Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-12

a plot among his fellow slaves. A hun
-dred and twenty of them watched their
| moment. and when half the guards were
sitting down to dinner, seized the whole
troop. and locked them in the hold. One OF
the mutineers, a sailor, was set to steer the
vessel. But unluckily this man turned out
to be a traitor. He ran the ship beneath
The cannon OF fort, to which he made
secret signal A boat of officers and men
put off from shore. Escape was hopeless;
for at sign the fortress could have
blown them all out of the water. The
party came on board. Vidocq, as the ring
leader. was seized, and would probably have
ended his career by swinging at yard-arm,
had not his companions sworn, with one &C.
cord. that il he suffered the least injury,
tbey would throw torch into the magazine
and blow the ship into the air. The officials
thought it best to gain the service Of q man
so powerful. The mutineers were pardoDed;
the hardships OF their lives were mitigatedi !
and vidocq rose TO be an officer, with the
rank of bombardier.
Nv.
And now for short time his lot was use
ful, quiet, and contented. But fate was not
10 let him be 10 long. The French author
tiles were on the watch for Frenchmen
pressed on board the vessels Of the Dutch.
vidocq sought refuge on pirate ship; but
even here misfortune dogged him. A band Of
gendarmes came suddenly on board one morn.
ing 10 look for an escaped assassin. They
failed 10 find the man they wanted-but they
found Augustus Duval the deserter, with
whose escape in a nuns dress the ears Of the
police were ringing. To Vidocq's Infinite
disgust, he found himself led of In custody,
and turned into O galley slave once more.
At Douai, his old quarters, the turnkeys
who had previously had charge OF him dis
covered bis identity. He was sent to Tou-
Ion with the chain gang, and placed in the
department of the dangerous captives. He
was now worse off than at the Bagne at Brest.
There, as working convict, he was sent out
daily with his gang; but now he sat by day,
and stretched his limbs at night, among the
riff-raff of the galleys, upon the same eter-
nal bench to which his chains secured
him. The sentry's eve was never off
him. Escape from this department
was impossible. But how could he con-
trive to get himself removed? AT last one
night, US he was lying half asleep upon his
bench, a project flashed upon his mind.
Next day, when the inspector came his
round, he burst into prayer for mercy. He
was, he said, the victim of fatal likeness
to his brother, who was the Vidocq so re-
nowned for his escapes. He was an injured
innocent. Yet he did not ask for freedom.
All that he begged was to be saved from
the society of villains, though he should
pass his life in letters at the bottom of a
loathesome dungeon. He played his part
with such reality that the inspector listened
with belief and pity. His first step was
cd a Uo n he nj
among the working coDvicts.
His state was now the same as it had been
at Brest, and he proceeded to escape in the
same manner AS before, he put on a dis
guise beneath his convict's frock; as
before, he slipped away without
discovery; as before, he reached the
city gate. But here he found
to his dismay, that no one was allowed to
pass without green card given by a magis-
trate, As he stood in great perplexity, he
heard the cannon of the fortress fire three
shots, which told that his escape had been
discovered. He trembled; but at the mo-
ment of despair, he saw coffin, with train
of followers, proceeding to the burial ground
outside the city. Vidocq mingled with the
sad procession, burst into flood of tears,
and passed in safety through the gateway as
a wailIng mourner.
He walked till o'clock that evening,
when he fell in with stranger with gun
and game-bag, whom at first he took to be
a sportsman, and with whom he struck up
an acquaintance. This new friend asked
him to his cottage, and set him down to sup
per on a kid and onions. Then the stranger
told his story. He was one of go honest citizens
who had refused to serve the press-gang, and
had retreated to the woods in self defense.
Ii Vidocq chose to join the brotherhood, he
was willing to present him. Vidocq jumped
at tine proposal. Next day they journeyed
to a solitary hut among the mountains,
where he was welcomed by his new COM
panions and by their leader, Captain Ro-
man. But he soon discovered that his
was sent out with a party to waylay dill
gence. The honest citizens were gang of
highway robbers!
Vidocq was now in a predicament. If he
attempted to escape, he ran the risk of be-
ing shot; if he became bandit, he ran the
risk of being hanged. A curious freak of
chance delivered him. One night he was
awakened by bandit screaming out that he
had lost his purse. Vidocq, as the last
recruit was the first suspected. In an in
slant he was seized and stripped, and
the brand of the galley slave was discovered
on his shoulder. A roar of rage went up.
A galley slave-a rogue-perhaps a spyi 1t
was resolved to shoot. him on the spot. A
firing party was told off; Vidocq heard the
muskets click; but even in that peril he
preserved his readiness. He drew the cap
tain OF the gang apart and proposed to him a
stratagem to discover the true thief The
captain listened and consented. He pre-
pared bunch of straws and bade the super
stitious brigands each to draw one. "The
guilty man." he said, will draw the long
est" All drew; the straws were re-exam-
ined, and one, held by Joseph d'osiolles,
was found shorter than the rest. The cap
tain turned upon him furiously. "You are
the thiei," he said. "The straws were all of
equal length. A guilty terror made you
shorten yours" D'Osiolles was seized and
searched. and the purse, fat with ill-got
booty, was found hidden in his belt.
Vidocq was saved. But the captain told
him that, with all regret, he could
not keep a galley slave
slipped into his hand 15 gold pieces, and
bade him 90 in peace, and hold his tongue.
Vidocq went with glad heart. He put
on smock-frock, scraped acquaintance
with some wagoners, and drove a team as
far as Lyons Thence he made his way to
Arras. His father was now dead; but he
took refuge with his mother, who placed
him in a safe concealment. But Vidocq's
recklessness was still his failing. On Shrove
Tuesday he was fool enough to go to a
masked ball. appareled as q marquis. A
girl of his acquaintance guessed his secret,
and whispered it among the company. The
rumor reached the hearing of two sergeants,
who were there on duty. They stepped up
to the pretended marquis, and bade him fol-
low them into the court. He did so; but as
they were proceeding to unite his
mask, he knocked them down like
lightning and raced into the
street. The sergeaats darted after him.
.vidocq soon outstripbed them; but presently
into hs , cuI,de.sac e ' Es the sergeants rushed
up to secure him be snatehsd a house key