Three from '99

HERE ARE SEVERAL unrelated crime fiction pieces that do have something in common: they were published in the same year and in the same magazine:

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     "It is a clever copy."

"The Stolen Rubens: And the Part Played by a Pot-Pourri Jar."
By Huan Mee (Charles Herbert Mansfield, 1864-1930, and Walter Edward Mansfield, 1870-1916).
Illustrations by Leonard Linsdell.
First appearance: The Harmsworth Monthly Pictorial Magazine, February 1899.
Short short story (6 pages, 5 illos).
Online at Hathi Trust (HERE).
(Note: Some text is faded.)

". . . for London would smile."

Just about any conman will tell you that the Achilles heel of most marks is their vanity . . .

Resources:
- One character in our story makes a remark about "playing the Duchess of Devonshire dodge," by which we think he means (THIS); reference, too, is made to "those enterprising gentlemen who annexed Gainsborough's picture," an allusion to (THIS).

- Our first meeting with Huan Mee was just last month (HERE).

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    "A very nice little plot, I flatter myself . . ."

"How We Held Up the Bank."
By George Hudworth (?-?).
Illustrations by S. H. Vedder.
First appearance: The Harmsworth Monthly Pictorial Magazine, July 1899.
Short short story (6 pages, 5 illos).
Online at Hathi Trust (HERE).

"Who would look for bank robbers in a lady's type-writing office?"

Ah, those best-laid plans . . .

Resources:
- So far, nothing doing with info about our author.

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    "I was not going to let a man be murdered in my presence, if I could help it."

"On the Strict 'Q.T.'"
By G. Villari (?-?).
Illustrations by R. W. Wallace.
First appearance: The Harmsworth Magazine Monthly Pictorial Magazine, August 1899.
Short short story (7 pages, 6 illos).
Online at Hathi Trust (HERE).
(Note: Some of the text is faded.)

"Whatever may be his faults, he has one great virtue: he is always most grateful for benefits received."

The thing about being a Good Samaritan is that you can't be picky about who it is you're wanting to save . . .

Resources:
- As far as G. Villari is concerned, we can't find anything about him or her.

- When M. Audran remembers that he served in soixante-dix ("seventy"), the reference is, of course, to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71; see Wikipedia (HERE) for background.

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