The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1906-09-14
Selett Story.
THE SOUTHBURY ROBBERY.

Il was the week of the Southbury Hunt
Sgeeplechasc meeting. and the Oli Red
Lion, Southbury, was packed with hunt
irg men and their parties
There wcrc the Earl and Countess Of
Wao.lmAusterue, YIscount aud Nlscouute~-
Mor,ien, Sir Iooclyn and Lady Tamworth,
General Wynn Parsons and Nrs Wynn
Parsons. the powaeor Lady Treombe, and
Mr.. and Mn, Cyrus Be,iiington, wealthy
couple, who had taken a hunting box in
the Sou,hbary country ior the season, and.
by their lsvish hospitality had made 'hen.
selves very popular in the local society.
Now Mr. BcddiBg,on had some excsP-
tionally tine diamonas, Of which she was
pardonably sroud But they were also
source Of considerable anxiety 30 her, mas.
much A. she hscll in csustant fear of hay-
IHs ihcm sto@cn
On the present occasion, cpminE down
To- Southbury from London. where she had
b.-en staying = few dASs, she had 4 fright
Of this description, which upset her a good
deal. ani 1t whieh she gave her guests
graphic particulars At dinner that evening
She had nogiccd laIl, well dressed man,
Of rather sinister cxpression, fo,lowin. her
about eu the platform At Euston. while she
vas waiting for her train. and she fcli IN.
tuitiycly tha, he had designs upon her
jewel case This impression was sgrcngth
cnei whcn, Ending herself u,omeusaFlly 10
a crowd. she was jaslled hy somebody.
and. turning quickly rOund. recognized the
same suspicious individual And 1t was
absolutely coofrnc1 10 the eoar,e oi her
lourury when she n0t,ee.i him standing in
the corridor just outside her compartment,
with his ey,~ liked upon her
4 can tell yuu what feeling il gave
use when saw him there, she said with
a hrtle shuiier. lie seemed to send the
eold erccys all down my back, aud though
there were several other people IN the ear.
rage vas - fri.htensi that was half
minded cali ,he guard ouly I recollectcd
that oouldn prove anything against the
man---
II should lhiuk nus, my dear inter
ras,ed her matter Of fact husband, laugh
ing the incident aside With good humored
contempt If YOU had done anything 50
foolish yen might have found yourself in
serious hot water For have little doub,
that sou were merely the victim Of your
own nervous fancy, and that the man il,
/ question wa a perfectly Harmless, and re-
I ,prtable member Of society,
Indeed, but | am absolutely certain
he was nothing Of the kind, repli,d Mrs
Beddiugtou, with conviction. And if
you had been there, Cyrus, ami had taken
note of his appearance and h.s behavior.
YOU must have formed the sane conclusion
a. did. tell you, know
the man was shadowing me, and that he
was after my diamonds | don't think
| he i even have stuck at-at-yiolence, 10
effect his purpose, she added with a shud-
der, and-well, haven got over the
horrible fright he gave me yet
The lady's demeanor fully testified to
/ the truth Of this statement, her face look =
ing pale and harassed,
You may think it very silly of me, ~
/ she went on, with ah}sterieal laugh, "but
| | have presentment that | haven seen
| the last Of that man, either And, Cyrus,
| do hope you won't sit up very late in
the smoking room tonight, for | shall be
| quite in a feyer-I know shall-until YOU
come up stairs TO keep me company.
..Tut-tut, my dear. Don't give way
to these foolish fancies, replied her hus-
band Il should imagine that, by this
time, your sinister acquaintance is proba-
bly, well on his way to Edinburgh. y
The lady more or less recovered her
composure But it was evident that she
was still by no means herself, and that she
was only retaining her place at the head
of the dinner table by an effort By and
by she collapsed altogether, and instead of
sitting up to witness the full dress rehear
sal Of some theatricals, she had to ring for
her maid and retire to bed.
Cyrus however, made light of it. He
was too much accustomed TO these hys-
terical attacks on the part of his wife to
take them seriously.
Its a pity she will give up to these
nervous fancies, he said. ''She is al
ways imagining that people are after her
diamonds. | sometimes almost wish that
the diamonds might be stolen and done
with-though they are worth $40, 600. "
Some hours later Cyrus was sitting in
the smoking room, when one of the cham
bermaids entered hurriedly.
"Oh! If you please, sir, she ex.
claimed, Mrs Beddington wants you to
60 up to her at once.