Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1900-01-12
HIS LAST CRIME.

RotherDy,f on one of those rare occa-
sious when he allowed himeslf 10 re-
FER TO n past which was not entire
~ creditable; Criminals are divided
into two classes very much like other
people. There are those who believe
in sticking to the old-fsahioned meth
DDS, and those whose taste lies In
the direction of innovation and reform:
Conservatives and Liberals, so to
speak. Joe Clumber as an illustration.
clung tenaciously 10 the views he had
Inherited from a father in the same
line oc business, and couldn't see be-
You'd the Jenny and the life-preserv-
er and so forth. I, on the other hand,
perhaps because I'd merely drifted in
to crime and hadn't been born to n,
shranlS from the use of such imnie
ments, and preferred stratagem to vio-
lcnce And. in spite Of what 7 am
about TO tell you, I'm not going TO
admit that 1 was altogether wrong"
He paused, slipped his whiskey and
water, gave a short laugh, and pro-
ceeded.
"Well, you see. Chamber and hadn't
had much luck foV a long time, when
one day ] happened to spot an adver-
tisement of big picture sale to be
held in Bond Strsst the same after
noon l showed the newspaper to
Joe. and after some discussion it was
arranged that / should go, on the Off
chance of getting wind of something
TO our advantage, as they say. Ac-
cor6pgly, 1 dressed myself in suita-
hlo tOgs and went having told Clum-
Der should expect a good feed when
I returned at six. Joe, l may men
ton, never took On jobs requiring n
swell get.up. FroclS-coats and light
kids didn't become him, and he knew
his limitations.
Il couldn't find fault with the meal
awaiting me when | got back from
the sale On the contrary, / enjoyed
It so much that it was some minutes
before 1 could spare time for CONVEX
sation. Then l said, magnanimous-
W.
Now, Joe. III satisfy your curiosi.
to-
IT'S about time you did,' srunted
my partner; but ignoring the obserya-
ton, continued:
Most Of the things sold to-day
were more or less rubbish, but there
was one-quite a small picture, about
SIT by 2ft-that went for three thou
sand pounds
''Clumber's eyes sparkled. Three
thousand quidr be echoed.
Yes It was q Gainsborough.
"A whatT
az Gainsborouzh. That's the name
Of the painter, you know
-" '0h--wellT
Z" We'll, Joseph, do you think if W,
could get hold OF tsnt picture, the re
ceiver, or fence, as sou call him, we've
dealt with before would take It of
our handsY
" But aln't this al little previous
Rotherby? We aiA't got the picture
yet, ave weY
/" Not yet, certainly, but
paused, and added impresavely. q
know who's bought II, and when it,
going to be sent to his house. man
aged to oyerhear what he said to tn,
auctioneer's clerk He's an old gen
tlemon-his name is Buckleigh, an,
he lives at "The Iindensr Cocker
mouth Gardens, Highgate The pictur
is TO be delivered there between ST,
and seven tomorrow evening
After some parley 1t was agree
that we should proceed at once I
Cookermouth Gardens to see what sor
of locality It really was. SO a littl
later we left our rooms--we were loda
ing in Soho--and caught the yellol
bus to the Archway Tavern. Then, al
ter mounting Highsate Hill. and mai
ing one or two Inquiries, we found tn
place we were in search of.
The Lindens was one of eigl
houses, each of which was detache,
and fronted by long garden SUI
rounded by a quickest hedge, and col
tanning as a rule some pretty big tree
That the houses were MS much alik
rs peas in n pod was obvious, even
the darkness of an October evening
We discovered from notice b0ardsu
pended from tree, however, that Il
house next door to The Lindens We
to be sold, and, on going forward
the light wooden gate that gave acce'
to the garden, we found that the pla'
was called The Films Evidently Il
house was in charge of caretake
for only the hall was lighted. The
we made two OTHER discoveries: Il
houses were named, but not numbers
and the name was in each case al
played on gate precisely similar
that which have already mentione
These were the facts turned ov
in my mind as we rode homeward
lently ON the top { the bus. and l
fore VIC get down Q the corner Of II
tenham Road, l had developed pla
at once simple ara daring which
felt certain could ,ot possibly fail
Clumber, my 10Y | cried. VIII
we had made onl way into qu
pub 4 see Il all. rs as clear as da
light
HIM. murmul id Climber, so n
said in that diam, MI affair the OIL
l. ~.