The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1899-09-05
Capturing aStatnel
With Paint, Wig and Beard a
Work of Art May Easily
Be Made RepuIsive.
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ming various schemes which have
taken conspicuous place in point of
audacity in the records of crime. but
perhaps in none of these transactions
was such audacity more prominent
than in the incident of the. carrying off
OF the Apollo statue from the residence
of Sir Titus Blaydes, Bart, the statue
in question being the work of the
Famous sculptor Apelles and being
valued by experts at $250,0OO.
One evening | was sitting in restan-
rant finishing an after dinner cigar
when short, foreign looking man. ex-
pensively dressed, came and sat down
beside me-
Excuse the liberty / take in ad-
dressing you" he began courteously,
speaking with a strong foreign accent,
but In perfect English, but your fame
has indirectly reached my ears. I
think / have the honor of addressing
Mr.. Godfrey vince?'
That is my NAME" returned, much
amazed. May l ask what you desire
with me?''
He came very close and, sinking his
voice, said in a whisper, II want you
to carry off for me the Apollo statue
from the house Of Sir Titus Blaydes
at Longworth Court"
One glance, at the card told me all.
1t bore the( name of Count Antonio
Delarocca, the famous millionaire col
lector of the antique, whose gallery at
Milan contained priceless glories OF
ancient masters.
Il recognize your name, count, and
shall be glad to be of service to you.
But may | ask what constrained you
to fix upon me as the instrument of
your designs?"
Il CHANGED to be present at your trial
over the Wigmore case, when, as you
will remember, you escaped with q
light sentence, though the evidence
showed you to be an artist in crime 1
kept my eye upon you, resolving to
offer you this delicate mission directly
the government no longer required
your services"
Il shall be delighted to do all in my
power for you count, but first of all
you must tell me in detail what you re-
quire DONE"
Most certainly" he made answer, as
he offered me cigar and relit his own.
During the past four years l have
made countless offers to Sir Titus
Blaydes for his.lApollo, the offers being
made through secret agents Of mine,
for naturally the baronet would not
part with the statue to rival collector
such as myself My last offer was no
less than $25O,OOO, but this also was
unhesitatingly refused"
He paused and blew a great cloud
from his cigar Then he resumed: II
am man of iron will, and what set
my heart upon l always obtain. Sir
Titus has proved unamenable to fair
means. / viii now assail him with the
only alternative stratagem. Yes, mere
ly stratagem, not robbery, for on the
day that you hand over to me the Apol-
10 statue 1 shall forward him anony-
mously the sum of $250,OO0 And you,
my friend, would receive $25, 900.
Come, is the bait sufficiently tempt
ingy'
Before we parted he gave me his ad
dress in Milan, for which place he was
leaving on the morrow, and it was to
this address that l was to convey the
statue if my efforts proved successful.
| may add that he left with me the
sum of $500 as guarantee Of good
faith.
On the following Monday l journey
ed down to Longworth court, and,
mingling with the crowd, entered the
spacious mansion, 1 soon gained adj
mittance to the gallery.
The more l contemplated the bust
ness the further and further away did
the counts reward seem, and by the
time reached London was In de-
spairing mood. l retired to bed, resolv-
ed to think no more of the matter,
though on the following morning /
visited two of my Oldest chums, Jack
case to them. They sneered at the af-
fair, declaring 1t was impossible.
1t therefore came about that the
matter passed out of my mind until
the end of November, when it was
brought back to me in curious man
ner.
l happened to enter theater one
night where play was being enacted
in which a distracted hairdresser, be-
ing pursued by a statue which had
been miraculously endowed with life,
suddenly conceived the idea Of paint
ing her face and dressing her in mod
ern attire, so as to render her appear
ance more conventional when she was
tracking his steps.
An idea flashed through my brain
when | witnessed this incident l did
not wait for the end of the play, but
leaping into a hanson, drove to our den,
where, by a lucky chance, / found
Grimes and Harris ensconced in arm
chairs and smoking peacefully.
| They both looked up quickly, but did
not speak.
my plan is this" ! went on, speak
Ing very slowly, so that their rather
sluggish brains might follow me. Il
propose that we three disguise our
selves as police officers, you two as
constables and | as inspector. We
arouse Sir Titus Blaydes one night and
inform him that we have reason to be-
| lieve that burglars are in the house.
'While he is waiting and am there
to keep him company, you two fellows
10 fro or nd
1 you get there you proceed to make up
! the statue in the guise of a modern
| burglar by means of coat, trousers,
mutfier, overcoat cap, shoes, beard.
| whiskers and grease paint, all of which
you can conceal about your persons,
directly the disguise business is
completed you fire a revolver Hear
ing the report, l rush up to the gallery
with long face to tell Sir Titus that
the burglar, desperate ruffian, has
been accidentally shot You two men
will then carry down the supposed
burglar, whose face will be covered
with a handkerchief"
Grimes drew a long breath. "Well,
I'm blowedt' he exclaimed hoarsely,
as he knocked the ashes from his clay,
''if that amt the FUNNIEST an the cut
est dodge as ever l came acrost. Yer
and, gov'nor. yer and. It's pleasure
to commit fellerney with bloke like
yer to boss it."
The evening of Dec. l was typical
foggy night BY the time ST. Giles
church struck II, a cab containing
Grimes, Harris and myself was on the
way to Longworth Court
The dressing of the statue had al
ready been rehearsed a dozen times on
a plaster Apollo which had bought in
Euston road, and there was therefore
little to fear in the way of break
down unless Sir Titus insisted on ac-
companying the supposed .constables In