New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-05-16

i I9ke0
ton Of my giving that information which shall restore
TO the Marchioness OF Darlington ne gem o. .n'cs
deprived her-a gem which Is sill unpieogso, auo
in the possession Of one who viii restore y on an ap
piicasion, accompanied BY letter IN my nana"f''
Again kept silence.
.Nsdam > be exclaimed, somewhat impassioned-
and rather a% NO 1.el ana mae M isaa e
| the hand which In It's day has gently plucked from
ladies Of rank and waalth. jewels which realized, in
an upwards Of thirtyfye thousand pounds, rrespec.
| ma kew. when fortune turned her back upon me'
q harrington the pickpocket!n Having heard SO
| much Of this man and his exploits (although, of
course had never seen hm) could not help regard
ing him with curiosity SO much SO, that could
scarcely be angry with him any longer.
Madam be continued, ii have told you that
longed to satisfy myself whether that skill which
rendered me illustrous in Europe still remained
to me in this country, after five years of desnetude.
can conscentiously say that am just perfect in
the art that the touch is just soft and the nerve as
steady as when sat in the dresscrce at Drury Lane
or Covent Garden
6 do not comprehend you, Mr.. Darlington"
replied. Il could not help saying MYSTERY
:" But yon will madam, in one moment. Where are
your keys ~
Il felt my pocket, in which fancied they were,
and discovered that they were gone.
=" And yonr thimble and pencil-case, and your
smelling They ore here! Gle drew them
from his coatpocket.) sss.g
|
thought frghtfnl liberty for convict to practice
his skill upon me, and put his hand into the pocket
Of my Dress But before Icould request him to leave
the room and the house, he spoke again; and, as
soon heard his voice aud looked in his face, was
Modified, and against my will, as it were, obliged to
| listen TO him.
"sAh, madam, he sighed such is the change that
often comes over the nffairs of men There was
time when ladies boosted Of having been robbed by
Darlington. Many whom never robbed gave it out
that had done so; simply that they might be talked
about Alas! such is the weakness of poor human
nature that people not by what means they
associate their With the name OF any celebrity.
was in power then, not in bondage. Darlington
has my diamond earrings !! once exclaimed the old
Countess Of Kettlebank. clasping her hands. Her
ladyship's statement was not true. Her diamonds
we're PASTE and she knew it, and caused them to be
| returned to her. Had you not pair of very small
pearidrops in your ears this morning, MADAME?
placed my hands to my ears, and discovered
that the drops were gone Again my anger returned,
and said, How dared you, sir, place your fingers
upon my face 2
q Upon my sacred word and honor, madam, be
replied, placing his hand over his left breast and
bowling, did nothing of the kind The ear is the
most sensitive part Of the human body to the touch
of another person. Had touched your ear my hope
Of having these drops 10 my waistcoatpocket would
have been gone Il was the springs only that
touched and the drops fell into the palm Of my left
hand.' He placed the earrings on the table, and
| made me another low bow.
a. And when did you deprive me Of them !? / asked
4 him. ety
4 p.When was discoursing on horticulture, you had
occasion several times to incline your head towards
your charming children and gently reproye them fer
interrupting me- 1t was on one Of those occasions
4 that the deed was quietly done The dear children
4 were the unconscious confederates in nv crime If
crime Won stil consider itsnce have told YOU and
spoke the truth that it was not for the sake Of
gain, but simply to satisfy passionate curiosity 1t
delicate and difficult operation ever per
formed in the whole course Of my professional
4 career
i There was q peculiar quaintness Of humor and ac-
ton thrown into this speech; could not refrain
from laughing But, to my great satisfaction, the
illustrons pickpocket did not join the laugh. He
regarded me with look of extreme humility, and
maintained respectful silence, which was shortly
broken by loud knocking at the outer door, 1t was
! the major who, suddenly remembering his appoint
ment with Darlington, had contriyed to make his
escape from Government House, in order to keep it.
The major seemed rather surprised to find Darlington
1 in my drawing-room; but be was in such hurry,
and anxious, that he said nothing the subject.
! withdrew to the passage, whence 1 could over
hear all that took place.
"Now, look here, Darlington" said my husband,
impetuously, II will have no more nonsense. As for
/ free pardon or even conditional pardon. at pre-
A sent, It is out Of the question. In getting you
tcket-ofleave I have done all that l possibly
and. as am living man, give you fair warning
4 that if you do not keep faith with me, will undo
| what have already done. A free pardon What !?
Let you loose upon the society Of England again
4 The Colonial Secretary would scout the idea, and
severely censure the Governor for recommending such
i thing. You know as well as do, that if you re
4 turned to England tomorrow and had an income OF
five thousand year, you would never be able to
4 keep those fingers Of yours quiet. sN9Y
"Well, think you are right, major said the
4 illustrous parsonage.
i Then you will write that letter at once p
4 "I will. But on one condition.
seAn0ther condition p
ayes -- st.
".Wel what is that condition.? You have SO
/ hory fo&t iu1y fIa
will not be forthcoming after all And, it il be not
4 by s
DO not excite yourself to anger, major. I give
| you my honor
"'Your honor Nonsense! What I want is, the
| jewel restored to its owner.'
And it shall be- on condition that you will not BIT
offended, grievousiy offended with me, for what
| have done this day.
4 "sWhat is that?' -a...
"'Summon your good wife, and let her bear wit
| ness both for and against me-
My husband opened the drawingroom door, ani
4 called out Bessie
GAS soon as had made my appearance, Barring
4 ton stated the case-al that had TRANSFERRED witt
i minute accuracy; nay, more, he acted the eDtir
scene IN such way that It became little comedy il
itself; the characters being himself myself and thu
children all of which characters he represented will
4 such humor, that my husband ana myself were sey
i eral times in fits OF laughter. Darlington, however
did not even smile. He affected to regard the litt,
drama (and this made it the more amusing) as yer,
1 serious business.
sThis play over, my husband again put to Barring
/ ton the question !" Will you write that letter a
4 once.n
I" Yes he replied i will for see that am for
given the liberty WAS tempted to take And seatn,
! himself at the table he wrote:
4 :" Mr.. Darlington presents his compliments t.
Mr. and requests that a sealed packet, marked
D. N No. u, be Immediately delivered to the beare
Of this note. In the event oil this request not ben
complied with, Mr.. Darlington will have an opportu
nifty ere long Of explaining to MI. in Sydney
! New South Wales, that he (Mr.--) has been guilt
of an act OF egregous folly.
Fourteen months passed away, when one morn
ing husband received letter from gentleman in tn
Colonial Office. He clapped his hands, cried, Bravo
and then read to me as follows:
"tMY DEAR MAJOR: The great pickpocket ha
been as good as his word. My lady is again in pos
session Of her briliants. Do whatever you can 70
Darlington in the colony but keep sharp eye OF
him, lest lie should come back and once more ge
hold of that necklace
+ "My husband sent for Darlington to inform hin
of the result of his letter, and he took an opporunt
of asking the illustrious if there were any othe
valuables which he would like to restore to the orig
nal owners.
"Thank yon-no! was the reply. There are,
s true sundry little articles in safe custody at home
but, as it is impossible to say what may be in tn
FUTURE they had better for the present stand in m
own name.'"
1 PHENTIcIANA.--It is said the old " cnnfidenc
man " at Washington INDUCES strong hope of gel
tstrtf tna Tho ,.1f