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- Артур Конан Дойл
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The parasite
March
24
.
The
spring
is
fairly
with
us
now
.
Outside
my
laboratory
window
the
great
chestnut
-
tree
is
all
covered
with
the
big
,
glutinous
,
gummy
buds
,
some
of
which
have
already
begun
to
break
into
little
green
shuttlecocks
.
As
you
walk
down
the
lanes
you
are
conscious
of
the
rich
,
silent
forces
of
nature
working
all
around
you
.
The
wet
earth
smells
fruitful
and
luscious
.
Green
shoots
are
peeping
out
everywhere
.
The
twigs
are
stiff
with
their
sap
;
and
the
moist
,
heavy
English
air
is
laden
with
a
faintly
resinous
perfume
.
Buds
in
the
hedges
,
lambs
beneath
them
—
everywhere
the
work
of
reproduction
going
forward
!
I
can
see
it
without
,
and
I
can
feel
it
within
.
We
also
have
our
spring
when
the
little
arterioles
dilate
,
the
lymph
flows
in
a
brisker
stream
,
the
glands
work
harder
,
winnowing
and
straining
.
Every
year
nature
readjusts
the
whole
machine
.
I
can
feel
the
ferment
in
my
blood
at
this
very
moment
,
and
as
the
cool
sunshine
pours
through
my
window
I
could
dance
about
in
it
like
a
gnat
.
So
I
should
,
only
that
Charles
Sadler
would
rush
upstairs
to
know
what
was
the
matter
.
Besides
,
I
must
remember
that
I
am
Professor
Gilroy
.
An
old
professor
may
afford
to
be
natural
,
but
when
fortune
has
given
one
of
the
first
chairs
in
the
university
to
a
man
of
four
-
and
-
thirty
he
must
try
and
act
the
part
consistently
.
What
a
fellow
Wilson
is
!
If
I
could
only
throw
the
same
enthusiasm
into
physiology
that
he
does
into
psychology
,
I
should
become
a
Claude
Bernard
at
the
least
.
His
whole
life
and
soul
and
energy
work
to
one
end
.
He
drops
to
sleep
collating
his
results
of
the
past
day
,
and
he
wakes
to
plan
his
researches
for
the
coming
one
.
And
yet
,
outside
the
narrow
circle
who
follow
his
proceedings
,
he
gets
so
little
credit
for
it
.
Physiology
is
a
recognized
science
.
If
I
add
even
a
brick
to
the
edifice
,
every
one
sees
and
applauds
it
.
But
Wilson
is
trying
to
dig
the
foundations
for
a
science
of
the
future
.
His
work
is
underground
and
does
not
show
.
Yet
he
goes
on
uncomplainingly
,
corresponding
with
a
hundred
semi
-
maniacs
in
the
hope
of
finding
one
reliable
witness
,
sifting
a
hundred
lies
on
the
chance
of
gaining
one
little
speck
of
truth
,
collating
old
books
,
devouring
new
ones
,
experimenting
,
lecturing
,
trying
to
light
up
in
others
the
fiery
interest
which
is
consuming
him
.
I
am
filled
with
wonder
and
admiration
when
I
think
of
him
,
and
yet
,
when
he
asks
me
to
associate
myself
with
his
researches
,
I
am
compelled
to
tell
him
that
,
in
their
present
state
,
they
offer
little
attraction
to
a
man
who
is
devoted
to
exact
science
.
If
he
could
show
me
something
positive
and
objective
,
I
might
then
be
tempted
to
approach
the
question
from
its
physiological
side
.
So
long
as
half
his
subjects
are
tainted
with
charlatanerie
and
the
other
half
with
hysteria
we
physiologists
must
content
ourselves
with
the
body
and
leave
the
mind
to
our
descendants
.
No
doubt
I
am
a
materialist
.
Agatha
says
that
I
am
a
rank
one
.
I
tell
her
that
is
an
excellent
reason
for
shortening
our
engagement
,
since
I
am
in
such
urgent
need
of
her
spirituality
.
And
yet
I
may
claim
to
be
a
curious
example
of
the
effect
of
education
upon
temperament
,
for
by
nature
I
am
,
unless
I
deceive
myself
,
a
highly
psychic
man
.
I
was
a
nervous
,
sensitive
boy
,
a
dreamer
,
a
somnambulist
,
full
of
impressions
and
intuitions
.
My
black
hair
,
my
dark
eyes
,
my
thin
,
olive
face
,
my
tapering
fingers
,
are
all
characteristic
of
my
real
temperament
,
and
cause
experts
like
Wilson
to
claim
me
as
their
own
.
But
my
brain
is
soaked
with
exact
knowledge
.
I
have
trained
myself
to
deal
only
with
fact
and
with
proof
.
Surmise
and
fancy
have
no
place
in
my
scheme
of
thought
.
Show
me
what
I
can
see
with
my
microscope
,
cut
with
my
scalpel
,
weigh
in
my
balance
,
and
I
will
devote
a
lifetime
to
its
investigation
.
But
when
you
ask
me
to
study
feelings
,
impressions
,
suggestions
,
you
ask
me
to
do
what
is
distasteful
and
even
demoralizing
.
A
departure
from
pure
reason
affects
me
like
an
evil
smell
or
a
musical
discord
.
Which
is
a
very
sufficient
reason
why
I
am
a
little
loath
to
go
to
Professor
Wilson
’
s
tonight
.
Still
I
feel
that
I
could
hardly
get
out
of
the
invitation
without
positive
rudeness
;
and
,
now
that
Mrs
.
Marden
and
Agatha
are
going
,
of
course
I
would
not
if
I
could
.
But
I
had
rather
meet
them
anywhere
else
.
I
know
that
Wilson
would
draw
me
into
this
nebulous
semi
-
science
of
his
if
he
could
.
In
his
enthusiasm
he
is
perfectly
impervious
to
hints
or
remonstrances
.
Nothing
short
of
a
positive
quarrel
will
make
him
realize
my
aversion
to
the
whole
business
.
I
have
no
doubt
that
he
has
some
new
mesmerist
or
clairvoyant
or
medium
or
trickster
of
some
sort
whom
he
is
going
to
exhibit
to
us
,
for
even
his
entertainments
bear
upon
his
hobby
.
Well
,
it
will
be
a
treat
for
Agatha
,
at
any
rate
.
She
is
interested
in
it
,
as
woman
usually
is
in
whatever
is
vague
and
mystical
and
indefinite
.
10
.
50
P
.
M
.
This
diary
-
keeping
of
mine
is
,
I
fancy
,
the
outcome
of
that
scientific
habit
of
mind
about
which
I
wrote
this
morning
.
I
like
to
register
impressions
while
they
are
fresh
.
Once
a
day
at
least
I
endeavor
to
define
my
own
mental
position
.
It
is
a
useful
piece
of
self
-
analysis
,
and
has
,
I
fancy
,
a
steadying
effect
upon
the
character
.
Frankly
,
I
must
confess
that
my
own
needs
what
stiffening
I
can
give
it
.
I
fear
that
,
after
all
,
much
of
my
neurotic
temperament
survives
,
and
that
I
am
far
from
that
cool
,
calm
precision
which
characterizes
Murdoch
or
Pratt
-
Haldane
.
Otherwise
,
why
should
the
tomfoolery
which
I
have
witnessed
this
evening
have
set
my
nerves
thrilling
so
that
even
now
I
am
all
unstrung
?
My
only
comfort
is
that
neither
Wilson
nor
Miss
Penclosa
nor
even
Agatha
could
have
possibly
known
my
weakness
.
And
what
in
the
world
was
there
to
excite
me
?
Nothing
,
or
so
little
that
it
will
seem
ludicrous
when
I
set
it
down
.
The
Mardens
got
to
Wilson
’
s
before
me
.
In
fact
,
I
was
one
of
the
last
to
arrive
and
found
the
room
crowded
.
I
had
hardly
time
to
say
a
word
to
Mrs
.
Marden
and
to
Agatha
,
who
was
looking
charming
in
white
and
pink
,
with
glittering
wheat
-
ears
in
her
hair
,
when
Wilson
came
twitching
at
my
sleeve
.
"
You
want
something
positive
,
Gilroy
,
"
said
he
,
drawing
me
apart
into
a
corner
.
"
My
dear
fellow
,
I
have
a
phenomenon
—
a
phenomenon
!
"
I
should
have
been
more
impressed
had
I
not
heard
the
same
before
.
His
sanguine
spirit
turns
every
fire
-
fly
into
a
star
.
"
No
possible
question
about
the
bona
fides
this
time
,
"
said
he
,
in
answer
,
perhaps
,
to
some
little
gleam
of
amusement
in
my
eyes
.
"
My
wife
has
known
her
for
many
years
.
They
both
come
from
Trinidad
,
you
know
.
Miss
Penclosa
has
only
been
in
England
a
month
or
two
,
and
knows
no
one
outside
the
university
circle
,
but
I
assure
you
that
the
things
she
has
told
us
suffice
in
themselves
to
establish
clairvoyance
upon
an
absolutely
scientific
basis
.
There
is
nothing
like
her
,
amateur
or
professional
.
Come
and
be
introduced
!
"
I
like
none
of
these
mystery
-
mongers
,
but
the
amateur
least
of
all
.
With
the
paid
performer
you
may
pounce
upon
him
and
expose
him
the
instant
that
you
have
seen
through
his
trick
.
He
is
there
to
deceive
you
,
and
you
are
there
to
find
him
out
.
But
what
are
you
to
do
with
the
friend
of
your
host
’
s
wife
?
Are
you
to
turn
on
a
light
suddenly
and
expose
her
slapping
a
surreptitious
banjo
?
Or
are
you
to
hurl
cochineal
over
her
evening
frock
when
she
steals
round
with
her
phosphorus
bottle
and
her
supernatural
platitude
?
There
would
be
a
scene
,
and
you
would
be
looked
upon
as
a
brute
.
So
you
have
your
choice
of
being
that
or
a
dupe
.
I
was
in
no
very
good
humor
as
I
followed
Wilson
to
the
lady
.
Any
one
less
like
my
idea
of
a
West
Indian
could
not
be
imagined
.
She
was
a
small
,
frail
creature
,
well
over
forty
,
I
should
say
,
with
a
pale
,
peaky
face
,
and
hair
of
a
very
light
shade
of
chestnut
.
Her
presence
was
insignificant
and
her
manner
retiring
.
In
any
group
of
ten
women
she
would
have
been
the
last
whom
one
would
have
picked
out
.
Her
eyes
were
perhaps
her
most
remarkable
,
and
also
,
I
am
compelled
to
say
,
her
least
pleasant
,
feature
.
They
were
gray
in
color
,
—
gray
with
a
shade
of
green
,
—
and
their
expression
struck
me
as
being
decidedly
furtive
.
I
wonder
if
furtive
is
the
word
,
or
should
I
have
said
fierce
?
On
second
thoughts
,
feline
would
have
expressed
it
better
.
A
crutch
leaning
against
the
wall
told
me
what
was
painfully
evident
when
she
rose
:
that
one
of
her
legs
was
crippled
.
So
I
was
introduced
to
Miss
Penclosa
,
and
it
did
not
escape
me
that
as
my
name
was
mentioned
she
glanced
across
at
Agatha
.
Wilson
had
evidently
been
talking
.
And
presently
,
no
doubt
,
thought
I
,
she
will
inform
me
by
occult
means
that
I
am
engaged
to
a
young
lady
with
wheat
-
ears
in
her
hair
.
I
wondered
how
much
more
Wilson
had
been
telling
her
about
me
.
"
Professor
Gilroy
is
a
terrible
sceptic
,
"
said
he
;
"
I
hope
,
Miss
Penclosa
,
that
you
will
be
able
to
convert
him
.
"
She
looked
keenly
up
at
me
.
"
Professor
Gilroy
is
quite
right
to
be
sceptical
if
he
has
not
seen
any
thing
convincing
,
"
said
she
.
"
I
should
have
thought
,
"
she
added
,
"
that
you
would
yourself
have
been
an
excellent
subject
.
"
"
For
what
,
may
I
ask
?
"
said
I
.
"
Well
,
for
mesmerism
,
for
example
.
"
"
My
experience
has
been
that
mesmerists
go
for
their
subjects
to
those
who
are
mentally
unsound
.
All
their
results
are
vitiated
,
as
it
seems
to
me
,
by
the
fact
that
they
are
dealing
with
abnormal
organisms
.
"
"
Which
of
these
ladies
would
you
say
possessed
a
normal
organism
?
"
she
asked
.
"
I
should
like
you
to
select
the
one
who
seems
to
you
to
have
the
best
balanced
mind
.
Should
we
say
the
girl
in
pink
and
white
?
—
Miss
Agatha
Marden
,
I
think
the
name
is
.
"
"
Yes
,
I
should
attach
weight
to
any
results
from
her
.
"
"
I
have
never
tried
how
far
she
is
impressionable
.
Of
course
some
people
respond
much
more
rapidly
than
others
.
May
I
ask
how
far
your
scepticism
extends
?
I
suppose
that
you
admit
the
mesmeric
sleep
and
the
power
of
suggestion
.
"
"
I
admit
nothing
,
Miss
Penclosa
.
"
"
Dear
me
,
I
thought
science
had
got
further
than
that
.
Of
course
I
know
nothing
about
the
scientific
side
of
it
.
I
only
know
what
I
can
do
.
You
see
the
girl
in
red
,
for
example
,
over
near
the
Japanese
jar
.
I
shall
will
that
she
come
across
to
us
.
"
She
bent
forward
as
she
spoke
and
dropped
her
fan
upon
the
floor
.
The
girl
whisked
round
and
came
straight
toward
us
,
with
an
enquiring
look
upon
her
face
,
as
if
some
one
had
called
her
.
"
What
do
you
think
of
that
,
Gilroy
?
"
cried
Wilson
,
in
a
kind
of
ecstasy
.
I
did
not
dare
to
tell
him
what
I
thought
of
it
.
To
me
it
was
the
most
barefaced
,
shameless
piece
of
imposture
that
I
had
ever
witnessed
.
The
collusion
and
the
signal
had
really
been
too
obvious
.
"
Professor
Gilroy
is
not
satisfied
,
"
said
she
,
glancing
up
at
me
with
her
strange
little
eyes
.
"
My
poor
fan
is
to
get
the
credit
of
that
experiment
.
Well
,
we
must
try
something
else
.
Miss
Marden
,
would
you
have
any
objection
to
my
putting
you
off
?
"
"
Oh
,
I
should
love
it
!
"
cried
Agatha
.
By
this
time
all
the
company
had
gathered
round
us
in
a
circle
,
the
shirt
-
fronted
men
,
and
the
white
-
throated
women
,
some
awed
,
some
critical
,
as
though
it
were
something
between
a
religious
ceremony
and
a
conjurer
’
s
entertainment
.
A
red
velvet
arm
-
chair
had
been
pushed
into
the
centre
,
and
Agatha
lay
back
in
it
,
a
little
flushed
and
trembling
slightly
from
excitement
.
I
could
see
it
from
the
vibration
of
the
wheat
-
ears
.
Miss
Penclosa
rose
from
her
seat
and
stood
over
her
,
leaning
upon
her
crutch
.
And
there
was
a
change
in
the
woman
.
She
no
longer
seemed
small
or
insignificant
.
Twenty
years
were
gone
from
her
age
.
Her
eyes
were
shining
,
a
tinge
of
color
had
come
into
her
sallow
cheeks
,
her
whole
figure
had
expanded
.
So
I
have
seen
a
dull
-
eyed
,
listless
lad
change
in
an
instant
into
briskness
and
life
when
given
a
task
of
which
he
felt
himself
master
.
She
looked
down
at
Agatha
with
an
expression
which
I
resented
from
the
bottom
of
my
soul
—
the
expression
with
which
a
Roman
empress
might
have
looked
at
her
kneeling
slave
.
Then
with
a
quick
,
commanding
gesture
she
tossed
up
her
arms
and
swept
them
slowly
down
in
front
of
her
.
I
was
watching
Agatha
narrowly
.
During
three
passes
she
seemed
to
be
simply
amused
.
At
the
fourth
I
observed
a
slight
glazing
of
her
eyes
,
accompanied
by
some
dilation
of
her
pupils
.
At
the
sixth
there
was
a
momentary
rigor
.
At
the
seventh
her
lids
began
to
droop
.
At
the
tenth
her
eyes
were
closed
,
and
her
breathing
was
slower
and
fuller
than
usual
.
I
tried
as
I
watched
to
preserve
my
scientific
calm
,
but
a
foolish
,
causeless
agitation
convulsed
me
.
I
trust
that
I
hid
it
,
but
I
felt
as
a
child
feels
in
the
dark
.
I
could
not
have
believed
that
I
was
still
open
to
such
weakness
.
"
She
is
in
the
trance
,
"
said
Miss
Penclosa
.
"
She
is
sleeping
!
"
I
cried
.
"
Wake
her
,
then
!
"
I
pulled
her
by
the
arm
and
shouted
in
her
ear
.
She
might
have
been
dead
for
all
the
impression
that
I
could
make
.
Her
body
was
there
on
the
velvet
chair
.
Her
organs
were
acting
—
her
heart
,
her
lungs
.
But
her
soul
!
It
had
slipped
from
beyond
our
ken
.
Whither
had
it
gone
?
What
power
had
dispossessed
it
?
I
was
puzzled
and
disconcerted
.
"
So
much
for
the
mesmeric
sleep
,
"
said
Miss
Penclosa
.
"
As
regards
suggestion
,
whatever
I
may
suggest
Miss
Marden
will
infallibly
do
,
whether
it
be
now
or
after
she
has
awakened
from
her
trance
.
Do
you
demand
proof
of
it
?
"
"
Certainly
,
"
said
I
.
"
You
shall
have
it
.
"
I
saw
a
smile
pass
over
her
face
,
as
though
an
amusing
thought
had
struck
her
.
She
stooped
and
whispered
earnestly
into
her
subject
’
s
ear
.
Agatha
,
who
had
been
so
deaf
to
me
,
nodded
her
head
as
she
listened
.
"
Awake
!
"
cried
Miss
Penclosa
,
with
a
sharp
tap
of
her
crutch
upon
the
floor
.
The
eyes
opened
,
the
glazing
cleared
slowly
away
,
and
the
soul
looked
out
once
more
after
its
strange
eclipse
.
We
went
away
early
.
Agatha
was
none
the
worse
for
her
strange
excursion
,
but
I
was
nervous
and
unstrung
,
unable
to
listen
to
or
answer
the
stream
of
comments
which
Wilson
was
pouring
out
for
my
benefit
.
As
I
bade
her
good
-
night
Miss
Penclosa
slipped
a
piece
of
paper
into
my
hand
.
"
Pray
forgive
me
,
"
said
she
,
"
if
I
take
means
to
overcome
your
scepticism
.
Open
this
note
at
ten
o
’
clock
to
-
morrow
morning
.
It
is
a
little
private
test
.
"
I
can
’
t
imagine
what
she
means
,
but
there
is
the
note
,
and
it
shall
be
opened
as
she
directs
.
My
head
is
aching
,
and
I
have
written
enough
for
to
-
night
.
To
-
morrow
I
dare
say
that
what
seems
so
inexplicable
will
take
quite
another
complexion
.
I
shall
not
surrender
my
convictions
without
a
struggle
.
March
25
.
I
am
amazed
,
confounded
.
It
is
clear
that
I
must
reconsider
my
opinion
upon
this
matter
.
But
first
let
me
place
on
record
what
has
occurred
.
I
had
finished
breakfast
,
and
was
looking
over
some
diagrams
with
which
my
lecture
is
to
be
illustrated
,
when
my
housekeeper
entered
to
tell
me
that
Agatha
was
in
my
study
and
wished
to
see
me
immediately
.
I
glanced
at
the
clock
and
saw
with
sun
rise
that
it
was
only
half
-
past
nine
.
When
I
entered
the
room
,
she
was
standing
on
the
hearth
-
rug
facing
me
.
Something
in
her
pose
chilled
me
and
checked
the
words
which
were
rising
to
my
lips
.
Her
veil
was
half
down
,
but
I
could
see
that
she
was
pale
and
that
her
expression
was
constrained
.
"
Austin
,
"
she
said
,
"
I
have
come
to
tell
you
that
our
engagement
is
at
an
end
.
"
I
staggered
.
I
believe
that
I
literally
did
stagger
.
I
know
that
I
found
myself
leaning
against
the
bookcase
for
support
.
"
But
—
but
—
—
"
I
stammered
.
"
This
is
very
sudden
,
Agatha
.
"
"
Yes
,
Austin
,
I
have
come
here
to
tell
you
that
our
engagement
is
at
an
end
.
"
"
But
surely
,
"
I
cried
,
"
you
will
give
me
some
reason
!
This
is
unlike
you
,
Agatha
.
Tell
me
how
I
have
been
unfortunate
enough
to
offend
you
.
"
"
It
is
all
over
,
Austin
.
"
"
But
why
?
You
must
be
under
some
delusion
,
Agatha
.
Perhaps
you
have
been
told
some
falsehood
about
me
.
Or
you
may
have
misunderstood
something
that
I
have
said
to
you
.
Only
let
me
know
what
it
is
,
and
a
word
may
set
it
all
right
.
"
"
We
must
consider
it
all
at
an
end
.
"
"
But
you
left
me
last
night
without
a
hint
at
any
disagreement
.
