"Doyle, Arthur Conan - Sherlock Holmes 02 - The Sign of the Four" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doyle Arthur Conan)

"But the romance was there," I remonstrated. "I could not
tamper with the facts."

"Some facts should be suppressed, or at least a just sense
of proportion should be observed in treating them. The only
point in the case which deserved mention was the curious
analytical reasoning from effects to causes by which I
succeeded in unravelling it."

I was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been
specially designed to please him. I confess, too, that I
was irritated by the egotism which seemed to demand that
every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own
special doings. More than once during the years that I had
lived with him in Baker Street I had observed that a small
vanity underlay my companion's quiet and didactic manner.
I made no remark, however, but sat nursing my wounded leg.
I had had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and,
though it did not prevent me from walking, it ached wearily
at every change of the weather.

"My practice has extended recently to the Continent," said
Holmes, after a while, filling up his old brier-root pipe.
"I was consulted last week by Francois Le Villard, {1} who,
as you probably know, has come rather to the front lately in
the French detective service. He has all the Celtic power
of quick intuition, but he is deficient in the wide range
of exact knowledge which is essential to the higher
developments of his art. The case was concerned with a
will, and possessed some features of interest. I was able
to refer him to two parallel cases, the one at Riga in 1857,
and the other at St. Louis in 1871, which have suggested to
him the true solution. Here is the letter which I had this
morning acknowledging my assistance." He tossed over, as he
spoke, a crumpled sheet of foreign note-paper. I glanced my
eyes down it, catching a profusion of notes of admiration,
with stray "magnifiques", "coup-de-maitres," {2} and
"tours-de-force," all testifying to the ardent admiration
of the Frenchman.

"He speaks as a pupil to his master," said I.

"Oh, he rates my assistance too highly," said Sherlock
Holmes, lightly. "He has considerable gifts himself.
He possesses two out of the three qualities necessary for the
ideal detective. He has the power of observation and that
of deduction. He is only wanting in knowledge; and that may
come in time. He is now translating my small works into French."