Speaker 1: The Field Bazaar, A story of Sherlock Holmes by Sir
Speaker 1: Arthur Conan Doyle, written in eighteen ninety six. Oh, I
Speaker 1: should certainly do it, said Sherlock Holmes. And I started
Speaker 1: at the interruption from My companion had been eating his breakfast,
Speaker 1: with his attention entirely scented upon the paper which was
Speaker 1: propped up by the coffee pot. Now I looked across
Speaker 1: at him, to find his eyes fastened upon me with
Speaker 1: a half amused, half questioning expression which he usually assumed
Speaker 1: when he felt he had made an intellectual point. Do
Speaker 1: what I asked, he smiled, as he took his slipper
Speaker 1: from the mantel piece and drew from it enough shag
Speaker 1: tobacco to fill the old clay pipe with which he
Speaker 1: invariably rounded off his breakfast. The most characteristic question of yours,
Speaker 1: Watson said he You will not, I am sure, be
Speaker 1: offended if I say that any reputation for sharpness which
Speaker 1: I may possess has been entirely gained by the admirable
Speaker 1: foil which you have made for me. Have I not
Speaker 1: heard of debutants who have insisted upon plainness in their chaperones?
Speaker 1: And there is a certain analogy. Our long companionship in
Speaker 1: the Baker Street rooms had left us on those easy
Speaker 1: terms of intimacy, when much may be said without offense.
Speaker 1: And yet I acknowledge that I was nettled by his remark.
Speaker 1: I may be very obtuse, said I that I confess
Speaker 1: that I am unable to see how you have managed
Speaker 1: to know that I was. I was asked to help
Speaker 1: in the Edinburgh University bazaar, but precisely the letter was
Speaker 1: only just come to hand, and I have not spoken
Speaker 1: to you since. In spite of that, said Holmes, leaning
Speaker 1: back in his chair and putting his finger tips together.
Speaker 1: I would even venture to suggest that the object of
Speaker 1: the bazaar is to enlarge the University cricket field. I
Speaker 1: looked at him in such bewilderment that he vibrated with
Speaker 1: silent laughter. The fact is, my dear Watson, that you
Speaker 1: are an excellent sum said he. You are never blase,
Speaker 1: You respond instantly to any external stimulus. Your mental processes
Speaker 1: may be slow, but they are never obscure. And I
Speaker 1: found during breakfast that you were easier reading than the
Speaker 1: leader in the times in front of me. Well, I
Speaker 1: should be glad to know how you arrived at your conclusions,
Speaker 1: said I. I fear that my good nature in giving
Speaker 1: explanations has seriously compromised my reputation, said Olmes. But in
Speaker 1: this case the train of reasoning is based upon such
Speaker 1: obvious facts. The new credit can be claimed for it.
Speaker 1: You entered the room with a thoughtful expression, the expression
Speaker 1: of a man who is debating some point in his mind.
Speaker 1: In your hand you held this solitary letter. Now, last
Speaker 1: night you retired in the best of spirit, so it
Speaker 1: was clear that it was this letter in your hand
Speaker 1: which had caused the change in your aer This is obvious. Well,
Speaker 1: it's all obvious when it's explained to you. I naturally
Speaker 1: asked myself what the letter could contain which might have
Speaker 1: this effect upon you. As you walked, you held the
Speaker 1: flap side of the envelope toward me, and I saw
Speaker 1: upon it the same shield shaped device which I have
Speaker 1: observed upon your old college cricket cap. It was clear
Speaker 1: then that the request came from Edinburgh University or from
Speaker 1: some club connected with the university. When you reached the table,
Speaker 1: you laid down the letter beside your plate with the
Speaker 1: addressed uppermost, and you walked over to look at the
Speaker 1: framed photograph upon the left of the mantelpiece. It amazed
Speaker 1: me to see the accuracy with which he had observed
Speaker 1: my movement. And what next, I asked. I began by
Speaker 1: glancing at the address, and I could tell, even at
Speaker 1: the distance of six feet, that it was unofficial communication.
Speaker 1: Thus I gathered from the use of the word doctor
Speaker 1: upon the address, to which, as a bachelor of medicine,
Speaker 1: you have no legal claim. I knew that Universe city
Speaker 1: officials are pedantic in their correct use of titles. That
Speaker 1: I was thus enabled to say with certainty that your
Speaker 1: letter was unofficial when on your return to the table,
Speaker 1: you turned over your letter and allowed me to perceive
Speaker 1: that the enclosure was a printed one. The idea of
Speaker 1: a bazaar first occurred to me. I had already weighed
Speaker 1: the possibility of its being a political communication, with this
Speaker 1: seemed improbable in the present stagnant condition of politics. So
Speaker 1: when you returned to the table your face still retained
Speaker 1: its expression. Then it was evident that your examination of
Speaker 1: the photograph had not changed the current of your thoughts.
Speaker 1: In that case, it must itself bear upon the subject
Speaker 1: in question. I turned my attention to the photograph therefore,
Speaker 1: and saw at once that it consisted of yourself as
Speaker 1: a member of the Edinburgh University eleven, with the pavilion
Speaker 1: and cricket field in the background. My small experience of
Speaker 1: cricket clubs has taught me that, next to churches, in
Speaker 1: cavalry and signs, they are the most debt latent things
Speaker 1: upon earth. When upon your return to the table, I
Speaker 1: saw you take out your pencil and draw lines upon
Speaker 1: the envelope, I was convinced that you were endeavoring to
Speaker 1: realize some projected improvement which was to be brought about
Speaker 1: by a bazaar. Your face still showed some indecision, so
Speaker 1: that I was able to break in upon you with
Speaker 1: my advice that you should assist in so good an option.
Speaker 1: I could not help smiling at the extreme simplicity of
Speaker 1: his explanation. Of course, it was as easy as parsible,
Speaker 1: said I. My remark appeared to nettle him. I may add,
Speaker 1: said he that the particular help which you have been
Speaker 1: asked to give was that you should write in their album,
Speaker 1: and that you have already made up your mind that
Speaker 1: the present incident will be the subject of your article.
Speaker 1: But but, but, how I cried it's as easy as parsible,
Speaker 1: said he, and I leave it solution to your own ingenuity.
Speaker 1: In the meantime he had had raising his paper. You
Speaker 1: will excuse me if I return to this very interesting
Speaker 1: article upon the Trees of Premona and the exact reasons
Speaker 1: for the pre eminence of the manufacture of fire limbs.
Speaker 1: It's one of those small outlying problems to which I
Speaker 1: am sometimes tempted to direct my attention. And of the
Speaker 1: field of Bazaar by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle