SENTIMENTAL BURGLAR.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 945, 24 January 1911, Page 4

SENTIMENTAL BURGLAR.

HYPNOTISED BY A BEAUTIFUL CHILD. The story of Editha’s burglar, over which many people have smiled, and perhaps still more people have groaned when amateurs have recited it, has been enacted in real life at the Hotel Britanuique in the Avenue Victoria in Paris. The man who played the burglar’s part —and played it so well that be is now in prison—calls himself Reitzuer von Heidelberg. He may have other aliases. The heroine is the ‘cu- •‘ car-old daughter of lire Mnrqune de Varilio, a lady oi the Spanish Court, who has visiting P.ris. The Marquise, with her daughter, some friends, andasuite of leu attendants, arrived from Madrid a few days ago (writes John N. Raphael in the Daily Express) and took all the first floor ol the Hotel Britanuique. Yesterday morning (November 23) the Marquise went out to do some shopping. She went out early, for she feared that fog would set in again, and the visits to her dressmaker and the hat shop bad to be made as far as possible by daylight. So Mme. la Marquise de Vadlia went to do her shopping with a maid, leaving her daughter Mercedes —a beautiful child of ten —asleep in her room. Before she went the Marquise locked the bedroom door and gave her maid the kej' to carry. Her surprise, therefore, can be imagined when, on returning from her shopping soon after ten o’clock, she saw tue bedroom door standing wide open. At first she thought that she must have got out of the lift on the wrong floor. She thought so more than ever when she saw a well-dressed man, whom she had never seen before, standing apparently in deep thought in the middle of the room, His eyes were fixed on the pillow of the bed, and the Marvuise saw her daughter sleeping there. The sleeping child had started up in bed, and was surprised and very frightened at the rush of people into her mother’s room. “ What is it, mother ; what is it ? ” she said. “ Nothing, my child,” said the Marquise ; 11 this gentleman made a mistake, that’s all. He has apologised and he is going,” ‘‘l think not,” said a quiet voice ; and one of the waiters, who had brought Mme. la Marquis her meals every day since she had been at the Hotel Britannique, produced a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and made the welldresssed man his prisoner. 11 Perhaps we might go into the next room, madame,” he said, ” while your maid looks over your things to find out what is missing. Meanwhile there are these,” and with a quick movement he produced a diamond ring and small golden thimble from his prisoner’s pocket. '• But,” said the Marquise, ‘‘ I should like an explanation. How was he” —pointing to the prisoner you” —pointing to the waiter — “ come to arrest him ?” The waiter laughed. “ This man’s name,” he said, “ is, or he says it is, Reitzuer von Heidelberg. He is an Austrian, and calls himself an engineer. He understands mechanics of a kind,” and with a deft movement he took from his prisoner’s pockets a little set of burglar’s tools and three skeleton keys. ” Now, do you understand, Madame ?” he said to the Marquise. “ Not quite,” the lady replied, “for you —” The waiter laughed again. “1, madame,” he explained, “am an Austrian detective. I am very much afraid that 1 shall be dismissed without wages or character from the Hotel Britanuique this evening, but I have the money to travel to Vienna, and 1 shall do myself the pleasure ol paying for Herr Heitzner von Heidelberg’s railway ticket as well.” “ Enough of this foolery,” said

the prisoner. “ You have arrested me, and surely that is sufficient. But I owe it to this lady to explain my presence in the room where her daughter”—he bowed to the Marquise —“the most beautiful child I ever seen, was asleep.” “You can explain all that,” said the detective, “to the Austrian criminal courts. The Paris police will find comfortable quarters for you until we leave for Vienna.” “ Let the man speak,” pleaded the Marquise. “ If you wish it, madame,” said the detective. “I may tell you. however, that he is a w_.i-knowu hotel thief who has been wanted for some time for thefts ot jewellery from Austrian hotels and hotels in other parts of Europe, which total many thousands ot pounds. The only thing I cannot understand is why he made such poor use of his time. Your maid tells me that you had jewellery worth ,£18,006 or more in the room where we arrested him.” “ Exactly,” said the Marquise. “ Let him speak,” and the man told his story. “I was in Madrid,” be said, “ at the railway station, when you, madame, with your friends, left for Paris. I heard from your talk on the platform whom who were, and that you were immensely rich. I heard you tell a friend to write to you at the. Hotel Britannique, in the Avenne Victoria. That was enough for me. “ I have been waiting my opportunity to rob you, and I found it this morning. I saw you go out. You locked your door, but I had these” —and with his handcuffed hands he pointed to the skeleton keys on the table. “I went into your room and saw the note on your dressing table. I put them in my pocket, with the little thimble and the diamond ring. May I congratulate Madame la Marquise on her exquisitely small hands ? “ I was making for your largest trunk when, passing the bed I saw your daughter sleeping there. I forgot everything, Madame la Marquise, except the child’s wonderful beauty. I have never seen such beauty since—since my litlle daughter died. Will you forgive me if I say that the two might have been twin children, so great is the resemblance ? I thought of nothing except that sleeping child on the bed. I stood and fed my heart on her beauty until you came.”