The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1889-03-22
THE CLEVER DETECTIVE.
Although Of wood lie Was worth
Dozen of the Ordinary Kind.

Ihcfc was no answer none OF inc
officers assembled at headquarters
knew any thing concerning him OK
ccpt That the inspector had brought
him IN quietly few evenings before
and introduced him as Sergeant
Fctchcm. The strange inappropri.
atcncs5 OF such a name for detective
had strdck them al once, but the new
man had gone 10 work without word
as II thoroughly familiar with his du-
ties, and his first job had been the ar
rest Of burglar whom he had caught
in the act and oycrpowcrcd, bringing
him 30 the station alone, despite tho
fact that the prisoner was "A burly,
powerful fellow nearly twice the size
Of his captOr
Every day since his accession % the
force hc had signalizcd himself by
some uuhcard-of exploit. lie had dis
covered nest Of countcrfeiters, ar
rested and put in jail a hitherto unsus-
pcctcd Anarchist whose attic was fu'l
Of dynamite bombs, and located "A bank
cmbczzlcr who had cludcd the police
for two whole years. All this nc had
done az u matter OF course, and had
listened impassiycly 10 the cncomiums
passed upon his singular skill and
adrolncss The other members Of the
detective corps began TO grow jealous,
and a watch was put upon his actions.
He had no difficulty in cyading them
in the performance Of his duties, but
they made tho discovery that he was
clOsctcd with the inspector for about
five minutes every Monday morning.
The most diligcnt effort failed TO dis
cover the object Of these conferences,
if such they were, for no conversation
between the chief and the new detect
i've ever reached tho ears Of the LISTEN
ors on the outside.
One Monday morning, Immediately
after one OF these secret interviews,
Sergeant Fetchem was seen TO leave
the Office and board an outward-bound
train. He was not seen again during
tho week. Monday morning came
again and nc had not yet turned up.
The inspector was visibly uneasy.
III hc is not here in less than an
/ hour all is lostI' he muttcrcd, as he
/ glanced at his watch and went TO the
door to look up and down the street.
It was showing furiously.
Seized with sudden impulse, ho
hailed passing cab and was driven
rapidly to II railway station in the sub
urbs, reaching it just in tive to get
aboard train coming into the city
As ne entered the forward ,oor Of u
car ne saw "a man rapidly 20 out
through the rear door, jump of the
train, and disappear in the binding
snow-storm.
With "a cry Of dismay the inspector
rushed down the aisle When half
way through the car ne stopped sud-
denly. In one Of the seats was the
/ motionlc.s figure Of Sergeant
Fctchrm. 1t was i'm half erect posi-
ton. with one arm extended. The
eyes were gazing into vacancy with u
lack lu-tcr expression
"Too late" exclaimed the Inspector,
bitterly Fifty thousand dollars
gone! That man who left the car u
moment ago was Tascott!'
The passengers crowded around.
Thcy explained that the sergeant a
few minutes before had made "a sudden
but apparently weak effort to iastcn
himself with chain to the prisoner
but that the latter had quickly risen
and grapplcd with him. Tho sergeant
had nearly succeeded in his design
whom suddenly he seemed to stIlten.
His grasp relaxed, his arm remained
stretched out, II CLASSY look came into
hi, eyes, and his whole framc became
motionlcss. The prisoner broke away
from him and was out of the car be-
fore the spectators had recovered from
their surprise.
Such was the story they told the in
spcctor.
"What is the matter with the oili-
cor? l. hc dcad?' they inquired.
.,,.,,,, hi, tdio, ,b,t ,,,. r,,
to have met him one station beyond
hcro' This detective, he explained