The Sign of the Four

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Revision quotes for Holmes and
Watson

Holmes

My mind, he said, rebels at stagnation

Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse

cryptogram or the most intricate analysis,

CHAPTER I.
The Science of Deduction
Watson

I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation

The only unofficial consulting detective

When Gregson or Lestrade or Athelney Jones are out of their depths

which, by the way, is their normal state

Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science, and should be treated in

the same cold and unemotional manner

It is simplicity itself,

My dear doctor, said he, kindly, pray accept my apologies.

Crime is commonplace, existence is commonplace

With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle,

a long sigh of satisfaction

Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccoes.

my conscience swelled nightly within me

His great powers, his masterly manner

it is a pathological and morbid process

But the romance was there,

I was annoyed at this criticism of a work

I was irritated by the egotism

CHAPTER II.
The Statement of the Case

Holmes

Watson

leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary

concentration upon his clear-cut, hawklike features.

A client is to me a mere unit,a factor in a problem.

the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three
little children

the most repellant man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has

spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.

I felt that my position was an embarrassing one.

What a very attractive woman! I exclaimed,

You really are an automaton,a calculating machine! I cried.

I should be proud and happy

There is something positively inhuman in you at times.

an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account,

CHAPTER III.
In Quest of a Solution

Holmes

He was bright, eager, and in excellent spirits,a mood which in his case
alternated with fits of the blackest depression.

He then very methodically examined it all over with his double lens.

he muttered the names as the cab rattled through squares and in and
out by tortuous by-streets.

Sherlock Holmes was never at fault, however,

Watson

but, to tell the truth, I was myself so excited at our situation

and so curious as to our destination

but soon, what with our pace, the fog, and my own limited
knowledge of London, I lost my bearings, and knew nothing

CHAPTER IV.
The Story of the Bald-Headed Man
Holmes

Watson

I could have struck the man across the face, so hot was I at this
callous and off-hand reference to so delicate a matter.

yet I am ashamed to say that selfishness took me by the soul, and

that my heart turned as heavy as lead within me.

CHAPTER V.
The Tragedy of Pondicherry Lodge
Holmes

shooting keen glances to right and left.

Holmes advanced along it in the same slow and methodical way,

Holmes whipped his lens out of his pocket and carefully examined
marks which appeared to me to be mere shapeless smudges of dust

Watson

A wondrous subtle thing is love,

we stood hand in hand, like two children, and there was peace in our
hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us.

It grows darker instead of clearer.

Holmes

when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however

improbable, must be the truth?

He whipped out his lens and a tape measure, and hurried about the
room on his knees, measuring, comparing, examining,

his long thin nose only a few inches from the planks

his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird.

So swift, silent, and furtive were his movements, like those of a trained
blood-hound picking out a scent,

loud crow of delight.

Wir sind gewohnt dass die Menschen verhhnen was sie nicht
verstehen. (Goethe)We are used to see that Man despises what he
never comprehends.

CHAPTER VI.
Sherlock Holmes
Gives a
Demonstration
Watson

think what a terrible criminal he would have made had he

turned his energy and sagacity against the law, instead of
exerting them in its defence.

CHAPTER VII.
The Episode of the Barrel

Watson

Holmes

Pshaw, my dear boy! it was simplicity itself.

. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in

the presence of the great elemental forces of nature! Are you
well up in your Jean Paul?

Worse still, she was rich

My sympathies and my love went out to her,

She little guessed the struggle within my breast,

Was it fair, was it honorable, that a half-pay surgeon should take such
advantage of an intimacy which chance had brought about?

Might she not look upon me as a mere vulgar fortune seeker?

Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other, and then burst
simultaneously into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

CHAPTER VIII. The Baker Street Irregulars

Watson

Holmes

Dear little chap! said Holmes, strategically. What a rosy-cheeked

young rascal!

No. I shall probably call Athelney Jones in at the last moment.

It is the unof- ficial force,the Baker Street irregulars.

I have a curious constitution

I am going to smoke and to think over this queer business to which

my fair client has introduced us.

These massacres are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast. Nice,

amiable people, Watson!

he began to play some low, dreamy, melodious air

True, if I found it, it would probably put her forever beyond my

reach. Yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be
influenced by such a thought as that.

A savage! I exclaimed. Perhaps one of those Indians

n I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of

sound, until I found myself in dream-land, with the sweet face
of Mary Morstan looking down upon me

CHAPTER IX. A Break in the Chain

Holmes

Women are never to be entirely trusted,not the best of

them.

I could see little of his face save a pair of keen dark eyes,

Watson

It sent a little thrill of joy to my heart to notice that she showed no

sign of elation at the prospect.

Could there be, I wondered, some radical flaw in my companions

reasoning. Might he be suffering from some huge self-deception? Was
it not possible that his nimble and speculative mind had built up this
wild theory upon faulty premises?

Holmes

He spoke on a quick succession of subjects,on miracle-plays, on

medieval pottery, on Stradivarius violins, on the Buddhism of Ceylon, and
on the war-ships of the future

I knew this man Small had a certain degree of low cunning, but I did not
think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse. That is
usually a product of higher education.

Winwood Reade is good upon the subject,

and going like the devil! Full speed ahead, engineer.

By heaven, I shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of
us!

We must catch her! cried Holmes, between his teeth. Heap it on,
stokers! Make her do all she can! If we burn the boat we must have
them!

Pile it on, men, pile it on!

the fierce glow from below beat upon his eager, aquiline face.

Holmes smiled at it and shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion,

CHAPTER X. The End of the

Islander

Watson

Never have I seen features so deeply marked with all bestiality and
cruelty. His small eyes glowed and burned with a sombre light, and his
thick lips were writhed back from his teeth, which grinned and
chattered at us with a half animal fury.

the unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face, and his strong yellow
teeth gnashing at us

I caught one glimpse of his venomous, menacing eyes amid the white
swirl

I confess that it turned me sick to think of the horrible death which

had passed so close to us that night.

Watson
CHAPTER XI.
The Great Agra Treasure

Holmes

speaking jovially and boisterously, though my heart was heavy within

me.

How could you expect so small and weak a man as this black
fellow to overpower Mr. Sholto and hold him while you were
climbing the rope?

Is it not glorious?

she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations, for I saw her

eyebrows rise a little, and she glanced at me curiously.

With all the will in the world, I could never have followed up a clue
which has taxed even his analytical genius.

It was selfish, no doubt, disloyal, wrong, but I could realize nothing

save that the golden barrier was gone from between us.

Because I love you, Mary, as truly as ever a man loved a woman.

Because this treasure, these riches, sealed my lips.

Whoever had lost a treasure, I knew that night that I had gained one.

CHAPTER XII. The Strange Story of Jonathan Small

Holmes

Watson

I feared as much, said he. I really cannot congratulate

you.
love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is
opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all
things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment.
he stretched his long white hand
there still remains the cocaine-bottle.

I was a little hurt. Have you any reason to be dissatisfied

with my choice?

I get a wife out of it, Jones gets the credit, pray what remains
for you?