Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-04-03
CAUGHT I 8 IN A HOLE.

go On night in February, ms sat late Mt
iS ss;5f my desk, there called upon mo wardcr
Sa4 from the Stnngcways jnil mt Manchester,
as telling mo thnt tho mnn who WINS convict
Sed for stealing my money would he liber
s$sss ated tho following day, and If cared to
'ss5fs mako 1t worth his while he would have IL
gg watch set upon tho prisoner with II view
sss to recovering the trrnsure should he, ns
sS;rwas suspected, have 1t still concealed.
accepted his proposal and soon after
US midnight was on my way back to Man.
ss53sS chester with tho prison wnrtlcr.
Siis:sss He told mo that he did not propose him
sss6elf to do tho watching, but that 1t would
s5S be done by n man who had ut ono time
s boon wartlcr of the jail, but had left tho
81 place some years nSo
s From this man learned that tho ticket
~ Of leave nan had taken up his place Of
.E abode III northern suburb Of tho city.
s. and arrangements had been made by which
s. no {the cx-wardcr) would be Informed Of
si all his movements.
s#5 The thief had been convicted under the
q name OF James Gnlc, and it WINS not until
" year later TINT discovered ".1im Gale
* to be ono Of the aliases Of tho notorious
III houscbrcnker and burglar Charles Peace.
On tho second day after my arrival In
z. Manchester VIC learned TINT the ticket of
IS lenve man Ind lnndc arrangements with n
S carter to accompany him out to some open
s. fields lying on tho confines of a northern
5SS suburb OF the city.
80 About o'clock in the evening tho thief
s Joined tho carter whom he had engaged,
TX. bringing with him picknX and shovel.
M He Ind changed his dress and appeared
81 IN ordinary lnborcr.
S.; When wo reached tho fields In tho sub
~ urbs, 1t was close upon D o'clock and pitch
s dirk Tho thief had, however, provided
Z himself with n lantern, and by Its light
wc saw him buslly engaged digging ut
81 spot 80 ynrds from the roadside
}tfa Tho carter whom he had brought with
" him had remained with his horse and cart
rs In tho roadway, 80 that we could not np-
ri pronch very near for fear OF being observed
5i Consequently we turned back along tho
Il rond, and then striking across tho field ut
Y right angles wcro nblo to apl,ronch tho
s{ sceno of operations from tho farther eide
q BY this mems we were nblo to get within
's5 q few feet Of tho thief without being OBJ
served.
vi Hc WINS bnslly engaged and already had
$4 sunk n pit OF some feet in depth. He had
Is. placed his lantern in tho hole and was
himself standing in 1t md throwing out
3 the soil IN large shovclfuls. Tho holo wo
then saw wns ut tho foot Of large hemp OF
Fa stones, which had evidently been used az
landmark to identify tho spot
Making q circuit to the right, we got To
tho back of tho heap Of stones, ana mp.
s pronching were nble to get close up to the
# thief without being observed and to look
down upon him mt his work.
Ho was SO busy that he would not have
noticed us had we been even less cautious
Il thnn VIC were. The hole WAS now sunk tC
5{ depth of six feet, and tho thief had To
exert himself considerably to throw out
Z. the Garth
At Inst, with grunt of satisfaction, he
s. stopped in his work and stopped down.
Il His shovel had struck tho lid OF large
\. square box. Another minute and no had
tho lid opened, ind wo Bnw before us n col
lection Of old silver tnnkards and snlvors
4 md spoons, and among tho silver IL small
y, box or cnskct This he nlso opened, ind
n In 1t wo SAW, still bright and glittorinH, u
* mass Of jcwclry.
There wcro rings and chnns and brace
S. lets but what struck us moro than all else
5 WINS magnificent diamond tinra, contain
ing stones of marvellous size and bril-
~ iiance
And beneath tho diamonds was pnckct
OF papers, which, with great gasp of sat.
81 isfnction recognized rs tho bank notes
~ which this nun hud stolen now nearly
seven years ago
Having satisfied himself that tho stolen
4 booty wns still there, tho thief closed the
Il box and lifted II up to tho surface OF the
q ground. Ito plnced it on tho edge ut the
foot Of tho heap of stones behind which wu
u wcro concealed anu over the top of which
wo were observing him.
had drawn tho revolver with which I
had provided myself and was quito pre-.
pared for tho moment when he should see
us.
Ss This he did not do until no had placed
8 tho box OH tho ground and was preparing
to climb out Of the hole after it.
Tho man was 10 cOwnrtl--few Of the
Il Ecoundrcls who resort TO burglary are
and though no started when he found
himself fnce to fnco with Il loaded revolver
no did not quail. Anger rather than fear
i was tho emotion which expressed itself
# upon his features.
Curse yon!'' no said "Whut has 1t got
D to do with your"
Nothing, only that you've got my bank
a's5 notes In TINT box ind TINT tho rest Of 1t
= has got to DO handed over to tho police
1 Tho thief still retained tho Same posi-
IS ton, with ono knco raised to tho bnnk OF
4 earth and his other foot still resting ut tho
bottom Of the hole.
One of his hands, however, Ind stolen
y Into his cont pocket, and though Ind not
4 noticed 1t my companion had done SO ind
exclaimed:
Now, No $50, drop that, or you 70 q
dead man ut the same timo covering
him with his revolver.
+ And II do, what then? How much
DO you wnnt5 Ill give you half of it, and
q I'll keep tho rest -
We shnIl hand you over to tho police
with the swas."
No sooner had tho words left my lIps
than tho thief, grown desperate at tho
& prospect of again returning to prison
q TO work out the remainder of his sentence
drew from his pocket tho revolver upon
which his fingers had been resting during
i tho last few moments and fired point
So blank at mo.
}gss Tho bullet grazcd my shoulder and
passed harlnlessly away; not so, however,
tho shot with which my companion had
a replied to it.
he had bccn prenarcd for "A demonst rn