Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-08-21

lock Holmes upon the second morning
after Christmas. with the intention OF
wishing him the compliments OF the
season. lie was lounging upon the
sofa in purple dressing gown, n
pipc-rAck within his roach upon the
right, and n pic OF crumplcd morning
papers. evidently newly studied. near
at hand. Beside the couch was a
wooden chair. and on the angle OF the
back hung very secdy and disreput-
able hard-felt hat. much the worse
Tor wear. and cracked In several places
lens and a forceps lying upon the
seat OF the chair suggested that the
hat had been suspended In this man.
ner for the purpose OF examination.
"You are engaged" said 1; per
haps | interrupt YOU"
Not at all i am glad to have n
friend with whom can discuss my re-
suits. The matter is perfectly
trivial one" Che jerkcd his thumb in
the direction of the old hat). but
there are points In connection with Il
which are not entirely devoid of in
tercst and even OF instruction. -
seated myself In his armchair and
warmed my hands before his crack
ling fire, Tor sharp frost had set I'm.
aud the windows were thick with the
Ice crystals. II suppose" l remarked.
THAT, homcly AS II looks. this thing
has some deadly story linked on 10 it
that Il IL the clcw which will guide
you In the solution of some mystery
and the punishment OF some crime"
mo, no. No crime" said Sherlock
A..s -.
whimsical little incidents which viii
happen when you have four million
human beings all jostling each other
within the space OF a 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 viii he presented which
may he striking and bizarre without
being criminal. We have already had
experience of such"
so much So" remarked. that OF
the last six cases which l have added
TO my votes. three have been entirely
free of any legal crime"
Precisely. Well. have no doub,
that. this small matter will fall into
Peterson, tho commissionaire?
yes"
Il, is to him that this trophy he,
longs"
II, Is his hat"
mo, no: he found Il. Its owner is
unknown. beg that you will look
upon a., not as "A battered billycock.
but as an intellectual problem. And.
first. as 10 how Il came here. IL arriv-
ed upon Christmas morning. in COM
pany with a good fat goose. which is.
have no doubt. roasting AZ this mo-
ment In front Of Peterson's fire. The
facts are these; About four o'clock on
Christmas morning, Peterson. who. as
you know. is a very honest fellow. was
returning from small jollification. and
was making his way homeward down
Tottenham Court Road. In front OF
him he saw in the raslisht. a tallish
man, walking with slight stagger,
and carrying a white goose slung over
his shoulder. AS he reached the COR
ner OF GOODBYE street. "A row broke out
between this stranger and little knot
OF roughs One OF the latter knocked
of the mans hat. on which he raised
his stick 10 defend himself, and. swing
ing IL over his head. smashed the shor
window behind him. Peterson had
rushed forward 10 protect the stranger
from his assailants: hut the man
shocked at having broken the window
and seeing an ofiicial-looking person In
uniform rushing towards him. drop
ped his goose. took TO his heels. and
vanished amid the labyrinth of small
streets which lie at the back OF Tot
tenham Court Road. The roughs hst
also fed az the appearance of Peter.
son. SO that he was left in possession
OF the field OF battle. and also OF tho
spoils % victory in the shape OF thi,
battered hat and most unimpeach-
able Christmas goose"
Which surely he restored 20 theii
owner"
My dear fellow there lies the prob.
9em. IL Is true that For Mrs. Henry
Baker was printed upon a small care
which was tied 10 the birds lef; leg
and IL is also true that the initials II
j. are legible upon the lining OF thi,
hat. but as there are some thousand,
of Bakers. and some hundreds Of Hen
~ Bakers in this city Of ours. il is no
easy 20 restore lost property TO an,
one Of them
What. then. did Peterson do?"
He brought round both hat ant
goose 20 me on Christmas morning
knowing that even the smallest prob
lens are OF interest 10 me. The COOS
We retained until this morning. wher
there were signs that. In spite of tn,
sight frost. Il would be well that
should be eaten without unnecessar,
delay. Its finder has carried Il on
therefore. 20 fulhl the ultimate destin,
OF n goose, while / continue TO retain
ahe HIT Of the unknown gentleman VIII,
los; his Christmas dinner"
did he not advertise"
"No."