Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-22
Copyright by Harper & Bros.1

down in the world
well. that is clear enough. certainly:
But how about the foresight and the moral
retrogression?
Sherlock Holmes laughed. Here is the
foresight" said he. putting his finger upon
the little disk and loop of the hat-securer-
They are never sold upon hats. If this
man ordered one 1t is a sign of a certain
amount of foresight. since he went out or
his way to take this precaution against the
wind. But since We see that he has broken
the elastic, and has not troubled to replace
1t, it Is obvious that ne has less foresight
now than formerly which is a distinct proof
of a weakening nature. On the other hand,
he has endeavored to conceal some of these
stains upon the felt by daubing them with
ink. which Is a sign that he has not entirely
lost his Self-respect."
your reasoning is certainly plausible
1.-The further points, that he Is middle
aged. that his hair is grizzled, that ii has
been recently cut. and that he uses lime
cream, are all to be gathered from close
examination of the lower part of the lining.
The lens discloses a large number of hair
ends clean cut by the scissors of the bar
Der. They all appear to be adhesive, and
there is a distinct odor of lime cream This
dust, you will observe. Is not the gritty,
gray dust Of the street. but the fluffy brown
dust of the house, showing that 1t has been
hung up indoors most of the time: while
the marks of moisture upon the inside are
proof positive that this wearer prespired
very freely. and could therefore hardly be
In the best of training"
But his wife-you said that she had
ceased to love him.
This hat has not been brushed for
weeks. When / see you, my dear Watson,
with weeks accumulation of dust upon
your hat and when your wife allows you
10 go out in such state. 1 shall fear that
you also have been unfortunate enough to
lose your wife's affection"
But he might be bachelor
NAY. he was bringing home the goose as
peace-offering to his wife. Remember
the card upon the birds leg"
You have an answer to everything. But
how on earth do you deduce that the gas
is not laid on in his heuse?"
'One tallow stain, or even two. might
come by chance. but when l see no less
than five, l think that there can be little
doubt that the individual must be brought
into frequent contact with burning tallow-
walks upstairs a night probably with his
hat in one hand and guttering candle in
the other. Anyhow he never got tallow
stains from gas jet. Are you satisied?"
We'll, it is very ingenious" said 1.
laughing, but since. as you said just now,
there has been no crime committed, and no
harm done. save the loss of a goose, all
this seems to be rather a waste of energy"
Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth
to reply, when the door flew open and Pc
terson, the commissionaire. rushed into the
apartment with flushed cheeks and the face
of a man who is daZed with aStonlShment
he gasped
"Eh? What Of 1t, then? Has it returned
to life and tapped off through the kitchen
Window Holmes twisted himself round
upon the sofa to get a fairer view of the
mans excited face.
''See here, siri See what my wife found
in its cropr' He held out his hand and
displayed upon the center of the palm
brilliantly scintillating blue stone, rather
smaller than a bean in size, but of such
vii nd tWinkled
an electric point in the dark hollow of his
hand.
Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle.
by Jove. Peterson said he. this is
treasure troVe indeed. l suppose you know
what you have got?
"a diamond. sir? A precious stone. 1t
cuts into glass as though it were putty"
IT'S more than a precious stone. 1t Is
the precious stone"
Not the Countess of Morcars blue car
buncle,' l CALCULATED.
Precisely so. 1 ought to know its size
and shape. seeing that l have read the adj
vertisement about it in the Times every
day lately. 1t is absolutely unique, and its
value can only be conjectured, but the re-
ward offered of 1000 is certainly not
within a twentieth part of the market
price"
"A thousand pounds, Great Lord of
mercyi' The commissionaire pumped
down into a chair. and stared from one to
the other of us.
That is the reward, and l have reason
to know that there are sentimental consld-
erations in the background which would in
duce the countess to part with half her
fortune If she could but recover the gem
1T was lost, If l remember Alright, at the
Hotel Cosmopolitan" 1 remarked
Precisely so, on December %, just five
days ago. John Horner. plumber. was
accused of having distracted 1t from the
lady's jewel case. The evidence against
him was so strong that the case has been
referred to the assizes. l have some ac-
count of the matter here. l believe" lie
rummaged amid lis newspapers, glancing
over the dates until al last he smoothed
one out, doubled 1t over, and read the fol-
lowing para graph:
Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery
John Horner, twenty-six, plumber, was
brought up upon the charge of having upon
the 22d instant distracted from the jewel
case of the Countess of Morcar the Vaiu-
able gem known as the blue carbuncle
James Ryder, upper attendant at the hotel,
gave his evidence to the effect that he had
shown Horner up to the dressing room OF
the Countess of Morcar upon the day or
the robbery in order that he might solder
the second bar of the crate, which was
loose He had remained with Horner some
lItt.e time but had finally been called
away. on returning he found that Horner
had disappeared; that the bureau had been
forced open, and that the small morocco
casket in which, as II afterward transpired,
Jewel was lying empty upon the dressing
table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and
Horner was arrested the same evening; but
the stone could not be found either upon
his person or in his rooms. CATHERINE Gu
sack, maid to the countess, deposed TO hav-
ing heard Ryders cry of dismay on discov-
ering the robbery, and TO having rushed into
the room. where she found matters as de-
scribed by the last witness. Inspector Brad
street Division, gave evidence as to the
rrest of Horner. who struggled franticaiy
and protested his innocence in the strong
est terms Evidence of previous convic-
ton for robbery having been given against
the prisoner the magistrate refused to deal
with the offense, but referred it
TO the assizes. Horner, who had shown
signs OF intense emotion during the proceed
ings, tainted away at the conclusion, and
was carried out of court
Hum! So much for the police court,
said Holmes, thoughtfully, tossing aside the
paper. THE ques ton for us now to solve
is the sequence of events leading from a
rified jewel case at one end to the crop OF
goose in TotteRham Court road at the
other You see Watson our little deduc-
lions have suddenly assumed a much more
important and less innocent aspect. Here
is the stone; the stone came from the goose,
and the goose came from Mr. Henry Baker,
the gentleman with the bad hat and all the
other characteristics with which | have
bored you. So now We must set ourselves
very seriously to finding this gentleman,
and ascertaining what part he has played
in this little mystery. To do this we must
try tho SIMPLEST means first and these lie