Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1869-06-10

presently to hear her husbands heavy footfalccm-
ing up the stairs; but upon the present occasion
there was no such welcome sound. She sat up in
bed with her nightcap tucked behind her ears, and
listened attentively, but in vain, for him. Not
withstandipg his precarious calling, Mr. Stott was
ia model of puuctuality, and as Time (which in her
opinion was almost the only thing that could doit)
went on without him, she began to be seriously
alarmed lest this admirable man, whom human in
genuity had never yet baf1ed, had been over
whelmed by envious Fate. There had been thun,
der in the air that night, and bolt might have
struck him. But at daylight she heard the front
door open, and slow treadeo upthe stairs. The
wife of chief constable should be above the sus-
picion of trepdation, but it was so unlike his ordi
nary step, that it made her heart 60 pitapat.
However, it was her husband, whose noble spirits
something had evidently cast down. Instead Of
kicking his boots across the room as usual, he
drew them off, and then sat in his stockings, think
"John," said she, in much confusion and alarm,
what Is the matter, my dear2 Have you not
caught them albatrosses?-I mean albinos.
eyes ma'am, they're safe. enough. But the
deuce Of it is that-in their absence-there has
been another burglary, Mrs. Colonel Peewit' 8
house has been broken into just the same way
through the second floor back window. Its moth.
ing less than magic, for that had mignonette box,
and there is no mark of ladder to be found there
neither. I've had my bull eye over every square
inch of it. 49,. ..>.., &,
"Lor, John p ... --... -
'There was nobody in the room" went on the
chief constable, musing, "and the window was
open, so that the thing might have been done easy
enough, when he once got there. But how he
did get there,-thats the question, n,-unless the
devil had wings -. 6. -. >t>.r,
''But the Devil has wingsl" was Mra Stott's
involuntary exclamation; the good lady was so
Austered by her late anxiety, that for once she
spoke in hurry. ....,. ..
"You viii presently cause me to imagine that I
have made second mistake in my Life, ma am,-
in the having married fool, was the husband $
stern rejoinder Then he went on solioquizing,
'.The thief whoever he was, took the same things
rings and pins, and such ike,-but he also took a
plated inkstand. That looks as if be did not know
his trade. And yet, to have effected an entrance
just where nobody would have thought such o
thing practicable, he must have been most uncom-
mon cunning. Cunning? No. for then should
see the thing as plain as the church tower. Its
downright unaccountable. How is it humanity
possible that things can be stole out Of a second
floor window without ladder, or anything to
climb up BY unless it IS water-spout, that's what
7 want to know And what's more, even if he got
up, how did he ever get down again p -. ..
Hearing these remarks put aloud, and in an in
terrogative form, Mrs. Stott thought it incumbent
upon her to speak, and the more 30 as she had in
geniousy elaborated theory of her own to account
for the whole mystery. -..
'If nobody could have got in from the outside
John, people as was inside could have done it easy
enough. 1t was one of them traposing servant
girls, who dresses so fine, and is always wanting
money to buy gew-gaws, you may take my word
for it,
II don't suppose, ma am, )" returned the chief
constable, with supreme contempt, that the Bench
of Justices would take your word for it, even if
was weak enough to do so,-which l am not The
servants are all above suspicion, both at Sir Rob
ert and Mrs. Peewit' Shat was the first thing
we looked to, Of course But even if it were 9th
erwise do you suppose that thieving is an epidem-
ic, that it should break out in one household to-
day, and in another tomorrow, as this has done !
You had better go to sleep, ma am, and leave me
to think the matter out alone" Which, accord
ingly, this great man, having drawn his night-cap
on, the better to consider in, proceeded to do
1.-TWO burglaries on two following nights, in town
under his personal superintendence, and nobody
yet in custody He had never imagined that such
a blot could befal his 'scutcheon! 1t was not I'M
possible in town 80 slenderly guarded that lad
der might have been employed without detection,
but most certainly in either of these cases, had
such an instrument been used. The Aower-boxes
had, in both instances, projected beyond the sill,
50 that the top Of any ladder must have rested on
them, and left it's mark. There was also no trace
of the foot in the soil below,-or sign Of an attempt
to remove such trace,-although, in the case of
Sir Roberts house, there was hower-bed imme-
diately beneath the window" MIR. Stott, in short,
brought all his intelligence to bear upon this prob
lem in vain, and nothing came of it but headache
Next day, the whole town was in state Of in
tense alarm. The previous robbery had created
much excitement aulOlS tue lHuaUltduIS, uut HoI
so much on account Of the crime as Of the saga
cious manner in which their chief constable had
discovered the mode Of depreciation; but now, not
only had there been second outrage committed,
but the fact of its occurrence while the acrobats
were away had proved their innocence of this par
ticular offence Though the magistrates, not know
ing how else to account for their seizure, commit
ted them for a month, as rogues and vagabonds),
and negatived Mr. John Stotts solution Of the
riddle altogether. The chairman of the Bench,
who had been accustomed to suck that official S
brains before addressing his audience in the Town
hall, had nothing to say upon the subject except
to recommend people to shut their second hoor
windows, which, since it was very warm weather.
and most of them cultivated Aower-boxes, did not
give general satisfaction.
The next night, the Mayors 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 details Besides the burg
larry, sort of sacrilege had been committed. The