Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-05-07

WluuOW WltuOut y ihuuef, OF NuytnluB W
climb up by, unless it's u water.spout,-
thdfs what | want to know. And what's
more even II he got up, how did he ever
get down agsinf' ~ Hgs
Hearing these remarks put aloud, and in
an interrogative form, Mrs. Stott thought
1t incumbent upon her to speak, and the
more so, as abe had ingeniously elabor-
ated theory of her own TO account for
the whole mystery,
(" II nobody could have got in from the
outside, John, people as was inside
could have done il easy enough II was
one of them trapesing servant girls, who
dresses so fine, and is always wanting
money TO buy gewgaws, you may take my
word for it"
al don't suppose, ma'am," returned the
chief. with supreme contempt,
"that the Bench of Justices would take
your word for it, even if was weak
enough to do so, which am not. The
servants are all above suspicion, both at
Sir Roberts and Mrs. Peewits,-that was
the first thing as we looked to, of course.
| But even IL II we're otherwise, do you sup
| pose that thieving Is an epidemic, that IL
should break out in one household to-day,
and in another tomorrow, as this has
donep You had better go to sleep, ms'am,
and leave me to think the matter out
alone" Which, accordingly, this great
man, having drawn his night.cap on, the
better TO consider in, proceeded to do
Two burglaries on two following nights,
in a town under ais personal superinten-
dence, and nobody yet in custody He
had never imagined that such plot could
befall his 'scutcheon 1t was not impossi
BILE, in a town so slenderly guarded, that q
ladder might have been employed without
detection, but, most certainly in neither Of
these cases had such an instrument been
used The flower boxes had, in both in
stances, projected beyond the sill, so that
the top of any ladder must have rested on
them, and left its mark. There was also
no trace of the foot of it in the soil below,
--or sign of an attempt to remove such
trace, = although, in the case of Sir
Roberts house, there was a flower-bed i'm
mediately beneath the window" Mr..
Stott, in short, brought all his intelligence
to bear upon this problem in vain, and
nothing came of it but headache.
Next day, the who.e town was
in a state of intense alarm. The
previous robbery had created much
excitement among the inhabitants,
but not so much on account of the crime
as of the sagacious manner in which their
chief-constable had discovered the mode of
depreciation but now, not only had a sec
ond outrage been committed, but the fact
of its occurrence while the acrobats were
away had proved their innocence of this
particular offense (though the magistrates,
not knowing how else to account for their
seizure, committed them for month, as
rogues and vagabonds), and negatived Mr..
John Stotts solution of the riddle alto
gether. The chairman of the Bench, who
| nod hon Of RI hot nf1 l,n
brains before addressing his audience in
the Town-hall, had. nothing to say upon
the subject except to recommend people
to shut their secondhoor windows, which
since it was very warm weather, and most
of them cultivated flower-boxes, did moi
give general satisfaction.
The next night, the mayor own house
was robbed in precisely similar manner
1t was on Friday, and the local papers
which came out the next day, published
second and third editions, to describe the de-
tails. Besides the burglary, sort of sac
rilege had been committed. The thief had
actually possessed himself of the Munich
pal Mace. This beautiful object, although
not intrinsically valuable, had apparently
excited his greed, for he had dragged il
out of its case as far as the window. anG
thence let it fall with q report that haC
alarmed the house, and dented the ground
below. When the door was opened, how
ever (Which the servants declined to do
until the "proper authorities" arrived)
the marauder had vanished, and will
him this Emblem of Authority, as we'll a.
pair of his Lordship's boot-hooks There
happened to be nothing kept in that room
but the mayors boots and the town mace
But the incident was, of course, as dis
tressing to Mr.. John Stott as though thu
regalia had been plundered He felt thai
his great reputation was giving way undel
these repeated shocks; while the rest O
the constabulary were of course over
whelmed with disgrace; and the Tory
! newspapers openly advocated "stringen
measures" and the calling out of the Yeo
manry.
al suppose" sighed his wife upon thi
Saturday afternoon, "there is no chanc
of your going with me tonight to tn
show? And yet 1T seems such a pity
after that civil Mr.. Shaw has sent US thes
tickets and you know I never enjoy any
thing-let it be wild beastesses, or wha
not-without you, John. How fine the,
look, with this picture of the lion and tn
unicorn,-though the bill says as the uni
corn is dead,-with Shdaos S2s0ao, patron
lied by all the crowned heads of Europe
and admit the bearer with his autograph
in the corner, in red ink Why, tn
mayors own invitations are not NOR
splendid"
Don't talk of the mayor, woman, 70
that makes me think of the mace" replie
her husband, with a shiver. "I don't wis
to see any show but one, and that's tn
, man that stole. that mace, with pair @
handouts on him, or, what would be bet
ter still, a-standing underneath bit c
: wood, with rope round his neck, and
} parson by his side. But there, it's n
} good wishing. Upon my life, sometime
, wonder if the Devil himself is not a.doin
} on it all to vex me-"
"Lor, John, you make me creepi'
"Well, can't make you fy, l reckon,
: replied Mr., Stott, surlily "and yet that
what this fellow can do, confound him
} He's like bird of the air,-a bird c
prey"
} "Well, John, do you know can't hel
! sometimes thinking-only would nc
have mentioned it unless you had-tha
| perhaps, after all, it is bird You knov
? a msgpie is a thief by nature"
= "And so you suppose magpie coul
have stolen the town mace, do you
t Why, you are a greater fool than the new
: papers"
. "I forgot the mace, john" observe
4 Mrs. Stott, humbly.
4 al wish could forget it." growled th
: chief constable. "You had better put o
; your bonnet, and take my ticket roun
I, the corner to Mrs. Jones, who will be gla
! enough to go with you only take cal
4 Shaw don't keep you both, and put you
a cage for pair of owls. There I'm sol
ry TO be so rude, Mrs. Stott; but the fa'
I is feel as shall 60 out of ray mind al
Q less tackle this mystery; and l must b
t left alone to think II out"
Q So Mrs. Stott, obedient wife as she wa
q attired herself in gorgeous apparel, an
Q accompanied by her friend and neighbo
the PsriBh doctors wife, honored NJ
J. Shaw's menagerie with her presence
d was sort Of fete which that practical ST
:, dent Of Natural history (which include
some knowledge Of mankind) had give
Z TO the inhabitants Of the town, and ever
n thing WAS on very splendid scale. I'll
a show was lit up by rows of chandelier
r. made of circlets Of wood and. candle
| Ia ~ .wrhfoh aa fhaR ~