Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-08-28
The Sturg Teller.
HOW HE FOUND HER.

HOW HE FOUND HER.
"Wen,n began Bascom, as he drained his
cup of coffee, "here's how it was. About
three years ago was connected with Gaf-
news Private Detective Bureau in New
York-that was before l came west; and
about two years ago I left it; but, as l said,
Just before left it accident threw me in the
way of Sir Arnold Chudeigh, and, if you'll
listen, I'll tell you all about it.
''It was in the early part of September, l
remember, two years ago, I was sitting back
in my easy chair, looking over the papers,
with my coat off-it was mighty hot day,
too-when gentleman entered, and, bow
ing politely, asked if this was Gaffney's
Private Detective Office, and if so, whether
he could speak with one of the principals.
I could see by his dress, manner and bear
ing that he was an Englishman and gen.
tleman-not one of these loud, clustering,
'haw-haw' tourists, whose ridiculous as
sumption of style and objectionable lgno-
rance of the 6ie,,seansces of life, stamp them
as snobs wherever they go-but gentle
man and, accordingly, | requested him TO
be seated, and told him I was ready to ac-
commodate him, on the part of the bureau,
in ANYTHING that came within our line OF
business.
"I wish,' he began, TO discover the
whereabouts, the residence in fact, Of GER
tain lady
"sCertainly,' said I, that is quite within
our sphere. Please give us all particulars
that YOU think may be serviceable to us in
prosecuting our search
"sUnfortunately,' returned the gentle
man, with some hesitation, Il can give you
none
But YOU must know something about the
party in question-description appearance,
dress-or you would not have come here in
the first place.
"'The matter requires explanation re-
turned nv visitor, sand j shall put it all un-
reservedly before you. While passing along
Broadway, less than half an hour ago, a
lady stepped out of a fashionable millinery
shop, and crossed the pavement directly in
front of me. The sight of this lady made so
strong an impression on me that was actu-
ally Incapable for the moment, OF speech or
motion. A second later, and before had
recovered my self possession, she entered q
carriage, which evidently had been waiting,
the door was closed by the footman, and the
horse drove swiftly off. The cause of my
sudden helplessness was, that l recognized
in the lady had just seen, a dear and valu-
ed friend, whom i supposed dead. The
shock of seeing her alive and well, so un-
manned me that could make no effort to
arrest her attention, till it was too late.
She, on her part, passed without noticing
me, as was very natural, seeing that her at
sention was otherwise engaged. Now, what
I want you to do, is to lind where that laay
lives; what are her circumstances; and, in
short, all particulars which you can learn re-
garding her. Here he continued, drawing
q locket from his bosom, lisa medallion por-
trait of the lady. I will leave it in your
charge for your guidance. Pray be careful
of it, as it is the only portrait l possess. l
should add that expense is immaterial.
Use what means, and take what measures
YOU think best, and draw on me at any time
for all necessary funds, through Seligman's
bank
"'But my dear SIR 1 objected, you give
us nothing to 60 upon. You have seen ana
You give US a medallion likeness of her
face-good. She rides in a carriage, there
fore she is presumably we'll of-good. But,
nv dear sir, New York is vast city, with
thousands of wealthy ladies who ride in
carriages. 1t is like looking for needle in
a bundle of hay. Of course you inquired in
the millinery store whether they knew her
or not? p
"'They had never seen her BEFORE he
returned.
"'She might be stranger on visit to
the city, / remarked, or using tr1end's
carriage. You have nothing to give US but
the portrait?'
Unfortunately, nothing responded the
gentleman, sadly. Use every effort your
bower, and continue the search for month,
or longer, if need be, until you are satisfied
that YOU have left no stone unturned. Here
is my card. When you are in need of mon
ey call upon Seligman,' and saying goodbye
he passed out.
''The card read Sir Arnold Chudleigh,
the Windsor And now, you see, have
"Well," said I, ''this is certainly interest
ing in connection with an old friend. How
did it turn out Did you find the lady"
''That's just what / am going to tell you
about" replied Bascom. "Wait and you'll
see."
sIt was pretty hard matter, you see, to
decide Just what course to take, so we set our
heads together, Gaffney and Whipple and 1,
marked out plan of action. The first
thing we did was to get duplicates and en-
large photos made of the medallion portrait.
Then, as soon as we found that Sir Arnold
was good for any amount at Sellgman's, we
increased our IOrCo dlll SldGloHou ouI uleu.
We had, I think, nine men constantly on
watch, with more to relieve them, and sew
eral for evenings and Sundays. We had a
man at each ferry, from morning till night !;
two men at the park a man at each of the
theatres men at all the uptown churches
on Sundays, and at all the fashionable stores
during the week. If ever stroke of busi-
ness was done in the private detective line
this was it. Well, we kept pegging along
systematically, knowing well that if the
thing could be done at all, that was the only
way to do it, A week passed without re-
suit. Several ladies in carriages had been
followed up on suspicion, but comparison
with the photos at once demonstrated that
thew were not what was wanted. Mean
time, expenses were running on at the rate
of something like 5000 a day, but Sir Arnold
didn't care about thai, though he called at
the office, regularly, to ascertain what had
been done. I used to 60 round the different
posts and see that the boys were all on deck,
and exercised a general supervision over the
whole business.
at was, 1 think, about the end of the sec
ond week that the lead was struck. L had
occasion to be down at the Fulton ferry dur,
ing the afternoon to see that my man was all
right, when, just as the boat was about to
start, carriage drove on board. The coach