others, was given the matter to investigate. I turned my attention to the men who had been pals of the man sent to jail. Meanwhile counterfeit coin came as usual, and doubtless from the same source as before, but there was no clue. At last I discovered that the members of the gang were going and coming by the railway that takes the traveler to Little Hoosack. I traveled in a dozen different disguises on this railway and one day dressed as an aged, grey-bearded farmer, sat in the same seat with one of the criminals and talked with him. He left the train at little Hoosack. In this way the place of operations was located--somewhere around Hoosack. "I had been going back and forth so much that I was afraid I should be recognized, therefore another detective came to Hoosack last spring ostensibly to sell trees, but really to look around. He did not stay long. As soon as he saw the hermit he thought he had a clue. I shaved off my full beard, and in a very ordinary suit came up here to stay until something could be determined. The man who sold trees said that 'Squire Mayne was a good man, had a large house, room enough, and that I'd better apply to him for work. I did not wish to be known as a boarder in the town, for suspicion might be directed against a man who had nothing to do. "I began to walk abroad o' nights at once. I found a short way of going to the hermit's. Many a time, concealed within a few feet of the door, I have seen the rascals go in with their bags and satchels. And after they had gone in I have crept up to one side of the house and listened. Not a sound, except a distant or muffled sound. I knew they had retired to some place very near, and when I saw that the cellar was full of earth I imagined where that place was. "You remember, John, the day we went a fishing. "I he man we met in the woods was one of them. He was on his way to the Hermits. He knew that his pals were coming up that path, and hence he was in great haste to get away from us to warm them. I knew him at once and I held back and held my face down, for although my beard was gone and my dress was different, yet even then I did not want to trust myself face to face with a man as sharp as he was. We saw the men coming up the path. They had some complicated tools with them. They were put off the train 'way down at Hedgetown by a farmer-like man. From there they came in a wagon to the mountain, but while making the ascent an axle was broken and the tools left where the accident occurred. That is the history of the broken wagon found on the pike and the history of the stray horse that at last found its way back to the owners. "You remember the man who joined us while fishing. He was another of the gang. He came around to learn if we had discovered anything, to learn if the appearance of the other had aroused our suspicions. I moved away from him quick. I did not come home that night. I followed that fellow straight to the Hermits. You wondered that I carried a revolver. Every one of the gang was armed, and any one of them that knew me would not hesitate to fire if they found me alone. "As for the old Hermit, he was a hardened criminal, and has been in jail off and on since he was fifteen years old. The night we took them away. I learned from one of them that three different men had played the role of Hermit, but most of the time the part was acted by the same one, the hardest criminal of the lot. Another thing, I believe the petty thieving carried on during the fall--the robbing of men roosts, etc., was done by members of the gang for recreation and to supply food. "Of course after Mr. Mayne found out that I was away nights, he wanted to know what I was doing. I don't blame him. He had a right to know, and I told, and well did he keep the secret, and more, stood up for me when the rest were inclined to criticise me. He has my warmest thanks. On many a night have I laid within four or five feet of the door of the Hermit's house and listened, and watched, and often I