The St. Johns herald., 1890-09-18
\ Peculiar Experience.

: which to this day remains unexplained
 to me. At the time aforesaid there was
 jewelry firm in Santa Fe by the name of Brown 6 Robbins' Mir. Crocker Brown, the senior partner, usually clos
 ed up the store after business hours, carrying the only key to the store about his person Mir. B had sleeping rooms
 on the south side of Rio Chiquito, and
 Mir. Robbins roomed at the Exchange
 Hotel, both gentlemen taking their
 meals at this hotel. One evening about
 dusk and shortly after supper, hap
 pened to be walking up the street to-
 wards the Exchange Hotel, when direct
 ly in my front, and perhaps twenty feet
 distant, 1 saw a man whom 1 positively
 knew to be Mir. Robbins. The jewelry store at this time was between Rob- bins and the hotel. Twas we'll acqauint-
 ed with both members of the firm and
 frequently spent many of my leisure
 hours at their store. followed behind
 Mir. Robbins, at the same time quick
 ening my pace so as to overtake him.
 However, before came up to to him he
 had reached the store door which he un-
 hesitatingly opened, passed into the
 store leaving the door little ajar, also
 entered being not exceeding three or
 four feet in rear of Robbins This jew
 elrY store had two rooms, the front one
 used as a sales-room and the small
 rear room was used for a workshop.
 There was only one door to the building
 and it was at the front facing the public
 plaza. The work-room had no outside door and but one small window, and
 this window was at ali times securely fastened, besides it was covered with
 large iron bars. In the front or sales
 room were a couple of chairs, and the
 smouldering remains of fire in the fire
 place. As before stated 1 entered the
 store immediately behind Mir. Robbins,
 but not seeing him in the sales-room
 naturally concluded that he had passed
 into the work-room at the rear, there fore sat down on one of the chairs near the fire, filled my pipe and prepared to make myself comfortable until Robbins came in. l sat there smoking for some time, and finally replenished the fire, again filled my pipe, at the same time thinking to myself: Robbins is making a devil of long stay in the workshop" I had been there, perhaps, couple of hoursswhen suddenly Mir, Brown, the | senior partner of the firm, came in at the front door, and asked in surprised | manner how came to be there at that | hour of the night. l replied that T came in behind Robbins, and that MT. Robbins was then in the back-room, but | seemed to be making deuced long stay of 1t for 1 have been sitting here smok- ing for at least two hours" To this Brown replied that Robbins was not , there, on the contrary he was then at the hotel, nor had Robbins left the hotel since supper. This statement surprised me very much, and 1 said impossible saw Robbins open the door, walk into the room, and came in not three feet behind him." Brown says "this is very strange indeed, for 1 locked this door, and no other person has key to it." He then lighted lamp and we made a thorough inspection of both the front and back rooms; we closely examined the premises and were satisfied that no living soul, other than ourselves, was about the house. The result of this.ex- sort of uneasy sensation, for certainly here was an insoluble mystery that sa- vored of hobgoblins, or at least of the spiritual After completing our search I requested MT Brown to examine the stock and see that all was as he had left it on locking up for supper; this was done and every thing was found intact. Brown says We will now go up to the Fonda and see Robbins, and I will con- vince you that my partner has not been out of the hotel since eating supper. We found MT. Robbins seated in the bill Hard hall of the hotel, and upon being accosted by MT. Brown with the ques- tion: Have you been to the store since suhper?" Robbins laughingly re- piled that he "had not set foot outside the hotel since supper, and as have no key it would be of little use for me to go to the store after closing" MT. Brown then explained to Robbins the evenings which greatly surprised him, and he again said "I have not put my foot outside this house since supper; in fact have sat in this very chair all the evening talking with you, as you very well know, until you left to go home." This was fact, for Brown said they both took their meals together, entered the billiard room together, and sat there