The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-07-02
The Sender Of a Poisoned A..
quet Yet Untliscoyeraa ''''T

- WIG WOFSb DeOnla
~ ehe land, and IN addition to thieva.
thugs, burglars, gamblers, and tbal
class OF sharpe:s, there was an elan oass
which constantly plotted and consn;.
ed against the government. il s..
against almost every Individual IN
clal. 1t was the duty OF the secrs4
Service Bureau to look up and kaan
an eyeon these people, and / am boa
est IN stating my belief that we dro,.
out OF the ecapital, in one way ana su
other, and at one time and anosbor
one hundred men and women who wars
plotting conspiracy and assassina.
ton.
In the summer Of 1863 a men,hFr i,
the Cabinet who had expressed con.
siderable bitterness toward what u,as
called the disloyal element in Raits
more, received very fine basket !,
flowers at his desk. They were placed
on the desk while he was atlunch, and
the colored attendant who receivad
them stated that he took them from
the hands of q well-dressed boy. Tbay
were flowers of which the Official was
particularly fond, and he spent some
time admiring the gift and inhaIinpthe
perfume. Within q quarter Of an hour
he was taken suddenly ill and had to
be sent home in a carriage. There
were several stories whispered about
but | believed from what followed
that the bouquet was poisoned and
had been sent in hopes to cause his
death. He was done up for four or
Ave days, anyhow, and received or.
ders to make every effort to hunt
down the person who had sent in the
bouquet.
1t was little / had to encourage me
in the start. | got q description oi
the boy, however, and after day Or
two | found people of whom he had
inquired his way from the station to
the Secretary's Office, 1t was easy
enough after that to trace him as hay
ing come on from Baltimore. Hecame
alone and he had the bouquet in q
bank-boX. The bouquet was tied with
a grass cord; and ! took this cord and
went to Baltimore and scarcely rested
a. moment until / had seen the owner
OF every greenhouse. l applied to
twenty or more before Ifound the one
who put up the flowers. He re-
membered the circumstance, identified
the cord, and described the buyer as
ahandsome-looking lady about thirty
five years of age who had come in
hack. The vehicle was drawn by
white and bay horse, and inside of
two hours / had found the driver. He
described the lady about as the florist
had done, and added that she had
gold-filled front teeth, blue eyes, "a little
scar on her chin, and was sharp and
decisive in her spseeh. She had taken
the hack at the stand and left it at
the same place.
Ii this woman intended the death OF
the official she had gone to the green
house in an attire selected for the oc-
casion, and one she would not wear
again on the street. / hung about the
various hotels until certain that she
was not a guest of any Of them, and
then / could only trust to accidentfor
success. On two occasions | caught
sight OF a face in a carriage which an
swered the description and fol-
lowed the vehicle without success.
Each time it escaped me by rapid
driving. Again caught sight OF the
lady on the street. She entered dry
goods store and | followed. She soon
passed out and ! was at her heels, but
she lodged into crowd gathered
about the scene of an accident and l
lost her. An hour later | suddenly
discovered that was being shadowed.
| did considerable walking, turning
and lodging before would admitthat
this was the case, but finally had to
acknowledge that the hunter was be.
ing hunted.
My shadow was mediam-slzed man,
about forty years old, well-dressed,
respectable looking, and doing ms
work in the neatest manner. lie dld
not lose sight of me until he saw me
enter my hotel, where brought up
about 9 o'clock in the evening. ! had
no clue connecting the man with sae
woman / was looking after, but 1T was
natural for me to infer that there was
some connection. ! wrote out anu
made my daily report, ate supper
smoked a cigar, and then started loL
the theater. 1t wouldn't be at all
strange if / found my lady there, even
il had these next her. Twas with
in twenty feet of thedoor Of the theater
when a rough and ragged-looking man,
who certainly spOke in disguised
voice, stopped me and said:-
Mister, I'm discharged soldier,
and I've been sick, and am out O
money. Won't you buy this revolver
OF me for $3."
He pulled the weapon from his spock'
ct and showed it toward me, muzzit
first. Before Icould comprehend the
full import of his words there was Z
flash and a report, and / was dImlJ
conscious Of falling Four or five min