The Isle of Devils (53 page)

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November 26: Departs Bermuda on board the
Orontes

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December 4: Embarks at Portsmouth, stays for “some time” at a private hotel in the Strand

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January 1, 1881: Introduced to Holmes by Stamford


        
Watson continued to maintain a diary at least through the year 1889, when he mentioned it again during his adventure on Dartmoor (Chapter X,
The Hound of the Baskervilles
).


        
Watson presents a similar recollection of the Battle of Maiwand in his first work intended for publication (Chapters I & V,
A Study in Scarlet
). General Roberts was a recipient of the V.C., which stands for the Victoria Cross, England’s highest honor for gallantry in the face of the enemy. Colonel Emsworth was also a recipient of the V.C for action in Crimea (
The Adventure of the Blanched Solider
). Amazingly, despite Holmes and Watson bravely serving England as espionage agents during the Great War (
His Last Bow
), neither man is recorded as ever being decorated with the V.C. Perhaps the records were suppressed, or perhaps they refused it, as Holmes once did with a knighthood (
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
).


        
Watson recalls his war wounds multiple times in the Canon (Chapter I,
A Study in Scarlet
& Chapter I,
The Sign of the Four
), recalling that he brought home a residual Jezail bullet, the
“relic of [his] Afghan campaign” (
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor)
. Watson also makes clear that his
tendo Achilles
was damaged as a result of his military duties (Chapter VII,
The Sign of the Four
), such that the ‘two wound’ hypothesis becomes the only possible explanation for his described ailments, and this is finally confirmed by the Bermuda Manuscript.


        
Since they were both Companions of the Bath, Major General Sir Neville Devere, C.B., was likely familiar with Sir Augustus Moran, C.B., former British Minister to Persia and unhappy father to Colonel Sebastian Moran (
The Adventure of the Empty House
). Either Violet Devere misspoke or Watson’s memory erred, for we are unable to find any record of a Major-General Devere in charge of the Third Buffs. Of course, the Third Buffs (or the Royal Munsters) were not even stationed in Peshawar or the Khyber Pass in the late summer of 1880, so perhaps Watson was deliberately obscuring the truth in order to protect the confidence and feelings of a lady, as we know he was wont to do? On the other hand, if Watson was not using a pseudonym for the lady, one wonders if she and the general were related to Lord Robert Walsingham
de Vere
St. Simon (
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
)?


        
Although we know that Watson had a “grand gift of silence” (
The Man with the Twisted Lip
), one wonders about what actually occurred during the lengthening moments of ‘exquisite silence’ that Watson records occurring on the hospital’s darkened verandah. We know from Watson’s own words that by 1888 he had “an experience of women which extend[
ed
] over many nations and three separate continents (Chapter II,
The Sign of the Four
). Was Violet Devere counted in that tally? Interestingly, the name Violet appears more times in the Canon than would normally be encountered for a name of its prevalence during that era (
The Adventures of the Copper Beeches, the Solitary Cyclist
,
the Illustrious Client
, and
the Bruce-Partington Plans
). Perhaps Watson continued to utilize this name subconsciously whenever he was searching for a pseudonym to hide one of Holmes’ clients’ true identities? Although it is crystal clear that Watson marries Ms. Mary Morstan in 1888, she also tragically died by 1891-2, so that Watson was at liberty to return to Baker Street by the time of Holmes’ miraculous return from the Great Hiatus. However, Watson remarried sometime around 1902. The name of this fortunate lady was never divulged, but it is tempting to speculate that Watson may have finally been reunited with Ms. Violet Devere after a twenty-two year separation, both older and wiser, but perhaps still aware of their once strong feelings for each other.


        
Given Violet Devere’s pet, we now understand why Watson immediately recognized Harry Wood’s mongoose Teddy when he saw it eight years later. He even used identical words to describe the creature (
The Adventure of the Crooked Man
). The name ‘Ricky’ is of course suggestive, since Rudyard Kipling later used a similar name for a mongoose in his famous tale
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
(1894). Perhaps Watson and Kipling were acquainted?


        
History does not record what became of Watson’s Penang lawyer, although one is later carried by both Fitzroy Simpson (
Silver Blaze
, 1888) and Dr. James Mortimer (
The Hound of the Baskervilles,
1889). It is possible that by 1888 Watson simply stopped calling it by that slightly absurd name, and this was the “stick” that he carried while he and Holmes and Toby hunted Tonga through the streets of London (Chapter VII,
The Sign of the Four
). We also now understand how Watson immediately recognized Benares metal-work when he saw the chest that once contained the Agra treasure (Chapter XI,
The Sign of the Four
, 1888), since there is no evidence that he ever visited Benares himself.


        
Colonel Hayter was not the only weapons-collector in the Canon. Mr. Eduardo Lucas boasted a magnificent collection of Oriental arms (
The Adventure of the Second Stain
), as did Colonel James Barclay (
The Adventure of the Crooked Man
), while Robert Ferguson has a collection of South American weapons (
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
). Of course, Watson took Colonel Hayter up on his generous offer seven years later when he and Holmes paid him a visit at his estate (
The Reigate Squires)
.


        
By an interesting coincidence, twenty years later the Military Hospital at Cape Town would also serve as a place of recovery for young Godfrey Emsworth (
The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier)
, one of the rare recorded cases that Holmes solved without Watson’s assistance.


        
Amazingly, Doctor Jackson describes Watson in the exact same way as young Stamford would several months later (Chapter I,
A Study in Scarlet
): “You are as thin as a lash, and as brown as a nut.” Either the description was so remarkably accurate that two disparate people were inclined to the same words, or this is a case of Dr. Watson misremembering the exact details of his meeting with Stamford. To be fair, it was a momentous day, and his attention was soon to be focused on a much more interesting person than Stamford, who promptly vanished forever from the Canon.


        
Watson clearly played cricket during his ‘school-days’ with Percy Phelps (
The Naval Treaty
) and there is no reason to think that he would have stopped during his later training, given its popularity in the Empire.


        
Dropsy (now known as edema) was a build-up of fluids in body tissues, creating swelling often in the ankles and lower legs, and was often caused by a ‘weak heart’ (heart failure), such as that suffered by Lady Beatrice Falder (
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
). Apoplexy, or nervous shock, but now understood to be a type of stroke, struck down both Justice of the Peace Trevor (
The “Gloria Scott”
) and Colonel James Barkley (
The Crooked Man
).


        
Holmes sarcastically “prescribes” a paregoric (a soothing alcohol solution made of opium and camphor) to the asthmatic maid Susan since it can also help with cough (
The Adventure of the Three Gables
). 


        
Outbreaks of erysipelas would continue for many years until Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. Watson read a report of an outbreak in the London evening papers in 1902 (
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
).


        
Dr. Percy Trevelyan confirmed Jackson’s suspicion that it took an “enormous” amount of money to start a medical practice on Cavendish Square (
The Resident Patient
). Sir Jasper Meek and Penrose Fisher are described as some of the “best men in London” by Watson in 1890 (
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
), though Sir Leslie Oakshott must have been practicing for a considerably long time, since he attended on Holmes after a murderous attack in 1902 (
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
).


        
St. Vitus Dance, also known as Sydenham's chorea, is a disease characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements affecting primarily the face, feet and hands which typically results from an untreated childhood infection with Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus. Common in the days before Fleming’s discovery of penicillin (1928), it is now very rare. Wilson Kemp may have also suffered from it (
The Greek Interpreter
).


        
Watson clearly decided to take Jackson up on his offer, though possibly not for as long as another nine years, when he bought the practice from Farquhar “shortly after [his] marriage.” It may be that he was waiting to fully recuperate from his war wounds, since he believed that “the public not unnaturally goes on the principle that he who would heal others must himself be whole” (
The Stock-Broker’s Clerk
). Jackson (
The Crooked Man
) and Anstruther (
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
) would accommodatingly cover for Watson’s absence from his
practice while assisting Holmes in cases (
The Final Problem
). Watson relayed that his thriving practice was initially located “no very great distance” from Paddington Station (
The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb
, 1889), though its exact location is never specified in the Canon. Crawford Place, as mentioned herein by Jackson, is between Paddington Station and Baker Street, near St. Mary’s Hospital, as would be expected for residence of a general practitioner. Most suggestive of the accuracy of the account in the Bermuda Manuscript is the name of the short lane leading off it:
‘Watson’s Mews’
(perhaps re-named in his honor?). The only piece of counter-evidence to this is Watson’s relatively vague account of the route from his house to Baker Street, which took him through “the Park” (as if there were only one in London!) and Oxford Street (
The Red-Headed League
). And yet, a simple glance at a map shows that it is plainly impossible to live “no very great distance” from Paddington and still have to walk through both Hyde Park and Oxford Street on the way to Baker Street. This implies that this ‘description’ is either a bit of deception played upon the public by the ever-modest Watson, or a simple confusion with his later house and practice in the Kensington district (
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
). Of course, none of this corresponds to a practice backing up to Mortimer Street (
The Final Problem
), suggesting either a third house or more obfuscation by Watson.