Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1890-09-10
tayeler, the co1ntess, either IL her 81 !,

|sW0AAtuX O01tVol 0St&G0 Q0rCs le1G nor Oy
Inheritance SIX months ago, portions OF
which she Is sending to her castle from
time to time These boxes probably
eqataia sonss Of the sIpropest now.
Msst1y they arc solely accompanied By
onA Of her retaiDers. Al she nowssKoes
with Thorn Ia person, aperhaPs ith the
last shipment tSAs
IAN odd way OF shipping valuables, rs
personal luggage" -.
THE nobility have tho privilege Of
being odd. my nd-espeoially when
they pay for it. "dryly. J ~ r. &
''Six months ago, you ssy-this inher-
itanee?" u -
About that, believe"
"How long have the mysterious plum
behring's been going on?"
"Humph! and an odd coincidence,
but about the same length Of time"
HAS the Countess Rustanovitch ever
suffered thereby" e..~
The deuce! I sh ould say so. She has
even now suit against US for damages,
together with many others. Twice, on
the van being opened at Odessa, has
one or another of her boxes, with nu-
merous others, been found broken open
and ransacked."
This piece OF information did not
weaken certain suspicion, which had
suddenly come into my brain, and my
plan of oction was already decided on.
"What does that package contain?" l
asked, pointing to long box of new,
Imprinted wood.
IA coffin"
''What! Pray explain"
'S1t contains rich burial casket
which is being shipped by some wealthy
Jews for the remains. Of the Rabbi
Joseph Smoleskinski, SO famous and es-
teemed In Southern Russia, and who
died in Odessa some days ago" 1850
''1s it to go by the van?'
mo; as freight"
:. ut shall go in the through van. and
with myself inside of it. Listen now,
Herr Moyenstein, to my instructions,
and be careful that they are carried out
to the letter."
He had stared at me, but was quickly
enlightened as proceeded to give my
instructions; and while these were be-
ing carried out IN their preliminaries
sIhnrriedly telegraphed in cipher Ger
tain data and memoranda OF great i'm
portance to the Chief of the Criminal
Secret Service in Odessa.
Ten minutes later I occupied the
burial casket intended for the rabbits
remains and was speeding southwark
as one of the chief features, external
~, at least, of the contents of the locked
and scaled luggage van.
Luckily, was small man, while the
casket was designed for a very large and
corpulent body.
Still, had no notion of remaining in
such quarters any longer than was nee
essary, and. therefore, speedily set my
self at liberty and began to take in the
situation.
A thousand miles or. thirty hours
journey, was before me, but l was not
unprepared for the emergency.
E There had been room for provisions
and wine in the casket.
I had effected my release with little
or no noise.
The van was but dimly lighted by
some stout stats or blinds over each
side sliding door.
The interior was stacked two-thirds
full of travelling paraphernalia of every
description.
Ny own receptacle had been slowed
on the top of a pile of stuff in the re-
hottest corner, by my special instruc-
tons
After seating myself on the top OF my
wooden case and accustoming my eyes
to the dim light I looked searchingly
around for the red chest.
There it was, also on top Of heaped
luggage at the opposite end Of the van,
with its smaller and less pretentious
companion chest ct its side.
That it had not been thrust in under
meath or at random was doubtless the
result of a surreptitious fee to one of
the porters on the part OF the Countess
or one of her servants
How long and patiently watched
that red chest!
It must have been for hours and
hours, but 1 held out
At last I detected the sound of q
movement within it. and noiselessly
slipped behind my burial case, while
still keeping on the lookout
A few moments later the false straps
surrounding the chest-I had marked a
sham in their construction when first
setting eyes ON it-gave way, the great
lid was raised and 2 bushy human head
peered out from the interior.
Then there were shoulders added to
the head, then body, until at last the
entire robber yes, the mysterious dep
redator himself-rose into view and be-
gan to take in his surroundings with a
practiced eye.
He was q small man, yet seemingly q
concentrated bunch of muscle, sinew
and nerve. ~ So g
The requisite tools were in his hands,
and after stretching himself he proceed
ed upon his vandalism with methodical
calmness and experiences, as if perfectly
aware that there was plenty of time.
Box after box, trunk after trunk was
rnthlessly broken open and discrimi-
nately rided, after being iudiciously Sc
lected from among those OF less promis-
ing and encouraging general appear
ance $50 81