“To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at work again.” (paragraph 1)
“His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I think, to see me.” (paragraph 2)
Explanation:
The two lines above show that Watson had become an expert in studying Holmes. In the first, Watson himself, admits that he knows every mood and habit of Holmes and how they told their own stories. He was able to deduce from them that Holmes was working again.
In the second line, Watson was able to deduce that Holmes was glad to see him even though his manner was not revealing this.
This was a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson used to defend freedom and liberty. I think he's basically saying that what's the point of doing things if we aren't granted our freedom in return.
