Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-10

tion me upon any point which I do not
make clear"
ON the contrary. your statement is sim
gularly lucid"
i come to part of my story now in
which l should wish to be particularly so. I
am not very heavy sleeper. and the anx-
lety In my mind tended, no doubt. to make
me even less SO than usual. About 2 in the
morning, then. l was awakened by some
sound In the house. 1t had ceased ere was
wide awake but 1t had left an impression
oehind 1T as though window had gently
closed somewhere. 1 lay listening with all
my ears Suddenly, to my horror. there was
a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly
in the next room. / slipped out. of bed, all
paipitating with fear, and peeped round the
corner OF my dressing room door.
Arthur! l screamed, you william you
thief! How dare you touch that coronet?
The gas was half up. 1 had left it.
ana my unhappy boy, dressed only in his
shirt and trousers, was standing beside the
HSht, holding the coronet In his hands He
appeared to be wrenching ar it. or bending
1t with all his strength. AT may cry he
dropped 1t from his grasp and turned as
pale as death. l snatched 1t up and exam
ined it. One of the gold corners, with three
OF the beryls in 1t, was missing.
ou biackguard" l shouted, beside my
SELF with rage. You have destroyed it!
You have dishonored me for ever Where
are the jewels which you have stolen"
Stolen he cried.
Yes, you thief!' l roared shaking him
by the shoulder.
There are none missing Their, cannot
be any missing. said he.
There are three missing. And you know
where they are Must 1 call you liar. as
Wen as thief? DID l not see you trying to
tear off another pieceT
You have called me names enough
SAID he: Will not stand 1t any longer.
Shall not say another word about this hust
ness since you have chosen to insuit me
Will leave your house In the morning and
make my own way in the world
Y GU shall leave 1t in the hands OF the
poiice' 1 cried, half mad with grief and
rase: shall have this matter probad to
the bottom ~
You shall learn nothing from me- said
ne. with a passion such as 1 should not
nave thought was in his nature. II you
cioose 10 can the police. let the police find
what they can
by this time the whole house was nstir,
,or had raised my voic, in my anger.
MARY was the first to rush into my room,
and. at the sight of the coronet and Of Ar
thurs face. she read the whole story and
with a scream fell down senseless on the
ground l sent the houseraaid for the
ponce. and put the investigation into their
hands at once. When the inspector and a
constable entered the house, Arthur, who
mad stood sullenly with his arms folded
asked me whether 1t was my intention to
charge him with theft. l answered that It
mao ceased to be private mater. but had
become public one since the ruined coro-
net was national property. l was deter
mined that the law should have its way in
everything.
AT least said he Won will MT baya
me arrested at once. 1t would be to your
advantage as well as mine If l might leave
the house for five minutes
fhat you may get away, or perhaps that
you may conceal what you have stolen
said l. And then realizing the dreadful DO
sition In which / was placed, l implored
him to remember that not only my honor,
put that or one who was far greater than
was at stake: and that he threatened to
raise a scandal which would convulse the
nation. He might avert it all If he would
but tell me what he had done with the
three missing stones
You may well face the matter said
L; you have been caught in the act and no
confession could make your guilt more
he.nous. If you but make such reparati
as Is In your power, by telling US where
the beryls are. all shall be forgiven and
forgotten
Keep your forgiveness for those wno
ask for it, he answered turning away from
me with sheer. ! saw that he was too
hardened for any words Of mine to infiu-
ence him. There but one way for it
I called in the inspector. and gave him
Into custody. search was made at once,
not only Of his person. but of his room,
and of every portion of the house where
he could possibly have concealed the gems:
but no trace of them could be found nor
would the wretched boy open his mouth for
all our persuasions and our threats. This
morning he was removed to a cell and 1
after going through all the police formaIi-
ties, have hurried round to you, to implore
you to use your skill in unraveling the mat
ter. The police have openly confessed that
they can at present make nothing of It,
You may go to any expense which you
think necessary. / have already offered a
reward of Fl 900. My God. what shall dol
l have lost my honor my gems and my
son in one night Oh. what shall 1 do"
He put a hand on either side of his head
a ri al -
himself like a child whose grief has got
beyond words
Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some
few minutes, with his brows knitted and
his eyes fixed upon the fire.
do you receive much company" he
asked.
None. save my partner with his family,
and an occasional friends of Arthur's. Sir
George Burnwell has been several times
lately. No one else. l think
DO you go out much in society"
Arthur does. Mary and l stay at home.
We neither of care for It"
That is unusual in a young girl"
She Is of a quiet nature. Besides, che
is not so very young. She is four and
twenty"
This matter. from what you say, seems
to havs been a shock to her also"
Terrible! She is even more affected
than l."
You have neither of you any doubt as
to your sons guilt"
HOW can we nave, when | him with
my own eyes with the coronet in his
hands?"
Il hardly consider that a conclusive
proof. Was the remainder of the coronet
at all intured?"
Yes. 1t was twisted"
do you not think, then, that he might
have been trying to straighten it?'
God bless you! You doing what you
can for him and for me. But 1t Is too
heavy a task. What was he doing there
at all? If his purpose were innocent, why
did he not say so?'
Precisely. And If 1t were guilty, why
did he not invent a lie? His silence ap-
pears to me to 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 1t might be caused
by Arthur closing his bedroom door"
"A likely story AS If man bent on
felony would slam his door so as to wake
household. What did they say, then of
the disappearance of these gems?"
They are still sounding the planking
and probing the furniture in the hope Of
finding them.
Have you thought of looking outside of
the house?'
Yes, they have shown extraordinary en-
ergy. The whole garden has already been
infinitely examined"
CIV