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

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 with
him this Emblem of Authority, as well as
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 the
regalia had been plundered He felt that
his great reputation was giving way under
these repeated shocks; while the rest OF
the cOnstabulary were of course over
whelmed with disgrace; and the Tory
newspapers openly advocated stringent
measures and the calling out of the Yeo.
manry.
81 suppose" sighed his wife upon this
Saturday afternoon, "there is no chance
of your going with me tonight to the
show? And yet 1t seems such pity,
after that civil Mr. Shaw has sent us these
tickets and you know never enjoy any
thing-let it be wild beastesses, or what
nOt-without you, John. How fine they
look, with this picture Of the lion and the
unicOrn,-though the bill says as the uni
corn is dead,-with Shaw's Shoao, patron
izei by all the crowned heads of Europe,
and admit the bearer, with his autograph
in the corner, in red ink! Why, the
mayors own invitati ons are not more
splendid"
Don't talk of the mayor, woman, for
that makes me think Of the mace" replied
her husband, with a shiver. II don't wish
c6 1,,t hat <1o
man that stole that mace, with q pair of
handouts on him, or, what would be bet.
ter still, a-standing underneath bit of
wood, with rope round his neck, and.a
parson by his side But there, it's no
wonder if the Devil himself is not ADDING
on it all to vex me-"
"LOr, John, you make me creep!.'
swell, can't make you fly, I reckon"
replied Mr.. Stott, surlily; "and yet that's
He's like bird of the air,-a bird of
prey"
"Well, John, do you know can't help
sometimes thinking-only l would not
have mentioned it unless you had-that,
perhaps, after all, it is bird! You know
a magpie is thief by nature"
And so you suppose a magpie could
have stolen the town mace, do you?
Why, you are greater fool than the news
papers"
II forgot the mace, John," observed
Mrs. Stott, humbly.
az wish could forget it," growled the
chief-constable. "YOu had better put on
your bonnet, and take my ticket round
the corner to Mrs. Jones, who will be glad
enough to go with you only take care
Shaw don't keep you both, and put you in
cage for pair of owls There I'm sOr
ry to be so rude, Mrs. StOtt; but the fact
is / feel as | shall go out of my mind un-
less l tackle this mystery; and must be
left alone to think it out"
So Mrs Stott, obedient wife as she was,
attired herself in gorgeous apparel, and,
accompanied by her friend and neighbOr,
the Parish doctors wife, honored Mr.
Shaw's menagerie with her presence. 1t
was sort of fete which that practical stu
dent of Natural history (which included
some knowledge of mankind) had given
TO the inhabitants of the town, and every
thing was on a very splendid scale. The
show was lit up by rows of chandeliers,
made of circlets of wood and candles,
from the latter of which, as they of neces-
sity hung very low, the tallow dripped
upon the heads of the company; but that
was not found out till the next morning.
The floor and cages had been thoroughly
swept and garnished, and some attempt
had even been made, by means of un-
guents and spices (or, in other words, chlo-
rate of lime), to mitigate the odor that
hangs about all establishments devoted to
the reception of wild beasts. But it must
be confessed that this last refinement was
failure-it was like the jar of Ottar,
which, "do what you will, the scent of
the roses would cling to it still ;" only in
this case the perfume was the result of
combination the hyena and the musk
rat, the royal Bengal tiger and the mar
moset, each contributed their SOupcOn.
In place of the usual Snowman, MIR. Shaw
himself, with an elegant white wand,
pointed out the various objects of interest,
explained their habits, and narrated anec-
dotes of their extraordinary sagacity.
The mOnkeycag as usual, were the
chief attraction; their innocent gambols.
and the remarkable penc7lnt they exhibit
ed for biting each other, tails, were the
admiration of the beholders Mrs. Stott,
while regarding these palodies upon man.
kind with cOntemplatNe air, was very
nearly-indeed, literally within half an
inch or sO-paying great penalty fer her
philosophic abstraction. A ribbed face
baboon of gigantic size, looking not un-
like one of Mr.. COoper's Indian heroes in
his war paint, made a sIatch at her fin
gers, which, loaded with rings, happened
to be ungloved, for she hsd just been tax
ing refreshments.
"Your charms even vanQuish the brute
creation, Mrs. StOtt," observed the clerk
to the magistrates gallantly; the enam-
Ored animal seeks your hand"
"Yes but, like the rest of the male sex,
for whit is in it, or on it," replied Mrs.
Jones who had been an heiress in small
way till her husband removed from her
tha invidious distinction by spending all
h,r money.
The ribbed-face baboOn screamed with
disappointment, and swung by his rope
headforemost, and with his eyes shut, for
the rest Of the evening.
It was a. m, and the chief cOnstable's
wife had been in bed since midnight, but
she had not fallen asleep. She was await
ing the arrival OF Mr.. Stott, in hopes that
he might have some good news to tell her,
or to comfort him with her sympathy in
case he hadn't. 1t was beautiful night,
and she had left the window open, through
which the soft fresh air came gratefully
enough after the atmosphere Of the me-
nagerie. She would be able to catch the
majestic football Of her lord while it was
yet a great way of, and she was listening
for it. Presently. through the deep sum-
albeit not that she was expecting, seemed
e ota hi toh oil