The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-06-22

"By whom"
a dead silence, except in sobbIng.
MAS a your sweetheart? the man who
left his boots with Mr. Dunlop?
Yes, ] put on the mistress brooch
and the ring. thinking no harm. and
came 'iis in; bur bs B"uldie saw % the ring when.
ever he came I'm. and fought till be got II
OFF my finger and ON his ain. Then the
minister came In before ] got II back.
and he gaed away sac quick that hadna
time Ia ask H.
Where does he iive?"
II don't know.
what does he do?'
~ thing he's fiesher."
This was all she did know. and II was
not quite enough, for. as AZ turned out,
| B8ulde was not fiesher. but only
| porter engaged In carrying meat from
| the slaughter house. Still. In the belief
| that he was a fcsher. ! Went out to tho
| slaughter house with the sauare-toed
bluchers wrapped In paper under
| my arm. as soon as bad seen Marion
| safely under lock and key. ] did not
| trouble TO ask for nny one OF that name,
| as mistakenly believed that IL was a
| fictitious one; but I did In the absence
of any description OF his face or form.
| look very keenly at every pair of feet
In and about the place. ! WAS two hours
| out al the place and had made absolutely
no progress. when ! noticed "A group of
portcrs near the entrance. smoking and
| Joking In a rough fashion. J did not Join
the group, but from a little distance
scanned their feet and boots most eagerly
1 There was but one toeraby Young man
4 among them, and he wore bluchers. which
\ so far as ! could Judge. We're aot unlike
| ture on my part. but 1 resolved to tackle
| the owner OF the bluchers. and approach
| ed the group. A. I did so, one of them
recognized me and said:
''fth, Bauidie. there's NJ Govan. the thief
catcher adding some query To me re-
/ gardiDg the parcel under my arm. which
he pretended 10 believe I was stealing.
The man addressed as BauIdie was NOV
| Ing off very quietly, when ! stopped him
| with the words:
| "Nvafi a moment: 7 want 10 show you
barRain-a pair of boots want TO get
| rid of cheap
A hoarse laugh greeted the speech. and
] unrolled the square-toed bluchers, and
| showed one of them into the not very
| willing grasp OF Fauldic, whose face was
a curious study. He Was half-frightened
| and half-doubtful as TO whether / had
| any suspicion of him. though his face
| az his eye became riveted TO the boot
became very much less bloated and red
Hoo much are We wanting for the
| buits?'' he asked at length, with a mani
| fest effort
| That's the curious thing" laughing
| ~ answered. II don't want anything for
| them. II they tit yoiI. you're welcome
Ia them. Try them on"
| Every one laughed louder; but Bauidie
obeying me and taking the urgent adj
vice OF his companions. he tossed down
| the boot and turned to leave. saying x
was time he was going.
| Stop ! said. more sternly. and riyet
| ing my hand on his arm: you must try
| ~, these boots, or try OF my handcuffs!
4 Come, now, which will you have7"
Ho chose the boots. and. amid much
chatting, put them on. when they ap-
| peared 10 fit perfectly. | fastened the
iaces and picked up the old ones he had
| "They appear TO ut you so well that
| you. may as well keep them on till you
| walked TO the Office with me-"
4 He obeyed without a word. much to the
/ surprise of his companions. and thought
| had got 10 the end of the case; more
n when bsr axsr Marion pSmPSs Ss
| ring. But all the way to the Office
Bauldie had remained silent and Thought
full. He had been occupied. no doubt. in
| was really involved. and looked almost
cheerful when he was identified. Then.
M.sn ,he m charge ba st Was efPlalnsd ha 70 him
II never saw the butts afore." he said.
| in ailusion TO the square-toed blnchers
With which J had fitted him, and they're
MGovan's. I've seen the lassie afore. I
admit. but l wasna in her hoose last
friday nieht. and ! never took ring of
hen naething aboot the ring. and can
prove that / was twa mile away at the
time
TO this statement. in spite OF every
appeal from the poor servant girl. he ad-
hered most tcnaciously, and even got
some boon companions with whom he
probably after losing his boots-to come
forward and prove an alibi. What helped
him; no doubt. was the fact that the
Studies that he had but vague idea OF
the hour at which the boots came into
his hands and the owner took flight
and as Bauldie had I'm all probability got
young woman to pawn the ring, and
give with IL the name OF Marion MQueen.
IL Is not surprising that the pawnbroker's $
assistant. when shown the fearful pris-
oner said he thought IL was she. On the
whole, the case went strongly against
Marion. and her very admissions to me.
truthful though they doubtless were.
helped to rivet the guilt upon her. She
was convicted of stealin~ the ring. and
sentenced to three months imprisonment.
while. the charge against Bauldie was
charged. As Bauldie persisted In re-
fusing the square-toed bluchers. and the
mained with us: and more than once, az
l came upon them In turning over the
strange collection of rubbish which
thought of poor Marion suffering. as /
believed, nnocently In prison. while her
selfish betraver stalked about in impunity
and I longcd heartily for chance To pn ,
him back for that. and for the clean s,'''
he had made through my fingers. He
was a coarse. brutal fellow, and one WAS
puzzled TO think what a smart lassie like
Marion could have seen In him to ad-
mire: but women have their own taste
in these matters.
AS Vet. however. as the reaner mas
seen, Bauldie was not one OF my "bairns.
or a recognized criminal. He was mere
iy one OF the buzzing moths I have so
often spoken Of circling the flame, and
longing to get at the beautiful star be-
fore them: but he had been successful.
and there Law my hope. / felt sure 7
should hear of him again.
Some time after the ring affair. house
az Newington was coolly entered one
night while the family were asleep. bv
the dining room window being lifted
from without. 1t IL possible that haul
might have been made. but the master
Of the house chanced 10 be wRkefnl that
night. and hearing what he thought was
a cat wandering about below he got up.
thinking some Of the windows had been
left open. and intending TO chase the
brute out again. With only his slippers
and dressing gown on. he went down.
stairs CRYING "Shoo. shoo," as he went,
and the cat, n tall buirdlv man. at once
took light. and vanished through the
dining room window TO the open air. 30
softly had the man run. that he was
gene almost before the gentleman had
realized the situation. and then he was
| quite sure that the man was I'm his stock
ing soies. a suspicion which I readily con-
firmed next morning on examining the
ground In front of the house. There had
been two engaged In the affair. but one
only 80 far az I could gliesS, had gone