Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-07-12

that bust which we ha1 already seen more
than once In fragments.
Holmes took a paper from his pocket
and laid a ten-pound note upon the table.
0 will kindly sign that paper. Mr..
sihfeiofu' IN The presence of these Wit
ncsscs. 1t Is simply TO say that You trans
fer every possible right that you over had
in nc bust to mo. | am a m~ethodical man,
you see, and YOU never know what turn
oY'nts might take afterwards. Thank
yop, MIR. Sandcford: here IS YOUR money.
and | wish you a very good evening""
Nhen our visitor has disappeared. Sher-
lock holmes movements were such as to
riyot our attention. He began by taking a
clean white cloth from II drawer and lay
ing 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 Il sharp blow on
thu top or the head. The figure broke into
FRAGMENTS, and Holmes bent eagerly oyer
TIA" shattered romans. Next instant. with
a loud shout of triumph he held up one
SPLINTER, m which a round, dark object
Wac fixed like "A plum in a pudding.
'lcntlcmon." he cried, got me introduce
50" to the famous black pearl of the Bor-
GAS
anu / sat silent Tor a moment.
ana then. with a spontaneous impulse. we
roth broke out clapping, as at The we'll
wrought crisis of Il play. y flush of color
s1iftns to Holmes pale checks. and he
bowed to us like the master %drainatist who
receives the homage of his audience. 1t
was at such moment that for an instant
he ceasel to be Il reasoning machine, and
betrayed his human love for admiration
and applause. The same slngularly proud
ara reserved nature which turne away
with disdain from popular notoricty was
cllloie OF beng moved to its depths by
spontaneous wonder and praise from n
friend.
Yes. gentlcmcn,'' said he. "it is the
most famous pearl now existing in the
world and it has been my good fortune,
by a connected chain of 'nductive reason
ing. to trace 1t from the prince of Col
ohha $ bedroom at the Dacre hotel. where
II was lost, to the interior of this, the
last or the six busts Of Napoleon which
were manufactured 10y Golder * Co., of
Stei'ncy. You will remember. Lcstrade,
the sensation caused by the disappearance
of this valuable jewel. and the vain ef-
forts of the London police to recover it.
WIS myself consulted upon the case, but
| 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 Ale had q brother in London.
IVY wv id.i''i ~ trace any connection DIT.
tween them. The maids name was Luz
oretia Vcnucci. and there is no doubt in
my mtnd that this Pictro who was murd-
cred two nights ago was the brother. I
have been locking up the dates IN the old
flles OF tho paper. and ! find that the dis
appearance of the pearl was exactly two
days before the arrest of Beppo, for some
crime of violcnce-an event which took
place in the factory of Ge,der & Co, at
the very moment when these Lusts We're
being made. Now you clearly see tho Sc
qucnce of events, though you see them.
OF course. in the inverse order to the way
IN which they presented themselves to
me. Bcppo had the pearl in his possession.
He may have stolen it from Jictro. he
may have been Pietro's confederate, he
may have been the g~o-between of Puerto
and his sister. 1t is of no consequence
to us which is the correct solution.
The msin 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 far the factory in which he worked,
and he knew that he had only Il 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 u small hole N the west plaster,
uioElS' VI tHc pearl, ana WIN q rev
touenes covered over the aperture once
moro. 1t vas 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 We're 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 it was probable
that the pearl would adhere to it-as, in
fact. 1t has done. Bcppo did not despair,
and he conducted his search with consid-
cradle ingenuity and perseverance,
Through a cousin who works with Gelder.
ne found out the retail firms who had
bought the busts. He managed to find en-
ployrnent with Morse Hudson, and in tina.
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 scufae
which followed"
III he was his confederate, why should
he carry his Photograph" l asked.
LAS a means of tracing him, If he wished
to Inquire about him from any third per-
SON. That was the obvious reason. Well,
after the murder I calculated that Beppo
would probably hurry rather than delay
his movements. He would fear that the
police would read his secret, and so he
FASTENED on before they should get ahead
OF him. OF course. 1 could not say that
he had not found the pearl in Harker's
bust. I had not even concluded for Ger.
tain that 1t vas the pearl, but it 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 1t in the
garden which had a lamp overlook IL.
Since Harker's bust was one in three. the
chances were exactly as I told you-two to
one against the pearl being inside 1t.
There remained two busts. and 1t was OBJ
vious that he would go for the London
one first. I warned the inmates of the
house. so as to avoid a second tragedy.
and we went down with the happiest re-
suits. BY that time. of course, / knew
for certain that it was the Borgfa pearl
that we were after. The name of the
murdered man linked the one event with
the other-there only remained a single
bust-the Reading ca the pearl must
be there. bought It in your presence
from the owner-and there 1t lies"
We sat in silence for a moment
Well said Lestrade. i've seen YOU
handle a good many cases, Mr.. Holmes.
hut I don't know that I ever knew n ~..o