Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1862-12-11

90 IA yOSh wv SOlh, SllScI iuOHey, COiil
of the realm, Of all realms, | ke better"
d" Well" returned l, now fully convinced
that the old man was not in his right mind,
IL do not see what this has to do with me-"
Ay, ay, am coming to that, Mr.. Lar
kin; am coming to that. You see, being
alone III the world, and loving nothing but
my gold-years ago-a great many years
ago, you see-l bought an old, tumble-down
house ON the outskirts. Heavens what a
price had to pay for it, too two hundred
pounds, sir-for that house and bit of
land, and all in hard gold, too ! ah, me !
Well, as was saying, bought the house,
and then went to work myself, and with my
own hands, that might not pay out any
more money and have anybody know my
secret, l constructed safe-a fre-proof
safe-and then had all iron door made for
1t, with lock that no one could open with
out the key and secret of him who had lock-
ed it. This done, | sold all the property
which l had inherited, converted it into
gold, put the gold in leather bags (another
expensive luxury p, and secretly deposited
them in my safe Since then | nave dress
ed like a beggar, and lived alone with my
gold, the sight of which has given me hours
of rapture, and the jingle of which has fill
ed my ears with delight that cannot ex-
press Well, sir, well, sir" continued the
old man, fairly trembling at the thought,
"1 now come to the painful business which
has brought me here All, me ah, me
| wonder if it has not driven me mad For
years, Mr.. Larkin, for years, sir, / lived
alone with my gold, and kept my secret and
nobody found Inc out but of late, sir,
! (Heaven be merciful y have been robbed
robbed sir, of my gold, of my gold, Mr..
| Larkin"
"Then suppose you are now a poor
man 2" said l. "How was your house bro
ken into q? Give me the most minute par
| ticulars-for it is often by the merest tri-
f1es that we detectives are able to get the
clue that leads to the greatest results"
All there it is, sir-there is the mys-
terry !" groaned the old man. "You are
mistaken, Mr.. Larkin, in supposing that |
am literally poor man, or that my house
| has been broken into at ALL so far as | can
discover. No, sir-no! The money has
been taken-several tmes-a bag at time
and yet nothing has been disturbed. My
doors and windows, which | have always
| bolted as we'll as locked, | have never found
unbolted or unlocked, which must have been
the case if any one had come in that way
| And then my safe is always found Just as
leave it, and the key fastened to my body
by an iron chain. The first bag Of gold
missed, (oh heaven, be merciful y was
about two months ago, and could not be-
lieve it was gone till had counted the re-
naming bags over and over, perhaps fifty
| times.
"Then tried to believe l had taken it
myself, mislaid it, and | spent two days in
searching the whole house-every nook and
cranny-every likely and unlikely place
Well, sir, week went along, and another
bag was missing Horrible mystery Since
then | have lost three more-the last one
it no more Oh, sir, find out the thief, and
restore me my missing gold, and l will
will-will worship you, sir"
| smiled at the idea of getting a miser's
worship in return for my trouble of detect
owner large amount of gold and l said
facetiously: Unquestionably what you
offer is very valuable in your own estima-
ton but neither miser's blessing nor
curse will pass current for rent, food or
clothing No. Mr.. a"
&" Brandish-Stephen Brandish."
"No sir Mr. Brandish, if l undertake
this business of detecting this secret thief,
and get back your money, or any portion
of it, | must be paid in gold-gold, sir, gold
for |, too, like gold, though for what it
will buy, and not to worship"
For long time we could not agree upon
terms but at last having got the matter
settled to my satisfaction, l entered with
great zest into the penetration and unravel-
ment of what was really very wonderful
mystery That night after dark made my
appearance at the miser's house and be-
ing admitted, and the door secured, | be-
gau my inspection of the premises | went
up to the root, and down to the cellar,
searching minutely all the walls, doors and
ceilings, for some possible place where a
thief might enter or secrete himself The
house was an old, crazy structure, sure
enough but found nothing to give clue
to the mystery. The doors and windows
were all boted on the inside and the bolts,
| assured myself by close examination,
were all sound and in good order. In the
cellar was well from which the old man
drew what water he used, and l satisfied
myself there was nothing suspicious about
that. Then | went round the walls and
tried every stone of any size, to see if it
might be removed but all were fast and
| solid. At last l came to the money safe,
, which was curiously built in the ground
with the iron door upwards, like trap
door, which was effectually concealed by
scattered dirt over it.
Il must see the inside of this" said l.
"Oh, sir J" returned thd old mser, trem.
bling at the thought of exposing his riches,
you will not take advantage of an old
man You will not betray me You will
promise this you will swear it p
might have got offended at this ques-
tion of my honesty from another but l took
into consideration the peculiarities of the
afflicted miser, and readily promised all he