"But suppose he wants an advance payment?" queried Hamlet.

"Give him a check drawn to his own order. He'll have to endorse it
when he deposits it, and that will make him responsible," laughed
Holmes.

"What a simple thing when you understand it!" commented Raleigh.

"Very," said Holmes. "Business is getting by slow degrees to be an
exact science. It reminds me of the Brighton mystery, in which I
played a modest part some ten years ago, when I first took up
ferreting as a profession. I was sitting one night in my room at one
of the Brighton hotels, which shall be nameless. I never give the
name of any of the hotels at which I stop, because it might give
offence to the proprietors of other hotels, with the result that my
books would be excluded from sale therein. Suffice it to say that I
was spending an early summer Sunday at Brighton with my friend
Watson. We had dined well, and were enjoying our evening smoke
together upon a small balcony overlooking the water, when there came
a timid knock on the door of my room.

"'Watson,' said I, 'here comes some one for advice. Do you wish to
wager a small bottle upon it?'

"'Yes,' he answered, with a smile. 'I am thirsty and I'd like a
small bottle; and while I do not expect to win, I'll take the bet. I
should like to know, though, how you know.'

"'It is quite simple,' said I. 'The timidity of the knock shows that