He said nothing of
his business to me, and it was not my habit to force a confidence.
The first positive sign which he gave me of the direction
which his investigation was taking was an extraordinary one.
He had gone out before breakfast, and I had sat down to mine,
when he strode into the room, his hat upon his head and a huge
barbed-headed spear tucked like an umbrella under his arm.
"Good gracious, Holmes!" I cried. "You don't mean to say
that you have been walking about London with that thing?"
"I drove to the butcher's and back."
"The butcher's?"
"And I return with an excellent appetite. There can be no
question, my dear Watson, of the value of exercise before
breakfast. But I am prepared to bet that you will not guess
the form that my exercise has taken."
"I will not attempt it."
He chuckled as he poured out the coffee.
"If you could have looked into Allardyce's back shop you would
have seen a dead pig swung from a hook in the ceiling, and a
gentleman in his shirt-sleeves furiously stabbing at it with
this weapon. I was that energetic person, and I have satisfied
myself that by no exertion of my strength can I transfix the pig
with a single blow.
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