Arthur Conan Doyle

Jabez Wilson, a London pawnbroker, consults with Sherlock Holmes. While studying his client, both Holmes and Watson notice his red hair. Wilson tells them an intriguing but odd story

When an Englishwoman receives mysterious gifts of pearls and a letter promising t o right wrongs done to her, she calls upon Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to i nvestigate. Who is sending the beautiful Miss Morstan a rare and priceless pearl each year? Holmes and Watson pursue Indian treasures, and murders whose ominous trademark is "the sign of four". It is in this, the second Holmes novel that the great detective fully comes to life ?as a melancholic and an inscrutable master of deduction. Includes unique illustrations.

Chapitre I La d duction est une science Sherlock Holmes prit la bouteille au coin de la chemin e puis sortit la seringue hypodermique de son tui de cuir. Ses longs doigts p les et nerveux pr par rent l'aiguille avant de relever la manche gauche de sa chemise. Un instant son regard pensif s'arr ta sur le r seau veineux de l'avant-bras cribl d'innombrables traces de piq res. Puis il y enfon a l'aiguille avec pr cision, injecta le liquide, et se cala dans le fauteuil de velours en poussant un long soupir de satisfaction. Depuis plusieurs mois j'assistais cette s ance qui se renouvelait trois fois par jour, mais je ne m'y habituais toujours pas. Au contraire, ce spectacle m'irritait chaque jour davantage, et la nuit ma conscience me reprochait de n'avoir pas eu le courage de protester. Combien de fois ne m' tais-je pas jur de d livrer mon me et de dire ce que j'avais dire Mais l'attitude nonchalante et r serv e de mon compagnon faisait de lui le dernier homme avec lequel on p t se permettre une certaine indiscr tion. Je connaissais ses dons exceptionnels et ses qualit s peu communes qui m'en imposaient:

Tales of Adventure and Medical Life, one of the collections Arthur Conan Doyle published at the end of his career, anthologizes some of his best short fiction outside of the Sherlock Holmes canon. As well as various tales of escapades in Egypt, London and the far-flung regions of northern Scotland, he included stories which deal with a subject that, as a physician himself, he had a unique perspective on: the medical profession. London surgeons and country doctors, male and female, are described as they deal with business and sentimental issues and encounter incredible situations – both comic and tragic. Conan Doyle displays his dazzling storytelling talents while providing a fascinating glimpse into his profession and times.