St. Landry democrat., 1882-03-25

reasons the agent should not go to the
house till next day. ''In. the first
place. he said, II do not wish any one
but yourselves to know that the gentle
man who will call on you tomorrow IS
in any way connected with the police.
He will send up card, and you will be
kind enough to receive him as a friend
talk to him of the robberyin the pres
ence of your servants as you would to
any casual acquaintance" He then
turned to me and said, laughingly:
1--WE do not manage these affairs as you
do in London. We don't a6fche our
police; we don't send constables ne
pronounced the word ''conestabel" to
make a fuss and put every one on tneT
guard; we like to do things quietly;
the result is better.n He then bowed
us out, and we took our departure, not
over-assured.as to what the. upshot OF
the affair would be.
'.Un monsieur qui desire yous volr,
said my friend S man-servant next day,
putting card into his masters hand,
lust as we were finishing our nlld-day
meal, and a gentleman-like, nliddle-aeged
man was shown in. @" f- 'S*
He was close shaved as to the chm
and upper lip, but wore small whiskefs,
more like an English man Of business OF
ten years ago than a native Of "a bette
Fralce.,, He was well but not fashion;a--
bly, dressed, and carried a small cane
with which he kept gently tapping rhlS
boot when not speaking. h.MAue Inc
servant was in thereon he confineu. his
conversation to- generalities, and gave
his opinions freely on the political sub
jects Of the day. When my friend
spoke Of the robbery and pointed to tt. the
chest out Of which the property hadpeen cen
taken,l he merely glanced at it, looked
at the lock for amoment, and turned the
conversation. "@7 tt;, "a u .s'sa-t.,
He asked Madame to call her maid
and talk to her on some Indifferent sub
ject. This was done, and I watched his
face during the time the woman was
present; but he merely looked at her
once, and continued talking to me.
The only point on which he seemed
really anxious was to obtain fuller
description of the articles lost than that
he had been already furnished with.
NV friend offered to give him details
then and there, but he declined to wait
for it, on the plea that by prolonging his
visit he might arouse suspicion among
the. servants. We. suggested meeting
him near the Rue de Jerusalem; but
he laughed at the idea, saying that If
he were once seen near the police-otflce
his occupation would be gone, as
he would be no longer Of any real
use as an agent Of the police. So an
appointment was made. to meet at the
Cafe du Helder on the Boulevards,
where more detailed description OF
the lost property should be given to
him. He then took his leave, but
asked me to accompany him down
stairs, so as to impress the concierge
with the idea that he was an acquaint.,
ance Of some standing. Before arriving
at the bottom, I found my friend had
managed to dirty his coat in a manner
which necessitated his turning into the
concierge's lodge to borrow a clothes
brush, thereby gaining an opportunity
Of casting an eye round the small room
and on its occupier. To me, being
initiated, the object was palpable
though quite unsupported by the in
dividual in question. When the brush
ing was over. we walked out together
and in the course of conversation We
touched upon the way in which some
persons can so disguise themselves as t.
hide their individuality from their mos
intimate friends. ~.7
. Iexpressed myself as being doubtful
whether this could be really done, pro
yided the. parties to be deceived weEi
on the lookout for such deception. M!
companion differed from me, and of
! fered to disguise himself 50 effectuall.,
! that he would, in the course OF the mex
twenty-four hours, speak to me for a
!, least ten minutes without arousing m,
+ suspicious. I accepted the challenge
+ and staked the price of a dejeu'aer a
: any cafe he would like to name. H
| agreed, and the very same day won tn
r bet in the following manner:
9 Shortly after leaving the detective,
i met an old friend, who asked meto din
r with him at Versailles that evening.
3 agreed to do so, but could not leav
D Paris as early as my friend intended t
: do, and therefore told him should g
e down by the $50 train from the Gar
4 St. Lazare. did so; and as got int
a frst-class carriage, REMARKED a short
: gentlemanly-looking man, with whit
f hair, who followed me into the sam
. compartment. Frenchman-like, he be
q gan to talk about things in general, an
4 we chatted, more or less, nearly all tn
9 way to Versailles. When within te
9 minutes or so of our destination, m
new friend quietly took off his hat
/ pulled off wig, got rid Of a moustache
! and to my utter amazement satreveale
i before me as my friend, the detective
How he had managed to find out that
0 was going to Versailles (which had n
4 idea Of myself when I left him-or ho'
;. he had so effectually concealed his al