Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-01-28
FREEHOLD.N J,THURsDAY MORNING, JANUARY %. 1865.

see me. / went up at once, and fouac
the invalid raised to a sitting position il
the bed. with a pile Of holsters and pil
lows behind him. He looked far NOR.
like a dead man than a living one. Ht
asked me to sit down, and then made som,
remarks upon the state Of bis health. He
said he thought he should get well-h,
knew be was very weak much weake.
than when he came-he could not ever
stand alone now-but still he hoped IL
recover. saw Clara turn her head ava,
and | thought tears came to her eyes,
Poor girl! she knew we'll enough there
was no recovery for her father.
But, said Luton, at the end Of q lone
pause, speaking in a hoarse gurgiing whis
per, and with an expression of pain, g |
sent for you on strange business. Have
you many boarders in your house?r
= told him that the house was nearly
full"
@And are any of them strangers ia
your
YES nearly all of them,h I returned
puzzled at the question
do not yish to trouble you,n Luton
resumed |" for you have been very kind
70 me, and / know there is no fault with
you. But last night / lost between ten
and twelve hundred dollars. / don't ex.
actly know how much there was, but it
was over a thousand. | had it in that
little dressing case. (pointing to a rose
wood box upon the table.@ About mid.
night | sent Clara to bed, and then under
the influence of an epiate, / fell asleep
myself. 4 slept until daylight, as did my
child, and this morning / found my money
gone. Ny door was not locked, and some
one must have come in during the night
and robbed me. But, he added, as / be-
gan to express my alarm and sorrow, don't
let my loss trouble you, for I shall not
feel it, o will it at all affect nv good
opinion of the house. / only mention it.
that you may be on the watch for Others,
who cannot afford il. may meet Nj b d sim;
liar loss il the thiefis notdefeGs
As the invalid seemed exhausted bv
his efforts thus far. / asked him no more
questions. He said the money he had
lost was mostly in gold, only about two
hundred dollars of it being iH bank notes.
He described the bills as nearly as he
could, and / then took my leave.
was in trouble now, sure enough.
That there was a regular hotel-thief in
the house was evident but how should !
lind him ? ! had hundred and fifty PEG
pie stopping with me, and OF the whole
lot I was not acquainted with over 1--WE
and-twenty Of them. However, T did the
best could. | put the clerk and cham
bermaids on the watch. and resolved to
keep an eye open myself,
Just before supper was ready a party
OF beardersIeturhed from a days ,iaunt
among the hills. They had taken cams
and left Immediately after breakfast. ]
was in the bar room when they entered.
and TIVE Of than, who occupied the same
room, came and W iispered to me that they
had been robbed during the previous
night. One hal LOST two hundred and
ten dollars, aud the other over a hundred
It had been taken from their pockets.
But this was not the worst. When
the stage came in from the west, 1t
brought q New Orleans merchant, viii,
his wife and two servants, who were on
their way to New York. I gave them
the only suit Of rooms I had to spare, and
then left my clerk to receive their orders.
In the morning the merchant came to me
with a look of deep trouble and anxiety.
lie had been robbed of fourteen thousand
dollars during the night
was frightened now in earnest. At
this rate ! should soon be utterly ruined.
| told the man to wait until after break
fast, and | would see what we could do.
He did not blame me. D did he seem
anxious to resort to extreme measures,
though be would leave nothing undone
which could possibly lead to the detec-
ton of the thief.
. When the guests had all taken their
seats at the table for breakfast, I ran nv
eyes carefully over the company, and
found every person there who had been
there on the night before. Icould detect
no guilty looks, nor could / find a villain.
Gus looking face. At length / asked
them to give me their attention fer a few
moments, and whea they were still Told
them all that had happened. | told Of
the letter I had received from New York;
OF the loss Of over ten thousand dollars
by Mr.. Luton of the robbery Of the two
young men and, finally, Of the heavy
loss of the New Orleans merchant. I
told them that / suspected no one. I
looked upon each and every one as honest.
Yet, under the circumstances. I hoped
they would all lie willing to allow their
baggage to be examined. Atthis ayoung
Ilan Jumped Up and said
Aye-I for ono. demand to be exam.
med, and 1 hope all will do the same.
NAnd then he put ito vote, requesting
all those who were in favor Of the exam
ination to arise. Every soul stood up in
9 moment. After fhe meal was done, a
committee was chosen from a1nopg the
gnests, and I went with them oser the
house, We first examined the persons
themselves. and then ~ovefhauled the
trunks and boxes. But nothing Of the
stolen property Was 70 be- found. Ny
" men bad been stationed at the doors