James D. Hague 



that no other basin like the missing 

 one could possibly be found in Cali- 

 fornia. On the contrary, not less than 

 thirteen such basins were declared or 

 reported as extant in the near neigh- 

 borhood. One well-known dealer in 

 bric-a-brac, when interviewed by tele- 

 phone, responded that he had half 

 a dozen then in stock, lately brought 

 up from Mexico. 



" What do you sell them for ? " was 

 asked. 



" Three and a half," he replied. 



" Yes, but for what purpose ? What 

 are they used for ? " 



"Oh, anything you like — gener- 

 ally to put flowers in." 



When these facts became known 

 to the friends who, at my request, 

 had taken so much trouble to seek 

 the missing "helmet" of Don Ho- 

 racio, they were very sorry that I had 

 been led to buy another basin through 



"3 



