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It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled.
過了不久，我朋友的預言果然應驗了。
A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts turning in her direction
兩個星期過去了，在這期間我時常發現我的心思一直朝著她那個方向轉，
and wondering what strange side-alley of human experience this lonely woman had strayed into.
疑慮著這個孤單的女孩子誤入了什么樣的不可思議的人間歧途。
The unusual salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to something abnormal,
不平常的薪水、奇怪的條件、輕松的職務，這一切都說明有點異乎尋常，
though whether a fad or a plot, or whether the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond my powers to determine.
盡管我無法確定這件事是一時的癖好還是一項陰謀，這個人是個慈善家還是個惡棍。
As to Holmes, I observed that he sat frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an abstracted air,
至于福爾摩斯，我看到他時常一坐就是半個小時，緊蹙著眉頭，獨自在那里出神，
but he swept the matter away with a wave of his hand when I mentioned it.
可是我一提到這件事時，他就把大手一揮表示算了。
"Data! data! data!" he cried impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay."
"材料！材料！材料！"他不耐煩地嚷著，"沒有粘土，我做不出磚頭！"
And yet he would always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever have accepted such a situation.
可是最后他又經常咕噥著說，他決不會讓自己的姐妹接受這樣的職位。
The telegram which we eventually received came late one night
一封電報終于在一天深夜送到我們手里，
just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently indulged in,
這時我正打算上床睡覺，而福爾摩斯正要安頓下來搞他著了迷的經常通宵達旦進行的化學研究，
when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came down to breakfast in the morning.
通常在這種情況下，我晚上離開他時，他總是彎著腰在試管或曲頸瓶上搞化驗，次日早上我下樓吃早餐時發現他還在那里。
