The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-05-06
MIR. JOHN STOTT'S DIFFICULTY.

away upon provincial vagabonds, and not
give them broad and noble scope as Bow
Street runner. His enemies, the local
scoundrels, thought the same; but con-
tented themselves with observing darkly
that "he was so sharp that he would one
day probably cut himself" or that he
was too clever to live" In spite OF these
intellectual advantages, or in consequence
of them, Mr.. StOtt was as vain as q peacock,
and made the not uncommon mistake OF
imagining himself even a cleverer fellow
than he really was He kept the little
town (for it was little one them so clear
of evildoers, and got so cOmplimented
thereupon by the bench of magistrates,
that he could not conceive that any mis-
demeanor could be committed which his
sagacity should be unable to ferret out, or
should fail to bring it home to the true
culprit. al don't pretend for to say" was
one of his favOrite remarks, "as L was
neger puzzled in my profession, but this
aoiU say, as no man ever took me in toace" /;
and then he would resume his pipe with
the air of man who has mOdestly con-
fessed to a weakness, which no other per
son would have dreamed of attributing to
him. Even his wife believed in Mr.. John
Stott, and so doubtless would his 0alet de
cham6re, if he had happened to have kept
One
burglary at Sir Robert Airs last
night" said he, sententiOusly, as he sat
smoking after supper in his snug little par
lor, one summer evening, while his wife
mixed his gin-punch after his own particu-
lar receipt.
"YOu have got the wretches, of course"
observed Mrs. StOtt, pairing the lemon peel
so that you could see through it, cor else
it would not be my john"
"Well, no." returned the great man,
rightly appropriating the last observation
as a com Dliment rather than an expression
of doubt as to his personal identity. "The
fact is, it's very queer but have not got
the wretches. l shall have them tO.mOr
row, hut at present they are absolutely at
large"
"Lor, John! can scarcely believe you
when you tell me. why, how on earth
could they have got away from you?
They could not have been ordinary burg
lars"
"You are right, ma'am," returned the
chief constable, with grstified look
"you have hit the nail exactly on the head.
They were not ordinary men; they were
acrobats."
"Acrobatsl" answered Mrs. ..Stott, soft
ly; "dear mel"
She had no very accurate idea what
"acrobats were; they might be re-
ligous sect, or they might be savage
tribe, or, possibly, even both. But she
had long passed for woman of sense and
sagacity, through maintaining discreet
silence except when her husbands talents
seemed to demand her eulOgies, and she
was not going to risk that reputation now.
She had full share of the curiosity OF
her sex, but she had more than their Ordi-
nary patience She waited to be informed
upon the subject in question, without haz
arding the remark which occurred to
her, that acrobats had white hair and pink
eyes, and therefore, could be easily recOg
nized by the constabulary; and she had
not to wait long.
"Yes, it must have been them Tum
blers," mused Mr.. StOtt, slipping his
punch out of a teaspoon; "and less than
three and the boy could never have
done it. 1t was her Ladyship's dressing
AS they broke in at, and no ladder could
have been put there because of the flower
stand. 1t must have been that little devil
in the tights and spangles at top of the
three others. have measured the height
from the ground, and it just tallies.
That's what comes of allowing them itin-
Grants to be in the place at all. The idea
of the mayor letting them have the Town
hall to show their tricks in I'd put
stop to everything of that sort, if | had
my way; and l will do it, too, in future"
"But you will not interfere with Mr..
Shaw, John, do hope, since he has been
so pleasant and civil"
"No ma'am, no. Mr. Shaw is a man of
science, in his line, and what is more, a
man of substance. Mr.. Shaw's exhibition
is itinerant, it is true, but that is from the
necessity of the case. His collection of
wild animals is interesting in high
degree, as the rector was observing to me
ONLY Yesterday But them acrObats is
quite another matter. However, lissom
as they are, they must run little faster,
and climb little higher, | can promise
them, before they can get out of the reach
of John StOtt"
"They stood upon one another's shOul-
ders, and the boy clambered up them,
suppose?"
"Yes, ma'am that was their ingenious
method and if they had to do with COM
mon mind-though l say it who should
not say 1.-THE manner in which the thing
was done would have remained a mystery.
If a ladder had been used, it must needs
have made some mark upon the mignO
nette-box My men were all aeape when
| stated that circumstance, and began
looking up in the air, as though some bird
had done it. But, of course, when / said
Them Tumblers! ! they saw everything
clear enough. Sir Robert, who assisted
our investigations in person, was so good
as to say that reminded him of Christie
pher Columbus and his egg"
You don't say sol" said Mrs. Stott,
admiringly, and wondering within her
self what that story was, and whether MIR.
! Christopher Columbus could possibly
have been an Oviparous animal. "And
did her Ladyship lose much"
"Some rings and pins, and three or four
pounds in gold. Curiously enough, there
was q bundle of bank notes upon the
dressing table which entirely escaped the
young rogue's attention, or her loss would
have been much more serious"
"And yet he was such a frank faced
honest-looking little fellow, that | never
should have thought harm of him." said
good-natured Mrs. Stott; "but of course
you're right"
"Well, most probably" observed her
lord and master with short, dry chuckle
"By ten o'clock tomorrow morning, when
the justices meet, we shall have this hon
est looking young gentleman and his
friends in the Town-hall, taking part in 8
public performance of another kind thar
that with which they favored the towr
last week. And then we shall see wha
we shall see."
Mr.. Stott arose, took his official ha
down from its peg, and prepared to go hi