The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-05

Y AdEtAs j ne WANEMnAu huCN lAAds AfAf iva
was old and blind ana the only man about
/ the house but nevertheless he was pos
tive as TO what he had seen. Under Lne
circumstances I was just as positive thaL
he was mistaken, and advised him 70 say
nothing about it. Two special watchmen
were put on, and the people were yet
highly excited when the social club OF
which have spoken had its first regular
meeting in public hall. Most Of the
members were single, but there was one
uewly-married couple named Gleason,
who left their house unCuarded Wncn
they came. When they returned home
they found il ransacked and robbed.
When ! returned TO my apartments al
the Jail / met with a surprise. There
were no prisoners in jail at that time, and
Floss had gone TO bed at 10 o'clock. At
II he had been awakened by some one
moving about in his room, and Oelng a
man of great courage, he had bounded out
Of bed ana attacked the intruder. AS he
clinched the man they fell, and In the
fan the strangers head struck piece
of furniture. and he was rendered I'M
conscious. When he came 10 Floss had
the irons on him, and had taken away
his revolver and knife.
found in the stranger q man about %
years of age, well built and evidently
powerful fellew. He had a crafty look,
and there was a wicked snap to his eyes,
call gentleman. He had come in by way
Of a window and TO get the window open
he had cut out pane OF glass. de had
chisel auda bunch of false KEYS with
him. and, being caught dead to rights, as
the police term it, he had no excuses or
explanations. He was perfect stranger
TO US, and he refused to give his name or
any other information. We locked him
up in the strongest cell, and next morn
ing / had half the town in TO see him. 1t
was generally believed that he was the
man who robbed Gleason's house, but we
could get no trace of the plumber. Neither
could we ascertain when or how the
stranger had come to town. He was
charged with burglary aud held for trial,
but nothing could be learned about him.
On the day of his examination the court
room was packed. and among the ladies
present l saw Miss Taylor. The detec-
tive who had worked on the bank case
came down to get a look at the prisoner
and warn MS to look out for him, as he
was evidently a shrewd, cool hand, who
would do his best to escape the law. We
had carefully measured the tracks in the
snow, and when we came to measure the
burglars boots we were satisfied that he
was the one who had committed all the
robberies.
/ did not see Miss Taylor to speak to
her until the day after the prisoner had
been remanded. Then 1 found that she
was considerably interested in the case
and she particularly mentioned the
great relief her blind father felt that the
bad man had been safely Gagged. She had
seen the burglar in the court room and
had almost concluded that in him she re-
COgnized a man who was formerly a re
spectacle citizen of Milwaukee. She had
no great curiosity about it, but if not
against the rules would call at the jail
vi. g,nl ,f F.s1
was opened to all during certain hours,
but l arranged with Miss Taylor to call
after hours, when she would meet with
no one to ask questions. The prison part
Of the Jail contained eight cells fronting
on a corridor There were two barred
windows in this corridor, and prisoners \
were seldom locked in the cells. In the
case of the burglar we gave him the range
of the corridor by day, but locked him in
a cell at night When Miss Taylor called
] went with her to the wicket myself.
Floss was just lighting up, and the bur-
glar stood at the wicket.
Miss Taylor exhibited considerable re-
luctance to approach, but | began ex-
planning about the cells, as i, we had no
particular interest in the man, and she
finally drew close up to the door. re-
membered afterward of her calling my
attention to the lamp, few feet away,
ana OF my going over TO 1t and turning
the wick down bit When | returned
she was ready to 60 saying that she was
undecided as TO whether it was the man
or not. When she was ready to go she
permitted me to hold her hand for a mo
ment, and from the tender look in her
eyes l realized that had awakened the
flame of love in her heart. Before going
TO bed that night poured out my soul to
her to the extent of six pages of note pa
per, and when L fell asleep it was to
dream that she had consented to be my
darling fOrevermore.
The next day at noon MSS Taylor took
the train for Chicago, saying to some of
her friends that she had to run down on
business for her father, and would return
next day. She took a large and heavy
trunk with her, but no significance was
attached to that circumstance until later
on. The morning of the succeeding day
Floss called to our burglar to come to the
wicket for his breakfast, and he did not
respond. Five minutes later we found
we had no prisoner. BY the use of fine
saws he had cut his way out of his cell
and out of the corridor as easily as man
saws wood. You see through the case, of
| course, and so do 1; but, dolt that ! was,
it took me four or five days to get my
| eyes open.
Miss Taylor was that burglars wife.
! He was also her father" When we
/
! gray hair and other DISCUSSES. He was
| her blind father by day and her burglar
| husband by night. AS no one had ever
seen him except when disguised as her
| father, he could not be identified when
Floss captured him in the Jail The
woman visited the jail in his interest, of
course, and she no doubt passed the saws
! through the wicket while my back was
! turned Outside of the parlor there was
| scarcely any furniture in the house, and
| IL was found that what there was had
! been hired by the month in Chicago. We
found none Of the plumber, but we did
! find my love letter. She had called at
! the postoffice before she went. She had
read that letter and written across the
| envelope
lowing to previous engagements your
| offer is respectfully declined"
| There died in New Orleans few days ago
a centenarian named Alexander Beckwen.