The beginning of February saw severe weather in East Lansing. The Winter meeting of the Greek Interpreters, originally scheduled for the 1st, was moved to the 3rd due to an oncoming storm. Nevertheless nearly 25 stalwart members assembled at Hershey's Steak and Seafood restaurant and enjoyed an evening of good food and stimulating conversation. The meeting was an especially happy occasion because Etta Abrahams,aka The Woman I, returned briefly from Maine and challenged us with one of her inimitable quizzes.
The story on which the evening's quiz and discussion focussed was "The Adventure of Black Peter". The meeting opened with the customary Canonical Toasts to Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft Holmes, the second Mrs. Watson and The Woman. Resolutions of the two quizzes were offered by Etta and Bill Reusch (the chemist).
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| Holmes examined it in his minute way | someone has been tampering with it | he rapidly turned over the leaves of the volume | he sank down upon the sea-chest |
The members' reaction to the story was generally favorable. The presentation and analysis of the many clues, as listed by Holmes, was regarded as a strong feature. Of course, if he had been privy to the evidence of the notebook from the outset, his train of thought might not have been so certain. The question of why Holmes and Watson were going to Norway after Patrick Cairns had been apprehended was raised. Much discussion ensued, but Andrew Clark's essay, "Speculation on Speculation" probably offers the best analysis of this continuing issue. Finally, there was divided opinion on whether Patrick Cairns' self-defence plea would enable him to escape the hangman. For one point of view Click Here
Curiously, the occurence of a tantalus in this story is the only explicit mention of it in the Canon. As noted by Brad Keefauver in "The Secret of the Tantalus", it's assumed presence in 221B Baker Street may be due to Christopher Morley, who converted a spirit case into a tantalus in his preface essay, " In Memorium Sherlock Holmes".
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| A Tantalus | The Torment of Tantalus |
The meeting concluded with Etta Abrahams reading Vincent Starrett's "221B" poem, followed by our singing of The Anthem.
