? ? ? ? " 'You must drop it, Mr. Holmes,' said he, swaying his face about. 'You really must, you know.'
? ? ? ? " 'After Monday,' said I.
? ? ? ? " 'Tut, tut!' said he. 'I am quite sure that a man of your intelligence will see that there can be but one outcome to this affair. It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked things in such a fashion that we have only one resource left. It has been an intellectual treat to me to see the way in which you have grappled with this affair, and I say, unaffectedly, that it would be a grief to me to be forced to take any extreme measure. You smile, sir, but I assure you that it really would.
? ? ? ? " 'Danger is part of my trade,' I remarked.
? ? ? ? " 'This is not danger,' said he. 'It is inevitable destruction. You stand in the way not merely of an individual but of a mighty organization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize. You must stand clear, Mr. Holmes, or be trodden under foot.'
? ? ? ? " 'I am afraid,' said I, rising, 'that in the pleasure of this conversation I am neglecting business of importance which awaits me elsewhere.'
? ? ? ? "He rose also and looked at me in silence, shaking his head sadly.
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