he disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the character of an amiable and simple-minded nonconformist clergyman. his broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and benevolent curiosity were such as mr. john hare alone could have equalled. it was not merely that holmes changed his costume. his expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed. the stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime.