e had been his confiding
to Hedgspeth his plans for defrauding an insurance company--a mistake,
the unfortunate results of which might have been avoided, if he had kept
faith with the train robber and given him the 500 dollars which he had
promised.

The case of Holmes illustrates the practical as well as the purely
ethical value of "honour among thieves," and shows how a comparatively
insignificant misdeed may ruin a great and comprehensive plan of crime.
To dare to attempt the extermination of a family of seven persons, and
to succeed so nearly in effecting it, could be the work of no tyro, no
beginner like J. B. Troppmann. It was the act of one who having
already succeeded in putting out of the way a number of other persons
undetected, might well and justifiably believe that he was born for
greater and more compendious achievements in robbery and murder than
any who had gone before him. One can almost subscribe to America's claim
that Holmes is the "greatest criminal" of a century boasting no mean
record in such persons.

In the remarkable character of his achievements as an assassin we are
apt to lose sight of Holmes' singular skill and daring as a liar and
a bigamist. As an instance of the former may be cited his audacious
explanation to his family, when they heard of his having married a
second time. He said that he had met with a serious accident to his
head, and that when he left the hospital, found that he had entirely
lost his memory; that, while in this state of oblivion, he had married
again and then, when his memory returned, realised to his horror his
unfortunate position. Plausibility would seem to have been one of
Holmes' most useful gifts; men and women alike--particularly the
latter--he seems to have deceived with ease. His appearance was
commonplace, in no way suggesting the conventional criminal, his
manner courteous, ingratiating and seemingly candid, and like so many
scoundrels, he could play consummately the man of sentiment.

The weak spot in Holmes' armour as an enemy of society was a dangerous
tendency to loquacity, the defect no doubt of his qualities of plausible
and insinuating address and ever ready mendacity.

The Widow Gras

Report of the trial of the woman Gras and Gaudry in the Gazette
des Tribunaux. The case is dealt with also by Mace in his "Femmes
Criminelles."

I

THE CHARMER

Jenny Amenaide Brecourt was born in Paris in the year 1837. Her father
was a printer, h