from Eastbourne, where his time is divided between philosophy and agriculture. During this period of rest he has refused the most princely offers to take up various cases, having determined that his retirement was a permanent one. The approach of the German war caused him, however, to lay his remarkable combination of intellectual and practical activity at the disposal of the Government, with historical results which are recounted in โHis Last Bow.โ Several previous experiences which have lain long in my portfolio have been added to โHis Last Bowโ so as to complete the volume.
John H. Watson, M.D.
His Last Bow Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott EcclesI find it recorded in my notebook that it was a bleak and windy day towards the end of March in the year 1892. Holmes had received a telegram while we sat at our lunch, and he had scribbled a reply. He made no remark, but the matter remained in his thoughts, for he stood in front of the fire afterwards with a thoughtful face, smoking his pipe, and casting an occasional glance at the message. Suddenly he turned upon me with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
โI suppose, Watson, we must look upon you as a man of letters,โ said he. โHow do you define the word โgrotesqueโ?โ
โStrangeโ โremarkable,โ I suggested.
He shook his head at my definition.
โThere is surely something more than that,โ said he; โsome underlying suggestion of the tragic and the terrible. If you cast your mind back to some of those narratives with which you have afflicted a long-suffering public, you will recognize how often the grotesque has deepened into the criminal. Think of that little affair of the redheaded men. That was grotesque enough in the outset, and yet it ended in a desperate attempt at robbery. Or, again, there was that most grotesque affair of the five orange pips, which led straight to a murderous conspiracy. The word puts me on the alert.โ
โHave you it there?โ I asked.
He read the telegram aloud.
โHave just had most incredible and grotesque experience. May I consult you?
โScott Eccles,
โPost Office, Charing Cross.โ
โMan or woman?โ I asked.
โOh, man, of course. No woman would ever send a reply-paid telegram. She would have come.โ
โWill you see him?โ
โMy dear Watson, you know how bored I have been since we locked up Colonel Carruthers. My mind is like a racing engine, tearing itself to pieces because it is not connected up with the work for which it was built. Life is commonplace, the papers are sterile; audacity and romance seem to have passed forever from the criminal world. Can you ask me, then, whether I am ready to look into any new problem, however trivial it may prove? But here, unless I am mistaken, is our client.โ
A measured step was heard upon the stairs, and a moment later a stout, tall, gray-whiskered and solemnly respectable person was ushered into the room. His life history was written in his heavy features and pompous manner. From his spats to his gold-rimmed spectacles he was a Conservative, a churchman, a good citizen, orthodox and conventional to the last degree. But some amazing experience had disturbed his native composure and left its traces in his bristling hair, his flushed, angry cheeks, and his flurried, excited manner. He plunged instantly into his business.
โI have had a most singular and unpleasant experience, Mr. Holmes,โ said he. โNever in my life have I been placed in such a situation. It is most improperโ โmost outrageous. I must insist upon some explanation.โ He swelled and puffed in his anger.
โPray sit down, Mr. Scott Eccles,โ said Holmes in a soothing voice. โMay I ask, in the first place, why you came to me at all?โ
โWell, sir, it did not appear to be a matter which concerned the police, and yet, when you have heard the facts, you must admit that I could not leave it where it was. Private detectives are a class with whom I have absolutely no sympathy, but none the less, having heard your nameโ โโ
โQuite so. But, in the second place, why did you not come at once?โ
Holmes glanced at his watch.
โIt is a quarter-past two,โ he said. โYour telegram
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