The Washington times., 1894-08-19
lite inspector, raising his cap slightly as he

| lite inspector, raising his cap slightly as he
| spoke.
'.Fust rate, thankee kindly, Mr.. Bufies,"
roared the voice of John Scragg In reply.
| "At least, as well as man can be wi such Q
| burglerin' william as this a-sittin' by his side"
| With that he seized his astonishei compan-
| ion round the body with grasp that n bear
| might have envied, and in another second tho
pair were rolling over and over on the ground
| together in mortal combat, at the feet Of the
| startled inspector.
The struggle did not last long. Mr..
Ebenezer Higginbotham, though he made an
| extremely good fight Of 1t. had not a chance
against such a tough bit of stuff as John
Scragg.
Il don't want to hit thee while thou'rt On
the ground, man" painted John; ''but unless
| thou lets go of my throttle 1 shon't hold my
| hand no longer" The answer being a still
| tighter hold than before of the riverkeeper's
| throat. Johns right hand, no longer to be re-
strained, fell with all its weight on the side Of
| his antagonists head. causing his fingers to
relax and rendering him powerless to struggle
further.
"weIl, this is a starti' exclaimed the In
spector, as John Scraggs in mis- female attire,
| now rather the worse for wear, sprang to his
feet and told his story. finishing up by hauling
the black bag which proved to be full of spoil
from the big house, out of the gig and hand
ing it to the wondering guardian OF tho
peace.
II any further proof we're wanting the Grape
mask. the center bit, the Jenny. and last. bus
not least, a formidable life preserver, and the
celebrated revolver. which the inspector him.
self had invited its highly respectable owner
TO purchase. supplied the deficiency.
There remains little to be told.
Mr. Ebenezer Higginbotham, still insensi-
ble was assisted into the station-house. where
he was accommodated with bed for the
| night: the pony and trap being also taken
care of by the police.
As for John Scragg, having divested him.
self of Mrs. Higginbotham's garments-in
which. by the way, the inspector told him he
| looked quite bewitching-he partook with
great cordalIty of the glass of steamng hot
brandy and water proffered to him by that
admiring officer, and then, lighting his pipe,
trudged sturdily off home.
When Mr.. Ebenezer Higginbotham's house
came to be overhauled the next day, the pro-
ceeds of several of the recent burgaries in tho
neighborhood were found on the premises.
Needless to say, the disquiet and indignation
OF the good people of Slumberford. when they
found out what sort OF an angel it was they
had been entertaining unawares, knew no
bounds.
Nothing was bad enough now for the highly
respectable tenant of Alma cottage; and the
fourteen years penal servitude he was
sentenced to by the Judge at the assizes was
unanimously voted as not being anything
like sufficient punishment for such bad
man.
You may depend upon this; that any
stranger coming to settle down in Slumber-
ford, or its immediate vicinity, in the future
will be looked upon with eyes Of great sus-
picion. unless he is Immediately taken to by
the children, the dogs, and-last-but not
least-John Scrsgg, tho rtver-keeneH,