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SAMUEL WRIGHT, Editor and Proprietor.
VOLUME XXIX, NUMBER 2.1
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY MORNING
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liottii.
Dnst and. Ashes
Betwixt your home and mint,
0 love, there is a graveyard lying;
And every time you came,
Your steps were o'er the dead, and from the dying!
Vow faze was dark mid sad.—
Your eyeri hurl shadows in their very laughter
Vet their glance made me glad.
And shut my own to what was coming alter.
Tour face had deeper eborals
Than the ..-EoHan harp when night winds blow;
The melancholy music of your words
None but myself may know.
And oh. you won my lienrt
By vows unbreathed.—by words of love unspoken;
So that, as now we part,
You have no blame to bear, and yet—'tis broken!
How shall I bear this blow. how best resent it!
Ah, love, you have not left me even my pride!
Nor strength to put wide, nor to repent it,
Twere better I had died!
You came beneath my tent with friendly greeting;
Of all my joys you hail the better part;
Then, when our eyes auil hands were of tenest meeting
You struck me to the heart'.
No less a murderer, that your victim, living,
Can face the passing world, and Jest and smile!
No less a traitor, for your show of giving
Your friendship all the whi!c!
'Well, let it pass! The city churchyard, lying,
Betwixt our homes, is but a type and sign
Of the wasto in your heart, and of the eternal dying
Of all sweet hopes in mine!
gtirttiDn.
Front Household IVords
Green-Beard and Slyboots
In the popular tales of Lithuania, the
most important personages are robbers, who
sometimes perfo#t the functions assigned
by the inventors of our ordinary fairy tale ,
to ogres, sometimes are characterized by
cunning rather than ferocity. "The mere
fact that a person is a robber, does not af
fect his moral position in the least, he may
conduct himself well or ill in the predatory
profession as in any other. A virtuous rob
her will facetiously display his shrewdness,
a wicked robber can snuff "fresh meat,"
and delights in' bloodshed even when unac
companied by profit.
On the authority of Herr August Schlei
cher, who has made a collection of Lithua
nian tales, or rather judging from the tales
themselves, Nye should say, that virtuous as
Lithania may be at the present day, it was
once inhabited by a people whose notions of
property were of the loosest. Nor does the
talent displayed by the clever and less san
guinary marauders greatly exciti our admi
ration; inasmuch as it shines 'less by its
own brightness than by contrast with the
vast expanse of dullness by which it is sur
rounded. Ages ago a little cunning clearly
went a great way in Lithuania.
That the Lithuanian Tom Thumb was as
disreputable as he was minute, might easily
be supposed; for the legendary hero of short
dimensions has not been remarkable for
moral punctiliousness in any quarter of the
globe. Like his western counterparti,"the
Slavonic manikin sits in the ear of the ox
that draws his father's plow, and by shout
ing aloud urges the animal to proceed.—
Having attracted the notice of a wealthy
stranger, who purchases him at an enor
mous price, he persuades his new master to
put him into the cow house, that lie may
guard the. cattle and prevent them from
being stolen. At night, while he is seated
;in the ear of one of the oxen, three thieves
Arrive, and though they see nothing, they
.plainly hear a voice directing them to the
;beasts, and offering a partnership in future
,enterprise. The oxen are taker: away by
.the thieves and slaughtered in the nearest
field, and the Thumbling still unseen—
,thongh, odd to say, the night is not so dark
.as to impede the slaughter of the animals—
proposes to carry the entrails to a neghbor
mg stream, and to wash them out. When
ho is at some distance, he is heard crying
piteously: "I'm not the only one; there are
three men out there, roasting the meat by
the fire."
The thieves thinking that their comrade
bas boon caught, and is betraying them to
his captor, hetalce to their beets, whereupon
the acute dwarf hastens, not to his master,
but to his father, who immediately proceeds
to the field in a cart„ and fetches home the
oxen left by thethieves. "Thus," says the
historian, with great complacency, "did be
have his son again, together with the pur
chase money, and a load of butcher's meat
in the bargain!"
Enough of this dissertion on the ethical
views of ancient Lithuania. We will not
classify the robbers of this favored land ac
cording to their goodness or facetiousness,
scowling cut-throats or merry purloiners.
And from each of the two classes will we
take one specimen.
Let Il Penrcroso precede L'Allegro, all the
world over—even in Lithuania. We begin
with the thrilling tale of "Green-Beard:"
A certain merchant. who lived indefinitely
in a city, was considerably annoyed when
his daughter—a very charming young per
son—swore, or rather vowed, that she would
never marry a man who was not blessed
with a green beard. In - vain did he tell her
the story of Bluebeard, in order to counter
act her absurd predilection. She simply
replied that "blue was not green," and he
did not feel himself justified in contradicting
the truth of the assertion.
22 50
-:
However, not only the younglady's father.
but likewise the captain of a band of rob
bers—four and twenty strong—who, as their
friends said, enlivened—as their enemies
said, infested, a neighboring forest—became
acquainted with her views on the subject of
of beards. Possessed of this information—
whether through the medium of the milk
man or the baker, we cannot say—the cap
tain at once called his band together, and
asked the collected assemblage whether they
happened to know any dye that would ren
der beards green. A unanimous shout of
"Yes!" followed the query; and was fol
lowed in its turn by a recipe universally
commended for the manufacture of the de
sired cosmetics. 'Why the captain was less
accomplished in practical chemistry than
any of his four and twenty men, we do not
pretend to inquire.
Having given his beard the required color,
the gallant captain proceeds at once to the
city, and as he was altogether a fine, well
looking gentleman, he was much admired
by the passengers in spite of his green beard.
His conduct, when he reached the merchant's
house was marked by the most rigid observ
ance of the laws of etiquette. First he asked
leave of the father to woo the daughter;
whereupon the father, recollecting that he
had a great strapping expensive girl on his
hands, and could not find a suitor with a
green beard every day, readily gave his con
sent; then he addressed the lady herself,
who, finding her own ideas of human beauty
actually retlized before her eyes, could not
do otherwise than accept the offer of his
hand.
[Household Words
Glowing with all the delight of a fortu
nate suitor, the captain took his departure,
having told the young lady which road she
must pursue in order to reach his farmhouse
on the other side of the forest. From this
fact we conclude that weddings were by no
means costly in ancient Lithuania, and that
he who went to see a nuptial procession
must have been grievously disappointed.—
The gentleman proposed, and if found suit
able, was accepted by the lady and friends.
He then went home, and the lady went after
him alone, at her own convenience. Here
was a saving in bridesmaids and white
favors.
The merchant's daughter, now a bride,
packed up her trousseau—that is to soy,
caused a large cake to be baked—and thus
handsomely provided, set off for the resi
dence of her future lord. There was a
bridge to be crossed, and then there was a
road on the left hand to be taken, which
would would lead to the abode of domestic
bliss; at least so she had been told by the
green-bearded Andonis, whose instructions,
as far as the bridge was concerned, proved
to be thoroughly correct. But, as for the
road to the left, the only thing that could
be called a road at all was a pathway, that
led straight forward into the midst of a
thick forest, and grew more and more nar
row at every yard—nay, become so incon
veniently narrow, that the bride was obliged
to get off the horse on which she rode, and
to proceed, with her cake under her arm, on
foot.
Unpromising as it looked, the pathway at
any rate, brought the lonely fair ono to a
cottage, which was not a whit more attract
, 'lye in her eyes, from the fact that a lion was
chained on each`side of the door. However,
u.s the beasts offered no opposition, the
crossed the threshold with as much boldness
as she could command, and entered a room
fitted up like an armory, with a large stock
of muskets. Expending bnt a short time in
the contemplation of these interesting ob
jects, she entered another room, from a
rafter in which a cage containing a small
I bird was suspended.
I No sooner did tbo bird behold the lovely
stranger than it scorned bursting with in
formation.
"Know most ill-fated of mortals," it twit
tered forth, "that you are in a robber's den,
and what is worse, escape at the present
moment is impossible, for the lions, though
they did not object to your entrance, would
tear you to pieces if you tried to get out."
"Then," said the poor girl, overpowered
by the weight of this unpleasant intelli
gence, "what am I to do? How, oh feathered
orator, am I to apply all the useful know
ledge which you so liberally diffuse?"
"Knowledge," said the bird gravely,
using a phrase since immortalized by Lord
Bacon, "knowledge is power."
"That proposition may be generally cor
rect," answered the young lady, with cor
responding dignity, "hut my case seems to
be exceptional."
"Listen," said the bird, in a patronising
tone. "Yonder bed must be your hiding
place. When the robbers return they will
get drunk---"
"Inebriated," suggested the young lady.
"NO ENTERTAINMENT IS SO CIIEAP AS READING, NOR ANY PLEASURE SO LASTING."
COLUMBIA, PENNSYLVANIA, SATURDAY 'MORNING, JULY 17, 1858.
. "Aod will then go to sleep," continued
the bird,-not noticing the interruption. "If
you are wise, you will seize your opportu
nity, and issuing from the door, will throw
a piece of your cake to each of the lions."
"And what am I to do then?" asked the
intelligent maiden.
"Take to your heels as fast as you can of
course," answered the bird, with something
of contempt in its tone. "r think your own
senses might have told you that."
Piqued by the slur thus indirectly cast
upon her understanding, the young lady
sharply asked: "Why may I not give the
cake to the lions at once, and run away now,
instead of waiting for the return of the
abominable robbers?"
"Because," replied the bird. drily, "you
will be sure to meet them on the pathway.
Your own experience must have already in
formed you whether that is exactly the sort
of road on which an unprotected female
would like to meet four-and-twenty robbers."
The convinced damsel crept, shuddering,
under the bed indicated by the sagacious
bird, and had not been long in her hiding
place when the robbers returned, bringing
with them a female captive. Their first act
was to sit down and consume a very sub
stantial supper; their next act
-
Rime our Lithuanian tale grows so very
horrible that we advise readers of delicate
nerves to skip all that follows, and be satis
fied with the brief statement, that the lady
did effect her escape from the robber's den.
For the sake of the strong-nerved students
alone, we proceed circumstantially:]
Their next act was to mince the female
captive into ridiculously small pieces, the
first operation being a detachment of her
little finger.
"Ohl" gasped the merchant's daughter,
paralized with horror.
"What's that?" said the Captain.
"Nothing," said the bird, winking at his
protegee; and the robbers continued their
hideous work.
No less thick in head than savages in
heart, these atrocious ruffians, instead of
removing a valuable ring from the doomed
little finger, allowed finger and ring to roll
together under the bed, where they were
instantly pocketed by the concealed lady.--
The mincing process being completed, and
seine unpleasant observations having been
made respecting a pie that was to be pre
pared on the following morning. the robbers
lulled their consciences—if they had any—
with such deep potations, that they were I
soon senseless.
"Now then!" cried the bird.
To start from under the bed, to rush from
the door, to toss a lump of cake to each of
the lions, was but the work of an instant
on the part of the merchant's daughter
who, scampering along the pathway as fast
as she could, fortunately found her horse
where site had left him, and galloped home
looking as white as a sheet. Nor way her
haste at all superfluous; for the cake did
not last very long in the lions' months, and
the roar that immediately followed its con
sumption brought all the robbers out into
the wood. What they had lost they did
not precisely know, but felt convinced they
had lost something or somebody.
Some chance wind or other had, perliap4••,
conveyed to the mind of the robber captain
the story of the Forty Thieves. At all
events he shaved off the beard which he
had taken such pains to dye; he loaded a
great wagon with barrels, in each of which
lie stowed four of his men, (which proves
that Lithuanians pack close) and, assuming
the character of a traveling dealer, he set
off for the merchant's residence, actually
guessing that his bride had paid him a
visit, and had made discoveries so far from
pleasant, that unless he would forgo her
society altogether, he must contrive some
new device for her recovery.
The removal of the green beard preyed
sufficient to prevent his recognition by the
merchant, and he was allowed to put his
barrels in the yard, while he himself re•
eeived an invitation to dinner. But the
robbers in the barrels would not hold their
tongues; a servant in the establishment,
who overheard them, informed his master
of their loquactity, and the merchant ac
cordingly engaged four sturdy fellows to
manage matters in the yard, and two still
more sturdy to set at the table by the dis
guised Captain. The production of the
amputated finger in the course of the meal,
proved to the Captain that be was disco--
ered, and this incident was soon followed
by a triumph of the sturdy fellows over
him and his men. They were all put to
death of course; but the reader will be far
more anxious to know what became of the
animals, who aro such important personage
in the tale. The bird became the domestic
pet of the young lady, and the lions were
kept as curiosities by the merchant. The
rest of the property in the robbers' house
was sold for the benefit of the poor, the
house itself was burnt to ashes; and—there
is one thing more—the young lady entirely
abandoned her predilection for green beards,
With pleasure we quit this grim, green.
bearded villain, this plagiarist, conscious or
unconscious, of the captain of the Forty
Thieves—this uncouth ruffian, who had
probably stored his mind with the Littman•
ian fable of the Cat and the Sparrow, which
is expressly directed against good manners,
and which we may as well recount here,--
A sparrow was once caught by a eat, who
was about to devour him on the instant, but
was checked by the bird's remark that no
gentleman ever ate his breakfast without
haring previously washed his mouth, and
who, setting his pr:isoner down, began to
rub his lips with his paw. Thereupon the
sparrow flew away, and the enraged cat
rowed that he would never again be
gentleman fur the rest of his days. All
this by way of parenthesis. With pleasure
we quit the grins greenhearded
to seek the society of the pleasant, kindly,
murder-hating little thief, who is immortal
ized in Lithuanian folklureby time name of
Sly Youth, and whose history shows what
an inestimable figure may be made by
robber.
There was once a rich merchant, an in
hald t tl.e town, who had a wretchedly
poor 'or , 2 t in the country.—
Stran t ;t; t tile man of wealth, far from
foigetti%,; his taiseralde kinsman, had the
horses put to his sledge one fine winter's
day, and paid him a fraternal visit. Edu
cation was evidently more esteemed than
bravery of apparel among the Lithuanian
peasantry, fur while on the one hand, the
poor man's wife would not show herself on
account of the scantiness of her wardrobe,
his sons were likewise invisible because they
were at school. flowerer they soon came
home, and highly delighted they were when
their kind uncle gave them each a suit of
new clothes that had been =dein the town;
and still more delighted, when he took them
out For a ride in his sledge.
They were all smart intelligent youths,
and took a world of interest in the different
objects that presented themselves on the
road. "There's a big ash-tree," shouted
the first. "What a nice table it would
make!—capital oaks for cart-whels!" cried
the second. "A splendid thicket that, for
thieves to hide in!" bellowed the third.—
"What," said the uncle, with a pleased
smile„ "would you like to be a joiner my
little man?—and you a whelwright, my sec
ond little man?—and you a thief, my third
little man?" "Very much!" "Amazingly!"
and "wouldn't I rather?" were the three
answers to the questions. Of all three
answers the good uncle took note.
New the merchant was not merely a man
of words, but he really meant to do his
duty to his humble relation. Bidding an
adieu to his brother, he took the three boys
with him to town, where he in the first
place sent them to school, and when their
education was complete, placed them in the
professions of their choice. The young
connoisseurs of ash and and oak were re
spectively bound 'prentices to a joiner and
wheelwright; and as the merchant was on
kindly terms with a robber, who lived with
his band in a cave near the city, there was
no difficulty in providing for the third
nephew according to his wish. As a
friendship founded on reason is of all frind
ships the most estimable, it is worth men
tioning that the respect entertained by the
robber for the merchant was based on the
good caves of the latter towards the former.
When other merchants left the town with
their gonils, the robber was apprised of the
circumstances by his commercial friend, and
took measures accordingly. Thus, while
the Damon of the heath filled his vaults
with plunder, the Pythias of the town got
rid of dangerous competitors.
Though the youth found much to admire
in the robber band of which he had become
a member, there were certain peculiarities
repugnant to his better nature. The rob
bers had the bad habit of murdering people
after they bad plundered them, and this
practice struck him as not only barbarous
but absurd. Tie therefore wished to work a
a moral reform. "If you kill people forthe
sake of what they have," he urged, "you
act as wise robbers ought to act, and no
sensible man could object to the proceeding;
but surely when a poor devil is stripped of
everything, it is as well to let him go." The
robber.:: :1:0, )1; their headq and answered ac
cording to the:r s: , -,;0-al temperaments, The
more :-ent;n.unt:,l ;: 1 they would never
abandon tto prit—i!les bequeathed by their
fathers; the sagLei , ,u3 alluded to the practi
cal inability of dud men to tell tales; the
sarcastic talked about milksops. "Well,"
said the young man, "to prove that craft
is better than violence. I will undertake to
steal a goat three times over, and sell it
twice."
"Humph!" said the robers in chorus.
The intelligent youth, who for brevity's
sake we call Slyboots, proceeding to a town
where a fair was held, took his station at
the gate, and waited for the arrival of the
countryfolk with their goats. Presently an
old man appeared with a fine white animal,
which he offered to sell for three dollars.—
Slyboots agreed to the price, proposed to
seal the bargain with a social glass at a
neighboring public house, and while the
old man was absorbed in the contemplation
of his liquor, skipped out of the back door
into a neighboring cornfield, where be in
geniously spotted the goat's liidowith black.
This operation effected, be boldly returned
to the town, and the first person he met was
the old man, who of course, failed to re
cogizne him. For Lithuanian cunning to
have a fair play, it must have Lithuanian
dullness to work upon.
"is that goat for sale, worthy youth?"
"Of a truth it is, good father, and any
one will give ten florins for the same."
"Marry, I will buy it; for 10, when I came
to town this morning I had with me a white
goat, of which a scurvy knave bath robbed
me. I may say 'robbed' with a good grace;
for though I gave him the poor beast with
my own hands, he never paid me the price
f demanded, but, Vanished like a thing of
nought."
The bargain was again concluded over a
glass, and again didSlyboots escape without
paying, into the corn-field, where he painted
the goat black all over. Returning once
more to the town the first person he met we ,
again the old man, who failing to recognize
him, again purchased the gnat for ten florins.
Little docile as he had hitherto been to the
instructions of experience, the old man on
this occasion, refrained from crowning the
bargain with a social glass, and walked
straight home.
First be put the blackened goat into the
stable, the door of which he neglected to
lock; then he proceeded to the house and
told his wife that he had preformed a series
of intricate commercial operations, the ulti
mate result of which was the exchange of
the white goat for a black one. The old
lady listened with small admiration, and
when on visiting the stable with her thick
headed spouse, she found no goat whatever,
her rage knew no bounds. Nay she vocifer
ously stated her conviction, that the money
obtained by the sale of the white goat bad
been expended on tap-room luxuries, and
that the commercial operations so circum
stantially narrated were but the creations of
a brandy-heated brain. The old gentleman
answered the accusation by setting off im
mediately in search of the missing animal,
and as he soon heard a bleating in his
vicinity, he proceeded in the direction of the
sound. A. veritable ing.,mis fatuus was that
unfortunate bleat. It led the pursuer to a
marsh; and it induced him to step into the
marsh, and it caused him to east off a con
siderable portion of his habiliments that he
might go deeper into the marsh. But the
goat was never found; the clothes disappear
ed from the spot in which they had been
laid; and the old gentleman went home a
sadder, and colder, and we trust a wiser
EOM
When the robbers heard from Slyboots
the narration of thesefacts;WhOU they heard
hint describe how, without changeof attire,
he had passed for three several persons in
the eyes of one individual, and robbed that
individual three times over; how he had fol
lowed the dupe to the stable, and observing
the unlocked door, had abstractc the goat;
how lastly, he had led the old gentleman
into the marsh, by pinching the goat's tail
as he carried it in his arms, and had thus
become the possessor of a wardrobe in ad
dition to the previous booty; the stern ruf
fians murmured applause, and stating their
opinion that the time of apprenticeship should
be regulated by &grass of proficiency, not
by length of service, declared that Slyboots
had now fully served his time. He there
fore bade them farewell and proceeded to
his kind uncle, who rejoicing to find that he
had fully realized the promise of his youth,
at once placed in his hand a large sum of
money, that he might start in business with
capital as well as talent.
Haw is life reg,ulated by accident! Scarce
ly had Slyboots left his uncle's home, than
an event occurred which caused him to aban
don the profession in which he had hoped to
make so brilliant a figure. St,,pping at a
public house to take a glass of beer, his ha 7
of gold attracted the eyes of the re,pectalde
wido w by whom the business of the estab
lishment was conducted. She at once ex
plained to him that a male superintendent
would give an improved turn to her affairs,
and that if he would marry her daughter,
and take the management of the public
house into his own hands, he world confer
a real obligation. Slyboots jumped at the'
Offer, and abandoning all thoughts of the
heath and the forest, espoused the blushing
maiden, and employed his capital "in the
public line."
His old friend's the robbers soon heard of
his whereabouts, and two of them determined
to pay him a visit. Like many other per
sons who are not robbers, they contrived to
make their call at a time when they were
sure not to find their friend at home, and
entering the house with an easy air, coolly
told the ladies that they were the brothers
of mine host, respectively belonging to the
gentle crafts of joiner and wheel•wright.—
They wore very sorry their brother was out.
but really they could not stop, and so they
departed, followed by the courtesies of the
ladies, but not until they had observed a
huge fatted hog hanging up in the earthouse.
This they removed at the earliest opportun
ity, and when Slyboots, returning hoard of
these brothers and missing the hog, he at
once bethought him of his comrades on the
heath.
Immediate pursuit was resolved upon,
and Slyboots plunging into the neighboring
forest, soon overtook the robbers. One had
set down to rest while the other, with the
hog on his back, was groping his way through
the darkness.
"Let me have a turn now comrade," said
Slyboots to the foremost robber, "thou hast
carried that load long enough."
"Thou west ever a kind comrade," was
the answer of the robber, echo of course
thought that he was addressing his compan
ion, and without hesitation, he placed the
hog on the shoulders of Slyboots, who nt
once set off in a homeward direction.'
When the hindmost robber had overtaken
the foremost one, a little conversation reveal
ed the true state of affairs; and they both
cried out with wrath not unqualified by ad
miration: "Slyboots is still Slyboots after
all!" However no time was to be lost, so
at once there and then, the two robbers dis
guised themselves as women, and putting
$1,50 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE;
.0,00 IF NOT IN ADVANCE
their best feet foremost, were enabled to
meet Slyboots nt the entrance to his own
premises. The source of the female attire
thus rapidly put on, is not recorded in
Lithuanian history; but the disguise must
have been most efficient, as it caused even
the shrewdest Slyboots 'to take one of the
rubbers for his mother-in-law, and the other
for his wife.
"Well bast thou got the hog?" said the
more strapping of the two.
‘'Marry Lave I, mother-in-law," responded
Slyboots.
"Then give it us and well take it in doors,
while thou lockest up everything outside,"
was the artful suggestion, which was answer
ed by another transfer of the hog.
When Slyboots had locked up every gate
and door he walked into the house, and not
perceiving the hog, °shed his wife where
she bad put it.
"The hog," said she, "did'st thou get it
then!"
"Of coarse I did," said he.
"I," said she, "have never clapped eyes
on it,"
"Come, come, no nonsense," said he, "I
gave it into thine ONVa hands at the gate
yard."
"Why, by my halidom, I have never cros
sed the threshold of the door."
The acute mind of Slyboots was not long
in divining the truth; and as he had been
rather caustic in his remarks, when the
ladies had allowed the prize to be carried
off by the robbers in the first instance, he
set out in pursuit of the marauders with
even more than his wonted rapidity in order
to avoid infliction of the led talionis.
When he reached the forest Ile found that
the luxurious rascals had lighted a fire to
broil a ham which they had cut already
from the hog. As the fire had got low, they
were searching for wood, each in a different
direction, and his mode of operation was at
once decided. Taking a stick in his hand
he administered a hearty thrashing to the
stump of a tree, shouting all the time in
piteous tones, "I won't do it again!" Each
robber hearing the sounds and the cries,
concluded that his comrade was overpower
ed, on this hypothesis both ran away. But
Slyboots took up the hog and went home.
Chance brought the rubbers once more to
gether.
"In good troth thy hue must be of the
blackest and the bluest!" said the first, with
a derisive kind of pity.
"Nay, rather look to thine own skin; for
a short while ago thou didst howl an it were
a whipped cur."
"Whipped cur thyself, when thou didst
frighten all the birds in the wood with thine
unmanly %railings."
This interchange of sharp remarks led to
a mutual explanation and the result of the
mutual explanutin was the united shout
of both the robbers: "Slyboots after all!"
Resolved not to be outdone, they return
ed to the residence of their crafty acquain
tance. To their agreeable surprise, though
the outhouses were lucked up, the window
of the one room was open, and close to the
sill, by the dim light of a rushlight might
be seen the lifeless form of the hog, with
the bodied ham laid upon it.
"Marry," (tooth the first rubber, "this is
nat. like Slyboots, and to light a candle that
one may find the way to it."
"Too much good fortune bath blunted his
wits at last," said the second robber. And
he laid his band upon the ham. At that
very instant Slyboots, whose wits were as
keen as ever, and who was standing beside
the window with a sword in his hand, struck
off the most prominent finger at a blow.
"Phew!" said the second rubber, "the ham
is still hot."
"Out upon the dullard," growled the first
robber. "How could the ham keep hot, af
ter being carried all the way from the forest.
It won't burn me, I'll warrant thee." So
saying he thrust in his hand, when down
came the sword, and off went a finger.
"By the mass, I am a finger the poorer,"
shouted the robber.
"Serve thee right, for a hard-hersted
churl," said the second; "that is my case
too, only thou would'st give me no pity."
"Humph," retorted the first, and they
both looked at each other for some minutes,
at the end of which they both exclaimed,
with one voice, "Slyboots is still Slyboots
after all!"
So they went their way, and were nerer
heard of more.
Who was the Thief.
About ten years ago, I was a jolly sub in
a regiment of Bengal native infantry. We
were ordered to a remote station, and on
arriving there, in the beginning of the hot
I weather, I found bungalows scarce and dear,
land was only too glad to meet an old friend,
who offered to sell. me half his, which offer
I gladly accepted. We were of course cut
I off from all the amusements and amenities
I ? of civilized life, and therefore my chum,
whose name was Caldwell, and 1, took to
studying the black classics, Persian and
reliering our literary labors
with various intellectual amusements, such
as slaying squirrels and lizards with the
pellet-bow, our
educatingdogs and monkeys,
destroying wasps' nests by squibs attached
to the end of a bamboo, and hunting man
gooses. Our zeal for *May lasted all
through the hot weather and rains, but with
the cola weather, a change came over the
spirit of our amusements. Our time was
now divided between shooting and fishing
excursions, rifle matches and pigeon-shoot-
[WHOLE NUMBER, 1,459.
ing, besides which we taught the sepoys
cricket, and played officers and men of right
wing against those of left wing. This af
forded capital sport, and, unlike most other
amusements, cost little—a small subscrip
tion from each defrayed the expetmes of hats , .
balls, levelling the ground, d:c. I was re
quested to receive and collect this, which I
did on pay day, the only time when cash
transactions take place.
Being late in the evening when I received
it, I placed the amount, about sixty rupees,
in my writing desk, which always remained
open on my table; and as I believed my
servants to be honest, and thought no oae
saw me put it there, I considered it safe
enough for the present. .On locking for it
next moving, the cash was gone, and alot
with it a few trinkets and all the papers in
the desk, some of which were of great con
sequence to me. It was quite e - ,-ident that
a servant or some one well acquainted with
the house had taken it, as an ordinary thief
would hare taken desk and all without wait
ing to abstract its contents; besides which,
he would doubtless have left other trace , of
his visit, as a pair of valuable pistols and a
silver match-box lying uu tic same taM.•
would have excited his cupidity. iNly
pieions lit upon a cock-eyed beorcr of Cal
well's, to whom I had a strong objection.—
lie certainly was a must sinister looking in
dividual, and, if not a rogue, his countenance
lay open to an action for defamation of
character.
Caldwell, on the other hand, felt quite
sure that my clhobie was the thief, as all the
servants declared ho was the only person
who had entered the room that evening,
when he brought in the clean clothes. I
don't like speaking in an unknown tongue,
but that word dltobie is an indubitable and
unmitigated staggerer; it means a "male
washerwoman," and I know of no word in
the English language which expresses that.
We were both so positive that, for the first
time in our life, we had an angry discussion
about it. At length we decided on calling
our servants together—about twenty in all
—and telling them we were certain the
thief was one of themselves, and that we
would accordingly deduct the entire amount
stolen proportionably from their wages.—
, They were at once assembled in the veran
dah, and I made them a short speech, an
nouncing our determination. This was
touching them on the tenderest point, and
all were in the midst of loud protestations
of their innocence, when in walked Ajudiab.
lie was a small spare man, but being a
high-caste Brahmin, and having held the
office of regimental pundit fur a quarter of
a century, he was greatly respected by the
men. Ile had the reputation of being very
learned, and had scraped together a large
sum of money, as, in addition to his regi
mental salary, be levied large contributions
from the sepoys in his priestly capacity, and
gave instructions in 'Undo° and Sanscrit.
Caldwell and I had been pupils of his, and
he now came ostensibly to make salam, but
really to remind us that we owed him a
small balance. Only learning the state of
allitirs, he said: "Defender of the poor! pro
tector of the oppressed! it is easy to pro
nounce judgment, but between judgment
and justice a wide difference exists. It
cannot be concealed from the light of your
penetrating mind, that if you act as you
propose, all your servants will suffer evally
with the guilty one: I have no doubt, if
such be your pleasure, that, with the aid of
my own skill and your good fortune, I can
discover the individual who has been faith
less to his salt!' I have always had a roost
profound contempt for the Brahmins and
their transparent humbug; but thirsting
that fear of detection might induce the cul
prit to confess, I gravely assented, and said
I should feel much obliged by his coming
nest morning soon after sunrise, to make
his investigation.
I had not the slightest expectations that
it would be successful, but 1 thought it
might be sonic amusement, and at mess that
evening I 1/tenth - sued it to my brother offi
cers, and invited them to come and see the
fun.
We were hardly seated at coffee the near
morning when Ajudialt made his :tripe-tr
ance, and asked permission to commence h:4
experiments. This being graciously ace-,rd
el, lie began by seating all the servant. , (ri
a raised platform of masonry. in front of
bungalow. lie then seated himself in
middle, with a brass dish containing un
dressed rice at one side, and a pair of small
I scales and weights at the other. After mur
muring a few prayers and stretching out
Ibis hands several times over the rice with
the palms open and the kuckles uppermost,
I like a person warming his hands at a fire.
he commenced operations by doling out to
each servant a rupee's weight of the dry
rice. As each man's portion was weighed
out, it was placed on a piece of plantain
leaf, about siz inches square, and deposited
in his lap by a young Brahmin, who was
Ajudiah's disciple. When all lied received
their quantum, he stood up, and stretching
out his hands to the four quarters of heaven,
as if invoking the judgement of the Deity.
desired them to commence, whereupon all
hands took their portion of rice in their
months, and be,gau chewing away rigorous
ly. While this was going on, the Brahman
took up his rosary, made of the beautiful
brown berries of the ..Vdia
and appeared, quite absorbed in prayer and
meditation, though I have no doubt the cun
ning old rogue kept a sharp look out all the
time.