Litchfield enquirer., 1876-10-12
It belongs to the post office department,
 and Colonel Furay must have that iden-

tica1 bill. -. -
 (Signed) s.JoHN MIDDLETON.
 The prisoner was turned over to the United Stites marshal for the territory, who happened to be in CeyIon in attend ance on the district court.
 After considerable trouble and delay, a span of horses with driver were procur- ed, ,and the special agent set forth through the darkness and the rain for Tilsit, forty three miles distant. It was his purpose to reach there and secure the stolen note before any possible alarm could be sound ed by telegraph the next morning. The roads were bad, the mud deep and the drive slow; but the travellers, drenched till they were vwater-soaked, arrived at Tilsit about four o'clock a. m. The little town was buried in silence and slumber. He called first at the jail to inquire where Crandall lived, and was there directed to the sheriff, who, like the jailor, was enn- able to give the desired information He | then drove to the house of the postmaster, an honest, faithful old gentleman, whom, on account Of his advanced age, he sdesir- ed. if possible, to avoid disturbing at that unreasonable hour. The excellent old man, however, rose with alacrity and get ting into the buggy, piloted the way to Crandall's. After some delay and barley through the window, that gentleman an swered the bell in person, and invited the | callers in. The special agent declined to advance beyond the oil-cloth in the outer hall, as the water dripping from. his gar- ments made pool around his feet. MT. Cranda1l, :" inquired the officer, ''you know John Middleton 2" 'f@ s'Yes, I know such persona "s 4G aE sMr. Crandall, he gave you five hun- dred dollar bill the third of this month ?"
 What business is it of yours," replied that gentleman, guerulouslY, ''whether he did or not ? Is it for a matter of no great CT consequence that you dragged me out of bed ?" ''I am certainly sorry to have disturbed you. but I must have that bill. Here is 8 written order for it. The bill was stolen from the mails. want it at once, and want it badly. The business does not ad- init of temporizing. Where is it ?''
 ''I haven't got it.'' .-
 ''Then what have you done with it ?" ''I do not understand this thing" re- monstrated Crandall. II want to know whether am getting into scrape or not" @% @ At this point the postmaster mildly re- marked, '.You will not get into any trou- ble if you pursue a frank and straight forward course; but to avoid trouble, you must act squarely." 'sa
 Crandall then proceeded to explain. Middleton did give me such a blll. He had been owing me for years. After hold ing it few days, surmising it might be Q counterfeit, took it to the president of the bank where keep my account. As both of us were in doubt, we made 8 record of the numbers, and sent it to Chicago for deposit It proved to be good" .1~as o,.z.7.r. t.o..
 "Have you the numbers? ?" queried the agent.
 s'Yes." f-fIrf"
 "Where are they?" f ..f ...g
 ''In the safe at my store." .-.s s.
 "Well. urged the agent. ''I must have them now.
 After futile remonstrance against ex- posture to the storm, the merchant led the way to the store. unlocked the safe, and took therefrom complete description of the mstiffsF mstiffs sFhieb fkaale hf6 paper the three placed their initials with the date, so that no dispute might ever arise in regard to it's identity.
 Now for the first time the detective had legal evidence to establish the guilt of the criminal, and he felt hundred-fold re- paid for the dismal night ride through mud and rain. .-.
 He went home with the postmaster, borrowed dry shirt, and took short nap while his garments were drying. So hot had been the chase that this was the first time he had closed his eyes in sleep for nearly sixty hours. Crandall, as was afterward learned, turned out to be crooked" in some of his transactions, and fell into serious trouble in consequence. Had the detec- tive waited till the next day to make 8 comfortable trip to Tilsit on. the cars, he would very probably have lost the case. Of course no one but person terribly in earnest would have driven over forty miles by night in pelting storm to make sure of scrap of evidence; but, it should be remembered, only persons who are ter | ribly in earnest ever succeed as special agents of the post office department. The picked men of the force are the men that in an army would be selected to lead g forlorn hope, and that would fall if need be pierced by 8 thousand bullets before they would turn their backs on danger. In all, three hundred and thirty dollars of the stolen money was recovered and re- stored to the government eighty-six dol lars having been found on the person of the prisoner, which was applied to the purpose.
 The offender soon heard of the sham ride, and concluded that undue duress, |" or some other illegal squeezing machine, had been applied to him Backed by in- fuential friends he made prolonged and desperate effort to escape from the penal | ty of his crimes, but, after lying in jail for eighteen months, decided to plead guilty in open court to two indictments. He received moderate sentence As no evidence was presented at the trial, the ruse de guerre was never exposed. From P. H. Woodwurd's .f1scinatirg book, "GatGrdiseg the MGiIs." t ... .. .a TD1Errr r>y NEw Txy/,r xyr1 T9E,1yo,