Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-06-06

AAAU III AaG OAIcCAONs I1e
his shoulders, with q comical smile, and
quietly remarked:
"t's a pleasant jaunt to the City of
Brotherly Love, and while their ex-
penses are paid and their time held at a
good price they can afford it. And
then, who knows? The thief is as likely
to be there as anywhere, only l cantor
the life of me, see what clew they can
be following"
GAN aboard!" Tom went into the
smoker, and I. though I did not smoke.
thought l would keep him company.
We had been friends from childhood.
and l liked him.
The smoking was abouthalf filed.
Tom and l took y seat near the rear, on
the right-hand side. The two seats
next ahead of us were turned, so that
they faced each ether, to accommodate
card-players, but on the present &C.
casion n man occupied them both.
He sat upon the foremost seat of the
two, facing US, with his feet upon the,
seat next aheadof us. He was a middle
aged man, we'll dressed. with a neatly
trimmed, full beard, hair and beard Of
a sandy hue and curling, of medium
size, strongly and compactly built, who
might have. passed for a pedagogue, a.
broker, a book agent, commercial run
mel, OF for a member of Congress-.
Very shortly after the train had started
Tom pinched my arm and whispered to
me that the man ahead of us was one of
the most accomplished rogues in New,
York.
At that instant I saw q most wonder,
full thing-a thing that sent the blood
tingling to every part and point of my
system. The man had stretched him.
self out for a nap, with his feet towards
us, and the soles of his boots were Just
visible beneath the back of the seat
upon which they reposed, and upon the
centre of the sole of the boot of the left
foot, stuck there like makers labels;
were two slips of paper. As soon as J
could control myself I gently slid down.
upon my knees, and brought my eyes
to a level with the sole of that boot, and
there l plainly read, in Emily Archer's
round, full hand, upon one Of the Slips,
Robinson Crusoe," and upon the
other, "The Swiss Family Robinson!"
It was plain to me at once. The
thief, in climbing in at the window, had,
brushed those two slips off upon the
carpet, with the adhesive sides up, and
then he had trodden the damp sole of
his boot upon them, and they had:
stuck completely. In walking to sad,
fro across the room he had pressed:
them on smoothly and firmly, and had
not discovered what a mark he had UNI
willingly picked up.
Regaining my seat I caught Tom by
the arm and drew him out upon the rear
platform, where | told him Of my dis,
covery. His dark eyes sparkled, and
his nerves were quickly strung for work
There were two other officers on tho.
train, on their way to Sing Sing, whom:
he brought to his assistance. Tom and;
l might have captured the man alone,
but he was known to be q desperate
character, and as help was at hand, T.
would not pay to run unnecessary risk;
The rogue was captured after o.
mighty struggle, and handcuffed. T.
did not go to Newburgh on that day,
nor did Tom Stratton go to Sing Sing
We got out at the first station where we
could take a down train, and beforeI
noon we had our prisoner locked up,
minus his left boot. That we kept for
a witness against him, and a powerful
witness it proved. But that was not all.
On his person were found every one of
the certificates and the bonds, together.
with most of the money. Only a hum,
dred and fifty dollars was missing Of
the ten thousand. He had started for
the West when we overhauled him,
having taken that route that he might.
stop at Sing Sing and see a friend with
whom he wished to confer. He had
made a critical study of the papers
taken from the bankers portfolio, and
had made up his mind that a portion of;
the bonds he could negotiate at Chi;
caggo or further away the remainder, to
the amount of twenty thousand dollars,
he had planned. to offer to their true
owner through an agent, supposing that
he would be willing to pay something
for them. All this he told us after his.
conviction had become an assured fact.
Our rascal was very liberal in the use
OF names. "Jack Seedy" and ..Seedy
Jack" might pass for one and the Same
cognomen. tom Piper' and slack
the Giant-Killer" were evidently aliases.
His most common appellation, how
ever, and the name under which he,
was arraigned, was slack Sneak" and
he actually seemed proud of it. He had
been known to the police for a long
time as an accomplished and dangerous
villain, and they had for months been
seeking substantial case against him
in vain. But they had it now. He
was convicted and sentenced, and in
fixing the term of his retirement at Sing
Sing the Judge gave him every day and
every hour that the statute would allow.
Emily and I finished our work upon
the Sabbath-school books, still laboring
in papa's sanctum, and you may be sure
that while the work was in further
progress we did not 20 to lunch until
we had seen that the windows were as
secure as we could make them.-M. z.
Ledger.
Not long since a lady in Dem
YER received a newspaper from her hus-
band, who is in the African diamond
fields, in which were wrapped a num-,
Der of small gems. She, thinking them
to be worthless bits of gravel which
had worked their way into the paper
during its long trip, threw them away.
Presently a letter was sent telling Of
their value. She was in great disfraa.