Sherlock Holmes - Character Illustrations

Holmes was accessible upon the side of flattery, and also, to do him justice, upon the side of kindliness.
Holmes leaned forward and laid his long, thin fingers upon the woman’s shoulder. He had an almost hypnotic power of soothing when he wished. The scared look faded from her eyes, and her agitated features smoothed into their usual commonplace. She sat down in the chair which he had indicated.

“I’ve taken up the matter, and I won’t lose sight of it. Report to me if anything fresh occurs, and rely upon my assistance if it should be needed."

He took down the great book in which, day by day, he filed the agony columns of the various London journals. “Dear me!” said he, turning over the pages, “what a chorus of groans, cries, and bleatings! What a rag-bag of singular happenings! But surely the most valuable hunting-ground that ever was given to a student of the unusual! "

“Someone is moving in that room,” said Holmes in a whisper, his gaunt and eager face thrust forward to the window-pane.

My companion gave a sudden chuckle of comprehension.

“The hero of the Long Island cave mystery?” said Holmes. “Sir, I am pleased to meet you.”

He came over and stood in deep thought while the two professionals were examining the body.

“Well, Watson, you have one more specimen of the tragic and grotesque to add to your collection. By the way, it is not eight o’clock, and a Wagner night at Covent Garden! If we hurry, we might be in time for the second act.”