DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22217#0272
260
THE WRONG UMBRELLA.
and this man was clean shaven. Afterwards, when I had
clapped a pair of artificial whiskers upon Atkinson, the jeweller
was inclined to alter his opinion and say positively that it was
the man, but, on the whole, the case was so weak that it never
went to trial.
Atkinson was released, and returned to his place " without
a stain upon his character," and so justice appeared to be
defeated. The first act of the drama had ended with villainy
triumphant.
Let me now bring on "the wrong umbrella." A great
party was given, some months after, in a house in the New
Town, and, as usual at such gatherings, there was some con-
fusion and accidental misappropriation at the close. All that
happened was easily explained and adjusted, but the case of
the umbrella. Most of the guests had come in cabs, but one
or two living near had come on foot, bringing umbrellas with
them. The number of these could have been counted on the
fingers of one hand, yet, when the party was over, the lady of
the house discovered that a fine gold-mounted ivory-handled
umbrella of hers had been taken, and a wretched alpaca left
in its place. The missing umbrella was a present, and there-
fore highly prized; it was also almost fresh from the maker.
It was rather suggestive, too, that the wretched thing left in
its place was a gentleman's umbrella—a big, clumsy thing,
which could not have been mistaken for the other by a blind
man. It seemed therefore more like a theft than a mistake,
and after fruitless inquiries all round, the lady sent word to
us, and a full description of the stolen umbrella was entered
in the books.
The theory formed by the owner was that the umbrella had
been stolen by some thief who had gained admittance during
the confusion, and that the umbrella left in its place had
simply been forgotten by some of the guests, and had no con-
nection with the removal of her own. Reasoning upon this
ground, I first tried the pawnbrokers, without success, and
then, remembering that the missing article had been heavily
mounted with gold, I thought of trying some of the jewellers
to see if they had bought the mounting as old gold. I had
no success on that trial either, but, to my astonishment and
delight, M'Sweeny, whom I had sent out to hunt on the samt
lines in the afternoon, brought in the umbrella, safe and sound,
as it had been taken from the owner's house. The surprising
thing was that the umbrella had been got in a jeweller's shop,
THE WRONG UMBRELLA.
and this man was clean shaven. Afterwards, when I had
clapped a pair of artificial whiskers upon Atkinson, the jeweller
was inclined to alter his opinion and say positively that it was
the man, but, on the whole, the case was so weak that it never
went to trial.
Atkinson was released, and returned to his place " without
a stain upon his character," and so justice appeared to be
defeated. The first act of the drama had ended with villainy
triumphant.
Let me now bring on "the wrong umbrella." A great
party was given, some months after, in a house in the New
Town, and, as usual at such gatherings, there was some con-
fusion and accidental misappropriation at the close. All that
happened was easily explained and adjusted, but the case of
the umbrella. Most of the guests had come in cabs, but one
or two living near had come on foot, bringing umbrellas with
them. The number of these could have been counted on the
fingers of one hand, yet, when the party was over, the lady of
the house discovered that a fine gold-mounted ivory-handled
umbrella of hers had been taken, and a wretched alpaca left
in its place. The missing umbrella was a present, and there-
fore highly prized; it was also almost fresh from the maker.
It was rather suggestive, too, that the wretched thing left in
its place was a gentleman's umbrella—a big, clumsy thing,
which could not have been mistaken for the other by a blind
man. It seemed therefore more like a theft than a mistake,
and after fruitless inquiries all round, the lady sent word to
us, and a full description of the stolen umbrella was entered
in the books.
The theory formed by the owner was that the umbrella had
been stolen by some thief who had gained admittance during
the confusion, and that the umbrella left in its place had
simply been forgotten by some of the guests, and had no con-
nection with the removal of her own. Reasoning upon this
ground, I first tried the pawnbrokers, without success, and
then, remembering that the missing article had been heavily
mounted with gold, I thought of trying some of the jewellers
to see if they had bought the mounting as old gold. I had
no success on that trial either, but, to my astonishment and
delight, M'Sweeny, whom I had sent out to hunt on the samt
lines in the afternoon, brought in the umbrella, safe and sound,
as it had been taken from the owner's house. The surprising
thing was that the umbrella had been got in a jeweller's shop,