Smyrna times., 1885-01-28
A Terrible Ride.

II two persons, tr m the fact of hav-
ing met before, might spense with the
ceremony Of introduction, in nine cases
out of ten, my readers would not need o
word Of preface from me, but would be
content with my proceeding with my
story at once. In fact, I shall do so,
after brief description of myself, not
as l am, but as it is my wont to appear
III public.
Are You living in the country? Then
the chances are that at a not very remote
hour You have seen proving about the
neighborhoOd a man who might have
been a tramp, a br.c'illyer out of work,
an ex-pugilist, dOg-stealer-any one or
all of these, as his dress would present
such a strange combination as to utterly
confound your attempt to guess the par
ticular grade to which the stranger be-
longed. That man was Detective Trace.
Are you a resident of the West End,
who know by heart the faces of those
whom you meet during your promenade
in Regent street and the parks If so,
you have perhaps seen a man who has
puzzled you-a ''swell, faul:lessly "got
up" as to his dress, and with a profuse
yet quiet display of iewelry. You may
have noticed that, while lie apparently
participated in the pleasures of the gay
crowd of idlers, his eye was restless, and
failed not to scan the features of every
masculine and feminine face that passed
him, and this too without the slightest
approach to rudeness and your keen
eye detected that his jewels were paste,
and you could not, do what you would,
''make him out. He was Detective
Trace
Does your business ever carry You
through the pmlieus of st. Giles, or the
foul courts and alleys of Wmtechapel ?
If may take it for granted that such is
the case, you will perhaps remember
noticing during your progress aman who
apparently did not know what to do with
himself-a dOwncast-looking fellow,
hanging round the door of a public.
house or gin-palace, with his hands deer
in the pockets of pair of greasy cordu
rows and his chin half hidden in a gaudy
"Belcher" neckerchief while he passed
the time by putting dense clouds o.
smoke from a short black pipe. He die
not trouble you much however; yor
simply said to yourself, "Some poo
fellow out of work. But you wer,
wrong. He was Detective Trace
Whether you are of the town or coun
try you have, I presume, travelled b.
railway, and have sometimes found you
ris-a-ris an affable loquacious old gen
tleman, with spectacles, who rested hi
palms on the handle of a stout stick o
umbrella, while he qnietly scrutinize
and banded an inoffensive joke wit
each passenger who entered or left tn
carriage at the different stations, an
who, in spite ot troublesome asth
matte cough, 50 managed to ingratiat
himself with his fellow-travellers as t
almost draw from them the history {
their travels for any past period
Perhaps it has also been your lot t
see this same agreeable old gentleme
cOndescend to a sudden fit of serious
ness as he whispered in the ear of one {
the occupants of the compartments VIII
was going to alight This may hay
surprised yot; but what followed tn
strange movement gave you a clew
the mystery. You witnessed an alte
cation followed by the sharp click
handouts, and you knew that he WI
Detective Trace.
May be at times you have had a diff
Guilty in killing weary hour or so, al
: have amused yourself by listening
the leases" at the nearest police coul
If so, your eye has wandered to the vi
T ness-box as the officer in charge of Il
culprit has entered it.
Whom did you see there? A mi
who no longer hoisted false cOlors, f
there was no further need of disguis
he had thrown it aside, and stood ]
vealed in his true character, wearil
y the uniform of sergent in the poll
t force, as, having kissed the Sacr
G Book, he proceeded at once to tell st
>, truth, the whole truth, and nothing b
# the truth, " etc, and gave i'll his name
Q Sergeant Trace. But, although he
= long been superannuated and the Wi
q ter of time has somewhat thinned a
)f silvered his hair, his evidence, while
. reclines in his easy chair shall be
II true. the fact which he asserts shall
n rs mrefragable rs when, years ago
n le kissed the Sacred Book i'll the COZ
S over which the blind goddess presid
il to begin n-Sergcnnt Trace and /
" one and the same person.
IN Many years ago was instructed
rs discover the whereabouts of you
lady who was wanted why, it is l
r. necessary for me to tell but it was
= the execution of my duty that an il
dent occurred which nearly cost me
life.
had tracked the fugitive to Bright
= where l made the discovery that she y
just upon the point of returning to L
i. don. This suited me admirably, a
could delay the disagreeable business
arrest till we arrived mt the end of
journey; but, in order to be upon
safe side, of course did not lose 81
of her, and finally seated myself i'll
same compartment of the train as
herself occupied.
az, 200 1t was on the morning express
l82 our compartment contained but I'll
''1 passengers, a gentleman, lady
a. object of my pursuit-and myself.
lay guard locked the door and then O
menced the most teni1le journey {
ri. made in my life l scanned the featI
ted of the gentlemen opposite to WHOM
lee lee sat, and saw that his eyes were intel
EY fixed upon me-
-ly The discovery was anything but pl