Don Horacio 



supposed to be some mysterious per- 

 son, concerning whom no questions 

 were to be asked, and it was not un- 

 til after the basin had been mistak- 

 enly identified, paid for and sent to 

 New York, that he heard Benguiat's 

 story, the truth of which he does not 

 question in any particular. 



Mordecai earnestly assured me that 

 if he had known the buyer's purpose, 

 he would have gladly given his basin 

 when he sold it, through the pawn- 

 broker, for seven dollars ; but it is 

 obvious that in such case the buyer 

 would also have known that Morde- 

 cai's basin was not the missing one 

 and, for that reason, he would not 

 have wanted it. 



It also became evident that a bar- 

 ber's basin is not such a unique 

 curiosity as Don Horacio's friends 

 supposed when they made their mis- 

 taken identification in the firm belief 



