Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-03-12
STAR.
THE BLUE DRAGOON.

| at the close Of the last century. An aged wild.
oW known by the name of Madame Apdrecht
The only occupants of the house. which was
the widow sProperty, were herself and a maid
servant OF about the same age. As the widow
was In precarious state of health she kant
no society, and did not leave her room for
weeks together. Her only recreation was,
| that she went In the spring, when the weather
| was settled, to visit her son, who resided in a
neishborIpg village, and on these excursions
| she was always accompanied by her servant
| who was accustomed to her temper and was
the only nurse she would have about her
During these absences from town the house
was uninhabited, and though carefully lock-
ed up, not guarded with any special atter-
| ton.
The widow returned from her annual ex
| cursion on the Both of June, IS-, and found
that during her absence the house had been
broken into, and besides other valuables, all
her plate and jewels carried off, The author
ltles were Immediately informed, and both
burgomaster and police began to make dill.
gent inquiry Ii was not difficult to discover
how the thieves had broken into the house
The window of back room looked on the
| garden, and had been secured within BIZ
brass screw on either side. A pane of glass
had been broken on each side, the screws had
been taken out, and they had carried off their
| plunder by the back door, which was found
| unfastened. All the other windows were still
| securely bolted, and several rooms had not
| even been entered. It was evident that the
| thieves had set to work in great security, had
| taken their time, and had not been appre
| hensive of being disturbed. They had re-
moved the top of heavy old escritoire. which
had been carefully locked, and had lifted out
the doors. This operation had been effected
| so clcverly that there was not the slightest
| trace of violence Out of this escritoire the
jewels and other valuables had been taken
chests aH al haa hro.l
gold, silver, and apparel carried off The
value of the objects missed amounted to about
| 600 Dutch forms.
1t was conjectured that the robbery had
been effected by more than one person; It was
| equally probable that the plan had been ma
| tured long before II was also apparent that
the robbery bad been committed by persons
| not unaccquainted with the house and the
widows circumstances The widows house
was situated in outlying street, and was
| the only respectable one in the neighborhood
Persons in inferior circumstances, and among
them several suspicious characters occupied
| the adjacenrhouses. At the end Of the gar
den, behind the house, from which side the
| thieves must have come, ran the inner town
ditch, which was navigable and only divided
| from it by quickest hedge. The next house
was corner one, and a narrow path ran along
Its side and the garden hedge to plank laid
| across the ditch. 1t was not supposed, how
hedges of the two gardens, but it was much
more likely that they had come in a boat to
| the hedge and climbed over it. No suspicious
footsteps could be noticed in the garden walks
or flower beds
The discovery Immediately caused great ex-
citemept, the whole neighborhood was astir,
and mob of curious persons surrounded the
| house. The police were compelled to use their
utmost efforts to prevent them entering; still
one of them, a baker, who lived in the house
right opposite the window, had succeeded in
hnding his way in with the officers, and salts
flying his curiosity. His acquaintances, who
had seen him enter, awaited his return with
impatience to learn from him all that the DO.
lice would not impart to them. Their hopes
| were deceived, however, for be maintained
an obstinate silence, or only gave equivocsl
replies. A wool-spinner, Leendert Van N,
who lived in the corner house, was far more
taikative. Wherever people put their heads
| together, he hurried up to them, listened to
| their conjsctures, and favored them with his
| own he spoke too, in a very decided manner,
| and hinted at certain persons and things. His
wife did the same among her neighbors in a
louder key. She shook her head at one thing
| nodded ct another, and repeatedly said she
wonld not be surprised if the thieves were car
| RED to prison before night. Among the mob
Hnlch her husband was honoripg with his re-
marks, was Jew pedlar, who was constantly
| visible in the streets with his wares. An ac-
quaintance twitched the wool spinner by the
sleeve, and whispered to him that he had bet
ter be cautious, for the Jew was a spy The
| warning came too late. The same morning
the wool spinner was summoned to the town
house, to give the burgomaste al explana-
tion of his suspicious remarks. He heSitated,
denied. and tried to evade the question, but
| when the burgomaster pressed him, he deter
mined on speaking, though he would gladly
have saved the persons, who had never done
him any injury.
At the end Of the street in which the WOOL
| spinner lived, public house had been opened
for several years, kept by certain Nicholas
D.. The people of the town, however, rarely
called him by his name, but only spoke Of him
as the Blue Dragon" as he had formerly
| served in Colonel Won WakebaIth's g regiment,
whose uniform was Of this color. When gar
| risoned in the town some years before, he had
made the acquaintance of Madame Andrecht's
former maid, Hanne, whom he eventually
married The girl had been six years in the
widows service, and possessed her entire con-
hdence. AS far as was known the cid lady
had given them the means to open the public
house, for neither Of them had anything. 1t
| was also known that Hanne and her Blue
Dragon, as long as they were unmarried, had
had few opportunities Of meeting. Conse-
quently Hanne waited, when her mistress ad
gone to bed, at the house door, and the Blue
Dragon never failed to make his appearance
If the weather was fair, they would remain
| talking there, if bad, Hanne took the liberty
| of inviting her lover into the house. This did
not long remain hidden from the old lady,
| and she did not approve of it; and she there.
fore had the street door locked each night be-
fore going to bed, and took the keys with her.
The lovers, however, were not baked by this;
the Blue Dragon sought road through the
woOl-spinner's gardsn. One evening the lat
ter heard the clang of spurs; he went to the
back door hurriedIy with light, and saw
Nicholas climbing over the fence of Madame
Andrechts garden. He did not make any
disturbance, for he knew of the love affair,
and the Blue Dragon told him laughingly,
that he was going to bid his Hanne good night |
When, however, the thing went on, and Blue
Dragon climbed over night after night, he |
put a stop to it /
The Blue Dragon did not climb over any
more, yet the ol-spinner saw him in the |
garden with his Hanne. The enigma was
L.