Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
page 58 of 406 (14%)
page 58 of 406 (14%)
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of the new inmates of the cottage. I approached and
knocked at the door, which was instantly opened by a tall, gaunt woman with a harsh, forbidding face. "'What may you be wantin'?' she asked, in a Northern accent. "'I am your neighbor over yonder,' said I, nodding towards my house. 'I see that you have only just moved in, so I thought that if I could be of any help to you in any--' "'Ay, we'll just ask ye when we want ye,' said she, and shut the door in my face. Annoyed at the churlish rebuff, I turned my back and walked home. All evening, though I tried to think of other things, my mind would still turn to the apparition at the window and the rudeness of the woman. I determined to say nothing about the former to my wife, for she is a nervous, highly strung woman, and I had no wish that she would share the unpleasant impression which had been produced upon myself. I remarked to her, however, before I fell asleep, that the cottage was now occupied, to which she returned no reply. "I am usually an extremely sound sleeper. It has been a standing jest in the family that nothing could ever wake me during the night. And yet somehow on that particular night, whether it may have been the slight excitement produced by my little adventure or not I |
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