Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-10-24

the circumstances, some fifteen yexrs
previously, which caused him to bs
tried by general court-martlal and
cashiered. He was evidently q leading
spirit amongst those present. Under
the peculiar circumstances which
brought me amongst those 1 spent the
evening with, there may we'll be applied
tho old adage of ''honor among
thieves" And although only the
younger son of a younger son, this man
belonged to q family Of which the head
is a respectable. baronet, not unknown
in either the political or the fashionable
world. But never nee throughout the
Whole evening was this individual ad-
dressed by his right name, of which L
am certain the rest of the company
were ignorant. In fact, he never told
me in so many words who he really
was; it was only when he mentioned
the circumstances come ted with his
court-martial and said to what corps he
had belonged that I remembered all
about him. He appeared to be not
only very. popular. but quite a leading
man and an authority among those
present. But it certainly seemed Won
derful to see him, a well-born, a we'll
brought-up man, who had been edu-
Gated at Harrow, had afterwards held
q commission for some years in the
ndlan army and had risen to the rank
OF captain, SO fallen as to have become
not only a professional thief, but to
glory in his shame.
Throughout the evening he told
stories of his adventures in rascal-land.
which were always listened to and in
variably a%pplauded. In one of these
tales he related how he had some years
previously taken lodgings in a we'll
known street near St. James Square.
calling himself Lord So-and-so. A
'pal" of his, who was Gin the swim''
with him, had gone toa certain wealthy
gentleman in South Kensington and
had asked for the place of butler, giving
a reference to the so-called "ford,H
who told the tale with great glee. The
gentleman, who had advertised for a
butler, was known to have in his house
a considerable quantity of plate and
his wife to have aigreat deal of valuable
!ewelry. They were wealthy people.
having lately returned from one of the
colonies, where the gentleman had &C
quired a large fortune The latter
called upon the would-be nobleman to
ask about the character of the butler.
Il received him." said he who told
the tale, ''with a kindly condescension
and consideration, which seemed to
please him and yet to make him very
respectful. I gave Tommy''-the sham
butler-''an excellent character, saving
that L had only parted with him be.
cause I was going to travel in the East
for a couple OF years. The party was
quite satisfied and quite agreeable to
take him. Tommy got the place, was
much liked and remained there about
two months. Then"-winking hi;
eye-''there was a robbery of plate and
Jewels TO a large amount. Tommy bea,
a speedy retreat and I went to the
States, and there Tommy met me. L
was a good thing. a very good thing
was that plant and a very simple one
too. To this day I don't believe th'
party has any idea that the noble lore
in the West End lodging was a deceiv
er. He wrote to me to say how he hat
been robbed and that he feared the but
Ter had had a hand in the business.
replied-on paper with a coronet, i
you please-that I was very sorry, bu
could hardly believe my old servan
would have been guilty of such a crime
In these days the police were not yer,
fly and the whole affair was soon for
gotten
Another little adventure of the sam,
kind which the ox-officer related of him
self did not turn out quite so fortunate
or rather, as he expressed himself, h,
had every nearly come to grief" HI
had gone to Paris, put up at a yer,
good hotel, paid his way regularly anc
had purchased from time to time a con
siderable quantity of jewelry at a fash.
ionable shop, for which he had, as h.
expressed it, ''parted with the ready
to the extent of some two hundred
pounds. When he thought that he hat
he order a number of bracelets and ear
rings, all of great value, to be sent tt
the hotel, intending to play off the OLE
trick OF taking the goods into anothe
room for an imaginary lady-who wa
said to be i'll in bed--to select from ant
then to make Oft with the whole parcel
But the shopman who took the thing
to the hotel seemed to have some mis-
giving about the intending purchase,
and insisted upon following the latte
into the inner room, where there wa
no lady at all, either sick or we'll. A
the individual who told the stor. sale
Of himself, he Numbered over the affai.
and did not deserve to succeed, for h
ought to have secured assistance t,
work the affair properly. The Shop
man got angry and went away, threat
ening to expose him. But the intend
ing thief was too sharp for him. HI
had already paid his hotel bill and ha(
ordered a cab, so as to be ready for
start. He now took advantage Of thes'
preparations and drove Oft to the Calai
Railway Station, remained there
short time, then ordered another vehi
Gle, made his way to the St. Lazar
station, got to Havre and arrived safel,,
in London.
! But his regrets, when he told tn
, story, at having expended two hundre
, pounds without making any profit, wer
curious to hear. Any one who listene
, to HIM without hearing the first part c
, his story would have imagined that h
, had lost the money in the most legit
mate speculation. The company VIII
: heard his tale condoled with him as
' bo uos a morchant who had been III