"What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated.
"My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining
light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the parents.
Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have frequently
gained my first real insight into the character of parents by
studying their children. This child's disposition is abnormally
cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he derives this from
his smiling father, as I should suspect, or from his mother, it
bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their power."
"I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A
thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you have
hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to this
poor creature."
"We must be c
