Publisher's Synopsis
On a certain Saturday in June, year of our Lord 1880, between the hours of sunrise and sunset, the town of W--, in a State which shall be nameless, received two shocks. Small affairs, concerning small people, could never have thrown W-- into such a state of excitement, for she was a large and wealthy town, and understood what was due to herself. She possessed many factories, and sometimes a man came to his death among the ponderous machinery. Not long since one "hand" had stabbed another, fatally; and, still later, a factory girl had committed suicide. These things created a ripple, nothing more. It would ill become a town, boasting its aristocracy and "style," to grow frenzied over the woes of such common people. But W-- possessed a goodly number of wealthy families, and some blue blood. These were worthy of consideration, and upon these calamity had fallen. Let us read an extract or two from the W-- Argus, a newspaper of much enterprise and exceeding veracity: MONSTROUS DIAMOND ROBBERY-BOLD BURGLARY. This day we are startled by the news of a robbery in our midst, the like of which it has never been our fate to chronicle. When the servants at Wardour Place arose this morning, they found confusion reigning in the library, desks forced open, papers strewn about, and furniture disarranged. One of the long windows had been opened by forcing the shutters, and then cutting out a pane of glass, after which the bolts were easily drawn.
