The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-04-25
MY WIFE'S MAID.

The series of burglaries which startle
the public IA the autumn and earl,
, winter OF the year 1856 was of de
scrlptiOn to alarm any household Il
each case a gang of from seven t,
eleven masked men hal broken into Al
p isolated dwelling containing an unusua
2 amount Of silver or jewels; had intini
= dated the inmates by threatening then
, with firearms mastered them. secured
them, gagged them, then quietly pro
ceeded methodically to strip the house
of all the valuables it contained. Theil
Intelligence of the premises was never
at fauk. Secret drawers and slidinp
panels supposed TO be known only to
the family, were sought and opened at
once, and safes, whether built into the
walls or exposed in closets, We're equal
" at their mercy, and easily forced bv
means OF drills and gunpowder.
My own position filed me with anx-
iety. My house is six miles from town.
set IN the ceuter of wide grounds, re-
mote from any habitatiOn but the gard
ener's cottage at the gate Both my
| wife and myself had inherited a large
amount Of bulky family plate, and be-
| SIDES this useless metal, which never
| came out of the safe, I had several
| costly services presented on the occa-
| sion of our marriage, three large sal
| yers, etc, testimonials from societies of
| which had been an active member, to
! say nothing of a complete and varied
! assortment of small articles in silver
and gold. Then my wife's possessions
! were those OF a princess, for she had
been the daughter of a millionaire, and
all her life a spoiled child of fortune.
Besides plate and Jewels, her house CON-
tanned q valuable collection Of statuarv!S .
paintings and brOuzes, and I was only
too conscious Of hoving expended a for
tune upon the surroundings of our
daily life, and was inspired with grave
doubts as to its safety. Brooding over
such thoughts, and reading the news
papers filed with speculations concern /
ing these mysterious burglaries, / soon
besame the victim Of an exaggerated
disnni tDaa Bas' Bag cr;Tce e., 81 fvgiS;lss been
sent into Town % ny eaBKts-ssa sssss...j s.i !
wife objected, laughed at my apprehen- |
sions, and begged me not to worry.
But l continued to worry, and per
picked myself with conflicting plans for
safety, and one day while in town L
went to the headquarters of the police
and inquired for Belts, the detective
engaged on this case.
He admitted me into his private
room. I asked for the latest news. z
Had anybody been arrested? ? No.
Was anybody to be arrested? He
Lshrugged his shoulders. Was anybody
Asuspected?
He chuckled softly to himself
Ny dear sir, said he, we suspect
@THen, cried I, "arre every
body on suspicion Good God I
cannot sleep IN my bed, for something
assur, me my turn viii come next. L
can't decide what to do, Belts. Ny
wife won't let the silver and diamonds
90 out Of the house, and this very night
/ may be awakened TO find masked men
standing over me with IoGled pistols,
who would rob my yhouse under my very
eyes ,
Belts shook his head unused a little
with his legs crossed and his left fore
finger pressed into his cheek. By
the-by," said he presently, chow many
servants have You, Mr.. Powers? Please
tell me about them individually"
[ went over their names, and the de-
tective CHECKED them off in his memo
randum- Cook as 1 gave the facts con-
nected with them. auDders, the but
Ter, had been with us seventeen years
the cook, five years coachman and
groom. seven; ard the chambermaid,
three-all fixtures in the household
but Marie, my wife's maid, who had
ccme within the last four weeks.
"Ah !" exclaimed Belts, Z" where did
you get Marie Was she well recon-
mended?"
"Oh, yes, she is French, and has just
come TO this country with family by
the name of De Sturges. She was
nurse TO a child who died on the pas
Al. ,f
ployment she advertised. and my wife
saw her, liked her, and engaged her.
You continue to like her?"
{" Capitally; she's q perfect genius,
with effective magic in her fingers.
"Did you see her former employers 2
" Yes both De Sturges and his wife.
Describe her, if you please, said
Belts, with keen interest which sur
prised me.
"With all my heart. Marie is small,
black eyed, black haired, compactly
built, with remarkably neat hands and
feet. She has saucy, laughing face,
and her hair is short, crisp and curly.
/" How about her voice p
| every clear and ringing. She does
not speak English fuently, but under
stands every word that is said to her. "
"Now about her little ways"
Z" A thorough Frenchwoman, with a
knack OF pleasing everybody. don't
| know when I've seen such an artless.
good, happy little girl.
Belts laughed uneasily, then bent his
head on his hand, his elbow resting on
his knee.
mr.. Ipwers," said he at last, look
| ing up with a peculiar fash in his eyes,
s' / am going to take you into my conf
| dence, but you must be discreet or you
| viii ruin me. I've sworn to see this
thing through or resign my position.
I'm sick of this internal foolery of call
ing myself detective and letting Satan
reign night and day all over the city.
The newspapers drive me mad They
| know nothing about the obstacles we
contend with, and goad us into prema
ture steps, which cost us our reputation,
| and end IN failure. I've been working
in the dark these nine weeks, but, by
Heavens, / believe you've shown me a
ghmmer of light. )"
q Then, producing a notebook, he
I opened it at well-worn leaves.
''There have been, y he began, look
| ing at me with q sort of smile, five
| great robberies within the last six
months, and each one has these special
FEATURES, characterizing it as the work
of the same hands as the other four.
's First. the combination of seven to
eleven masked men, all adroit burg
lars second, an isolated house is at
| tackled, sure to contain ample provision
for a successful robbery third, the
thieves know the premises fourth, the
| leader of the gang Is p small man, of
active habits, with clear, shrill voice. !"