In the Dutch town of M-- there resided, | at the close of the last century, an aged widow, known by the name of Madame Andrecht. The only occupants of the house, which was the widow's property, were herself and a maid servant of about the same age. As the widow was in a precarious state of health, she kept no society, and did not leave her room for weeks together. Her only recreation was, that she went in spring, when the weather was settled, to visit her son, who resided in a neighboring village, and on these excursions she was always accompanied by her servant, who was accustomed to her temper, and was the only nurse she would have about her. During these absences from town the house was uninhabited, and though carefully locked up, not guarded with any special attention. The widow returned from her annual excursion on the 30th of June, 17-, and found that during her absence the house had been broken into, and besides other valuables, all her plate and jewels carried off. The authorities were immediately informed, and both burgomaster and police began making a diligent inquiry. It was not difficult to discover how the thieves had broken into the house. The window of a back room looked on the garden, and had been secured within by a brass screw on either side. A pane of glass had been broken on each side, the screws had been taken out, and they had carried off their plunder by the back-door, which was found unfastened. All the other windows were still securely bolted, and several rooms had not even been entered. It was evident that the thieves had set to work in great security, had taken their time, and had not been apprehensive of being disturbed. They had removed the top of a heavy old escritoire, which had been carefully locked, and had lifted out the doors. This operation had been effected so cleverly that there was not the slighest trace of violence. Out of this escritoire the jewels and other valuables had been taken. Two chests had also been broken open, and gold, silver, objects missed amounted to about 2,000 Dutch florins. It was conjectured that the robbery had been effected by more than one person; it was equally probable that the plan had been matured long before. It was also apparent that the robbery had been committed by persons not unacquainted with the house and the widow's circumstances. The widow's house was situated in an outlying street, and was the only respectable one in the neighborhood. Persons in inferior circumstances, and among them several suspicious characters, occupied the adjacent houses. At the end of the garden behind the house, from which side the thieves must have come, ran the inner town ditch, which was navigable, and only divided from it by a quickset hedge. The next house was a corner one, and a narrow path ran along its side and the garden hedge to a plank laid across the ditch. It was not supposed, however, that the thieves had climbed over the hedges of the two gardens, but it was much more likely that they had come in a boat to the hedge and climbed over it. No suspicious footsteps could be noticed in the garden-walks or flower beds. The discovery immediately caused great excitement: the whole neighborhood was astir, and a mob of curious persons surrounded the house. The police were compelled to use their utmost efforts to prevent them entering: still one of them, a baker, who lived in the house right opposite to the widow, had succeeded in finding his way in with the officers, and satisfying his curiosity. His acquaintances who had seen him enter awaited his return with impatience, to learn from him all that the police would not impart to them. Their hopes were deceived, however, for he maintained an obstinate silence, or only gave equivocal replies. A woolspinner, Leendert van N- who lived in the corner house, was far more talkative. Wherever people put their heads together, he hurried up to them, listened to their conjectures, and favored them with his own: of the love affair, and the Bl him laughingly that he was Hanne good night. When thing went on, and the Blue I over night after night, he pu The Blue Dragoon did not more, yet the woolspinner s garden with his Hanne. T solved one evening when he late, and saw a boat fastened to Madame Andrecht's garde of those in which the dr fetched their fodder from i Nicholas was at that time sei the officers, and attended to and wife laughed heartily at love will always find a way: quently saw the boat after Such was the wo planations of the motives wh foundation of his suspicions. ever, more nourishment for the had recently come to his kno ten days before the discovery while the widow was still in had found a colored pocket-1 the side of the town ditch, clo bor's garden. He put it in his thinking any thing about it. told the circumstance to his wi her the handkerchief, remark at the same time, "If Mad were in town, and Hanne stil should know what it mean Dragoon had been courting his handkerchief." His wife at it, and pointed to one corne letters N. D. were marked. N thought of the circumstance lowing days, till the discovery recalled it to mind. hinted at certain persons and things. His Suspicion, consequently, rest Dragoon, and another circumsta confirmed it. On the first e the house, a partly-burnt spill } on the ground near the es Madame Andrecht or her ser paper to light a candle it w been thrown on the ground, fo ness was notorious. No othe entered the house lately, and, they would not have dared to such a way. The police had and, therefore, the thieves cou persons who had thrown the spot. On unfolding the rest o was found to be a declaration the town dues on spirits that ported. When the spirits ha carried home, this receipt was of no further The carpenter arrived breathlessly. He use, and the papers were not generally pre- seemed perfectly prepared, and before they served by the landlords. The greater por- proceeded to question him he volunteered tion of the receipt found in the house was the following statement:-He had been burnt, the name of the landlord was gone, pressed by the wood-merchant, and was conbut the lower part was in good condition, sequently forced to press his debtors. Among and upon it was the signature of the excise them was Nicholas D, who owed him man and the date. It was easy with these sixty florins for work done in his house. indicia to find out what landlord had declared Nicholas had come to him some twelve days spirits on that day. The books showed that before and begged him to wait a little longer. Nicholas D had received several kegs of When the carpenter declared it was imposGeneva. This, in connection with the wool- sible, he had offered him some old silver in spinner's statement, determined the police to part payment. The carpenter suspected arrest the Blue Dragoon, as well as his fam- nothing wrong, but asked him accidentally ily, consisting of his wife, her father and how he had got it? The Blue Dragoon rebrother, who lived with him. An examina-plied that it belonged to his father-in-law, to tion of the house led to the discovery of a "souvenir" behind the shutter of the tap: room window, which undoubtedly belonged to Madame Andrecht, for two letters addressed to her were found in it. While the whole town was busying itself in forming conjectures on the subject, a respectable tradesman made his appearance before the police and gave in the following statement;-He was a wood-merchant, and among his customers was a carpenter, Isaac van C, who was always in arrear with his payments. The merchant pressed him, and at length commenced legal proceedings. A few days before the discovery of the robbery the carpenter came to his house and begged him not to proceed further, or he should be a ruined man. "See how I am paid!" he exclaimed, as he placed a basket on the table and produced from it a pair of silver candlesticks and a coffee-pot. "I had sixty florins to receive of a party, but he begged me to take this silver in part payment, and I did so, as I saw I should not get my money in any other way. I did not like to sell it to the silversmiths here, as I should not get half the value, but waited till I went to Amsterdam, where I could dispose of them. I will leave the silver in pledge with you till I receive my money. The wood-merchant hesitated at first, but at length consented. The silver was in his hands. When he heard of the robbery at Madame Andrecht's, and read the list of things stolen, he had no doubt that these objects formed part of them. He did not wish to throw any suspicion on the carpenter: he could no doubt explain whence he obtained them, and he was surprised he had not done so already, to prove the landlord's guilt or innocence. The police immediately sent for the silver and the carpenter, Isaac van whom it had been left by an old lady, whose coachman he had been for several years. They agreed that it should be taken for a certain price, and the landlord brought it to him the same evening in a covered basket. At the same time, he requested him not to dispose of it in the town, for he would only get half its value; and besides, he, the landlord, had reasons for desiring it. The Blue Dragoon was now examined, and his statement tallied with that of the carpenter to a certain extent. He allowed that he owed him sixty florins, but had not yet been able to pay him any part. He, however, denied any knowledge of the silver. The rest of the family made the same statement, but all declared that Nicholas had, in their presence, three months previously, counted out twenty florins, which he said were intended for the carpenter. The Blue Dragoon, on further examination, confessed that this was a fact, but he had used the money to pay some old gambling debts, and that was the reason he had told his wife he intended them for the carpenter. This was the first instance in which any of the accused had been convicted of a falsehood; and, although it referred to an immaterial circumstance, it threw an unfavorable light on their other statements, and his assurance that he had paid the carpenter no part of the debt by means of the silver, found no credence. The carpenter, moreover, did not rest in his endeavor to convict the landlord of falsehood: he produced a species of ledger, in which an entry was made that, on the 23d June, the landlord, Nicholas D--, had paid thirty florins in account in old silver. The carpenter's housekeeper and apprentice both gave their testimony that they were present when the Blue Dragoon had spoken with their master on the subject, and swore tion of all this, and as the landlord persisted | in asserting his innocence, the authorities determined on bringing him to confess by means of torture. All preparations were made, and the torture would be applied the following day, when a letter reached the authorities by the Rotterdam post. "Before I quit this country, and reach a spot where neither the authorities of M- nor the court-martial can touch me, I will save four innocent persons who are now imprisoned in M. Care must be taken not to punish them for a crime of which they can not be guilty. How the carpenter is connected with them I can not conjecture, and I heard of it with great surprise. However, the carpenter may not be perfectly innocent. May the judges pay due attention to this hint! They may afterwards bitterly repent neglecting it. They need not attempt to follow me. If the wind remains in the present quarter, I shall be in England before this letter is received. "JOSEPH CHRISTIAN RUHLER, "Ex-Corporal in the Company le Long." The authorities gladly availed themselves of this opportunity to delay the torture. It seemed, at first sight, no mere invention of the prisoner's friends. A company commanded by Captain le Long was really in garrison: a corporal of that name had served in it, but had disappeared or deserted four weeks back. Till then, all inquiries after him had been useless. The police also found that the corporal had disappeared on the very night before the robbery was made known. A connection between the two facts appeared evident. A new discovery, however, destroyed this conclusion. The letter from Rotterdam was laid before the com manding officer, and he declared it, at first sight, a forgery. The handwriting was not Rühler's; all his comrades asserted it, and several old company's lists, which Rühler was known to have written, proved it to the satisfaction of the judge. Consequently, the letter was nothing more than a trick of some friend or accomplice of the Blue Dragoon to liberate him from the torture. This was the prevalent opinion, when two new and very important witnesses made their appearance. They had no connection together, nor were their statements the least alike; the facts they brought forward contradicted one another in a measure, and which, on one hand, throwing a light on the matter, on the other, they only rendered it more obscure. A tradesman of the town, who was a general dealer and lived in the neighborhood of the widow Andrecht, had been absent in the south of Germany during the whole of the trial. He had but just r told of the affair, when h peared before the police, following very important sta the time when the robbery place he was still in the tow ter, Isaac van C-, called begged him to lend him b be usually transported his goods. This boat was gene hind the house, near his v was close to the town ditch. quantity of casks to deliver could not spare it. Isaac, 1 him very earnestly, and state the boat for a couple of ni return it to its place in the n inquiring why he wanted it night, he replied, after a wished to move the furniture who were leaving their house the owner of the boat asked. his house by night?" The ca with a cunning smile, that bankrupts, and were going moon!" The owner was ind fused the use of his boat. however, quickly said that jest, and his intention was to his apprentice during the nig told him his real object, for not like his boat dirtied. yielded to the carpenter's pre and lent him the boat on co returned it again the next carpenter kept his word fai he went to his warehouse th at an early hour, he saw the his apprentice just fastening struck him directly that they fishing implements. He exa and was still more surprised a and clean inside. He had, the the carpenter in a falsehood. picked up a parcel, consisting forks wrapped in paper. 1 first statement had been corre helped the bankrupt to remo clandestinely. In considerab he put the forks in his po straight to Isaac van C―. his housekeeper, and the app the workshop. He held ou them, saying: "You left the I suppose you used them to caught. I hope they will ag They were evidently confound keeper first collected herself. that her master "had really people to move." This was in itself no very creditable action, and he presumed that their confusion arose from their feelings of shame. When he asked the name of the person, the carpenter said that he could not tell him then, but he would explain to him afterwards. He was silent, but inquired cautiously who had recently quitted the town, though without receiving any satisfactory information. His journey to Germany had caused him to forget the matter, but now he had not the least doubt that Isaac van C―― was the guilty party. The carpenter and his family were immediately arrested, and his house searched. They found in it, with the exception of a few trifling matters, all that was missed from Madame And echt's. They were threatened with the torture, and at last confessed that they had committed the robbery. On the morning when the discovery was made, master and apprentice were among the crowd, to hear what reports were spread. The apprentice heard the woolspinner's wife openly state that she suspected the Blue Dragoon. He told his master of it, and they determined on increasing these suspicions by all the means in their power. The apprentice soon after went to the Blue Dragoon's to drink a glass of spirits. He asked for a coal to light his pipe. While he was gone to fetch it, he employed his absence to slip the souvenir behind the shutters. Their unanimous confession entirely exonerated the dragoon and his family from the charge of having committed the robbery, but there was much yet to be explained. How had Nicholas D--'s handkerchief been lost at the hedge? how did the spill, made of one of his receipts, find its way into the house? The carpenter and his accomplices declared that they knew nothing about it. Even when threatened with the torture, they asserted their ignorance. The suspicion was excited that other accomplices still remained undetected. They recurred to the corporal's letter. If not his hand writing, he might have had it written by some one else, and was mixed up some way in the affair, and his desertion was evidently in close connection with the robbery. During the carpenter's trial, however, a new witness voluntarily came forward, the schoolmaster of a village about two miles from the town. He showed the judge a piece of paper, on which only the words "Joseph Christian Rühler" were writen, and inquired whether a letter in the same handwriting had not been lately received by the authorities? On comparing it with the letter from Rotterdam, it was found that they In his village there was a deaf and dumb boy, whom the parish had given him as a boarder. He had succeeded in teaching the unfortunate to write, and he had brought it to such perfection that he was employed by many persons, even the burgomaster of the village, in preparing documents. A short time back, an unknown person had come to the village during the schoolmaster's ab sence, had asked for the deaf and dumb boy, as frequently happened, and taken him with him to the inn. There he ordered a private room and a bottle of wine. He then begged the lad to copy him a letter which he wrote on his slate. The boy did so at first without suspicion: still the contents of the letter appeared singular to him, and the demeanor of the unknown revealed fear and anxiety. But when he was directed to write the address, "To the Burgomaster of M-, he refused to comply at first, and was only induced to do so by the pressing entreaties of the stranger, who gave him a florin, and recommended him to preserve strict silence. The boy was at first inclined to do so, for he knew he had done something wrong; but he at length confessed to his master, who immediately perceived that this mysterious affair was in close connection with the universally-spoken-of trial. He went to the landlord of the inn, and asked him if he remembered a stranger, who had brought the deaf and dumb boy to his house? The landlord recalled the circumstance, but did not know the man; his wife, however, called to mind that she had seen him speaking familiarly with another well-known man from the town, the miller Overblink, who had just stopped with his wagon before the door. They shook hands on parting, and called one another by name. The schoolmaster inquired further. He went directly to Overblink and asked the name of the man. The miller remembered the circumstance perfectly, and said that the man was no other than his old acquaintance, the baker H—, of that very town. The schoolmaster, after recommending the miller to observe the strictest secresy, had then come straight to the police. The baker was immediately arrested and examined. He must have given some important information, for the woolspinner Leendert van N and his wife were also imprisoned during the course of the day. These were the persons who had first raised |