The daily gazette., 1878-05-27
"A SkillfuI scamp.
BY A. J. X.


After serving out the last of three term.
OF imprisonment, Raoul Surian, a Pari,
thief, returned to his native city, Belle.
VILE, and announced his intention tc
reform" He had saved little money
by extra labor in prison, and he set up a
small shop for the sale of spectacles, eve.
glasses and ,mathematical Instruments
lie was closely observed by the police, but
appeared to conduct himself in the most
exemplary manner, and his reformation
seemed complete. He amassed money
rapidly,and soon sold out his modest shop,
lie now rented rooms on the third floor
of handsome house, drawing room. n
dressing room, breakfast parlor, two bed
rooms, room for servant and small room
which he called the laboratory.
Here he installed Madam Surian, n
handsome brunette, understood to have
been certain Mile, Cytheree, not un-
known to the frequenters of the opera.-
In his laboratory Surian had stock of
furnaces, crucibles, wheels and other in
strlnents. Some months passed without
special incident, when a series of skillful
iorgerles were discovered and traced to
The reformed Raoul. lie was Immediate
ly arrested and confronted with the par
ties who had been victimized by the for
ger, who hoped to identify him without
mistake. just here, however. most nm
expected hitch occurred. The swindler
was said to be ''something like" Surian,
but he had gray eyes, dark hair and light
blonde beard. The witnesses were unani-
nous as to the color of the eyes, which
were described as being as different as
possible from the suspected mans eyes
ana Surian was accordingly dscharg-
ed.
But the eyes of the police were on him
ana the suspected man was arrested again
soon alter the Franco-Prussian war broke
out, this time on suspicion of passing
fraudulent quartermasters drafts. The
police felt sure they had Surian, but the
bailling matter of identify again sprang
up. The actual criminal had a general
resemblance to Surian, except that his
hair and mustache were dark and his eyes
as black as jet. The authorities were
dumbfounded.
The testimony, however, was incontro-
vertible, and, after a searching raid upon
MS house, he was again released. Surian
"ao hoAb aiItSltu dS spy, ana IOr the
third time escaped conviction. The
"spy" was reported to have brown eyes,
while his was certainly blue. After that,
this hero of many escapes visited Paris.
Apparently the state of his household did
not suit him, for the fair Cytheree left in
tears, vowiDg vengeance.
Soon afterward she reported at police
headquarters, stating that NJ. Raoul Su-
rian, one of the adroitest robbers OF the
age, who continually escaped conviction
through his subtle DISCUSSES. lad been in
constant communication with the Ger
mans during the siege. She brought am
pie proof of the truth of her accusation.
Oncemore the police were put on Surians
track. He was discoy cred disguised as a
priest, this time with gray eyes, and was
shot dead while attempting to escape.
After all the secret by which he so long
baffied the police was very simple. He
had an assortment of very thin glass eyes,
with perfectly transparent pupils, and
these he changed as occasion seemed to
demand. A little practice enabled him
to do this without any inconvenience, the
more so that the workmanship of the
eyes was exceedingly perfect.