CHAPTER ELEVEN.
SHARP PRACTICE--CONTINUED.
Mr Sharp had several peculiarities, which, at first sight, might havepuzzled a stranger. He was peculiar in his choice of routes by which toreach a given spot appearing frequently to prefer devious, difficult,and unfrequented paths to straight and easy roads. In the time of hisvisits to various places, too, he was peculiarly irregular, and seemedrather to enjoy taking people by surprise.
On the present occasion his chief peculiarity appeared to be a desire toapproach the station by a round-about road. In carrying out his planshe went round the corner of a house, from which point of view heobserved a goods train standing near a goods-shed with an engineattached. In order to reach it he had the choice of two routes. One ofthese was through a little wicket-gate, near to which a night-watchmanwas stationed--for the shades of evening were by that time descending onthe scene, the other was through a back yard, round by a narrow lane andover a paling, which it required more than an average measure ofstrength and agility to leap. Mr Sharp chose the latter route. Whatwere palings and narrow lanes and insecure footing in deepening gloom tohim! Why, he rejoiced in such conditions! He didn't like easy work.He abhorred a bed of roses--not that he had ever tried one, although itis probable that he had often enjoyed a couch of grass, straw, ornettles. Rugged circumstances were his glory. It was as needful forhim to encounter such--in his winnowing processes--as it is for theharrow to encounter stones in preparing the cultivated field. Movingquietly but swiftly round by the route before mentioned Mr Sharp camesuddenly on the night-watchman.
"Good-evening, Jim."
"Evenin', sir."
"Keep your eyes open to-night, Jim. We _must_ find out who it is thathas taken such a fancy to apples of late."
"I will, sir; I'll keep a sharp look-out."
It was Jim's duty to watch that locality of the line, where largequantities of goods of all descriptions were unavoidably left to waitfor a few hours on sidings. Such watchmen are numerous on all lines;and very necessary, as well as valuable, men most of them are--fellowswho hold the idea of going to rest at regular hours in quiet contempt;men who sleep at any time of the night or day that chances to be mostconvenient, and who think no more of a hand-to-hand scuffle with a bigthief or a burglar than they do of eating supper. Nevertheless, likeevery other class of men in this wicked world, there are black sheepamongst them too.
"Is that train going up to the station just now, Jim?" asked Mr Sharp,pointing to the engine, whose gentle simmering told of latent energyready for immediate use.
"I believe so, sir."
"I'll go up with her. Good-night."
Mr Sharp crossed the line, and going towards the engine found that thedriver and fireman were not upon it. He knew, however, that they couldnot be far off--probably looking after something connected with theirtrain--and that they would be back immediately; he climbed up to thefoot-plate and sat down on the rail. He there became reflective, andrecalled, with some degree of amusement as well as satisfaction, some ofthe more recent incidents of his vocation. He smiled as he rememberedhow, not very far from where he sat, he had on a cloudy evening got intoa horse-box, and boring a hole in it with a gimlet, applied his eyethereto,--his satellite David Blunt doing the same in another end of thesame horse-box, and how, having thus obtained a clear view of a truck inwhich several casks of wine were placed, he beheld one of the servantson the line in company with one of his friends who was _not_ a servanton the line, coolly bore a hole in one of the wine casks and insert astraw, and, by that means, obtain a prolonged and evidently satisfactorydraught--which accounted at once for the fact that wine had been leakingin that locality for some time past, and that the said servant had beenseen more than once in a condition that was deemed suspicious.
Mr Sharp also reflected complacently--and he had time to reflect, forthe driver and fireman were rather long of coming--on another case inwhich the thieves were so wary that for a long time he could makenothing of them, although their depredations were confined to a trainthat passed along the line at a certain hour, but at last were caught inconsequence of his hitting on a plan of having a van specially preparedfor himself. He smiled again--almost laughed when he thought of thisvan--how it was regularly locked and labelled on a quiet siding; how aplank was loosened in the bottom of it, by which means he got into it,and was then shunted out, and attached to the train, so that neitherguard, nor driver, nor fireman, had any idea of what was inside; how hethereafter bored several small gimlet holes in the various sides of thevan and kept a sharp look-out from station to station as they wentalong; how at last he came to the particular place--not a station, but aplace where a short pause was made--where the wary thieves were; how hesaw them--two stout fellows--approach in the gloom of evening and begintheir wicked work of cutting tarpaulings and abstracting goods; how hethereupon lifted his plank and dropped out on the line, and how hepowerfully astonished them by laying his hands on their collars andtaking them both in the very act!
At last Mr Sharp's entertaining reflections were interrupted by theapproach of the driver of the engine, who carried a top-coat over hisleft arm.
As he drew near and observed who stood upon his engine, the man gave aninvoluntary and scarcely perceptible start.
There must have been something peculiarly savage and ungenerous in thebreast of Mr Sharp, one would have thought, to induce him to suspect aman whose character was blameless. But he did suspect that man on thefaith of that almost imperceptible touch of discomposure, and hissuspicion did not dissipate although the man came boldly andrespectfully forward.
"Ho-ho!" thought Mr Sharp, "there is more chaff here to be winnowedthan I had bargained for." His only remark, however, was--
"Good-evening; I suppose you start for the station in a few minutes?"
"Yes, sir," said the man, moving towards the rear of the tender.
"You'd better get up at once, then," said Mr Sharp, descendingquickly--"what have you got there, my good man?"
"My top-coat sir," said the driver, with a confused look.
"Ah, let us see--eh! what's all this? A salmon! a brace of grouse! anda pair of rabbits! Well, you seem to have provided a good supper forto-night. There don't appear to be very stringent game-laws where youcome from!"
The man was so taken aback that he could not reply. As the fireman cameout of the neighbouring goods-shed at that moment, Mr Sharp ordered thedriver to mount to his place, and then waiting beside the enginereceived the fireman with an amiable "Good-night."
This man also had a top-coat over his arm, betrayed the same uneasinesson observing Mr Sharp, went though precisely the same examination, andwas found to have made an identically similar provision for his supper.
Almost immediately after him the guard issued from the shed, alsoburdened with a top-coat! Mr Sharp muttered something about, "birds ofa feather," and was about to advance to meet the guard when thatindividual's eyes fell on him. He turned back at once, not in a hurry,but quietly as though he had forgotten something. The superintendentsprang through the open door, but was too late. The guard had managedto drop his booty. Thereupon Mr Sharp returned to the engine, orderedthe steam to be turned on, and the driver drove himself and his friendsto the station and to condign punishment.
Having disposed of this little incidental case, Mr Sharp--after hearingand commenting upon several matters related to him by the members of hiscorps, and having ordered David Blunt to await him in the office as hehad a job for him that night,--returned towards the locality which hehad so recently quitted. In doing this he took advantage of anothergoods train, from which he dropped at a certain hole-and-corner spot,while it was slowly passing the goods-shed before mentioned. From thisspot he took an observation and saw the pipe of Jim, the night-watchman,glowing in the dark distance like a star of the first magnitude.
"Ha!" thought Mr Sharp, "smoking! You'll have to clear your eyes ofsmoke if you hope to catch thieves to-night, my fine fellow; but I sh
alltry to render you some able assistance."
So thinking, he moved quietly about among the vans and trucks, stoopingand climbing as occasion required, and doing it all so noiselessly that,had the night permitted him to be visible at all, he might have beenmistaken for a stout shadow or a ghost. He went about somewhat like aretriever snuffing the air for game. At last he reached a truck, notvery far from the place where Jim paced slowly to and fro, watching, nodoubt, for thieves. Little did he think how near he was to a thief atthat moment!
The truck beside which Mr Sharp stood sent forth a delicious odour ofAmerican apples. The superintendent of police smelt them. Worse thanthat--he undid a corner of the thick covering of the track, raised itand smelt again--he put in a hand. Evidently his powers of resistanceto temptation were small, for both hands went in--he stooped his head,and then, slowly but surely, his whole body went in under the cover anddisappeared. Infatuated superintendent! While he lay there gorginghimself, no doubt with the dainty fruit, _honest_ Jim paced slowly toand fro until, a very dark and quiet hour of the night having arrived,he deemed it time to act, put out his pipe, and moved with stealthytread towards the apple-truck. There were no thieves about as far as hecould see. He was placed there for the express purpose of catchingthieves. Ridiculous waste of time and energy--he would _make_ a thief!He would become one; he would detect and catch himself; repay himselfwith apples for his trouble, and enjoy himself consumedly! Noble idea!No sooner thought than carried into effect. He drew out a largeclasp-knife, which opened and locked with a click, and cut a tremendousslash about two feet long in the cover of the truck--passing, in sodoing, within an inch of the demoralised superintendent's nose.Thieves, you see, are not particular, unless, indeed, we may regard themas particularly indifferent to the injuries they inflict on theirfellow-men--but, what did we say? their fellow-men?--a railway is not afellow-man. Surely Jim's sin in robbing a railway must be regarded as avenial one. _Honest_ men do that every day and appear to think nothingof it! Nobody appears to think anything of it. A railway would seem tobe the one great unpardonable outlaw of the land, which does good tonobody, and is deemed fair game by everybody who can catch it--napping.But it is not easily caught napping. Neither was Mr SuperintendentSharp.
Jim's hand came through the hole in the covering and entered some sortof receptacle, which must have been broken open by somebody, for thehand was quickly withdrawn with three apples in it. Again it entered.Mr Sharp might have kissed it easily, but he was a man of considerableself-restraint--at least when others were concerned. He thought itadvisable that there should be some of the stolen goods found in Jim'spockets! He did not touch the hand, therefore, while it was drawn backwith other three apples in it. You see it was a large hand, and couldhold three at a time. A third time it entered and grasped more of theforbidden fruit.
"There's luck in odd numbers," thought Mr Sharp, as he seized the wristwith both of his iron hands, and held it fast.
The appalling yell which Jim uttered was due more to superstitious dreadthan physical fear, for, on discovering that the voice which accompaniedthe grip was that of Mr Sharp, he struggled powerfully to get free.After the first violent effort was over, Mr Sharp suddenly slid onehand along Jim's arm, caught him by the collar, and, launching himselfthrough the hole which had been cut so conveniently large, plunged intoJim's bosom and crushed him to the earth.
This was quite sufficient for Jim, who got up meekly when permitted, andpleaded for mercy. Mr Sharp told him that mercy was a commodity inwhich he did not deal, that it was the special perquisite of judges,from whom he might steal it if they would not give or sell it to him,and, bidding him come along quietly, led him to the station, and lockedhim up for the night.
Not satisfied with what he had already accomplished, Mr Sharp thenreturned to his office, where he found the faithful Blunt awaiting him,to whom he related briefly what he had done.
"Now," said he, in conclusion, "if we can only manage to clear up thatcase of the beer-cask, we shall have done a good stroke of businessto-day. Have you found out anything in regard to it?"
The case to which Mr Sharp referred was that of a cask of beer whichhad been stolen from the line at a station not three miles distant fromClatterby.
"Yes, sir," said David Blunt with a satisfied smile, "I have found outenough to lead to the detection of the thief."
"Indeed, who d'ye think it is?"
"One of the men at the station, sir. There have been two about it butthe other is a stranger. You see, sir," continued Blunt, with anearnest look, and in a business tone of voice, "when you sent me down toinvestigate the case I went d'rect to the station-master there and heardall he had to say about it--which wasn't much;--then off I goes to wherethe truck was standin', from which the cask had bin taken and potteredabout there for some time. At last I tried on the Red Indian dodge--followed up tracks and signs, till at last I came upon a mark as ifsomethin' had bin rolled along the bank, and soon traced it to a gapbroken through a hedge into a field. I followed it up in the field, andin a short time came on the cask itself. Of course I made a carefulexamination of the locality, and found very distinct foot-prints,particularly one of 'em on a piece of clay as sharp as if it had beenstruck in wax. While thus engaged I found a shoe--"
"Ha!" exclaimed Mr Sharp.
"And here it is," said Blunt taking the shoe from under his chair andlaying it on the table.
The superintendent took it up, examined it and then replaced it on thetable with a nod, saying, "Proceed."
"Well, sir, of course I looked well for the other shoe, but didn't findit; so I came away with what I had got, takin' care to place a lump of astone over the foot-print in the clay, so as to guard but not touchit,--for it wasn't the print of _this_ shoe, sir, though somewhat likeit."
"Ha!" exclaimed Mr Sharp again.
After revolving the matter in his mind for some minutes, and consultingwith his satellite, Mr Sharp resolved to go down at once to the placeand watch the beer-cask.
"It is not very late yet," he said, "and these thirsty boys will be sureto want a drop of beer to their supper to-night. What makes you so surethat Bill Jones is the thief?"
"Because," answered Blunt, "I observed that he was the only man at thestation that had on a pair of new shoes!"
"Well, come along," said Sharp, smiling grimly, "we shall find outbefore long."
They soon reached the scene of the robbery, and were able to examine theplace by the light of the moon, which had just managed to pierce thethick veil of clouds that had covered it during the earlier part of thatnight. Then they retired to a shady cavern, or hole, or hollow at thefoot of the embankment, near to the gap in the hedge, and there theyprepared to pass the night, with a heap of mingled clods and stones fortheir couch, and an overhanging bank of nettles for their canopy.
It was a long weary watch that began. There these patient men sat, hourafter hour, gazing at the moon and stars till they almost fell asleep,and then entering into animated, though softly uttered, conversationuntil they roused themselves up. It was strange converse too, aboutstruggles and fights with criminals and the detection of crime. But itwas not _all_ on such subjects. No, they forsook the professional pathoccasionally and strayed, as pleasantly as other men do, into theflowery lanes of social life--talking of friends, and wives, andchildren, and home, with as much pathos and tenderness as if theirerrand that night had been to succour some comrade in distress, insteadof to watch like wolves, and pounce on unawares, and half throttle ifneed be, and bear off to punishment, an erring fellow-mortal.
But no fellow-mortal came that night to be thus pounced on, throttled,and borne off. When it became obvious that there was no use inremaining longer, Mr Sharp and his satellite returned to the office,and the former bade the latter go home for the night.
The satellite, thus set free, went home and set immediately--in his bed.The luminary himself postponed his setting for a time, put the thief'sshoe in his pocket and went straight to t
he residence of Bill Jones,which he reached shortly after the grey dawn had appeared. Here hefound Bill in bed; but being peremptory in his demand for admission,Bill arose and let him in.
"You look rather pale this morning, Bill?"
"Bin at work late, sir," said Bill uneasily, observing that thesuperintendent was casting an earnest glance all round his room.
Jones was a bachelor, so there wasn't much of any kind to look at in theroom.
"You've been treating yourself to a new pair of shoes, I see, Jones,what have you done with the old ones?"
"I--they're worn-out, sir--I--"
"Yes, I see--ah! here is _one_ of them," said Mr Sharp, drawing an oldshoe out of a corner; "you don't require to look for the other, I've gotit here," he added, drawing its fellow from his pocket.
Jones stood aghast.
"Look here, Jones," said Mr Sharp, gazing sternly into the culprit'sface, "you needn't trouble yourself to deny the theft. I haven't yetlooked at the sole of _this_ shoe, but I'll engage to tell how manytackets are in it. We have discovered a little lump of clay down nearthe station, with a perfect impression of a sole having fifteen tacketstherein,--three being wanting on the right, side, two on the left, andone at the toe--now, let us see," he said, turning it up, "am I not agood prophet eh?"
Bill gave in at once! He not only made "a clean breast of it," but alsogave information that led to the capture of his accomplice before thatday's sun went down, and before Mr Sharp allowed himself to go to bed.
Thus did our superintendent winnow the chaff from the wheat continually.
Now, dear reader, do not say, "From all this it would appear thatrailway servants must be a bad lot of men!" It would be a thousandpities to fail into such an error, when we are labouring to prove to youthe very reverse, namely, that the bad ones being continually and well"looked after," none but the good are left. Our aim necessarilyinvolves that we should dilate much on evil, so that the evilunavoidably bulks large in your eyes; but if we were capable of layingbefore you all the good that is done, felt and said by the thousands ofour true-hearted men-of-the-line, the evil that is mingled with themwould shrink into comparative insignificance.
The truth is, that in writing these details we desire to reassureourself, as well as to comfort you, O timid railway traveller, byasserting and illustrating the unquestionable fact, that if our dangerson the line are numerous and great, our safeguards at all points are farmore numerous and much greater.