The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-03-25


dropped his voice a little here-'.a
young lady and gentleman together in
either carriages?"
/ felt bit of an odd catching in my
breath as he spoke. "No," said cutie
III a hurry. mo young lady and gentle
man belonging together; but there may
be plenty in the train. What if there
are, though? There was no young lady
or gentleman among the robbers.''
Among the robbers, . rejoined Davis,
with suppressed enjoyment, "was wo-
man who'd make herself into anything;
and you must own that a gentleman
with dark, long beard isn't bad for a
lady known to us pretty well by her
b OK red hair and a cut on her upper
hp.'
sBut the young lady ?" I asked,
cogitating this.
'.Ah ! the young lady. True enough;
5old you she grew out of that boy with
the closely cut, dark hair that we are af-
ter?"
| remembered the pretty plaits and
the loose, falling hair. [ remembered
the bewilderment in the eyes which en-
tlrely hid their natural expression, and
l. ulCu answer IQ1S al all.
81 wish I had as good chance of
catching the old fellow as I have of
catching the woman and boy" continu-
ed Davis, as we moved slowly past the
locked luggage van. 81 know they're
here, and that [ shall recognize them
under any disguise; but we've clue to
the other rascal. It's most aggravating
that, by some means, we've lost sight Of
the biggest rogue of all. Come along"
L Gid move along, feeling very stupid
ly glad that there was all the train to
search before we could reach that car
rlage at the other end where sat the girl
whom [ had, in a way, taken under my
protection.
"When are we to be allowed to leave
this train, pray? Call me cab," cried
the def old lady, plaintively, as we
reached her carriage, and found her gaz
ing out in most evident and utter ignor-
ance of all that was going on around
her. 81 am locked in, ga'ad. Do you
hear %
[ heard; aye, sharp enough. I only
wished she could hear me readily. Davis
stood aside Watching while I unlocked
her door and helped her down. Then,
seeing her helplessness, and her count
less packages. he beckoned porter to
her. winling expressively to call his at
tention to probable shilling.
Carriage after carriage we examined;
and though Davis detected no thief, he
turned away only more and more hope
fully from each. He was so sure they
were there, and that escape was impos-
s1ble. We reached the last carriage in
the line, and now my heart beat in
the oldest manner possible.
lis this compartment empty, then p
asked Davis, while my fingers were act
ually shaking as [ put my fingers in the
door of the center one. empty and
dark ?''
s'Even if it had been empty it wouldn't
have been left dark muttered, look
ing in. Halo What's come to the
lamp?"
I might well ask what was to come to
the lamp, for the compartment was as
dark as if it had never been lighted; yet
had not myself stood and watched
the lighted lamp put III at Rugby? And
the carriage was empty, too!
"Why was this" asked the detective
turning sharply upon me. ''Why was
not the lamp lighted? %
But the lamp was lighted, and burn
ing now as sensibly as the others-if we
could but have seen it. As we soon dis
covered, the glass was covered by kind
Of tarpaulin, intensely black and strong
ly adhesive, and the carriage was as
completely dark as if no lamp had been
there at all. The perplexity in Davis
face was as great as my own, when L
told him who had travelled here. ''They
couldn't have left the train here, at any
rate he said; and [ knew that as well
as he did.
But you have guessed the end. Dur
ing those few minutes that we stopped
on the line, the two hieYes-darkening
the lamp even after I had Left them, and
using their own key-had left the car
rage under cover of the darkness man.
aging their escape in their black dresses
out into the blackness of the night as
cleverly as they had managed their theft
and subsequent concealment. But how
could they have depended on this I'M
usual delay-this exquisite opportunity
given them in the utter darkness, close
to the city, yet at no station? When [
officially made my deposition, and eX
planned the cause of our stoppage, some
thing of the truth seemed to break upon
us all; but it wasn't for good while
that it settled into a certainty. Then it
got clear to every body that the older
scoundrel had duped us more ingenious
1y than the younger ones. AS the lncap-
able old lady deaf as q stone, and so
blind that she had to peer through her
glittering glasses, with eyes always half
closed, and so hungry that she had to
stop the train for luncheon basket he
had nlayed 11pOn us the neateSt trick of
all. Where on earth were the thick
1ron-gray hair and whiskers by which
we were to have identified him! But by
the time the police saw the whole thing
clearly it was too late to follow up any
clew to h1m.
The cab which had taken the eccentric
old lady and her parcels and flowers
from Easton was lost in the city, and
could not be tracked. A high reward
was offered for information, but no one
ever won it. Ny firm belief IS that 1t
was no leg1timately licensed cab at all,
but one belonging to the gang, and part