The citizen., 1905-07-07

mirable hiding place No one could
possibly find IT, But Beppo was con
demned to years imprisonment, and
in the meanwhile his six busts We're
scattered over London. He could not
tell which oontaine.. his treasure. Only
by breaking G-eIa cuuld he zee. L eA
shaking would tel him nothing, for rs
thS plaster was wet K wa prob He
that the pearl would adhere 70 ii, as. in
fact. it har done. Ec 10 Cd not Cc-
spaig. ana he collucte his search ". =
considerable ingenuity and perSever-
ance Through cousin who wo-..S
with Geldcr he found out the retail
firms who had bought the buSts He
managed 20 nnd cMp.5., ment wi0l
M5rse iiU, "a and in tAat way track
ell down ta.ct of the.-. Ih2 pearl VA ;
not there Then. with the help Of some
Italian emp!o.ee. he succeeded in tiny-
ing out where the other three huSt' ha
gone The first was at lIarkci''s. There
he was logged by his confederate, who
held Beppo responsible for the loss Of
the pearl, and he stabbed him in the
scuiilc which followed"
IF he was his confederate, why
should he carry his Photographic" I ask
ed.
"As Il means of tracing him if. he
wished to inquire about him from any
third person. That was the obvious
reason Well. after the murder | cal
cuIated that Beppo would probably
hurry rather than delay his move.
mcnts. He would fear that the police
would read his secret, and SO he has
tened on before they should get ahead
of him. OF course | could not say that
he had not found the pearl in Harkers
bust. | had not even concluded for
certain that it was the pearl. but it
was evident to me that he was look
ing for something, since he carried
the bust past the other houses in
order TO break it in the garden which
had lamp overlooking it. Since
| IIarker'S bust was one in three. the
chances were exactly as | told you
two to one against the pearl being in
| side it. There remained two busts
and it was obvious that he would go
| for the London one first. | warned the
inmates of the house. so as to avoid Il
second tragedy, and we went down
with the happiest results. BY that
time of course, | knew for certain
that it was the Borgia pearl that we
'I1 ,f In
ed man linked the one event with the
other. There only remained single
bust. the Reading one. and the pearl
must he there | bought it in your
! presence from the owner. and there it
! lies"
We sat in silence for Il moment
We'll" said LeStrade, I've seen you
handle Il good many cases. Mr.. Holmes,
but | don't know that | ever knew a
more workmanlike one than that
We're not jealous of you at Scotland
/ Yard No. sir; we are very proud of
you. and if you come down tomorrow
there's not Il man, from the oldest in
spector to the youngest constable, who
wouldn't be glad to shake you by the
hand"
| Thank you" said Holmes. Thank
/ YOU" And as he turned away it seem
ell to me that he was more nearly
moved by the softer human emotions
than | had ever seen him. A moment
! later he was the cold and practical
thinker once more. Put the pearl in
the safe, Watson" said he, "and get
out the papers of the COnk-SingletOn
forgery case. Goodby, Lestrade. If
any little problem comes your way
shall be happy, if | can, to give you a
I hint or two as to its solution"