The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-02-14

the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love him.
 My dear Holmes!''
 He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he continued, disregarding my remonstrance. 'tHe is a man who leads sedentary life, goes out little. is out of training entirely. is middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the last few days, and which he ano1nts with hme-cream. These are the more pat ent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also. by-the-way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid on his house."
 You are certainly joking, Holmes"
 Mot in the least Is it possible that even now, when I give you these re- are attained?''
 "I have no doubt that I am very stupid; but must confess that am unable to follow you. For example. how did you deduee that this man was intel1ectual?'
 For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right over the forehead and settted upon the bridge of his nose. 'It is a ques- uon of cubic capacity said he "a man with so large a. brain must have something in it.
 'The decline of his fortunes. then?''
 '"This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge came in then. It is a hat Of the very best quality. Look at the band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could afford to buy so expen- sive a hat three years ago, and has had no hat since, then he has assur- edly gone down in the world.''
 Well. that is clear enough, cer- tainly. But how about the foresight and the moral retrogression? ?'
 Sherlock Holmes laughed. Here is the foresight said he, putting his finger upon the little disk and loop of the hat-securer. ''They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a sign of a. certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see that he has broken the elastic. and has not troubled to replace it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than Formerly, which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other hand, he has endeavored to conceal some of these stains upon the felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not entirely lost his self-respect.''
 Your reasoning is certainly plaus- ible."
 ."The further points, that he is middle-aged. that his hair is grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and tthat he uses 1me-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examina- tion of the lower part of the lining The lens discloses a large number of hair-ends, clean-cut by the scissors of the barber. They all appear to be adhesive. and there is a distinct odor of lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, gray dust of the street, but the fluffy brown dust of the house, showing t1art it has been hung Up indoors most of the time: while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the wearer perspired freely, and (OTIl6 f gfharefnT,a Ina l,csi in hae, of Hraining.''
 ''But his wife-you said that she had ceased to love him.
 This hat has not been brushed for weeks Wlnem I see you, my dear Watson, with weeks accumulation of dust upon your hat. and when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, shall fear that you to lose your wife's affection But he might be a bachelor Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-ofreTing to his wife. Rem ember the card upon She bird s leg" 'Yoa have an answer to every | thing. But how on earth do you de- duce that the gas is not laid on ip his house?"
 "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I l see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt that the in l oiNlduSti 1uuSI De brought 1ItLO IIG- quent contact with burning ta.llow- walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in one hand and a guttering 2 candle in the other. Anyhow, he never got ta1Iow-stains from a gas jet Are you satisfied % | Well, it is very ingenious said I. | laughing: ''but since, as you said jus: now, there has been no crime com
 m1tted. and no harm done, save the
 loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a waste of enerSy'
 Sherlock Holmes had opened his
 mouth to reply, when the door flew
 open, and Peterson, the com missi on
 aire, rushed into the apartment with flushed cheeks and the face of a man
 who is dazed with amazement.
 'The. goose, MT Holmes! The
 goose, sir!'' he gasped.
 ''Eh? What of it, then? Has ii
 returned to life and Tapped of through the kitchen window :' Holmes twisted himself round upon
 the sofa to get a fairer view. of the
 mans excited face.
 See here, sir! See what my wifi
 found in it's crop!' He held out his
 hand and displayed upon the center
 of the palm a brilliantly scintillatins
 hlue stone, rather smaller than : bean in size, but of such purity anG tradiance that 1t twinkled like ar electric point in the dark hollow o. his hand.
 , Sherlock Holmes sat up with E , whistle By love, Peterson.'' said } he, t'this is treasure trove indeed , suppose you know what you have got?"
 "A diamond, sir? A precious stone , It cuts into glass as though it were putty.' } ''Tts more than a precious stone It is the precious stone.'' Mot the Countess of Morcar'S blu, carbuncle:'' I calculated. 3 Precisely so. l ought to know it s size and shape, seeing that I hay
 read the advertisement about it il = The Times every day lately. It i
 absolutely unique, and its value cal ! only be conjectured, but the rewar, Q offered of 1000 pounds is certainl e not within twentieth part of tn D market price"
 t "A thousand -~-,nds! Great LOT,
 tof mercyi The conamiSsionair n pumped down into 8 chair, an n l stared from one to the other of us. { That is the reward, and I hay t reason to know that there are sent q mental considerations in the back l. ground which would induce the coun f tess to part with half her fortune = she co21ld but recover the gem-'' $ ''It was lost, if I remember arigh