FAIRLY SOLD.,

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1215, 20 January 1886, Page 6

FAIRLY SOLD.,

It ia mot often that ,1 find- myself within ihe ■ of a police court, but a^ihort time ago, happening to be aeized\with a, sudden, and unaccouutable curiosity. I wended my way towards ov% of tLjese interesting build ings, and fcffecteoi an entrance. I say effected, heciiiSmit was a matter of no little difficulty, the outer chamber being crammed to inconvenience with forty or fifty individuals, 1 mostly women two-thirds of whom seemed in the last etages of despondency, while the remainder afforded a striking contrast by exhibiting a sort of unhealthy cheerfulness. The police inspector on duty that day was an old acquaintance of mine, and upon noticing me he immediately beckoned me into his office. " There's a peculiar case just decided," he said ; " one you might like to know something about. The fellow is discharged and will be coming out in a minute, flfhy, there he goes." ejaculated the inspector, " that man in the corduroys."

The ' man in the corduroys' had only just got into the street when I overtook him. He was standing still, looking up and down the thoroughfare apparently undecided what to do, all the time feeling in his trousers' pockets as though he had lost something. I divined his thoughts, and accosting him quietly, said, "After the unpleasant proceedings just concluded, possibly a little light refreshment might be acceptable." " Just what I was a-thinkin', sir,' he replied, smiling; "and I was just afeelin' to see if I'd got the price of a pint anywheres, but I find I'm quite broke."

" Never mind," I observed, and in less than a couple of minutes I had him seated behind a foaming tankard and a long pipe, in an adjacent publichouse. He was a fine specimen of the British working man, tall and broadshouldered, with a frank, open face, not at all one who could be judged as belonging to the criminal classes. I. was anxious to know what crime he could have been charged with, and I mildly inquired if it had been a matter of " assault and battery."

" No, sir," he said, " but it will be next time— that is, if I lay hold o' the chap that made a fool of me." "Is it a long story ?" I queried. " Not very ; would yer like to hear it, sir ?" he replied I assented eagerly. II Well then," he began, taking a few preliminary pulls at bis pipe, and one drink at the tankard, " yer see I've been out o1o 1 work now for nigh on two months, scarcely knowing which way to turn for a meal, and glad to pick up a sixpence when and where I can. Nothing's too hard or too poor a job when you're ' out o' collar' I can tell yer, and I didn't mind a rap what I picked up so long as I got it by fair and honest means, for I alters was brought up straight, and I mean to stick to the principle as long as I live. " Well, one morning I went out as usual — that would be just nine days ago — and found myself with only tuppence ba!penny over the West-end-way near Holland Park. No job was to be had that mornin', so feeling rather down at heart and desperately hungry, I turned into a little ' pub ' for a bit o' bread and cheese and a drop o1o 1 beer. I hadn't been sittin 1 there long afore a short, stumpy gent, with no end o' watch chain in front of him' comes sauntering in, and seats himself plump alongside o' me. I ought to 'aye felt flattered, and perhaps I did a little ibit, when he said presently in a very pleasant way. "Nice morning." 4*4 * Yes," 1 said, " it is for those in work, but the morning dosen't seem partiklar to me." "You're out o* work eh?" lie asked, " well I might have guessed so much by your crest-fallen expression. What would you say if I put a little job in your way ?" "I should say God bless yer, and mean it," I answered, pricking up my ears and looking full in the little gent's face. He looked at me, too, very hard I thought, as if he was trying to read what was inside o' me and couldn't quite manage it. "I can trust you?" he asked. ' Perfectly, 1 1 said. "Now look bere," he says, speaking quite confidenshul like, and in a very low tone. "I'm a detective. To-night I'm going to have a good try to nab a fellow who has been fooling the police for the last three months. I've got first rate, reliable information, and with your assistance I believe I shall have him." ' But ' — I was going to tell him I knew nothing about thief-taking, and that I was afraid I should only spoil the affair when he stopped me. INo buts, 1 he said. " I know what I'm about, You will be new to him. He knows all the plain clothes men in London but he won't know you. There's a big reward, If we catch him I'll come down handsome. What'll yer drink. I drank bis health, listened while he was talking about the yard, and telling me what I should have to do. It seemed rather funny to me that a detective should go on in the way he did, but there, as I was out of work, the slightest prospect of earning a few pounds rather dazzled me, and I wasn't so sharp as I ought to have been. He told me that the man he intended to catch was going to commit a burglary at a house in Holland Park— who informed him he didn't say, but he said he knew it— and that he meant nabbing him ia the very act. The house stood in small grounds, and my part of, the performance was to watch for the burglar, and should he by any means give the detectives the- slip, to chase and collar him if I could. "But'spose a bobby comes along -and catches- -sight o* me in 'those / grounds at midnight?" " Well? the HWde/gentireplied. laughing ; l 'iyou ft ve"'pnly r 'to 1 give the .police signal three ; 16ud Wrttfei, and tell • them Inspector Dawker has ettga>e<^

you." I was rather doubtful even then, but the little gent's quick tongue soon smoothed it. over, and I agreed to go in for a share of >the reward. " We left the tavern together and parted just- outside, promising to meet at the house in Holland Park at twelve o'clock the same night. He cautioned me not to breathe a word about the arrangement, and further mentioned that when we met at night we would be disguised. " Twelve o'clock came. I reached the meeting place to time, and found the detective waiting for me. He was dressed in clothes something like my own, and looked the flash gentleman no longer. He seemed ratber impatient, and hastily pulled me through the gates of the garden and into a part of it where thick shrubs grew, making a capital hiding-place, from which you could see up and down the road without being spotted yourself. "Now, mind,' be said quickly, ' if you see tbe burglar run, chase him ; if a policeman comes, three loud whistles. I must be off, or I shall lose ray chance. I shall be back in an hour. If I want assistance I will give you the three whistles.' With these parting words the man disappeared. I stood there waiting for quite half an hour, I should think, when I heard ori the still night air the heavy tramp of a constable. He was coming «ny way, I fancied, and I was right. Slowly he drew nearer and nearer, until be was right abreast o' the very place where I was standing, close to the garden gate. He tried the gate fastening. It opened ; be came inside, and flashed his lantern on the very bush behind which I was standing. Quick as possible I let go three very loud, shrill whistles ; but instead of the policeman being awed by the sound, he dashed at me and caught me by the throat, in about half a minute, nearly choking me and stopping me from ex* plaining why I was there. Finding I didn't resist, he loosed his hold and questioned me. I told him plump and plain that Inspector Dawker had engaged me, that I was doing my duty, and that he had better not spoil the game. He only gripped my arm the tighter and laughed, telling me not to 'try it on with him,' and blew his whistle. In a few minutes another constable arrived, and between the two of 'em, what with their laughing and their questions, I had a lively time of it. However, I was bound to go with 'em to the lock-up, they said, for either I was a downright fool or an impudent rascal, they wern't sure which. This was, they expected, another of that Dawker's precious schemes, and I was put down as his accomplice trying on the ' innocent humbug' with 'em. It was in vain I declared my innocence of any scheme besides that for the capture of a notorious burglar. It was no good. I was taken to the nearest police-station and charged on suspicion. " The next morning, when brought before a magistrate, I learnt to my great surprise that the man I thought was a detective was none other than the burglar he pretended to be after, and that instead of trying to catch a criminal, he was robbing the house while I kept watch outside and warned him by my loud whistles of the arrival of the police. I was remanded for inquiries to be made, and they being found satisfactory, I was brought up again this morning and discharged. That's the story, sir ; it's the queerest thing that ever happened to me, and I really can't help laughing at myself, to think I should have been taken in so clean. I hope that fellow keeps out o' my path, for I shall certainly be brought up for assault or manslaughter i£ ever I clap bands on him."

Having replenished my companion's tankard and wished him a very good afternoon, I left him apparently very comfortable, although as I turned away I heard him mutter ominously, " Wait till I meet him, I'll give him Dawker."