West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-04-23


tecrcd TO help her uf the car. A. her
feet touched the platform she trpped
and fell, and the result was broken
arm. A. none of her friends were
TO meet her, NJ seemed 10 devolvc on me
To call carriage, summon surgeon
and accompany her home. found
her to he the daughter of wealthy
widow having one or two other chill
dren, and their gratitude was such that
could not well avoid accepting an in
vitation 10 make the house my home
for few days. l had given out. YOU
see, that | was a Boston lawyer look
ing up the titles TO some real estate i'm
Decatur.
AT breakfast we were waited upon
by such trim, tidy second girl. that
my attention was attracted to her. The
widow must have remarked il, for she
exclaimed
lit Is new girl, who has been
with me but two days. She is very
awkward, but seems willing TO learn
1.-The girl was indeed awkward. n
afterward noticed. but the idea that
she knew any thing connected with the
fcoria robbery never entered my head
until the third day. | had been at the
depot To make some inquiries about
trains, and was about leaving when |
saw her enter the waiting room. She
was closely yelled, but knew her iig-
ure, and | reasoned that she had given
the widow very short notice. II was
not impossible shat this new girl was "A
thief, and | determined To speak TO her
and ascertain her reasons for leaving.
As | started toward her she sprang up
and rushed out doors. That was "A
sign of guilt which could not disre-
gard, and i gave chase. She led me a
sharp run for half mile, and when |
collarcd her she struck out from the
shoulder and gave me a beautiful black
eye. In return | put the handouts on
her wrists, and they had scarcely
snapped together, when she said:
Well. old chap, ] suppose the jig is
up. What kind of a second girl do |
make, anyhow
You II come back to the house, and
be searched, replied, not yet tum-
bling to it,
1.-The house! I've got the money
on me, and, of course. Ihave to 20 back
To Peoria. You don't take me for
spoon thief, | hopeP"
lit was Albright, and no mistake.
lie had left Peoria in the evening, dis
guiscd as a female, and his makeup
and appearance were so deceiving that
he made two or three mashes before
reaching Decatur. He knew that no
effort would be spared To hunt him
down, and he had the cheek to take
employment as second girl. hoping to
have secure retreat until the hunt
had grown cold. My coming to the
house was what had sent him away.
lie didn't believe ! knew him. but he
saw me watching him. and he argued
that l would soon drop on his dis
guise.
1t wouldn't be strange if luck had
also helped me out occasionally, for
have been in this business over twenty
years, said the third man as nc
combed his long goatee with his fin
gers. Zone of the most striking in
stances occurred last fall. A rich old
fellow named Sumner, living near
Louisville, was found dead in his bed
one morning. He had been married
twice, and had two sets of children,
and you can readily understand what
happened. 1t was known for a fact
that he had made will. 1t was
stranger fact that the will could not be
found. The heirs tainted each other
with having stolen the will. and pretty
soon the law and the lawyers We're
called in, and there was big fight
over the estate, valued, | believe, at
about $500, 900. One of the heirs by
the first wife engaged my services i'm
the case. He was sure that one of the
heirs by the second wife. who was
known to have visited the old man the
day before his death, had stolen and
destroyed the will. As he could show
that the provisions of the will left the
bulk of the estate to the first set of
children, his charge was a reasonable
one, and | went to work to see what
could do. The alleged offender was
pretty hard case, and all the informa-
ton could acquire went TO show that
he was none too good to do stroke Of
the sort.
q" spent a month on the case with
out getting any thing definite and then
dropped it. The estate went into
court. each side retaining enough law
yers To eat up every dollar, and I took
up the chase of hOrsc-thicf He had
stolen several horses i'm Ohio and run
them into Kentucky His headduar-
ters were at ElizabethlOwn, and had
been there for a couple of weeks seek
ing for the right clue TO bring him up
standing, when, one afternoon, | had
TO visit "a farmer living several miles
north Of the town This man had pur-
chased one of the stolen horses. and
had it taken away from him. and was
ready to give me all aid and informa-
ton. After q talk at the house we
went to the barn TO look over his stock.
and in the yard noticed tim pcddlers
wagon with "A wheel missing.
i can't imagine what has become
of the owner Of that rig, explained the
farmer. He broke down Just out here
all Of two months ago. and | let him
draw his wagon in here aud store his
bales of rags in the barn. He was 10
return in a day or two, but he hasn't
shown up since.
''As we went into the barn we passed
six or eight sacks Of paper rags piled
up in a loose manner. There were
score or more Of loose papers ON the
pile, and ] picked up one. which
proved TO be a Confederate bond 7
pocketed il as q relic. and picked up
what / thought was another. but as I
opened it out ! read: Last will and
testament Of James Yancy Sumner. II
was the will Of the old man who had
died near Louisville, and its production
not only put an end TO all further liti-
CATION, but brought me reward Of