The Pursuit of the House-Boat | Page 9

"'Why did you do that?' he stammered, as I turned the key in the lock.
"'To keep my Scotch whiskey from evaporating,' I said, dryly. 'Now,
my lord,' I added, 'it will pay your Grace to let me have your hat. I
know who you are. You are the Duke of Brokedale. The Duchess of
Brokedale has lost a valuable tiara of diamonds, and you have not lost
your watch. Somebody has stolen the diamonds, and it may be that
somewhere there is a Bunker who has lost such a watch as I have
described. The queer part of it all is,' I continued, handing him the
decanter, and taking a couple of loaded six-shooters out of my
escritoire--'the queer part of it all is that I have the watch and you have
the tiara. We'll swap the swag. Hand over the bauble, please.'

"'But--' he began.
"'We won't have any butting, your Grace,' said I. 'I'll give you the watch,
and you needn't mind the £200; and you must give me the tiara, or I'll
accompany you forthwith to the police, and have a search made of your
hat. It won't pay you to defy me. Give it up.'
"He gave up the hat at once, and, as I suspected, there lay the tiara,
snugly stowed away behind the head-band.
"'You are a great fellow.' said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and
watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
"'I beg you'll not expose me,' he moaned. 'I was driven to it by
necessity.'
"'Not I,' I replied. 'As long as you play fair it will be all right. I'm not
going to keep this thing. I'm not married, and so have no use for such a
trifle; but what I do intend is simply to wait until your wife retains me
to find it, and then I'll find it and get the reward. If you keep perfectly
still, I'll have it found in such a fashion that you'll never be suspected.
If, on the other hand, you say a word about to-night's events, I'll hand
you over to the police.'
"'Humph!' he said. 'You couldn't prove a case against me.'
"'I can prove any case against anybody,' I retorted. 'If you don't believe
it, read my book,' I added, and I handed him a copy of my memoirs.
"'I've read it,' he answered, 'and I ought to have known better than to
come here. I thought you were only a literary success.' And with a
deep-drawn sigh he took the watch and went out. Ten days later I was
retained by the Duchess, and after a pretended search of ten days more
I found the tiara, restored it to the noble lady, and received the £5000
reward. The Duke kept perfectly quiet about our little encounter, and
afterwards we became stanch friends; for he was a good fellow, and
was driven to his desperate deed only by the demands of his creditors,
and the following Christmas he sent me the watch I had given him,

with the best wishes of the season.
"So, you see, gentlemen, in a moment, by quick wit and a mental
concentration of no mean order, combined with strict observance of the
pettiest details, I ferreted out what bade fair to become a great diamond
mystery; and when I say that this cigar end proves certain things to my
mind, it does not become you to doubt the value of my conclusions."
"Hear! hear!" cried Raleigh, growing tumultuous with enthusiasm.
"Your name? your name?" came from all parts of the wharf.
The stranger, putting his hand into the folds of his coat, drew forth a
bundle of business cards, which he tossed, as the prestidigitator tosses
playing-cards, out among the audience, and on each of them was found
printed the words:
--------------------------- | SHERLOCK HOLMES, | | DETECTIVE. | | | |
FERRETING DONE HERE. | | | | _Plots for Sale._ |
---------------------------
"I think he made a mistake in not taking the £200 for the watch. Such
carelessness destroys my confidence in him," said Shylock, who was
the first to recover from the surprise of the revelation.
[Illustration: "THE STRANGER DREW FORTH A BUNDLE OF
BUSINESS CARDS"]

III
THE SEARCH-PARTY IS ORGANIZED
"Well, Mr. Holmes," said Sir Walter Raleigh, after three rousing cheers,
led by Hamlet, had been given with a will by the assembled spirits,
"after this demonstration in your honor I think it is hardly necessary for
me to assure you of our hearty co-operation in anything you may
venture to suggest. There is still manifest, however, some desire on the

part of the ever-wise King Solomon and my friend Confucius to know
how you deduce that Kidd has sailed for London, from the cigar