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sherlock60This week we are reading The Adventure of the Creeping Man. It carries the theme of regaining youth and questionable choices.
Our story opens with recalling a case in 1903. Holmes and Watson live separate lives now, but Watson says that their relationship has nevertheless remained much the same, though Watson sadly it seems describes their friendship as a habit that Holmes uses to keep himself sharp. It is for that reason that Watson is summoned to Baker Street now.
We have four principal characters and a dog. First is a professor; there is his daughter. The professor's daughter is engaged to his assistant. And then we have the other character, Alice Morphy who has captured the interest of the professor. She is the daughter of a colleague. The family doesn't approve. The dog, seemingly without cause, has bitten his master twice now.
Previous to that however, the professor disappeared without notice to anyone, for two weeks. It was only when a friend of the assistant wrote about seeing the professor in Prague did the family have any idea where he was. On return, while he continues to work as though nothing had changed, he has become almost secretive and begins to receive letters that no one is allowed to read. And he has acquired a small box that cannot be disturbed.
The assistant by accident had touched the box and upon doing so, the professor became agitated. We can assume that it was then that he touched the box for the first time since he'd been home since it appears to be the first time that the dog attacked his hand. And then there were two more incidents. About two months later, the assistant heard a noise in the early hours and when he opened the door, he saw the professor creeping along the floor and refused help. It is this incident that has caused them to seek out Holmes for a way to explain what has happened. As they wrap up those details, they are interrupted by the professor's daughter who brings yet another incident: her father was standing outside her window in the early hours, face pressed to the glass. He didn't talk about it, seeming to not have remembered.
Holmes visits the professor, but finds nothing that he was suspecting. He does however get the name of the person whom the professor was secretively conversing with and tracks the man down -- a man from the continent who runs a general store. Holmes marks out the dates and, as he observes, the next incident occurs within nine days. He and Watson go to the home and watch at the professor acts out of species as it were. He even taunts his dog, which we find out is normal now for the fits, and the dog breaks loose. While the professor is recovering, they break into the study and open the mysterious box -- to find out that in order to be a more vital man for his fiance, the professor had been taken a tonic of sorts to rejuvinate himself.
And so closes the case of the Creeping Man. I'm a little... It reads a little like the island of Doctor Morreau and science fiction than plausible truth this tale. Thoughts?
Our story opens with recalling a case in 1903. Holmes and Watson live separate lives now, but Watson says that their relationship has nevertheless remained much the same, though Watson sadly it seems describes their friendship as a habit that Holmes uses to keep himself sharp. It is for that reason that Watson is summoned to Baker Street now.
We have four principal characters and a dog. First is a professor; there is his daughter. The professor's daughter is engaged to his assistant. And then we have the other character, Alice Morphy who has captured the interest of the professor. She is the daughter of a colleague. The family doesn't approve. The dog, seemingly without cause, has bitten his master twice now.
Previous to that however, the professor disappeared without notice to anyone, for two weeks. It was only when a friend of the assistant wrote about seeing the professor in Prague did the family have any idea where he was. On return, while he continues to work as though nothing had changed, he has become almost secretive and begins to receive letters that no one is allowed to read. And he has acquired a small box that cannot be disturbed.
The assistant by accident had touched the box and upon doing so, the professor became agitated. We can assume that it was then that he touched the box for the first time since he'd been home since it appears to be the first time that the dog attacked his hand. And then there were two more incidents. About two months later, the assistant heard a noise in the early hours and when he opened the door, he saw the professor creeping along the floor and refused help. It is this incident that has caused them to seek out Holmes for a way to explain what has happened. As they wrap up those details, they are interrupted by the professor's daughter who brings yet another incident: her father was standing outside her window in the early hours, face pressed to the glass. He didn't talk about it, seeming to not have remembered.
Holmes visits the professor, but finds nothing that he was suspecting. He does however get the name of the person whom the professor was secretively conversing with and tracks the man down -- a man from the continent who runs a general store. Holmes marks out the dates and, as he observes, the next incident occurs within nine days. He and Watson go to the home and watch at the professor acts out of species as it were. He even taunts his dog, which we find out is normal now for the fits, and the dog breaks loose. While the professor is recovering, they break into the study and open the mysterious box -- to find out that in order to be a more vital man for his fiance, the professor had been taken a tonic of sorts to rejuvinate himself.
And so closes the case of the Creeping Man. I'm a little... It reads a little like the island of Doctor Morreau and science fiction than plausible truth this tale. Thoughts?
