LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2529, 17 May 1882, Page 4

LITERATURE.

£IOO,OOO WORTH OF JEWELS,

{Concluded). Everything seemed to favor him. The bright moon, pouring ils sliver rays through the window, gave him plenty if light to work by, whilst it illumined with a glorious coruscation the bejewelled Madonna, in front of whom a little night light in a lamp of red glass was burning. The Yankee, sedulous to do no more mischief than was necessary, displaced tho lamp, but did not extinguish it. He then removed his coat in a business-like fashion, took a pair of scissors and some tweezers from h!a carpet bag, and next piled up a number of chairs so that he might mount to the level of the stone bracket on which the statue stood. Unfortunately the pyramid was ill made: the chairs parted as soon as the thief had reached the top, and was about to etep on to the altar, and O. U. Trigger rolled head foremost on to the marble pavement. A monosyllable which rhymed audibly with “lamb” exploded in the silence of the church, but the Yankee was not badly hurt. When he had rubbed himself he reconstructed the pyramid on more scientific principles, and this time reached the altar safely. He was much assisted in his next operations by finding that the statue of the Madonna was clamped to the wall, so that he was enabled to obtain a purchase, and, by clinging to It, ascend to the bnoket itself When he had done this ho laid his irreverent hand on the statue’s crown and lifted it. Oh, how heavy it was ! Next he removed tho sceptre, and orb from the Madonna’s bands, and their weight, too, made his heart bound ecstatically. Having dropped the royal emblems on the sltar. he went diligently to work on the rings, which he stuffed into his p ckets as fast as he could pull them off. There were about eighty in all After this, twenty five bracelets, twelve necklaces, six brooches, and a pair of long diamond earrings were successively lifted, giving the thief only the more appetite for the magnificently gemmed robes, which were finally cut off with tho scissors. The statue, having now been stripped of its ornaments to the last one, 10-ked like a wooden doll with a white enamel face. O. U. Trigger turned his back upon it, and lest no time in packing all hla foully-got plunder into his carpet bag. His first intention had been to dress up the despoiled Madonna in the white muslin robe and the crown of lilies he had bought for her at Lyons, so that the good folks at Orloll might perhaps bo thrown off the scent for an hour or two by thinking that a miracle had occurred. But the fitting of the new costume would have required too much time; besides which O/U. Trigger felt sora and angry at the tumble he had gotten on his first ascent. He had the grace, however, to restore the lantern to its place, and to lay out the white dress and wreath neatly on the altar. Moreover, he put back the chairs into their appointed places, so that no signs of untidiness lingered when hie work was ended. At last the Yankee stopped to Ilf

np his ca poll bag, and truly he found it no ■mall welgnt. With all his might and much wriggling ho contrived to sling it on to his shoulder, but it became evident that he could never walk ten miles with such a load.

» Tarnation ! I shall have to steal a horse and cart,’ grumbled the Yankee, divided between delight at the extent of his loot .-nd dismay at the unportable character of it, ‘ 1 don’t like such work lither. I oa'l itdarned mean to steal a man’s boss.’ For all this O. U. Trigger did steal « horse, or at least a mule, and a oart. His luck befriending him to tho end, he found a laborer’s cart, with harness, under a shed adjoining a corn field, and a mulo tethered hard by. Not a grand looking animal, certainly ; ho might have been worth five pounds at the hands of a liberal buyer, but he was a tractable beast, and this answered our Yankee’s purpose better. One has only to add that having got so far, O. U. Trigger was enabled to carry ont h!a programme point for point. He reached Berquetli in plenty of time to catch the Turin train i and a few hours after was across the French frontier. Then he made his way to Taris, having in the meanwhile destroyed his pass port as Thomas Whits, and dhcarded all papers that might identify him with that personage. A* for his loot, he did not mean to dispone of any part of it till ho had reached the United States, when he would sell tho stones, removed from their settings, and put all the gold and the silver into tho smelting-pot. Ho was somewhat exorcised in contriving how he might pass all his booty through the New York Custom House without paying onerous duty on it; but ho trusted to his good genius to advise him touching that matter during his presage ont.

But, meanwhile—that is, while O. U. Trigger made his way with impunity from one country to the other, till he reached Liverpool and took his berth on board a Cunard —meanwhile, what is happening at Orioli ? What wss happening to Father Cocooli ? Well, of course, on discovering that their Madonna’s wardrobe was gone the Otiolians raised a great wail, and shot such maledictions after the ‘Signer Bianco’ as must have pulverised that individual had there been any material dynamics in them. Father Coccoli also cried and screamed in a manner that was most touching to see while it lasted, But It did not last long That was the fortunate part of it. The worthy priest soon drew an immense drancht of consolation from the sight of the white dress and wreath which he espied on tho altar; for, was it not evident that these garments must have been sent down from heaven.

‘Eoco, ua' miraoulo * he shouted, in a fervent transport, somewhat sudden ; * behold, a mltaole ! It is certainly not that rascal of an American—whom may St. Peter remember to hand over to the devil when his time comes —lt is certainly not that Impenitent thief who has had the delicacy to place this spotless robe hero. It is a miracle, my friends ; let us fall on our knees.* They all wont on tbeir knees, but presently a man in the assemblage, who had been peering at the gown too closely, had the Impiety to remark that it looked like a dress of human agency —machine made, too. He was not a popular person, though, and his remarks met with no success. They led to his being silenced and bullied. Tho people all flocked out, repeating, “A miracle; a miracle !” the church bells were set ringing ; and from that day the village of Orioli became more honored than ever as a place of resort for pilgrims. In the course of a week 20 000 persons flocked thither'to pay their adorations to the white muslin drees and the crown of lilies; and of course abundant

offerings were made to repair tho losses which the Madonna had Buffered in tho way of jewels. Under the circumstances it was only natural that the good Father Coocoii

should have so quickly recovered his spirits But why did this worthy man occasionally chuckle so hilariously when alone? Why did tie sometimes, when at the table, burst

into a sudden flt of laughter, to the wonder of his pretty housekeeper, who would scold him for spluttering his maccaroni over his cassock ? Well, the troth is ihat the thief, O. U. Prlgger, had, by hlj outrage on the Madonna, unwittingly annihilated a very awkward skeleton, that had been long existent in the family cupboard of the Cooooli. The jewels that he had stolen were all false. The heavy crown, the orb, the soeptre, were of lead coated over with gilt brass ; for the noble and pious family Dei Ooocoli had, after founding the chnroh at Orioli (about fifty years ago), converted its populatity as a place of pllgrltnega to the increasing of their revenues. Once every three months or so the jewels offered to the Madonna were sent to Paris, where facsimiles of thsm were made in base metal and sham stones, after which the originals were sold. Father Oocooli, however, naving become rich by this game, had got to feel somewhat nervous about continuing to play It In these awkward new times when Governments, police, and Frees thrust ti eir noses everywhere. Signor Bianco's robbery consequently gave him an opportunity of tel ing his cousin the Marches* de C'ouoali that ho wished to retire now into the peace of episcopal life. He soon afterwards became Bishop of Vilastiletti, in Sicily, and is much revered by his flock there, mostly composed of reformed brigands—that is brigands reformed by the gendarmerie. As for Orpheus UT, Prigger, he was last heard of as holding some public office in his country. But he is * death ’ on priests and on jewellers— ‘A mean, shabby lot, sir; equal to playing you any trick, I guess 1 And plagny dishonest, Darn the lot! I know ’em right through, for I’ve been robbed by ’em.’ That is how he describes tho objects of his aversion.