conclusion, I was standing at
the Criterion Bar, when some one tapped me on the shoulder, and turning
round I recognized young Stamford, who had been a dresser under me at
Barts. The sight of a friendly face in the great wilderness of London is
a pleasant thing indeed to a lonely man. In old days Stamford had never
been a particular crony of mine, but now I hailed him with enthusiasm,
and he, in his turn, appeared to be delighted to see me. In the
exuberance of my joy, I asked him to lunch with me at the Holborn, and
we started off together in a hansom.

"Whatever have you been doing with yourself, Watson?" he asked in
undisguised wonder, as we rattled through the crowded London streets.
"You are as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut."

I gave him a short sketch of my adventures, and had hardly concluded it
by the time that we reached our destination.

"Poor devil!" he said, commiseratingly, after he had listened to my
misfortunes. "What are you up to now?"

"Looking for lodgings." [3] I answered. "Trying to solve the problem
as to whether it is possible to get comfortable rooms at a reasonable
price."

"That's a strange thing," remarked my companion; "you are the second man
to-day that has used that expression to me."

"And who was the first?" I asked.

"A fellow who is working at the chemical laboratory up at the hospital.
He was bemoaning himself this morning because he could not get someone
to go halves with him in some nice rooms which he had found, and which
were too much for his purse."

"By Jove!" I cried, "if he really wants someone to share the rooms and
the expense, I am the very man for him. I should prefer having a partner
to being alone."

Young Stamford looked rather strangely at me over his wine-glass. "You
don't know Sherlock Holmes yet," he said; "perhaps you would not care
for him as a constant companion."

"Why, what is there against him?"

"Oh, I didn't say there was anything against him. He is a little queer
in his ideas--an enthusiast in some branches of science. As far as I
know he is a decent fellow enough."

"A medical student, I suppose?" said I.

"No--I have no idea what he intends to go in for. I believe he is well
up in anatomy, and he is a first-class chemist; but, as far as I know,
he has never taken out any systematic medical classes. His studies are
very desultory and eccentric, but he has amassed a lot of out-of-the way
knowledge which would astonish his professors.