de in a
curiously reptilian fashion. He peered at me with great curiosity in his
puckered eyes.

"'You have less frontal development than I should have expected,' said
he, at last. 'It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the
pocket of one's dressing-gown.'

"The fact is that upon his entrance I had instantly recognized the
extreme personal danger in which I lay. The only conceivable escape for
him lay in silencing my tongue. In an instant I had slipped the revolver
from the drawer into my pocket, and was covering him through the cloth.
At his remark I drew the weapon out and laid it cocked upon the table.
He still smiled and blinked, but there was something about his eyes
which made me feel very glad that I had it there.

"'You evidently don't know me,' said he.

"'On the contrary,' I answered, 'I think it is fairly evident that I do.
Pray take a chair. I can spare you five minutes if you have anything to
say.'

"'All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,' said he.

"'Then possibly my answer has crossed yours,' I replied.

"'You stand fast?'

"'Absolutely.'

"He clapped his hand into his pocket, and I raised the pistol from
the table. But he merely drew out a memorandum-book in which he had
scribbled some dates.

"'You crossed my path on the 4th of January,' said he. 'On the 23d you
incommoded me; by the middle of February I was seriously inconvenienced
by you; at the end of March I was absolutely hampered in my plans; and
now, at the close of April, I find myself placed in such a position
through your continual persecution that I am in positive danger of
losing my liberty. The situation is becoming an impossible one.'

"'Have you any suggestion to make?' I asked.

"'You must drop it, Mr. Holmes,' said he, swaying his face about. 'You
really must, you know.'

"'After Monday,' said I.

"'Tut, tut,' said he. 'I am quite sure that a man of your intelligence
will see that there can be but one outcome to this affair. It is
necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked things in such a
fashion that we have only one resource left. It has been an intellectual
treat to me to see the way in which you have grappled with this affair,
and I say, unaffectedly, that it would be a grief to me to be forced
to take any extreme measure. You smile, sir, but I assure you that it
really would.'

"'Danger is part of my trade,' I remarked.

"'That is not danger,' said he. 'It is inevitable