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IX . THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend , Mr . Sherlock Holmes , for solution during the years of our intimacy , there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his notice — that of Mr . Hatherley’s thumb , and that of Colonel Warburton’s madness . Of these the latter may have afforded a finer field for an acute and original observer , but the other was so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record , even if it gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results . The story has , I believe , been told more than once in the newspapers , but , like all such narratives , its effect is much less striking when set forth en bloc in a single half - column of print than when the facts slowly evolve before your own eyes , and the mystery clears gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads on to the complete truth . At the time the circumstances made a deep impression upon me , and the lapse of two years has hardly served to weaken the effect . It was in the summer of ’ 89 , not long after my marriage , that the events occurred which I am now about to summarise . I had returned to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker Street rooms , although I continually visited him and occasionally even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us . My practice had steadily increased , and as I happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington Station , I got a few patients from among the officials . One of these , whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease , was never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence . One morning , at a little before seven o’clock , I was awakened by the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting - room . I dressed hurriedly , for I knew by experience that railway cases were seldom trivial , and hastened downstairs . As I descended , my old ally , the guard , came out of the room and closed the door tightly behind him . “ I’ve got him here , ” he whispered , jerking his thumb over his shoulder ; “ he’s all right . ” “ What is it , then ? ” I asked , for his manner suggested that it was some strange creature which he had caged up in my room . “ It’s a new patient , ” he whispered . “ I thought I’d bring him round myself ; then he couldn’t slip away . There he is , all safe and sound . I must go now , Doctor ; I have my dooties , just the same as you . ” And off he went , this trusty tout , without even giving me time to thank him . I entered my consulting - room and found a gentleman seated by the table . He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books . Round one of his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped , which was mottled all over with bloodstains . He was young , not more than five - and - twenty , I should say , with a strong , masculine face ; but he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who was suffering from some strong agitation , which it took all his strength of mind to control .
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