The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-04-25
He stopped and looked at me.

nlZed leader" | remarked.
He drew d large book from his desb
9 Here, said he, " is the full testimon
IN all five cases. Run your eye over il
and you viii see that the general fact
all coincide. The small man gives di
rections and leads everybody"
. Probably some London crlcksman.
Belts nodded, winked, then leane;
forward, and whispered in my ear, 's
suspect it is a woman"
8 Impossible no woman has th
nerve" ."
"a she-devil, then-something in
woman's form, at all events. The res
of the gang are as free and easy witt
each other rs you please, yet no one ev
er lays finger on this little one. bu
all draw back to let him pass. He gives
orders, exerts himself when ingenuity
IS required, but when strength is needed
he looks on while the others fall tc
work.
sornetfsrs-r-; 5srrrt-ttIsrr TTIcFs 70 siT1r. Is
soon as | had mastered the details was
impressed by the conviction that one OF
the thieves had been on the premises
before. At Mr.. Stewards for instance,
the safe IS built into the wall, and a
false panel IN the wainscot IS the only
opening to it yet the first place the
burglars approached was that panel,
| which the little fellow slid aside at once.
80 l set to work looking for Il suspicious
character in the house, and found all
satisfactory till / came to n French
goyerness who staid with them six weeks
last spring. Now, sir, in each house
entered by these masked devils there
has been during the past twelve months
some similar transient inmate. At
Warkwen's it was a French cook, in
white cap and apron at the Lewises',
| the young lady's page, a clever Buttons:
at the Pratts', protege of the children,
a handsome vagrant Italian boy, with
violin. And now, Mr.. Powers" con-
! tlnued Belts, bringing his hand down
! heavily upon my knee, q am ready to
swear that you have this dangerous in
mate under your own roof ia the charac-
| ter of your wife's maid. "
L started as if l had been shot.
impossible" !" l gasped "Impossi- |
But truly, sir, impossible p 1.-The |
idea IS monstrous. Marie IS a sweet lit /
tie girl, playful as a kitten
But, Mr.. Powers, you are a man e /
the world, and know that q woman y
not proved honest because she bewitches
you"
But, Belts, admit that though I am
an old fool my wife is a thorough wo-
man, and as rule, suspects all her own
sex, yet she is positively fond of Marie. "
Marie is a clever little puss Wher-
ever she has lived, as a man or woman,
the whole family have adored her.
Has Marie shown an interest in these
burglaries ?"
There could be no doubt of her hav-
ing questioned me concerning them with
intense eagerness, and if L spoke TO my
wife about any apprehensions while she {
was present Marie never lost word.
g Does she know about your silver ?
Has she any charge of your wife's dia- !
monds ?" !
sas%a. That very morning I /
had<safown her my safes behind a I
false bookcase in my study, and. asked
her opinion whether any one could mis-. 7
trust those innocent-looking encyclope- Y
0las, or suspect the existence of a closet s
greenness. but rfade q cream DreasU ca sIbs =
to Belts, who was good enough |
to refrain from expression OF his opiu- l
ion of TG@sdiscretipn.
- My word for it, i" he cried, she Gas a
been waiting to find out that secret, and I
now she will leave your house within q
forty-eight hours. Her pretext will be I
a reasonable one, and she will promise {
to return, but when she does return she
viii bring her gang at her heels to rob
your house for you"
The idea of connecting our Mary {
with such outrages filed me with hor-
ror Irejected it strenuously. '
Believe or not, as you like, he re-
turned, with a shrug, '' so long as you |
only follow my advice. just out of Gu {
riositv. take home little dog with you l
and see if Marie does not set to work ]
TO bewitch it at once. Then the mo- S
ment she speaks of leaving your house y
telegraph to me"
our interview lasted another hours
When [ left him l went to dog-fan-i
cier's and bought a little yelping black 5
and-tan spaniel, and carried him home
with me.
"Whom did you see in town ?'' in {
quired my wife.
Don't speak of it,, said I, looking s
fearfully about, as if the walls had ears, {
''but 1 was with Belts, the detective. '
You must not repeat what l say, Marie" :
- Never. monsieur /" cried Marie.
"The fact is, I proceeded, sinking
my voice into a sepulchral whisper, !
''that gang of masked burglars have
been traced to New Orleans, and may ,
be arrested by this time. P"
"Then I hope, dear" said my wife,
laughing, "that you will again sleep
soundly in your bed After you got up
last night for the fouth time to prone
made about, pistols in hand, decided
it might be better TO eat off pewter and
wear French gilt jewelry than to lead
such life"
1 too laughed, and stretched my legs
comfortably. Yes, I mean to sleep
like a Christian hereafter; besides, l
have brought home a dog"
"A dog p exclaimed Marie, startled.
eyes" / turned ard looked at her
attentively. "Don't you like dogs p
She protested vehemently that she
loved dogs better than anything in the
world.
That very day she received a letter
from Madame De Sturges, her former
mistress, asking her to come In and
pass a few hours with her before she
left for New Orleans. Marie carried
the letter TO Mrs. Powers. " Madame
wishes to talk to me about Mile.
Helene" pleaded the girl, with tears IN
her eyes. "To-morrow will be the
birthday of the pauvre ange, who lies
at the bottom of the cruel sea"
Poor Madame De Sturges," ex-
claimed my wife, touched at the thought
of the sorrowing mother; "you must
spend tomorrow with her, Marie. Go
in at nine o'clock and come back at five.
Marie was grateful, and told melting
stories about the pauvre aDge-her
beauty. her piety, her intelligence
and nothing conld equal my wife's sym
pathy, and when the girl went into |
town the next morning she actually car
ried a note to Madame De Sturges, |
written in my wifs's very best French.
Meanwhile had telegraphed Marie's |
proposed movements to Belts, and now, |
with some nervousness, awaited events. |
The detective had warned me that she |
would win tie dogs affections that she |
would leave the house, promising to re-
turn, but would not return. Two of |
these predictions were already verified !;
but if Marie came back I could laugh |
at his suspicious, and regard them as Z
futile.
But Marie did not return at five
o'clock telegram arrived in her stead
from Madame De Sturges. saying that
she had kept the girl, and would write
at length and explain. Next morning
letter was received from that lady.
She told my wife she was i'll, yet oSli-
ged to travel; homesick in a strange
land, without a familiar woman's face