The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-07-19

| rev minutes.
In something less than half an hour
he returned.
81 am afraid l must wish you good
night" he said. my wife has had
| tremendous fright. She asserts, not
only that she saw mans face at her
bedroom window, but that it was the
face of the man whom she described
to us at dinner this evening as having
shadowed her on her journey from
London.
'For my part, I feel pretty sure that
! the whole thing is simply a deluslon
due to nightmare or some such cause.
The thought of the fellow was preylng
on her mind, and when she woke up
suddenly she fancied she saw him.
However, she is positive that it was
the real man she saw. And it has had
such an effect on her that she is now
afraid of being left alone.
81 may say that in order to allay
my wlfe's apprehensions l have taken
her diamonds and other jewelry down
! stairs and lodged them with the mana
ger for safe custody. Anything, you
| hhoNi W DdNlly IL lIlbHlcutu anu DyS-
terical woman Well, good night, gen
| tlemen."
And Cyrus Beddington retired to
join his better half, smiling at the abb
surdities of the feminine fancy.
But a few hours later this gentle
man found himself in the unusual po
stion of having to sing small There
| abundant th1ta ~; al n,,iJ
that the supposed vision had been, af-
ter all, reality. For visions don't
leave ladders and open windows be-
hind them, nor do they pick the locks
of jewel cases and ransack them of all
their most valuable contents-which is
what had happened in the present in
stance.
The Countess of Woodmansterne was
the first to discover her loss. She at
once raised the alarm, and 1t trans
pired that number of other ladies
had suffered in the same way.
The manager was summoned. The
servants were called up. The police
were sent for. But the thief had al
ready made his escape He had climbed
in by n ladder through the window of
a disused boxroom. The ladder was
still there and the window still open.
In the turf just under Mrs. Bedding
toms bedroom window, and again on
the plaster of the wall Just beneath the
sill, marks were found which showed
that ladder had been set up there.
He had not done so badly, either hay
ing lifted jewelry to the aggregate
value of seven or eight thousand
pounds.
OF course the unfortunate victims
were much upset by the theft, which
they felt to be the more aggravating
because of Mrs. Beddington's belief
that she had been shadowed by n thief
had only been taken seriously, instead
of being lightly dismissed as the crea-
: tlon of her own nervous fancy the
! whole thing could have been so easily
prevented. They were even disposed
TO be angry with Cyrus for not having
, taken steps to investigate that story of
the face at the window. But this, as
he ventured to point out to them, was
2 | hardly fair His wife had cried
''Wolf'' so often, and nothing had come
. of it, that you couldn't blame him for
!, dlsbelievng in the existence OF the
| wolf when at length that predatory
, animal really came.
] One satisfactory feature there was.
: Mrs Beddington was able to supply
a the police with a detailed ana accurate
e description of the thiefs appearance.
This description was at once tele-
Y graphed all over the country.
+ In the course of the day an officer
y came down from Scotland Yard TO in
e vestigate the robbery. His presence
+ afforded the guests comfortable
sense of security.
L But several of those ladies' whose
t treasures had escaped took their jew
d elry, when they were not wearing ii,
@ to the manager, who locked ii away
II for them in his safe. One who adopt
J. ed this prudent course was the Dow
o ager Lady Titcombe. On the evening
# Of the second day after the robbery
II wanting her diamonds to wear ut that
nights ball, she went down to the
g Office for her jewel case. 1t was hand
s. ed to her, and she took II up stairs In
e "A few minutes, however. she came
back, looking rather flushed and per
'e turbed
J. 'You have made a mistake" she ex-
~ claimed This Is not my Jewel case
st 1t Is exactly Of the same make and ep
D. pearance as mine, and my key happens
re to open II, but 1t Is somebody else's."
"By jo<e." the detective exclaimed
lg slapping his thigh. 'Then that explains
le It, | had my suspicious of that pre-
clous pair from the first, ana have al
K ready searched their luggage on til,
~ quiet, but could find no trace OF an,
stolen property. Now, Of course, se,
= how they managed 1t. n'he days story
OF the man who shadowed her was al
re moonshlne; to divert suspicion. Th'
u ladder and the open wlndow--man
to aged, no doubt, by some confederat,
ne outside-were part OF the same trick.
et "Of course she took the iewelry her
self when she slammed III and wen
4 on early to bed And then, when sh'
u had safely packed the swas into he