The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1880-04-29
FAIRLY CAUGHT.

FAIRLY CAUGHT.
My employmenris that of a carver j,
stone. Many years ago, soon after ha,
learned my business, the firm in who's,
employ was undertook the erection O
gentleman's mansion, and / was sen
to do the ornamental work. The vii
lage near to which the mansion WA
built was on the shore of an estuary O
the Bay of Morecombe, not far from th,
market town whose name need moi
give. Asmy work would keep me from
home several weeks, good lodging wa.
a NEST desirable thing; but, although |
tried TO get accommodation in a private
house, failed, and was forced to lodge
In the village inn, the Lord Admiral.
Among those who were in the habit q,
frequentiDg the aforesaid hostelry wa,
n man Of singular habits and odd tenn
per. His home was about a mile from
the village, on the side of a lane leading
10 couple of farms. His house. like
himself, was queer one. Originally it
Lad been built for the storage of corn,
the produce of fields ut distance from
the farmstead. Somehow it had ceased
to he needed for that purpose, 80 the
owner turned 1t into a dwelling house,
and as such It was now occupied by the
aforesaid strange man. 1t was divided
1n.o three apartments on the ground
hoor, one OF which, very large one.
was set apart aud used as a kind of
museum, its occupant being a stuffer of
birds and quadrupeds. When he had
no work OF this sort for other persons he
worked for stock, aud this large room
wss his warehouse.
de was man of ill-temper and loose
habits, and for some time had borne a
dubious character. When people were
ASKED why he was suspected, they could
not give a satisfactory reply. "He
hyes," they would say, "without doing
work equal to his expenditure, which
looks bad" As / got to know him
found that he had an unamiable temper: !:
was morose, sour, and at times passion.
ate. He was also fond of display. given
to betting, and like all such led loose,
uneven life, oftener lettering about than
NJ work. so | did not wonder that we'll
meaning people did not like him.
lie mostly came on wet nights TO the
Lord Admiral. As we became ac-
qusinted he invited me to look over his
collection Of birds and quadrupeds. 7
was pleased with what l saw. DE had
indeed, a good collection, and, as we'll
ms ! could judge, did his work well. He
had slso good assortment of butterflies
and moths, and in a corner, close to the
ceiling, had what he called a butterHv y
breeding box, which he said belonged To
his son, young man of nv own ACE
also given to bird-stuffing amusements
put L was most taken up with two
animals which differed from the rest
one was beautiful dog, and the other
hste ndfm9-a lamb, with the rud;-
ments OF fifth leg, and some other alb
normal characteristic which have for.
gotten. The old man said he had stufIed
Doth Tor their original owners, who had
somehow, failed to take them awav
They were placed at one end of the room
one In each corner, away from the win.
dow, and close to the wall, where er.
cept In strong daylight, they couId not
be easily seen. The connection Of tbess
in the sequel.
| had been in the village about six
weeks when the neighbornood was
aroused and alarmed one morning bv
the report of the robbery of a jewelers.
shop in the market town already referred
to, that had been effected during the
preceding night. Much valuable proper.
ty had hefutaken. This robbery had
been efected in such > way as led TO the
belief that gang Of practiced thieves
mad done II. The prevailing question
was: Do the robbers live among us or
nave they come from a distancef" This
query was still going. from mouth to
mouth when we were startled, astounded.
indeed, by a report of a second robhery
oil the ssmc premises, and on the nicht
following By the breaking into and mr..
loining OF provision warehouse in o,,r
own village. Were writing f;ct;on
would not have made the robbers nav an
soon second visit to the ieveIer's' AZ
such an act would have been deemed
PrePosterous, but / am relating wbat
really occurred, and 30 am forced IN sav
what have said. IWT"NG~ ~ soy
The jeweler had been so taken nm br
efforts TO find out the thieves and rega;n
his irst loss, that he had not placed ad-
ditional guard over what was left: he.
rides, he was sure, he said, that th;eves
Ao' shAH4 W A0yhoitfuR 1Or long
time. As for the provision dealer. he
sad in my hearing that be had NO fear
OF ms place being entered, as he h.
neveo roooers would ct care to touch
property 50 bulky and OF such infe,;or
sA.Ie ss ms. But he had reckoned With
out his host; for he had lost a fna Lsr,
. large lot OF tea, deal of soicer. : fs,y,
boxes of cigars, and indeed 4 portior ~ ~
most he dealt in. The excitement snd y,
alarm occasioned by these robberies
were great and widespread.
The patches Of detectives. one from
Lancaster, and enc from CendaI. came
70 our village to see what they could
nnd out. They were not short OF oues.
tions, / mind; but they took care vbat
sort OF questions they answered. II
was easy u see that one of their aims
was TO make itappear that they believed
the robbers came from a distance. In
order to put the thieves off their guard !.
Ior their own opinion was the opposite
o =, vent, however serious, can keen
noiu VI peoples minds beyond certain
time; and these robberies were begin.
ming to give place 70 some other sub
lect' when the next act in the drama be-