The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1885-05-11

enIeIou Inc ulnlng room on the previous
evening.
1 said nothing about the loss. making
some excuse about being obliged to be in the
city that morning before the usual time, and
desiring an early breakfast, as an excuse for
awakening them, was soon on my way to
the city, where, after safely depositing the
jewels, sought the services of well known
and ehrewd detective, who had at one time
done some work for our firm, and stated to
him the entire circumstances, retaining his
services in the matter; for though the loss
was tritiing, did not wish the cuprit to es-
cape If he could be secured.
At the same time realized, as the detac-
tive suggested, that it might be a more diff
cult case than it would otherwise prove.
from the fact that the thief. whoever he
might be, would at once by daylight detect
the Worthlessness of his plumber, and would
never attempt to dispose of it,
AND the detective never did find a clew to
the matter. During that forenoon he went
to my house. inspected the premises and as
certained that the window could be opened
from the outside with little trouble, in spite
of the manner in which / had supposed it to
have been made fast; he also informed me
that the key of my room-the lock being of
simple pattern-could readily have been
turned from the outside by burglar with
ined the servants, especially the waiting
man, but could find no good grounds for sus-
pecting any OF them. There had been a
sharp rainfall the latter.part of the previous
night, and any footprints which might have
been made in the garden wee totally o5lit-
Grated, So he was obliged to confess he had
found no clue to the matter, and could only
tell me he would keep sharp lookout for
any evidence bearing upon the case.
h. ol11 st IL.
waiting man, as his very presence seemed
to disturb my wife, whose nerves appeared
to have undergone shock from which they
did not readily recover.
My wife being in this state thought that
change of air and scene would restore her
completely. 1t was near Christmas, very
busy time with us in the city, but / made a
short trip to the continent with her; and
was reioiced TO see that in week or two
her natural health and spirits had apparent
ly returned; SO having been absent as long
as my business would permit, we returned
home, arriving at dusk one evening early in
the new year.
noticed that my wife on entering the
house showed signs OF returning nervous
ness; and when she insisted that / should
examine the fastenings OF the doors a1d
windows before retiring she seemed especial
~ concerned about the window through
which the thief had entered. For myself, [
thought nothing of the matter; in fact had
long ago got over the excitement of the bur-
glary, and had often laughed to myself at
the disappointment the thief must have I'M
dergone, as well as congratulated myself on
my happy thought in exchanging the jewels.
Nevertheless, that night, whether it was
from the novelty of being at home again, OF
tor whatever reason, slept lightly, and was
suddenly awakened by hearing slight noise
in the room, and at the same instant seeing
figure clothed in white, which l at once
it was brilliant moonlight-recognized as my
wife, going out OF the door into the hail.
By some instantaneous reasoning, or was
it intuition, it flashed across me She was
walking in her sleep, though such thing
had never to my knowledge occurred to her
before; and that to cry out and awaken her
suddenly might cause her 10 fall down the
stairway, which was directly opposite my
door, or might have some other injurious
effect. recalled having read that in such
cases it is best to leave the person undis-
turbed, merely watching them to see that
they run into no danger, and leaving it 20
nature to restore them to their normal state;
SO quietly and hastily slipping on some
slight clothing and Selling a cloak with
which to envelop her in case of her awaken
ing, cautiously followed, the brilliant moon
making the house sufficiently light for me
to distinguish her.
Descending the stairs she advanced straight
across the hall and through the library to
the conservatory window, opened it, crossed
the piazza, stepped into the garden and just
as was anxiously considering whether the
risk Of sudden awakening would be SO great
as that Of exposure to the cold night air,
hurriedly crossed a small plot of ground,
and lifting the cover Of disused pump box
1t had been bnilt around one Of those gar
den pumps-peeled into it, softly closed it,
and started TO retrace her steps to the We
randa
l had barely time to escape to my room
slip off the clothing had so hastily donned
but few minutes before, and cover myself
with the bedclothes, when she entered, and
retiring, seemed almost 10 moment TO be
sleeping quietly.
I felt little doubt now as to what had be-
come Of the jewel box. My wife, nervous at
room on the night when She had been try
ing on the jewels, had allowed morbid fear
OF robbery to invest her SO completely that
she in her sleep had undertaken to conceal
the jewels, as she thought, in some more Sc
cure spot than beneath my pillow, from
which she had probably seen the corner of
the case protruding. The defective fasien-
ing on that particular window in the con-
servatory must in some inexplicable way
have suggested to her an exit there; for the
rest, indeed for the whole matter, the read
er can judge as well as myself.
have since related these facts to several
medical men, but without receiving from
them any satisfactory solution, farther than
that in times of strong excitement persons of
nervous temperament are naturally more
strongly and lastngly affected than others
aud that, as in my wife's case, predisposi-
ton to somnamubulism, though latent for
years. learned from my wife that she had
occasionally walked in her sleep when young
but had long since Eeen supposed complete
ly cured, the family having supposed the
disorder to have passed away with child
hood-mght have tended to the results
have narrated. With regard to the recur-
renee, they regarded the return to the scene,
where it was first enacted, after temporary
absence, reasonable ground for its repeti-
tion.
10 complete my story 1t is scarcely neces-
sary to add that my wife on awakening was
entirely unconscious of the occurrences of
the night; and when together that MOI Mug
We visited the scene of her wanderngs, and
took from the pump-box the jewel-ease, con-
siderably the worse for nearly two months
exposure, no one could have been more sur
prised than herself.
"A lew WOluo tuOiO oHU dul uo1ie' L
shortly afterward purchased the estate on
which we now reside; and, removing here,
at my wife's request, sought out and rein
stated the man [ had SO unjustly suspected
and discharged, and he remains with Us to
this day, most trusty servant.
For some time by the advice of my physi
clan, made no allusion to the affair of the
diamonds in my wife's presence, fearing
that reference to it might induce in some
manner to other somnambulistic wanderings
but as time passed and no recurrence tool
place, the fear gradually wore off and to-day
my wife herself frequently tells the story tc
our children of how careful she was once Of
their fathers diamonds.