Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-05-05

with Q powerful convex lens. coult
hardly keep from smiling at his crest
fallen face when he finally snapped
the case TO and handed IL back.
There are hardly any data" he re
marked. 1.-THE watch has been recent
ly cleaned, which robs me of my mos
suggestive facts"
"You are right" answered. at wa,
cleaned before being sent to me-" Ii
my heart l accused my companion
of putting forward a most lame ant
impotent excuse to cover his failure
What data could he expect from an un
cleaned watch?
Though unsatisfactory nv research
has not been entirely barren" he OBJ
served, staring up at the ceiling with
dreamy, lack-luster eyes. Subject Il
your correction, should Judge tina,
the watch belonged to your elder
brother, who inherited it from your ia
Their"
THAT you gather, no doubt, from
the II. w. upon the back?"
Quite so. The w. suggests your
own name. The date Of the watch is
v MY years OdCh, anu tIle lnluluIS
are as old as the watch; so it was made
for the last generation. Jewelry usu.
ally desccnds to the eldest son, and he
is most likely to have the same name
as the father. Your father has, il !
remember right, been dead many years.
1t has, therefore, been in the hands OF
your eldest brother"
Fright, so far" said I. "Anythinv
else?"
''IIe was man of untidy habits
very untidy and careless. He was left
with good prospects, but he threw
away his chances, lived for some time
in poverty, with occasional short inter-
walls of prosperity, and finally, taking
to drink, he died. That is all I can
gather"
sprang from my chair and limped
iinpatiently about the room with con-
siderable bitterness in my heart.
"Ths is unworthy of yon, Holiness" I
said. 81 could not have believed thai
you would have descended to this. You
have made inquiries into the history of
my unhappy brother, and you now pre-
tend to deduce this knowledge in some
fanciful way. You cannot expect me
to believe that you have read all this
from his old watch. II is unkind. and,
to speak plainly, has touch of charla-
tanism in it,"
MY dear DOCTOR" said he, kindly,
"prav accept my apologies. Viewing
the matter as an abstract problem. |
had forgotten how personal and pain
full thing it might be to you. assure
you, however, that never even knew
that you had brother until you
handed me the watch"
"Then how in the name of all that is
wonderful did you get these facts?
They are absolutely correct in every
particular"
"Ah. that is good luck. I could only
say what was the balancc of proba bill
ity. did not at all expect to be SO ac-
curatc."
"But it was not mere guess work."
mo, no; never guess. 1t is shock
ing habit destructive to the logical
faculty. What seems strange to you is
only SO because you do not follow nv
train of thought or observe the small
facts upon which large differences may
depend. For example, began by stat
ing that your brother was careless.
When you observe the lower part of
that watch case You notice that it is not
only dinted in two places, but it is cut
and marked all over from the habit of
keeping other hard objects, such as
coins or keys, in the same pocket.
Surely it is no great feat to assume that
a man who treats iifty-guinca watch
so cavalierly must be careless man.
Neither is it n very far-fetched infer
ence that a man who inherits one ar
ticle of such value is pretty we'll pro-
vided for in other respects"
l nodded to show that followed his
reasoning.
brokers in England, when they take a
watch, TO scratch the number of the
ticket with pin point upon the inside
Of the case. II is more handy than the
label, as there is no risk of the number
being lost or transposed. There are no
less than four such numbers visible to
my lens on the inside Of this case. In
ference-that your brother was often
at low water. Secondary inference
that he had occasional bursts of pros
perity, or he could not have redeemed
the pledge. Finally, ask you to look
at the inner plate, which contains the
key-hole. Look at the thousands of
all round the hole-marks
where the key has slipped. What sober
mans key could have scored those
grooves? But You will never see
drunlSard's watch without them. He
winds it at night, and he leaves these
traces OF his unsteady hand Where is
the mystery in all this?"
ut is clear as daylight" answered.
II regret the injustice which | did YOU.
! should have had more faith in your
faculty. MayI ask whether
you have any professional inquiry on
foot at present?'
"None. Hence the cocaine. can
not live without brain work What
else is there 10 live for? Stand at the
window here. Was there ever such
dreary. dismal, Improbable world? See
how the yellow fog swirls Down the
street and drifts across dun-colored
houses. What could be more hopeless
ly prosaic and material? What is the
use of having powers, doctor, when one
has no field upon which to exert them?
Crime is commonplace and existence is
and no qualities save
those which are commonplace have any
function upon earth"
] had opened my mouth TO reply TO