”’Really，sir！’Icried。”’Quiteright！That’sallright！ButIwasboundtoask。Withallthesequalities，whyareyounotinpractice?’”Ishruggedmyshoulders。”’Come，come！’saidhe，inhisbustlingway。’It’stheoldstory。Moreinyourbrainsthaninyourpocket，eh?WhatwouldyousayifIweretostartyouinBrookStreet?’”Istaredathiminastonishment。”’Oh，it’sformysake，notforyours，’hecried。’I’llbeperfectlyfrankwithyou，andifitsuitsyouitwillsuitmeverywell。Ihaveafewthousandstoinvest，d’yesee，andIthinkI’llsinktheminyou。’”’Butwhy?’Igasped。”’Well，it’sjustlikeanyotherspeculation，andsaferthanmost。’”’WhatamItodo，then?’”’I’lltellyou。I’lltakethehouse，furnishit，paythemaids，andrunthewholeplace。Allyouhavetodoisjusttowearoutyourchairintheconsulting-room。I’llletyouhavepocket-moneyandeverything。Thenyouhandovertomethreequartersofwhatyouearn，andyoukeeptheotherquarterforyourself。’”Thiswasthestrangeproposal，Mr。Holmes，withwhichthemanBlessingtonapproachedme。Iwon’twearyyouwiththeaccountofhowwebargainedandnegotiated。
ItendedinmymovingintothehousenextLady-day，andstartinginpracticeonverymuchthesameconditionsashehadsuggested。Hecamhimselftolivewithmeinthecharacterofaresidentpatient。
Hisheartwasweak，itappears，andheneededconstantmedicalsupervision。Heturnedthetwobestroomsofthefirstfloorintoasitting-roomandbedroomforhimself。Hewasamanofsingularhabits，shunningcompanyandveryseldomgoingout。Hislifewasirregular，butinonerespecthewasregularityitself。Everyevening，atthesamehour，hewalkedintotheconsulting-room，examinedthebooks，putdownfiveandthree-penceforeveryguineathatIhadearned，andcarriedtherestofftothestrong-boxinhisownroom。”Imaysaywithconfidencethatheneverhadoccasiontoregrethisspeculation。Fromthefirstitwasasuccess。AfewgoodcasesandthereputationwhichI
hadwoninthehospitalbroughtmerapidlytothefront，andduringthelastfewyearsIhavemadehimarichman。”Somuch，Mr。Holmes，formypasthistoryandmyrelationswithMr。Blessington。Itonlyremainsformenowtotellyouwhathasoccurredtobringmeherto-night。”SomeweeksagoMr。Blessingtoncamedowntomein，asitseemedtome，astateofconsiderableagitation。
Hespokeofsomeburglarywhich，hesaid，hadbeencommittedintheWestEnd，andheappeared，I
remember，tobequiteunnecessarilyexcitedaboutit，declaringthatadayshouldnotpassbeforeweshouldaddstrongerboltstoourwindowsanddoors。Foraweekhecontinuedtobeinapeculiarstateofrestlessness，peeringcontinuallyoutofthewindows，andceasingtotaketheshortwalkwhichhadusuallybeenthepreludetohisdinner。Fromhismanneritstruckmethathewasinmortaldreadofsomethingorsomebody，butwhenIquestionedhimuponthepointhebecamesooffensivethatIwascompelledtodropthesubject。Gradually，astimepassed，hisfearsappearedtodieaway，andhehadrenewedhisformerhabits，whenafresheventreducedhimtothepitiablestateofprostrationinwhichhenowlies。”Whathappenedwasthis。TwodaysagoIreceivedtheletterwhichInowreadtoyou。Neitheraddressnordateisattachedtoit。”’ARussiannoblemanwhoisnowresidentinEngland，’
itruns，’wouldbegladtoavailhimselfoftheprofessionalassistanceofDr。PercyTrevelyan。Hehasbeenforsomeyearsavictimtocatalepticattacks，onwhich，asiswellknown，Dr。Trevelyanisanauthority。Heproposestocallataboutquarterpastsixto-morrowevening，ifDr。Trevelyanwillmakeitconvenienttobeathome。’”Thisletterinterestmedeeply，becausethechiefdifficultyinthestudyofcatalepsyistherarenessofthedisease。Youmaybelieve，than，thatIwasinmyconsulting-roomwhen，attheappointedhour，thepageshowedinthepatient。
Hewasanelderlyman，thin，demure，andcommon-place——bynomeanstheconceptiononeformsofaRussiannobleman。Iwasmuchmorestruckbytheappearanceofhiscompanion。Thiswasatallyoungman，surprisinglyhandsome，withadark，fierceface，andthelimbsandchestofaHercules。Hehadhishandundertheother’sarmastheyentered，andhelpedhimtoachairwithatendernesswhichonewouldhardlyhaveexpectedfromhisappearance。”’Youwillexcusemycomingin，doctor，’saidhetome，speakingEnglishwithaslightlisp。’Thisismyfather，andhishealthisamatterofthemostoverwhelmingimportancetome。’”Iwastouchedbythisfilialanxiety。’Youwould，perhaps，caretoremainduringtheconsultation?’saidI。”’Notfortheworld，’hecriedwithagestureofhorror。’ItismorepainfultomethanIcanexpress。
IfIweretoseemyfatherinoneofthesedreadfulseizuresIamconvincedthatIshouldneversurviveit。Myownnervoussystemisanexceptionallysensitiveone。Withyourpermission，Iwillremaininthewaiting-roomwhileyougointomyfather’scase。’”Tothis，ofcourse，Iassented，andtheyoungmanwithdrew。ThepatientandIthenplungedintoadiscussionofhiscase，ofwhichItookexhaustivenotes。Hewasnotremarkableforintelligence，andhisanswerswerefrequentlyobscure，whichI
attributedtohislimitedacquaintancewithourlanguage。Suddenly，however，asIsatwriting，hecasedtogiveanyansweratalltomyinquiries，andonmyturningtowardshimIwasshockedtoseethathewassittingboltuprightinhischair，staringatmewithaperfectlyblankandrigidface。Hewasagaininthegripofhismysteriousmalady。”Myfirstfeeling，asIhavejustsaid，wasoneofpityandhorror。Mysecond，Ifear，wasratheroneofprofessionalsatisfaction。Imadenotesofmypatient’spulseandtemperature，testedtherigidityofhismuscles，andexaminedhisreflexes。Therewasnothingmarkedlyabnormalinanyoftheseconditions，whichharmonizedwithmyformerexperiences。Ihadobtainedgoodresultsinsuchcasesbytheinhalationofnitriteofamyl，andthepresentseemedanadmirableopportunityoftestingitsvirtues。Thebottlewasdownstairsinmylaboratory，soleavingmypatientseatedinhischair，Irandowntogetit。
Therewassomelittledelayinfindingit——fiveminutes，letussay——andthenIreturned。Imaginemyamazementtofindtheroomemptyandthepatientgone。”Ofcourse，myfirstactwastorunintothewaiting-room。Thesonhadgonealso。Thehalldoorhadbeenclosed，butnotshut。Mypagewhoadmitspatientsisanewboyandbynomeansquick。Hewaitsdownstairs，andrunsuptoshowpatientsoutwhenI
ringtheconsulting-roombell。Hehadheardnothing，andtheaffairremainedacompletemystery。Mr。
Blessingtoncaminfromhiswalkshortlyafterwards，butIdidnotsayanythingtohimuponthesubject，for，totellthetruth，Ihavegotinthewayoflateofholdingaslittlecommunicationwithhimaspossible。”Well，IneverthoughtthatIshouldseeanythingmoreoftheRussianandhisson，soyoucanimaginemyamazementwhen，attheverysamehourthisevening，theybothcamemarchingintomyconsulting-room，justastheyhaddonebefore。”’IfeelthatIoweyouagreatmanyapologiesformyabruptdepartureyesterday，doctor，’saidmypatient。”’IconfessthatIwasverymuchsurprisedatit，’
saidI。”’Well，thefactis，’heremarked，’thatwhenI
recoverfromtheseattacksmymindisalwaysverycloudedastoallthathasgonebefore。Iwokeupinastrangeroom，asitseemedtome，andmademywayoutintothestreetinasortofdazedwaywhenyouwereabsent。’”’AndI，’saidtheson，’seeingmyfatherpassthedoorofthewaiting-room，naturallythoughtthattheconsultationhadcometoanend。ItwasnotuntilwehadreachedhomethatIbegantorealizethetruestateofaffairs。’”’Well，’saidI，laughing，’thereisnoharmdoneexceptthatyoupuzzledmeterribly；soifyou，sir，wouldkindlystepintothewaiting-roomIshallbehappytocontinueourconsultationwhichwasbroughttosoabruptanending。’”’ForhalfanhourorsoIdiscussedthatoldgentleman’ssymptomswithhim，andthen，havingprescribedforhim，Isawhimgooffuponthearmofhisson。”IhavetoldyouthatMr。Blessingtongenerallychosethishourofthedayforhisexercise。Hecameinshortlyafterwardsandpassedupstairs。AninstantlaterIheardhimrunningdown，andheburstintomyconsulting-roomlikeamanwhoismadwithpanic。”’Whohasbeeninmyroom?’hecried。”’Noone，’saidI。”’It’salie！Heyelled。’Comeupandlook！’”Ipassedoverthegrossnessofhislanguage，asheseemedhalfoutofhismindwithfear。WhenIwentupstairswithhimhepointedtoseveralfootprintsuponthelightcarpet。”’D’youmeantosaythosearemine?’hecried。