Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-04-09
Selling q Wild Awake.

Selling Wide Awake.
Every community is afflicted, moro or less.
with II sect of busy,bodest msddline f,ols,
who effect to know better how to prosecute II
neighbof's business than the nc;ghhor does
himself, and who are ever bestowine advice
upon those who do not need it. Such an one
is old W. n bachelor, who lives within
the corporate limits of Mobile. and who inn
AGNES that he knows more about the husi-
ness ofa detective" than forty such men
as Yidocq with all the secret police agents
of our country thrown in.
About the 18th Of last December. New Or.
! leans contained, amongst other celebrities.
q distinguished gentleman of the slippery
! kinda chcrcLicr d'hldust,Ie, whose name is
doubtless familiar to, every leading man in
South Carolina Gcorgin, Louisiana. and even
! other States farther West. Our detective"
naturally Supposing that person possessing
such brilliant talents for genteel swndlng
as the gentleman referred to, and who could
not long keep himself from becoming too por-
ular in New Orleans. began, to reason with
himself III regard to the probable route tue
gentlemen would take when he left the Crcs-
ent City, and finally concluded in his own
mind that Mobile would likely be the first
| rlace the gentleman would visit. Itwas then
that our detective set his wits to work, and
devised schemes to effect an arrest which
would throw all iCrmer enterprises of the
sort into the shade. lie would give u tel
ling instance Uf his superior sngacity, and OBJ
tain all the credit and glory which such an
arrest was obliged to call forth from the pub
| lie. Already lie could see his name herald
ell forth in the first class newspapers of the
country,and read in prospective, the nuttering
notices OF the press, and the thanks of the
whoio country, expressed through the edit
ors, that the delinquent had been stopped at
last Bat the game was not yet bagged
Wei, timccreptalnnS, and every day inund
the indclatigabc W at the mail line
wharf, conveniently posted, suh;ccting each
passenger, as lrc landed from the mail boat
To the very closest scrutiny. ss
One day, about the'2ist day &c December
and while W was comfortably seated at
his post of observation, waiting for the boat
he was accOsted by IL man, wlIo tappcd him
upon the shoulder to draw his attention.-
Ihc new conner was,apparcntly about forty
eight or fifty years old, was dressed i'm Il suit
of black, wore a light brown oil cloth hat
used pair of gold framed spcctaclcs, and as
our eager and inQusitivc detective mt once
discovered carried a goldleaded cane with
the letters "lI. L. D." neatly engraved up
With the blandcst smile on his very pre-
posscSsive countchancc, he apologscd for the
intrusion, but begged to know if W -
could give him the address of several of our
railroad directors, naming them, and also
the parties concerned in the mail line between
this city and New Orlcuns. W, favora-
bly, Impressed with the gcntleman's manner,
and ever ready to furnish any amount of in.
formation deyirod. complied with the request
Immediately, and was so kind as to give not
only their address but u condensed history
,f tlnIp ,l :. 4
| ton. BY degrees, as they grew moro init
mate, the stranger informed him of his object
in making the inquiry. lie was an agent of
n company who were about establishing an
express line between New Orleans and Cairo,
via Mobile over the Mobile and Ohio Rail
road, and desired to be rs well posted as pos.
siblc in regard to the kind of men he had to
confer with.
This exactly suited W, andwith alac-
rity he rendered his services to the distin-
guishcd stranger; politely pilotedh him over
the city; introduced him to several promi-
ncnt men in the community, and spent all
his time in the company of Gel. p, (the
name of the strangely even to the neglect al
most his selfimposed duties as detective"
so close was the intimacy between the two
that W. even related to the Colonel
his whole plap for nrrcsting the gentleman"
when he arrivedfrom New Orleans, and was
compimented very highly blythe Colonel for
the marked sogacity of his schomc.
Such was the kind of feeling existing, on
the part of our detective towards the Colonel
when the last day of the month rolled round,
and W was Gppfised by his friend
that urgent business de,na hded his attention
in Washington City. end dat it was necessa.
Try he should bo there by the 9th of january.
! Business which involved tho safety or loss of
over n million Of dollars to himself and prn-
cipals. OF course the tics of friendship, so
recently formed had to be severed. 1,usi-
ness is business, and must be attended to.
The couple took a carriage and proceeded
to the lcvec, wllerclay the steamer f4e Gfand,
and our detective and the Colonel went a.
board, took n social parting glass, and after
u few moments Of earnest conversation, in
which the Colonel expfessed his sincere thanks
for the kiudnnss W. bad shown him,
whilst in the city, and in which W
earnestly cntreated, tho Colonel to advise him
promptly Of his mission--they Separated.
W-7---stood on the wharf and waved his
handkerchief to the Colonel. and ns tho boat
gradually got under. way, he withdrew his
attention for a second, and when nc looked
again the Colonel had disap peared.
And so had VS. fnefgold watch
and pocket book No, hc coaid'nt have