The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-09-06
A 'HERALD" PERSONAL.
BY A DETECTIVE.

the personal" column OF the heTdlu,
conspicuous only for its singular and
most aggravating combination OF letters
and figures, the sole clue to the where
abOuts Of the game had been after for
over a week, scarcely resting, eating or
sleeping in my anxiety to secure the re-
ward offered IN a heavy burglary case
and something else.
That something else" All my heart
sank within me, as l flung aside the en-
igmatical puzzle before me, and leaning
back In my chair gave my self up to the
gloomy reveries of the past. Edna Day
ton-how / loved herl How fair and
beautiful as a summers idyl had been
the week in which had met her, and
loved her, and had been told that my at
fiction was returned How well l re-
member the bitter paTting-a hopeless
one, il seemed to me-when l learned
my fate from her fathers lips, and pass
ed down the brown stone steps OF the
DAYTON mansion, wondering if the in
clination of moneyed men toward stone
residences was not caused by the exist
ence OF a similar hard material in that
part of the human anatomy known as
the heart.
was a poor man, he said, and the
profession of detective was precarl-
Gus one. His daughter loved me-he
could not deny that-but she was his
only child, and her wealth and position
demanded a match with some social
equal. He would not break her heart by
absolutely refusing to sanction our en-,
gagement; but if within year l should
secure fortune of $25,0 900 and lucra-
tive business, and Edna was still OF the
same mind-well, he would consider 1t.
twenty-five thousand dollars! ! grew
IL i'm
posed, upon which / was to purchase
my future happiness. Friendless, the
reception of meagre salary, and utterly
unknown, where was i TO raise this
amount, and what business capacity had
l, the son of parents who had given me
every luxury, and neglected practical
education, until a crash came that LEFT
us homeless and in penury.
Day and night for over month L
brooded over my sorrows, and then one
day was aroused into renewed life by
the reception of formal but courteous
note from Mr.. Dayton, requesting my
immediate attendance at the mansion.
My feet winged as / FASTENED to the
house of my beloved Edna. What did
it mean? Had he relented? Was Edna
sick, OF did business await me at the
pleasure of my hard-hearted censor? |
v, L
found the old gentleman in an intense
window broken in, papers and boxes
scattered about the apartment, and "A safe
Ia the corner broken open.
| stared at him in amaZement.
You seem agitated, Mr.. Dayton" |
ventured TO suggest.
"Agitatedi agitated, sir! l am wild.
Late last night, or early this morning
burglars entered this apartment by
means of yOnder window and broke open
the safe. When l came down this morn
ing, found affairs as they are now, and
nearly 100000 in money, bonds and
jewelry gone"
/ stared mutely. The immensely of
the ROBBERY petrified me.
"You have informed the pOliceY" l
asked when l could find my voice.
No" he Numbered, coming to full
stop. ~ have no confidence in a police
force which fails to protect a house from
such an audaciOus burglary and expects
one-half the booty for its return. Here
is the room, and yOnder is list of the
stolen property. l believe you are hon
est, and leave the entire affair in your
own hands. Call upon me for whatever
money you require in an attempt to re-
cover the property or detect the thieves.
If you succeed within a month / will
pay you thirty thousand dollars. If you
fail / will pay your expenses for the
month and place the case in your hands.
Are you satisfiedw
/ gasped spasmodically. Thirty thous-
and dollarsl A fOrtune-mOre than the
price of my happiness! And then the
pride of my profession came to my aid,
and / told him that l should succeed!
fI,a Nha
glary had been affected very simply,
apparently. Edward, the footman-a tall,
lank specimen of humanity-had heard
a noise in the night in the library, but
had paid no attention to it, as Mr.. Day
ton was in the habit of writing very late,
and he thought it was his employer.
What puzzled me most was the means
of entrance and egress adopted by the
burglar or burglars. The library was
fully fifteen feet from the ground, and a
bay window, and, except the broken
pane of glass, there was not the slightest
sign to show how the window had been
gained. A ladder would have done it,
hut no marks of a ladder, no signs of
footsteps exhibited themselves in the
damp ground, wet from recent rains.
was sorely puzzled. l examined the
servants one by one, but could find no
clue to justify the slightest suspicion of
completely in the affair on their part.
The work had evidently been done by
scientific burglars, and they had worked
at their leisure.
inquired into the antecedents of Ed
ward the footman; but Mr.. Dayton aver
red that he would allow no suspicion TO
rest on so faithful a servant to the family.
! resolved to inquire more in him, how
ever; but found nothing against the
man, and temporarily dismissed him
from my mind as having any connection
with the case
"You heard no noise on the night OF
the robbery ~ l inquired of Mr.. Dayton
"NOne. l slept unusually sound last
night"
went away thoughtfully, for I had
found in the library an empty bottle
which from the scent l knew to have
contained cloroform and l had noticed
the marks of muddy boots leading from
the apartment, while around the window
none were to be seen. The glass, too
had been broken by a quick blow, MOI
cut out. Altogether, ii was a mysteri
Gus piece of business.
watched all dives frequented by the
cracksmen of the city, and worked like
n beaver. could not obtain a clue tC
the perpetrators of the daring burglary
and after three days of unremitting toll
was considering If it would not be wei
10 call in professional assistance, wher
the advertisement in the Herald, at the
head of this story, attracted my attention
Instinctively / OWNED some connection
with crooked" business, and whether i
referred TO my case or not / resolved e
ascertain its meaning.
/ went down to the Heard office tina
morning, and introducing myself, at
tempted 10 obtain some description o
the person who had handed in the adver
tisement. The clerk stated that il haC
been received by mail, in letter inclos
ing the amount requisite for its insertion
in the paper. Could 1 see the origina
cOpyS He would see; and messag
was sent to the composing room Luck
lily, the copy had been preserved.
was written in a disgusting hand on
little scrip of paper. / asked leave Il
retain il, and permission being granted
10 me, returned to my room at once.
pored over the cipher for n lon;
time, and discouraged at my inability Il
make out one word of il, was finally
about TO abandon it. when ] CHANGED q
look at the reverse side of the paper
There were figures and words on il, ant
]. read ~. s. Bonds $1Q000" and Othe
memoranda, indicating that it had beel
loose wrapper for valuable papers.
Then ] knew that the advertisement
bore an important relation % the rob
"a - .,...sa a.. L. -. It'll =.