The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1899-08-10
my knowledge. Oh. II worries me %;
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AAOWiCu8Cs Ohs ~ WOAAtSo AAs0 ~
Il 10 all 20 mysterious.'
"'very mysterious,' alphabetically
replied Mrs. Ftz-Blank. But what can
the police be about to allow such whole
sale robberies to be carried on? They
seem utterly helpless-or inefficient
and certainly shall get Horatio to
speak of the matter the next time he IL
in the house. He will soon have mat
ters put right
"The London newspapers soon took
up the matter, and reporters and jour
nalists came down by the score; but
smart rs some of them undoubtedly
are, they could throw no more light on
the mystery than the local police had
done. But one reporter, smarter than
the rest, by dint of diligent inquiry dis
covered that in every house where ar.
ucles had been stolen the window Of the
particular room from which they had
been distracted was open at the time
possibly to allow little air to struggle
in and temper the suffocating heat.
This opened up fresh field for the.
ories. one being that the old, old dodge
of fishing rod. with line and hook
attached, was utilized, to fish for and
hook the jewelry through the open win
dow. But that wouldn't hold water at
nll. for how could man stand near q
house and angle unobserved with his
rod and hook? Or, even admitting the
possibility of that, how could he locate
the position of articles in room some
ten feet or ~ feet above him? No, that
idea was soon ridiculed, and had to go.
Then another theory propounded was
that some organ grinder and his mon
key were the culprits: that the man had
gone into the grounds ostensibly to
grind music, and while SO doing his
monkey had climbed up and got
through the open window. and so stolen
the valuables which he had been pre-.
viously taught to recognize.
"For time this theory was strongly
favored. and organ grinders with mon
keys were carefully escorted by the po-
lice out of the district, as soon as they
made their appearance. But in spite
of all this the robberies still went on,
as regularly as ever. People talked Of
ghosts, Mahatmaism and all that sort
Of thing, as people will when almost
panic stricken.
"You may suggest: why didn't they
keep all the windows closed?' Well,
they did. at least sufficiently to prevent
the ingress of man or beast. but to
close them entirely meant suffocation
during the terrific heat-wave then ener.
vating the population.
"But 1t was all Of no avail, and at
last, in desperation. the local police
sent to our department. at The Yard
and begged assistance. My chief called
me into his Office one day and explained
the matter, saying:
"'Now, Westwood, an going TO put
you on this case. to see what sort OF
stun you are made Of. Do your best to
unearth the mystery. II you succeed
IL win be the making Of you
II knew that we'll enough, but how
was I to succeed where so many Others
had failedf It really seemed as though
ghosts had something to do with the
matter, however such an idea might be
ridiculed. for the whole affair looked
uncanny. Yet l determined to do my
very best to solve the mystery, 80 blk
ing down to Henley-where most OF the
robberies were occurring Just then-l
took apartments for q few days, and
spent the greater part Of my time in
cycling up and down, here and there,
dressed in boating flannels and looking
very unprofessional. but keeping my
eyes and cars we'll open, nevertheless.
ut was wearisome, disheartening
occupation. left no stone upturned In
my endeavor to find the culprit. but all
TO no purpose; he was rs busy as ever
at his nefarious employment. lcycled
through every road and street in the
district, in the hope Of seeing some
thing unusual which might be con-
strued into 'clew,' but nothing more
extraordinary could find than a
young fellow, clad In boating fiannels.
like myself. riding a highly-geared.
Iodu-TuCluk piSy Sics VAIN o"""Ss
about foot square attached to the
front Of the handlebar.
"Now, a basket like that on a road
racing bicycle was bit strange. and
very incongruous in relation to the
'get-up' Of the rider; but what was still
more peculiar was that met this
young fellow and his basketed bicycle
IN nearly every one Of the outlying
roads where the big houses lay. Every
day met him pottering about: always
with the basket, and always In the most
fashionable and wealthy parts OF the
place.
"He began to excite my curiosity, and
determined to watch him without his
knowledge. The basket. l noticed. was
always closed, but once or twice when
passing fancied heard a strange, dis
cordant noise proceeding from 1t, as
though some pet were being carried out
for an airing. got thoroughly In
quisitive, but the young fellow seemed
SO frigid and 'stand-ofiish,' that could
do no more than wonder who he was
and what he carried that basket for.
sand so things went on for nearly q
xyeek upfil ono doy when some dis