The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-08-06


fridge. rot,sing himself and speaking with
spirit. q What harm can she OF her irienos
- Are YOU quite sure you saw her steal the
things s5, asked the mercer gloomlly.
50 Resides, supposing she did put them ID
her picket, she says that she told my snop-
man to send her the BILL }"
nI'm hanged IL she did" CALCULATED. Tue
shopman Indignantly. Itch
"SlIence, sir,' answered the mercer VIII
a stern frown. So II this be really a case ..
theft you are seIf.condemned, for you ou Isu
to have kept your eyes aDout you. ~ nua
some time past have noticed tnaI you hate
been very negligent in business: r.
The shopman collapsed ana as LOT , MI
Pottridge he trudged back to his notei' 1eei
ing half inclined to go and ask LoIo De se
consfleld what he ought to 40. Inc ease
had been adjourned for a week, 50 nc INV.
elled back to Smallborougn 10 tne evening;
and By the time he reached MS native wv -
ha had worked himself up into state OF
non,em nt Tor the mercer and the metropoll--
ron s,intndiary. who seemed to draw dls-
t;nc,ion between well-dressed and Ill
dressed pl,Inderers. Meeting Mr.. Bungs,
the brewer, near the, railway station, ne
gauc him an account OF what had happened,
and was hearkened TO with sympathy until
no mentioned the name OF Pounce1ortn-
Ke,ne. Then Mr.. Bungs pursed up MS
Inns. "Why, bless me, that's the COUSIN OF
Lord Keynsole, brother-in-law OF our Lord
Lieutenant"
UWhat difference does that make! ;"
stammered MIR. Po;tridge, like man VINO
feels sure OF his ground. u,. u,o
uOh. nothing, except that don't see
why lady OF that sort should commit roo
heries." responded Mr.. Bungs.
Further down the street Mr.. Pottrlose,
who was rubbing his pate in rather violent
nern,exity, encountered Mr.. Dott, the
banker, whose daughter Lucy he ioyed.
&C Pounceforth.Keane exclaimed Mr.
Dott as soon as he had heard the grocer,s
story. "Why, Lord Keynsole, bis couslp'
banks with u.s." A.
aWeil, but come, Dott," reloTted Mr..
Pottridge impatiently, ais that reason
why Mrs. Pounceforth'heane shouiuil NC
q dishonest jade?"
mNo. hut think the whole thing impro-
bable - answered the banker, "and con-
Tess I should be sorry if anything unplea.
SAINT bappened to Lord Keynsolc's family"
MIR. Pottridge was not in a very good
hr1mor when lie went to bed that night. A
magistrate himself, he knew what shifts
are often made to Withdraw well-connected
offenders from justice, and so far as he was
concerned, he would have cared little bad
an appeal been made to him, al naiser1cor-
dian, to acknowledge that he had, perhaps,
been mistaken in fancying that he saw Mrs.
PIX. pocket some lace handkcrchefs. But
Mr., Pottridce couid not bear to be pooh-
poohed at or threatened with unpleasant
consequences il he did his duty. He was
an alderman, a grocer with blamtless con-
science, and he feared no man. Feeling
that bis character for veracity aud common
sense was at stake he resolved to give bis
evidence against the wife OF Lord keyn'
sole's cousin with no more hesitation than
il she were the commonest iail-bird.
From that date, however, things began to
90 wrong somehow with Mr.. Pottrldge. Ii
seemed as though his long luck had lorsaken
him. On the morrow OF his adventure IN
London, Mr.. Chuckleworth, the principal
solicitor in the town, who was LORD Aeyn-
sole's legal adviser, passed him in the street
without nodding, and later In the Gay Mrs.
Chuckleworth sent stiff note begging tllat
MIR. Pottridge would send in his bill, ana
intimating that she would thenceforth pur-
chase her groceries at another house. Now
the ChucklewoTths had always been excel
lent customers of Mr.. Pottrdge.
This was bad enough, but worse was to
follow. Next day some inspectors OF
weights and measures arrived at the al
derman's shop and found piece Of lard
sticking under his scales. They declared
they should make a report OF the fact.
Scarcely had they gone, leaving the grocer
speechless with confusion, than two we'll
dressed strangers entered and bought some
tea, brown sugar, cocoa, pepper, and pot
of mustard; after which they stated that
they were public analysts, who were gong
to examine the quality of these goods.
They examined them, in truth, so fast
that two days later Mr.. Pottridge received
q summons to answer the charge OF putting
birch-twigs in his tea, sand in his sugar,
turmeric in his mustard, clay in his cocoa,
&c. MIR. Pottridge shrugged his shoulders
at first, taking it for granted that the charge
would be dismissed by his brothcr-magis-
trates, Messrs. Dot, Bungs, and company,
but before the case came up for bearing it
fortuitously transpired that Mr.. Pottridge
had been up to London interviewing Lord
Beaconsteld for the purposes We know, and
this made the other aldermen furious. Mr..
Bupgs, the brewer, was particularly angry,
and declared that Pottridge was traitor,
insomuch as the poor grocer, instead OF
having a friendly Bench to Judge him,
found very stern one.
81 am sorry for you, Mr. PottrldSe'
said Mr.. Dott, who sat as chairman, "Dut
men in your position should set an eNainp ,.I
You are fined EGO on each count, WIKI
costs. Total, G12O." ,,r+
Ill-star:ed Pottridge! He left tue co',it
politically and socially done 1or, ,oi a, nr
could no longer hope to be ree'tcteu, nay hc, W
nor TO marry Miss Dott. He shou,u nase,
moreover. to resign his aldermansnip' anu
his personal character, as wen IL sna' Va mo
fea sugar, and mustard. was l'li t,'.
So ruined was Mr.. Pottrlage Inat mne.
he vent TO London to give evidence against
Mrs Pounceforth-Keane the nrst question
asked him by the counsel ioi .ns ue r,en ct
q clustering Old Bailey barrlster-was, o!
U.S. rn1 have Just been convicted Of
. DeutT adultcrated goods and at false
weight ,,, >, s+o,orod mar Dot
"No explanations, sir. Give me plain
answer, Yes or no /" s-:a >.. ...
eyes, then"
uWell, then, If you are liable to make
mistakes about your weights, you may err
in other things"
"Perhaps," replied the grocer, despe-
rately, 81 may have been mistaken in think
ing this lady was thief. have had enough
bother about the business"
~ You ought to be ashamed Of your flip
pant conduct, SIR" cried the counsel harsh
", and the wretched grocer hobbled out of
the witness-boX feeling very mean indeed.
After this confession OF possible error on
the part Of the chief witness the case against
Mrs POunceYortl- Keane was OF course,