The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-03-05
Under the Kings Napkin

Under the Kings Napkin
Continued from Page -
and medical attendants. who beheld the
poor girls fortitudc With deep sympathy
and resentment. ard finally her employ
ward ana begged Tor her release, prom
ising TO provide for her during the re-
inaindcr Of her life also declaring mat
theN now believed her u be innocent Of
'tie crline. Eventually She was restored
u her old position after several years
81 iIdescribahlc desoation, despair, ana
suffering. Mas. She was now a cripple
for life, but the minister. who had 50
nobly defended her, with the help OF
others raised :. fund for maintenance
her mistress.
Now listen TO what had really hap
n"n"d. In all the whole list of cases
qabolcally settled through circumstan-
'ial evidence none has been more dra-
matte and tragic than This.
One day while passing through the
market place q lcering butcher touched
Iaantje, NOW on crlltchcs, On the shoulder
and whispered into ier ear ''.Ah what,
q creature IS q naked woman' For
q moment She Vas stunned With indig-
natoI--;tnd then with horror and dis
may. II came over her suddenly with
terrible vivdness that on the Sunday
morning when her mistress WAS robbed
Of the jewel casict that whilst she was
changing her linen before her mirror
she had. through some inpulsivc
thought, made that same exclamation
and knew she had never used ii 1T any
other time! She also now recalled! that
this butcher had that VERY morning de-
iiNcred some minced veal--a circum-
stance she had never forgotten, so
strange are mental impressions fixed on
the memory OF an ev"nttu day. 1t now
e;ine 70 her that this man had cen
ceaicd himself somewhere near the open
u"or and oNcrhcaring her strange re
mark believed! her 70 be entirely I'M
dressed and thus given the opportunities
stole the casket and Went away out the
rear door as described by the nvighhor
She coiiided her adventure to the
hursoinas,cr He Immediately decided
that the butcher was the thief Al the
time he was poor man, Yet in n year
ne was engaged in business for himself
and lived III a suspciously expensive
manner. The magistrate now had care
lul inquiry instituted and various things
warranted his arrest and an examination
lnhdc Of his premises, Finally under a
hearthstonc a small box vas found, con-
tanning number Of pieces OF icVclrl.
mat We're identified by Taantjc ana her
mistress
No competer demonstration of the
old adagc Murder will out ever tram
spircd than this. Here, after fifteen
years. when the criminal though him
self safe and prospecting, he was led by
some internal Cor shall we say Provi-
dentialD impulse OF his own TO CRY ont
his own guilt! The people Of Delft rose
vi like whirlwind in their demand for
Justice when the butchers arrest was
made known and when the magistrate
declared his guilt a mob was formed
That threatened dire havoc unless the
criminal was brought to quick punish-
mcnt. Their Indignation knew no bounds
and they filed the air with txecration
against Taantjcs employers ana the for
mrr magistrate, who had 50 wantonly
condemned her.
The butchers confession was nearly
al as Taantje had suspected. y year
before the robbery he had visited an
other servant in the house who had told
BIN her mistrcss's customs and about
The jewclry box. This girl was some
time afterwards discharged and when
the butcher visited the house on the
fatal Sunday morning he seized the op-
portunity that now presented itself
The final act in the tragedy was the
sentencing of the butcher to be broken
alive on the wheel, the presiding Judges