The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1880-06-18
FAIRLY CAUGHT.
"A Sketch From E4ife.

\ My employment is that of :, carver il
stone. Many years ago, enet long after
learned my business, the firm in who's
employ was, undertook the erection of
! gcntIcman's mansion. aud | was sent Il
execute the ornamental work. The vii
| lage near to which the mansion was built
was on the shore Of an estuary of the Bay
Of Morecombe, not far from the market
town, whose name | need mot give. ii
my work would keep me from home sever.
al weeks, good lodging was IL most. desiI-
able thing: but though ] tried to get ac-
commOdation in 4 private house, | failed
and was forced to lodge i'll the village inn
the Lord Admiral.
Among those who were in the habit OF
the above named hosiery was
a man of singular habits and odd temper
his home was about a mile from the vii
lage, on the side of Il lane leading TO 4
couple of farms. His house, like himself,
was a queer one. Originally it had been
built for the storage Of corn, the produce
of fields at a distance from the farmstead.
Somehow it had ceased to be used for that
purpose, SO its owner turned it into Il
dwelling house, and as such it was now
used by the aforesaid strange man. 1t
was divided into three apartments Oh the
ground floor, one Of which, Il very large
one, was set apart and used rs kind of
museum, its occupant bcIEg Il stvt1er of
birds and Quadrupeds. Whom he had 10
work Of this kind on hand for others, he
worked for stock, and this large room was
his warehouse.
He was Il man Of loose habits and i'll
temper, and for some time had borne Il
dubious character. When people were
asked why they suspected, they could not
give Il Satisfactory reply. 'sHcs lives, = they
would say without doing work equal to
his expenditure, which looks bad" AS /
got to know him | found that he had an
unamable temper, was morose, sour, and
at times passionate. lie was fond of dis
play, given to betting, and, like all such,
led Il loose, uneven life. oftene1 lettering
about than at work. 50 I did not wonder
that well-mcaning people did not like him.
lie mostly came on wet days to the Lord
Admiral. AS we became acquainted, he
invited me to look over his stock of birds
and qliadrupeds. ! was pleased with what
| saw. He had, indeed, Il good collection,
and, as well as | could judge, had done
his work well. He had also a good assorts
ment Of butterflies and moths, and in u
corner, closezto the ceiling, had What he
called Il butterfly breeding-boS, which he
said belonged 10 his sou, 81 young man Of
my own age, also given to bird-stuffing
Es
But I was most taken up with two ami
mails which differed from the rest. One
was beautiful dog and the other a lusHs-
natarm-;t lamb with the rudiments of a
fifth leg, and some other abnormal charac-
tcristies which lave forgotten. The old
man said he had stuffed both for their or
iginal owners, who had somehow, failed
to take them away. They were placed at
one end Of the room, one in each corner,
away from the Window, and close to the
wall, where, except in strong dayliget,
they could not DC easily seen. The con-
nection of these particulars with my story
will be seen in the sequel.
had been III the village about six weeks
iTl,J, ~,
alarmed one morning by the report of the
robbery Of i ajewcler's shop in the market
town already referred to, that had been
effected duriug the preceding night.
Much valuable property had been sta'lensE
This robbery had been done in stleha way
as led TO the belief that !: gang Of prac-
ticed thieves had done it. The prevailing
question was, s'Do the thieves live among
us, or have they come from Il distance?"
This query was still going from mouth to
when we were startled astounded,
indeed, by the report Of q second robbery
of the same premises, and on the night
following by the brcallnig into and pur-
loiniug OF II provision warehouse III our
own village. Were | writing fiction, |
would not have made the robbers pay a
second visit 10 the jewellers 50 soon, as
such an !vt would llaYe been deemed pre-
postcrous; but am relating what really
occurred, and so am forced to say What
| lave aid.
The icwcler had been 50 taken up by
efforts to find out The thieves and regain
his first loss, chat he lad not placed addi-,
tional guard over What WAs LETT; besides,
he was sure, he said, that thieves would
not think Of reyisiting him for Il long
time. .As for thcsproSision dealer, ne said
in my hearing that he had no fear Of his
place being entered, as lie believed robbers
would tot care to touch property SO bulky
and of ~ inferior NaItle as his. But he
had rcckoned without his host, for he had
lost fine ham, a large lot OF tea, q deal OF
spices, Il few boxes Of cigars, and indeed q
portion of most Of what he dealt in. The
excitement and alarm oecasioned by these
robberies was great and widespread.
Two batches Of detectives. one from
Lancaster and one from Kendal, came to
our village to see what they could find out
They were net short Of questions, mind-
ca; but they took care what sort OF qHIes-
tions they answered. 1t was easy to see
that one of their aims WAS to make it#sap-
pcar. that they believed tile robbers came
from ii distance, iii oraef5to puttiIe thieves
off tlieir guard.
M event however serious, can keep
hold Of peoples minds beyond certain
time: and these lobbelies were beginning
10 give place to other subjects, when the
next act of the drama began TO pc played.
1t was Oh Friday afternoon, about 4 month
after the robberies. The day vet aud
wild; and. ~ my work was the outside
carving of stones which had been placed
in position IN the rough, was unable 10
90 on with ii, and 50 had 10 return TO my
quarters. / had GOT my dinnet,atld had
lust called fora pint Of ale with my pipe
when an elderly, addressed man tslne ~,
and sitting down oli# bench beside side tnt',
said with 4 broad Lancashire accent, 1.l I
SUP wi tfla lad if tll:s aoesll f.eitie ,''llsl
lifting my mug. to his lips lle drank freely
L had not rot over my surprise 'Eileaa iles
wiping lis mouth nifll!llis hand save hs'
il history Of The past day o. Two. i:le;h-
count Nils This ltaa been n atsiaf1i'-