Southbridge Literary.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume X, Issue 897, 1 April 1891, Page 3

Southbridge Literary.

A m.e^i^g q.^ha.qcommitjtee ,;ot > th,e, above was held on Wednesday last. .iii* to -'i 0 1 "^ 1; - ■ «■> Messrs ~'~R'. "~B" Willis, (m the chair), Vigers, Eramel i Tf&ctyj sahct JFanshaWt*, (liiDr^rian) JVf J ■; ' ' ; C j The main business pf^^injeeting was th\*3 appointmant of a. sub-committee to selt'ct a nui_(bic|d|^»6ji biEks^ for libra ry. p After^d'ra^ 'diiso^iitiifii* foP lowing gentlemen were appointed : — Mes^rsWillis, Vigers, ii M Lge, 1£ FanshaVk T e and the Rev E A Donation \ ; ' ' | ?$ The Chairman inftfrined the donim^e that Sir John Hall had generously di vided his honoran^nj for th| la§| Session of Parltanae^fo^ deducting^his bare personal amongst"- 'f&Jic .institutions of the .electorate The sum <ef £10 fell to t^,^SiTc of tlijs^Qtsjtr*6t >©f which £,?> wns .allocated to \iie Js'pathbridge School, £1 encli to tlie Lakesid 0 and Little Kakaiai"Scho(|l§,/ r &ed r |55f*^ to the Litory^-a^s^ „!„. ' The Chairman proposed that a notice should be puVap it. *tlio Library asking membrrs~.6~Beml ""ar-lßffirsf " bbofeg fffiM "wbic^iitjje rrsu^u.oini^itttee.! ahpuld . make their selection., Mi/iiiq wa. agreed to} The meeting' tlitn^ teiiiiiriated, the toot

'Did you spealTto any one ? . 'No not to a — ,' then she stopped ■and appeared to think for a moment before s).o added — ' Dot to a soul.' X 'No one jostled you ;no one touched yon ; no one spoke to you ; and no one stood new you V INo one sir. The jewel-case juat seemed to melt into air ; ' at which reply .her misties9 elevated her head, and gave an impatient snort. ' < Are you quite sure you didn't speak \to any one?' I asked, fixing the girl Bteadily "with ray eye. 'Quite certain, sir I did look after a soldier for a moment, because I saw he '■ belonged to the same regiment as my brother, but he didn't see me, or atop or speak.' ' Exactly! 1 " I thought. 'If the girl is really innocent , and did not pass the jewels to a confederate, that moment of - looking after the soldier was just when the case was taken.' ' Did you notice any one hanging about the luggage van I continued aloud. /There were a good many, but . I was back from them.' 'Any one m particular V 'No. There was a thin man with black eyes and tight trousers like a groom 01 an ostler. He looked at our luggage for a moment. Perhaps he thought we had some of his, but he was gone before I missed the jewel«case. ' Very likely,' I dryly remarked, and then I sent the girl into the, next room till I should hear her mistress. Her story was much less rague, and she had no doubt at all m the matter. She had taken the girl a year or two before on the strong recommendation of a friend interested m the poor of London. The father of the girl was a convict ; a brother had been detected going the same way, but had been got into the army, and was behaving fairly well ; but here was the girl showing practically that the taint of crime was m her blood by making away with two thousand pounds' worth of jewels. * I have no doubt she had it all arranged before we got to the station, and will join her confederate if you do not arrest and detain her,' said Lady Eagleton m conclusion. ' Perhaps that soldier she named was the confederate. I think you should arrest him also, and——' Hj&She rattled on volubly with her directions and advice, none of which I heard. Every other person who comes here imagines that we have been waiting for a quarter of a century to be instructed by him. I was thinking of the girl's very clear description of the ostler-like man with the hi nek eyes anil the cleanshaven fnco. It was the on'y clear statement she had made, or seemed capnhlo of making, m her state of terror and sriof, and the description just fitted one of. my most diligent ♦ bairn?,' whose favourite name whs Jemmy „ Twitcher, . and whose favourite occupation' Was to haunt railway' sta ions and " ' pick np trnnks"br pnrtiiiantonuiS,'.;arid coolly walk off . with them ns they were: bundled uut of the luggage van. He was a mean and cowardly little, wretch... an J never had sonred so high as to commit a robbery like this Indeed, had the girl not let fall the description, Jemmy was the last m the World! should' have thought of. It was quite out .of his line, far above Ins courage, arid too' neatly done. Still, flashes of genius : and inspiration come to the meanest amonu; us at tim s, therefore one might come to Jemmy. The only question W as — Was Jemmy or this crying servantmaid iluv actual thief ? A double clue is often worse than none, it is so distracting ' I charge her with the theft,' said her mistros*, noting perhaps a reluctance j on my part to detain the girl. 'It is , quite plain that her story is a clumsy 1 fabrication, confused and stupid. I could have made up a better one myself.' f *• Exactly, your ladyship,'! interposed; * a real thief, it seems to me, would have ! given a better explanation. The con- ! fusion pLtlie girl's statements is m her ! favour. And supposing she be innocent, ' would you not regret charging her with such a crime, and so perhaps ruining] her lor life ?' _ # ; Nothing could convince her ladyship that her maid could be innocent, though she admitted that till that day she had seemed a model of honesty and eager faithfulness, so I took her m another way. She was to be m the vicinity of Edinburgh for a week or two, and I ingeniously pointed out that much more was often to be gained by allowing suspected criminals to remain at large for a little than by shutting them up m prison. If she agreed to keep the girl beside her just as if nothing had happened I might not only get the thief, but recover the jewels. 'Recover them ! 1 must wear them to-morrow night,' said her ladyship evidently under the impression tbat I had only to send down the close or round the corner, and the thing would be done. ( To-morrow !' I echoed, with a smile. 'To be frank with you, you may never see them again, If it was a plant — if it really was arronged beforehand — you may be almost certain that they are gone for ever. If it was bat the inspiration of a moment's opportunity, then there is a chance, though a faint one, of them being recovered. My lady was indignant, and plainly hinted that I was no detective, an opinion which has been so frequently expressed to me, even hy myself, that it has ceased to have any novelty. While she was is . the next room, I had the girl brought id Again, She was the piotqre of terror* ' Oh, am. I {0 b$ arfejtfid like 4 jhjgf/'