Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-06-29


has been removed except the Franchard
dishes and the casket; our own silver has
been infinitely respected. This is willy; IL
shows intelligence, "A knowledge of the code,
desire to avoid legal consequences / argue
from this fact that the gang numbers persons
of pcctability-outward of course, and
merely outward, as the robbery proves. But
l argue, second, that we must have been OBJ.
served at Franchard itself by some occult ob
server, and logged throughout the day with
u skill and patience that | venture to qualify
as Consummatc No ordinary man. no occa-
siOnal criminal, would have shown himself
capable OF this combination. We have in our
ncighbOrhOod, it is far from improbable, q
retired bandit of the highest order Of intelli-
geucc.'
Good heaven" cried the Mortified Anas-
TASTE. Henri, how can your
"My cherished one, this is a process Of in.
duction" said the doctor "lf any of nv
steps are unsound correct me. You are 81
lent3 Then do not, | bcsccch YOU be so
vulgarly illogical as TO revolt from my con-
clusion. We have now arrivcd,n ne re-
sumed, ''at some idea Of the composition OF
tine gang-for | incline to the hypothesis Of
more than one-and we now leave this room
which can disclose no more, and turn our at
tention to the court and garden. Jean
Marie, | trust you are observantly following
my various steps; this is an excellent piece
Of education for you.) Come with me to the
door. No steps on the court; it is unfortun-
ate our court should be paved On what
small matters hang the destiny of these deli
cate Investigations Hey What have we
here7 have led you to the very spot" he
| said, standing grandly backward and indi-
eating the green gate. can escalade, as YOU
can now see for yourselves, has taken placer
Sure enough, the green paint was in several
places scratched and broken; and one of the
panels preserved the print of nailed shoe.
The foot had slipped however, and it wai
difficult to estimate the size of the shoe, and
impossible to distinguish the pattern of the
nails.
"The whole robbery" concluded the doctor.
''step by step, has been reconstructed
1nductive science can no further 60"
1T is wonderful" said his wife. "You
should have been detective, Henri. had
no idea of your talents
"My dear said Desprez, condescendingly.
"a man of scientific Imagination combinea
the lesser faculties he is detective Just as
he is publicist or general; these are but
local applications of his special talent But
now he continued, "would you have me 20
furtherl Would you have me lay my finger
on the culprits-or rather, for | cannot
promise quite so much, point out to you the
very house where they cOnSort. 1t may be
a satisfaction, at least it is all we are likely
to get, since We are denied the remedy Of
law. | reach the further stage in this way.
In order to fill my outline of the robbery,
require a man likely to be in the forest
idling, | require a man Of education, | re-
qure a man superior to considerations of
morality. The three requisites all center in
TentaillOn's boarderS. They are painters;
therefore they are continually Longing in
the forest. They are painters; therefore
they are not unlikely to have some smatter-
ing of education. Lastly, because they are
painters, they are probably immoral And
this prove in two ways First, painting is
an art which merely addresses the eye; it
does not in any particular exercise the moral
sense. And second, painting, in common
with all the other arts, implies the dangerous
quality of Imagination. man of magma
ton is never moral; b. outsOarS literal de-
marcatons and reviews life under too many
shifting lights to rest content with the in
yidiOuS distinctions of the law
But you always say-at least, so | under
StbOl YOU -Silu IltOtIllc, 'tudl THESE luQS
display no Imagination whatever"
My dear they displayed Imagination, and
of a very fantastic order too returned the
doctor, when they embraced their beggarly
profession. BesideS-and this is an argll-
ment exactly suited to your intellectual level
many of them are English and American.
Where else should we expect to find a thief'
And now you had better get your coffee.
Because we have lost treasure, there is no
reason for starving For my part, I shall
break my fast with white wine. | feel I'M
accountably heated and thirsty today l
can only attribute it to the shock of the dis
covery. And yet, you will bear me out,
supported the emotion nobly."
The doctor had now talked himself back.
into an admirable humor; and as he sat in
the arbor and slowly imbibed large allow
ance Of white wine and picked a little bread
and cheese with no very imPetuous appetite,
if a third of his meditations ran upon the
missing treasure, the other two-thirds were
more peasingly buried in tbs retrospect of
bis detective skill