The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-04-02


ten pounds for the one which Is in
your possession Is that right?"
Certainly
Il was very much surprised at your
letter for l could not imagine how you
knew that l owned such a thing
"Of course you must have been sur
prised, but the explanation is very sim
pie. Mr.. Harding of Harding Broth
ers, said that they Lad sold you their
last copy, and he gave me your ad-
dress"
''Oh. that was 1t. was 1T? Did he
tell you what l paid for it?''
No, he did not
We'll, | am an honest man. though
not a very rich one. | only gave fif-
teen shillings for the lust, and think
you ought to know that before l take
ten pounds from YOU"
Il am sure the scruple does you hon
our Mr.. Sandeford. But / have named
that price. SO | intend to stick to IT.
We'll, ii is very handsome of you.
Mr.. Holmes. ! brought the bust up
with me. as you asked me to do. Here
i. is" He opened his bag, and at last
we saw placed upon our table a COM
plete specimen of that bust which we
had already seen more than once in
fragments.
Holmes took paper from his pocket
and laid a ten-pound note upon the
table.
you will kindly sign that paper,
Mr.. Sandeford. in the presence of these
witnesses. 1t is simply to say that
you transfer every possible right that
you ever had in the bust to me- | am
a methodica1 man, you see, and you
never know what turn events might
take afterwards. Thank you, Mr..
Sandeford here Is your money, and l
wish you very good evening"
When our visitor had disappeared,
Sherlock Holmes movements were
such as to rivet our attention. He be-
gan by taking a clean white cloth from
a drawer and laying it over the table.
Then he placed his newly acquired bust
in the center of the cloth. Finally, he
picked up his hunting-crop and struck
Napoleon a sharp blow on the top of
the head. The figure broke into frag
ments, and Holmes bent eagerly over
the shattered remains. Next instant,
with a loud shout of triumph he held
up one splinter, in which a round,
dark object was fixed like a plum in
a pudding.
Gentlemen" he cried, "let me intro
due you to the famous black pearl of
the Borgias.'
Lestrade and / sat silent for a mo-
ment, and then. with spontaneous
impulse, we both broke out clapping,
as at the well wrought crisis of a play.
A flush of colour 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
IN ba raacopiuQs m chino and bp-
trayed his human love for admiration
and applause. The same singularly
proud and reserved nature which
turned away with disdain from popular
notoriety was capable of being moved
to its depths by spontaneous wonder
and praise from a friend
Yes, gentlemen" said he. ut is
the most famous pearl now existing
in the world, and 1t has been my good
fortune by a connected chain of in
ductive reasoning. to trace it from the
Prince of Colonna's bedroom at the
Dacre Hotel, where 1t was lost, to the
interior of this. the last of the siS
busts of Napoleon which was manufac-
tured by Colder and Co., of Stepney.
You will remember Lestrade, the SEN
sation caused by the disappearance of
this valuable jewel and the vain eff
forts OF the London police to recover
It, I was myself consulted upon the
case. but I was unable to throw any
light upon It. Suspicion fell upon the
maid Of the Princess, who was an Ital-
Ian, and It was proved that she had
brother in London, but we failed to
trace any connection between them.
The maids name was Lucretia Ven
ucci, and there is no doubt In my mind
that this Pietro. who was murdered
two nights ago, was the brother. |
have been looking up the dates in the
old files of the paper and ! 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 Gelder and 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 in
which they presented themselves to
me. Beppo had the pearl in his pos
session. He may have stolen IT from
Pietro, he may have been Pietro's con-
federate. he may have been the go