Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-08-10

No longer a remote and sequcstcred region,
1t will at once attain commanding attitude
upon the great highway of Western commerce.
Essex County will then enjoy wide and per-
petually expanding market, for all the pro-
ducts of her mines, her workshops and fur
naces.
LADY TuiEvEs-Let me say something
then, about lady thieves, md inform Mr..
Moulc and Mr. Every body Else, how have
learned to handle that sort of business
When first opened shop, ! knew nothing
about it--had never bestowed II thought upon
it and when one day. saw IA genteel young
girl drop her cambric handkerchief on an
article which ! usually sold for guinea, and
taking both up together, convey them to her
pocket, I seized her unceremoniously, hauled
her into my ltttlc backroom, rang tho bell
for the maid had her searched, found the
article upon her, sent fOT Il Bow street officer,
(there were no policemen thcn,) and gave
her into custody. What fool was to be
sure 1t happened that her father was q
clergyman, backed by high connections, and
looking forward to be II bishop before long.
lie bailcd her out II no tinc--cnme down
upon me with charge Of conspiracy, and
threats of transportation fof iie, badgered
my scrving-wench out of her wits. first him
self and then sent u hatchet- faced fellow to
cross examine her. who drove her clean
bcwildered.--more fool for letting him do it.
but knew no better then. ] saw 1T would
never do to take the cnae to trial with such
witness, and by Jovo she saved mo the
troCba by boiling away before the day of
trial came | was obliged to withdraw the
charge and pretend that it was al Il mistake.
The clergyman talked Of prosecuting me Tor
conspiracy But he had some conscience, and
laH.t had
confessed the theft to him. As il wac srt
the reputation Of II monster and only Fc'
covered my character hy acknowledging that
| must haze been drunk at the time, and
didn' L know what ! was about |, who was
never drunk i'll my lie The affair cost inc
tiity pounds in cash, and damaged my connec-
tiDn to the extent of two hundred more ]
should have been ruined, but the parson got
his bishopric, and left my neighhorhOod !
put new name ON my sgn-bOard. and IN
time the event was forgotten ! had learned
a valuable lesson.
The next lady thief who favored Inc with
visit. did Inc the honor to rob me to
amount of two pounds ten. She did it SO
clumsily that | could not avoid seeing her.
affected not to notice it smilingly took her
order to the amount Of q few shillings, and
when | sent home the goods, put the stolen
/ articles down in the bill Sh6 called next
day, and with the utmost affabIlity informed
Inc of the mistake | had made in charging an
article | had not sent and which she had not
ordered. She brought her companion with
her, to prove that the articles charged were
not in the packet sent-which OF course
knew well enough. | admitted the mistake
with perfect good hunor, and she went away
/ 1t will be acknowledged that had learned
my lesson we'll; but though | congratulated
] hut thpunbf bp
teaching too expensive and resolved to try
another plan next time had not long to
wait for an opportunity. Lady $. the
wife of baronet, took q fancy to some
property of rather rare description, and
concealed it in the folds Of her sleeves
When she had made her purchase, | request
| ed her, under the prctence that had some
thing remarkable to show her, to step into
the parOr, closing the door alter her. Your
| lady ship Is not aware, SAID |, 'ol what you
have donc-I have observed that at times you
are very distracted i'll your manner ; allow
me to show you what you have been doing.
With that caught her firmly by the arm,
and in an instant drew forth my property
She blushed red as fire, and her eyes flashed
but recovering herself in an instant, she burst
into laugh, and cried 'Really, Mr.. Brown
am really much obliged to you-who would
have thought that would have been 50 dis
tractcd' Why, really. should have robbed
you without knowing it. Hardly that,
thought to myself; but | held my peace
bowed smilingly and attended my lady to her
carriage.
Lady Thief Number Three was dowager
of three score at least, who came at regular
intervals, who bought pretty freely, but
always stole as much us she could. This
was II difficult case, and | hardly knew how
tn deal with it She wore "A LARGE pocket [,