The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-10-12
A MANTRAP CAB.

"Lostr'
was standing in room of west
end (London) gambling den watching
party of about 8 players engaged il
the game of rouge ct noir
This night my eye had been partiou-
larly kept upon short, dark hare
man, evidently foreigner He was
playing heavily From his pocket be
brought up at first single pieces of gold,
then, as he lost-he had terrible luck
he placed down on the table small
handfuls of sovereigns He had just
now lost f10 at a swoop. Then he pro-
duced a banknote and laid it down.
Excuse me, sir, inquired the bank.
er, "how much do you shaker
Zone hundred pounds. "
Thank you, remarked the banker
politely
The game went on, and the cards
were turned up. With an exclamation
the player rose from his seat and pushed
his chair back. He had lost once more.
AS he left the place l followed him. He
walked swiftly on for a long time
through the now almost deserted streets,
for it was nearly O'Clock in the MORN
ing At length he came to a house in a
dismal street off the Tottenham Court
road, in one of the top rooms of which
there was dim light burning. opened
the door with his key and entered.
had an idea somehow that that ad-
dress might prove useful to me, and
was standing close to the door noting
its number when the door suddenly
opened and my man again appeared,
bareheaded, CHASTITY pale and breathless.
Help, helpl'' he gasped. "She has
killed herself-she is dyingl l have
murdered her-murdered herl''
dashed in, and, rushing up the
stairs, made my way to that dimly lit
room, the man following close at my
heels. In it, sitting in chair beside the
fireplace, was woman, young and
pretty, but now with her face oonvulsed
with pain. She seemed nearly uncon-
scious and was breathing heavily. On
the floor beside her was small, round,
empty bottle.
Sending him to wake up the people
of the house and dispatch some one for
doctor, had in less than five minutes
administered an emetic to the girl in
the shape of strong dose of mustard
and water.
AS she lay there, apparently dying,
the man leaned over her, sobbing, tear
ing his hair and talking in French.
And that crime was all for nothing.
The Thousand poundsl have gambled
them away. Annette, forgive me.
thought l should make our fortune.
But that sooundrel Repair shall give me
money. will make him. "
What had Despard (that was his
name) been up to? The arrival of the
doctor, who saw to the girl and assured
us he would answer for her recovery,
brought my stay to an end.
didn't sleep wink that night. l
had one eye all through the weary hours
ON Despard' s door. About 8 o'clock in
the morning he came out, and, l follow
ing him, made his way to a house off
Leicester square He was inside an
hour, and discovered from one of the
servants that he had called upon M.
Belpard, another Frenchman. Was Bel
pard Repau? wondered. Naturally
enough, wanted to discover something
about him, and letting NJ. Despard have
a rest l transferred my attentions to
his friend
Only few minutes after Despard had
left M. Belpard came out with bag in
his hand. He hailed cab, was driven
to Waterloo station, and took a first
class ticket to Southampton. Unknown
to him, saw him off and was then
driven back to his lodgings. Inquiring
for NJ Belpard. l said / was NJ Bel
pard's particular friend, almost his
brother. Alas, it was most unfortunate
that l had missed him l would, how
ever, go to his room and write a letter
to him
Shown into Belpard's apartment, you
may guess very quickly examined it
when the servant had left me to write
that letter. There was nothing particu-
lar in the place save black leather bag
which l found under the bed, COM
mon black bag with mark on the brass
part of the handle, the mark of fire.
An hour later there were keen eyes at
Southampton and at London on the
lookout for NJ Belpard, or, rather, for
Repair, for he it was.
For over a week every watch was
kept, every search made for that gentle
man All was in vain. M. Belpard had
disappeared.
Despard was still at his lodgings.
called on him one day
I'M. Despard," l suddenly asked
him, would you like to earn e100?"
"A hundred poundsl'' he gasped. st
would be a godsend-a fortune We are
absolutely starving-Annette, my wife,
and l. ="
"Then," l said, tell me where
Repair is. -
"You know all them" he almost
screamed.
II know a great deal, answered.
If you make a clean breast OF It, tell
me all and help me to run down Repair,
e100 is yours, and you shall be held
harmless. "
He paused moment and then went
on: "Repau has acted to me like a
scoundrel I'll tell all. I"
Thousands of pounds are conveyed
daily from the chief London banks to
their branch establishments In the sub
urbs or the city. A branch bank want
ing cash sends couple of clerks to the
head office, the money required is placed
in black leather bags, a cab flour
wheeled) is hailed, the clerks enter
with the treasure, and with the win
dows up are driven away to their branch
office.
This practice has for many years past
attracted the attention of gangs of olev-
er thieves, and thousands of pounds are
often lost in transit.
Shortly before my interview with
Despard a sum of e5, 900 in gold and
81, 900 in silver had been taken.
About 10 O'Clock in the morning two
clerks from a branch had arrived at one
of the biggest central banks, aud pro-
ducing their authority to receive the
money the cash had been put into bags.
a passing cab hailed, and the clerks and
the cash seen safely into it.
They did not arrive at the branch
office. Inquiry and search were made
for them, and at length the two men
were found unconscious, seated in cab,
of which the driver had disappeared in
a byroad off Hampstead in the north
of London. The bags of money had
gone, and what had occurred to them
the two clerks could not say They had
ridden on with the windows Of the cab
up, on their way to the branch office.
Then they had suddenly lost their senses
On examination it was found that
the cab was make up" one. 1t be-