The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-09-22
HONOR AMONG THIEVES.
A Case of Clever Roguery Related by a
Detective.

ANS3 hO44O4
What kind of honor and where?"
Among thieves"
"Oh! that kind" said the rogue
catcher, with a laugh. "Yes, 1 have
met with a good deal of that character
lstic you mean when you say honor
among thieves but it's not honor, it's
only selfishness, self-interest, self pre-
servation, and it Wits whenever it
pays better to cast it aside.
But [ have just heard of rather re-
markable display of this sort of honor,
which occurred in this city not long
ago.
AN elderly man, a country man,
who had come to town to see the sights,
accosted a policeman on the Bowery
and told him, with tears in his eyes,
that he must have been robbed of all
his money, eighty dollars, for he could
not find it in any of his pockets and he
did not know just where or when he
had last seen it.
HE had been poking about in some
of the worst dives and dens Of the city,
and the wonder was that in his green
ness he had not met with something
rougher than a mere pickpocket. Moth
ing could be done, however, so the old
fellow was advised to pawn his watch,
all he had left, for enough money to
buy a return ticket and in future to
keep away from the w~ickedness of the
metropolis.
The old man set out from the police
station for the ~pawnshop in wild de
spair, but in a few hours time burst in
upon the police sergeant behind the
desk with the shout:
GIVE been robbed again
"'Again,' exclaimed the sergeant
angrily. Have you been into the
dives again? Did you pawn your
watch
No. cried the countryman, Just
as l was going into the pawnshop a
man touched me on the arm and said
that he was a detective in plain clothes,
sent by the police to help me to get
back my money and if l would go with
him he would have it returned to me-
"'And were you fool enough to go
with him. exclaimed the sergeant.
"'Of course I went
"'Then you deserved to be robbed of
your watch too
my watch?'
"'Yes, your watchr
"'My watch is all right
"sYou said you had been robbed
again
$50 l have
"'But when you left here q few
hours ago you said you had nothing
but your watch
"'Neither I had
"'What in the mischief could they
steal from you them
"'My money!
"'You're drunk, you old idiot; I'll
lock you in the cooler for awhile till
you can talk sense
"'Gosh all fshhooks, l am talking
sense. captain. Don't lock me up, but
let me tell you. the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, so
help me George Washington
"'Go on, then,' said the sergeant,
threateningly, but cut it short; I've
wasted more than enough time over
you already
"Then the old fellow told how he
had followed the bogus detective, by
devious ways and dark alleys, into a
room on the top floor of a crowded
tenement house. There his conductor
introduced him to another fictitious
detective, who appeared to the old man
to be of higher rank than his guide,
owing to the bullying way in which he
spoke, and the Difference paid him.
This fellow produced the old mans $50
from a drawer and counted it out
slowly to him.
"'There's your money, old man., he
said, and the vigilance of the finest
police force on earth is once more at
tested. No other power could have
recovered 1t Tor you. Now tell me, Is
that every cent you lost? Be particu-
lar and do not trife with me, as you
value your liberty. Were you robbed
of one cent more than the 1907
"'No,' replied the old man, trem-
bling with delight at the recovery of
his money. That is all, captain, $50.
"''Take it and CO. said the fellow,
: and be careful to let the same officer
who brought you here conduct you to
the railway station. Speak to no one
but him till you are safe again on your