WE met next day as he had arranged, and inspected the rooms at No. 221B, 5 BakerStreet, of which he had spoken at our meeting. They consisted of a couple of comfortablebed-rooms and a single large airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated bytwo broad windows. So desirable in every way were the apartments, and so moderate didthe terms seem when divided between us, that the bargain was concluded upon the spot, and we at once entered into possession. That very evening I moved my things round fromthe hotel, and on the following morning Sherlock Holmes followed me with several boxesand portmanteaus. For a day or two we were busily employed in unpacking and laying outour property to the best advantage. That done, we gradually began to settle down and toaccommodate ourselves to our new surroundings.Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with. He was quiet in his ways, and hishabits were regular. It was rare for him to be up after ten at night, and he had invariablybreakfasted and gone out before I rose in the morning. Sometimes he spent his day at thechemical laboratory, sometimes in the dissecting-rooms, and occasionally in long walks, which appeared to take him into the lowest portions of the City. Nothing could exceed hisenergy when the working fit was upon him; but now and again a reaction would seize him, and for days on end he would lie upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a wordor moving a muscle from morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such adreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him of being addicted tothe use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his whole lifeforbidden such a notion.As the weeks went by, my interest in him and my curiosity as to his aims in life, graduallydeepened and increased. His very person and appearance were such as to strike theattention of the most casual observer. In height he was rather over six feet, and soexcessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nosegave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too, had theprominence and squareness which mark the man of determination. His hands wereinvariably blotted with ink and stained with chemicals, yet he was possessed ofextraordinary delicacy of touch, as I frequently had occasion to observe when I watchedhim manipulating his fragile philosophical instrume