a dull red mark running about his forehead, just as there would be on
the forehead of a man whose hat fitted too tightly; and that mark,
gentlemen, had the undulating outline of nothing more nor less than a
tiara, and on the apex of the uttermost extremity was a deep
indentation about the size of a shilling, that could have been made
only by some adamantine substance! The mystery was solved! The
robber of the Duchess of Brokedale stood before me."

A suppressed murmur of excitement went through the assembled spirits,
and even Messrs. Hawkshaw and Le Coq were silent in the presence of
such genius.

"My plan of action was immediately formulated. The man was
completely at my mercy. He had stolen the tiara, and had it
concealed in the lining of his hat. I rose and locked the door. My
visitor sank with a groan into my chair.

"'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,