Again I changed my dress, again I sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny stories of which my employer had an immense r鬧ｱertoire, and which he told inimitably.

Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him.

I read for about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and to change my dress.
"You can easily imagine, Mr.Holmes, how curious I became as to what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly be.

They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire to see what was going on behind my back.

At first it seemed to be impossible, but I soon devised a means.