The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-07-30
al will show you the steps by which

s1 will show you the steps by which
reached my conclusions" said
Holmes. "And let me say to you first,
that which 1t Is hardest for me to say
and for you to hear: there has been
an understanding between Sir George
Burnwell and your niece Mary. They
have now fed together"
MY Mary? Impossible!"
TT Is, unfortunately, more than pos
sible; it Is certain. Neither you nor
your son knew the true character Of
this man when you admitted him into
your family circle. He is one of the
most dangerous men in England
ruined gambler, an absolutely desper-
ate villain, a man without heart or
conscience. Your niece knew nothing
of such men. When he breathed his
vows to her, as he had done to a hum
dred before her, she f1attered herself
that she alone had touched his heart.
The devil knows best what he said,
but at least she became his tool, and
J was in the habit of seeing him nearly
every evening"
Il cannot, and I will not, believe
it" cried the banker, with an ashcn
| face.
II will tell you, then, what occurred
| in your house last night. Your niece
when you had, as she thought, gone to
your room, slipped down and talked to
her lover through the window which
leads into the stable lane. His foot
marks had pressed right through the
snow, so long had he stood there. Sine
told him of the coronet His wicked
lust for gold kindled at the news, auC
he bent her to his will. / have NJ
doubt that she loved you, but there
are women in whom the love of c
lover extinguishes all other loves, anG
think that she must have been one
She had hardly listened to his instruc
lions when she saw you coming dow
stairs, on which she closed the win
dow rapidly, and told you about on
i Of the sevant's escapade with he
wooden-legged lover, which was al
perfectly true.
i "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed at
i ter his interview with yau, butt h
:. slept badly on account Of his uneasi
: ness about his club debts. In tn
! middle of the night he heard a sof
tread pass his door, SO he rose, an
: looking out, was surprised to see hi
cousin walking very stealthily alon
, the passage, until she disappeared il
to your dressing-room. Petrifed wit
!. establishment, the lad slipped on som
: clothes, and waited there in the dar
. to see what would come of thi
i strange affair. Presently she emerge
from the room again, and in the ligll
of the passage-lamp your son saw tina
, she carried the precious coronet i
her hands. She passed down tn
stairs, and he, thrilling with horro
: ran along and slipped behind the Gu
, tain near your door, whence he coui
see what passed in the hall beneatl
, He saw her stealthily open the vii
dow, hand out the coronet to som
one in the gloom, and then closing
once more hurry back to her room
T passing quite close to where he stoC
a hid behind the curtain.
o ''As long as she was on the seer
d he could not take any action witho'
a horrible exposure of the woma
= whom he loved. But the instant tn
n she was gone he realized how crus
i ing a misfortune this would be fl
n you, and how all-important it was
set it right. He rushed down, just
he was, in his bare feet, opened Il
Y window, sprang out into the snow, al