Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-01-23

1 pose. or else that she Is nothing more
than thief herself and tho accom-
plice of thieves.
Anyhow, before taking rooms here
Paul made the usual stipulation about
being allowed TO lock up, and, al
| though the people of the boarding
house thought il queer. they raised no
objection, especially rs Paul pays
promptly and never disputes a bill.
Such thing as burglary is almost
unknown in Marlborough, but one night
there was burglary at the boarding
house, and whether il was what the
German poet Heine called the satire
| or the Almighty. or whether the thief
| was humorous cuss tas some of our
profession occasionally are), and hav-
ing heard about PauTS little fad.
thought he'd have Joke as well as a
burgle, you must decide for yourselves.
All l can tell YOU is that every single
| article that the thief of thieves took
| away belonged to poor Paul-his new
great-cOat. his boots. his umbrella. his
clean linen just home from the laun-
dry, his slippers and his stick. yea,
everything that was his OF course,
he got no sympathy The landlord.
| though very upset about such an un-
heard of thing happening nj his house,
could scarcely terrain from smiling;
the servants gigeled whenever they
passed Paul on the landing. and the
other dodgers chdffed hin nnmerci-
fully. The only person who looked
solemn was our friend the constable,
VINO came down at once when Paul sent
WORD TO the station Paul is always
afraid of the powers that be Official
ism overaweS hiIu. and when the
pompouS policeman fixed sternly Of
fetal eye upon the poor little chap and
put two or three searching questions.
my friend got SO confused and self
conscious that he afterwards confided
to me he more than fancied that the
officer suspected him of being the thief
himself. However, he did his best TO
conciliate the representative OF the
law by inviting him very respectfully
into the sitting-room, where he pulled
forward his suggest chair. brought
out his best Scotch and placing a
syphon of soda and a box OF fragrant
Havanas upon the table. invited MIR.
Policeman to help hiulself This the
legal sleuthhound condeScended to do
pretty literally, too-aud while Paul
In his apoloGeuc way particularized his
losses, the Marlborough luminary sat
with knitted browS and pursed lips.
looking as learned as a Judge Find
ing the cigars SO good and the whisky
so much to his liking, he expressed a
wish--when he bad heard Paul out
That the officer next above him should
be consulted. The maid was duly dis
patched 20 reques, tne presence oI the
official in question, to whom on his ar
rival his colleague passed the cigars
and whisky, with the request that Paul
would run over the details again
1.-THE newcomer. after some coasid-
Grafton, was convinced that nothing
could be done without Sergt. Davis.
Once more the housemaid was put into
requisition, once more Paul told his
story, once more the cheering cum
went round, and once more the sooth-
ing weed was kiudled. The sergeant
made very serious business both OF
the whisky and of the robbery. He
shook his head solemnly at the de-
canter as each detail was related. and
declared, after hearing Paul TO the
end, that the matter was too serious
for him 10 deal with, and that the SUI
perintendent must at once be sent for.
well, to make a long story short.
poor Paul had the entire staff of the
station at his place, where they stayed
knocking their heads together and pun
ishing his whisky and his weeds until
the decanter was empty and the fire.
place was strewn with cigar stumps.
Then the superintendent took Paul
aside with the air OF a cabinet minister
communicating n state secret and told
him not to be uneasy, for, though he
wasn't, for official reasons, at liberty
to go into particulars just then, he
might tell Paul in confidence that
they'd got their eye upon some one;
but as they did not get any other por-
ton OF their anatomy upon the thief
Tor OBTAINING purposes. poor Paul never
saw his property again.
And all the time the thief, as might
have been supposed, was living in the
same house. lie turned out afterwards
to be humorous rascal OF an Irish
man-an impecunious devil who rented
a room on the third floor, and had come
TO Marlborough 20 give singing lessons.
The police did search his room, it is
true, but, of course, they found moth
ing, for after securing the stolen goods
the fellow had opened a ground-hoor
window, to give the place the appear
ance of having been burgled. and had
then carried his booty to his bedroom,
where he made it into a parcel, which
he dropped out of the window into the
garden below, whence it was carried
away by an accomplice. OF course, the
police found footmarls on the flower
bed next morning. and this confirmed
the burglar theory. Hence no further
suspicion attached to the other dodgers,
circumstance of which the Irishman
took advantage by wearing openly the
only stolen article he had retained
r pair of brown boots, which he BACKED
over. When he disappeared soon
after, he left them-worn to the up
pers-behind him, with a short note