Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-22

was lpunEInB upon ilie sOii III q Pun FiN
dressing-gown. a pipe-rack within his reach
upon the right and a pile of crumpied
morning papers, evidently newly studied,
near at hand Beside the couch was
wooden chair. and on the angle of the back
hung a very seedy and disreputable hard
felt hat much the worse for wear and
cracked in several places. A lens and
forceps lying upon the seat of the chalr.
suggested that the hat had been suspended
in this manner for the purpose OF exam
iration.
You are engaged" said /: perhaps in
terrupt YOU"
Not at all glad to have friend
with whom l can discuss my results. The
matter is a perfectly trivial one Che
jerked his thumb in the direction of the
old hat. but there are points in connec-
ton with 1t which not entirely devoid
OF interest and even of instruction"
seated myself in his armchair and
warmed my hands before his cracking fire.
for a sharp frost had set in and the win
dows Were thick with the ice crystals. Il
suppose, | remarked. that. homely as 1t
looks this thing has some deadly story
linked on to it-that It is the clue which
will guide you in the solution of some mys-
terry and the punishment of some crime
No. no. No crime said Sherlock
Holmes. laughing. only one of those
whimsical little incidents which will hap
pen when you have four million human
beings all jostling each other within the
space of n few square miles. Amid the
action and reaction of so dense swarm
of humanity every possible combination of
events may be expected to take place, and
many a little problem will be presented
which may be striking and bizarre without
being criminal We have already had ex-
perience of such
SO much So l remarked, that of the
last six cases which l have added to my
notes three have been entirely free of any
legal crime
Precisely. You alIude to my attempt to
recover the Irene Adler papers. to the
singular of Miss Mary Sutherland
and to the adventure of the man with the
twisted lip. Well. | have no doubt that this
small matter will fall into the same inno-
cent category. You know Peterson, the
cOmmissionaire?'
Yes"
at Is to him that this trophy belongs"
at is his hat?'
NO, no; he found 1t. It's owner Is un-
known. l beg that you will look upon 1t
not as a battered billycock but as an INTEL
lectual problem. And first to how it
came here 1t arrived upon Christmas
morning. in company with good Tat
goose, which is l have no doubt, roasting
at this moment in front of Petersons fire.
The facts are these: About 4 o'clock on
Christmas morning, Peterson, who, as you
know, Is a very honest fellow was re-
turning from some small Publication and
was making his way homeward down Tot
tenham Court road. In front of him he
saw, in the gaslight, tallish man, walking
with slight stagger and carrying white
goose, slung over his shoulder. AS he
reached the corner of GOODBYE street
row broke out between this stranger and
a little knot of roughs. One of the latter
knocked off the mans hat, on which he
raised his stick to defend himself. and
swinging It over his head smashed the shop
window behind him. Peterson had rushed
forward to protect the stranger from his
assailants: but the man, shocked at having
broken the window and seeing an officia
looking person in uniform rushing toward
him dropped his goose, took TO his heels
and vanished amid the labyrinth of small
streets which lie at the back of Totem
ham Court road. The roughs had also fed
at the appearance of Peterson. so that he
was left in possession Of the field of bat
tie and also of the spoils of victory in the
shape of this battered hat and a most I'M
impea enable Christmas goose
Which surely he restored to their own
err
MY dear fellow. there lies the problem.
1t is true that For Mrs Henry Baker was
printed upon small card which was tied
TO the birds left leg, and it Is also true
that the initials II. B. are legible upon
the lining of this hat; but as there are
some thousands of Bakers and some nun
dreds of Henry Bakers in this city of ours,
it Is not easy 10 restore lost property 10 any
one of them"
what. then. did Peterson do?"
He brought round both hat and goose
to me on Christmas morning, knowing that
even the smallest problems are OF interest
10 me The goose was retained until this
morning. when there were signs that, III
spite of the slight frost. it would be well
that it should be eaten without unneces-
sarv delay Its finder has carried II on,
therefore to fulfill the ultimate destiny OF
a goose. while l continue to retain the hat
OF the unknown gentleman who lost his
Christmas dinner.
Did he not advertiser?
No"
.eThen. what clue could you have as to
his IDENTIFY
From his hat?'
But You are joking What can you
gather from this old battered felt?'
Here Is my lens. You know my methous.
What can you gather yourself as to the
Ind viduality of the man who has worn this
7 took the tattered object in my hands
and turned 1t over rather ruefully IT was a
very ordinary black hat of the usual round
shape hard. and much the worse for wear
The lining had been of red SILK. but was
a good deal discolored. There was no
makers name; but Holmes had re-
marked. the initials. H b." were
scrawIed upon one side. 1t was pierced
I'm the brm for hat-securer, but the elas-
tic was missing. For the rest. 1t was
cracked. exceedingly dusty, ana spot'eu IA
several places. although there seemed to
have been some attempt to hide the as
coIored patches by smearing them with
ink. .
Il can see nothing" said l, handing it
back TO my friend.
ION the contrary. Watson. you can see
everything. You fail. however. TO reason
from what you see. You are too timd IN
drawing your differences"
Then pray tell me what II Is that you
can infer from this hat?'
He picked 1t up and gaZed at 1t in the
peculiar interpretive fashion which was
- J. 10 hu q
suggestive than 1t might have been" ne
remarked, "and yet there are a few INFER
rnres which are very distinct and rev
offers which represent at least "A strong
balance Of probability. That the man was
highly intellectual is, OF course. OBVIOUS
upon the face of IT. and also that he was
fairly well-to-do within the last three years.
although he has now fallen upon EVIL days.
He had foresight but has less now IMAM
formerly pointing to moral retrogresslon
which. when taken with the decline or MS
fortunes seems TO indicate some evil IN
fiuence, probably drink. at work upon him.
This may account also for the obvious
fact that his wife has ceased to love him.
My dear lIolmes!"
He has, however. retained some degree
Of self-respect." he continued, disregarding
my remonstrance. He IL a man who
leads a sedentary life goes out little, is
out OF training entirely. is midde-aged, has
griZZled hair which he has had cut within