eight o'clock in the morning of May 11, 1897
I am still uncertain which surprised me more , the telegram calling my attention to the advertisement , or the advertisement itself . The telegram is before me as I write . It would appear to have been handed in at Vere Street at eight o'clock in the morning of May 11 , 1897 , and received before half-past at Holloway B.O. And in that drab region it duly found me , unwashen but at work before the day grew hot and my attic insupportable . `` See Mr. Maturin 's advertisement Daily Mail might suit you earnestly beg try will speak if necessary -- -- '' I transcribe the thing as I see it before me , all in one breath that took away mine ; but I leave out the initials at the end , which completed the surprise . They stood very obviously for the knighted specialist whose consulting-room is within a cab-whistle of Vere Street , and who once called me kinsman for his sins . More recently he had called me other names .