The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1881-12-02
{ A DETECTIVES GREAT FEAT.

A great forgery had been committed.
whereby bank Was robbed Of thirty
thousand pounds; the culprit succeeded
in getting safely out of England. and
escaped TO the Argentine Republic.
where there was no extradition treaty.
He was believed 10 have taken the
whole of the plumber with him, as his
wife-who was narrowly watched-cer-
tainly had no portion OF it, and no let
tiers addressed TO him had passed
through the posi-Ofiice; SO a private
detective of great reputation was en-
ployed by the bank Authorities 10 90
out to the River Platte. and eudeavor
either TO recover the money. or To lure
the forger into 4 position where he
might be captured. This detective was
An educated man. and we'll fitted To
carry ont the role lie assumeJ-that If
Major r., travelling for his health. and
intending to pay short visit In BacnoS
Ayres before proceeding TO Valparaiso
and Peru. Unlimited powers, official
and unofficial. were conferred on him;
he was supplied with letters vi intro
duction to the leading people in the
Republic; and IF course there was 10
be no question of expense. Thus fur
nished he Sc; out.
On arriving in Buenns AyreS. he dis
covered that this man had gone some
leagues up country. Following up
track, he found him livim" in apparent
great poverty, employed rs Il shepherd
By an English cSt0Bcje,o, 10 whom the
would-be Major r. happened to have \
letter of introduction. In this way. he
had no difficulty i'll making acquaiT-
tance with his intended prey gradual
ly and casually, 1" avert suspicion.
One day. he asked him openly whether
his position in life had not been very
different from that in which he found
him. as his speech and manners Were
those of a gentleman: and after little
hesitation, the shepherd confessed that
such was the case-presentlv telling =
plausible tale of nisfortmrs in buSi-
ness, etc. Protesting pity for him, the
kind-hearted Major lent him money.
and took him back into the city, where
he entertained him at one of the best
hotels as his guest. having mentioned
to him contidentially that h" wished 10
invest considerable sum in land cut
there, and promising To install him as
manager OF the estate. All this time
the thief was supposed to be carrying
the money hiddcn about his person;
snd il was TO devise some strategy for
obtaining this with certainty and safety
that the detective postpOnedthed eHpHe-
meat of the plot so long.
At length when he had excluded ev-
cry other possible place of concealment,
and seemed TO have won the man : en-
tire confidence. lac vent 10 the captain
of the British man-Of-war lying there.
and revealed himself in his own char
scter-for nobo " Till then hal the
least inkling of The truth and together
they arranged Il very nice little trap.
The officers of the 9unboat were Il
give ! grand pic mic. followed by Il
dance on board: and all the best people
in Buenos-AyreS were invited-Maior
r and his friend among the rest. The
friend was delighted AT the prospect,
and drew largely on the Major for the
wherewithal to present betting
splendor of appearance on the evcntfml
day. As they strolied down 10 the
wharf together arm-in-arm. you may
be sure that Major II. : heart beat high
with the triumph already in his CRASH
one OF the cleverest captures ever
planned by an emissary Of Scotland
Yard. Hiring a boat, they soon arrived
alongside the man-of-war. where The
poop was already crowded with ladies.
Jump up" said the Major, rs the
gangway ladder was lowered: we re-
just in time"
well, no, Mr.. C., returned the for
ger, calling the detective by his real
name. Il don't think III go on board;
but I'll stay here in the boa, and listen
10 the music while YOU 90 up and
dance"
If the officer did not feel sold al that
moment, no man ever did. The best
of it was the audaciOus robber had not
one penny Of his booty with him, aud
was much too wary 10 trust the post.
Both he and his wife-who joined him
soon afterward-were obliged to work
for their bread Until the arrival Of their
governess-who had never been sus-
pected of complicity--with the whole
sum. But how he discovered his adv"r'
sary was never known.
By-the-wav, this same detective i
said to have had another SELL few
days later. He went on board the mail
steamer Just come in from Brazil, as h
thought he might obtain an English
newspaper. If he GOT one, he certainly
had plenty OF time 10 read it, for the
steamer happened to be in quarantine,
and he had 10 undergo the horrors OF
seclusion at EnseDda for three week..