The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-05-11

W~he w RAONV Abs BASbVhNCu w Dt
very deaf as soon as they got In, not
replying to any OF their questions.
assumed the tone of voice generally used
by the deaf, held my hand to my ear, and
moved over and expressed my regrets If
had offended them, saying that /
could not even hear the rumble of the
coach.
"Good !" exclaimed one of the men,
as sat down at the other end of the
vehicle. Nov you can go on with
your yarn"
Before proceeding the other one called
me an old fool, thief, robber and
various other things, closely watching
my countenance to see If 1 could hear
his words.
The old smooth-bore Is as deaf as a
stone," he remarked, having satisfied
himself as to my deafness, and then he
went on with a narrative which had
been interrupted.
soon ascertained that they were on
their way to Pen6eld, to rob merchant.
They had everything arranged to COM
NIT the crime the next night, and the
one who put up' the plan gave all
the details as to how the robbery was to
committed, where they would "run" to,
and gave u guess as to each ones share.
What about Luke ?" inquired the
other, after the plot had been fully dis.
cussed.
"Oh, Luke will he there on time"
replied the man. He has kept deviish
shady since that business at IL, but
now wants to make a haul and dig out
for the far West. You needn't fret--we
can depend upon him"
Before we got into the village the men
tried me again, but / could not hear
except when they shouted in my ear,
and they were sure that the conversation
had been strictly private. While they
put up at the hotel, went to the house
of deputy sheriff, intending to remain
concealed all the next day. 1 had of
course, to state my business to the
officer, as must have his aid, and he,
the slmpleton that he was, related the
whole story to his wife after they had
retired. Thus it naturally came about
that next day,whlle l was laying shady,
but planning how to capture the burg
lars, the woman was retailing my plans
to the neighborhood. When night
came there were six of us ready to
pounce upon the criminals, but there
were no criminals to be found The
fellows had got wind of the affair and
were off, and had lost the second only
reliable clue to the Arnold murderer
which L had ever been able to find.
Some time after this, while in the city of
Rochester, L caught sight of hand
resting on the window sill of horse
cara large red hand. The hand was
nothing strange, but the thumb was
missing.
did not wait an instant to think. L
leaped from the car, entered the other,
and there sat my friends of the stage
coach on either side of the owner of the
hand-'a big man with red hair and
whiskers." They all jumped up as L
entered, but hung fast to Luke and
soon had the bracelets on him, allowing
the Others to get away. He had no idea
who was, and ] took care not to hint
at the charge against him until L had
him back at L..
My arrival created much excitement,
as pursuit of the murderer had, from
the first been deemed hopeless. Many
contended that L had not secured the
,srxI,f I'D T.,rlx IN tS,
have been in that part of the State
before. The child was several miles
away from the village, but 1 sent for
him. 1t had been year since the MUIR
der. Little Jack had almost forg often
| the circumstance, and of course the
murderer had changed some. But 1 had
strong hopes that the child would be
able to identify the man, and L was
not disappointed.
Waiting until evening, conducted
Jack into room where Luke and q
dozen citizens were sitting. The little
fellow had no knowledge of what we
intended, and for some time did not see
the murderer. When he did, he uttered
loud shrek, ran to me and exclaimed :
"There's the big man who hit grand
pa and grandma !"
Luke braved it out to the last even
when the purchaser of the watch testi-
fled to his identity he kept a bold face
and went to some pains to attempt to
prove an alibi but when convicted,
mainly on the testimony of little Jack,
who shivered and trembled at the sight