The evening world. Newspaper, April 1, 1905, Page 11

Price 1 Cent Including Special (Color Supplement: ‘COPYRIGHT, 1%, BY THE PRESS PUBLISHING GO) No. 8 OF 1HE SERIES. THE ADVENTURE ‘THE Six IN APOLEONS. By Sir A. Conan Doyle. Author of “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,’’ “The Hound of the Basker- villes,” “The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard,” “The Sign of the Four,” “A Study in Scarlet,”’ etc. (Oopyright, 1904, by A. Conan Doyle and Collier's Weekly.) (Copyright, 1905, by McClure, Phillips & Co.) (Oopyright, 1905, by the Press Publishing Company.) eee T was no very unusual thing for Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, to look in upon us of an evening; and his visits were welcome to Sherlock Holmes, for they enabled him to keep in touch with all that was going on at the police headquarters, In return for the news which Lestrade would bring Holmes 8 ready to listen with attention to the details of any case upon which the was alwi detective was engaged, and was able occ: onally, without any active Interference, to give some hint or suggestion drawn from his own vast knowledge and experience, On this particular evening Lestrade had spoken of the weather and the newspapers. Then he had fallen silent, puffing thoughtfully at his cigar, Holmes looked keenly at him, “Anything remarkable on hand?" he asked, "Oh, no, Mr. Holmes—nothing very particular,” “Then tell me about it. Lestrade laughed, “Well, Mr. Holmes, there ig no use denying that there is some- thing on my mind And yet it is such an absurd business that I hesitated to bother you about it. On the other hand, although it is trivial, it {s undoubtedly queer; and I know that you have a taste for all that is out of the common, But, in my opinion, it comes more in Dr, Watson's line than ours,” “Disease?” said I, “Madness, anyhow, Arid a queer maduess, too! You wouldn't think there was any one living at this time of day who had such a hatred of Napoleon I, that he would break any image of him that he could see,"" Holmes sank back in his chair, “That's no business of mine,” said he. “Exactly, That's what I said, But then, when the man commits burglary in order to break images which are not his own, that brings it away from the doctor and on to the policemai Holmes sat up again. “Burglary! This is more interesting. Let me hear the details, Lestrade took out his official note-book and refreshed his mem- ory trom its pages. “The first case reported was four days ago,” said he, “It was at the shop of Morse Hudson, who has a place for the sale of pic- tures and statues in the Kennington road. The assistant had left the front shop for an instant, when he heard a crash, and, hurrying in, he found a plaster bust of Napoleon, which stood with several other works of art upon the counter, lying shivered into fragments, He rushed out into the road, but, although several passers-by de- clared that ‘hey had noticed a man run out of the shop, he could neither see any one nor could he find any means of identifying the i rascul It seomed to be one of those senseless acts of Hooliganism which occur from time to time, and it was reported to the constab'e on the beat as such,, The plaster cast was not worth more than a few shillings, and the whole affair appeared to be too childish for any particular Investigation, “The second case, however, was more singular, It occurred only last night. “In Kennington road, and within a few hundred yards of Morse Hudson’s shop, there lives a well-known medical practitioner named Dr, Barnicot, who has one of the largest practices upon the aouth side of the Thames, His residence and principal consulting room is at Kennington road, but he ‘has a branch surgery and dispensary at Lower Brixton road, twu miles away. This Dr. Barnicot is an enthusiastic admirer of Napoleon, and his house is full of books, pic- tures and relics of the Fronch Emperor. Some little time ago he purchased from Morse Hudson two duplicate plaster custs of the rious, and also more ANP ee REN RENE RINNE POR NTR AMIS Sra SUPPLEMENT TO famous head of Napoleon by the French sculptor Devine. One of these he placed in his hall in the house at Kennington road "and Well, when Dr. Barnicot came down this morning he was astonished to find that his house had been burgled during the night, but that noth- the other on the mantelpiece of the surgery at Lower Brixton. ing had been taken save the plaster head from the hall. It had been carried out and had been dashed savagely against the garden wall, under which its splintered fragments were discovered,” Holmes rubbed his hand “This {s certainly very novel,” said he. " house lined by a curlous crc wd. The New Sherlock Holmes Adventures. (COPYRIGHT, 1906, KY THE PRHSS PUBLISHING CO.) This is the Eighth Story of the Series. There are five more. They will be published in THE EVENING WORLD, one every Sat- urday, for the next five weeks. Next Saturday---The Mystery of the Three Students, ® IT thoughs It would please you. yet. Dv. But I have not got to the end Barnicot was due at his surgery at 12 o'clock; and you can imagine his amazement when, on arriving there, he found that the window had been opened in the night and that the broken pieces of It had been smashed In neither case were there any signs which could give us a clue as to the criminal or lunatic who had done the mischief, hia second bust were strewn all over the room, to atoms where it stood. Now, Mr. Holinos, you have got the facts.’ “May 1 ask whether the two busts smashed in Dr. Barnieot's rooms were the exact duplicates of the one which was destroyed in Morse Hudson's shop “They are singular, not to say grotesque,” said Holmes. “They were taken from the same mould.” “Such a fact must tell against the theory that the man who breaks them is influenced by any generai hatred of Napoleon, Con- sidering how many hundreds of statues of the great Emperor must exist in London, it {s too much to suppose such a coincidence as that a promiscuous {conoclust should chance to begin upon three specimens of the same bust.” “Well hand London, and these three were the only ones which had been in his So, although, as you ray, there are many hundreds of statues in London, it is very probable that these three were the only ones in that district. Therefore, a local fanatic would begin with them. What do you think, Dr. Watson?” “There are no limits to the possibilities of monomani swered, I thought as you do,” said Lestrade, “On the other this Morse Hudson is the purveyor of busts in that’ part of shop for years. "1 ame + “There is the condition which the modern French psychol- ogists have called the ‘idee fixe,’ which may be trif_ing in character and accompanied by complete sanity in every other way. A man who had read deeply about Napoleon, or who tad possibly received some hereditary family injury through the great war, might con- ceivably form such an ‘idee fixe’ and under its influence be capable of any fantastic outrage,” That won't do, my dear Watson,” said Holmes, shaking his head; “for no amount of ‘Idee fixe’ would enable your interesting monomaniac to find out where these busts were situated.” “Well, how do you explain it?" "IT don’t attempt to do so, I would only observe that there is a certain method in the gentleman's eccentric proceedings. For exam- plé, in Dr. Rarnicot's hall, where a sound might arouse the family, the bust was taken outside before being broken, whereas in the aurgery, where there was less danger of an alarm, it was smashed The affair seems wbsurdly trifling, and yet I dare call nothing trivial when I reflect that some of my most classic cases have had the least promising commencement. You will remember, Watson, how the dreadful business of the Abernetty family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day. three broken busts, Lestrade; and I shall be very much obliged to where It stood. I can't afford, therefore, to smile at your you if you will let me hear of any fresh developments of so singular a@ choin of events,” The development for which my friend had asked came in a quicker end in an infinitely more tragic form than he could have imagined, I was still dressing in my bedroom next niorning when there was a tap at the door and Holmes entered, a telegram in h’s hand He read it aloud: “Come instantly, 131 Pitt street, Kensington, Lestrade,” “What fs It, then?” T asked, “Don't know—may be anything. But 1 suspect It is the sequel of In that case our friend, the {mage-breaker, has There's coffee at the story of statues, begun operations in another quarter of London, the table, Watson, and I have a cab at the door.” In half an hour we had reached Pitt street, a quiet little back- water just beside one of the briskest currents of London life, No. 131 was one of a row, all flat-chested, respectable and most unroman- tie dwel}ings. As we drove up bids) found the railings in front of the Hb! mes whistled, A “By George! it's attempted murder at the least; Nothing fi will hold the London message-hoy, There's a deed of yiolence indi+ cated in that fellow’s round Shoulders and outstretched neck, What's this, Watson? The top steps swilled down and the other ones dry. Footsteps enough, anyhow! Well, well, there's Lestrade at the front window, and we shall soon know all about it.’ The official received us with a very grave face and showed us into a sitting-room, where an exceedingly unkempt and agitated elderly man, clad in a flannel dressing-gown, was pacing up and down. He was introduced to us as the owner of the house—Mr, Horece Harker, of the Central Press Syndicate, “It's the Napoleon bust business again," said Lostrade, ‘You