The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-02-08

his trousers pockets and told the servants, as he
turned from the tea-urn, over which he had
been bending, that he would take two Jumps
and lemon.
cup in his hand, nodded pleasantly to Van
Bibber and asked him, with glance at the tea,
IL he had got what he wanted
Eyes, thank you" said Van Bibber cheer
fully, al think have"
AT the next place he was somewhat surprised
to see the same stranger drinking more tea, and
apparently watching him. But Van Bibber put
this down to the fact that he was unduly sus-
picious and that his Imagination was excited.
He was Just going out without having made
who he was sure must be the host, took pity on
bis apparently neglected condition, and said /:
II see you are looking over my bric-a-brac, sir /;
1t is not much of collection, and l have not
had time lately to gvei it the attention 1t needs"
Then he proceeded, at great length and with
evident satisfaction to himself, to describe
each separate piece of crockery on the wall.
van Bibber was greatly bored, but he was too
polite to say so, and was rewarded when the
gentleman said 'This piece of satsuma cost
me five hundred dollars. Van Bibber kept his
eye on the plate, and, when his host turned to
greet new arrival, slipped it into his coat-tail
pocket and bowed himself out.
He placed it under the seat of the hanson
very carefully and drove on to the next place,
quite assured that he had won his bet, but
anxious to settle it without question or doubt.
lie dld not see the stranger with the heavy
mustache pass him in close cab. and dart into
the house to which he was going just a minute
before him. Van Bibber elbowed his way with
many apologiogies, to the third floor There
was dressing table covered with silver trifles,
and Van Bibber smiled complacently.
There was bed in the room, and he could
see this as he looked in the mirror. But he
could not see under the bed. His overcoat was
on chair, and he made several trips to it and
filled the pockets with silver-backed brushes
and combs. But on the third of these trips his
heart stood still, for out from under the bed
came the big stranger with the heavy mustache.
he came very leisurely and determinedly.
Don't make row." he said; ''you're under
arrest"
=, AT that moment two young men came into
the room, pulling off their overcoats.
"Help!" screamed Van Bibber; "look 20 he
shouted, pointing at the detective There's
sneak-thief under the bed'' Then he fell on
the officers head just as reentlessly as he would
have dropped on a football, and banged his
nose into the carpet and sat on his shoulders
more quickly than they had intended doing,
and fell with their knees on each of the de-
tective,s arms, and while they thus pinned him
to the floor they punched him vigorously in the
ribs and yelled
"Look at this ~ said Travers, catching up his
oVercoat by the tail and spilling all the silver
over the floor. ''Look at what he had stored
away Hold him, will you, while ! get a po-
llceman !''
Every one was running up the front stairs. so
he could not go down that way, and so ran TO
the back and went down the kitchen stairs and
on into the dining-room, whence all the walters
had fled. He was quite unobserved in the con-
fusion, and accordingly took time to fill his
pockets with spoons and forks of heavy silver.
Then he walked out through the excited
women and stepped into his hanson and told
the driver to 60 to the club.
"That detective of yours,' he said, calmly, as
he produced his treasures from the bottom of
when he gets his nose patched up In the the
meanwhile will ask you to value these articles
roughly and ring for some messenger boys"
An authority said the lot was worth seven
hundred dollars, and the separate exhibits were
promptly returned to where they belonged by
messenger boys, who were instructed to leave
them at the door and run. The detective was
pacified by some of the clubs best brandy and
twenty-fve-dollar bill. But whenever Van
Bibber enters the club now the men feel ner-
vously for their watches and the walters count
the forks