Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-29

ttul perambulator. She was quite lady" in
appearance and apparel, and the little sleeping
cherub, with its face protected by sweet veil,
was picture" There was an air of tender
motherly solicitude about the lady which dis
armed the most suspicious. Yet gloves, pieces
OF lace, and various other small odds-and-ends
disappeared most mysterousy. Sometimes a
more than usually hardhearted manager insisted
on madame submitting herself to the examine
ton OF lady detective. But madame had never
got the lost article
Perhaps you would also like to search poor
baby's perambulator!" the indignant mother
would suggest, and, lifting the sweetly sleeping
infant out she covered it's face with mingled
tears and kisses. The perambulator also on be
ing searched was drawn blank! But the end
came at last, when one female detective, with
heart hard as milestone even insisted on the
atroclty of searching the baby itself! The in
teresting infant was found to be made Of india
rubber, and, being hollow inside, was discovered
to contain vast number of things which even
the most voracious real infant would have hesi-
tated to swallow
One of the severest demands upon gentle
mans good nature is, perhaps the request made
to him by strange lady to hold her infant for
moment or two If is unmarried and
inexperienced perhaps no moments in his life
alS ioHSer tLdn InOSe so spent.
woman named Swallow made living for
some years by thus imposing on male creatures
good nature. Mrs. Swallow, pretty and nicely
dressed, would appear on a railway platform
with sweet cherub in her arms Suddenly, hav-
ing selected her victim with nice watch and
chain and jeweled scarf-pin, she would find it
necessary to explore the recesses of handbag
she carried. Would the gentleman mind hold
ing the baby in his arms for Just a moment?
While the stunned victim hesitating she
placed the child in his arms and her hands swift
4y adjusted its veil and flowing drapery. In that
instant the unfortunate obger's watch, chain
and pin disappeared if by magic Having found
what she wanted in the handbag Mrs. Swallow
received her lovely infant back again with
sweet smile to the holder of it as his reward.
The cry of baby is supposed to be music to
mothers 1t was so, perhaps, to Mrs. Hamp-
ley, who, with her husband, was one of the
choicest Jewel thieves the police hunted down a
few years back. Hampley was, one might have
imagined, one of the most affectionate Of hus-
bands, Judging by the number of rings he want
ed to give his WIFE Visiting jewelers. shop he
would request them to send round to his hotel
a selection of jewelry for Ada to look at. When
the ieweler attended while Mrs. Hampley was
trying on the rings, and perfectly distracted
about choosing between them, the wall of in
fant would suddenly come from the next room.
Mrs Hampley was tender mother, and that
shrill voice rendered her oblivious of all else.
She rushed off to still it. Strangely enough. the
child never began to cry till its mother had her
fingers crowded with rings from the jewelers.
stock She never came back! The waiting OF
the expectant jeweler and the impatient father
used to be suddenly terminated by Hampley
dealing the unsuspecting tradesman stunning
blow on the head and darting from the room
Strangely enough, there was never any trace dis
covered of baby in connection with the case,
save that cry Whether there really was an in
FAINT, and, if there was, what became of it, was
never solved.