Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-04-25
RECOLLECTIONS
Captain Wilkie.
BY A. CONAN DOYLE.
Copyright, 1894, by Bachelor, johnson &
Bacheller.1
Continued from yesterday)

"Yes," he continued with a laugh
lit was capital joke. But sometimes
the fun lies all the other way. Even
the sharpest of us come to grief n,
times. There was one rather curious
incident which occurred in my career.
You may possibly have seen the
anecdote, for it got into print at the
time"
Pray let me hear it." said I.
well, it is hard lines telling stories
against ones self, but this was how i.
happened: l had made a rather good
haul, and invested some of the swap in
buying very fine diamond ring, |
thought it would be something to fall
back upon when all the ready was gone
and times We're hard. l had just pur.
chased it, and was going back to my
lodgings in the omnibus. when.
as luck would have it. a very
stylishly-dressed young lady camo
in and took her seat beside
me. l didn't pay much attention to
her at first; but after time something
hard in her dress knocked up against
my hand, which my experienced touch
soon made out to be purse. 1t struck
me that could not pass the time moro
profitably or agreeably than by max.
ing this purse my own. had to do it
very carefully; but l managed at last
to wriggle my hand into her rather
light pocket, and thought the job was
over. Just at this moment she rose
abruptly to leave the bus, and / had
hardly time to get my hand with tho
purse in it out of her pocket without
detection. 1t was not until she had
been gone some time that l found out
that in drawing out my hand in that
hurried manner the new and ill-fitting
ring had slipped over my finger and re-
manned in the young lady's pocket. l
sprang out and ran in the direction in
which she had gone with the intention
OF picking her pocket once again. She
had disappeared, however; and from
that day till this have never set eyes
on her. To make the matter worse,
there was only four pence half-penny
in coppers inside the purse. sarve me
right for trying to rob such pretty
girl; still, if l had that two hundred
quid now should not be reduced to-
Good heavens, forgive me! What am
saying?"
He seemed inclined to relapse into
silence after this; but l was deter
mined to draw him out little more, if
| could possibly manage it. ''rhere is
less personal risk in the branch you have
been talking Of" l remarked, ethan
there is in burglary"
"Ah!' he said, warming to his sub
ject once again, sit is the higher game
which is best worth aiming at. Talk
about sport, sir, talk about fishing or
why it is tame in comparison!
Think of the great country house with
its men servants and it's dogs and its
firearms, and you with only your jim
my and your center bit, and your
mother wit, which is best of all. tits
the triumph of intellect over brute
force, sir, as represented by bolts and
bars"
people generally look upon it as
quite the reverse" remarked.
Il was never one of those laundering
life-preserver fellows" said my com
panion. Il did try my hand at gar
rotting once; but it was against my
principles, and l gave it up. have
tried every thing. have been bed
ridden widow with three young chill
dren; but do object to physical force"
"You have been what?" said |.
ga bcdridden widow. Advertising,
you know, and getting subscriptions.
| have tried them all. You seem in
terested in these experiences" he con-
tinued; $50 l will tell you another
anecdote. 1t was the narrowest es-
cape for penal servitude that ever
had in my life. A pal and l had gone
down on country beat-it doesn't
signify where it was-and taken up
our headquarters in little provincial
town. Somehow it got noised abroad
that we were there, and householdcrs
were warned to be careful, as sus-
picious characters had been seen in
the neighborhood. We should have
our plans when we saw the
game was up; but my chum was q
plucky fellow, and wouldn't consent
to back down. Poor little JIM He
was only thirty-four round the chest.
and about twelve at the biceps; but
there is not measuring tape in Eng
land could have given the size of his
heart. He said we were in for it, and
we must stick to it; SO l agreed to stay,
and we chose Morley hall, the country
house of certain Col. Morley, to be-
gin with.
"Now this Col. Morley was about
the last man in the world that we
should have meddled with. He was a
cool-headed fellow, who had
knocked about and seen the world,
and it seems that he took a special
pride in the detection of criminals.
However, we knew nothing of all this
at that time; so we set forth hopefully
to have try at the house.
1.-THE reason that made us pick him
out among the rest was that he had a
good-for-nothing groom, who was n
tool in our hands. This fellow had
drawn up rough plan of the premises
for us. The place was pretty well
locked up and guarded, and the only
weak point we could see was certain
L L