arthatevenhehasnotquitegraspedthesignificanceofthissentence.”
“No,IconfessthatIseenoconnection.”
“Andyet,mydearWatson,thereissoverycloseaconnectionthattheoneisextractedoutoftheother.‘You,’‘your,’‘your,’‘life,’‘reason,’‘value,’‘keepaway,’‘fromthe.’Don’tyouseenowwhencethesewordshavebeentaken?”
“Bythunder,you’reright!Well,ifthatisn’tsmart!”criedSirHenry.
“Ifanypossibledoubtremaineditissettledbythefactthat‘keepaway’and‘fromthe’arecutoutinonepiece.”
“Well,now—soitis!”
“Really,Mr.Holmes,thisexceedsanythingwhichIcouldhaveimagined,”saidDr.Mortimer,gazingatmyfriendinamazement.“Icouldunderstandanyonesayingthatthewordswerefromanewspaperbutthatyoushouldnamewhich,andaddthatitcamefromtheleadingarticle,isreallyoneofthemostremarkablethingswhichIhaveeverknown.Howdidyoudoit?”
“Ipresume,Doctor,thatyoucouldtelltheskullofanegrofromthatofanEsquimau?”
“Mostcertainly.”
“Buthow?”
“Becausethatismyspecialhobby.Thedifferencesareobvious.Thesupra-orbitalcrest,thefacialangle,themaxillarycurve,the—”
“Butthisismyspecialhobby,andthedifferencesareequallyobvious.ThereisasmuchdifferencetomyeyesbetweentheleadedbourgeoistypeofaTimesarticleandtheslovenlyprintofaneveninghalf-pennypaperastherecouldbebetweenyournegroandyourEsquimau.Thedetectionoftypesisoneofthemostelementarybranchesofknowledgetothespecialexpertincrime,thoughIconfessthatoncewhenIwasveryyoungIconfusedtheLeedsMercurywiththeWesternMorningNews.ButaTimesleaderisentirelydistinctive,andthesewordscouldhavebeentakenfromnothingelse.Asitwasdoneyesterdaythestrongprobabilitywasthatweshouldfindthewordsinyesterday’sissue.”
“SofarasIcanfollowyou,then,Mr.Holmes,”saidSirHenryBaskerville,“someonecutoutthismessagewithascissors—”
“Nail-scissors,”saidHolmes.“Youcanseethatitwasaveryshort-bladedscissors,sincethecutterhadtotaketwosnipsover‘keepaway.’”
“T