The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-10-12
FLINT JACKSON.
BY A LONDON DETECTIVE.

| NN'h' tuS tculpOTdTy uOSeHCe Oh lUe IaInl-
ly, which had completely nonplusSed the
unpractised DOgberrys of the place, al
belt it was not riddle at all difficult to
read. The premises, it was quickly plain
to me, had been broken, not into, but out;
and a watch being set upon the motions
OF the very spcciOus and clever person left
in charge of the house and property, it
was speedily discovered that the robbery
had been effected by herself and confed
crate of the name Of Dawkins, her broth
cr-in-law. Some Of the stolen goods were
found sccreted at his lodgings; but the
most valuable portion, consisting Of plate,
and n small quantity of jewclry, had dis
appeared; it had been qucstiOnless been
converted into money, as considerable
sums in sovereienS were found upon both
Dawkins and the woman, Sarah Purday.
Now, aS it had been clearly ascertained
that neither Of the prisoners had left arm
ham since the burglary, it was manifest
there was receiver near at hand who had
purchased the missing article. Dawkins
and Purday were, however, dumb as stones
upon the subject; ard nothing occurred to
point suspicion until early in the evening
previous to the second examination OF the
prisoners before the magistrates, when
Sarah Purday asked for pen, ink, and pa.
per for the purpose Of writing to one Mr..
Jackson, in whose service she had former.
ly lived. happened to be at the prison,
and of course took the liberty OF carefully
unsealing her note and reading it. Ii re-
vealcd nothing; and save by its extremely
cautious wording, and abrupt peremptory
tone, coming from a servant to her former
master, suggested nothing. had care
fully rcck0ned the number of sheets Of
paper sent into the cell, and now on re-
counting them found that three were miss
ing. The turnkey returned Immediately,
and asked for the two other letters she
had written. The woman denied having
written any other, and for proof pointed
to the torn fragments of the missing sheets
lying on the floor. These were gathered
up and brought to me, but could make
nothing out "f them, every word having
been carefully run through with the pen,
and converted into an unintelligible blot.
The request contained in the actually
written letter was one simple enough in
itself. merely, that Mr.. jackson would
no; on any account fail to provide her, in
consideration Of past services, with legal
assistance on the morrow The first nine
words were strongly underlined; and
made out after a good deal of trouble,
that the word 'pretencc' had been par tial-
ly cifacrd, and account substituted in its
stead.
She need not have wasted three sheets
Of paper upon such nonsensical request
as that observed the turnkey. old
jackson wouldn't shell out sixpence t.
save her or anybody else from the gal
lows
Il am of different opinion; but tell
what sort Of person is this former mas
ter of hcrst' | asked.
All that know Of him is that he's a
cross grained old curmudgeon, living about
mile out Of Farnham, who scrapeS
money together by lending small sims
upon notcs-of.hand at short dates, and at
laundering interest. Flint jackson,
folks about here call him.
AT all events, forward the letter al
once, and tomorrow we shall See-what
we shall see. Good evening"
1t turned out as | anticipated. A few
minutes after the prisoners were brought
into the justicc-room. Guildford solici-
tor of much local celebrity arrived, and
announced that he appeared for both the
inculpated parties. lie was allowed a
private conference with them, at the close
Of which he stated that his clients would
reserve their defense. They were at once
committed for trial, and overheard the
solicitor assure the woman that the ablest
counsel on the circuit would DO retained
on their behalf.
had no longer doubt that it was my
duty to know something further Of this
suddenly.generous Flint jackson, though
how to set about it was a matter Of con.
siderable difficulty. There was no legal
pretence for search-warrant, and | doubt
ed the prudence Of proceeding upon my
own responsibility with SO astute All old
fox as Jackson was represented to be
for supposing him to be I. a.confederate
with the burglars, lie had by this time in
all probability sent the stolen property
away-to LONdon, in all likelihood !; and
should find nothing, the consequences
Of ransacking his house merely because
he had provided former servant with
legal assistance, would be serious. Under
these circumstances wrote to head-Quar'
ters for instructions, and by return Ol
post received orders to prosecute the in
quiry thoroughly, but cautiously, and to
consider time as nothing so long as there
appeared chance Of fixing Jackson with
the guilt of receiving the plunder. An
other suspicious circumstance that have
omitted to notice in its place, was that
the Guildf0rd solicitor rendered bail for
the prisoners to any reasonable amount,
and named Enoch jackson as one of the
securities. Bail was, however, refused.
There was no need for Over-hurrying
the business, as the prisoners were CON-
United to the Surrey Assizes, and it was
now the season Of the hOp.harvest-a de-
lightful and hilarious period about Farm
ham when the weather is fine and the
yield abundant. however, lost no time
in making diligent and minute inquiry
as to the character and habits Of jackson,
and the result was q full conviction that
nothing but the fear of being denounced
as an acc0mplice could have induced such
q misery, irOn-hearted rogue to put him.
self to charges in defence Of the imprisoned
burglars
One afternoon, whilst pOndering the
mutter, and at the same time enjoying the
prettiest and cheerfulest Of rural sights
that Of hop-picking, the apOthecary a
whose house ! vas .lOdging-we will cal
him Mr.. Morgan; he was Welshman-
tapped me suddenly on the shoulder, and
looking sharply around, ! perceived h'
had something he deemed Of importance
to communicate.
what is itr ! said, quickly.
'The oldest thing 10 the world. Therst
Flint Jackson, his deaf old woman, an6