Washington telegraph., 1844-11-13
T Ii E L0 CK E L.
A TALE OF CRIME.
BY J. Il. CARPENTER.
CHATTER l.

when the republican army under Ney,
Moreau, Lamb, Cyr. and other of its bravest
generals, was pursuing its victorious career,
and LAYING waste some fthe most important
towns i'm Germany, that the circumstances
we are about to relate took place.
The frequent want Of stores, ammunition,
and money, in the republican armies, and
the hope of plunder then frequently held
out to the French soldiers as the reward OF
victory, caused no inconsiderable alarm IN
the breasts ofthe more peaceable inha 5tant'
ofthose places which were considered likely
to become the theatre of hOstIlitles.
Among these, the inhabitants or a Ger
man town of considerable importance--ard
which for distinction we will call EBIIsrIEN
had ample reasons for their misgivings;
the daily, almost hourly, approach of the
French being expected.
The family of Paul Kinm1yer, a merchant
citizen of great wealth, was amongst those
most agitated by the affecting intelligence.
His household consisted of his wife, an only
daughter, and a few tiomestics in whom he
could place confidence. His daughter was
the spring which regulated every action of
the merchants life; she was the apple of his
eve, the sunshine of his shady places; for
her rare beauty might win with il a station
frank and influence; and now the hope off
whole lifetime might be wrecked in a few
brief hours.
His wife was first to suggest plan for
the concealment of their treasures. Their
mansion was situated near the extremity
of the town, and from IT n secTe' passage
communicated with bower in the garden
adjoining; from thence, in the evening,
man might easily steal unperceived to the
adjacent woods; and there she proposed that
the merchant should at nighttime. bury his
treasure: or, at any rate, that he shou
proceed through the forest and deposit it
with relation who was to be trusted, who
would not he suspected of posses ing So
much wealth, and who resided about tw }
DAYS Journey from the place.
For time, Paul Kinmayer resisted every
importun,tv of his wife. Who would pro-
tect them should the anticipated attack take
place in his absencel The domestics were
old and infirm, and they would be too much
alarmed for their own safety to care much
for others n akin to them. But when his
wife spoke upon the future: when she i'm
pressed on him that il was wealth on'y that
would be required of their, and that, de-
prived of that all for which they had SO long
struggled would be scattered in a IN m ut,
his resolution gave aw:y.
Il go.' he said, sand leave you in the
trust of One whose all-powerful hand will
protect YOU; unless, indeed, in his infinite
wisdom, he deems it fitting that the inno-
cent should fall an example and terror to
the guilty"
Collecting all that was most valuable into
a small packet, as the evening approached,
the merchant was preps d tn depa t. One
Jewel only remained behind-it was his
own miniature, SIT in locket, with dia-
monds of great value. Ii was his wedding
gift to Amelia, and with il he hesited to
part; and he placed it again around her
neck with the same fcrror and affection
that he felt when he first presented it. To
her and to his daughter, the namesike OF
her mother, he gave some necessary direc-
tions for their welfare during his absence,
and taking an affectionate farewell, he de-
parted, unknown to any but themselves
1t was in the evening of the fourth day
after the merchant departed that the roll ot
the drums, the shrill voice of the trnmPhet
calling to arms, and the tumult among the
inhabitants without, proclaimed to the IN
mates of the mansion that the enemy was
fast approaching. The town was, indeed,
filled with Austrian troops, but these had
been Sc often and lately harrassed and de-
feated by the victorious arms of the French,
that it was not without reason the citizens
felt strong misgivings in their prowess.
All chance of the merchant being enabled
to reach his house, or even to obtain ad-
mittance within the town previous to the
terination, was now entirely shut out. The
wife had but little doubt that his rePuted
wealth would not permit the house to pass
unmolested; and after causing the doors
to be barricaded, and the windows and
shutters secured, she proceeded with her
daughter to the innermost apartment OF the
mansion.
CHAPTER III.
On the return of the merchant, the French
army was evacuating the place. carrying
with them the trophies they had wrested
from the conquered Austrians, and large
supply of stores and plunder from the de-
voted town. Pauls heart died within him
as ne steaithily entered the suburbs, and
proceeded towards the place of his own
residence.
Within the town all was confusion and
dismay; here were open storehouses, rifled
of their contents, the very doors torn from
their hinges; there, the trim gardens of the
richer classes broken down and trampled
over; in the market-places were groups of
the middle and lower classes, loudly COM
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