The Winslow mail., 1899-08-10

AVE 1 ever been victimized?
Well, l must confess l have
been-once, only once; and that was by
John Smith-probably one of the most
cunning and original scamps that ever
lent his name to an evil career. But
perhaps you would like to hear the
story?'
The speaker was friend of mine
Detective Inspector Henry Graham, OF
Scotland Yard, who ranked amongst
the very smartest and most successful
members of his profession. 1t was
therefore, with no little surprise that
l heard him confess to having been vic
timized, especially by one of the very
men he had recently brought justice;
and. judging that this must have been
most interesting case, replied:
Il certainly should. The person who
could impose upon a detective of your
reputation and ability must indeed
have been particularly cunning"
You fiatter me-" he replied, smil-
ingly; "but you are right; he was a
smart rogue-the smartest / have ever
known; and although | have had my
own back since-he is now in H. NJ. civil
service at Dartmoor-it will be a long
day before L shall forgive myself for let
ting him slip from my hands at the last
moment-or, worse still-but l must
not be premature.
well, it happened in this way: it
was nearly ten years ago, and l was
merely novice in the profession. /,
therefore, felt highly honored at being
told Off TO investigate the great rob-
berry at Fernleigh court, in Leicester
shire-the seat of the duke of Mel
bourne. You probably recollect the
circumstances; the Melbourne coronet,
of incalculable value, and other Jewell
cry and cash to the value of over G TO-
oOO, were stolen in broad daylight-cer-
tainiy one of the most daring and COM
plete robberies of modern times. The
thfef-or thieves-got clean away. al
though the alarm was given Immediate
~ after the deed was committed
Il had been in the district nearly a
whole day before L came across the
slightest clew; but it was not very long
then before [ had my man-for [ dis
covered there was but one perpetrator
mentally figured before me. judged
him to be person of about nv own
build, that he was very particular as to
MS appearance, and was dressed in a
greer sporting suit"
But how did you gather these par
ticulars, if l may ask?' l interrupted.
oh, that was simple enough" Gra-
ham replied. Unfortunately for him.
the thief was disturbed after having
cleared his booty, and was compelled
TO make for some of the bushes and
shrubs which surrounded the house. In
his haste he tripped over a large stone,
winch resulted ina nasty fall over a
DraInble bush. This bush tore a niece
o. the cloth from his coat. 1t was a
piece of green cloth, such as is used al
most exclusively for sporting clothes
"A pocket-mirror that was in his nocl,at
mad got broken by the fall, and small
piece of the glass lay on the gronnd
The culprit must certainly have beeD
very particular about his appearance to
carry pocket-mirror.
The bramble bush was but small
and was crushed by the weight of tre
falling man; consequently the impress
sion made in the damp grass gave me an
idea as to his height and build. On in
quiry at various railway stations near.
at length came upon one which con-
firmed my opinion, for such a man.
dressed as | had anticipated, had alieht-
ed from frst-class carriage of the
Leicester train there. He had booked
from LondOn-but not to the station
nearest the scene of plunder; he was
far too shrewd for that.
Having gained Il few other details
important but uninteresting to YOU. /
booked for Leicester; knowing that
the prompt discovery of the burglary
would have prevented the perpetrator
from leaving the district immediately.
The line to Leicester was branch one:
and L instructed the station-masters all
along the line to telegraph to me if my
victim entered the train; but. I con
Jectureil, and rightly, too. that he
would reach Leicester by other means
than by rail-
j spent two or three days hauntino
the Leicester railway stations, in the
faint hope of seeing ny man. but to rc
erect. 1T would, Of course, have been
impossible lor ne to s,e every person