Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1894-06-15
LA PLATA, MARYLAND. JUNE Is. 1894.

Questions that I became convinced
tha' they were innocent. | therefore
turned my attention to the nurse and
watched her whenever / went to the
nous. Although could get no evi-
dei'ee against her, I became thorough
~ convinced that she was the thief.
lr' as would, however, could not
llnu anything to support my belief.
finAIly,my ardor led me into formally
arrtsting her, although her master and
mistress protested against my doing
so. l took her before a police Justice
sitting at Yorkyille. Now, | had
known this justice for a number of
years and, as a matter of fact, it was
through his influence that l had Sc
cure my place on the force. He had
always treated me like son, and |
was therefore very much amazed and
put back at his conduct on this occa-
sion.
had no sooner arranged the
wom'n and started to explain my
charge against her than he became
very injifrent, and said sharply
"1on have made mistake, man. /
know that this woman is not guilty.
Why she was employed in my own
family for number of years, and l
know her TO be as honest a woman as
ever breathed You had no right to
arres' her and if she brings suit
against you ! will have to testify in
her fr1or Where is your evidence
againsi herr
Il still felt confident that 1 was
right, and SO braced up and said to
the judge:
~ will get the evidence if you will
remand her.
4 won do IT. said the judge,
very hotly. 4 will discharge her.
"If you do, said l, getting a little
excited too, 4 will rearrest her.
My manner must have impressed
him, for he finally dill remand her,
althou h very unwillingly. worked
nil that night trying to get some clue,
and listed forty or fifty pawn shops in
the hope Of finding the missing arti-
clcs. Still l was unable to get a sin
gle bit Of evidence. Th9 next day,
when / gas taking her to court, l no
ticed tlat she carried pocketbook in
her lRl which had escaped my OBJ
seryaN when she " 1 arehed in
thcA = satipu AaS-s>ber 10 Jet
me see r. ahd She appeared unwilling
to do ,. took it from her and ex-
amineia it carefully. There was moth
ing in i but few dollars in money
| watcl led her closely while [ went
over tie pocketbook a second time.
| sawt lat she was watching me out OF
the cor hers of her eyes. That con
WINGED he that there was some story
which 5hat pocketbook would tell if
only alld get at it. OF course 1 had
no riglF to destroy her property, but
again ny feeling that she was guilty
and that [ must prove her so over
powered my sense of discretion, and
begaa to rip the pocketbook apart
Finally | came across pawn ticket,
which bad been slipped in through a
slit in the outside cover, which had
then been pasted down so that it was
not noticeable.
The woman didn't seem alarmed
even tien, but 1 felt that had come
upon tangible clue.
Where did you get that?" l
asked her. 'oh, it belongs to my
sister. she said carelessly.
Where is your sister?' asked 1. She
gave me an address and said moth
ing further.
'TheJudge was angrier than ever
when brought her up in court the
second day, and had to confess that l
had not secured any further evidence.
hol to argue with him long time
before he would consent to remand her
again, and again he warned me that il
the woman brought personal suit
against me he would testify in hel
favor After | took her back to ths
station | went to the address at which
the woman said her sister lived. Il
was hogns. | then went to the pawn
broker and looked up the article rep.
resented by the pawn ticket. Although
it was not down in the list of thing
taken from the house of the Calforni-
ans, | knew at once that it did not be
long to the nurse and that it mus
have been stolen from somebody.
tried new policy then. / went into
the Il where the woman was and
said to her.
50 lam sorry that have caused yoi
so much trouble, but l see l hav,
made a mistake Yes, and you'll pa,
for IT, too she said very sharply
We'll said |, 4 hope you won't b
too hard on me, l was only trying t,
do my duty, went to-day to the ad
dress you gave me, but l found YOU
sister didn't live there. l caught he
though at your masters house thi
afternoon when she came there to in
quire for you. I got her dead t
rights as she had a lot of pawn ticket
for the stuff, and she said that sh
took It when she came to visit YOU
The woman caught her breath
gaspei' clenched her hands. an
yelled out in fury: She lied. sb