Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-17

heinous. If you will but make such rep
aration as is in your power by telling u
where the beryls are all shall be forgiven
and forgotten
| "sKeep your forgiveness for those VIII,
ask for it, he answered, turning away from
| me with a sneer. 1 saw that he was toe
| hardened for any words of mine to infuenc,
| him. There was but one way for it
called in the Inspector and gave him int,
| custody. A search was made at once, no
only Of his person, but also of his room, ant
| of every portion of the house where h,
| could possibly have concealed the gems bu
no trace of them could be found, nor would
the wretched boy open his mouth for al
our persuasions and threats This morning
he was removed to a cell, and I, after going
| through all the police formalities, have hur
ried round to you to implore you to use
your skill in unraveling the matter. The
police have openly confessed that they can
a. present make nothing of it. You may
60 to any expense which you think neces
eary. have already offered Q reward ol
81, 1000. My God what shall 1 dol?
have lost my honor, my gems and my son in
one night Oh, what shall do ?''
He put hand on either side of his head,
and rocked himself to and fro, droning to
himself like child whose grief has got be.
yond words.
Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few
minutes with his brows knitted and his eyea
fixed upon the fire.
do you receive much company" he
asked.
s"None, save my partner with his family,
and an occasional friend of Arthur'R. Sir
George Burnwell has been several times
lately. No one else, think"
'Do you 60 out much in society7"
arthur does Mary and I stay at homo.
We neither of us care for it,
sThat is unusual in young girl"
"She is of quiet nature. Besides, she
Is not SO very young. She is four-and-
twenty"
''This matter, from what you sly, seems
to have been a shock to her ALSO"
Terrible. She is even more affected
than l."
"You have neither of you any doubt Is te
your sons guilt?''
'How can we have when I saw him with
| my own eyes with the coronet in his
hands?"
81 hardly think that a conclusive proof
Was the remainder of the coronet at all in
jured?"
-"Yes, it was twisted"
"Do you not think then that he might
have been trying to straighten It?"
"God bless you'll You are doing what you
car for him and for me. But it is too heavy
task. What was he doing there at all?
If his purpose were innocent why did he
not say so?"
Precisely. And if it were guilty, why
did he not invent lie. His silence appears
to me to be cut both ways There are several
singular points about the case. What did
the police think of the noise which awoke
you from your sleep?"
''They considered that it might be caused
by Arthur's closing his bedroom door,
"a likely story! as if man bent on felony
would slam his door so as to wake house.
hold. What did they say then of the disap-
pearance of these gems?"
'They are still sounding the planking and
probing the furniture in the hope of finding
them"
Have they thought Of looking outside the
house?"
"Yes, they have shown extraordinary
energy. The whole garden has already been
minutely examined"
'Now, my dear sir" said Holmes SIS it
not obvious to you now'that this matter
really strikes very much deeper than either
you or the police were at first inclined to
think? 1t appeared to you to be a simple
case, to me it seems exceedingly complex.
W
You suppose that your son came down from
his bed, went at great risk to your dressing
room, opened your bureau. took out your
coronet, broke of by main force a small por-
tion of it, went off to some other place, con-
cealed three gems out of the 80 with such
skill tina. nobody can find them,> and then
returned with the other Sc into the room in
which he exposed himself to the greatest
danger of being discovered. ask you now
is such theory tenable?"
"But what other is there?" cried the
banker, with a gesture of despair. eff his
motives were innocent why does he not ex-
plain them?"
SIT is our task to find them out" replied
Holder, we will set off for Streatham TO-
gether, and devote an hour to glancing a
little more closely into details"
My friend insisted upon my accompany
ing them in their expedition, which was
eager enough to do, for my curiosity and
sympathy were deeply stirred BY the story
to which we had listened. I confess that
the guilt of the bankers son appeared to me
to be as obvious as it did to his unhappy
father, but still had such faith in Holmes
judgment that I felt that there must be
some grounds for hope as long as he was
dissatisfied with the accepted explanation.
nc udIuAy spoke WOIQ the WnOle way OUT
to the southern suburb, but sat with his
chin upon his breast and his hat drawn over
his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our
client appeared to have taken fresh heart at
the little glimpse of hope which had been
presented to him, and he even broke into a
desultory chat with me over his business
affairs. A short railway journey and
shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the
modest residence of the great financier
Fairbank was good-sized square house
of white stone, standing back little from
the road. A double carriage sweep with a
snow-clad lawn stretched down in front to
the two large iron gates which closed the
entrances. On the right side was a small
wooden wicket, which led into narrow
path between two neat hedges stretching
from the road to the kitchen door, and form
ing the tradesman's entrance. On the left
ran lane which led to the stables, and was
not itself within the grounds at all, being q
public, though little used, thoroughfare.
Holmes left US standing ct the door, and
walked slowly all around the house, across
the front, down the bridesmaids path, and
SO around by the garden behind into the
stable lane. So long was he that Mr.. Holder
and went into the dining room and waited
by the fire until he should return.
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