The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1899-08-10
DURING HER MAJESTrS
PLEASURE.
BY .. q. Smith.

ID 4 II, my FRIEND" said Detective
"A Inspector Westwood, ut Is all
very we'll for people who know abso-
lutely nothing about the matter to
omplain Of the alleged inefiiciency OF
the police force, TO call its members Q
set Of bunglers, and all that sort OF
thing; but IL they only took the trou-
BILE to find out oil the particulars OF
our unsuccessful cases, they would soon
realize why the police are sometimes
completely ut loss.
"It would not be reasonable to ex-
pect a man to stand ON nothing, In
space-now, would It? Yet often we
of the force have no more ground to
work ON than the man in space has to
stand upon, 30 1t cannot be surprising
II we then effect nothing. admit
there are a great number Of crimes
whose perpetrators are never brought
to Justice; but, as they furnish no clew
whatever, we are, of course, baffled-
unless some lucky accident should re-
veal their identity"
"Has any such lucky accident oc-
CURED to you In any Of your invsstiga'
tons?" I asked.
II should rather think so," the In
spector replied. "why, Il is 70 one
Of them that owe my promotion.
Surely you have heard Of the incidentT'
"Not to my knowledge" I answered.
$50 you had better enlighten my ig-
norance."
"Well, two or three years ago there
was Q series of petty robberies In the
mansions round Richmond, Kingston
on-Thames. and Henley way. 1t was
in the summer time, when people were
staying at their country houses. These
robberies were very mysterious, and
the remarkable thing about them was
that they were always committed in
broad daylight. The things mostly
stolen were valuable diamond rings,
brooches, and trinkets Of that sort,
which are allowed by ladies to lie on
the dressing tables Of their bedrooms;
though on one or two occasions costly
bracelets set with gems, and diamond
necklaces worth fabulous sums, were
abstracted by the thief. Bulky valu-
ables, such as watches and family plate,
were invariably left untouched; as
said before, It was chiefly the jewelry
Of the ladies which was stolen.
~Of course, the police were communi.
Gated With, but as the thief-or thieves
left no trace whatever Of their modus
operandi. they were unable TO accom-.
plish anything, for one cannot consider
the absence OF stolen goods as 'clew.
The superintendent, It Is true, had q
theory at first that the robberies must
have been committed by some person
or persons in the respective houses
but as all the domestics happened to be
old retainers Of unimpeachable integ'
rity and honesty. that theory was soon
exploded. The same fate befell anoth'
er, which suggested that the thefts
were committed by some strangei
strolling unobserved into the houses
for the articles were invariably alb.
stracted from upstairs rooms, and it wal
preposterous to suppose that the
thieves could have got in the houses
gone upstairs, and left the premises
again without having been observed
particularly in broad daylight.
'In spite of all vigilance and precau
tions the thefts still continued. There
was scarcely house Of any size In the
district which had not sustained some
loss or other. It seemed to be regular
epidemic of losses, and that, with the
great heat Of the season, formed the
chief topic of conversation amongst
the inhabitants. Public feeling rar
high over the matter-naturally
enough. perhaps. under the ciroum
stances-and the following, with but
slight variations, was the plant at al
the garden parties and social gather
ings:
! "'Oh, my dear Mrs. Fitz-Blank, re
ally do not know what 10 coming ovel
the place; one cannot trust single
article Of value out Of ones sight. Only
this morning placed that lovely mar
quise ring, which was given me by
the shah Of Persia, on my dressing
table while I went into my boudoi,
for something or other. and when go'
back the ring was gonel Gone, utterly
vanished, although / turned the place
upside down to find It. wouldn't havt
lost IL for worlds, either. There Wal
no one else in the room, only mysslf