Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in themornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he wasup all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon thehearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had leftbehind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood,bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a "Penang lawyer." Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inchacross. "To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of theC.C.H.," was engraved upon it, with the date "1884." It wasjust such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used tocarry -- dignified, solid, and reassuring.

"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?"

Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given himno sign of my occupation.

"How did you know what I was doing? I believe you haveeyes in the back of your head."

"I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot infront of me," said he. "But, tell me, Watson, what do you makeof our visitor's stick? Since we have been so unfortunate as tomiss him and have no notion of his errand, this accidentalsouvenir becomes of importance. Let me hear you reconstructthe man by an examination of it."

"I think," said I, following as far as I could the methods ofmy companion, "that Dr. Mortimer is a successful, elderlymedical man, well-esteemed since those who know him givehim this mark of their appreciation."

"Good!" said Holmes. "Excellent!"

"I think also that the probability is in favour of his being acountry practitioner who does a great deal of his visiting onfoot."

"Why so?"

"Because this stick, though originally a very handsome onehas been so knocked about that I can hardly imagine a townpractitioner carrying it. The thick-iron ferrule is worn down, so itis evident that he has done a great amount of walking with it."

"Perfectly sound!" said Holmes.

"And then again, there is the 'friends of the C.C.H.' I shouldguess that to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whosemembers he has possibly given some surgical assistance, andwhich has made him a small presentation in return."

"Really, Watson, you excel yourself," said Holmes, pushingback his chair and lighting a cigarette. "I am bound to say thatin all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of myown small achievements you have habitually underrated yourown abilities. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, butyou are a conductor of light. Some people without possessinggenius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, mydear fellow, that I am very much in your debt."

He had never said as much before, and I must admit that hiswords gave me keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by hisindifference to my admiration and to the attempts which I hadmade to give publicity to his methods. I was proud, too, to thinkthat I had so far mastered his system as to apply it in a waywhich earned his approval. He now took the stick from my handsand examined it for a few minutes with his naked eyes. Thenwith an expression of interest he laid down his cigarette, andcarrying the cane to the window, he looked over it again with aconvex lens.

"Interesting, though elementary," said he as he returned tohis favourite corner of the settee. "There are certainly one ortwo indications upon the stick. It gives us the basis for severaldeductions."

"Has anything escaped me?" I asked with some self-importance. "I trust that there is nothing of consequence which Ihave overlooked?"

"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusionswere erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, tobe frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guidedtowards the truth. Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance. The man is certainly a country practitioner. And he walksa good deal."

"Then I was right."

"To that extent."

"But that was all."

"No, no, my dear Watson, not all -- by no means all. I wouldsuggest, for example, that a presentation to a doctor is morelikely to come from a hospital than from a hunt, and that whenthe initials 'C.C.' are placed before that hospital the words'Charing Cross' very naturally suggest themselves."

"You may be right."

"The probability lies in that direction. And if we take this as aworking hypothesis we have a fresh basis from which to start ourconstruction of this unknown visitor."

"Well, then, supposing that 'C.C.H.' does stand for 'CharingCross Hospital,' what further inferences may we draw?"

"Do none suggest themselves? You know my methods. Applythem!"

"I can only think of the obvious conclusion that the man haspractised in town before going to the country."

"I think that we might venture a little farther than this. Lookat it in this light. On what occasion would it be most probablethat such a presentation would be made? When would his friendsunite to give him a pledge of their good will? Obviously at themoment when Dr. Mortimer withdrew from the service of thehospital in order to start in practice for himself. We know therehas been a presentation. We believe there has been a changefrom a town hospital to a country practice. Is it, then, stretchingour inference too far to say that the presentation was on theoccasion of the change?"

"It certainly seems probable."

"Now, you will observe that he could not have been on thestaff of ohe hospital, since only a man well-established in aLondon practice could hold such a position, and such a onewould not drift into the country. What was he, then? If he was inthe hospital and yet not on the staff he could only have been ahouse-surpeon or a house-physician -- little more than a seniorstudent. And he left five years ago -- the date is on the stick. Soyour grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into thinair, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow underthirty, amiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessorof a favourite dog, which I should describe roughly as beinglarger than a terrier and smaller than a mastiff."

I laughed incredulously as Sherlock Holmes leaned back in hissettee and blew little wavering rings of smoke up to the ceiling.

"As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you," saidI, "but at least it is not difficult to find out a few particularsabout the man's age and professional career." From my smallmedical shelf I took down the Medical Directory and turned upthe name. There were several Mortimers, but only one whocould be our visitor. I read his record aloud.

"No mention of that local hunt, Watson," said Holmes with amischievous smile, "but a country doctor, as you very astutelyobserved. I think that I am fairly justified in my inferences. Asto the adjectives, I said, if I remember right, amiable, unambitious, and absent-minded. It is my experience that it is only anamiable man in this world who receives testimonials, only anunambitious one who abandons a London career for the country,and only an absent-minded one who leaves his stick and not hisvisiting-card after waiting an hour in your room."

"And the dog?"

"Has been in the habit of carrying this stick behind hismaster. Being a heavy stick the dog has held it tightly by themiddle, and the marks of his teeth are very plainly visible. Thedog's jaw, as shown in the space between these marks, is toobroad in my opinion for a terrier and not broad enough for amastiff. It may have been -- yes, by Jove, it is a curly-hairedspaniel."

He had risen and paced the room as he spoke. Now he haltedin the recess of the window. There was such a ring of convictionin his voice that I glanced up in surprise.

"My dear fellow, how can you possibly be so sure of that?"

"For the very simple reason that I see the dog himself on ourvery door-step, and there is the ring of its owner. Don't move, Ibeg you, Watson. He is a professional brother of yours, and yourpresence may be of assistance to me. Now is the dramaticmoment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stairwhich is walking into your life, and you know not whether forgood or ill. What does Dr. James Mortimer, the man of science,ask of Sherlock Holmes, the specialist in crime? Come in!"

The appearance of our visitor was a surprise to me, since Ihad expected a typical country practitioner. He was a very tall,thin man, with a long nose like a beak, which jutted out betweentwo keen, gray eyes, set closely together and sparkling brightlyfrom behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He was clad in aprofessional but rather slovenly fashion, for his frock-coat wasdingy and his trousers frayed. Though young, his long back wasalready bowed, and he walked with a forward thrust of his headand a general air of peering benevolence. As he entered his eyesfell upon the stick in Holmes's hand, and he ran towards it withan exclamation of joy. "I am so very glad," said he. "I was notsure whether I had left it here or in the Shipping Office. I wouldnot lose that stick for the world."

"A presentation, I see," said Holmes.

"Yes, sir."

"From Charing Cross Hospital?"

"From one or two friends there on the occasion of mymarriage."

"Dear, dear, that's bad!" said Holmes, shaking his head.

Dr. Mortimer blinked through his glasses in mild astonishment.

"Why was it bad?"

"Only that you have disarranged our little deductions. Yourmarriage, you say?"

"Yes, sir. I married, and so left the hospital, and with it allhopes of a consulting practice. It was necessary to make a homeof my own."

"Come, come, we are not so far wrong, after all," saidHolmes. "And now, Dr. James Mortimer --"

"Mister, sir, Mister -- a humble M.R.C.S."

"And a man of precise mind, evidently."

"A dabbler in science, Mr. Holmes, a picker up of shells onthe shores of the great unknown ocean. I presume that it is Mr.Sherlock Holmes whom I am addressing and not --"

"No, this is my friend Dr. Watson."

"Glad to meet you, sir. I have heard your name mentioned inconnection with that of your friend. You interest me very much,Mr. Holmes. I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull orsuch well-marked supra-orbital development. Would you haveany objection to my running my finger along your parietalfissure? A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available,would be an ornament to any anthropological museum. It is notmy intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet yourskull."

Sherlock Holmes waved our strange visitor into a chair. "Youare an enthusiast in your line of thought, I perceive, sir, as I amin mine," said he. "I observe from your forefinger that youmake your own cigarettes. Have no hesitation in lighting one."

The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled the one up inthe other with surprising dexterity. He had long, quivering fingers as agile and restless as the antennae of an insect.

Holmes was silent, but his little darting glances showed methe interest which he took in our curious companion.

"I presume, sir," said he at last, "that it was not merely forthe purpose of examining my skull that you have done me thehonour to call here last night and again to-day?"

"No, sir, no; though I am happy to have had the opportunityof doing that as well. I came to you, Mr. Holmes, because Irecognized that I am myself an unpractical man and because I amsuddenly confronted with a most serious and extraordinary problem. Recognizing, as I do, that you are the second highest expertin Europe --"

"Indeed, sir! May I inquire who has the honour to be thefirst?" asked Holmes with some asperity.

"To the man of precisely scientific mind the work of Monsieur Bertillon must always appeal strongly."

"Then had you not better consult him?"

"I said, sir, to the precisely scientific mind. But as a practicalman of affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone. I trust,sir, that I have not inadvertently --"

"Just a little," said Holmes. "I think, Dr. Mortimer, youwould do wisely if without more ado you would kindly tell meplainly what the exact nature of the problem is in which youdemand my assistance."