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Part 1 chapter 1 of the valley 
of fear. 

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By Sir, Arthur Conan Doyle. 
All LibriVox recordings are in 

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the public domain for further 
information or to volunteer. 

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Please visit librivox.org. 
Part 1, the tragedy of 

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birlstone, chapter 1 the 
warning. 

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I'm inclined to think said I, I 
should do so Sherlock Holmes 

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remarked in patiently and I 
believe that I am one of the 

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most long-suffering of Mortals 
but I'll admit that I was 

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annoyed at the sardonic 
Interruption really Holmes said,

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I severely you are a little 
trying at times He was too much 

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absorbed with his own thoughts 
to give any immediate answer to 

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my remonstrance. 
He leaned upon his hand with his

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untasted breakfast before him 
and he stared at the slip of 

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paper which he had just drawn 
from its envelope. 

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Then he took the envelope 
itself, held it up to the light 

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and very carefully studied both 
the exterior and the flap. 

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It is pull-ups. 
Writing said he thoughtfully. 

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I can hardly doubt that. 
It is Bullocks writing though. 

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I have seen it only twice before
the Greek e0 with a peculiar 

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top. 
Flourish is distinctive but if 

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it is porlock, then it must be 
something of the very first 

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importance. 
He was speaking to himself 

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rather than to me but my 
vexation disappeared in the 

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interest which the words 
awakened. 

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Who then is porlock. 
I asked Paul Arc. 

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Watson is a non de plume. 
I'm here identification Mark but

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behind it lies are Shifty and 
evasive personality in a formal 

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letter. 
He frankly informed me that the 

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name was not his own and defied 
me ever to trace him among the 

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teeming millions of this great 
City. 

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Paul Arc is important, not for 
himself but for the great man 

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with whom he is in touch. 
Picture to yourself, the pilot 

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fish with the shark The Jackal, 
with the lion, anything that is 

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insignificant in companionship 
with that is formidable, not 

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only for middle or Watson, but 
Sinister in the highest degree 

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Sinister. 
That is where he comes. 

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Within my purview. 
You have heard me. 

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Speak of Professor Moriarty. 
Famous scientific criminal is 

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famous among Crooks has my 
blushes Watson, homes murdered 

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in a deprecating voice. 
I was about to say, as he is 

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unknown to the public, a touch, 
a distinct touch cried. 

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Holmes, you are developing a 
certain unexpected vein of Porky

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humor Watson against which I 
must learn to guard myself. 

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But in calling Moriarty a 
criminal, you are uttering a 

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libel in the eyes of the Law and
their lie, the glory and The 

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Wonder of it, the greatest 
schemer of all time. 

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The organizer of every devilry, 
the controlling brain of the 

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underworld a brain which might 
have made or marred the destiny 

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of Nations. 
That's the man, but so aloof, is

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he from General suspicion? 
So immune from criticism, so 

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admirable in his management and 
self-effacement that, for those 

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very words that you have 
uttered, he could hail To a 

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court and emerge you with your 
hearts. 

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Pension as isolation for his 
wounded character. 

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Is he not the celebrated author 
of the Dynamics of an asteroid a

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book, which ascends to such 
rarefied, Heights of pure 

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mathematics that it is said that
there was no man in the 

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scientific press capable of 
criticizing it. 

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Is this a man to traduce 
foul-mouthed doctor and 

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slandered Professor such would 
be your respective roles. 

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That's genius Watson. 
But if I'm spared by lesser men,

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our day will surely, come may I 
be there to see I exclaimed 

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devoutly but you were speaking 
of this man porlock. 

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Yes, the so-called porlock is a 
link in the chain some little 

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way from its great. 
Attachment porlock is not quite 

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a sound link between ourselves. 
He's the only floor in that 

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chain so far as I have been able
to test it. 

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But no chain is stronger than 
its weakest link. 

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Exactly, my dear Watson. 
Hence, the extreme importance of

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porlock, LED on by some 
rudimentary aspirations towards,

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right? 
And encouraged by the judicious 

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stimulation of an occasional. 
Ten pound note sent to him by 

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devious methods. 
He has once or twice, given me 

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advanced information, which has 
been of value that highest 

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value, which anticipates and 
Rather than Avengers crime, I 

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cannot doubt that if we had the 
cipher we should find that this 

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communication is of the nature 
that I indicate. 

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Again. 
Homes flattened out the paper 

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upon his unused plate. 
I Rose and leaning over him 

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stared down at the Curious 
inscription which ran as follows

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5:34. 
See 213 127 3631. 4:17 2141, 

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Douglas 10 92, 93 537, birlstone
26 birlstone, 947, 171, What do 

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you make of it? 
Holmes it is obviously an 

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attempt to convey secret 
information, but what is the use

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of a cipher message without the 
cipher in this instance, none at

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all, Why do you say in this 
instance? 

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Because there are many ciphers, 
which I would read as easily. 

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As I do the Apocrypha of the 
agony column such crude devices.

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Amuse, the intelligence without 
fatiguing it, but this is 

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different. 
It is clearly a reference to the

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words in a page of some book. 
Until I am told, which page, and

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which book I am powerless. 
But why Douglas and Bill Stone 

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clearly? 
Because those are words which 

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were not contained in the page 
in question. 

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Then why has he not indicated 
the book? 

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Your native shrewdness, my dear 
Watson, that innate cunning, 

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which is the Delight of your 
friends would surely. 

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Prevent you from enclosing 
Cipher and message in the same 

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envelope. 
Should it miscarry? 

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You are undone as it is. 
Both have to go wrong before any

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harm comes from it. 
Now our second post is now 

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overdue and I shall be 
surprised, if it does not bring 

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us either a further letter of 
explanation or as is more 

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probable, the very volume to 
which the These figures refer. 

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Holmes is calculation was 
fulfilled within a very few 

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minutes by the appearance of 
Billy the page with the very 

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letter, which we were expecting.
The same writing remarked Holmes

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as he opened the envelope. 
And actually signed, he added in

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an exultant voice. 
As he unfolded the epistle, come

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we are getting on Watson. 
His brow clouded, however, as he

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glanced over the contents, Damn 
me. 

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This is very disappointing. 
I fear. 

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What's in it? 
All our expectations. 

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Come to nothing. 
I trusted the man Paul. 

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Lock, will come to no harm. 
Dear mr. 

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Holmes, he says, I will go no 
further in this matter. 

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It is too dangerous. 
He suspects me. 

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I can see that. 
He suspects me. 

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He came to me quite unexpectedly
after I had actually addressed 

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this envelope. 
With the intention of sending 

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you, the key to the cipher. 
I was able to cover it up. 

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If he had seen it, it would have
gone hard with me but I read 

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suspicion in his eyes. 
Please burn the cipher message, 

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which can now be of know. 
No, use to you. 

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Fred Pollock. 
Holmes sat for some little time 

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twisting this letter between his
fingers and frowning as he 

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stared Into the Fire. 
After all he said at last, there

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may be nothing in it, it may be 
only his guilty conscience, 

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knowing himself to be a traitor.
He may have read the accusation 

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in the other's eyes. 
The other being I presume 

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Professor Moriarty no less. 
When any of that party talk 

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about he you know, whom they 
mean, there is one predominant 

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he for all of them. 
But what can you do? 

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Hmm, that's a large question. 
When you have one of the first 

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brains of Europe up against you 
and all the powers of Darkness 

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at his back, there are infinite 
possibilities. 

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Anyhow, friend Paul lock is 
evidently scared out of his 

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senses. 
Kindly compare the writing in 

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the note to that upon its 
envelope which was done, he 

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tells us before this ill-omened 
visit, the one is clear and firm

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the other hard Lee legible. 
Why did he write it at all? 

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Why did he not simply drop it? 
Because he feared, I would make 

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some inquiry after him in that 
case and possibly bring trouble 

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on him. 
No doubt said. 

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I, of course, I had picked up 
the original Cipher message and 

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was bending my brows over it. 
It's pretty maddening to think 

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that an important secret May lie
here on this slip of paper and 

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that it is beyond human power to
penetrate it. 

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Sherlock Holmes have pushed 
away, his untasted breakfast and

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lit, the unsavory pipe, which 
was the companion of his deepest

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meditations. 
I wonder said he leaning back 

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and staring at the ceiling. 
Perhaps, there are points which 

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have escaped your Machiavellian 
intellect, let us consider the 

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problem. 
In the light of pure reason, 

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this man's reference is to a 
book that is our Point of 

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Departure, a somewhat vague one.
Let us see then if we can narrow

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it down as I focus. 
My mind upon it, it seems rather

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less Impenetrable. 
What indications have we as to 

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this book non well, well it is 
surely not quite so bad as that.

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The cipher message begins with a
large 534, does it? 

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Not we may take it as a working 
hypothesis that 534 is a 

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particular page to which the 
cipher refers. 

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So our book has already become a
large book, which is surely 

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something gained. 
What other indications have we 

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as to the nature of this large 
book. 

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The next sign is see to what do 
you make of that Watson? 

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Chapter the second. 
No doubt hardly that Watson, you

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will. 
I am sure. 

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Agree. 
With me that, if the page be 

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given the number of the chapter 
is immaterial also that if page,

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534 finds us only in the second 
chapter, the length of the first

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one must have been really 
intolerable. 

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Column. 
I cried. 

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Brilliant Watson. 
You are scintillating this 

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morning, if it is not column 
than I am very much deceived. 

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So now you see we begin to 
visualize a large book printed 

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in double columns which are each
of a considerable length. 

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Since one of the words is 
numbered in the document as the 

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293rd have. 
We reached the limits of what 

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reason can supply I fear that we
have. 

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Surely you do yourself an 
injustice, one more chorus, 

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keishon, my dear Watson. 
Yet another brain wave. 

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Had the volume being an unusual 
one. 

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He would have sent it to me 
instead of that he had intended 

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before his plans, when nipped to
send me the clue in this 

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envelope. 
He says. 

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So in this note, this would seem
to indicate that the book is 

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one, which he thought I would 
have no difficulty in finding 

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for myself. 
He had it and he imagined that I

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would have it too. 
In short Watson, it is a very 

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common book What you say? 
Certainly sounds plausible. 

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So we have contracted our field 
of search to a large book 

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printed in double columns, and 
in common use. 

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The Bible. 
I cried triumphantly. 

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Good Watson good. 
But not if I may say so quite 

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good enough, even if I accepted 
the compliment for myself, I 

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could hardly name any volume. 
Which will be less likely to lie

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at the elbow of one of 
Moriarty's Associates. 

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Besides the additions of holy 
writ are so numerous that he 

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could hardly, suppose that two 
copies would have the same 

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pagination this This is clearly 
a book which is standardized. 

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He knows for certain that his 
page. 534 will exactly agree 

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with my page 534, but very few 
books would correspond with 

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that. 
Exactly, therein lies our 

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Salvation. 
Our search is narrowed down to 

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standardized books, which anyone
may be supposed to possess 

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Bradshaw. 
There are difficulties Watson, 

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the vocabulary of Bradshaw is 
nervous and terse, but limited, 

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the selection of words would 
hardly lend itself. 

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To the sending of General 
messages, we will eliminate 

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Bradshaw. 
The dictionary, is I fear in a 

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miserable for the same reason, 
what then is left and almanach. 

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Excellent Watson. 
I am very much mistaken. 

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If you have not touched the spot
and almanach, let us consider 

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the claims of Whitaker's 
Almanac. 

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It is in common use, it has the 
requisite number of pages. 

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It is in double column, though. 
Reserved in its earlier 

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vocabulary, it becomes. 
If I remember, right? 

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Quite garrulous towards the end.
He picked the volume from his 

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desk. 
Here is Page, 534 column to a 

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substantial block of print 
dealing. 

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I perceive with the trade and 
resources of British, India, 

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jot, down the words. 
Watson number 13 is marotta. 

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Not I fear a very auspicious 
beginning. 

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Number 127 is government, which 
at least makes sense, though. 

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Somewhat irrelevant to ourselves
and Professor Moriarty, now let 

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us try again. 
What does a Maserati government 

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do alas? 
The next word is pigs bristles. 

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We are undone my good Watson. 
It is finished. 

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He had spoken ingesting, vain, 
but the twitching of his bushy 

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eyebrows, bespoke, his 
disappointment and irritation. 

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I sat helpless and unhappy 
staring into the fire. 

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A long silence was broken by a 
sudden exclamation from homes, 

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who dashed at a cupboard from, 
which he emerged with a second. 

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Yellow covered volume in his 
hand, we pay the price Watson 

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for being too up-to-date. 
He cried we are before our time 

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and suffer. 
The usual penalties being the 

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7th of January. 
We have very properly laid in 

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the new almanach. 
But it is more than likely that 

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porlock took his message from 
the old one, no doubt he would 

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have told us so had his letter 
of explanation, been written. 

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Now, let us see what page 534 
has in store for us. 

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Number 13, is there which is 
much more promising. 

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Number 127 is is there is 
Holmes's Eyes Were Gleaming with

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excitement and is thin nervous 
fingers twitch. 

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00:16:26,300 --> 00:16:32,300
The as he counted the words 
danger, haha Capital, put that 

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down Watson there is danger. 
May come very soon one. 

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00:16:43,500 --> 00:16:49,300
Then we have the name, Douglas 
rich country now. 

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At birlstone house, birlstone 
confidence is pressing. 

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They're Watson. 
What do you think of pure 

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00:17:03,500 --> 00:17:05,000
reason? 
And it's fruit. 

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If the green grocer had such a 
thing. 

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As a laurel wreath, I should 
send Billy round for it. 

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00:17:11,700 --> 00:17:14,400
I was staring at the strange 
message which I had scrawled as 

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00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,400
he deciphered it upon a sheet of
foolscap on my knee. 

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00:17:18,700 --> 00:17:20,599
What a queer scrambling way of 
expressing. 

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00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:25,700
His meaning said, I on the 
contrary, he has done quite 

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00:17:25,700 --> 00:17:29,900
remarkably well, said, Holmes, 
when you search a single column 

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00:17:29,900 --> 00:17:33,100
for words, with which, to 
express your meaning, you can 

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hardly expect to get everything 
you want. 

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00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,300
You're bound to leave something 
to the intelligence of your 

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00:17:38,300 --> 00:17:41,900
correspondent. 
The purport is perfectly clear. 

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00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:46,700
Some devilry is intended against
one Douglas, whoever he may be 

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residing a A rich country 
gentleman. 

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He is sure confidence was as 
near as he could get too. 

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Confident that it is pressing. 
There is our result and a very 

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workmanlike little bit of 
analysis. 

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It was homes, had the impersonal
joy of the true artist in his 

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better work, even as he mourned 
Darkly. 

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00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:11,300
When it fell below the high 
level to which he aspired. 

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00:18:12,100 --> 00:18:14,200
He was still chuckling over his 
success. 

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00:18:14,700 --> 00:18:18,300
When Billy swung open the door 
and inspector MacDonald. 

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00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:20,700
Of Scotland Yard was ushered 
into the room. 

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00:18:21,700 --> 00:18:24,800
Those were the early days at the
end of the 80s, when Alec 

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00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,200
McDonald was far from having 
attained the national Fame, 

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00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,600
which he has now achieved. 
He was a young, but trusted 

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00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,900
member of the detective Force, 
who had distinguished himself in

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00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:37,400
several cases, which have been 
entrusted to him. 

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00:18:38,100 --> 00:18:40,700
He is tall. 
Bernie figure gave promise of 

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00:18:40,700 --> 00:18:44,600
exceptional physical strength 
while his great Cranium and 

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00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,300
deep-set, lustrous eyes spoke no
less clearly of the key. 

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00:18:48,500 --> 00:18:52,500
Intelligence which twinkled out 
from behind his bushy eyebrows. 

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00:18:53,300 --> 00:18:58,000
He was a silent precise, man 
with a dow nature and a hard. 

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A bodoni, an accident. 
Twice already in his career, had

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00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,800
homes helped him to attain 
success, his own soul reward 

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00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,500
being the intellectual joy of 
the problem for this reason. 

287
00:19:10,700 --> 00:19:13,900
The affectation and respect of 
the Scotchman for his amateur 

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00:19:13,900 --> 00:19:17,300
colleague were profound and he 
showed them by the frankness 

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00:19:17,300 --> 00:19:20,100
with which he consulted homes in
every difficulty. 

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00:19:21,100 --> 00:19:25,200
Mediocrity knows nothing higher 
than itself, but Talent 

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00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:30,100
instantly recognizes genius and 
McDonald Had Talent enough for 

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00:19:30,100 --> 00:19:33,400
his profession to enable him to 
perceive that there was no 

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00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,300
humiliation in seeking the 
assistance of one who already 

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00:19:37,300 --> 00:19:40,500
stood alone in Europe both in 
his gifts. 

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00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:46,100
And in his experience Holmes was
not prone to Friendship, but he 

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00:19:46,100 --> 00:19:49,100
was tolerant of the big 
Scotchman and smiled at the 

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00:19:49,100 --> 00:19:52,200
sight of him. 
You are an early bird. 

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00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,100
Mr. Mack said he, I wish you 
luck with your worm. 

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00:19:56,700 --> 00:19:58,400
I fear. 
This means that there is some 

300
00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,400
Mischief afoot. 
If you said, hope instead of 

301
00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,300
fear, it would be nearer the 
truth and thinking mr. 

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00:20:04,300 --> 00:20:07,600
Holmes, inspector answered with 
a knowing grin. 

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00:20:08,100 --> 00:20:11,300
Well, maybe a wee nip. 
Would keep out the raw morning 

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00:20:11,300 --> 00:20:14,200
chill. 
No, I won't smoke, I thank you. 

305
00:20:14,700 --> 00:20:17,100
I'll have to be pushing on my 
way for the early hours of a 

306
00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:20,300
case of the precious ones. 
There's no man knows better than

307
00:20:20,300 --> 00:20:21,300
your own self. 
Self. 

308
00:20:21,300 --> 00:20:25,300
But, but the inspector had 
stopped suddenly and was staring

309
00:20:25,300 --> 00:20:28,500
with a look of absolute 
amazement at a paper upon the 

310
00:20:28,500 --> 00:20:31,300
table. 
It was the sheet upon which I 

311
00:20:31,300 --> 00:20:36,100
had scrawled. 
The enigmatic message to Alice, 

312
00:20:36,300 --> 00:20:40,200
he stammered birlstone, what's 
this mr. 

313
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,500
Holmes, man, it's witchcraft. 
Where's the name of all? 

314
00:20:44,500 --> 00:20:46,700
That is wonderful. 
Did you get these names? 

315
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,900
It is a cipher that dr. 
Watson and I have had occasion 

316
00:20:50,900 --> 00:20:55,200
to solve, but why, what's amiss 
with the names? 

317
00:20:56,300 --> 00:20:59,200
The inspector looked from one to
the other of us in Dazed 

318
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,400
amazement, Justice said he does 
mr. 

319
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,500
Douglas have belston, manor 
house was horribly murdered last

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00:21:07,500 --> 00:21:11,300
night. 
End of chapter 1. 

321
00:21:09,900 --> 00:21:11,300
End of chapter 1.