Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-07-09

GLIV y
HE BALANCED THE WATCH IN HIS HAND.
the back, and examined the works.
first with his naked eyes and then
with powerful convex lens. could
hardly keep from smiling at his crest
fallen face when he finally snapped
the case to and handed it back
There are hardly any data" he re-
marked. The watch has been recent
ly cleaned, which robs me of my most
suggestive facts"
You are right" l answered. eft was
cleaned before being sent TO me-" In
my heart | accused my companion
OF putting forward a most lame and
lmpotent excuse to cover his failure
What data could he expect from an un-
cleaned watch?
Though unsatisfactory my research
has not been entirely barren" he OBJ
served, staring up at the ceiling with
dreamy, lack-luster eyes. Subject to
your correction, | should Judge that
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 bacl<?"
Quite so. The w. suggests YOUR
own name. The date of the watch is
nearly fifty years back, and the initials
are as old as the watch; so it was made
for the last generation. Jeweirv usu-
ally descends to the eldest son, and he
is most likely to have the same natae
as the father. Your father has, if |
remember right, been dead many years.
1t has, therefore, been in the hands of
your eldest brother"
Right, SO far" said 1. Anything
else?"
He 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 | can
gather"
sprang from my chair and limped
impatiently about the room with CON
siderable bitterness in my heart.
This is unworthy of yon, Holiness" |
said. II could not have believed that
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! 1t is unllind. and.
to speak plainly, has touch of charla-
tanism in it,.
MY dear Doctor" said he, kindly,
pray accept my apologies Viewing
the matter as an abstract problem, |
had forgotten how personal and pain
ful thing it might be To you. | assure
you, however, that | never even knew
that you had a 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. could only
say what was the balance of probable
ity. did not at all expect to be SO ac-
curate."
"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 my
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 fifty-guinea watch
so cavalierly must be a careless man.
Neither is it very far-fetched infer
ence that man who inherits one ar
ticle of such value is pretty well pro-
vided for in other respects"
nodded to show that / followed his
reasoning.
ut is very customary for pawn
brokers in England, when they take
watch, to scratch the number of the
ticket with a pin point upon the inside
OF the case. 1t 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 -
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