James D. Hague 



the " Helmet of Sombrino." These 

 expenses amounted, in all, to about 

 forty dollars, notwithstanding the 

 very liberal discount of 33^ per cent, 

 which the detective made on purely 

 sentimental and friendly considera- 

 tions, being himself a man of strongly 

 sympathetic temperament, a constant 

 reader of the Century Magazine and 

 the proud possessor of a long line of 

 back numbers, in the proper one of 

 which (May, 1886), he had promptly 

 found the story of the " Helmet " and 

 the picture of the basin, all of which 

 he was able to place at the disposal 

 of those who were called upon to 

 identify the property of Don Horacio, 

 before concluding its purchase at the 

 pawnbroker's. 



The actual possession of the basin 

 gave great satisfaction to all con- 

 cerned in looking for it, but still 

 left unsatisfied a lasting curiosity 

 touching its mysterious disappear- 

 107 



