Let us take an instance," he continued.

"Looking out of the window, I see a man walking round Paper Buildings.

Now suppose I say, after the fashion of the inspired detective of the romances, 'That man is a stationmaster or inspector,' that would be a guess.

The observed facts do not yield the conclusion, though they do warrant a conclusion less definite and more general." "You'd have been right though, sir!" exclaimed Polton, who had stepped forward with me to examine the unconscious subject of the demonstration.
"That gent used to be the stationmaster at Camberwell.

I remember him well." The little man was evidently greatly impressed.
"I happen to be right, you see," said Thorndyke; "but I might as easily have been wrong." "You weren't though, sir," said Polton.