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- Артур Конан Дойл
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- Стр. 1/91
The sign of four
Sherlock
Holmes
took
his
bottle
from
the
corner
of
the
mantel
-
piece
and
his
hypodermic
syringe
from
its
neat
morocco
case
.
With
his
long
,
white
,
nervous
fingers
he
adjusted
the
delicate
needle
,
and
rolled
back
his
left
shirt
-
cuff
.
For
some
little
time
his
eyes
rested
thoughtfully
upon
the
sinewy
forearm
and
wrist
all
dotted
and
scarred
with
innumerable
puncture
-
marks
.
Finally
he
thrust
the
sharp
point
home
,
pressed
down
the
tiny
piston
,
and
sank
back
into
the
velvet
-
lined
arm
-
chair
with
a
long
sigh
of
satisfaction
.
Three
times
a
day
for
many
months
I
had
witnessed
this
performance
,
but
custom
had
not
reconciled
my
mind
to
it
.
On
the
contrary
,
from
day
to
day
I
had
become
more
irritable
at
the
sight
,
and
my
conscience
swelled
nightly
within
me
at
the
thought
that
I
had
lacked
the
courage
to
protest
.
Again
and
again
I
had
registered
a
vow
that
I
should
deliver
my
soul
upon
the
subject
,
but
there
was
that
in
the
cool
,
nonchalant
air
of
my
companion
which
made
him
the
last
man
with
whom
one
would
care
to
take
anything
approaching
to
a
liberty
.
His
great
powers
,
his
masterly
manner
,
and
the
experience
which
I
had
had
of
his
many
extraordinary
qualities
,
all
made
me
diffident
and
backward
in
crossing
him
.
Yet
upon
that
afternoon
,
whether
it
was
the
Beaune
which
I
had
taken
with
my
lunch
,
or
the
additional
exasperation
produced
by
the
extreme
deliberation
of
his
manner
,
I
suddenly
felt
that
I
could
hold
out
no
longer
.
“
Which
is
it
to
-
day
?
”
I
asked
,
—
“
morphine
or
cocaine
?
”
He
raised
his
eyes
languidly
from
the
old
black
-
letter
volume
which
he
had
opened
.
“
It
is
cocaine
,
”
he
said
,
—
“
a
seven
-
per
-
cent
.
solution
.
Would
you
care
to
try
it
?
”
“
No
,
indeed
,
”
I
answered
,
brusquely
.
“
My
constitution
has
not
got
over
the
Afghan
campaign
yet
.
I
cannot
afford
to
throw
any
extra
strain
upon
it
.
”
He
smiled
at
my
vehemence
.
“
Perhaps
you
are
right
,
Watson
,
”
he
said
.
“
I
suppose
that
its
influence
is
physically
a
bad
one
.
I
find
it
,
however
,
so
transcendently
stimulating
and
clarifying
to
the
mind
that
its
secondary
action
is
a
matter
of
small
moment
.
”
“
But
consider
!
”
I
said
,
earnestly
.
“
Count
the
cost
!
Your
brain
may
,
as
you
say
,
be
roused
and
excited
,
but
it
is
a
pathological
and
morbid
process
,
which
involves
increased
tissue
-
change
and
may
at
last
leave
a
permanent
weakness
.
You
know
,
too
,
what
a
black
reaction
comes
upon
you
.
Surely
the
game
is
hardly
worth
the
candle
.
Why
should
you
,
for
a
mere
passing
pleasure
,
risk
the
loss
of
those
great
powers
with
which
you
have
been
endowed
?
Remember
that
I
speak
not
only
as
one
comrade
to
another
,
but
as
a
medical
man
to
one
for
whose
constitution
he
is
to
some
extent
answerable
.
”
