The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-05-22
THE MYSTERIOUS THEE.
Exon, Cnamoers, Lo,srras.


Less than forty years ago, in a certain
west country town of England, lived
| Mr.. John Slot, head of the constabu-
| larry, so astute thief. catcher that his
friends thought it pity he should
throw his wits away upon provincial
vagabonds, and not give them broad
and noble scope as Bow street rum
ner. His enemies, the local scOundrels
thought the same, but contented them
selves with observing darkly that che
was so sharp that he would one day
probably cut himself" or that she was
| too clever to live" In spite OF these
intellectual advantages, or in cOnse'
quence OF them, Mr.. Stolt was as vain
as peacock. and made the not un'
common mistake of imagining himself
even a cleverer fellow than he really
was. He kept the little town (for il
was little one then) SO clear OF evil
| doors, and got go complimented there
upon by the Bench of Magistrates, that
he could not conceive that any INSIDE
sagacity should be unable to ferret out
or should fail to bring it home to the
| true culprit. 81 don't pretend for tC
say" was one of his favorite remarks,
| 'as was aever puzzled in my profess
sign, but this 1OHE say, as no man ever
took me in tDice," and then he would
resume his pipe with the air OF man
who has modestly confessed to a weak
ness, which no other person would
have dreamed of attributing to him.
Even his wife believed in Mr.. John
John Stott, and so doubtless would his
valet de chGmOTe, il he had happened to
| have kept one.
burglary at Sir Robert Airs last
night said he, stententiously, as he sat
smoking after supper in his snug little
parlor, one Summer evening, while his
wife mixed his gin-punch after his own
particular receipt.
You have got the wretches,of course,
observed Mrs. Stott, pairing the lemon
peel so that you could see through 1t,
or else 1t would not be my john
We'll, no. returned the great man,
rightly appropriating the last observa-
ton as compliment rather than an
expression of doubt as TO his personal
identity. The fact is, it's very queer
but have not got tho wretcheS. shall
have them to morrow, but at present
they are absolutely ut large
'Lor, John! l can scarcely believe
you when you tell me. Why, how on
earth could they have got away from
you? They could not have been ordi-
nary burglars
You are right, ma'am,' returned the
chief constable, with grautied look;
you have hit the nail exactly on the
head. They were not ordinary men;
they were acrobnts.'
'Acrobats y answered Mrs. Stott soft
ly; dear me!
She had no very accurate idea what
'acrobats' were; they might be religl-
GUS sect, or they might be savage
tribe, or, possibly, even both. But she
had long passed for II woman of sense
and sagacity, though maintaining a
discreet silence except when her hus-
bands talents seemed to demand her
eulogies, and she was not going to risk
that reputation now. She had iuIl
share OF the curiosity of her sex, but
she had more than their ordinary pa
thence, She waited to be informed on
the subject in question, without hazard
ing the remark which occurred to her,
that acrobats had white hair and pink
ewes. and therefore could at least be
easily recognized by the constnbuleTy;
and she had not to wait long.
Yes, it must have been them Tum-
blers,' unused Mr.. Stott, slipping his
punch out of the teaspoon; 'and less
Than three and the boy could never
have done it. 1t was her Ladyship's
dressing room window, as looks out on
the back, as they broke in at, and no
ladder could have been put there be-
cause of the flower stand. 1t must have
been that little devil in the tights and
spangles at top of the three others. l
have measured the height from the
ground, and it just tallies. That's what
comes of allowing them itinerants to be
in the place at all. The idea OF the
Mayor letting them have the Town
Hail to show their tricks il! I'd put Il
stop to everything of that sort, If had
my way, and will do it, TOO, in flu
ture.'
but you will not interfere with Mr..
Shaw, John, do hope, since he has
been SO pleasant and CIVIL
'No, ma'am, no. Mr.. Shaw is II man
of science in his line, and what is more,
man OF substance. Mr.. Shaw's e1hi-
bition is itinerant, it is true, but that is
from the necessity of the case. His
collection OF wild animals Is interesting
in a high degree, as the Rector was OBJ.
serving to me only yesterday But
them acrobats is quite another matter.
However, lissom as they are, they must
run a little faster and climb little
higher, I can promise them, before they
can get out of the reach of John Stott.'
They stood upon one another's
shoulders, and the boy clamoreu up
them, / suppose!
Eyes, a'am, that was their ingenious
method; and if they had had to do with
common mind--though say 1t who
should not say 1.-THE manner in which
the thing was done would have remain
ed a mystery. If a ladder had been US
ed, it must needs have made some marx
upon the mignonette. box. My men
we're all agape when stated that cir
cumstance, and began looking up IN
the air, as though some bird had done
II. But, of course, when L SAID 'Inem
Tum blers! they saw everything clear
enough, Sir Robert, who assisted our
| investigation in person, was SO GOOD as
| to say that reminded him OF Chlsto'
pher Columbus and his egg
'Yu don't say SO? said Mrs. Stott,
| admirinely, and wondering within her.
self what the story was, and whether
MI, Christopher Columbus could posi-
bly have been an oviparious animal.
sAnd did her Ladyship lose much !?
Some rings and pins, and three or
four pounds in gold. C1rlousIy enough,
there was a bundle of bank notes upon
the dressing-tablew which entirely escap'
| ed the Young rogue's attention, or her
| loss would have been much more Sc
rious.' r,,
honest looking little fellow, that l
never should have thought harm OF
him. said good natured Mrs. Stott; bnt
of course you're right.
well, most probably observed her
lord and master with a short, dry
ohuckle. by 10 O'Clock tomorrow
| morning, when the justices meet, we
| shall have this honest looking young
| gentleman and his friends in the town
| Rail. taking part in a public perform
| ance of another kind than tnaG WIN
which thew favored the town last week.
And tnen we shall see what we shall
see.' eso,., b q
down from!its peg, and prepared 10 go
his rounds, a nightly precaulon ne
| aeIdom omitted, Notwithstanding tne
| absence of all native criminals lroth NE
strictly preserved territory; as loE tn ne
acrobats, they had fled with the np p,
|