The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1865-02-10

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upon the onjoyments of the hour with
great zest, but ] nevertheless kept
a keen eye upon all that transpircd
around nc
soon convinced myself that OBJ
dyke was not ft-handed, nor had he
lost one Of his fingers. IL was then
certain that he was not the actual per-
petrator Of the deed.
examined the hands Of every guest,
but could not discover my man. One,
it is true, L took to be left-handed,
FROM the fact that he always took up
his glass with that hand; but then
that WIS nothing, for 1 knew right
hand folks to do the same thing.
1, however. looked at his right hand
the fingers were all there, or, at least,
appeared 70 be, for the man wore kid
gloves
suddenly bright idea entered my
brain and l resolved to carry it out.
[ provided myself with pin, and
watched for an opportunity when he
would lay his hand on a chair or Ia
bic In the meantime, l had been IN
PRODUCED to him; he called himself
David Jarret, and was a married man.
The opportunity presented itself; he
rested his right hand on the table,
when l directed his attention to a dis
tant part of the room, and while he
looked, | drove the pin into his index
finger, just above the first JOINT.
He did not move his hand l with
drew the pin; it came out as easily as
il had entered. The substance it had
entered WAS not flesh, but cotton /
behold the assassin of Charles Simonds;
Of that l was firmly convinced. I re-
solved to try another test. had the
letter found in the valise in my pos
session. / went home, took an exact
copy from it, then sent copy in an
envelope to Mr. Obdyke by boy, af-
ter which, | returned to the saloon of
nay host excusing myself for the tenn
poraly absence.
According to my instruction, the
lad entered the room and handed the
envelope to Morris Obdyke. 1 had
written nothing in it. I merely sent
a copy 1 wanted to see how it affect
ed him.
The ruse was perfectly successful.
As soon as he glanced at it he turned
pale, and when he concluded it he cast
a glance around him, then leisurely
sauntering towards tho spot where
Jarret sat playing cards, he handed
him the note, and then bockoned him.
70 follow.
Obdyke entered side door. pres
emily followed by his aceompliee.
Now was the period for action. l
had some half dozen of tho boldest
policemen stationed within hearing.
I gave the signal, they entered, and
in very short time had my birds
Gagged
It was subsequently ascertained that
Mr.. Simonds had been robbed of a
very. large amount of gold and hank
notes. SO the assassin must have en-
tered the house after despatching his
victim, and added the crime Of rob-
berry to that Of murder
I could not account for the splendid
manner in which Mr.. Obdyke lived
He lived on his blood money
The evidence against the culprits
was too strong to admit any doubt of
their guilt They were duly ar
raigned, and their execution followed
close upon their conviction 4
I gained two things by my partici-
patton in the affair that Croft had
abandoned in despair. The first was
one thousand pounds, which was the
reward offered for the apprehension of
the assassin. The other was, / gained
the reputation of being the shrewdest
detective in the entire force, q title
Croft enYied me not little.
The Towns or CHEss, In a work of
fiction, which appeared towards the
close Of the last century, occurs the
following passage; eaf
at is singular that men find amuse- /
ment in intense thinking in games, |
although it appears very irksome on
most other occasions. But it ia your /
speculative geniuses chiefly that de-
light the thoughtful games Tho vul- (
gar, who are accustomed to bodily |
labour, in like manner delight in I
athletic exercises. 1t would seem at !
first sight that the laboring man, by I
way of varying the scene, would sit
down TO some game that required .