El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-05
Capturing Statue
With Paint, Wig and Beard
Work of Art May Easily
Be Made RepuIsive.

| In the course OF my long and event
full career l have the honor of plan
ming various schemes which hay'
taken a conspicuous place in point o
audacity in the records of crime, blu
perhaps in none of these transaction!
was such audacity more prominen
than in the incident of the carrying of
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,OO0.
| One evening / was sitting in restau
rant finishing an after dinner cigar
when a short, foreign looking man, ex-
| pensively dressed, came and sat down
beside me.
Excuse the liberty l take in adj
! dressing you" he began courteously,
| speaking with a strong foreign accent,
| but in perfect English. "but your fame
has Indirectly reached my ears.
think l have the honor of addressing
Mr. Godfrey Vince?'
THAT is my name" l returned, much
| amazed. t'May I ask what you desire
with me?'
He came very close and, sinking his
voice, said in a whisper, 81 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 l 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 a
light sentence, though the evidence
showed you to be an artist in crime. l
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 ! have
made countless offers to Sir Titus
Blay6es for his Apollo, the offers being
made through secret agents of mine,
for naturally the harOnet would not
part with the statue to a rival collector
such as myself. My last offer was no
less than S25O,OOo, but this also was
unhesitatingly refused"
He paused and blew a great cloud
from his cigar. Then he resumed: 81
am Il man of iron WILL and what l set
my heart upon l always obtain. Sir
Titus has proved unamenable to fair
means. will now assail him with the
only Hlternative-stratag Yes, mere
ly statagem, not robbery, for on the
day t,!at you hand over to me the Apol
10 statue | shall forward him anony-
mously the sum of $25O,O0O. And you,
my friend, would receive $4,000. !
Come, is the bait sufficiently tempt |
IngT
Before we parted he gave me his adj |
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 81, 800 as a guarantee Of good !
faith.
On the following Monday l journey !
I'd down to Longworth court. and, |
with the crowd, entered the
spacious mansion, l soon gained ad
nittance to the gallery.
The more | contemplated the buSi-
less the further and further away did
he counts reward seem, and by the
lime l reached London l was in a de-
,paring mood. l retired to bed, reSolv-
ID to think no more of the matter,
hough on the following morning l
listed two of my oldest chums. Jack
Grimes and Tom Harris, and put the
.ase to them. They sneered at the at
air, declaring it was impossible.
1t therefore came about that the
natter passed out of my mind until
he end of November. when it was
brought back to me in curious man.
Ter.
l happened to enter Il theater one
hight where a play was being enacted
n which distracted hairdresser, be-
ng pursued by a statue which had
'een miraculously endowed with life,
conceived the idea OF paint
ng her face and dressing her in mod
I'm attire, SO as to render her appear
lnce more conventional when she was
racking his steps
An Idea flashed through my brain
when | witnessed this incident. | did
lot wait for the end of the play, but
Gaping into hanson, drove to our den,
where. by lucky chance found
Grimes and Harris ensconced In arm
hairs and smoking peacefully.
They both looked up quickly, but did
lot speak.
'My plan is this l went on, speak