? ? ? ? I began to understand what my friend meant when he said that his brother possessed even keener faculties than he did himself. He glanced across at me and smiled. Mycroft took snuff from a tortoise-shell box and brushed away the wandering grains from his coat front with a large, red silk handkerchief.
? ? ? ? "By the way, Sherlock," said he, "I have had something quite after your own heart -- a most singular problem -- submltted to my judgment. I really had not the energy to follow it up save in a very incomplete fashion, but it gave me a basis for some pleasing speculations. If you would care to hear the facts --"
? ? ? ? "My dear Mycroft, I should be delighted."
? ? ? ? The brother scribbled a note upon a leaf of his pocket-book, and, ringing the bell, he handed it to the waiter.
? ? ? ? "I have asked Mr. Melas to step across," said he. "He lodges on the floor above me, and I have some slight acquaintance with him, which led him to come to me in his perplexity. Mr. Melas is a Greek by extraction, as I understand, and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living partly as interpreter in the law courts and partly by acting as guide to any wealthy Orientals who may visit the Northumberland Avenue hotels.
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