There was...
Prequel:
Citizen Journalist in the Diogenes Club
by R. DePersio
The Greek Interpreter
by A.C. Doyle
(A Doyle/DePersio Joint across the Einstein/Rosen Bridge)
{Sherlock out of the room.
John Hamish Watson:} "During my long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock
Holmes I had never heard him refer to his relations, and hardly ever to his own early life.
This reticence upon his part had increased the somewhat inhuman effect which he
impressed upon me, until sometimes I found myself regarding him as an isolated
phenomenon, a brain without a heart, as deficient in human sympathy as he was
preeminent in intelligence...I had come to believe that he was an orphan with no
relatives living; but one day to {our} great surprise, he began to talk to {us} about his
brother." {He's been addressing the shadowy figure in the corner.}
"...In your own case," said I, "from all that you have told me, it seems obvious that
your faculty of observation and your peculiar facility for deduction are due to your own
systematic training."
"To some extent," he answered thoughtfully. "My ancestors were country squires,
who appear to have led much the same life as is natural to their class. But, none the
less, my turn that way is in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who
was the sister of Vernet, the French artist. Art in the blood is liable to take the
strangest forms."
"But how do you know that it is hereditary?"
"Because my brother Mycroft possesses it in a larger degree than I do."
This was news to me indeed. If there was another man with such singular powers
in England, how was it that neither police nor public had heard of him? I put the question,
with a hint that it was my companion's modesty which made him acknowledge his
brother as his superior. Holmes laughed at my suggestion.
"My dear Watson," said he, "I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among
the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to
underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own
powers. When I say, therefore, that Mycroft has better powers of observation than I, you
may take it that I am speaking the exact and literal truth."
"Is he your junior?"
"Seven years my senior."
"How comes it is that he is unknown?"
"Oh, he is very well known in his own circle."
"Where, then?"
"Well. in the Diogenes Club, for example."
I had never heard of the institution, and my face must have proclaimed as much, for
Sherlock Holmes pulled out his watch.
The Diogenes Club is the queerest* club in London. and Mycroft one of the queerest
men. He is always there from quarter of five to twenty to eight. It's six now, so if you care for a
stroll this beautiful evening I shall be very happy to introduce you to two curiosities.
...reasoning from an armchair...but he has no ambition and no energy. He will not even go
our of his way to verify his own solutions., and he would rather be considered wrong than take
the trouble to prove himself right.
..."There are many men in London, you know, who, some from shyness, some from
misanthropy, have no wish for the company of their fellows. Yet they are not adverse to
comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals. It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes
Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubable men in town. No
member is permitted to take the least notice of any other. Save in the Stranger's Room, no
talking is, under any circumstances allowed, and three offenses, if brought to the notice of the
committee, render the talker liable to expulsion. My brother was one of the founders, and I
have myself found it a very soothing atmosphere."
{"Sadly," said the former shadowy figure, "in my time, all-male clubs are frowned upon. No
haven away from the fairer sex.}
We reached Pall Mall as we talked, and were walking down it from the St. James end. {In the
distance, to our right, we could barely make out the words to a song being song: "That suicide
is painless. It brings on many changes and I take or leave it as I please. In try to find a way to
make all of our little joys relate without that ever-present hate. But I know it's too late, and..."
If we strained our ears to our left we could hear: "We chased lady luck, 'til we finally struck
Bonanza. With a gun and a rope and a hat full of hope, we planted a family tree. We got hold of a
pot of gold, Bonanza."
Sherlock Holmes stopped at a door some little distance from the Carlton, and cautioning not
to speak, he led the way into the hall..."I am glad to meet you, sir," said he, putting out a broad, fat
hand like the flipper of a seal. "I hear of Sherlock everywhere since you became his chronicler."
{Watson.}
{He paused momentarily and then said: "You must be my brother's newest acquaintance, Citizen
Journalist. I do hope to get to know you better. In time, he had gotten to know Citizen Journalist
well enough to allow him to open a Diogenes Club (at Facebook)-American Branch, though Mycroft
is listed as its founder as well.}
*In the British import, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1985), the teleplay writer changed the
original queerer to stranger - less people get confused no doubt; nowadays, queerer has taken on a
new meaning. Freaks or bad mutations in evolutionary terms if they are born that way and we don't
think that they are - sociobiology makes excuses for bad behavior. Abnormal according to traditional
psychology. Immoral, Biblically speaking. Nobody cares what they do in private so long as it
doesn't involve children; they can even pretend to be married. However, gov and society should never
be in the business of sanctioning that which is immoral-abnormal-unnatural. For more details,
connect to the web sites Citizenj and rickadd via Twitter: @rickaddsite or Facebook: Second American
Revolution.
Channel 1 in New York City is dedicated to N.Y. News. They also have interview programs; one of
which is: "New York Times Close-Up." (4/15/12) Bill Keller, op-ed columnist stated that gay married
was approved by N.Y. State Legislature because the only argument against homo behavior and married
is religious. He's a jokester. He needs to read Citizen Journalist!!! Then again, we have come to expect
only bias from N.Y. Times - since its inception. Libs live in a bubble.
