The Argosy — page 85: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE ARGOSY, This Year at Dieppe. 73 (supposed) plot revealed itself, little by littlh—one fact looming slowly out after another. About a fortnight previously, two men, apparently gentlemen, arrived at a small hotel on the port, a dozen doors or so from Madame Le- fébre’s. The landlord assumed that they had come over by the New- haven boat, but had no proof of it. They stayed at Dieppe some days, and then went up to Panis to see the Exhibition. The supposition 1s, that they had a third man with them, lodging elsewhere, and that this one remained at Dieppe, making himself acquainted with the habits of the Lefébres. Down they came from Paris, the two, having seen the Exhibition, which they did not forget to talk of to the landlord. At night they paid their bill, saying they were going away the next morn- ing. One of them, as it appeared, went to the Hotel de Commerce, on the market-place, and hired a carriage, to be in readiness at six o’clock in the morning, to take him to St. Aubin, the first station on the line of rails. The carriage was in readiness accordingly, and at six, or there- abouts, the hirer made his appearance with two friends, all of whom were driven off. ‘This was only a few minutes after the robbery was effected. On the road they called to the driver, and directed him to drive them to Longueville, instead of St. Aubin, which is the second station on the line. As they went along, the driver met a friend with a return carriage, and pulled up. ‘Tell my master,” said he, “that I shall not be home so soon as I thought, for these gentlemen want to go to Longueville.” On they sped again. The driver says he saw them changing their coats in the carriage; they seemed to take off some inner coats, and put them over their others ; but the man’s suspicions were not excited, and he had not heard of the robbery. At Longueville they stopped at an inn, paid the man for the carriage, gave him a handsome gratuity for himself, and told him to wait, and be in readiness to take them back to Dieppe at six in the evening. They ordered dinner at the inn, and walked away. Nothing more was seen of them. The dinner waited, and the coach waited ; but the gentlemen forgot both. The supposition arrived at was, that they were the clever thieves. Of course, there is no positive proof of it; but one cannot help seeing the probability. No- thing more was heard of the money; nothing, most likely, ever will be heard of it. ‘‘T have been saving and saving for twenty years, and now it’s all gone !” said poor Madame Lefébre to me. “Twenty-two thousand francs! it 1s all we had in the world. At any other time, the loss might not have been half so great, but the close of the month had brought in outstanding accounts. Perhaps the thieves knew this.” Some good people in the town came forward and lent her a little money, to keep her exchange open: and there the matter rests. But October has come in—bringing weather that will frighten us all! G comicaocks (GO)