AN IMPUDENT THIEF.

Lake County Press, Issue 1063, 7 May 1903, Page 3

AN IMPUDENT THIEF.

At the tavern of a certain village a company of peasants sat drinking and conversing about a robbery that had been recently committed upon their vicar. Their expressions of regret and indignation were apparently endorsed by a stranger who listened attentively all the time and desired to know particulars of the stolen property. " What a shame," he said " but I believe 1 can put the gentleman on the track of the thief. Where does the vicar live ? " The peasants directed him to the house. The stranger then called at the vicarage and said, " .Sir, I hear that you have been the victim of a disgraceful robbery ; however I will undertake to produce the thief before your eyes." The parson was delighted and, being about to sit down to dinner, he invited his worthy guest to join him. The latter did not require pressing, but did ample justice to the meat and drink set before him. During the meal he related how he had watched and overheard several suspicious looking characters, and from his description the clergyman felt convinced that they must have been the thieves. Dinner over the stranger got up from the table, and said: " I promised to produce the thief before your eyes. I will keep my word. I may remark, by the way, that after he had accomplished his purpose, the thief proceeded as follows. He went to the window ledge, —thus —and jumped out." At these words the guest jumped through the window into a field, which it overlooked, and made for a neighbouring wood as fast as his legs could carry him, leaving the vicar the unpleasant reflection that he had not only seen the thief, but had given him a good feed into the bargain.—" 8.P."