CHAPTERCXXIV.STOLEN LETTERS—AN AMERICAN DETECTIVE’S STORY.“The Post-office,” said Mr. Shearman, “is one of those institutions where scrupulous honesty is required, where very inadequate pay is given—a man is expected to slave like a mule or a camel for something under a pound a week, and to resist temptation.“Some do it, others do not—they fall. Possibly these latter have wives and children, and cannot help thinking of them as a letter passes through their hands with a little coin inside. It is not a large sum, but it is more than half a week’s wages to them, and would enable them to do something for the ‘young ones.’“The post-office, or more correctly the public, is robbed to a large extent annually, and it is impossible to put a stop to these depredations, for although the offenders are detected in some instances, and brought to justice, others escape and become hardened in crime.“During the year of the last Great Exhibition these robberies became so frequent that it was found necessary to adopt some extraordinary means to check them. The utmost vigilance was exercised by the officials, but they found their efforts unavailing.“The thefts continued, and the authorities were deluged with letters, stating that money, notes, cheques, and valuables of all descriptions had never come to hand. In the dilemma in which they found themselves placed they had recourse to the police, and Colonel Warner recommended the case to my notice. I undertook it; for it was a task of some difficulty which I found would occupy a week or so most agreeably.“I was always happier in the harness than out of it. I do not mean to say that I despise reasonable relaxation, but I depreciated any great waste of time. I petitioned to be allowed to learn the business of a letter-sorter, which request was granted at once.“A few days initiated me into this branch of the business, and I was then drafted into the room in which the latest operations were carried on. Large bags of letters were continually being shunted down shafts.“When they reached the floor they were eagerly pounced upon and sorted for transmission to all parts of the kingdom. I carefully watched every man, which would seem a useless proceeding on my part, because a spy appointed for the express purpose is continually looking on. He is concealed from view, and gazes through a pane of glass at those who are at work in the room, and of course he detects frauds when they are very frequent.“This man maintained, for his own credit sake, that the robberies were perpetrated at some other place and not in the General Post-office, but I did not agree with him. It required something more searching than the sleepy vision of a hired spy to detect the skilful thieves who were making a large income out of his carelessness and inefficient efforts.“The quickness with which experienced men perform their duties is inconceivable to those who have not witnessed their exertions. I found it very difficult to keep my attention sufficiently fixed upon one in particular to be able to remark the peculiarity of his manner. The hands of all of them were here, there, and everywhere at once.“I pretended to be absorbed in my occupation, although I was in reality remarking everything—one man especially attracted me. There was something so restless in his manner, that from the first time I set my eyes upon him I singled him out as the most likely fellow in the room to be a thief.“I remarked that he every now and then raised his hand to his mouth. But so rapid were his motions that they resembled sleight-of-hand, and I could not discover what he was doing. This man looked as if he had known trouble, and was thoroughly acquainted with that painful process which is known as being in hot water.“Perhaps he had been born with ideas above his station. There are people who move in a very humble sphere of life think they ought to have been born peers of the realm, and nothing but monarchical greatness will content others, though the majority of aspirants draw the line at nobility.“Luxurious notions may have entered this man’s head. He may have had a fancy for asparagus, or new potatoes, or lamb and duck and green peas, and his own beggarly salary not ‘running to it,’ as the phrase goes, he may have thought it no great sin to help himself when the occasion presented itself in a favourable manner. He was not of full habit of body.“There was something hollow and unsubstantial about him, although he was not much more than thirty years old, if you could judge from his outward appearance, which was not prepossessing.“I determined, when work was over, to follow this man to his lair and see what he was like at home. The domestic hearth is something like wine. It shows men in their true character. The public-house is not a bad interpreter, but the hearth is the best of all. Work was over at six. At that time the night men came on.“I afterwards ascertained that the man’s name was John Brown. He walked with a quick step along the street, looking behind him occasionally without seeing anything to arouse his suspicion, and entered a public-house, which was situated about half-way up a small court, whose obscurity must have prevented it from being generally known.“Standing at the bar was a young man of gentlemanly but dissipated appearance, well dressed, and wearing some jewellery which, if real, must have been expensive. When he perceived Brown, he exclaimed—“‘Johannes, my man, otherwise John, I am glad to see you.’“Brown responded by a nod and a grunt.“I followed, unnoticed by either party, and placed myself in a convenient position for eavesdropping.“Brown sat down by the side of his acquaintance, said—“‘Rather later than usual to-day, Mr. Wareham. The bags were rather heavy.’“‘Never mind that. Have you worked the oracle properly?’ replied Wareham.“‘About the same as usual, I think; my pockets are pretty well lined.’“‘Turn them out; there is no one here to notice us.’“‘I shouldn’t mind something to drink first,’ growled John Brown.“‘You shall have it, my pippin. What tap’s most to your liking?’ replied Mr. Wareham.“Brown expressed an opinion strongly in favour of beer such as is brewed by Bass on the banks of Trent, which was promptly brought him by an obsequious waiter. After quenching his thirst, he said—“‘Now, sir, I feel better.’“Putting his hand in his coat pocket, he produced several pieces of money, together with little scraps of paper. He had, I imagined, first of all felt the letters that passed through his hands, and if he detected the presence of gold, he raised the envelope to his mouth and bit off the corner in which the coin had fallen, afterwards placing it in his pocket. He appeared to have about twelve pounds to show as the result of his day’s work.“Mr. Wareham examined the spoil, counted it, and having divided it equally, gave Brown one-half as his share of the plunder. Brown uttered an exclamation of discontent.“‘What are you growling at?’ exclaimed Wareham.“‘I ought to have the whole of it. I run the risk.’“‘So you do. But you are obliged to bring all you get to me, because I know your secret. I need not give you anything if I did not like. You ought to be grateful for the generosity with which I treat you; upon my word, Brown, you are a fortunate fellow.’“‘More of a fool than that,’ grumbled Brown, who seemed inclined to retaliate, and kick over the traces.“‘I can’t agree with you, then.’“‘It don’t much matter whether you do or not. I am pretty well sick and tired of this little game. I have a good mind to leave this land and go to Texas or Mexico.’“‘At the expense of the Government,’ sneered Wareham.“‘If I went, you’d go with me,’ said John Brown, fiercely.“‘Think so? Well, you have a right to form your own opinion.’“‘I, however, don’t suppose that such a thing is even remotely possible. I am very well satisfied with my native country; I have found you, and you are a source of profit and of income to me. You are what I may call a pearl of great price. I am unwilling to relinquish you. If I did so, I should be like the man who killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. My dear Johannes, you are necessary to my existence.’“‘You always think of yourself.’“‘Of course; egotism is the primary duty if not the whole duty of man.’“‘I don’t know anything about that, but I’m tired of the way we’re going on. I would rather be in a prison than lead this sort of life.’“‘Have you ever been in a prison?’ exclaimed Wareham, with a searching glance.“‘No, but the time may come for all that. I’m going the right road to be shut up in gaol,’ returned Brown, savagely.“‘As we are friends,’ said Wareham, ‘I don’t mind telling you that I have.’“‘You!’ said Brown.“‘For a year and a half I enjoyed that pleasure.’“‘I wish you were there now.’“‘Very possibly, my friend, but I really cannot join you in your amiable desire. I am unable to say in the spirit of the hymn, “I have been there and still would go,” for it is anything but a little heaven below.’“‘So you had your hand in before you met me?’ said Brown, with a malicious grin.“‘Certainly I had; a man must live, and I can declare that I was never any burden to my respectable parents. From my earliest infancy I had a talent for appropriating the property of other people, and I have lived upon my wits ever since I first knew I had any.’“‘What got you into trouble?’“‘An inordinate passion for riding. I always envied people I saw on horseback, and one day as I was loitering about the best part of the town, a gentleman asked me to hold his horse for him, while he entered the house of a friend. I looked upon the request as an insult, and while I held the bridle I ruminated as to the best method of revenge upon the aristocrat who had laid himself open to my resentment. It occurred to me that the best way to punish him would be to rob him of his horse. So seizing an advantageous opportunity, I sprang lightly upon the animal’s back.“‘I did not know how to ride. The horse found at once that he had a light weight upon him, and he soon discovered, with equine instinct, that I had never been on a horse before. Setting back his ears, the beast bent his legs under him and set off at a quick pace. John Gilpin going to Edmonton must have felt very much as I did.“‘The horse galloped recklessly and furiously from street to street, and at last landed me in the paternal arms of a blue-coated policeman, who looked after me with the care of a father.“I was committed for trial, and engaged Mr. Earwig, the celebrated criminal counsel, who did his best for me, and moved the court to tears as he recounted the sad position of this well-connected young man (my father was at the time in Sing Sing gaol for debt, and my mother in the penitentiary owing to a little matter of manslaughter), whose parents were highly respectable.“‘The misguided youth had given way to a sudden impulse of temptation which led him into the commission of a sin, the enormity of which was regretted by none so much as himself.“‘At this juncture of the learned barrister’s speech the prosecutor got up, and said he hoped the court would deal leniently with the prisoner.“‘He was willing to make all the reparation which lay in his power.“‘The horse had subsequently run up against an omnibus, broken his neck, and damaged sundry pedestrians in his dying struggles, so it may be imagined that I was not able to make much reparation.“‘The unhappy boy (sobs audible in various parts of the court) narrowly escaped with his life. When he, in an unguarded moment, leaped into the saddle he had no idea that the horse would go on.“He had never been in a similar position before, and was so ignorant of the first principles of horsemanship that a donkey might lead him to destruction.“No felonious design lurked in my client’s head. Steal the horse! Why, gentlemen of the jury (this with a persuasive simper), you might just as well, and with equal propriety, accuse me—me, Mr. Earwig—of wishing to run away with the box in which you are at this moment sitting. (A murmur of incredulity arose from the body of the court, which was instantly suppressed by the energetic efforts of the usher.)“‘No, no, gentlemen, the poor young man whose prospects in life are already partially ruined, owing to his having been placed in the ignominious position in which he is by the precipitancy of the sitting magistrate who committed him for trial; whose character has been aspersed, and whose prospects have been blighted through a strange perversion of the truth, and a misconception of actual facts, never—I say it emphatically, never—contemplated an offence against the common law of the land.’ (Applause, and “hear, hear,” from a juryman.)“‘Acquit him, gentlemen. You are not the slaves of prejudice. Do your duty as is meet and proper for men of standing and position. Why should you wreak an imaginary vengeance upon an innocent man, for innocent he is, in spite of the allegations that have been made to the contrary? Let him go his ways, gentlemen of the jury, and none of you will sleep the worse for it.’“Mr. Earwig sat down in a state of moisture, arising from perspiration and exertion, but his arguments were not so availing with the jury as I would have wished them to be; they found me guilty, and I made the acquaintance with the interior of the State Prison. Profit by my experience, my dear Johannes. If you are of an ascetic turn of mind, and wish to mortify the flesh, by all means step within the pale of the criminal law, and get brought up before the district judge. You will not forget your interview with that terrible functionary in a hurry. I have seen him once, and I do not want to renew my acquaintance with him. Since that delightful period of my existence I have played the part of the monkey who made use of a cat’s-paw to pull the chesnuts out of the fire for him. You, my accommodating Johannes, are my cat’s-paw. The coins which you bring me from the G.P.O are the chesnuts. My heart overflows with gratitude to you. I regard you as my benefactor, and I wish I could promote you in some way. The days in which Jack Sheppards and Dick Turpins flourished have gone by, but you might be a Redpath or a Dean Paul; I think you have talent enough for a Redpath, and I don’t think you would make a bad Roupell.’“‘When you have ended your nonsense I shall be glad if you will tell me,’ exclaimed Brown, who had been fretting and fuming during this lengthy speech.“‘My good, my excellent Johannes,’ replied Mr. Wareham, suavely, ‘I have scarcely commenced.’“‘What I want to know is, how much longer this game is to last?’“‘I can tell you,” said Wareham. ‘If you can manage to nail a certainty—by that I mean something worth having—we will divide the swag, and you can go to Mexico when you like. I shall not endeavour to stop you. Can’t you rob the California mail? Get yourself put on night duty; do something. If you go on like this, you will get bowled out at last, and we shall have to throw the sponge up.’No.65.Illustration: PEACE PARTING WITH THE DETECTIVES.PEACE PARTING WITH THE DETECTIVES.“‘I’ll try,’ replied John Brown, moodily.“‘Think it over, Johannes, and do your best.’“‘I wish I had never given way to your temptation,’ muttered Brown, in a low voice, but Wareham did not overhear the remark.“‘I must tear myself away from your fascinating society, Johannes,’ continued Wareham; ‘I have an appointment with a fly flat (i.e.a clever fool), and he has some superfluous cash which I covet. See if you cannot do something worth talking about. I shall meet you to-morrow at the usual time.’“Wareham lighted a cigar, and nodding to his accomplice, strutted leisurely out of the place.“Brown allowed his face to sink upon his hands, and I heard him say, ‘Curse him! may God in Heaven curse him!’“He remained sunk in a lethargic despair for more than an hour, then he raised himself and left the tavern. I returned home to ponder. It was necessary to put a stop to the nefarious practices that Brown carried on with such skilfulness, and I considered how I should best take action in the matter.”“Which of course you did,” observed Mr. Cartridge.“Wal, I guess so, I never was one to let the grass grow under my feet.”“Ah,” thought Peace, “when will he have done. I am on tenter-hooks.” Then aloud he said, “I am greatly interested in your narrative—pray proceed, sir.”“All right,” returned the American, “I’ll jest git this darned weed to draw and be hanged to it. The Britishers always roll their cigars up too tight. It’s a way they’ve got, I suppose.”“Take another,” said Peace.“No, he’s all right now, thank you.” Mr. Shearman then proceeded.“I had not the remotest conception how Mr. Wareham became acquainted with John Brown’s secret, but one thing I was sure of, and that was that the aforesaid gentleman was a consummate scoundrel.“In order to understand his character better, and to see with whom I was contesting, I applied to an intelligent officer who was acquainted with almost all the thieves, vagabonds, and rogues in the city.“The reply I received confirmed my suspicions. Wareham was well known to the police under a dozen of aliases. He had been convicted, and I resolved that he should be so again if there was any virtue in an indictment for conspiracy to defraud.“I watched the two men carefully for some days, and at last I gained some information upon which I determined to act. They had planned an elaborate robbery between them, and Mr. Wareham’s habitual prudence was so far overruled that he consented to take an active part in it.“Those letters which were registered on account of their containing valuables were also placed in a bag by themselves. Of course there were different bags for different places, but the Cincinnati bag was always a bulky one; they determined to appropriate the contents of that one.“It was Brown’s duty to take certain bags to the lower regions of the Post-office for transmission through the tubes of the Pneumatic Company, which had just been laid down.“Having overheard all their plans, and made my arrangements accordingly, I concealed myself with one of the watchmen connected with the establishment, in an angle of the wall, where I was free from observation, but able to spring out on a moment’s notice.“Wareham accompanied Brown from above, and assisted him to carry the bags. No one asked him any questions—it was supposed that he had been told off on the same duty. The room in which the opening to the tube was situated was unoccupied by any one except the workmen connected with the machinery requisite to put the valves in motion.“Browne and Wareham, thinking themselves alone, commenced the execution of their nefarious project. They hastily untied the neck of the small sacks, and plunging their hands in drew out as many letters as they could conceal about their persons.“They had taken the precaution to have pockets ingeniously sewn on inside their coats and waistcoats, so that the plunder might be more easily distributed about their bodies.“If they had crammed and stuffed the two ordinary pockets that every coat possessed, they would have bulged out, and most likely have betrayed them.“I allowed them to satisfy their rapacity, and waited patiently to see what they would do next.“The mouth of the pneumatic tube was very like the opening of the boiler of a furnace. The bottom part resembled a miniature railroad, and the idea was strengthened by the car or small waggon, which was driven along at an immense pace by atmospheric pressure.“The waggon was in readiness for the bags, and when the two thieves had robbed the appointed bag of as much of its precious contents as they thought they could safely carry away with them, Brown raised it up and placed it in the waggon.“I considered this a good opportunity to make my presence known and make a captive of Brown and his dangerous accomplice.“Stepping from my place of concealment I appeared unexpectedly before them. Brown uttered a terrified cry, and seemed petrified with fear and apprehension.“To be detected when success seemed most certain was very mortifying. He had made his arrangements to leave the country that very night. I could see by the aid of the gaslight that he was ghastly pale.“Wareham did not exhibit the symptoms of terror and consternation that characterised the bearing of his less hardened confederate, but he was a little thrown off his guard, nevertheless.“‘Well, governor, what do you want?’ he exclaimed in a voice he vainly endeavoured to render calm.“‘What are you going to do with all those letters?’ I asked.“‘Letters—what letters?’ he replied, with well-affected astonishment.“‘Those you have in your pockets.’“‘I don’t know what you mean.’“‘Don’t you, really? That’s a pity,’ I said, in a bantering tone. ‘Unfortunately I saw you put them away.’“‘And suppose you did; what then?’ he cried, boldly; ‘I suppose you want something to keep your mouth shut?’“The watchman had remained in his hiding-place up to the present time, but now turning half round I beckoned him to show himself.“He did so.“‘Take that man into custody,’ I cried, ‘for robbing the post-office.’“Brown was too much alarmed to make any resistance, and in half a minute the handcuffs were glittering on his wrists.“Wareham looked on at this with blank amazement; then when it was finished and his friend secure, he burst into a loud laugh and exclaimed—‘Sold, by Heavens!’“The watchman now came to my assistance, and we advanced to Wareham, who retired until he came to the mouth of the pneumatic tube.“I made sure of catching him, and was already congratulating myself upon having apprehended the prisoners without any bloodshed, when I was unpleasantly forced to remember that there was such a thing as a slip between the cup and the lip.“Just as our hands were upon him Wareham courageously gave a spring and entered the tube, taking a recumbent position upon the waggon by the side of the plundered mail-bag.“Seizing the handle he pulled the door to after him. This, I afterwards found, was the signal for the workmen to put the machinery in motion. The bird escaped from my hand just as I was about to seize it.“I do not think that Wareham imagined the waggon would be at once propelled through the tube; it is more probable that he wished to gain a temporary asylum; but a loud rumbling soon informed us that something was taking place inside.“Leaving John Brown in charge of the watchman I ran hastily upstairs and asked where the tube discharged its contents. I was told the correct spot. I went hastily into the street and got into the first cab I could see and drove to the place at the utmost speed of which the cab horse was capable.“On arriving there I proceeded to the post-office department, and found to my inexpressible chagrin that the waggon had duly arrived with its human freight ten minutes before.“The workmen were surprised to see a man travelling in charge of the bag; but Wareham, elated at his narrow escape, told them that he had done it out of curiosity, and they asked no farther questions.“As may be imagined, he took the earliest opportunity of leaving the office, and I was too late to apprehend him. That, however, did not annoy me very much; I had a satisfactory clue to Mr. Wareham, and by twelve o’clock the next day he was in custody.“Neither money nor letters were found upon him, so he must have been associated with some gang to whom he had handed over, for the better concealment thereof, the quantity of letters he had stolen.“He was afterwards induced to relate his sensations when in the tube.“‘The air,’ he said, ‘felt cold and refreshing, but the darkness was appalling. The waggon was about four feet long by two wide. He disposed his legs as well as he was able, so as to avoid contact with the sides of the tube or any foreign body he might encounter.’“‘He was surprised beyond measure when he found the waggon in motion, but being somewhat of a philosopher, he resigned himself to his fate. The speed at which he was driven along took his breath away, and he was not at all sorry when he arrived at his journey’s end.’“Brown and Wareham were arraigned at the State Sessions. I was the principal witness against them. Brown, at the last moment, finding that he had no chance of escape, having been takenin flagrante delicto, turned State evidence, so that his punishment was comparatively trivial to that of Wareham, who was for a term of years removed from that busy sphere in which he had so greatly distinguished himself, and of which he was so promising a member.“He was much missed by the school to which he belonged, and many of the thieving fraternity went into deep mourning for what was almost equivalent to the death of their versatile friend.”“I am sure, I hardly know how to express myself,” cried Peace, when the American detective had brought his narrative to a conclusion. “I don’t know when I have passed such an agreeable hour or two as I have with you two gentlemen, who have given me an insight into matters quite new to me.”“‘Oh, Shearman can tell you a heap of good stories, and can keep anyone amused for hours,” remarked Cartridge. “I’m not in the race with him.”“Oh, you are well matched,” returned Peace, forcing a smile, for by this time he had had more than enough of his two companions. “But I must now be off, as I have to meet the gentleman who goes partner with me in some of my inventions. He is a practical man, and is, therefore, able to carry out my ideas.”“I’ll tell you what I’d do,” said Shearman.“What?”“Wal, I would lay the matter before the Admiralty. If you can raise ships by the means you propoee—and I don’t see why you should not—why, it will be worth thousands to them.”“An excellent thought, sir. I’ll take your advice,” cried Peace, rising from his seat and putting on his hat.His two companions followed his example, and they all descended the stairs and passed out of the front door of the house.Peace hailed a cab; then, wishing the detectives a hearty farewell, jumped into the vehicle, which was driven off, at Peace’s request, in the direction of the Ludgate-circus.“Got rid of ’em at last!” cried our hero, as the cab rattled along. “Gad, but this has been a dose. No more police-courts for me. Why, they’d jaw a horse’s hind leg off—and think themselves so jolly clever, too. I’ve had enough of them—quite enough for the present, at all events.”When the cab reached Ludgate-circus Peace paid the fare, and walked over Blackfriars-bridge.He thought it just possible that his movements might be watched. Not that he imagined that either Mr. Cartridge or the Yankee suspected him—far from it; but he considered it to be just as well to be on the safe side, and break the continuity of his journey.He therefore just dropped into a coffee-shop in the London road and had his tea. He remained there for some little time, and then proceeded once more on his journey. He said nothing to the ladies of his establishment about his rencontre with the detectives, but put Bandy-legged Bill in the full possession of all the facts when that worthy called on the following day. His predatory excursions were continued for night after night, and up to the present time he had escaped detection. But we must leave him for awhile to take a glance at other characters in our story.
“The Post-office,” said Mr. Shearman, “is one of those institutions where scrupulous honesty is required, where very inadequate pay is given—a man is expected to slave like a mule or a camel for something under a pound a week, and to resist temptation.
“Some do it, others do not—they fall. Possibly these latter have wives and children, and cannot help thinking of them as a letter passes through their hands with a little coin inside. It is not a large sum, but it is more than half a week’s wages to them, and would enable them to do something for the ‘young ones.’
“The post-office, or more correctly the public, is robbed to a large extent annually, and it is impossible to put a stop to these depredations, for although the offenders are detected in some instances, and brought to justice, others escape and become hardened in crime.
“During the year of the last Great Exhibition these robberies became so frequent that it was found necessary to adopt some extraordinary means to check them. The utmost vigilance was exercised by the officials, but they found their efforts unavailing.
“The thefts continued, and the authorities were deluged with letters, stating that money, notes, cheques, and valuables of all descriptions had never come to hand. In the dilemma in which they found themselves placed they had recourse to the police, and Colonel Warner recommended the case to my notice. I undertook it; for it was a task of some difficulty which I found would occupy a week or so most agreeably.
“I was always happier in the harness than out of it. I do not mean to say that I despise reasonable relaxation, but I depreciated any great waste of time. I petitioned to be allowed to learn the business of a letter-sorter, which request was granted at once.
“A few days initiated me into this branch of the business, and I was then drafted into the room in which the latest operations were carried on. Large bags of letters were continually being shunted down shafts.
“When they reached the floor they were eagerly pounced upon and sorted for transmission to all parts of the kingdom. I carefully watched every man, which would seem a useless proceeding on my part, because a spy appointed for the express purpose is continually looking on. He is concealed from view, and gazes through a pane of glass at those who are at work in the room, and of course he detects frauds when they are very frequent.
“This man maintained, for his own credit sake, that the robberies were perpetrated at some other place and not in the General Post-office, but I did not agree with him. It required something more searching than the sleepy vision of a hired spy to detect the skilful thieves who were making a large income out of his carelessness and inefficient efforts.
“The quickness with which experienced men perform their duties is inconceivable to those who have not witnessed their exertions. I found it very difficult to keep my attention sufficiently fixed upon one in particular to be able to remark the peculiarity of his manner. The hands of all of them were here, there, and everywhere at once.
“I pretended to be absorbed in my occupation, although I was in reality remarking everything—one man especially attracted me. There was something so restless in his manner, that from the first time I set my eyes upon him I singled him out as the most likely fellow in the room to be a thief.
“I remarked that he every now and then raised his hand to his mouth. But so rapid were his motions that they resembled sleight-of-hand, and I could not discover what he was doing. This man looked as if he had known trouble, and was thoroughly acquainted with that painful process which is known as being in hot water.
“Perhaps he had been born with ideas above his station. There are people who move in a very humble sphere of life think they ought to have been born peers of the realm, and nothing but monarchical greatness will content others, though the majority of aspirants draw the line at nobility.
“Luxurious notions may have entered this man’s head. He may have had a fancy for asparagus, or new potatoes, or lamb and duck and green peas, and his own beggarly salary not ‘running to it,’ as the phrase goes, he may have thought it no great sin to help himself when the occasion presented itself in a favourable manner. He was not of full habit of body.
“There was something hollow and unsubstantial about him, although he was not much more than thirty years old, if you could judge from his outward appearance, which was not prepossessing.
“I determined, when work was over, to follow this man to his lair and see what he was like at home. The domestic hearth is something like wine. It shows men in their true character. The public-house is not a bad interpreter, but the hearth is the best of all. Work was over at six. At that time the night men came on.
“I afterwards ascertained that the man’s name was John Brown. He walked with a quick step along the street, looking behind him occasionally without seeing anything to arouse his suspicion, and entered a public-house, which was situated about half-way up a small court, whose obscurity must have prevented it from being generally known.
“Standing at the bar was a young man of gentlemanly but dissipated appearance, well dressed, and wearing some jewellery which, if real, must have been expensive. When he perceived Brown, he exclaimed—
“‘Johannes, my man, otherwise John, I am glad to see you.’
“Brown responded by a nod and a grunt.
“I followed, unnoticed by either party, and placed myself in a convenient position for eavesdropping.
“Brown sat down by the side of his acquaintance, said—
“‘Rather later than usual to-day, Mr. Wareham. The bags were rather heavy.’
“‘Never mind that. Have you worked the oracle properly?’ replied Wareham.
“‘About the same as usual, I think; my pockets are pretty well lined.’
“‘Turn them out; there is no one here to notice us.’
“‘I shouldn’t mind something to drink first,’ growled John Brown.
“‘You shall have it, my pippin. What tap’s most to your liking?’ replied Mr. Wareham.
“Brown expressed an opinion strongly in favour of beer such as is brewed by Bass on the banks of Trent, which was promptly brought him by an obsequious waiter. After quenching his thirst, he said—
“‘Now, sir, I feel better.’
“Putting his hand in his coat pocket, he produced several pieces of money, together with little scraps of paper. He had, I imagined, first of all felt the letters that passed through his hands, and if he detected the presence of gold, he raised the envelope to his mouth and bit off the corner in which the coin had fallen, afterwards placing it in his pocket. He appeared to have about twelve pounds to show as the result of his day’s work.
“Mr. Wareham examined the spoil, counted it, and having divided it equally, gave Brown one-half as his share of the plunder. Brown uttered an exclamation of discontent.
“‘What are you growling at?’ exclaimed Wareham.
“‘I ought to have the whole of it. I run the risk.’
“‘So you do. But you are obliged to bring all you get to me, because I know your secret. I need not give you anything if I did not like. You ought to be grateful for the generosity with which I treat you; upon my word, Brown, you are a fortunate fellow.’
“‘More of a fool than that,’ grumbled Brown, who seemed inclined to retaliate, and kick over the traces.
“‘I can’t agree with you, then.’
“‘It don’t much matter whether you do or not. I am pretty well sick and tired of this little game. I have a good mind to leave this land and go to Texas or Mexico.’
“‘At the expense of the Government,’ sneered Wareham.
“‘If I went, you’d go with me,’ said John Brown, fiercely.
“‘Think so? Well, you have a right to form your own opinion.’
“‘I, however, don’t suppose that such a thing is even remotely possible. I am very well satisfied with my native country; I have found you, and you are a source of profit and of income to me. You are what I may call a pearl of great price. I am unwilling to relinquish you. If I did so, I should be like the man who killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. My dear Johannes, you are necessary to my existence.’
“‘You always think of yourself.’
“‘Of course; egotism is the primary duty if not the whole duty of man.’
“‘I don’t know anything about that, but I’m tired of the way we’re going on. I would rather be in a prison than lead this sort of life.’
“‘Have you ever been in a prison?’ exclaimed Wareham, with a searching glance.
“‘No, but the time may come for all that. I’m going the right road to be shut up in gaol,’ returned Brown, savagely.
“‘As we are friends,’ said Wareham, ‘I don’t mind telling you that I have.’
“‘You!’ said Brown.
“‘For a year and a half I enjoyed that pleasure.’
“‘I wish you were there now.’
“‘Very possibly, my friend, but I really cannot join you in your amiable desire. I am unable to say in the spirit of the hymn, “I have been there and still would go,” for it is anything but a little heaven below.’
“‘So you had your hand in before you met me?’ said Brown, with a malicious grin.
“‘Certainly I had; a man must live, and I can declare that I was never any burden to my respectable parents. From my earliest infancy I had a talent for appropriating the property of other people, and I have lived upon my wits ever since I first knew I had any.’
“‘What got you into trouble?’
“‘An inordinate passion for riding. I always envied people I saw on horseback, and one day as I was loitering about the best part of the town, a gentleman asked me to hold his horse for him, while he entered the house of a friend. I looked upon the request as an insult, and while I held the bridle I ruminated as to the best method of revenge upon the aristocrat who had laid himself open to my resentment. It occurred to me that the best way to punish him would be to rob him of his horse. So seizing an advantageous opportunity, I sprang lightly upon the animal’s back.
“‘I did not know how to ride. The horse found at once that he had a light weight upon him, and he soon discovered, with equine instinct, that I had never been on a horse before. Setting back his ears, the beast bent his legs under him and set off at a quick pace. John Gilpin going to Edmonton must have felt very much as I did.
“‘The horse galloped recklessly and furiously from street to street, and at last landed me in the paternal arms of a blue-coated policeman, who looked after me with the care of a father.
“I was committed for trial, and engaged Mr. Earwig, the celebrated criminal counsel, who did his best for me, and moved the court to tears as he recounted the sad position of this well-connected young man (my father was at the time in Sing Sing gaol for debt, and my mother in the penitentiary owing to a little matter of manslaughter), whose parents were highly respectable.
“‘The misguided youth had given way to a sudden impulse of temptation which led him into the commission of a sin, the enormity of which was regretted by none so much as himself.
“‘At this juncture of the learned barrister’s speech the prosecutor got up, and said he hoped the court would deal leniently with the prisoner.
“‘He was willing to make all the reparation which lay in his power.
“‘The horse had subsequently run up against an omnibus, broken his neck, and damaged sundry pedestrians in his dying struggles, so it may be imagined that I was not able to make much reparation.
“‘The unhappy boy (sobs audible in various parts of the court) narrowly escaped with his life. When he, in an unguarded moment, leaped into the saddle he had no idea that the horse would go on.
“He had never been in a similar position before, and was so ignorant of the first principles of horsemanship that a donkey might lead him to destruction.
“No felonious design lurked in my client’s head. Steal the horse! Why, gentlemen of the jury (this with a persuasive simper), you might just as well, and with equal propriety, accuse me—me, Mr. Earwig—of wishing to run away with the box in which you are at this moment sitting. (A murmur of incredulity arose from the body of the court, which was instantly suppressed by the energetic efforts of the usher.)
“‘No, no, gentlemen, the poor young man whose prospects in life are already partially ruined, owing to his having been placed in the ignominious position in which he is by the precipitancy of the sitting magistrate who committed him for trial; whose character has been aspersed, and whose prospects have been blighted through a strange perversion of the truth, and a misconception of actual facts, never—I say it emphatically, never—contemplated an offence against the common law of the land.’ (Applause, and “hear, hear,” from a juryman.)
“‘Acquit him, gentlemen. You are not the slaves of prejudice. Do your duty as is meet and proper for men of standing and position. Why should you wreak an imaginary vengeance upon an innocent man, for innocent he is, in spite of the allegations that have been made to the contrary? Let him go his ways, gentlemen of the jury, and none of you will sleep the worse for it.’
“Mr. Earwig sat down in a state of moisture, arising from perspiration and exertion, but his arguments were not so availing with the jury as I would have wished them to be; they found me guilty, and I made the acquaintance with the interior of the State Prison. Profit by my experience, my dear Johannes. If you are of an ascetic turn of mind, and wish to mortify the flesh, by all means step within the pale of the criminal law, and get brought up before the district judge. You will not forget your interview with that terrible functionary in a hurry. I have seen him once, and I do not want to renew my acquaintance with him. Since that delightful period of my existence I have played the part of the monkey who made use of a cat’s-paw to pull the chesnuts out of the fire for him. You, my accommodating Johannes, are my cat’s-paw. The coins which you bring me from the G.P.O are the chesnuts. My heart overflows with gratitude to you. I regard you as my benefactor, and I wish I could promote you in some way. The days in which Jack Sheppards and Dick Turpins flourished have gone by, but you might be a Redpath or a Dean Paul; I think you have talent enough for a Redpath, and I don’t think you would make a bad Roupell.’
“‘When you have ended your nonsense I shall be glad if you will tell me,’ exclaimed Brown, who had been fretting and fuming during this lengthy speech.
“‘My good, my excellent Johannes,’ replied Mr. Wareham, suavely, ‘I have scarcely commenced.’
“‘What I want to know is, how much longer this game is to last?’
“‘I can tell you,” said Wareham. ‘If you can manage to nail a certainty—by that I mean something worth having—we will divide the swag, and you can go to Mexico when you like. I shall not endeavour to stop you. Can’t you rob the California mail? Get yourself put on night duty; do something. If you go on like this, you will get bowled out at last, and we shall have to throw the sponge up.’
No.65.
Illustration: PEACE PARTING WITH THE DETECTIVES.PEACE PARTING WITH THE DETECTIVES.
PEACE PARTING WITH THE DETECTIVES.
“‘I’ll try,’ replied John Brown, moodily.
“‘Think it over, Johannes, and do your best.’
“‘I wish I had never given way to your temptation,’ muttered Brown, in a low voice, but Wareham did not overhear the remark.
“‘I must tear myself away from your fascinating society, Johannes,’ continued Wareham; ‘I have an appointment with a fly flat (i.e.a clever fool), and he has some superfluous cash which I covet. See if you cannot do something worth talking about. I shall meet you to-morrow at the usual time.’
“Wareham lighted a cigar, and nodding to his accomplice, strutted leisurely out of the place.
“Brown allowed his face to sink upon his hands, and I heard him say, ‘Curse him! may God in Heaven curse him!’
“He remained sunk in a lethargic despair for more than an hour, then he raised himself and left the tavern. I returned home to ponder. It was necessary to put a stop to the nefarious practices that Brown carried on with such skilfulness, and I considered how I should best take action in the matter.”
“Which of course you did,” observed Mr. Cartridge.
“Wal, I guess so, I never was one to let the grass grow under my feet.”
“Ah,” thought Peace, “when will he have done. I am on tenter-hooks.” Then aloud he said, “I am greatly interested in your narrative—pray proceed, sir.”
“All right,” returned the American, “I’ll jest git this darned weed to draw and be hanged to it. The Britishers always roll their cigars up too tight. It’s a way they’ve got, I suppose.”
“Take another,” said Peace.
“No, he’s all right now, thank you.” Mr. Shearman then proceeded.
“I had not the remotest conception how Mr. Wareham became acquainted with John Brown’s secret, but one thing I was sure of, and that was that the aforesaid gentleman was a consummate scoundrel.
“In order to understand his character better, and to see with whom I was contesting, I applied to an intelligent officer who was acquainted with almost all the thieves, vagabonds, and rogues in the city.
“The reply I received confirmed my suspicions. Wareham was well known to the police under a dozen of aliases. He had been convicted, and I resolved that he should be so again if there was any virtue in an indictment for conspiracy to defraud.
“I watched the two men carefully for some days, and at last I gained some information upon which I determined to act. They had planned an elaborate robbery between them, and Mr. Wareham’s habitual prudence was so far overruled that he consented to take an active part in it.
“Those letters which were registered on account of their containing valuables were also placed in a bag by themselves. Of course there were different bags for different places, but the Cincinnati bag was always a bulky one; they determined to appropriate the contents of that one.
“It was Brown’s duty to take certain bags to the lower regions of the Post-office for transmission through the tubes of the Pneumatic Company, which had just been laid down.
“Having overheard all their plans, and made my arrangements accordingly, I concealed myself with one of the watchmen connected with the establishment, in an angle of the wall, where I was free from observation, but able to spring out on a moment’s notice.
“Wareham accompanied Brown from above, and assisted him to carry the bags. No one asked him any questions—it was supposed that he had been told off on the same duty. The room in which the opening to the tube was situated was unoccupied by any one except the workmen connected with the machinery requisite to put the valves in motion.
“Browne and Wareham, thinking themselves alone, commenced the execution of their nefarious project. They hastily untied the neck of the small sacks, and plunging their hands in drew out as many letters as they could conceal about their persons.
“They had taken the precaution to have pockets ingeniously sewn on inside their coats and waistcoats, so that the plunder might be more easily distributed about their bodies.
“If they had crammed and stuffed the two ordinary pockets that every coat possessed, they would have bulged out, and most likely have betrayed them.
“I allowed them to satisfy their rapacity, and waited patiently to see what they would do next.
“The mouth of the pneumatic tube was very like the opening of the boiler of a furnace. The bottom part resembled a miniature railroad, and the idea was strengthened by the car or small waggon, which was driven along at an immense pace by atmospheric pressure.
“The waggon was in readiness for the bags, and when the two thieves had robbed the appointed bag of as much of its precious contents as they thought they could safely carry away with them, Brown raised it up and placed it in the waggon.
“I considered this a good opportunity to make my presence known and make a captive of Brown and his dangerous accomplice.
“Stepping from my place of concealment I appeared unexpectedly before them. Brown uttered a terrified cry, and seemed petrified with fear and apprehension.
“To be detected when success seemed most certain was very mortifying. He had made his arrangements to leave the country that very night. I could see by the aid of the gaslight that he was ghastly pale.
“Wareham did not exhibit the symptoms of terror and consternation that characterised the bearing of his less hardened confederate, but he was a little thrown off his guard, nevertheless.
“‘Well, governor, what do you want?’ he exclaimed in a voice he vainly endeavoured to render calm.
“‘What are you going to do with all those letters?’ I asked.
“‘Letters—what letters?’ he replied, with well-affected astonishment.
“‘Those you have in your pockets.’
“‘I don’t know what you mean.’
“‘Don’t you, really? That’s a pity,’ I said, in a bantering tone. ‘Unfortunately I saw you put them away.’
“‘And suppose you did; what then?’ he cried, boldly; ‘I suppose you want something to keep your mouth shut?’
“The watchman had remained in his hiding-place up to the present time, but now turning half round I beckoned him to show himself.
“He did so.
“‘Take that man into custody,’ I cried, ‘for robbing the post-office.’
“Brown was too much alarmed to make any resistance, and in half a minute the handcuffs were glittering on his wrists.
“Wareham looked on at this with blank amazement; then when it was finished and his friend secure, he burst into a loud laugh and exclaimed—‘Sold, by Heavens!’
“The watchman now came to my assistance, and we advanced to Wareham, who retired until he came to the mouth of the pneumatic tube.
“I made sure of catching him, and was already congratulating myself upon having apprehended the prisoners without any bloodshed, when I was unpleasantly forced to remember that there was such a thing as a slip between the cup and the lip.
“Just as our hands were upon him Wareham courageously gave a spring and entered the tube, taking a recumbent position upon the waggon by the side of the plundered mail-bag.
“Seizing the handle he pulled the door to after him. This, I afterwards found, was the signal for the workmen to put the machinery in motion. The bird escaped from my hand just as I was about to seize it.
“I do not think that Wareham imagined the waggon would be at once propelled through the tube; it is more probable that he wished to gain a temporary asylum; but a loud rumbling soon informed us that something was taking place inside.
“Leaving John Brown in charge of the watchman I ran hastily upstairs and asked where the tube discharged its contents. I was told the correct spot. I went hastily into the street and got into the first cab I could see and drove to the place at the utmost speed of which the cab horse was capable.
“On arriving there I proceeded to the post-office department, and found to my inexpressible chagrin that the waggon had duly arrived with its human freight ten minutes before.
“The workmen were surprised to see a man travelling in charge of the bag; but Wareham, elated at his narrow escape, told them that he had done it out of curiosity, and they asked no farther questions.
“As may be imagined, he took the earliest opportunity of leaving the office, and I was too late to apprehend him. That, however, did not annoy me very much; I had a satisfactory clue to Mr. Wareham, and by twelve o’clock the next day he was in custody.
“Neither money nor letters were found upon him, so he must have been associated with some gang to whom he had handed over, for the better concealment thereof, the quantity of letters he had stolen.
“He was afterwards induced to relate his sensations when in the tube.
“‘The air,’ he said, ‘felt cold and refreshing, but the darkness was appalling. The waggon was about four feet long by two wide. He disposed his legs as well as he was able, so as to avoid contact with the sides of the tube or any foreign body he might encounter.’
“‘He was surprised beyond measure when he found the waggon in motion, but being somewhat of a philosopher, he resigned himself to his fate. The speed at which he was driven along took his breath away, and he was not at all sorry when he arrived at his journey’s end.’
“Brown and Wareham were arraigned at the State Sessions. I was the principal witness against them. Brown, at the last moment, finding that he had no chance of escape, having been takenin flagrante delicto, turned State evidence, so that his punishment was comparatively trivial to that of Wareham, who was for a term of years removed from that busy sphere in which he had so greatly distinguished himself, and of which he was so promising a member.
“He was much missed by the school to which he belonged, and many of the thieving fraternity went into deep mourning for what was almost equivalent to the death of their versatile friend.”
“I am sure, I hardly know how to express myself,” cried Peace, when the American detective had brought his narrative to a conclusion. “I don’t know when I have passed such an agreeable hour or two as I have with you two gentlemen, who have given me an insight into matters quite new to me.”
“‘Oh, Shearman can tell you a heap of good stories, and can keep anyone amused for hours,” remarked Cartridge. “I’m not in the race with him.”
“Oh, you are well matched,” returned Peace, forcing a smile, for by this time he had had more than enough of his two companions. “But I must now be off, as I have to meet the gentleman who goes partner with me in some of my inventions. He is a practical man, and is, therefore, able to carry out my ideas.”
“I’ll tell you what I’d do,” said Shearman.
“What?”
“Wal, I would lay the matter before the Admiralty. If you can raise ships by the means you propoee—and I don’t see why you should not—why, it will be worth thousands to them.”
“An excellent thought, sir. I’ll take your advice,” cried Peace, rising from his seat and putting on his hat.
His two companions followed his example, and they all descended the stairs and passed out of the front door of the house.
Peace hailed a cab; then, wishing the detectives a hearty farewell, jumped into the vehicle, which was driven off, at Peace’s request, in the direction of the Ludgate-circus.
“Got rid of ’em at last!” cried our hero, as the cab rattled along. “Gad, but this has been a dose. No more police-courts for me. Why, they’d jaw a horse’s hind leg off—and think themselves so jolly clever, too. I’ve had enough of them—quite enough for the present, at all events.”
When the cab reached Ludgate-circus Peace paid the fare, and walked over Blackfriars-bridge.
He thought it just possible that his movements might be watched. Not that he imagined that either Mr. Cartridge or the Yankee suspected him—far from it; but he considered it to be just as well to be on the safe side, and break the continuity of his journey.
He therefore just dropped into a coffee-shop in the London road and had his tea. He remained there for some little time, and then proceeded once more on his journey. He said nothing to the ladies of his establishment about his rencontre with the detectives, but put Bandy-legged Bill in the full possession of all the facts when that worthy called on the following day. His predatory excursions were continued for night after night, and up to the present time he had escaped detection. But we must leave him for awhile to take a glance at other characters in our story.