Edward Roblin
page 3
One morning as the jailer was making his accustomed rounds he was surprised to find the cell of Edward tenantless. An inspection of his dwelling revealed the fact that his daughter's room was likewise unoccupied. Just then word came to him from the stable boy that the stall of his favorite chestnut gelding was empty. Putting this and that together, the poor jailer was lost in imagining all sorts of evils; in short he was so bewildered he knew not which way to turn; his grief at the loss of his chestnut gelding was the most bitter of all; and to satisfy himself he made a visit in person to the stable, and found it was but too true-his favorite was gone, the stall was empty, with the exception of a limb from a chestnut tree in the yard, which limb was tied to the manger in lieu of the horse. To this limb was attached a note addressed to himself in the following words:
MY DEAR FATHER-IN-LAW-As you will be when you read this,-pardon the liberty I take in exchanging horses with you. I acknowledge this is a horse of another color, still there is not much difference; as yours was a chestnut horse the exchange is but fair, for this is a horse chestnut. It is the best legacy I can leave you at present, coupled with the best wishes of
EDWARD ROBLIN
All the village dames suddenly discovered that the jailer's daughter was a shiftless minx. Nothing more was heard of her or her husband until Edward turned up with the Tory gang of Claudius Smith. Edward was second in enterprise and daring to none but his chief.
The husband of Zadie Price turned out to be a poor, miserable fellow, whose reputed wealth was only pretension. Zadie soon returned to her father's home, rapidly went into a decline, and in a few years died of a broken heart.
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