The Dancing Men (1)

Here is the first episode of a book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, retold by Anne Collins.

Enjoy!

The  Dancing  Men (1) 

Episode 1: A Strange Drawing 

One morning, Sherlock Holmes handed  me a  sheet of paper.  

   'Look,  Watson,'  he  said.  'Can  you  explain  this problem?' 

I looked  at  the  paper. To  my  surprise,  it  was covered with a line of strange pictures. These pictures looked like little dancing men. 

   'A  child  must have  drawn  these,' I said.  'Where did you get this piece of paper, Holmes?' 

   'It  arrived  by  post  this  morning,'  answered Holmes.  'A  man  called  Hilton  Cubitt,  of  Ridling Thorpe Manor in Norfolk, sent it to me. Mr  Cubitt is coming to see me today. 

   'There's  a  ring  at the doorbell, Watson. Perhaps that's Mr Cubitt now.' 

A  moment  later,  a tall gentleman  entered  the room. He had a  handsome  face  with clear blue eyes and looked very strong and healthy. 

This  gentleman  shook  hands  with  both  of  us. Suddenly he caught sight of the strange drawings. 

  'Here's a mystery, Mr Holmes,' he said.  'What do you think of these drawings?' 

    'They  look  like  children's  drawings,'  replied Holmes. 'But why do you think they are important?' 

   'I  don't,  Mr  Holmes.  But  these  drawings  are making my  wife very frightened. That's why I have come to see you. I want to find out what they mean.' 

Holmes  held  up  the  paper so  that  the  sunlight shone through it. It was a page torn from a notebook and the markings on it looked like this: 

Holmes  examined  the  paper  carefully.  Then  he folded it up and  put it in his pocket. 

   'This ís a most interesting  and  unusual case, Mr Cubitt,'  he  said.  'Please  tell  us  your  story  from  the beginning.' 

                                                               (to be continued)