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in the "treats" of various kinds which he dispensed to favored ones with a lavish hand.

Not content with sighing at a distance for the object of his affections, and on one occasion making a decided demonstration, by throwing a gold bracelet upon the stage, intended to encircle her arm, the enamored youth often watched for his charmer as she descended from the world of imagination to that of real life,-from the theatrical stage to that humble, but useful vehicle, an omnibus; and having ascertained which one was irradiated by her presence, he madly rushed after, and purchased, with the slight outlay of a sixpence, the enrapturing consciousness of being included within the narrow walls that held the mistress of his heart.

But "the course of true love never did run smooth." Sometimes unfeeling parents obstruct; sometimes "no" is a decided obstacle; but neither of these was the immediate cause of the rough “course” in the present instance. It does not appear that our stricken youth had ever approached near enough to his "bright particular star" to admit of any confidential disclosure of the state of his feelings; much less had he opened any negotiations with the "powers that be." The rocks on which he split were, the manager of the Museum and a police officer !

When the reader is informed that the lad in question was not the son of wealthy parents, and had, or ought to have had no other pecuniary resources than those which he derived from his occupation in the employ of a bookseller, he will readily conjecture whence came the means for the indulgence of such extravagance and folly as have been described. Such an unusual occurrence as the hiring of a stage box by a boy, for several nights in succession (the expense of which was five dollars a night), attracted the attention and the suspicions of the manager of the Museum, who sent for the police, and, on searching the boys, an empty envelope, addressed to "S & Co., Fulton Street," the employers of our precocious young gentleman, was found upon his person. It was then ascer

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LOSSES EXPLAINED.

tained that S—————— & Co. had recently lost several money-letters, and the boy, being the person who took the letters out of the post-office for the firm, had appropriated the money to his own. use. He was tried before the United States Court, and sent to the House of Refuge, where, it is to be hoped, he was cured of indulging his boyish whim at the expense of his employer's money and his own character.

Bank Letter lost-The Thief decoyed-Post-Office at MidnightClimbing the Ladder-An exciting Moment-Queer Place of Deposit. A Post Master in Prison-Afflicted Friends-Sighs and Saws-The Culprit's Escape-How it was done-A cool Letter-A Wife's Offering.

Moral Gymnastics-Show of Honesty-Unwelcome Suggestion.

“A hard road to travel"-Headed by a Parson-Lost Time made up -A Male overhauled.

The Invalid Wife-The Announcement-A touching Incident.

DURING the whole of the author's official career, he has never been brought into physical conflict with any one, nor exposed to any great danger in the discharge of his duties. These duties have seldom called him to undergo "moving accidents by flood and field," excepting so far as severe weather, dangerous roads, fractious horses, or some other of the inconveniences and perils incident to the different modes of traveling, might be classed under that head.

An incident, however, once occurred while I was engaged in investigating a case of depredation, which may be worthy of record here, as it is not devoid of a certain picturesqueness, even aside from the extremely interesting circumstance (to me) that my head, for a short time, seemed to be in imminent danger.

The case referred to was that of the loss of a letter containing six hundred dollars, posted by the cashier of a Northern bank. The person, (a post-office clerk,) whom I

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AN EXCITING MOMENT.

suspected of being the robber, was detected in taking a decoy letter which was placed in his office after the loss of the one first mentioned. On the strength of this, I boldly charged him with the first loss, and insisted that he should restore the money. After the usual assertion of innocence, and some demur, he intimated to me that the spoils were hidden somewhere in the post-office.

This interview was held in the directors' room of the bank which had suffered the loss, and I immediately proposed that we should go over to the office and get the money. Accordingly we proceeded thither. It was then after midnight. As soon as we entered, my companion locked the door behind us, and preceded me, with a lantern in his hand. A remark which I made respecting the lonely appearance of a post-office at that time of night, drew from him nothing but a sullen assent, which put an end to any further conversational efforts on my part.

The room (or rather recess) in which he lodged, was over that part of the office devoted to the public, a space in front of the boxes, and access was had to it by means of a ladder inside the office.

The clerk rapidly ascended this ladder and I followed closely behind, without a word being spoken by either of us. The apartment, besides the ordinary furniture of a lodging-room, contained a few shelves of books, indicating some pursuit more creditable to their owner than those which had rendered my interference with them necessary. I had before been told that he was somewhat diligent in the cultivation of his intellect.

Setting down his lantern upon the table, he reached up and took down a rifle which was suspended to the wall, directly over his bed, a fit emblem for one engaged in rifling the mails.

Although the moodiness which he had displayed during our intercourse that evening, had not surprised me, yet I was by no means prepared to expect that he would resort to such extreme measures as his movements seemed to indicate.

I was uncertain what to do. "The better part of valor"

ESCAPE OF A MAIL ROBBER.

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being "discretion," it was by no means clear whether this same discretion required me to rush upon him, or to make a precipitate retreat down the ladder, or to jump and disappear in the darkness below. There was evidently no time to lose, for the deadly weapon was already pointed in my direction, and its desperate owner was fumbling about the stock, as if, in the dim light, he could not easily find the lock.

Springing towards him, I seized the rifle by the barrel, remarking, that I wished he would not turn the muzzle upon me, and then I saw what he was attempting to do. He had crammed the stolen notes into the "patch-box" of the rifle, and was endeavoring to get them out, which he could not readily effect as they were tightly wedged in. I cheerfully volunteered to assist him, and by our united efforts, the debt was discharged instead of the rifle! In other words, I recovered the identical bank-notes, deposited in the office by the cashier several weeks previously, all in one hundred dollar bills.

The evidence furnished by the "patch-box," was of course amply sufficient to convict the depredator, had other proof been wanting, and he was recently sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in the State Prison.

An ingeniously planned and successfully executed escape of a mail robber from prison, occurred in Troy, New York, less than a year ago.

This person had held the office of post master in a place of some note in the Northern part of New York. He was a man of education, and connected by birth and marriage with some of the most respectable and influential families in that part of the State, and in the Province of Canada.

These favorable circumstances, however, did not prevent him from becoming seriously embarrassed in his pecuniary affairs, by which he was led, in an evil hour, to resort to mail depredations, continuing them until this course was cut short