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Recollections of a London…

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Recollections of a London Detective. BY DETECTIVE-SERGEANT WM. HOLBORN. "The Free Forester's Victim. Crime, I have often thought, is like that terrible species of leprosy known in Eastern countries— there is an infectious taint about it which often spreads to the innocent and pure, bringing disaster and suffering where they seein least deserved. <Jtn.my Ponds, whose end through the nimble knife of his companion I have just noticed, was one of those tainters, and it was a case of that kind which first brought him under my notice. He was always, a smart-looking fellow, with a great deal of clever patter, acd nothing tell-tale a-bout his face, but a certain twinkle of his dark eyes, which, to the skilled face-reader, proclaimed iim to be as heartless as the rotten fruit he some- times sold. I think there must have been gipsy blood in Jemmy, for in all his career there was a. trace of the restlessness, impatience of restraint. and cool callousness which are characteristic of that race. Jemmy, as I have indicated, was apparently a coster, and had often a cart and donkey to help him but at the time of which I now write he had developed into a florist, who during the bostpartof the day paraded the streets, pushing before him a. broad hand cart covered with geraniums, violets, daisies, lilies, and even roses, all in pots, and apparently in the healthiest condition, while he, with an apron of green cloth before him and a rose in his button-hole, tried his best to look innocent and rural, and shouted—" All a blowm' and a growin', as cleverly as if he had been all his life in the trade. Jemmy sometimes had cut .flowers, not very artistically arranged, and penny roots, which in size quite shamed the ordinary ones of the proper dealers, and all that he carried he sold at astonishingly low prices, so his stock did not hang long on his hands. When a cus- tomer got once within roach of Jemmy's smart and insinuating tongue, she was as good as booked for a sale, for by way cf accounting for the extra- ordinary cheapness of the flowers Jemmy always declared confidently, and under his breath, that it was the pretty face and eyes of the intenrl- iiig buyers that had quite upset him and reads him ao idiotic that he was almost giving aw. y his wares just for the pleasure of seeing-the girl pleased' and smiling. There seemed some truth; in the statement, for the prices he asked were ruinously low, so in most cases the servant girls or their mistresses, or the careful wives, or mothers, all of whom he affected to take for young misses not out of their teens, were agreeably deceived. It was scarcely necessary to add that neither Jemmy's wife or any of his small family ever accompanied him on these occasions, and that he thus passed for a single man, sighing for the peace: and happiness of wedded life. The flowers sold by Jemmy did not always flourish as well as lie predicted-for if they had a good top he did not trouble himself so much about a root—so he was compelled to change his beat very frequently. In making one of these changes he chanced to make the acquaint- ance of a servant girl named Polly Hicks, in the employment of a wool merchant named Crouch, whose house was at Hoxton. Polly was a Lancashire lass, and so fresh and pretty that, had-she been dressed up like a lady, she would have at cnco attracted attention as a great beauty. She was a tall, finely formed girl, with rosy cheeks, eyes of a greyish blue, and hair rather fair. There w.Jre two servants in the house, Polly bfinf the principal one, and the other a kind of nursemaid and help, named Jemima Pricc. Polly was a simple-minded, sterling servant, and a dutiful daughter to her parents away in the north and she had been in the service of Mrs Crouch almost sines that lady's marriage, so unbounded trust was placed in her honesty. Polly's first purchase from Jemmy was a pot of pansies, which she bought for her bedroom window, just to remind her of the green lanes and smiling cottage, and little garden plots of her own dear Lancashire;" and that she got so cheaply that she was easily persuaded to buy enough to fill the whole wmdow-siil. Polly had been a good many years in London, but then hers had been such a busy, retired life that she knew nothing of London wicked- ness and queer ways. Jemmy's extravagant pa.tter seemed charming to her. I am atraHi Pollie knew she was almost a beauty, and won- dered not a little that so few had troubled to tell her of the fact, and Jemmy's flattery, therefore, came in as a kind of balm to her feelings. She got to love the wretch with all the strength of her simple, trustful nature. Jemmy came to see her oil Sundays, and on night when he was not engaged, and so it was quite settled that, if he saved enough money during that summer, they should be married and start housekeeping before Christmas. In order to gain money in any quantity, however, as Jemmy pointed out to her, it is necessary to possess some capita'. Several splendid chances were open to his em^rprise if had only the necessary money. Poily had s ived about £ 2(J, and. as her lover's wants were puo befor her, all that was drawn from the savings bank and freely placed at his disposal. Jemmy's specula- tions were unfortunate, and the money, therefore, Was swallowed up, and still his cry was for more. He even hinted that perhaps it would be better for them to part, and that he should go away to some foreign country and there try to build up a home for his trusting lass, a proposal which Polly would not listen to for a moment. No living being is more plastic than a woman in love. Religion, principle, honesty, and almo t every virtue may ba plucked from her heart if that glamour be first thrown over her eyes, In the month of October Mrs Crouch awoke to a dis- agreeable conviction that she was being robbed. Site had been slow to accept the behef, and the shock was the greater when the fact becrme certain. She went over her possessions carefully without a word to anyone, and found that she Was at least £ 50 poorer than she should have been. There were missing sheets, table cloths, sets cf spoons and cutlery, money, trinkets, and no end of small trifles, of no great value in themselves, but prized on account of being presents from friends. The list filled a whole sheet of note- paper, and when it was completed the lady showed it to her husband without a hint to the servants cf the discovery she had made. His advice was prompt and decisive. "Hand that list to the police, and have the tirls questioned. If they are innocent they have nothing to fear, and, if they are guilty, they deserve to suffer." The result was a message which ended In me being sent to the house with a warrant. I did not it that time know anything about Jemmy Pond. unci Mrs Crouch had been as ignorant, for not a Word or hint as to his existence or visits to the house fell from her lips, or was embodied in her complaint. It had been arranged that I should reach the house at about four o'clock in the afternoon, so that Mr Crouch should be present at the question- ing. It was, therefore, about that time when I l'ang the bell, and the door was opened to me by Polly, whom I then saw for the first time. No one admires a pretty girl more heartily than I do, and tho fine, fresh face and sparkling eyes so took ine aback that, instead of asking for her mistress, I said, laughingly,— Now, where did you steal that pretty face ?" Polly flushed a deeper crimson, but looked pleased and delighted at the sudden compliment, and I chatted away with her in great good humour till I was shown into the parlour. As soon as I had introduced myself Mr Crouch rang the bell for the two servants, and seated himself at a table to take down their answers in writing. He was a sharp business man, and onfe I saw who would not be easily deceived. The girls came In after a delay of some minutes, Polly having been sent back for her fellow-servant. Polly, of course, looked as pretty^nd smart, and clean as before, but the nurse gifl, Jemima Price, was a perfect contrast to the Lancashire lass. She was a shock-headed, idiotic-looking girl of seventeen or so, with a sullen look, and very dirty and untidy. Mrs Crouch opened the investigation, and broke the awkward silence by saying to the girls- "Yon have been brought up here to see if you can explain how so many things have gone amissing. I don't say that either of you would steal anything, but the matter has become so serious that I had no other course but to call in the police." Both girls started back with a kind of gasp at the last word, and looked at me. I returned the look, and noticed a queer difference in the effect of the speech on the two faces. Both showed a terrible and sudden agitation, but Polly's face, from tho fresh rosy tinge of pure health, faded abruptly to a waxy white. Jennma's, on the other hand, from a dirty yellow hue, became as suddenly a furious red. Her eyes, too, which at first had been used boldly in glancing from face to faco, fell guiltily, and were scarcely raised again even when a question was dirpctly put to her by her master or myself. "I shall rvad you a list of the things which I know have been taken; as they are certainly not to be found in the house, aud then you can make any statement you please regarding their disap- pearance," said Mrs Crouch, as the girls turned and stared at each other in open-mouthed con. sternation. The list was read, just as it bad been handed in to us, but when the reading was over neither of the girls had a word to say. They both looked stupefied, and ready to sink to the floor with shame or agitation. I suppose neither of you have any objection to your box being searched ?" observed Mr Crouch. Polly's answer was to faintly fumble in her pocket for a key, which she produced, and offered Arith a shaking hand to her master. There's nothing in my box but my own Itinas." she managed to say with a street effort. n The other girl said nothing, but became, if pos- sible, a deeper crimson as our eyes were turned upon her. Jemima have you nothing to say said her mistress in a tone that made the girl'almosfc jump. Where is the key ot your box ?" Jemima began to cry,and said she did not know where the key had got to she though she must have lost it when she was out that day with the children She was certain she could not get it, and as sure that there was nothing in the box which was not her own property. I have a warrant," I simply observed, "and if the key is lost we can easi ly break open the lid or have in a blacksmith to pick the lock." Jemima. did not relish the proposal at all. She cried more convulsively than before, and she slobbered her face with dirt and tears, and so accompanied us to the attic in which they slept and kept their trunks. Polly's was gone over first, and I was delighted when the task was over to hear her mistress say with a pleasant smile- "There is nothing here that belongs to me. I was pretty sure of your honesty, Polly." Polly stammered out something in reply which was quite lost to us. She was still of the blanched, waxy colour, and evidently labouring under great excitement, but she looked even more beautiful thus, I thought, than when I had seen her first. I was pleased that she was safe, but a little surprised that she herself showed so few signs of relief. She seemed to b,e incapable of even a smiJe. Jemima now became grovelling in her entreaties for mercy. Slie dropped on tier Knees beside her box, ana moaned and sobbed, and gripped it in her arms, and defied us to touch it or its contents. At length Mrs Crouch said sternly— I believe you are the thief, Jemina. and that some of the things are in the box—some of them only, for it is not big enough to hold the half of what I know is gone." I didn't mpan to do no harm, missis indeed I didn't 1" Jemima at last sobbed out. I took one or two little things, but I thought they was of no use to you." Give me the key," I said, stepping forward with a look cf assumed ferocity, for in reality her tangled hair and beslobbered face made me feci strongly inclined to laugh. The word or the look awed her, and she humbly produced the key. The moment it was inserted -in the lock and turned the lid of the box bounced ooen. It was so stuffed with things that tho marvel was how she got it shut. It was quite a 1 -mail trunk, and Jemima's own things might have been packed in a decent-sized hat-box. The rest of the contents were little but rubb;sh —old stockings full of holes and darns, old slip- pers boots, torn table-cloths, children's petticoats I. faded anti-maccassavs, toys, brass brooches, headless dolls, and every conceiveable kind of refuse The things undoubtedly were stolen from Mrs Crouch, but the total value of the heap could not possibly have amounted to 20s, while Mrs Crouch had already .very clearly proved that the value of the things she missed was not short of £ When all were turned out, and claimed and as- sorted, therefore, the lady simply turned to the sobbing and bemoaning girl, and said— "If you had asked me for these things you would have got them, for they are of little or no use to us. But where are all the valuable things ? Where are my six pairs of fine linen sheets which have never been used? Where are my table-cloths, and silver plated spoons, and cutlery ? Where are my two brooches, and my lace set, and my two bracelets Jemima protested with much grovelling that she knew nothingof these things; she had not tak°n them. and did not know where they were. "Then who has them?" impatiently ex. claimed her mistress at last. Did you give them to anyone ? No. Jomima was an orphan, and knew nobody to give them to she wouldn't have taken even the things she had only she was going to another situation, and was tempted. She could not ex- plain why she should take so many children's things; she was not going to be married and had no sweetheart 'just she was tempted and took them. She admitted, however, that she had sold some of the things to an Irish hawker of dishes who came occasionally to the door, and spent the money so acquired on sweets; but things were cf the same class as those befere us. She did not know whe-ie the woman was to be found, as she had not been at the door for a long timp. All this was so unsatisfactory and improbable that Mr Crouch, steeling himself against all he.. j.ntreaties, ordered me to take Jemima away. The stolen things had to go with her, of course, and even after her own clothes were out cf the box we could scarcely get the lid to shut on them. I got a cab to take us to the station, more for the box than Jemima, who, however, was glad of the shelter, and cried bitterly all the way. I spoke to her more gently than her master had done, but she persisted in her statement that she knew nothing of the more valuable things in the list. She was tremulously eager to know what her sentence was likely to be, what the prison was like inside, and if her legs would be fastened to the floor with h >avy chains, as she had seen in pictures. Notwithstanding her stupidity and dull brain, there was a simplicity about her which I liked' and I became convinced that the cause of her fall had been .some insinuating hawker who had promised her no end < f pocket money ior "any useless things "about the house which her mistress had no more need for. Jemima was committed for a week, and if nothing had transpired in that time she might have got off with the week's imprisonment, and without having any sentence recorded against her. That I know was the in- tention of the magistrate, who waskoonly alive to the siuaMon, and anxious to check her at the beginning. But she was not two days in our hands when several of the articles about which she had declared that sho knew nothing were found pawned in various places, under different names. The date of some of the pawnings ex- tended back at least three months, and though nothing like the quarter of the plunder was thus recovered, enough was discovered to show that the robberies had been deliberate and systematic. I didn't take them I didn't take them, sir 1" Jemima cried, in tearful appeal to the magistrate, wringing her 1J;luds at th" bar, when this evidence was brought before her at her next appearance in Court. Oil, what shall I do?" I waS standing close by, and as the magistrate bent down to consider the case, I whispered to hor-- "Plead guilty to taking the things found in your box." "I plead guilty, sir, to taking tne things they found in my box, but not the other things—not the things found in the pawnshop. I never was in a pawllshopm- I pinched her arm to stop the now of protests, as I saw the magistrate did not like It, and she was likely to damage her own ca.se. There was a dead silence in court for a full minute, broken only by her sobs, and then, without indicating whether the p!ea bad been in time, or accepted, the magistrate s:ud quietly It is a very bad case. I shall give you a month's imprisonment." While Jemima was thus sent to prison, Polly had been lying ill at her mistress's hou-e fornearly a"veek. Mrs Crouch took upon herself all the blame of that illness, and nursed her tenderly through it but as soon as Polly was able to TIM she vanished from the house, taking her box with her and neither assigning a reason nor asking for the'wao-es due to her. Mrs Crouch deplored the lo«s of such a good servant, and attributed th6 fiight solely to the indignant shame at having been innocently accused of theft. Not a week later a note came to the station-house addressed to me, in which I was informed that the only one who had benefited by the rob- beries was a gardener or florist named Jemmy Ponds. The address of Jemmy was given, with such a minute (ascription of his person, that I could have picked him out of a dozen men at first si^ht. But, though this charge was made by the nameless writer, no evidence was advanced to mniDort tho assertion. The writing was a round schoolboy hand, very legible and correctly spelled, and I was thus uncertain whether the writer was a man or a woman. I found Jemmy without difficulty, when he immediately posed as a virtuous hero, and prcfessed the greatest indignation at being taken, I had him looked at by all tho pawnbrokers'men, but none of them could identify Jemmy as having deposited the stolen articles with them, and in a day or two he was set at liberty. Several odd looks and expres- sions of his, however, convinced mo that he had been in the affair, and, as the letter declared him to be a villain and a monster for whom hanging would be too good, I thought it could do no harm to look after him a little, especially as his home chanced to be in my division. I could find thing against him except the expression let fall bv one of his acquantances, who, in reply-to j question of mine, winked knowingly, and uttered the words— "Free Forester.' I was quite ready to believe the insinuation, but more anxious to prove it, and I took to watching jemmy by night. The donkey and cart were against me, as it was quite nnposslole for me to keep up with them on foot, and to follow in a cab would have awakened his suspicions at once. After due consideration, and learning that Tprmrv eenerally did use the donkey on his expe- dSJ f provided for the difficulty by dreriag UD as a coster, and changing the cut of my face— a trick I am rather good at. Instead of watching Temmv's house, I took to watching the stable- vard readv for the start, nnd one night about twelve o'clock saw hmi get out his machine. I had mine ready harnessed at the end of the alley. Temmy went off at an easy pace, taking no notice- of the donkey-cart driven by me jogging along in his wake. When we had got to the more rural streets where gardens and greenhouses were more common, Jemmy at length drew rein, and eyed tne curiously. He was in a very nice spot for his particular calling, and I suppose did not wish to g°" HaK' covey. Wot you up to ?' he said, with a grin and a wink. Blest if I don't believe we're after the same game." "You mmd yer own business and let me mind mine." I said in a deep voice, and the most un- sociable torn. I could assume and I drove briskly nast till I turned the corner of the street. Jemmy whistled out contemptnously, and stared after me till I was out of sight; then he descended, and led his donkev into a piece of waste ground took a sack from the cart, and made his way into a garden by the back-door, which he opened with a skeleton key. As soon as he had his sack nearly filled with flowers, I went in and gripped him. He was a little fellow, as I have said, and I could h-ve squeezed the life out of him with one grip, h!it he was determined to make a great fuss, and ahrnesled, and threw down the pots and smashed all the glas-i of the greenhouse m a way that brouffht out the alarmed inhabitants of the house. Then thev, finding only two disreputable-looking costers fighting in the place, seized us both, and I cot a good share of the kicks which should have fallen on Jemmy alone. I gave my name and occupation, but was only laughed at. They marched us to the station-house together, and even there I should have been locked up, but for the fact that the sergeant on duty happened to be an old mate, .and lawghipgty £ bJiSJSCPK' niaedma-* "0, it's you. Bill. What have they been doing to you now 1" Then the gent whose place bad been broken into turned round in alarm and said— Oh, what have I done ? Is he really a detec- tive, as he said ?" I laughed the matter over, and he afterwards sent me a. lovely meerschaum pipe, to soothe my injured feelings, I suppose. When Jemmy was made aware that the surly coster who had captured him was simply Bill: Holborn, who had taken him a week before on suspicion, he nearly swore his eyes out. He was fully committed, and got two years imprison- ment. Some years later Mrs Crouch got a. letter dated from a town in the North of England, of which the following is almost a transcript:— Some years ago robberies were committed in your house by one who was never discovered or put in prison. Bitter punishment fell on that one, but that only made my heart harder. Two weeks ago I went with a friend to a Methodist revival meeting to have some laughing at people crying at the penitent form. God found me there, and pulled mo out of that place, and, instead of laughing, I found myself crying on the brink of hell, with no; hope of escape For a week I saw nothing but darkness and despair, and was near putting an c-nd to my life; but now, through the blessed mercy of Jesus Christ my Saviour, I am happy I-happy in peace and forgiveness —happier than if all the world bad been given to me. But I am the thief who wronged you. I cannot rest till I bave re- stored all I took. I am poor, but I send you all I have-£1218s 6d. I was saving it to get married next month, but that can never be till I have worked and paid back the rest of the £50 which you lost. God will perhaps let me live long enough to do that, so that you may forgive me as He has done." This extraordinary letter was shown to me by Mrs Crouch herself, who wished to know whether I thought I could trace the writer so as to be able to assure the unknown of forgiveness without the restoration of any more money. That was not in my power, and for soma years there came regu- larly every six months a remittance generally amounting to about £5, in liquidation of this debt of conscience. At length there came a time when the remittance did not arrive. Above £30 had been paid, and, though it came from different towns, it had always come with the regularity of rent day. A few days after the usual time a poor scrawl of a letter reached Mrs Crouch, which read thus:— "I have not been able to send you any money this term, as I have been ill and m hospital. I have suffered much, but Jesus is always with me, and that makes everything bright. I sometimes feel very weak, and am afraid I may be taken away without having paid you all your money. That is all mv sadness. But God sees my heart, and knows I don't wish to go to heaven now unless He thinks it best. If He lifts me up again I will pay you yet, but if lie takes me away, per- haps it will be made up to you in blessings. A line from you would be a great comfort, though I know I do not deserve it. POLLY HICKS." So deeply moved was the kind lady by this simple epistle that she started off at once for the town indicated, though it was a journey of two hundred miles. The hospital was easily found, and Mrs Crouch was led to the bedside of a patient, whom she did not recognise as her former servant, Polly, except by the lustrous beauty of her eyes. Tho once pretty face was wasted and haggard, yet the radiance of those eyes, and the sweet smile hovering about the lips, gave the face a beauty which the lady had never seen there when it was fresh and rosy, and so many years younger. The start of recognition, the agitation and fulness of heart of the wasted girl, were too much for her. She was only able to throw her arms arouni the neck of the lady and burst into tears, and then a faint spasm passed through her slight frame, and she was laid back on the pillow, whispering the one word "'Jesus!" and so her spirit passed gently away. NEXT WETCK— » A PRESENTIMENT OF MURDER." (In Two Part3—PAKT I.) I

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