The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-01-18
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would land them in jail, shut up like
so many Rockaway CLANS. | stuck to
one fellow, who showed little resent
ment, and found out that Anderson
had swindled him out of $1,000 in the
sale of some worthless mining stock,
and. after some punching, [ got him
to tell all he knew
He had been with Anderson many
nights that We're spent in wild dissi-
patton, and some Of the reserve would
be thrown off by him. He often call
ed upon a man who seemed to be very
! intimate with him, known as Sam
Harper, who kept a saloon in Sixth
/ avenue, and sometimes he met a man
there that he called Molly. Both of
these citizens | new very well. Sam
was a gold brick operator and Molly
was a pickpocket. They We're both
rare birds and In cunning could not
be excelled Neither OF these men
had much of police record at that
/ time and were comparatively un-
| known. This information was very
good for a starter, and [ stuck pretty
closely to this young fellow | went
with him to Harper's dive, just to give
the impression that [ was on as init
mate terms with the clerk as Ander-
son was, and we had several drinks to
gether.
4 frequented the place regularly
after that, and without being inquisi-
tive learned that Anderson was none
other than Little joe Spencer, the
cleverest devil that ever stepped in
two shoes. [ knew Joe as a smooth
faced, sober-looking chap. As Ander-
son he wore full beard and as Gun
ningham he wore q mustache and side
whiskers [ let it be known that |
was friend of Spencer, and Harper
talked freely about him, but, of course.
was too shrewd to mention anything
about his criminal career. Harper
said that it was wonderful what re
markable affection Abe had for his
mother and [ became so much inter
ested in the story that [ got him to go
more INTO detail. [ learned that the
old lady's name was Wolff, and that
she lived in q beautiful mansion at
Fairfield Conn.
Il knew from this that Abe was in
the habit Of visiting his mother very
often, and had got her in an Out-Of
theway place, where he could go
without exciting any comment. |
could not get any tips from Harper or
from any Of the scrubs who visited his
place as to where Abe might be, so |
sized up my game as being up Far
field way. [ spent a day in looking
over the country before | found Mrs.
W offs home. 1t was charming
spot, set in a clump of trees on the
edge Of forest about a quarter of
mile from the Fairfield turnpike. l
did not know exactly which way to
proceed, as | did not want to throw
myself down in case that Abe was at
home [ hung around, and finally got
a peddler to go to the house and keep
his eyes open while showing his
wares.
He returned with the report that
there were two men there, but that
they seemed to be workmen. Then |
strolled to the cottage, stopped to
play with a pair of beautiful King
Charles spaniels before ringing the
bell. Just to throw off any one who
might be looking for strangers. A
servant answered my ring and | was
shown into a magnificent parlor. |
asked for Mrs. Wolff. Presently a
beautiful woman about sixty years old
came to see me. Her face beamed
with goodness, and l felt like picking
up my hat and running away rather
than attempting to use her to catch
her son, but l had to attend to my
business.
"She was as simple as a child. and
when / told her that [ knew her son
she actually threw her arms around
my neck and kissed me- | wished at
that moment that [ had never been
detective, for | knew that | was doing
the very thing that would break that
dear old woman's heart.
She told me what lovely boy he
was, how he always remembered her.
and placed her in a position where
she had a good income from several
sources. | led her to believe that |
had expected to find Abe there, and
she told me that he was not coming
until the next Monday, He was go
ing to stop with her for a few days
before starting for South America. |
left the kindly old lady feeling very
sorry for her, but my way was clear.
Il obtained the assistance of two
other detectives. and we kept watch on
/ the house night and day. Little Abe
/ turned up on the day that he had
promised his mother, and | pinched
/ him about a quarter of a mile from
his home. told him that | had seen
his mother, and. after showing him
that | had enough men to cover the
house. [ agreed TO let him call upon
her if he would agree to come out
without being called at certain time.
He gave me his word. and | knew that
| could trust him, because he said
that she was as good as an angel.
He stayed just three hours, and
the old lady was in tears when ne left,
and 80 was Abe He had told her, no
doubt, that he might be gone for sew
eral years. Abe was such a cunning
devil that he actually beat the forgery
charge upon sheer nerve. and practi-
cally induced Mr.. Sloate to believe
that he had signed the check. He
pleaded guilty to the complaint OF
Mr.. Fairchild and got off with a light
sentence Of five years, and I'll admit
that for that old lady's sake l was
glad of it"
The wound of conscience is no scar