The Adventure of the Red Circle | Page 3

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The Adventure of the Red Circle
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"Well, Mrs. Warren, I cannot see that you have any particular cause for uneasiness, nor
do I understand why I, whose time is of some value, should interfere in the matter. I
really have other things to engage me." So spoke Sherlock Holmes and turned back to the
great scrapbook in which he was arranging and indexing some of his recent material.
But the landlady had the pertinacity and also the cunning of her sex. She held her ground
firmly.
"You arranged an affair for a lodger of mine last year," she said--"Mr. Fairdale Hobbs."
"Ah, yes--a simple matter."
"But he would never cease talking of it--your kindness, sir, and the way in which you
brought light into the darkness. I remembered his words when I was in doubt and
darkness myself. I know you could if you only would."
Holmes was accessible upon the side of flattery, and also, to do him justice, upon the side
of kindliness. The two forces made him lay down his gum-brush with a sigh of
resignation and push back his chair.
"Well, well, Mrs. Warren, let us hear about it, then. You don't object to tobacco, I take it?
Thank you, Watson--the matches! You are uneasy, as I understand, because your new

lodger remains in his rooms and you cannot see him. Why, bless you, Mrs. Warren, if I
were your lodger you often would not see me for weeks on end."
"No doubt, sir; but this is different. It frightens me, Mr. Holmes. I can't sleep for fright.
To hear his quick step moving here and moving there from early morning to late at night,
and yet never to catch so much as a glimpse of him--it's more than I can stand. My
husband is as nervous over it as I am, but he is out at his work all day, while I get no rest
from it. What is he hiding for? What has he done? Except for the girl, I am all alone in
the house with him, and it's more than my nerves can stand."
Holmes leaned forward and laid his long, thin fingers upon the woman's shoulder. He had
an almost hypnotic power of soothing when he wished. The scared look faded from her
eyes, and her agitated features