The Republican journal., 1874-05-21
A. BELFAST, MAINE, THURSDAY, MAY 2l 1874

stood over me, each pointing pistol at
my head
Please to get up, Nr Powers" said
one OF them, in a cool, civil way, '.plcasc
to put on that dressing gown and those
slippers You shall not be harmed in the
least if you will only be quiet and obey
dlrections.' With three pistols aimed
square in his eyes, any man will be docile,
| suppose al least | got up, and put on
dressing gown and slippers Then one OF
the men caught my arms, drew them be-
hind, and manacled them another gagged
me with one ofmy own silk handkerchiefs
and thus rendered harmless, | was led
down stairs, where my household, in vari-
Gus stages Of night attire, gagged, and
tied back to back. were awaiting me in
the dining-room | was put into an arm
chair and fastened to it by feet and hand,
then was left alone to stare about me-
Maddened, desperate though | was. when
| discovered that the sixth of the robbers
was johnson, the detective, | recognized
him with a keen sense of the ridiculous
and only wished that Betts-whom | was
mentally anathematizing with curses not
loud but deep-were in his place, and
testing some Of our humiliation
/ Besides the three masked men who had
mastered me and brought me down, there
were five others in the dining room. Two
We're left as sentinels over us, and the rest
at once fell to work in way that meant
business. A small active man (was it our
Marie y motioned toward the sideboard
1t was wheeled aside, and stepping for
ward he pressed the Sliding panel ana dis
| closed the closet where the silver in daily
use was kept and the shelves were at
once stripped and the contents piled ON
the table
The bedrooms up stairs We're next
visited, the locks of drawers and ward
robes Wrenched apart, and the contents
| thrown pell-mell on the floor for the chief
expert TO decide on what should be carried
off. The upper rooms being gntted, they
came down with their Spoils, which they
| piled high before our eyes on the table
and then, leaving Us again alone with our
sentinels, they went through the entry in
to my library.
1t was dark hour leaned back my
| head and closed my eyes, and felt that fate
was cruel to me Only one consolation
| illumed the blackness OF my despar-mv
wife had carried her Jewels to town with
| her, and | was spared the humiliation of
telling her had lost them for her through
| my diotic faith in Belts There was 4
! long silence row, which | understood but
too well it was followed by three mut1led
| explosions that shook the house like an
earthquake, and almost simultaneously
was heard the noise of a scuf1ie and
| opened my eyes to see the room filled with
policemen. and hear pistol shots eNchang-
ed, while our two sentinels were thrown
down, disarmed, and pinioncd before my
eyes
| looked and listened, mentally stunned
without clear comprehension of the mean
ING of the uproar, for, with the noise of
the firearms, the clang of manaclcs, and
the beat of heavy feet. the tumult was
somewhat terrifying
| In less time than it takes me to describe
it, the situation had been reversed, and
now Betts, the detective, appeared in the
door at the head Of his posse Of men, who
brought in eight of the captured burglars
two of them wounded and bleeding pro
tilsely, while the rest showed signs of hay
inc maintained a stout resistance; all had
/ lost their masks in the melee, and dis
closed sullen and brutal vioages
'.IIow are you, MI Powers" 2" inquired
| Belts, coming forward and releasing me
II hope you're not hurt beg Your par
don for taking possession Of Your house in
this way
Why did you make me think ! was
safe for tonight Belts p
4 because, he replied, with Il shrug ~
4 discovered YOU were Just q little upset at
the prospect and felt afraid of YOU He
ran his eve over the group beside me, and
/ when he saw Johnson, he grinned and
| going up to him, knocked his manaces
off. YOU'RE a pretty detective, YOU are
said lie, ''to be caught and tied up by the
very fellows You We're in waiting for
Still, Belts was in too high good humor
to be angry even with the humliated
johnson Meanwhile was peeping into
the faces OF the thieves, fearing to find
Marie among them.
''Betts, gasped, suddenly, "younaven't
got the little one"
lie gave tigcrish cry, and glared from
one TO another Of his prisoners.
You are sure there was another?'
''No doubt Of it, returned; ANY one
of these fellows is four inches taller than
the leader of the gang
In another moment he had set picked
men at work searching both houses and
grounds; but he never succeeded IN ind
ing even trace of the eleventh of the
party of burglars Nor even after the CON
viction and heavy sentence Of the other
ten, would any of them confess the secret
OF their leadership had easily identified
NJ and Madame De Sturges-both swarthy
and robust Frcnchmen--among them, but,
in spite of all my efforts, neither could be
induced even to acknowledge they had
ever heard of such 4 person as Marie, or
that they mad ever masqueraded under the
respectable disguise of her employers
But when the snow melted off in the
spring one little silent witness came to
light and told his pititul story against her
it was the dog Jingle, found dead in The
sh1bbcry, his throat cut, and his frozen
eye uptulned in reproachtul agony. [iiar-
nor'S Ra7ar