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

with a loud shout OF triumph, he held
up one splinter. in which round. dark
object was fixed like a plum in pud-
ding
Gentlemen" he cried, 'let me intro
duce you to the famous black pearl OF
the Bergias.''
Lestrade and 1 sat silent for mo-
ment. and then. with q spontaneous
impulse, we both broke out clapping,
as at the well wrought crisis of u play.
A flush of color sprang to Holmes pale
cheeks, and he bowed to us like the
master dramatist who receives the
homage of his audience. 1t was at
such moments that for an instant he
ceased to be u reasoning machine and
betrayed his human love for admiration
and applause. The same Singularly
proud and reserved nature which turn
ed away with disdain from popular no
toriety was capable of being moved to
its depths by spontaneous wonder and
praise from friend.
Yes. gentlemen said he. ''it is the
most famous pearl now existing in the
world. and it has been my good for
tune, by connected chain OF Undue
i've ItdStBliiAtE- ~ trace II 1AOh4 A4C
Prince of COlonna's bedroom at the
Dacre hotel, where it was lost, to the
interior OF. this the last of the six
busts of Napoleon which were manu-
featured by Gelder X Go. OF Stepney-
You VIII remember, LeStrade, the sell
sation caused by the disappearance of
this valuable jewel ami the vain efforts
OF the London police 10 recover it
was myself consulted upon the case.
but l was unable to throw any light
upon ii. Suspicion fell upon the maid
OF the princess. who was an Italian,
and it was proved that she had
brother in London. but we failed 10
trace any connection between them.
The maids name was Lucrctia Venue
CT and there is no doubt III my mind
that this I'ietro who Was murdered
two nights ago was the brother.
have been looking up the dates i'll the
old files of the paper, and l find that
the disappearance of the pearl WAS
exactly two days before the arrest of
BeppO for some crime of ViOlence-an
event which took place in the factory
of Gclder x Co. at the very moment
when these buSts were being made.
Now you clearly see the sequence of
events. though You see them, of
course. in the inverse order TO the way
i'll which they presented themselves
to me. Beppo had the pearl in his
possession. He may have stolen it from
Pietro he may have been Pietrs's CON
federIte, he may have been the go
between of Pietro and his sister. 1t is
of no consequence 10 us which is the
correct solution.
1.-The main fact is that he had the
pearl. and at that moment when it was
on his person. lie was pursued by the
police. lie made for the factory in
which he worked, and he knew that he
had only Il few minutes in which to
conceal this enormously valuable prize,
which would otherwise be found on
him when he was searched. Six plas
ter casts of Napoleon We're drying in
the passage. One of them was still
soft In an instant BeppO. Il skillful
workman. made Il small hole in the
wet plaster, dropped in the pearl and
with Il few touches covered ever the
aperture once more. 1t was an adj
mirdhlo hiding place. No one could
possibly find il. But BcppO WAS con
demncd To Il years imprisonment and
III the meanwhile his six bustS We're
scattered over London. He could not
tell which contained his treasure. Only
by breaking them could he see. Even
shaking would tel him nothing, for as
The plaster was wet il was probable
that the pearl would adhere to it, as, in
fact. il has done Bcppo did not de
spair. and he conducted his search with
considerable ingenuity and pcrsever-
aucc. Through Il cousin who woIIs
with Gelder he found out the retail
firms who had bought the busts. He