Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-02-19
The Little Detective.

of which had just been made. In
those days the bank safes and vaults
were less secure than now, and the
combination lock was unknown.
Neither were the burglars SO skillful
as in these days; but there were
some who very neatly mastered all
the locks of the bank in question one
dark night, and quietly removed its
piles of gold.
The whole detective force of the
city was on the alert next day, and
the eyes of the Argus watched the
levee, the railroad stations, the
streets and by-ways. Over forty
thousand dollars had been stolen.
and a reward of eight thousand dol
lars was already offered for the cap
ture of the robbers and the recovery
of the money.
There was member of the detec-
tive force, named Donnelly, who had
long been target for the railery of
his fellows. One reason was that he
was. very short in stature, his height
being five feet five and his weight
one hundred aud sixteen, and anoth-
er was that he never accomplished
anything of Importance. He had
been "kept down." probably to a
mistaken notion of his real worth :,
and had generally been assigned to
duty in petty larceny, where a stolen
coat or cloak was to be looked up
among the pawn-brokers or dealers
in secondhand clothing.
Donnelly, too, was eNcitable, as a
detective ought not to be, and on
this occasion he entered the chiefs
office and nervously said:
81 know where the gold is -
"Where?" asked the chief smiling,
while several officers present winked
at each other.
81 saw them take it on board a
boat at the leeve."
'How do you know? Did you see
the coin itself?''
mo; they didn't have it loose in
wheelbarrow, like coal," replied
Donnelly, little stung. II am not
joking, sir, and mean what say.
| saw the gold taken on boald the
water Lily"
Pretty name, anyhow" suggest
ed of the detectives.
'sHow was it taken aboard?' ask
ed the chief more gravely.
I'm three carpet-bags.
"Well, how do you know that gold
was in them?2
"They were heavy for one thing" "
"Wen?"
"They were carried by two we'll
dressed white men. One carried two
and he could hardly walk with them
while the other carried the third.
They must have been valuable, OIL
they would have been intrusted to the
darkeys."
"When does the Water Lily
leave?" asked the chief, somewhat
interested.
''She steams up the river for M
at four o'clock. She has but G small
cargo
"Well, Mr.. Neff, you and Mr.
Wilson go with him and look at those
carpet-bags,'' said the chief, address
ing two of the detectives.
The three left and in half an hou
Neff and Wilson returned in higl
state of mirth.
'sWell, did you find them?' asked
the chief.
"Yes, lying carelessly in state
room and the doors wide open. w
examined them and found that the,
r weighed about three pounds each
f The question is, whether they con
tain four shirts and nine handker
n chiefs, or five boots and seven col
e lars"
"Where's Donnelly?" asked tn
chief very much amused.
"We left him at the levee. II
was ashamed to come back, n
: doubt"
d REALLY you fellows plague him to
n much.
ssYes," replied Neff; ''we'n dt
stroy his usefulness if we keep on. !"
= But little Donnelly was not satisf
ed. He called at the bank whic
a had been robbed, and at his sugge'
i ton the officers procured a scare
warrant, and that afternoon ever
a. nook and corner of the "Wate Lily
ie capable of concealing a dime, W:
- searched, but no trace of the stole
~ money was found.
The captain was indignant and Il
m passengers grumbled at being detail
as ed half an honr. The officers of t
m bank and the law officers who b:
S; executed the search warrant humb
x apologized. The chief talked of !
moving Donnelly from the force.
: The ''Water Lily steamed up
,,s river at half-past four, with half
as. dozen cabin passengers and one de
'ut passenger. The latter was ragg
10 dirty-faced boy, of apparently seve
'ne teen. He wanted to go to NJ
. and had barely enough money to ia
deck passage.
os The black columns of smoke a
,an the white wreaths of steam rolled
ieh into the sky. The green shores 81
rs. ed by on either side, and new pictu