The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1899-07-21

Wv IRAA'k bN AhOuA ~ AAlnM rMill NlIUlt-
sale robberics TO be carried on? They
seem utterly helpless-or inefficient
and l certainly shall get Horatio to
speak of the matter the next time be is
in the house. lie 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 as 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
ticles had been stolen the window of the
/ particular room from which they had
been abstracted was open at the time
possibly to allow little air to struggle
in and temper the sufTocating heat
This opened up fresh field for the
ories, one being that the old, old dodge
of fishing rod. with a 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
all, for how could a man stand near a
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 a room some
ten feet or l2 feet above him? No, that
idea was soon ridiculed, and had TO 90.
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 a 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 closedT 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-
waiting the population.
But it 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, am going to put
you on this case. TO see what sort of /
stuff you are made of. DO your best 10 /
unearth the mystery. II you succeed /
ii will be the making Of you
81 knew that well enough, but how
was l to succeed where so many others |
had failed? It really seemed as though |
ghosts had something to do with the
matter, however such an idea might be
for the whole affair looked
uncanny. Yet l determined to do my
very best to solve the mystery, so blk
ing down TO Henley-where most Of the
robberies were occurring just them
took apartments for a few days, and
spent the greater part of my time in
cvcling up and down, here and there,
dressed i'm boating fannels and looking
very unprofessional, but keeping my
eyes and ears well open, nevertheless.
at was a wcarisome, disheartening
occupation. ! left no stone upturned in
my endeavor to find the culprit, but all
TO no purpose; he was as busy as ever
at his nefarious employment. cycled
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
could ! find than a
roung fellow, clad in boating tlannels,
ike myself, riding a highly-geared,
-oad-racing bicycle. with a basket
bout a foot square attached to the
ront of the handlebar.
"Now, a basket like that on road
'acing bicycle was a bit strange, and
,ery incongruous in relation to the
get-up' of the rider; but what was still
more peculiar was that | met this
-oung fellow and his basketed bicycle
n nearly every one of the outlying
'oads where the big houses lay. Every
lay | met him pottering about; always
With the basket, and always in the most
and wealthy parts Of the
lace.
"He began to excite my curiosity, and
determined 10 watch him without his
The basket, noticed. was
.lways closed, but once or twice when
,assing fancied / heard a strange, dis
ordant noise proceeding from il, as
hough some pet were being carried ont
or an airing. ! got thoroughly in
uisitive, but the young fellow seemed
o frigid and 'stand-ofsh. that could
% no more than wonder who he was T
nd what he carried that basket for.
"And so things went on for nearly a
week, until one day, when some dis ,
ance out Of the town. came across my
asket-man standing ruefully at the
ide of the road, surveying with chagrin {
he back tire Of his bicycle, which was
while every now and again
e looked up and down the road, and (
hen up into the cloudless sky, as
lough fearing bad weather.
"'Halloai' ] exclaimed. on riding up.
3ot a puncture? Can be of any as