The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-07-14
PART ONE.

side OF the fire in his lodgings At
Baker street, life is infinitely
stranger than anything which the
mind of man could invent We would
not dare conveive the things which
are really mere commonplaces of ex-
istence If we could fly out of that
window hand in hand, hover over the
great city, gently remove the roofs,
and peep in at the queer things which
are going on, the strange condolences,
the plannings, the croSS-purposes, the
wonderful chains of events, working
through generations, and leading to
the most outre results, it would make
all fiction with its conventionalltes
and foreseen conclusions most stale
and improbable"
And yet / am not convinced Of it,
l answered. The cases which come
to light in the papers, are, as rule,
bald enough. and vulgar enough. We
have in our police reports realism
pushed TO its extreme limits, and yet
the result is, it must be confessed
neither fascinating nor artistic
"a certain selection and discretion
must be used in producing realistic
effect, remarked Homes. This is
" cl4LllLlS5 III lllC POillC lNpOlLy
more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the
platitudes of the magistrate than upon
the details, which to an observer, con
tain the vital essence of the whole
matter. Depend upon it, there is
nothing so unnatural as the common
| place"
| l smiled and shook my head. Il car
quite understand you thinking So,
said. "Of course, in your position o.
unofficial adviser and helper TO every
body who is absolutely puzzled
throughout three continents, you arr
brought in contact with all that il
| strange and bizarre. But here
picked up the morning paper from thu
ground-"let US put it to a practica
test Here is the first heading upoI
which l come. "A husbands cruelt.
TO his wife There is hat a column
of print, but I know without reading
it that it is all perfectly familiar t.
me. There is, of course. the othe
woman, the drink, the push, the bow
the bruise, the sympathetic sister o
| landlady. The crudest of writers coult
invent nothing more crude"
Indeed, you exampe is an unfortu
nate one for your argument, SAT-
Homes, taking the paper and glancini
his eye down it. This is the Dunda
separation case, and, as it happens,
was engaged in clearing up some small
/ points in connection with it. Tn
husband was a teetotallar, there wa
no other woman, and the conduct CON
planned of was that he had drifte
into the habit of winding up ever
meal by taking out his false teeth
and hurting them at his wife, which
you will allow, is not an action Hkel
TO occur to the Imagination of tn
average story-teller. Take a pinch G
snuff, doctor, and acknowledge tina
have scored over you in your e2
ample"
He held out his snuffbox of oil
gold, with a great amethyst in tn
center of the lid. Its splendor was i
such contrast TO his homely ways an
menting upon it.
'Ah," said he, 81 forgot that I ha
not seen you for some weeks. 1t
a little souvenir from the King of b
hemia in return for my assistance i
: the case of the Irene Adler papers.
and the ring?" l asked, glancin
at remarkable brilliant which spa.
killed. upon his finger.
1T was from the reigning family {
Holland, though the matter in whic
l served them was of such delieac
that | cannot confide it even TO yol
who have been good enough to chrol
icle one or two of my little problems
And have you any on hand jus
now?" I asked, with interest.
Some ten or twelve, but none whic
: present any feature of interest The
are important, you understand, will
out being interesting. Indeed, I hav
found that it is usually in unimportar
matters that there is field for oil
!, servation, and for the quick analys
, of cause and effect which gives tn
, charm to an investigation The large
crimes are apt to be the simpler, fC
, the bigger the crime, the more Of
, | vious, as rule, is the motive.
, these cases, save for one rather il
tricate matter which has been referre
, to me from Marseilles, there is not
, ing which presents any features of il
terest. 1t is possible, however, that
> may have something better befol
> very many minutes are over, for tn
is one of my clients, or l am muc
mistaken.
: He had risen from his chair, ar
+. was standing between the parte
! blinds, gazing down into the dull, ne
E tral-tinted London street. l saw tn;
:. on the pavement opposite there stoc
: a large woman with a heavy fur be
:, around her neck, and a large curlir
: red feather in a broad-brimemd h
: which was tilted in a coquettish Due
ess-of-Deyonshire fashion over b,
f ear. From under this great panop
she peeped up in nervous, hesitatil
fashion at our windows, while h
body oscillated backward and forwar
and her fingers fgited with h
- glove buttons. Suddenly, with
5 plunge. as of the swimmer who leav
the bank, she hurried across the roa
- and we heard the sharp clang of Il
y bell
It 81 have seen those symptoms b
n FORE said Holmes, throwing his CT
l. arctic into the fire. Oscillation upt
e the pavement always means an affai
s de occur She would like advice, b
It is not sure that the matter is not t
D delicate for communication. And W
e even here we may discriminate VIII,
a woman has been seriously wrong,
by a man she no longer oscillates, al
the usual symptom is a broken b.
II wire Here we NAV take if that the