It was a great deal more than the gipsy had ever expected, and he expressed himself more than satisfied—indeed, he was modest enough to intimate that it was more than he deserved.
Meanwhile the inmates of the house at Denmark-hill were aroused from their slumbers by the screaming of the servant girl, who had seen the burglar make a precipitate retreat over the lawn in the rear of her master’s house.
Her fellow-servants jumped out of their beds, huddled on their things, and hastened at once to see what was the matter.
The owner of the establishment looked in vain for his trousers, which our hero had so cleverly possessed himself of.
The gentleman sought for another pair, but his wardrobe as well as the drawers in his room were locked, and his bunch of keys was not at hand.
Wrapping himself in his long dressing gown and drawers, and putting his feet into his slippers, he sallied forth.
The open safe, the black trousers on one of the chairs of the library, together with the missing property, clearly demonstrated that a burglar had been in the premises.
A search was at once instituted for the robber, but without any satisfactory result.
The merchant was furious.
He ordered one of his man-servants to hasten at once to the station and give notice to the police.