When I demanded to know about the dog, thinking to catch him out at last,
Holmes pointed to the breadth of space between the marks of his teeth on
the stick, and then stated categorically that it must have been a
curly-haired spaniel. I knew he could not possibly tell that, and I was
right. He had seen the dog through the window, even as its master rang
our doorbell. I offered to leave, bur Holmes insisted I stayed, in case
he needed my help.
The appearance of our visitor was a surprise to me, since I had expected
a typical country practitioner. He was tall & thin, with a long nose,
two keen, grey eyes, sparkling brightly from behind a pair of gold rimmed
glasses, and clad in a dingy frock coat with frayed trousers. Though
young, his long back was already bowed, & he walked with a forward
thrust of his head & a general air of peering benevolence.
