"
He handed over the book, and I read:
"MORAN, SEBASTIAN, COLONEL. Unemployed. Formerly 1st Bengalore
Pioneers. Born London, 1840. Son of Sir Augustus Moran, C.B.,
once British Minister to Persia. Educated Eton and Oxford.
Served in Jowaki Campaign, Afghan Campaign, Charasiab (despatches),
Sherpur, and Cabul. Author of `Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas,'
1881; `Three Months in the Jungle,' 1884. Address: Conduit Street.
Clubs: The Anglo-Indian, the Tankerville, the Bagatelle Card Club."
On the margin was written, in Holmes's precise hand:
"The second most dangerous man in London."
"This is astonishing," said I, as I handed back the volume.
"The man's career is that of an honourable soldier."
"It is true," Holmes answered. "Up to a certain point he did
well. He was always a man of iron nerve, and the story is still
told in India how he crawled down a drain after a wounded
man-eating tiger. There are some trees, Watson, which grow to a
certain height and then suddenly develop some unsightly
eccentricity. You will see it often in humans. I have a theory
that the individual represents in his development the whole
procession of his ancestors, and that such a sudden turn to good
or evil stands for some strong influence which came into the
line of his pedigree.
Pages:
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57