Duringthefirstweekorsowehadnocallers，andIhadbeguntothinkthatmycompanionwasasfriendlessamanasIwasmyself。Presently，however，Ifoundthathehadmanyacquaintances，andthoseinthemostdifferentclassesofsociety。Therewasonelittlesallowrat-faced，dark-eyedfellowwhowasintroducedtomeasMr。Lestrade，andwhocamethreeorfourtimesinasingleweek。Onemorningayounggirlcalled，fashionablydressed，andstayedforhalfanhourormore。
Thesameafternoonbroughtagrey-headed，seedyvisitor，lookinglikeaJewpedlar，whoappearedtometobemuchexcited，andwhowascloselyfollowedbyaslip-shodelderlywoman。Onanotheroccasionanoldwhite-hairedgentlemanhadaninterviewwithmycompanion；andonanotherarailwayporterinhisvelveteenuniform。Whenanyofthesenondescriptindividualsputinanappearance，SherlockHolmesusedtobegfortheuseofthesitting-room，andIwouldretiretomybed-room。Healwaysapologizedtomeforputtingmetothisinconvenience。\"Ihavetousethisroomasaplaceofbusiness，\"hesaid，\"andthesepeoplearemyclients。\"AgainIhadanopportunityofaskinghimapointblankquestion，andagainmydelicacypreventedmefromforcinganothermantoconfideinme。Iimaginedatthetimethathehadsomestrongreasonfornotalludingtoit，buthesoondispelledtheideabycomingroundtothesubjectofhisownaccord。
Itwasuponthe4thofMarch，asIhavegoodreasontoremember，thatIrosesomewhatearlierthanusual，andfoundthatSherlockHolmeshadnotyetfinishedhisbreakfast。Thelandladyhadbecomesoaccustomedtomylatehabitsthatmyplacehadnotbeenlaidnormycoffeeprepared。WiththeunreasonablepetulanceofmankindIrangthebellandgaveacurtintimationthatIwasready。ThenIpickedupamagazinefromthetableandattemptedtowhileawaythetimewithit，whilemycompanionmunchedsilentlyathistoast。Oneofthearticleshadapencilmarkattheheading，andInaturallybegantorunmyeyethroughit。
Itssomewhatambitioustitlewas\"TheBookofLife，\"anditattemptedtoshowhowmuchanobservantmanmightlearnbyanaccurateandsystematicexaminationofallthatcameinhisway。Itstruckmeasbeingaremarkablemixtureofshrewdnessandofabsurdity。Thereasoningwascloseandintense，butthedeductionsappearedtometobefar-fetchedandexaggerated。Thewriterclaimedbyamomentaryexpression，atwitchofamuscleoraglanceofaneye，tofathomaman\'sinmostthoughts。Deceit，accordingtohim，wasanimpossibilityinthecaseofonetrainedtoobservationandanalysis。
HisconclusionswereasinfallibleassomanypropositionsofEuclid。Sostartlingwouldhisresultsappeartotheuninitiatedthatuntiltheylearnedtheprocessesbywhichhehadarrivedatthemtheymightwellconsiderhimasanecromancer。