The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1869-06-05

through the deep Summer stiffness,
sounded a human step, which, albeit not
that she was expecting, seemed familiar
/ to her Ii was step which, although 1t
moved with Guickneas, had a slight limp
such she had noticed in the gait of
! Mr.. Shaw. Yet he had himself assured
/ her that very evening that he was man
Of early habits. and always shut up his
/ house on heels before twelve o'clock. 1t
was most unlikely that on the night of
his fcte, OF all nights, be should have
| made an exception to this salutary prac-
I tice; ard yet she knew no other step than
his like that step. 1t stopped beneath
the window, and then there was sliding,
scrambling noise, as though something
were struggling up the water pipe that
ran down the side Of the house, and she
| felt at once that the mystery Of these
nightly thefts was about to be solved.
She was frightened, of course but she
did not shut her eyes and put her head
under the bedclothes, as most ladies
would have done under the circumstan-
ces on the contrary, she stared so hard
at the window, that the sides seemed to
meet and have no window at all. Or
was it that the space had become obscur
ed by the presence of the marauder;
Yes, that was it and what a marauder
The face OF the intruder she could not
catch but she saw that he was quite
black, very inadequately attired, and pro-
vided with long tail. The late impru-
dent reply Of hers to her husband, "But
the devil has wings" came to her mind
with terrible emphasis. No wonder that
! lo ~ fr.ncf.I,1o'S ,lo, had
failed to-
taking those very strikingly marked fea-
lures 1t was. without doubt, her late ad
mirer, the ribbon faced baboon and
whether from motives of delicacy or fear,
Mrs. Scott 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 instruct
lively informed her 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.
Presently there was a shrill whistle from
below, and the chuckling ceased and then
came the sliding, scrambling noise again.
The ribbed faced baboon had put the
rings in his mouth-having no pocket
and slid down the water-spout to its
master with the spoil.
"John," cried Mrs. Scott. when the,
Chief Constable put in his long-wished-
for appearance, and as soon as he had
got inside of the door, sI've found it all
out.
"Pshaww said her husband, contempt
uously.
"Lor," cried she, "well you are a
wonder! How ever did you find out it
was Mr.. Shaw and his ribbed-faced bab-
DON 2"
"Never you mind, ma M" rejoined Mr..
Scott, with his old confident air; 81
hare found it out. And now let me hear
how far your testimony goes in corrobo-
ration of my views"
The next day, "from information re-
ceved," as he darkly limited, the Chief
Costable apprehcnded the keeper of the
menagerie, and searched his house on
wheels with such effect that all the stol-
en- property was recovered. Mr.. Shaw, it
appeared, had trained the ribbed faced
baboon to climb up watcr-spouts and
sweep from dressing tables all articles
that glittered, which accounted for his
taking the plated inkstand and the mu-
nicipal 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. Scott, his occupation was
heaceforth gone. The Chief Constable,
however, got all the credit for the dis
covery, and was held by everybody, in
cluding his wife, in higher estimation for
sagacitv than ever. It was true that he
had been at fault at first, and in more
than one instance but then, as he him
self observed: "I may say as no man
ever took me in twice-for this was not
han but a 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 "The
Murder in the Rue Morgue."