The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1869-10-08
@ist&IIanROns Selections.
THE MAN ABOUT TOWN.
BY A DETECTIVE.

1t is not often that society reyenges
itself for the tricks played on it by ono it
has courted. The votaries of fashion
are not unfrequently made the victims
of the adventurer, but for the sake of
eoncealing their own want of sagacity
the wrong dOer is seldom punished.
Nevertheless, there are episodes now
and then occurring which, if they met
the public eye, would afford rich NOR
sci of humor and ridicule. One of these
came under my own observation a few
years since. l had done some business
for a well-known merchant, and he was
pleased with the manner l had execut-
ed Z, l was not surprised, therefore,
when he came to the Chiefs Office one
day and desired to speak with me.
Il have some work for yourself and
friend, said he, referring to my partner.
What is itP 1 inquired.
He then went on to detail to US the
particulars of number of successful
Irobberies that had been perpetrated re-
Gently in the society in which his fami-
lly moved. Strange as it may appear,
! all of these were done at fashionable
gatherings, either at his own house or
those of his neighbors.
1t would be impossible he said, to
suspect any of the guests; yet the SER
wants had been strictly watched, and no
evidence could be found to implicate
any of them. Diamond bracelets mys-
Iterously disappeared from the wrists of
the fair ladies; gentlemen lost their
Ijewelry, watches and chains, and even
gold-headed canes, in the most unac-
countable way. At every house where
fashionable party met some robbery of
this description ensued. 1t had began
to create an intense excitement. Ladies
were afraid to appear with jewelry about
them; gentlemen hesitated to display
their diamonds, and were restless when
any one approached them. Suspicion
had grown up, and a coldness, which
began to assume a very serious aspect,
had been engendered between several
families. The matter, he said, would
Lave to be sifted, but how to do it he
was at loss to know.
1 told him be would have To introduce
me to his fashionable acquaintance, and
as his guest. l attended the next party
at his house. Even a stranger could
discern the coldness and lack of free and
genial kindness that pervaded the as
Isembly. The atmosphere seemed to
breathe suspicion. Everybody suspect
ed his neighbor. Gentleman were
watched closely as they paid the devoirs
to fair ladies, and the bellies to whom
devotion was offered freely, were eyed
keenly lest they should spirit away a
more costly jewel than the gentleman's
affections. One gentleman, however, l
noticed at once as entirely free from
these unworthy suspicious. His man
ner was radiant with a gay iBSoWisanee
that charmed every one. His repartees
were brimfull Of wit and sparkled with
fun, while the bright smile with which
every lady greeted him showed that he
at least had not fallen under the cloud
that had settled on the rest. Yet 1
noted the rapid, ightning-like glance
with which he surveyed everybody that
approached him. Sometime the great
dark eyes would darken with shade
of anxiety, as he encountered stern
looking visage, and then flash out mer-
rily as he saw it harbored no suspicion
| Of him. The man fascinated even me.
l saw he vas acting. His conduct, ap-
parently controlled by natural kind
ness of disposition, l perceived was the
result of consummate impudence and
nerve, and sang .trOid that enabled
| him to invest itwith genial grace and
apparent carelessness. The half-startled,
eager look which he sometimes threw
around him, overlooked by his associ-
tes was seen by me.
had settled in my own mind that
he was the culprit But to any one else
my conclusion would have appeared un-
certain and my suspicious vague. Still
| watched him. | was eager to see how
he would maneuTer his successful lar
cenies. For more than an hour he
radiated from one part of the wide
salon to another apparently unsettled in
his mind, or eager to make his deUOirs
to all. At last his arm was given to a
lady, and they started out upon the
verandah, I at one solicited the pleas
ure Of. promenade with my hostess,
and while charmed with the sprightly |
grace and witty nonsense Of my COM
panion, still kept an observant eye upon
the Mercutio, whose brilliant nothings
were charming his inamorats as ser
pent fascinates bird. The man was a
study. g. l could hear, as I passed them,
his low-voiced pleasantries, the wit that
flashed and sparkled from his tongue as
diamonds sparkle and flash in lamp
light. almost began to doubt the
iustness of my own suspicious, when
his hand crept to the lady's
ear; a sparkle and flash of diamonds, a
sparkle and flash of wit, and he led her
back to the drawing-room, her face
radiant with bushes, but the pink ike
ears no longer numbered with the
yawdy Jewels. Again and again was
he same manuver repeated with others,
and each time some costly ornament
disappeared, come beautiful bsuble had
1een lost.
But this was not all saw. The fas-
sinating stranger 1 soon discovered had
,triven for a jewel that he priced less
han those of which he had bereft his
'riends, but one, perhaps, that would
stand him in more account in the hour
If need. Many fair face flushed at
ais approach-many heart throbbed
ludibly as his low words were whisper
I'd into willing ears. The thief was
ady killer, too.
As yet l had not learned his name,