New-York tribune., 1920-12-19
THE KINGS STATE
4 CROWN. Reproduced by
permission of Messrs. Cas-
sell e Co., from a painting
By Cyril Davenport.
(Copyright)

~ r o. S0'~S
searched 1t would have been found
that under their cloaks they were
armed with swords, daggers and pis-
tolls, while one of them had a wooden
mallet. Mr.. Edwards went down to
receive his guests, and Blood sug-
gested that before going upstairs the
visitors should see the crown Jewels.
Leaving one man at the door as a
lookout, the other three went into
the jewel room with Edwards, who
unlocked the doors of the jewel cup
board. The man with the mallet
promptly knocked Edwards on the
head and the second man gagged
him, while Blood proceeded to rifle
the cupboard.
Blood had decided on his many
previous visits which pieces of the
regalia would be at the same time
the most portable and the most val
liable. He seized the state crown
and knocked in the arches and
smashed in the sides with the mallet
that had already been used on Ed
wards, thereby putting the crown in
a convenient form to hide under his
cloak. The Black Princes ruby and
several diamonds and other stones
were knocked out of the crown in this
process, but the thieves gathered
them up and put them in their pock-
cts. The orb and the scepter we're
the other two pieces to be taken.
One of the band put the orb in the
slack of his breeches, while the third
set to work to file the grip of the
scepter in two, as it was too long to
conceal if carried in one piece.
Edwards had son who had been
serving in the army in Flanders
That morning the son landed in Eng
land and at once got leave to visit
his father. He arrived at the Mar
tin Tower while Blood and his con-
federates were pillaging the Jewel
cupboard and the lookout at the door
held him up, but he pushed on in and
went upstairs, where he found with
ms mother and sister Captain Beck
ham, who had married one of Ed
wards's daughters and was invited
to the betrothal party. The lookout
warned Blood and the others, and.
leaving the scepter behind them. the
party departed in orderly haste.
The Alarm Raised
Inc consplrators had counted on
Edwards's age and, to a certain es-
tent, on the thickness of his skull.
but they had miscalcula ted in tba
latter particular. The blow from
the mallet had felled him, but had
not rendered him unconscious. wh;la
Blood and his companions had felt 50
secure that, though they had gagged
Edwards, they had not bound him.
NO sooner we're they out of the level
room than the old man tore off the
gag and began to shout "Treason,"
and "Murder." and "The crown is
stolen" Captain Beckham and Ed
wards's son ran downstairs and q
crowd rapidly gathered.
Meanwhile Blood and his COM
panions had passed the main guard
of the inner fortress and shot the
sentinel on the drawbridge. The
sentinel at the outer end of the draw
bridge, seeing his comrade shot, DO
htely stepped aside and allowed the
thleves TO pass. They were now on
the wharf, with the main gate onlv
few yards away and their pur-
suers still in the inner fortress, but
instead of making for the main gate
they turned along the wharf to an
other gate some three hundred yards
away, where they had horses wait
| ing.
The mob came bowling after them
and the people on the wharf took nm
the cry Of murder and thieves. With
praiscworthy quickness of mind
Blood set the people on the wharf
onto Captain Bcckham, who was
leading the pursuit While the fight
was in progress Blood and his COM
panions got to their horses, but Beck
ham /had managed to free himself
and overlook them. Blood tried to
shoot Beckham, but his wheel-lock