The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) by Arthur Conan Doyle Page A

Dupin. I had no idea that such individuals did exist outside of stories.”
    Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe. “No doubt you think that you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin,” he observed. “Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends’ thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an hour’s silence is really very showy and superficial. He had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine.”
    “Have you read Gaboriau’s works?” I asked. “Does Lecoq come up to your idea of a detective?” 2
    Sherlock Holmes sniffed sardonically. “Lecoq was a miserable bungler,” he said, in an angry voice; “he had only one thing to recommend him, and that was his energy. That book made me positively ill. The question was how to identify an unknown prisoner. I could have done it in twenty-four hours. Lecoq took six months or so. It might be made a textbook for detectives to teach them what to avoid.”
    I felt rather indignant at having two characters whom I had admired treated in this cavalier style. I walked over to the window and stood looking out into the busy street. “This fellow may be very clever,” I said to myself, “but he is certainly very conceited.”
    “There are no crimes and no criminals in these days,” he said, querulously. “What is the use of having brains in our profession? I know well that I have it in me to make my name famous. No man lives or has ever lived who has brought the same amount of study and of natural talent to the detection of crime which I have done. And what is the result? There is no crime to detect; or, at most, some bungling villainy with a motive so transparent that even a Scotland Yard official can see through it.” 3
    I was still annoyed at his bumptious style of conversation. I thought it best to change the topic.
    “I wonder what that fellow is looking for?” I asked, pointing to a stalwart, plainly dressed individual who was walking slowly down the other side of the street, looking anxiously at the numbers. He had a large blue envelope in his hand, and was evidently the bearer of a message.
    “You mean the retired sergeant of Marines,” said Sherlock Holmes.
    “Brag and bounce!” thought I to myself. “He knows that I cannot verify his guess.”
    The thought had hardly passed through my mind when the man whom we were watching caught sight of the number on our door, and ran rapidly across the roadway. We heard a loud knock, a deep voice below, and heavy steps ascending the stair.
    “For Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” he said, stepping into the room and handing my friend the letter.
    Here was an opportunity of taking the conceit out of him. He little thought of this when he made that random shot. “May I ask, my lad,” I said, in the blandest voice, “what your trade may be?”
    “Commissionaire, sir,” he said, gruffly. “Uniform away for repairs.”
    “And you were?” I asked, with a slightly malicious glance at my companion.
    “A sergeant, sir, Royal Marine Light Infantry, sir. No answer? Right, sir.”
    He clicked his heels together, raised his hand in salute, and was gone.

CHAPTER 3
    The Lauriston Garden Mystery
    I confess that I was considerably startled by this fresh proof of the practical nature of my companion’s theories. My respect for his powers of analysis increased wondrously. There still remained some lurking suspicion in my mind, however, that the whole thing was a prearranged episode, intended to dazzle me, though what earthly object he could have in taking me in was past my comprehension. When I looked at him, he had finished reading the note, and his eyes had assumed the vacant, lack-lustre expression which showed mental abstraction.
    “How in the world did you deduce that?” I asked.
    “Deduce what?” said he, petulantly.
    “Why, that he was a retired sergeant of Marines.”
    “I have no time for