The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1873-05-09
a TIHRILELsG ADVENTURE.
MADAME PAULINE LrCCA AS A
THIEF-CATCHER.

: For cool resolution, the following
: incident related to me hv nv friend.
cannot we'll be. surpassed: Madame
Pauline Lucca usually lesides III the
Victoria Strasse, Berlin. Last
spring, however, she occlpipd tenn
porarily, at some distance outside
the city, q gartenlans. or country
house, consisting Of onB a spacious,
rambling basement story, surround
ed by veranda. Oneaight, about
10 o'clock, she was sitting there in
herbedroon1. Herchair was placed
before her toilet table, which was
lighted by a wax taper Oh each
side OF the glass. The two tapers
were not sufficient to illuminate the
rooms very b illiantly, and the fur
ther end lay III a sortof fsemi-otsc,r-
ity. Madame Lncca was busy read
ing some letters concerning engage
ments, when suddenly she imagined
she heard . noise. She looked
around, but, seeing nothing, con-
cluded she had made a mistake, and
resumed the pernsal Of the letters.
She had forgotten all about the
noise when she heard it again
This time, instead oflooking around,
she happened, without moving her
head, merely to raise hereyes to the
glass. She beheld reflected il it
the face Of man peering cautiously
from out a cupboard behind her.
At tigst she fancied she was dream
ing. She quietly looked again.
No, it was no dream. There was
the man, who she now recogized AZ
having been formerly IL her service,
whence he had been discharged for
general bad behavior. She had
also suspected him Of pnrloining
several objects, whichshe lad missed
from time to time, but not being
certain on this point, She had kept
her suspicious to herself. Yes, there
he was; there could be no mistake
about the matter. Madame Lucca's
| rs x y q
first impulse was to start up and
| give the alarm. But there was not
another habitstion witlina mile or
two, ard she recollected that the
only person besides her III the house
was her maid, who, though q very
good girl, and extremely attached
to her mistress, was by no means
celebrated for her nerve. The other
servants, including the gardner and
coachman, had been granted per-
mission toattehd b friends wedding
some miles off, and were not to re-
turn till the next day. 1t flashed
across her mind that the man, who,
as she knew, had been loitering
about the neighborhood for two or
three days, had learned that she
would be alone, and meant to rob
the house, or perhaps, murder her
ifhis project ofrohbery could not be
executed without the perpetration
Of greater crime. What was to be
done? Again she glanced toward
the mirror. The eye was still there,
glaring on her through the gloom.
All at once, she re,hembefed that a
revolver belonging to her husband,
thd Baron Won Rhaden, ought to
be lying on a shelf in the dining
room; but she was not quite sure. /
"H it is there, and could only get
it." she thought, 81 should not
mind" While she was rejecting,
a knock was heard on the door Of
the room. She saw the man in
stantly draw back into the cup
board, and close it after him. She
felt relieved that those two horrible
eyes were taken off her; they seemed
to pierce here like daggers.
b tttSutIfg iii ~ ME said. " 'a*
\ Her maid entered.
III thoNsHt you had gone 10 bed,
my good girl,' observed Madame
L1cca, in d tone Of pneoucegp. Il
II was gong, please syonr lady
,ship--but | thought you might per-
Ehapa MaAt saNeaAinJ = sepisa' Ahea|
maid.
H 81 toldsYoNgI waalarhqnaypwn
'tfslante IL clldmbfu t. Lis'fa NJ;