The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-06-27
ESCAPED FROM JAIL,
TIE CLEVER SCHEME THAT WAS
WORKED BY ONE CROOK.

He Wanted Certain Book, and He
Got 1t, Thanks tn n Benevolent La
dy, and Its Title Proved to De Pc
culiarly Appropriate.
The recent escape from the parish
prison." said secondhand bookseller
on the old side who has almost as
many "reminiscences as he has vol
umes, reminds me Of q very curious
case Of Jail delivery in which l was
an accessory before the fact. 1 was
never arrested for it, but don't OBJ
ject to telling you the story.
"One day In the summer of 1895 n
good looking, well dressed man strolled
Into the shop and said he wanted to
get something that would interest his
old mother. whom he described as very
religious and fond of antique books.
I'VE picked out dozen or so tOgetb-
er, Fox's Book of Martyrs Pilgrims
Progress Mather's Sermons of Occa-
siOn,' Pusey's Daniel the Prophet and
among others quaint, massively
bound volume called The Friend In
Aftliction.' They were all interesting
old copies, but my caller told me he
would like to submit them to his moth
er before closing the purchase and of.
fered to leave $50 bill as security.
THAT was agreeable to me, and H.
carried away the lot. Next day he re-
turned and brought back three or four
Of the books, among them The Friend
In AfiictiOn,' which he remarked laugh
ingly had given his mother the blues.
The others he paid for. and have nev-
er seen him again from that day to
this.
"Almost week after his visit, how
ever. thin, prim. precise, elderly lady,
a typical spinster from head to toe,
came In one afternoon and began look
Ing over the shelves. Presently she
ran across the same old Friend In AZ
fiction that had Jared so badly in the
other trade, and, much to my gratifi-
cation, she purchased 1t on the spot.
1t was exactly the thing. she said, to
give consolation to an unfortunate per.
son Of her acquaintance who was then
In great trouble. was glad to get rid
Of the book and let her have 1t for q
couple Of dollars.
"Fully q month afterward I was
amazed to receive a visit from a big,
bury man. who introduced himself as
q detective, produced The Friend In
AfHiction' from valise and asked me
what knew about 1t.
'"The book had suffered since saw It
last. One Of its thick covers was rip.
ped open, and sticking inside was n
small steel file. The story the detective
told me was certainly extraordinary.
lit seems that noted northern crook
had been In jail in q small town up the
country on charge OF bank burglary
and being very smooth rascal had en-
listed the sympathy Of philanthropic
old lady Of the place who had a fad
for prison reform. He persuaded her
that he had thoroughly repented. and
she used to visit him regularly and
bring him tracts and delicacies.
Among other things he told her that
while broke In New Orleans he had
sold all Of his belongings. including n
keepsake from his mOther-a volume
called The Friend In Affiiction.' He
gave her my address as the place
where he had left the precious relic
and worked on her feelings to such an
extent that she promised to secure the
book for him the first time she visited
the city.
"How she discovered and purchased
1t you already know. On her return she
carried 1t straight to the Jail. and while
ordinarily all gifts for prisoners were
closely examined, this lady's high char.
acter made such precautiCn seem un.
necessary and she passed in the volume
without question.
| "A few days later the turnkey found
barred window neatly sawed and the
bird flown. He also found The Friend
In AtfiictiOn' lying on the floor, and in
one Of the massive covers We're several
saws and the file l have mentioned.
or course the philanthropic old lady
was Immediately questioned, and her
hysterical replies led to the visit of the
detective. but nothing ever came Of the
quest The fugitive is supposed to have
left on an outbound steamer-at any
rate he was never caught.
| What about my first customer, did
you ask? Oh, he was undoubtedly the
pal who planted the saws."-NeW Or.
leans Times-Democrat.
1 n>l