"Doyle, Arthur Conan - Hound Of The Baskervilles, The" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doyle Arthur Conan)

"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions
were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant,
to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was
occasionally guided towards the truth. Not that you are
entirely wrong in this instance. The man is certainly a
country practitioner. And he walks a good deal."

"Then I was right."

"To that extent."

"But that was all."

"No, no, my dear Watson, not all -- by no means all.
I would suggest, for example, that a presentation to a doctor
is more likely to come from an hospital than from a hunt,
and that when the initials 'C.C.' are placed before that
hospital the words 'Charing Cross' very naturally suggest
themselves."

"You may be right."

"The probability lies in that direction. And if we take
this as a working hypothesis we have a fresh basis from
which to start our construction of this unknown visitor."

"Well, then, supposing that 'C.C.H.' does stand for 'Charing
Cross Hospital,' what further inferences may we draw?"

"Do none suggest themselves? You know my methods. Apply them!"

"I can only think of the obvious conclusion that the man has
practised in town before going to the country."

"I think that we might venture a little farther than this.
Look at it in this light. On what occasion would it be most
probable that such a presentation would be made? When would
his friends unite to give him a pledge of their good will?
Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer withdrew from the
service of the hospital in order to start in practice for
himself. We know there has been a presentation. We believe
there has been a change from a town hospital to a country
practice. Is it, then, stretching our inference too far to
say that the presentation was on the occasion of the change?"

"It certainly seems probable."

"Now, you will observe that he could not have been on the
_staff_ of the hospital, since only a man well-established