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Chapter 3 of The Sign of the 
four by Sir, Arthur Conan Doyle.

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This LibriVox recording is in 
the public domain. 

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Chapter 3, in quest of a 
solution. 

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It was 5:30 before Holmes 
returned. 

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He was bright eager and in 
excellent Spirits, a mood which 

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in his case, alternated with 
fits of the blackest depression.

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There is no great mystery in 
this matter. 

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He said taking the cup of tea, 
which I had poured out for him, 

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the facts appear to admit of 
only one explanation what you 

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sold it already. 
Well, that would be too much to 

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say, I have discovered a 
suggestive fact. 

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That is all it is however, very 
suggestive, the details are 

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still to be added. 
I have just found on Consulting 

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the back files of the times that
major Photo of upper Norwood 

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later. 
The 34th? 

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Bombay inventory died upon the 
28th of April 1882. 

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I may be very obtuse homes but I
fail to see what this suggests 

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know, you surprise me. 
Look at it in this way, then 

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Captain morstan disappears. 
The only person in London, whom 

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he could have visited his major 
sholto major sholto denies 

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having heard that he was in 
London for years later, sholto 

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dies, within a week of his 
death, captain morstan's 

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daughter receives a valuable 
present. 

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Which is repeated from year to 
year. 

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And now, culminates in a letter,
which describes her, as a 

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wronged woman, what wrong can it
refer to accept this deprivation

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of her? 
Father, and why should the 

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presence begin immediately after
sholto's death? 

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Unless it is, that sholto's are 
knows something of the mystery 

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and desires to make 
compensation. 

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Have you any alternative Theory,
which will meet the facts? 

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But what a strange compensation 
and how strangely made why to 

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should him write a letter. 
Now, rather than six years ago, 

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again, the letter speaks of 
giving her justice or Justice. 

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Can she have it is too much to 
suppose that her father is still

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alive. 
There is no other Injustice in 

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her case that, you know of there
are difficulties there are 

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certainly difficulties said 
Sherlock Holmes pensively but 

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our expedition of tonight will 
Solve them all. 

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Ah, here is a four-wheeler and 
Miss morstan is inside. 

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Are you all ready? 
Then we'd better go down for it 

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is a little past the hour. 
I picked up my hat and my 

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heaviest stick but I observe 
that Holmes took his revolver 

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from his drawer and slipped it 
into his pocket. 

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It was clear that he thought 
that our night's work might be a

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serious one. 
Miss morstan was muffled in a 

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dark cloak and her sensitive 
face was composed but pale. 

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She must have been more than 
woman if she did not feel some 

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uneasiness at the strange 
Enterprise upon which we were 

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embarking. 
Yet her self-control was 

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perfect. 
And she readily answered the few

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additional questions, which 
Sherlock Holmes, put her. 

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Major sholto was a very 
particular friend of Papa's. 

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She said his letters were full 
of Illusions to the major. 

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He and papa were in command of 
the troops at the Andaman 

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Islands. 
So, they were thrown a great 

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deal together. 
By the way, a curious paper was 

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found in Papa's desk, which no 
one could understand. 

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I don't suppose that it is of 
the slightest importance, but I 

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thought you might care to see 
it. 

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So I brought it with me. 
It is here. 

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Holmes unfolded the paper 
carefully and smooth it out upon

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his knee. 
He then very methodically 

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examined. 
It all over with his double 

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lens. 
It is paper of Native Indian 

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manufacturer. 
He remarked, it has at some time

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been pinned to a board. 
The diagram upon it appears to 

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be a plan of part of a large 
building with numerous Halls, 

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corridors and Passages. 
At one point is a small cross 

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done in red ink. 
And above. 

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It is a 337 from left in faded 
pencil writing in the left hand,

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corner, is a curious 
hieroglyphic, like, for crosses,

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in a line with their arms, 
touching beside it is written in

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very rough and coarse characters
the sign of the four. 

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Jonathan, small Mahomet Singh, 
Abdullah, Khan dust Akbar. 

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No, I confess that. 
I do not see how this Bears upon

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the matter. 
Yet. 

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It is evidently The document of 
importance. 

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It has been kept carefully in a 
pocketbook. 

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For the one side is as clean as 
the other. 

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It was in this pocketbook that 
we found it. 

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Preserve it carefully. 
Then miss morstan for it, may 

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prove to be of use to us. 
I begin to suspect that this 

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matter may turn out to be much 
deeper and more subtle than I at

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First supposed. 
I must reconsider my ideas. 

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He leaned back in the cab and I 
could see by his drawn Brown and

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his vacant eye that he was 
thinking intently Miss morstan. 

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And I chatted in an undertone 
about our present Expedition and

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it's possible outcome. 
But I'll companion maintained 

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his impenetrable Reserve until 
the end of our journey. 

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It was a September evening and 
not yet 7:00, but the day had 

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been a dreary one and a dense. 
Drizzly fog, lay low upon the 

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great City mud-colored clouds 
drooped, sadly over the muddy 

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streets down the Strand, the 
lamps were, but Misty splotches 

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of diffused light, which through
a feeble circular glimmer upon 

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the slimy pavement, the yellow 
glare from the shop. 

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Windows streamed out into the 
steamy vaporous are and through 

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a murky. 
Shh. 

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Ding, Radiance across the 
crowded thoroughfare there was 

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to my mind, something eerie and 
ghost-like in the endless 

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procession of faces, which 
flitted across these narrow bars

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of light, sad faces and glad 
Haggard and Mary like all 

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humankind, they flitted from the
Gloom into the light. 

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And so, back into the Gloom, 
once more, I'm not subject to 

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Impressions, but the dull heavy 
evening, with the strange. 

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Of business upon, which we were 
engaged, combine to make me 

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nervous and depressed. 
I could see from Miss morstan's 

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manner that she was suffering 
from the same feeling homes 

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alone could rise. 
Superior to pity influences. 

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He held his open notebook upon 
his knee. 

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And from time to time, he jotted
down figures and memoranda in 

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the light of his pocket. 
Lantern at the lyceum theater, 

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the crowds were already thick at
the side entrances in front, a 

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continuous stream of handsome. 
And four wheelers were rattling 

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up, discharging their Cargoes of
shirt fronted men, and be shored

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bit diamonded. 
Women would hardly reach the 

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third pillar, which was our 
Rendezvous before a small, dark 

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brisk man in the dress of a 
Coachman accosted us Are you the

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parties who come with the Miss 
morstan? 

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He asked I am Miss morstan. 
And these two gentlemen are my 

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friends said she, he bent a pair
of wonderfully penetrating and 

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questioning Eyes Upon Us. 
You will Excuse Me. 

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Miss he said with a certain 
dogged manner but I was to ask 

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you to give me your word that 
neither of your companions is a 

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police officer. 
I give you my word on that she 

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answered. 
He gave a shrill whistle on 

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which a street Arab LED across a
four-wheeler and open the door. 

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The man who had addressed us 
mounted to the Box while we took

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our places inside, we had hardly
done, so, before the driver 

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whipped up his horse and we 
plunged away at a furious pace 

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through the foggy streets, the 
situation was a curious one. 

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We were driving to an unknown 
place on an unknown errand. 

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Yet, our invitation was either a
complete hoax which was an 

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inconceivable hypothesis or else
we had. 

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Good reason to think that 
important issues might hang Upon

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Our Journey. 
Miss morstan's demeanor was as 

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Resolute and collected as ever. 
I endeavoured to cheer and amuse

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her, by reminiscences of my 
adventures in Afghanistan. 

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But to tell the truth, I was 
myself. 

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So excited at our situation and 
so curious. 

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As to our destination that my 
stories were slightly involved 

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to this day. 
She declares that I told her one

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moving anecdote as to how a 
musket looked into my tent at 

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the dead of night and how I 
fired a double-barreled tiger 

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cub at it. 
At first, I had some idea as to 

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the direction in which we were 
driving. 

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But soon well with our paste the
fog and my own limited knowledge

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of London. 
I lost my bearings and new 

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nothing. 
Save that we seem to be going a 

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very long way. 
Sherlock Holmes was never at 

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fault, however, and he muttered 
the names as the cab rattled 

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through squares and in and out 
by tortuous by streets Rochester

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row. 
Said he now Vincent Square. 

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Now we come out on the Vauxhall 
Bridge Road. 

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We're making for the Surrey 
side. 

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Apparently, yes, I thought. 
So now we're on the bridge, you 

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can catch glimpses of the river.
We did indeed get a fleeting 

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view of a stretch of the Thames 
with the lamps shining upon the 

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broad side. 
Water. 

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But Arc AB Dash tan, and was 
soon involved in a Labyrinth of 

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streets. 
Upon the other side. 

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Wordsworth Road said my 
companion Priory road, lock all 

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Lane, Stockwell Place, Robert 
Street, Cold Harbor Lane. 

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Our Quest does not appear to 
take us to very fashionable 

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regions. 
We had indeed reached a 

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questionable and forbidding 
neighborhood. 

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Long lines of dull brick houses,
were only relieved by the 

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course. 
There and tawdry brilliancy of 

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public houses at the corner. 
Then came rows of two storied 

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Villas each with a fronting of 
Miniature Garden. 

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And then again, interminable 
lines of new staring, brick 

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buildings and monster tentacles,
which the giant city was 

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throwing out into the country. 
At last, the cab Drew up at the 

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third house in a new Terrace. 
None of the other houses were 

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inhabited and that at which we 
stopped was as dark as its 

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neighbors, say, for a single 
glimmer, in the kitchen window 

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on our knocking, however, the 
door was instantly thrown open 

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by a Hindu servant clad in a 
yellow turban. 

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White loose-fitting clothes and 
a yellow sash There was 

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something strangely incongruous 
in this Oriental figure framed 

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in the commonplace doorway of a 
third-rate Suburban dwelling 

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house. 
The Sai Baba wits, you said he 

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and even as he spoke there came 
a high piping voice from some 

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Inner Room, show them into me 
kit to Maga it. 

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Cried show them straight into 
me. 

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End of chapter 3.