"Beg pardon, sir," said our page-boy, as he opened the door. "There'sbeen a gentleman here asking for you, sir."
Holmes glanced reproachfully at me. "So much for afternoon walks!" saidhe. "Has this gentleman gone, then?"
"Yes, sir."
"Didn't you ask him in?"
"Yes, sir; he came in."
"How long did he wait?"
"Half an hour, sir. He was a very restless gentleman, sir, a-walkin'and a-stampin' all the time he was here. I was waitin' outside the door,sir, and I could hear him. At last he outs into the passage, and hecries, 'Is that man never goin' to come?' Those were his very words,sir. 'You'll only need to wait a little longer,' says I. 'Then I'll waitin the open air, for I feel half choked,' says he. 'I'll be back beforelong.' And with that he ups and he outs, and all I could say wouldn'thold him back."
"Well, well, you did your best," said Holmes, as we walked into ourroom. "It's very annoying, though, Watson. I was badly in need ofa case, and this looks, from the man's impatience, as if it were ofimportance. Hullo! That's not your pipe on the table. He must haveleft his behind him. A nice old brier with a good long stem of what thetobacconists call amber. I wonder how many real amber mouthpieces thereare in London? Some people think that a fly in it is a sign. Well, hemust have been disturbed in his mind to leave a pipe behind him which heevidently values highly."
"How do you know that he values it highly?" I asked.
"Well, I should put the original cost of the pipe at seven and sixpence.Now it has, you see, been twice mended, once in the wooden stem and oncein the amber. Each of these mends, done, as you observe, with silverbands, must have cost more than the pipe did originally. The man mustvalue the pipe highly when he prefers to patch it up rather than buy anew one with the same money."
"Anything else?" I asked, for Holmes was turning the pipe about in hishand, and staring at it in his peculiar pensive way.
He held it up and tapped on it with his long, thin fore-finger, as aprofessor might who was lecturing on a bone.
"Pipes are occasionally of extraordinary interest," said he. "Nothinghas more individuality, save perhaps watches and bootlaces. Theindications here, however, are neither very marked nor very important.The owner is obviously a muscular man, left-handed, with an excellentset of teeth, careless in his habits, and with no need to practiseeconomy."
My friend threw out the information in a very offhand way, but I sawthat he cocked his eye at me to see if I had followed his reasoning.
"You think a man must be well-to-do if he smokes a seven-shilling pipe,"said I.
"This is Grosvenor mixture at eightpence an ounce," Holmes answered,knocking a little out on his palm. "As he might get an excellent smokefor half the price, he has no need to practise economy."
"And the other points?"
"He has been in the habit of lighting his pipe at lamps and gas-jets.You can see that it is quite charred all down one side. Of course amatch could not have done that. Why should a man hold a match to theside of his pipe? But you cannot light it at a lamp without getting thebowl charred. And it is all on the right side of the pipe. From that Igather that he is a left-handed man. You hold your own pipe to the lamp,and see how naturally you, being right-handed, hold the left side to theflame. You might do it once the other way, but not as a constancy. Thishas always been held so. Then he has bitten through his amber. It takesa muscular, energetic fellow, and one with a good set of teeth, to dothat. But if I am not mistaken I hear him upon the stair, so we shallhave something more interesting than his pipe to study."
An instant later our door opened, and a tall young man entered the room.He was well but quietly dressed in a dark-gray suit, and carried a brownwide-awake in his hand. I should have put him at about thirty, though hewas really some years older.
"I beg your pardon," said he, with some embarrassment; "I suppose Ishould have knocked. Yes, of course I should have knocked. The factis that I am a little upset, and you must put it all down to that." Hepassed his hand over his forehead like a man who is half dazed, and thenfell rather than sat down upon a chair.
"I can see that you have not slept for a night or two," said Holmes,in his easy, genial way. "That tries a man's nerves more than work, andmore even than pleasure. May I ask how I can help you?"
"I wanted your advice, sir. I don't know what to do and my whole lifeseems to have gone to pieces."
"You wish to employ me as a consulting detective?"
"Not that only. I want your opinion as a judicious man--as a man of theworld. I want to know what I ought to do next. I hope to God you'll beable to tell me."
He spoke in little, sharp, jerky outbursts, and it seemed to me that tospeak at all was very painful to him, and that his will all through wasoverriding his inclinations.
"It's a very delicate thing," said he. "One does not like to speak ofone's domestic affairs to strangers. It seems dreadful to discuss theconduct of one's wife with two men whom I have never seen before. It'shorrible to have to do it. But I've got to the end of my tether, and Imust have advice."
"My dear Mr. Grant Munro--" began Holmes.
Our visitor sprang from his chair. "What!" he cried, "you know my name?"
"If you wish to preserve your incognito," said Holmes, smiling, "I wouldsuggest that you cease to write your name upon the lining of yourhat, or else that you turn the crown towards the person whom you areaddressing. I was about to say that my friend and I have listened to agood many strange secrets in this room, and that we have had the goodfortune to bring peace to many troubled souls. I trust that we may do asmuch for you. Might I beg you, as time may prove to be of importance, tofurnish me with the facts of your case without further delay?"
Our visitor again passed his hand over his forehead, as if he found itbitterly hard. From every gesture and expression I could see that he wasa reserved, self-contained man, with a dash of pride in his nature, morelikely to hide his wounds than to expose them. Then suddenly, with afierce gesture of his closed hand, like one who throws reserve to thewinds, he began.