White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1859-05-05

PS'-NS S4Ooh anu uTy1 WHEREAS
if used for fishing, it would probably
have been found half,flled with water
and dirty enough. In this particular
:hen, the carpenter had been detected in
an untruth. The boat had not been fas-
tened TO its usual place the merchant
Jumped in il for that purpose, and from a
lcrevice in the side he saw something pro-
truding; he took it out /; it was a couple
Of silver forks wrapped in paper. Thus
the carpenters first version of the story
as to the purpose for which he wanted the
boat-was the true one after all. He had
been assisting some bankrupt to carry of
his effects. Angry at being thus deceived,
the merchant put the forks in his pocket,
and set out forthwith on his way to
Isaac's. The carpenter. his apprentice,
and his housekeeper, were in the work
shop. He produced the forks. "Thcse, -
said he, care what you have left in my
boat. Did you use these to eat your fish
with 90
The three were visibly embarrassed.
They cast stolen glances upon one another;
no one ventured to speak. The house
keeper first recovered her composure.
She stammered out-"that he must not
think i'll of them that her master had
only been assisting some people who were
leaving the town quietly, to remove their
furniture and effects" As the transaction
was unquestionably not of the most cred
liable character. this might account for
the visible embarrassment they betrayed;
when he demanded, however, the names
of the parties whose effects they had been
removing, no answer was forthcoming.
The carpenter at last told him he was not
at liberty to disclose them then, but that
he should learn them afterwards. All
three pressingly entreated him to be silent
as to this matter. He was so; but in the
meantime made inquiry quietly as to who
had leftthe town, though without success.
Shortly after, his journey took place, and
the transaction had worn out of mind, till
called to his recollection on his return,
when he was made aware of the whole
history of the robbery and forthwith
came to the conclusion, that there lay at
the bottom of the matter some shameful
plot to implicate the innocent, and shield
those whom he believed to be the true
criminals, namely, Isaac Van C, his
apprentice and honsekeeper, the leading
witnesses, in fact, against the unfortunate
| dragoon.
The criminal proceedings, in conse-
quence of these disclosures, took com
pletely different turn. The merchant was
a witness entirely above suspicion. True,
there was here only the testimony of one
witness, either to the innocence of the
dragoon, or the guilt of the carpenter !;
but the moral conviction to which his
statement gave rise in the mind of the
Judge was so strong, that he did not hes
itate to issue an immediate order for the
arrest of the carpenter and his eompan.
ions, befofe publicity should be given to
the merchants disclosures. No sooner
were they apprehended. than a strict scru-
tiny was made in'the carpenters house.
This measure was attended with the
most complete success. With the excep-
ton of a few trihes, the whole of the
effects which had been distracted from
Madame Andrecht's, were found in the
house. The examination of the prisoners
produced very different result from those
of Nicholas and his comrades. True,
they denied the charges, but they did so
with palpable confusion, and their state
ments abounded in the grosscst comrades
tions of each other and even of them
selves. They came to recriminationS and
mutual accusations and beng threatened
with the torture, they at last offered to
make a full confession. The substance of
their admissions was as follows;
Isaac Van c., his apprentice, and
the housekeeper. were tine real perpetra-
tors of the robbery at Madame Andrecht's.
Who had first suggested to them the de.
sign, does not appear from the evidence.
But with the old lsdy's house and its ar
rangements, they were as fully acquainted
as the dragon. The apprentice, when
formerly in the service of another master,
had wrought in it. and knew every corner
of it thoroughly. They had borrowed
the boat for the purpose of getting access
across the canal into the garden. and used
it for carrying off the stolen property, as
already mentioned. On the morning
when the robbery became public, the
master and the apprentice had mingled
with the crowd to learn what reports were
in circulation on the subject. Among
other things, the apprentice had heard
that the wool-spinner's wife had unhesi-
tatingly expressed her suspicious against
the Blue Dragon. Of this be informed
his comrades, and they delighted at find
ing so convenient a scapegoat for ayerting
danger from themselves. forthwith formed
the Internal design of directing. by every
means in their power, the suspicious OF
Justice against the inn-keeper. q
The apprentice entered the drinking
room of the inn-keeper, and called for
some schnapps; at the same time asking
for coal to light his pipe. While the
n-keeper went out to fetch the coal, the
apprentice took the opportunity of slip
ping the widows memorandum book,
which he had brought in his pocket, be.
twixt the drawers. He succeeded, and
the consequences followed as the culprits
had foreseen the house was searched, the
book found, and. in the eyes of many, the
dragoon's guilt established.
IF these confessions were to be trusted,
tho dragoon and his family seemed excui-