The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 27 (1/2)
I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather ruefully It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round shape, hard andhad been of red silk, but was a good deal discoloured There was no maker's name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials ”H B” were scrawled upon one side It was pierced in the bri For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, although there seemed to have been so the it back to my friend
”On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything You fail, however, to reason fro your inferences”
”Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer froazed at it in the peculiar introspective fashi+on which was characteristic of hiht have been,” he remarked, ”and yet there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others which represent at least a strong balance of probability That the hly 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 than forression, which, when taken with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him This may account also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love him”
”My dear Holree of self-respect,” he continued, disregarding oes out little, is out of training entirely, is rizzled hair which he has had cut within the last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream These are the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat Also, by the way, that it is extreas laid on in his house”
”You are certainly joking, Holmes”
”Not in the least Is it possible that even nohen I give you these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?”
”I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I am unable to follow you For example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?”
For answer Holht over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose ”It is a question of cubic capacity,” said he; ”ain it”
”The decline of his fortunes, then?”
”This hat is three years old These flat brie 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 o, and has had no hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world”
”Well, that is clear enough, certainly But how about the foresight and the hed ”Here is the foresight,” said he putting his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer
”They are never sold upon hats If this ht, 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 for nature On the other hand, he has endeavoured to conceal so then that he has not entirely lost his self-respect”
”Your reasoning is certainly plausible”
”The further points, that he is rizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses liathered fro 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 odour of lirey dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, showing that 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 very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in the best of training”
”But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him”
”This hat has not been brushed for weeks When I see you, my dear Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's affection”
”But he oose as a peace-offering to his wife Re”
”You have an answer to everything But how on earth do you deduce that the gas is not laid on in his house?”
”One tallow stain, or even two, ht come by chance; but when I see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt that the individualtalloalks upstairs at night probably with his hat in one hand and a guttering candle in the other Anyhow, he never got tallow-stains froenious,” said I, laughing; ”but since, as you said just now, there has been no crioose, all this seey”
Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment with flushed cheeks and the face of a oose, Mr Holasped
”Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off through the kitchen ?” Holet a fairer view of the man's excited face
”See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!” He held out his hand and displayed upon the centre of the pal blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric point in the dark hollow of his hand