o put in at that point, "that the marriage ceremony
was not performed by the Reverend James Tattersby."

"Not on your life!" retorted Raffles Holmes. "My father was too fond of my
mother to permit of any flaw in his title. A year later I was born, and--
well, here I am--son of one, grandson of the other, with hereditary traits
from both strongly developed and ready for business. I want a literary
partner--a man who will write me up as Bunny did Raffles, and Watson did
Holmes, so that I may get a percentage on that part of the swag. I offer you
the job, Jenkins. Those royalty statements show me that you are the man, and
your books prove to me that you need a few fresh ideas. Come, what do you
say? Will you do it?"

"My boy," said I, enthusiastically, "don't say another word. Will I? Well,
just try me!"

And so it was that Raffles Holmes and I struck a bargain and became
partners.

III
THE ADVENTURE OF MRS. BURLINGAME'S DIAMOND STOMACHER

I had seen the marvellous creation very often at the opera, and in many ways
resented it. Not that I was in the least degree a victim to envy, hatred,
and malice towards those who are possessed of a superabundance of this
world's good things--far from it. I rejoice in the great fortunes of earth
because, with every dollar corralled by the superior energies of the multi-
millionaires, the fewer there are for other men to seek, and until we stop
seeking dollars and turn our minds to other, finer things, there will be no
hope of peace and sweet content upon this little green ball we inhabit. My
resentment of Mrs. Burlingame's diamond stomacher was not then based on envy
of its possession, but merely upon the twofold nuisance which it created at
the opera-house, as the lady who wore it sat and listened to the strains of
Wagner, Bizet, or Gounod, mixed in with the small-talk of Reggie Stockson,
Tommie de Coupon, and other lights of the social firmament. In the first
place, it caused the people sitting about me in the high seats of the opera-
house to chatter about it and discuss its probable worth every time the lady
made her appearance in it, and I had fled from the standee part of the house
to the top gallery just to escape the talkers, and, if possible, to get my
music straight, without interruptions of any sort whatsoever on the side. In
the second place, the confounded thing glittered so that, from where I sat,
it was as dazzling as so many small mirrors flashing in the light of