The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-03-27
IAN IMPORTANT CATCH
The Clever Ruse Of Three Shrewd
Swindlors.


Opposite the Bank of England and
about FIVE minutes walk from the Man
sion House. the residence Of the Lord
Mayor Of London, there was in Leaden-
hall street, in 1879, the shop of a wealthy
matchmaker.
One drcary Novemb Der morning a man
entered his shop whose loud dress and
louder manner impressed the jcveler
disaErecably. lie looked At the swag-
Eering fellow, sized him mp in jilfy,
and tipping his clerks the w ink TO be
extra careful, stepped forward and
said in his sharPcst tone: "Wen, sir?''
The fellow was not a bit abashcd.
''Aw," he said, in an Unmistakable
low cocllney voice. '.ye ave been very
ighly recommended to me-factis, want
70 get about thousan' puns' worth of
watches from you. ! am going 10 the
West Indies by tomorrow steamer,
and / want to make this little hinvest-
ment on me own haccount. Now, re-
member, me good friend he added,
laughingly, my name Is cash-cash,
ye know. SO want no fancy prices,
but every thing frst-class and bottom
rates"
The jeweler, keeping a sharp lookout
all the while, showed him his various
styles, and in a very short time the Iel-
low selected about $1,000 worth Of
watches.
just e992, 15s," said the jewcler.
VERY well, 'ere's a thousand puns.
Just wrap up the swag and 81 me the
change, win ye?"
You must excuse me- said the Jew
ele-, after fu-nbling a little while AZ
his safe, but I cant change this note.
- 81
send thc boy over 20 the laus. Here.
John. take this tatAe har.,-" And then
III au unde-sanc hc added. jus, iiad
cut If the bill i~ good. Don't cash it:
have plenty of change here" The
| Stranger calmly seated himself aui
! quietly couvcrScd with the leweIer.
In ! few minutes the boy returned
The note il perfectly good, he said
I softly to his employer. The merchant
| was puzzled. was It possible that he
| could be mistaken? However, there
was nothing else 10 bc done. 80 ne
! handed the man his change anl the
| pac,,aac of watches. IL wa, s.J.,.t 3D. iu-
| qu.rc by :, iiaL steamer hi, customer vas
! going u leave, when the door opened
! and another more loudly dressed indi-
vidual walked in. lie looked at the
| first fellow, and, without minding the
| jeweler, who watched him narrowly,
he slapped him a laundering yvhacll on
the shoulders and cried out:
"Hullo, Jack, what in goodness are
yoU doing 'cre?''
"Hullo, Joe! where do YOU come
from? ! bought some watches ere
The dickens We did! an ere just
on the same herrand. And what did
you buy watches fcr?'
Il am going to the West Indics.''
"By the holy poker, 50 am II What
steamer"
The Jamaica"
Deuce take it all. so am ]. Wei.
now, me good fellow, just stay here til
I'm done. ] don't want TO carry the
same stuff you do. Just clip me select -
''Of course Will. 'Ow much are you
going to hinvest?''
We'll, about 4 thousan puns." The
ieweler by this time had become thor
oughly awake. He felt sure the coup
was now coming and he doubled his
watchfulness. With due care he dis
played his goods, and the two fellows
had soon selected another one thousand
pounds sterling worth of watches.
Like number one, a one thousand pound
sterling note was offered IN payment
for number two. This time the Jew
eler felt sure that the note was a for
gerry
Il have Just told your friend" said he,
that l haven't change enough in my
safe. II is annoying, but if you'll kind.
ly wait a moment III send the boy over
to the bank with the note. just make
yourselves comfortable, gentlemen; the
boy will be back in an instant" In Z
few minutes the boy returned, and again
he muttered:
THE note is perfectly good" The
jeweler was more astounded than ever
After all he had been mistaken in these
two suspicious-looking characters and
his sharpness was at fault. He could
scarcely believe il. His well-knowr
shrewdness, his knowledge of human
nature, needed correction Incompre
hensible, He handed the man hi.
change and package and was still con
versing with the two when suddenly
the door was pushed open and n big
hurly policeman bounced in. tie lait
his strong hands on both men. ''Jacl
Halloran," he said, ''and Joe Winter
bottom, ] arrest you in the name OF tn
Queen! Steady now, my men, and n
fuss, if you please. The game is mp,
have plenty of help outside. So just le
me put these little ornaments on you
wrists, and the quicker you are about
the better all around
| The jeweler chuCkled. After all b
had been right, and these fellows weT
sharpers- lie nodded his head con
plaeentiy as he looked on. The fellow
were remarkably good-natnred, thoug
thoroughly crestfallen. They did nc
offer the slightest resistance.
Mighty hard luck, joe" said job
Halloran, "and just when we was o
for the West Indies, too. Wen, sa,
officer You amt a-going 70 drag |
through the streets like this, are YEP"
Not by a iugful." answered the p.