Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-07-06
ub,cn We had already seen more

! mo, b,st which we had already seen more
than once in fragments.
Eolmes took a paper from his pocket
and laid a ten-pound note upon the tape.
"You will kindly sign that paper MI
Sandeford, in the presence OF THESE VIII
nesses. II is simply to say that you trans
fer every possible right that you ever had
IN the bust to me. i am a methodical man.
vou see. and you never know what turn
events might take afterwards. Thanx
YOU. Mr.. Sandeford; here IS your money
and I wish you a very good evening".
When our visitor has disappeared. Sher-
lock Holmes movements were such as 10
rivet our attention. He began by taking a
clean white clo:ti from a drawer and lay
ing II 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
fragments, 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 introduce
you TO the famous black pearl of the Bor-
gias."
Lestrade and / sat silent for a moment,
and then. with a spontaneous impulse, we
both broke out clapping, as at the we'll
wrought crisis of a play. A flush OF color
spraug to Holmes pale cheeks, and he
bowed to us like the master dramatist who
receives the homage of his audience. 1t
was at such moment that for an instant
he ceased to be a reasoning machine, and
betrayed 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, at is the
most famous pearl now existing in the
world and it has been my good fortune,
by a connected chain of inductive reason
ing, to trace it from the prince of Col
onna's bedroom at the Dacre hotel, where
II was lost, to the interior Of this, the
last of the six busts Of Napoleon which
were manufactured by Gelder & Co, of
Stepney. You will remember, Lestrade,
the sensation caused by the disappearance
Of this valuable jewel, and the vain eff
forts of the London police TO recover II.
l was myself consulted upon the case, but
l was unable to throw any light upon 1t.
Suspicion fell upon the maid Of the prin-
cess, who was an italian, and it was
proved that she had a brother in London,
but we failed to trace any connection be-
tween them. The maid's name was Luz
cretia Venucci, and there Is no doubt in
my mind that this Pietro who was murd-
cred two nights ago was the brother. |
have been looking up the dates in the old
files Of the paper, and I find that the dis
appearance 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 & Co., at
the very moment when these Gusts were
being made. Now you clearly see the Sc
quence 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 possession.
He may have stolen ii from Pietro, he
may have been Pietro's confederate, he
may have been the go-between of Pierto
and his sister. 1t is of no consequence
TO us which is the correct solution.
THE main fact IS that he had the pearl,
and at that moment, when it was on his
person, he was pursued by the police. He
made for the factory in which he worked,
and he knew that he had only a few min
utes in which TO conceal this enormously
valuable prize, which would otherwise be
found on him when he was searched. Six
plaster casts of Napoleon were drying IN
the passage. One of them was still soft.
In an instant Beppo, a skillful workman,
made a small hole IN the west plaster,
dropped in the pearl. and with a few
touches covered over the aperture once
more. 1t was an admirable hiding place.
No one could possibly find It. But
Beppo was condemned to a years
imprisonment, and in the meanwhile his
six busts were scattered over London. He
could not tell which contained his treas
ure. Only by breaking them could he see.
Even shaking would tell him nothing, for
as the plaster was wet II was probable
that the pearl would adhere to it-as, in
fact, 1t has done. Beppo did not despair,
and he conducted his search with consid-
cradle ingenuity and perseverance.
Through a cousin who works with Gelder,
he found out the retail firms who had
bought the busts. He managed to find en-
ployment with Morse Hudson, and in that
way tracked down three of them. The
pearl was not there. Then, with the help
of some Italian employee, he succeeded in
finding out where the other three busts
had gone. The first was at Harker's.
There he was logged by his confederate,
who held Beppo responsible for the loss OF
the pearl and he stabbed him in the scuffe
which followed"
"If he was his confederate, why shoul
he carry his photograph" I asked.
LAS a means of tracing him. if he wished
to inquire about him from any third per.
L 6OlAa a AoA was AAS wv 49, ShSOAA v
after the murder I calculated that Beppc
would probably hurry rather than delay
his He would fear that the
police would read his secret. and so he
FASTENED on before they should get aheac
OF him. or course, I could not say that
he had not found the pearl in Harker's
bust. I had not even concluded for GER
tain that 1t was the pearl, but Ii was evil
dent to me that he was loking for some
thing, since he carried the bust past the
other houses in order to break IL in tn,
garden which bad a lamp overlook Ii
Since Harker's bust was one in three, tn,
chances were exactly as I told you-two I,
one against the pearl being inside 1t
There remained two busts, and II was OBJ
yious that he would go for the Londoi
one frst. 1 warned the inmates of tn,
i house. so as 20 avoid a second tragedy
and we went down with the happiest re
suits. BY that time. of course, I knew
for certain that 1t was the Borgia pear
that we were after. The name of tn
murdered man linked the one event witt
the other-there only remained a singh
bust-the Reading one-and the pearl mus
be there. ! bought 4 in your presenc,
from the owner-and there 1t lies
We sat IN silence for a moment
We'll" said Lestrade. I've seen yol
handle a good many cases, Mr.. Holmes
but I don't know that / ever knew a NOR
workmanlike one than that. We're no
Jealous of you at Scotland Yard. No
sir, we are very proud OF you, and II yo,
come down tomorrow, there's not a man
from the Oldest inspector to the younges
constable, who wouldn't be glad to shak
: you by the hand"
4.rhark vour. said Hofmas s.rhar,