Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1903-09-26
A LORD AND !
TWO LADIES :
BY
Cyrus Dcrickson

most dclicacy, and it was handed over
to Inspector Jones. Jones was n red
headed. hOmely looking man. seeming
ly more fitted in every Nay to handle
crowbar in a quarry than to work
up delicate case in police matters,
but as matter of fact he was all
flnesse to his fingers ends. This case was
one wherein Lord Baltimore refused to
Some lords refuse to pay their debts
because they can't raise the money to
do it, but Lord Baltimore refused to
because he denied the bills. though
they were sent in by some of the most
prominent jewelers. in the trade. Not
only did the young lord deny the bills
and damn the people who sent them,
but the daughter Of Lady Jane Sy-
monds and the wife of Sir John Bevis
likewise denied certain bills incurred
at the same time and while in the COM
pany of the lord.
When Inspector Jones came to inter
view the six anxious creditors, each Of
whom had been let in for at least
f1.OOO, and some of them for three
times that sum, they told plain,
straight stories. Lord Baltimore had
called in company with the ladies' mt a
certain date. He needed no introduc-
tion as he was we'll known but he had
introduced and thus guaranteed the
ladies. In each instance they had been
searching for birthday gifts. and moth
ing but the choicest and the best
pie of title should call at once was
enough to make a shopkeepcr gasp for
breath, and that the trio should con-
descend to select literally of his stock
and bear their purchases away with
them made him weak in the knees for
an hour afterward. Lord BathmOre's
credit was good for f2O,OOO at any
shop in London, and it was really too
bad that the trio could not be induced
to purchase three or four times what
they finally selected.
The bills had not been sent until
three months later and they We're al
most year old before the various
firms dared to add that part payment
would be Il source of qualification
Then it was that the dcnials were
made, and those denials put the credi-
tors in Il hole. 1t isn't considered
proper form in England to serve IT,
tied debtor as they serve delinquent
malefactOr. He or she must be treated
in gingerly way until the last hope is
hn Ha oI Of ,l,
one of the trio that sent the case to
Scotland Yard and put Inspector Jones
to work. 1t looked like a conspiracy,
and it was possible that trick had
been played on the jewelers.. 1t was
four weeks before Inspector Jones
made his first report, and it ran as fol-
lows:
Il find that all the purchases were
made in the same week, though on diff
ferent afternoons. l have had an in
terview with each debtor, and all deny
the purchases. Indeed l have proofs
that Lord Baltimore was in Paris all
that week and that at least one of the
ladies was out of town for the whole
month. We must either believe that
these three persons are liars and con-
spirators or that there has been series
Of queer mistakes"
1t was far longer before second and
final report was sent in. Inspector
Jones did not believe the trio to be
liars and cOnspirators, and he ran I'D
against a stone wall at once In each
and every case my lord and his lady
friends had been waited OH by the head
salesman or one of the house, and in
each and every case was we'll known
by sight The jewellers couldn't be
sure of the identity of the ladies', but
that 1t was Lord Baltimore who hon
ored them with his presence they were
ready to take their affidavits Inspector
Jones begged to differ with them. but
he realized that he had work on hand
before he could prove his point. 1t
made the case all the more difficult be-
cause it was a year old. As begin
ming he visited the pawn shops, and
after long hunt he had the good luck
to turn up string of pearls that had
been included among the purchases.
liut in the end it led to nothing, for the
description furnished by the pawn
brokers failed to tally with the persons
OF the three accused.
Inspector Jones, without being able to
advance anything but general reasons
got further stay of proceedings. He
had an intuition that he would drop on
the right clew If given time, and the
creditors reluctantly conceded that IL
they went to law and were beaten
they stood a good chance of being
mulcted in heavy damages. A year
went by and the inspector seemed no
nearer the end Of his case. Then luck
stepped in to aid him. Business of an
other nature called him over to Ireland,
and one night he found himself hung
up in small town with only one thing
to do to pass away a long evening.
That was to attend play to be given
at the town hall by second rate pro-
vincial theatrical company. Two short
plays were billed, and between them
Professor Fairfax was to perform Won
derful feats of Juggling and imperson-
ate many well known characters.
The inspector attended, and his in
tercst was only so so until the imper-
sonations began. Then 1t quickened,
md by the time the professor had turn
I'd himself into Lord Baltimore the de-
tcctice was enthusiastic. There were
he dress, gait. the voice and the ges-
lures of my lord to T, as any one
who knew him must say, and the ap-