i took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather ruefully. it was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round shape, hard and much the worse for wear. the lining had been of red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. there was no maker’s name; but, as holmes had remarked, the initials "h. b." were scrawled upon one side. it was pierced in the brim for a hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. for the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the discoloured patches by smearing them with ink.