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| <html> | |
| <head> | |
| <title>MONISHA</title> | |
| </head> | |
| <body> | |
| <font face="Times New Roman" size="4"> | |
| <center> | |
| DEFACED BY [THE ANTICHRIST] | |
| </center><BR><BR> | |
| The AntiChrist Greetz [KEEBLER ELVES] for their hacks of music bands.<br> | |
| Its amazing how you guys pick and choose your targets.<br> | |
| I wish I'd be that good some day :)<br> | |
| <br> | |
| More Greetz>>> [Xessor] [v00d00] [Devil-C] [Pakistan HC] [BeerCan] [Mozy] [Fl3m]<br><br> | |
| Hey Fl3m.. You guys are getting a little emotional these days. Cool it guys.<br><br> | |
| This site originally featured some trash. | |
| So I thought I'd introduce you to the world of Arthur Conan Doyle. | |
| The Sherlock Holmes short-story that follows makes this html abt 65 kb. | |
| Please wait while it loads. | |
| </font> | |
| <hr> | |
| <div align="center"><center> | |
| <pre><font face="Arial Narrow" size="6"> THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET</font> | |
| </pre> | |
| </center></div> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in | |
| our bow-window looking down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems | |
| rather sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone."</font> </p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood | |
| with his hands in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It was a | |
| bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day before still lay deep upon the | |
| ground, shimmering brightly in the wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been | |
| ploughed into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and on the heaped-up | |
| edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as when it fell. The gray pavement had been | |
| cleaned and scraped, but was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer | |
| passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the Metropolitan Station no one was | |
| coming save the single gentleman whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and | |
| imposing, with a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was dressed in | |
| a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining hat, neat brown gaiters, and | |
| well-cut pearl-gray trousers. Yet his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of | |
| his dress and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little springs, such as a | |
| weary man gives who is little accustomed to set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked | |
| his hands up and down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most extraordinary | |
| contortions.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"What on earth can be the matter with | |
| him?" I asked. "He is looking up at the numbers of the houses."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I believe that he is coming here," said | |
| Holmes, rubbing his hands.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Here?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me | |
| professionally. I think that I recognize the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As he | |
| spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and pulled at our bell until the | |
| whole house resounded with the clanging.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">A few moments later he was in our room, still | |
| puffing, still gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in his eyes | |
| that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and pity. For a while he could not get | |
| his words out, but swayed his body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to | |
| the extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his feet, he beat his head | |
| against the wall with such force that we both rushed upon him and tore him away to the | |
| centre of the room. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting | |
| beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, soothing tones which he knew | |
| so well how to employ.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You have come to me to tell your story, have | |
| you not?" said he. "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have | |
| recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into any little problem which | |
| you may submit to me."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving | |
| chest, fighting against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his brow, set | |
| his lips tight, and turned his face towards us.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"No doubt you think me mad?" said he.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I see that you have had some great | |
| trouble," responded Holmes.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough | |
| to unseat my reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might have faced, | |
| although I am a man whose character has never yet borne a stain. Private affliction also | |
| is the lot of every man; but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have | |
| been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. The very noblest in the | |
| land may suffer unless some way be found out of this horrible affair."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, | |
| "and let me have a clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen | |
| you."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"My name," answered our visitor, "is | |
| probably familiar to your ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & | |
| Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to | |
| the senior partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City of London. | |
| What could have happened, then, to bring one of the foremost citizens of London to this | |
| most pitiable pass? We waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced himself | |
| to tell his story.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I feel that time is of value," said he; | |
| "that is why I hastened here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure | |
| your cooperation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and hurried from there on | |
| foot, for the cabs go slowly through this snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I | |
| am a man who takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the facts | |
| before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"It is, of course, well known to you that in a | |
| successful banking business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative | |
| investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection and the number of our | |
| depositors. One of our most lucrative means of laying out money is in the shape of loans, | |
| where the security is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction during the | |
| last few years, and there are many noble families to whom we have advanced large sums upon | |
| the security of their pictures, libraries, or plate.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at | |
| the bank when a card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I saw the | |
| name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps even to you I had better say no | |
| more than that it was a name which is a household word all over the earth--one of the | |
| highest, noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the honor and | |
| attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged at once into business with the air | |
| of a man who wishes to hurry quickly through a disagreeable task.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed | |
| that you are in the habit of advancing money.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'The firm does so when the security is good.' | |
| I answered.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, | |
| 'that I should have 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a sum | |
| ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it a matter of business and to | |
| carry out that business myself. In my position you can readily understand that it is | |
| unwise to place one's self under obligations.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'For how long, may I ask, do you want this | |
| sum?' I asked.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and | |
| I shall then most certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you think it | |
| right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the money should be paid at once.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'I should be happy to advance it without | |
| further parley from my own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be | |
| rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do it in the name of the | |
| firm, then in justice to my partner I must insist that, even in your case, every | |
| businesslike precaution should be taken.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, | |
| raising up a square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. 'You have | |
| doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'One of the most precious public possessions | |
| of the empire,' said I.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, | |
| imbedded in soft, flesh-colored velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery which he | |
| had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said he, 'and the price of the gold | |
| chasing is incalculable. The lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double | |
| the sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my security.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I took the precious case into my hands and | |
| looked in some perplexity from it to my illustrious client.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You doubt its value?' he asked.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Not at all. I only doubt --'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set | |
| your mind at rest about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely | |
| certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a pure matter of form. Is | |
| the security sufficient?'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Ample.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving | |
| you a strong proof of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I have | |
| heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to refrain from all gossip upon | |
| the matter but, above all, to preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because | |
| I need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any harm were to befall it. | |
| Any injury to it would be almost as serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls | |
| in the world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. I leave it with | |
| you, however, with every confidence, and I shall call for it in person on Monday morning.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I | |
| said no more but, calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 pound | |
| notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the precious case lying upon the table in | |
| front of me, I could not but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility | |
| which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it was a national possession, | |
| a horrible scandal would ensue if any misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted | |
| having ever consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter the matter | |
| now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned once more to my work.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"When evening came I felt that it would be an | |
| imprudence to leave so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had been | |
| forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how terrible would be the position | |
| in which I should find myself! I determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would | |
| always carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might never be really out | |
| of my reach. With this intention, I called a cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, | |
| carrying the jewel with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs and | |
| locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, | |
| for I wish you to thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep out of | |
| the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three maid-servants who have been with | |
| me a number of years and whose absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, | |
| Lucy Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few months. She came | |
| with an excellent character, however, and has always given me satisfaction. She is a very | |
| pretty girl and has attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. That is | |
| the only drawback which we have found to her, but we believe her to be a thoroughly good | |
| girl in every way.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"So much for the servants. My family itself is | |
| so small that it will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an only | |
| son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. Holmes-- a grievous disappointment. I | |
| have no doubt that I am myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very | |
| likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I had to love. I could not | |
| bear to see the smile fade even for a moment from his face. I have never denied him a | |
| wish. Perhaps it would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I meant it | |
| for the best.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"It was naturally my intention that he should | |
| succeed me in my business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, wayward, and, | |
| to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the handling of large sums of money. When he | |
| was young he became a member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming manners, | |
| he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long purses and expensive habits. He | |
| learned to play heavily at cards and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and | |
| again to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his allowance, that he | |
| might settle his debts of honor. He tried more than once to break away from the dangerous | |
| company which he was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir George | |
| Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a | |
| man as Sir George Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently | |
| brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could hardly resist the | |
| fascination of his manner. He is older than Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, | |
| one who had been everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of great | |
| personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far away from the glamour of his | |
| presence, I am convinced from his cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his | |
| eyes that he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, too, thinks my | |
| little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into character.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"And now there is only she to be described. She | |
| is my niece; but when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the world I | |
| adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my daughter. She is a sunbeam in my | |
| house--sweet, loving, beautiful, a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and | |
| quiet and gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know what I could do | |
| without her. In only one matter has she ever gone against my wishes. Twice my boy has | |
| asked her to marry him, for he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I | |
| think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it would have been she, and | |
| that his marriage might have changed his whole life; but now, alas! it is too | |
| late--forever too late!</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live | |
| under my roof, and I shall continue with my miserable story.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room | |
| that night after dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious | |
| treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name of my client. Lucy Parr, | |
| who had brought in the coffee, had, I am sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the | |
| door was closed. Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous | |
| coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'In my own bureau.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be | |
| burgled during the night.' said he.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'It is locked up,' I answered.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I | |
| was a youngster I have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"He often had a wild way of talking, so that I | |
| thought little of what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with a very | |
| grave face.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast | |
| down, 'can you let me have 200 pounds?'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have | |
| been far too generous with you in money matters.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I | |
| must have this money, or else I can never show my face inside the club again.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'And a very good thing, too!' I cried.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a | |
| dishonored man,' said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money in some | |
| way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try other means.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I was very angry, for this was the third | |
| demand during the month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which he | |
| bowed and left the room without another word.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made | |
| sure that my treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go round the house | |
| to see that all was secure--a duty which I usually leave to Mary but which I thought it | |
| well to perform myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself at the | |
| side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as I approached.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, | |
| a little disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out to-night?'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Certainly not.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'She came in just now by the back door. I have | |
| no doubt that she has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that it is | |
| hardly safe and should be stopped.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You must speak to her in the morning, or I | |
| will if you prefer it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Quite sure, dad.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Then. good-night.' I kissed her and went up | |
| to my bedroom again, where I was soon asleep.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I am endeavoring to tell you everything, Mr. | |
| Holmes, which may have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question me upon | |
| any point which I do not make clear."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"On the contrary, your statement is singularly | |
| lucid."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I come to a part of my story now in which I | |
| should wish to be particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety in my | |
| mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. About two in the morning, then, | |
| I was awakened by some sound in the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had | |
| left an impression behind it as though a window had gently closed somewhere. I lay | |
| listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my horror, there was a distinct sound of | |
| footsteps moving softly in the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, | |
| and peeped round the comer of my dressing-room door.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! | |
| How dare you touch that coronet?'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my | |
| unhappy boy, dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the light, | |
| holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be wrenching at it, or bending it with | |
| all his strength. At my cry he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I | |
| snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with three of the beryls in it, | |
| was missing.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself | |
| with rage. 'You have destroyed it! You have dishonored me forever! Where are the jewels | |
| which you have stolen?'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Stolen!' he cried.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the | |
| shoulder.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'There are none missing. There cannot be any | |
| missing,' said he.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'There are three missing. And you know where | |
| they are. Must I call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to tear off | |
| another piece?'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I | |
| will not stand it any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, since you | |
| have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in the morning and make my own way in | |
| the world.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You shall leave it in the hands of the | |
| police!' I cried half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to the | |
| bottom.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he | |
| with a passion such as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to call | |
| the police, let the police find what they can.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"By this time the whole house was astir, for I | |
| had raised my voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, at the | |
| sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the whole story and, with a scream, | |
| fell down senseless on the ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the | |
| investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a constable entered the | |
| house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with his arms folded, asked me whether it was my | |
| intention to charge him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private matter, | |
| but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was national property. I was | |
| determined that the law should have its way in everything.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me | |
| arrested at once. It would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the house | |
| for five minutes.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'That you may get away, or perhaps that you | |
| may conceal what you have stolen,' said I. And then, realizing the dreadful position in | |
| which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only my honor but that of one who | |
| was far greater than I 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.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'You may as well face the matter,' said I; | |
| 'you have been caught in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. If | |
| you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling us where the beryls are, all | |
| shall be forgiven and forgotten.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for | |
| it,' he answered, turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened for | |
| any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for it. I called in the | |
| inspector and gave him into custody. A 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 I, after | |
| going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to you to implore you to use | |
| your skill in unravelling the matter. The police have openly confessed that they can at | |
| present make nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think necessary. I have | |
| already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My God, what shall I do! I have lost my honor, my | |
| gems, and my son in one night. Oh, what shall I do!"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked | |
| himself to and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got beyond words.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, | |
| with his brows knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Do you receive much company?" he asked.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"None save my partner with his family and an | |
| occasional friend of Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No one | |
| else, I think."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Do you go out much in society?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We | |
| neither of us care for it."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"That is unusual in a young girl."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not | |
| so very young. She is four-and-twenty."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"This matter, from what you say, seems to have | |
| been a shock to her also."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Terrible! She is even more affected than | |
| I."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You have neither of you any doubt as to your | |
| son's guilt?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"How can we have when I saw him with my own | |
| eyes with the coronet in his hands."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was | |
| the remainder of the coronet at all injured?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes, it was twisted."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Do you not think, then, that he might have | |
| been trying to straighten it?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"God bless you! You are doing what you can for | |
| him and for me. But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If his purpose | |
| were innocent, why did he not say so?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he | |
| not invent a lie? His silence appears 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?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"They considered that it might be caused by | |
| Arthur's closing his bedroom door."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"A likely story! As if a man bent on felony | |
| would slam his door so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the | |
| disappearance of these gems?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"They are still sounding the planking and | |
| probing the furniture in the hope of finding them."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Have they thought of looking outside the | |
| house?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The | |
| whole garden has already been minutely examined."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Now, my dear sir," said Holmes. "is | |
| 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? It appeared to you to be a simple case; to | |
| me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider what is involved by your theory. 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 off by main force a small portion of it, went | |
| off to some other place, concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill | |
| thatcan find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six into the room in which he | |
| exposed himself to the greatest danger of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a | |
| theory tenable?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"But what other is there?" cried the | |
| banker with a gesture of despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not | |
| explain them?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"It is our task to find that out," replied | |
| Holmes; "so now, if you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, | |
| and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into details."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in | |
| their expedition, which I 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 | |
| banker's son appeared to me to be as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I | |
| had such faith in Holmes's judgment that I felt that there must be some grounds for hope | |
| as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted explanation. He hardly spoke a word the | |
| whole 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 a | |
| shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest residence of the great financier.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white | |
| stone, standing back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a snow-clad | |
| lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates which closed the entrance. On the | |
| right side was a small wooden thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat | |
| hedges stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the tradesmen's entrance. | |
| On the left ran a lane which led to the stables, and was not itself within the grounds at | |
| all, being a public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing at the door | |
| and walked slowly all round the house, across the front, down the tradesmen's path, and so | |
| round by the garden behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I went | |
| into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should return. We were sitting there | |
| in silence when the door opened and a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle | |
| height, slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against the absolute pallor | |
| of her skin. I do not think that I have ever seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. | |
| Her lips, too, were bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept | |
| silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of grief than the banker had | |
| done in the morning, and it was the more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of | |
| strong character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding my presence, she | |
| went straight to her uncle and passed her hand over his head with a sweet womanly caress.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You have given orders that Arthur should be | |
| liberated, have you not, dad?" she asked.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to | |
| the bottom."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know | |
| what woman's instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will be sorry for | |
| having acted so harshly."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Why is he silent, then, if he is | |
| innocent?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry | |
| that you should suspect him."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"How could I help suspecting him, when I | |
| actually saw him with the coronet in his hand?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at | |
| it. Oh, do, do take my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say no | |
| more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in prison!"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I shall never let it drop until the gems are | |
| found--never, Mary! Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences to | |
| me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman down from London to inquire | |
| more deeply into it."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"This gentleman?" she asked, facing round | |
| to me.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"No, his friend. He wished us to leave him | |
| alone. He is round in the stable lane now."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"The stable lane?" She raised her dark | |
| eyebrows. "What can he hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, | |
| that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, that my cousin Arthur is | |
| innocent of this crime."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with | |
| you, that we may prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the snow | |
| from his shoes. "I believe I have the honor of addressing Miss Mary Holder. Might I | |
| ask you a question or two?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this | |
| horrible affair up."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You heard nothing yourself last night?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak | |
| loudly. I heard that, and I came down."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You shut up the windows and doors the night | |
| before. Did you fasten all the windows?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Were they all fastened this morning?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think | |
| that you remarked to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the | |
| drawing-room. and who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I see. You infer that she may have gone out to | |
| tell her sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"But what is the good of all these vague | |
| theories," cried the banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur | |
| with the coronet in his hands?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back | |
| to that. About this girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I | |
| presume?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes; when I went to see if the door was | |
| fastened for the night I met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Do you know him?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our | |
| vegetables round. His name is Francis Prosper."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"He stood," said Holmes, "to the left | |
| of the door--that is to say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the | |
| door?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes, he did."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"And he is a man with a wooden leg?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's | |
| expressive black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do | |
| you know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in Holmes's thin, eager | |
| face.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I should be very glad now to go | |
| upstairs," said he. "I shall probably wish to go over the outside of the house | |
| again. Perhaps I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">He walked swiftly round from one to the other, | |
| pausing only at the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. This he | |
| opened and made a very careful examination of the sill with his powerful magnifying lens. | |
| "Now we shall go upstairs," said he at last.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished | |
| little chamber, with a gray carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. Holmes went to the | |
| bureau first and looked hard at the lock.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Which key was used to open it?" he asked.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"That which my son himself indicated--that of | |
| the cupboard of the lumber-room."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Have you it here?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"That is it on the dressing-table."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"It is a noiseless lock," said he. | |
| "It is no wonder that it did not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the | |
| coronet. We must have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem he | |
| laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the jeweller's art, and the | |
| thirty-six stones were the finest that I have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a | |
| cracked edge, where a corner holding three gems had been torn away.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here | |
| is the corner which corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I beg | |
| that you will break it off."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not | |
| dream of trying," said he.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his | |
| strength upon it, but without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; | |
| "but, though I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my time | |
| to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do you think would happen if I did | |
| break it, Mr. Holder? There would be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all | |
| this happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard nothing of it?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I do not know what to think. It is all dark to | |
| me."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What | |
| do you think, Miss Holder?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I confess that I still share my uncle's | |
| perplexity." "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"He had nothing on save only his trousers and | |
| shirt."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Thank you. We have certainly been favored with | |
| extraordinary luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault if we do not | |
| succeed in clearing the matter up. With your pemmission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue | |
| my investigations outside."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">He went alone, at his own request, for he explained | |
| that any unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an hour or more he | |
| was at work, returning at last with his feet heavy with snow and his features as | |
| inscrutable as ever.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I think that I have seen now all that there is | |
| to see, Mr. Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my | |
| rooms."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are | |
| they?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I cannot tell."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see | |
| them again!" he cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"My opinion is in no way altered."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Then, for God's sake, what was this dark | |
| business which was acted in my house last night?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"If you can call upon me at my Baker Street | |
| rooms to-morrow morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to make it | |
| clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to act for you, provided only that I | |
| get back the gems, and that you place no limit on the sum I may draw."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I would give my fortune to have them | |
| back."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Very good. I shall look into the matter | |
| between this and then. Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here | |
| again before evening."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was | |
| now made up about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than I could even | |
| dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward journey I endeavored to sound him upon | |
| the point, but he always glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in | |
| despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our rooms once more. He hurried | |
| to his chamber and was down again in a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his | |
| collar turned up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he was a | |
| perfect sample of the class.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I think that this should do," said he, | |
| glancing into the glass above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with | |
| me, Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in this matter, or I may be | |
| following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back | |
| in a few hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, sandwiched | |
| it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this rude meal into his pocket he started | |
| off upon his expedition.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">I had just finished my tea when he returned, | |
| evidently in excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his hand. He chucked | |
| it down into a corner and helped himself to a cup of tea.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I only looked in as I passed," said he. | |
| "I am going right on."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Where to?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may | |
| be some time before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be late."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"How are you getting on?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been | |
| out to Streatham since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a very sweet | |
| little problem, and I would not have missed it for a good deal. However, I must not sit | |
| gossiping here, but must get these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly | |
| respectable self."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">I could see by his manner that he had stronger | |
| reasons for satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, and there | |
| was even a touch of color upon his sallow cheeks. He hastened upstairs, and a few minutes | |
| later I heard the slam of the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his | |
| congenial hunt.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of | |
| his return, so I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away for days | |
| and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that his lateness caused me no | |
| surprise. I do not know at what hour he came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the | |
| morning there he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the other, as fresh | |
| and trim as possible.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You will excuse my beginning without you, | |
| Watson," said he, "but you remember that our client has rather an early | |
| appointment this morning."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Why, it is after nine now," I answered. | |
| "I should not be surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was | |
| shocked by the change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally of a broad | |
| and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, while his hair seemed to me at least a | |
| shade whiter. He entered with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than | |
| his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into the armchair which I | |
| pushed forward for him.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I do not know what I have done to be so | |
| severely tried," said he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, | |
| without a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonored age. One sorrow | |
| comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, Mary, has deserted me."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Deserted you?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept | |
| in, her room was empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to her last | |
| night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had married my boy all might have been well | |
| with him. Perhaps it was thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers | |
| in this note:</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought | |
| trouble upon you, and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune might never | |
| have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my mind, ever again be happy under your | |
| roof, and I feel that I must leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is | |
| provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will be fruitless labour and an | |
| ill-service to me. In life or in death, I am ever your loving MARY.'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? | |
| Do you think it points to suicide?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the | |
| best possible solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of your | |
| troubles."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. | |
| Holmes; you have learned something! Where are the gems?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an | |
| excessive sum for them?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I would pay ten."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will | |
| cover the matter. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? Here is | |
| a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">With a dazed face the banker made out the required | |
| check. Holmes walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of gold with | |
| three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You have it!" he gasped. "I am | |
| saved! I am saved!"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief | |
| had been, and he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"There is one other thing you owe, Mr. | |
| Holder," said Sherlock Holmes rather sternly.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the | |
| sum, and I will pay it."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very | |
| humble apology to that noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I | |
| should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to have one."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Then it was not Arthur who took them?"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, | |
| that it was not."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him | |
| at once to let him know that the truth is known."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"He knows it already. When I had cleared it all | |
| up I had an interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the story, I told it | |
| to him, on which he had to confess that I was right and to add the very few details which | |
| were not yet quite clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his | |
| lips." </font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this | |
| extraordinary mystery !"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I will do so, and I will show you the steps by | |
| which I reached it. And let me say to you, first, that which it 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 fled together."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"My Mary? Impossible!"</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"It is unfortunately more than possible; 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--a ruined | |
| gambler, an absolutely desperate 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 hundred | |
| before her, she flattered herself that she alone had touched his heart. The devil knows | |
| best what he said, but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing him | |
| nearly every evening."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" | |
| cried the banker with an ashen face.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I 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 | |
| footmarks had pressed right through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of | |
| the coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he bent her to his will. I | |
| have no doubt that she loved you, but there are women in whom the love of a lover | |
| extinguishes all other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had hardly | |
| listened to his instructions when she saw you coming downstairs, on which she closed the | |
| window rapidly and told you about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged | |
| lover, which was all perfectly true.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his | |
| interview with you but he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. | |
| In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, so he rose and, looking | |
| out, was surprised to see his cousin walking very stealthily along the passage until she | |
| disappeared into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment. the lad slipped on some | |
| clothes and waited there in the dark to see what would come of this strange affair. | |
| Presently she emerged from the room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son | |
| saw that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed down the stairs, and | |
| he, thrilling with horror, ran along and slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence | |
| he could see what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the window, hand | |
| out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then closing it once more hurry back to her | |
| room, passing quite close to where he stood hid behind the curtain.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"As long as she was on the scene he could not | |
| take any action without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the instant | |
| that she was gone he realized how crushing a misfortune this would be for you, and how | |
| all-important it was to set it right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, | |
| opened the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, where he could see a | |
| dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught | |
| him, and there was a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the coronet, | |
| and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son struck Sir George and cut him over | |
| the eye. Then something suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet in | |
| his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your room, and had just observed | |
| that the coronet had been twisted in the struggle and was endeavoring to straighten it | |
| when you appeared upon the scene."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Is it possible?" gasped the banker.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"You then roused his anger by calling him names | |
| at a moment when he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not explain | |
| the true state of affairs without betraying one who certainly deserved little enough | |
| consideration at his hands. He took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her | |
| secret."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"And that was why she shrieked and fainted when | |
| she saw the coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have | |
| been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! The dear fellow wanted to | |
| see if the missing piece were at the scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged | |
| him!'</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"When I arrived at the house," continued | |
| Holmes, "I at once went very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces | |
| in the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since the evening before, and | |
| also that there had been a strong frost to preserve impressions. I passed along the | |
| tradesmen's path, but found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, | |
| however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood and talked with a man, | |
| whose round impressions on one side showed that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell | |
| that they had been disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was shown | |
| by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had waited a little, and then had | |
| gone away. I thought at the time that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom | |
| you had already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed round the garden | |
| without seeing anything more than random tracks, which I took to be the police; but when I | |
| got into the stable lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in front of | |
| me.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"There was a double line of tracks of a booted | |
| man, and a second double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked feet. | |
| I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the latter was your son. The first | |
| had walked both ways, but the other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places | |
| over the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed after the other. I | |
| followed them up and found they led to the hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow | |
| away while waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred yards or more down | |
| the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, where the snow was cut up as though there had | |
| been a struggle, and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me that I | |
| was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and another little smudge of blood | |
| showed that it was he who had been hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I | |
| found that the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clew.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"On entering the house, however, I examined, as | |
| you remember, the sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could at once | |
| see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the outline of an instep where the | |
| wet foot had been placed in coming in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion | |
| as to what had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had brought the | |
| gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had pursued the thief; had struggled with | |
| him; they had each tugged at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which | |
| neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the prize, but had left a fragment | |
| in the grasp of his opponent. So far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man | |
| and who was it brought him the coronet?</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"It is an old maxim of mine that when you have | |
| excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Now, I | |
| knew that it was not you who had brought it down, so there only remained your niece and | |
| the maids. But if it were the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in | |
| their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his cousin, however, there was | |
| an excellent explanation why he should retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a | |
| disgraceful one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and how she had | |
| fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture became a certainty.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"And who could it be who was her confederate? A | |
| lover evidently, for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must feel to | |
| you? I knew that you went out little, and that your circle of friends was a very limited | |
| one. But among them was Sir George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of | |
| evil reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots and retained the | |
| missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur had discovered him, he might still flatter | |
| himself that he was safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his own | |
| family.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Well, your own good sense will suggest what | |
| measures I took next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, managed to | |
| pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that his master had cut his head the night | |
| before, and, finally, at the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of | |
| his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and saw that they exactly | |
| fitted the tracks."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane | |
| yesterday evening," said Mr. Holder.</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my | |
| man, so I came home and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to play | |
| then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert scandal, and I knew that so | |
| astute a villain would see that our hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At | |
| first, of course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every particular that had | |
| occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, | |
| however, and I clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he became a | |
| little more reasonable. I told him that we would give him a price for the stones he held | |
| 1000 pounds apiece. That brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, | |
| dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the three!' I soon managed to | |
| get the address of the receiver who had them, on promising him that there would be no | |
| prosecution. Off I set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 pounds | |
| apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all was right, and eventually got to | |
| my bed about two o'clock, after what I may call a really hard day's work."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"A day which has saved England from a great | |
| public scandal," said the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank | |
| you, but you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your skill has indeed | |
| exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I must fly to my dear boy to apologize to | |
| him for the wrong which I have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to | |
| my very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now."</font></p> | |
| <p><font face="Arial Narrow" size="4">"I think that we may safely say," returned | |
| Holmes, "that she is wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, | |
| that whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than sufficient | |
| punishment." </font></p> | |
| <hr> | |
| Copyright(C) The AntiChrist 1999. All rights reserved. | |
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