Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1875-06-08

handed over the report oil the occurrence
to him, and told him | would take thu
cart and go and inspect the scene of th'
attempted robbery; Tor such. as Chaundy
agreed with me, appeared TO be The rea
solution OF the matter.
, took n pair of horse pistols. which
were kept in the chiefs room as a sort @
demonstration OF our defensive force
loaded them, borrowed greatcoat OF one
of the men, and drove of TO the scene ol
adventure.
1t was a keen. cold, but still morning
As was whirlcd through the fresh air,
all the cobwebs spun in the late hours at
the ball were blown out OF my brain, and
felt invigorated both physically and
mentally. Much of the bewilderment
into which the drivers story had thrown
me melted, as the morning mists were
doing and by the time reached the
spot | had a pretty clear view OF the
case.
The poachers had wsited and waited
for Mr.. Darke's return. in ignorance OF
his having taken another road, and sup.
posing The ball to have been kept up. as
had sometimes occurred, until a very late
or rather early honr. About the time
when the mal-cart passed. they had how
ever, come to abandon all expectation OF
falling in with Mr.. Darke; and either the
sight of the mail bags had excited their
cupidity, or--as seemed more likely. no
pursuit having been made.-they fired the
shot as JOKE to alarm tho pos tman.
When reached the exact spot. dis
mounted, and carefully examined the
ground. The dew was still on the grass
but there was not 4 foot print to be seen
on il. went over every inch of the
: bank, and the border OF The fields below,
with as much minuteness as a well-lrain.
! cd pointer: then | examined the bank Of
the canal. and. crossing by lock little
/ way below, went over the farther bank
with equal care. There only remained
the road TO examine. No vehicle had
passed over it since the previous night
/ except the mail cart, the tracks OF whose
wheels were freshly marked. As fol.
lowed them with my eye. noticed lit
tie spot Of ground slightly blackened,
and caught a glimpse OF bright metal.
hastencd 10 the place, and found .
strange looking object, made apparently
with two pieces OF Tin or zine which bore
the traces of recent explosion. This,
then. was some clue 10 the mystery.
walked along the road scrulinising it
carefully, and about twenty yards farther
found another of these internal ma
chimes not exploded. Further on. |
came on the track OF child, which had
crossed the road from the canal bridge
10 the fields could see that the child
had stopped in one place; for the foot
prints were repeated, one over the other,
and there were the marks OF hand in
the dnst. where little fingers had scraped
it in The act Of picking something up. !
looked across the fields and saw o small
lad keeping BIRDS lie was the only
one astir, so hailed him and asked him
if he had anything like that which held
in my hand; and he at once produced ii
from his pocket. say ing he had found it
in the road. | gave him sixpence,
which was of more value to him,-and
safer, even supposing he had laid it all
out in sweets-than the explosive article
took from him.
Then | mounted the cart again and
drove on towards GrasSlands. but did not
see anything more. In order 10 test
whether the things ! had found would
sound like pistol, selected safe and
quiet bit OF the road, laid one down and
drove over it. 1t exploded with flash
and sound very much like pistol. Be-
ing prepared Tor it. saw whence the
dash came; but the doing driver was
hardly likely to observe so much as that.
As was driving on. was surprised
by The sudden appearance OF Mr.. Darke's
keeper.
"Hold hard!" he cried, stopping the
horse; "was that you shootinge That's
the second this morning. What have you
got in the trap"
l did not choose to explain matters 10
him. and he clearly suspected me Of
poaching and vowed he'd take me before
his master. To this had no objec tions,
SO he jumped into the cart, and we turned
round.
To make long story short, Mr.. Darke
was reused. and came down, to find me
virtually in custody. A few words ex.
planned how it was. The keeper was sent
away,-not without praise, though for
his vigilance, then related my dis.
covery to Mr.. Darke. He at once recog-
nized in my "inlernal machines" the fog
signals in use on railways.
He insisted on my coming in and taking
breakfast before prosecuted the search
farther. and readily consented. Mary