The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-05-06


thefts was about to be solved
She was frightened, of course; but she
did not shut her eyes and put her head un-
der the bed clothes, as most ladies would
have done under such circumstances; on
the contrary, she stared 80 hard at the
window, that the sides seemed to meet,
and leave no window at all. Or was it
that the space had become obscured by the
presence of the marauder? Yes, that was
it; and what q marauderi
The face of the intruder she could not
catch !; but she saw that he was quite black,
very inadequately attired, and provided
with long tail. That late imprudent re-
ply of hers to her husband, "But the
Devil has WINGS" came into her mind
with terrible emphasis No wonder that
even the chief-constable's vigilance had
failed to-
All, that face! There was no mistak-
ing those very strikingly marked features |!
1t was, without doubt, her late admirer,
the ribbed face babOon; and, whether
from motives of delicacy or fear, Mrs.
Stott did dive under the bedclothes then,
with only her nose left out to breathe
through, like the elephant when under
water, as Mr.. Shaw had instructively in
formed her not three hours ago.
She could hear little, however, as well
as breathe and she distinctly caught the
quiet chuckle of her visitor, and the chink
of her rings as he swept them off the
dressing table with his hairy paws. Pres
emily, there was shrill whistle from be-
low, and the chuckling ceased; and then
came the sliding, scrambling noise again.
The ribbed face baboon had put the rings
in his mOuth-having no pOcket-and slid
down the water spout to his master with
the spoil.
"John," cried Mrs. Stott, when the
chief constable put in his long-wished for
appearance, and as soon as he had got in
side the door, "Tve found it all out"
"Pshaw I" said her husband contempt
uously.
Lor," cried she, well, you are won
der! How ever did you find out it was
Mr.. Shaw and his ribbed face baboou?"
"Never you mind ma'am," rejoined Mr.
StOtt, with his old confident air I hdue
found it out. And now let me hear how
far your testimony goes in corroboration
of my views"
The next day, "from information re-
ceived," as he darkly limited, the chiefcOn-
stable apprehended the keeper of the
men8gerie, and searched his house on
wheels with such effect that all the stolen
property was recovered. Mr.. Shaw, it
appeared, had trained the ribbed-faced
baboOn to climb up water-spouts and
sweep from dressing tables all articles that
glittered, which accounted for his taking
the plated inkstand and the municipal
mace. If his education had been suffered
to progress, he would doubtless in time
have been taught to carry off bank-nOtes
and railway dividends. But, thanks to
Mrs. StOtt, his occupation was henceforth
gone. The chief constable, however, got
all the credit for the discovery, and was
held by everybody, including his wife, in
higher estimation for sagacity than ever.
1t was true that he had been at fault at
first, and in more than one instance; but
then, as he himself observed: Il may
still say as no man ever took me in twice,
for this was not Man, but Hape."
The above curious incident happened at
Shrewsbury in 1884, and was without
doubt the circumstance on which Edgar
Poe founded his famous story of 1.-THE
Murder in the Rue Morgue. Chambers
Journal.