Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-06-17

mold.
such a fact must tell against the
theory that the man who breaks them
Is Influenced by any general hatred
| OF Napoleon Considering how many
hundreds of statues of the great en-
peror must exist in London. IT is too
much to suppose such a coincidence as
hat a proniscuous iconoclast should
chance to begin upon three specimens
of the same bust
We'll. / thought as you do" said
Lestrade. '.On the other hand. this
Morse Hudson is the purveyOr OF busts
IN that part of London. and these three
were the only ones which had been In
his shop for years. So. although, as
you say. there are many hundreds OF
| statues in London, il is very prObab bic
| that these three were the only ones in
that district Therefore a local fanatic
would begin with them. What do you
| think. DIR. Watson"
There are no limits TO the POSSIBLE
! files of monomania." answered.
There is the condition which the mod
ern French psychologists have called
the 'idee fixe.' which may be trifiing in
| character. and accompanied by COM
plete sanity in every other way. 4
man who had read deeply about Napo-
leon or who had possibly received
some hereditary family injury through
the great war might cOnceivably form
such an 'idee fixe' and under its infiu-
| ence be capable of any fantastic out
| rage"
THAT won't do, my dear Watson"
said Holmes. shaking his head. "for NO
| amount OF 'idee fxe' would enable your
interesting mOnomania0 to find out
where these busts were situated"
We'll, how do you explain it?"
az don't attempt to do SO. l would
only observe that there is a certain
method in the gentleman's eccentric
proceedings. For example. in DIR. Bar
nicot's hall, where a sound might
arouse the family. the bust was taken
outside before being broken, whereas
in the surgery. where there was less
danger of an alarm. ii was smashed
where ii stood. The affair seems alb
surdly trifiinG, and yet dare call moth
ing trivial when | reflect that some Of
my most classic cases have had the
least promising commencement. You
will remember. Watson, how the dread
full business OF che Abernetty family
was first brought to my notice by the
depth which the parsley had sunk into
the butter upon "A hot day. / can't af-
ford. therefore. to smile at your three
broken busts. Iestrade, and | shall be
very much obliged 10 you II you will
let me hear OF any fresh development
OF so singular a chain of events"
The development for which my friend
had asked came in a quicker and an
infinitely more tragic form than he
could have imagined. l was still dress
ing In my bedroom next morning when
there was a tap at the door. and
Holmes ente&d. telegram in his
hand He read II aloud:
Come instantly. l3l Pitt street. Kenslng-
ton. LESTRADE.
What ii II. them" / asked.
Don't know-may be anything. But
| suspect il is the sequel OF the story
OF the statues. In that case our friend,
the image breaker. has begun opera
tons in another quarter of London
There's coffee on the table, Watson.
and l have Il cab at the door"
In half an hour we had reached Pitt
street. a quiet little backwater just
beside one OF the briskest currents of
London life No. 13I was one of
row. all fiat chested. respectable and
most unromantic dwellings. As we
drove up we found the ratings in front
OF the house lined by a curious crowd.
Holmes whistled.
by George, it's attempted murder
at the least, Nothing less will hold the
London message boy. There's a deed
OF violence Indicated In that fellows
round shoulders and outstretched neck
What's this. Watson? The top steps
swilled down and the other ones dry.
Footsteps enough. anyhow! Well. well,
there's Lestrade at the front window
and we shall soon know all about It,"
The official received us with very
grave face and showed US into a sitting
room. where an exceedingly unkempt
and agitated elderly man clad in
flannel dressing gown was pacing up
and down. He was introduced to US as
the owner of the house-Mr Horace
Harker OF the Central Press syndicate
Its the Napoleon bust business
again." said IestTade. You seemed
interested last night. MIR. Holmes. so
/ thought perhaps you would be glad
10 be present now that the affair has
taken a very much grayer turn"
What has il turned 10. them"
40 murder. Mr.. Harker. will you
tell these gentlemen exactly what has
occurredE"
The man in the dressing gown turned
upon US with a most melancholy face.
Its an extraordinary thing" said
he. that all my life l have been col
lecting other peoples news, and now
that a real piece Of news has come my
own way am so confused and bother
ed that l can't put two words together
IL had come in here as a journalist
should have interviewed myself ana
had two columns in every evening pa
per AS IL is, l am giving away val
liable copy by telling my story over
and over TO string OF different people.
and / can make no use of IL myself