Rock Island Argus., 1896-01-18
CHAPTER I.

A GENTLEMAN THINKS HE CAN COMMIT
CRIME AND ESCAPE DETEcTIoI.
"Jack Barnes never gets left, You
bet"
"That was q close call, though" re-
piled the Pullman porter who had given
Mr.. Barnes helping hand in his des-
perate effort to board the midnight ex-
press as it rolled out Of Boston. II
wouldn't advise you to jump on moving
trains often"
THANK you for your good advice and
for your assistance. Here's quarter for
you. Show me TO my section. lam near.
ly dead, am SO tired"
upper 10. Right this way, sir. 1t is
oil ready for you to turn in.
When Mr.. Barnes entered the coach,
no one was in sight. If there were other
passengers, they were abed. A few min
utes later he himself was patting two
little bags Of feathers and placing one
atop Of the other in vain attempt to
make them serve as one pillow. He had
told the porter that he was tired, and
this was SO true that he should have
fallen asleep quickly. Instead his brain
seemed specially active and sleep i'm
possible.
Mr.. Barnes-Jack Barnes, as he called
himself to the porter-was detective,
and counted one Of the shrewdest in
New York, where he controlled pri-
vate agency established by himself. He
had Just completed what he considered
most satisfactory piece Of work. A
large robbery had been committed in
New York, and suspicion of the stron-
gest nature had pointed in the direc-
tion Of q young man who had immedi-
ately been arrested. For ten days the
press Of the country had been trying and
convicting the suspect, during which
time Mr.. Barnes had quietly left the
metropolis. Twelve hours before we met
him those who read the papers over their
toast had been amazed to learn that the
suspect was innocent and that the real
criminal had been apprehended by the
Keen witted Jack Barnes. What was bet
ter, he had recovered the lost funds,
amounting to $50, 200.
He had had long chase after his
man, whom he had shadowed from city
Co city and watched day and night, ac-
tuated to this course by slight clew in
which no had placed his faith. Now,
his man fast in Boston prison. he was
ON his way to New York for requisition
papers. As he had said, he was tired,
yet despite his need of complete rest his
thoughts persisted in rehearsing all the
intricate details Of tho reasoning which
had ut last led him to the solution of
tho mystery. As he lay in his upper
berth awake these words reached his
cars:
eff knew that man Barnes was aft.
or me, should simply surrender"
This promised to be the beginning Of
an entertaining conversation, and rs he
could not sleep Mr.. Barnes prepared tC
listen. Extensive experience as detect
i've had made him long ago forget the
philosophic arguments for and against
eavesdropping. The voice which had at
tracted him was low, but his ears were
koon. He located il as coming from the
section next ahead Of his, No. 6. A sec
ond voice replied:
"I have 10 doubt that you would
U.
ability Of the modern detective.
should actually enjoy being bounded by
ono Of them. Ii would be so much pleas
ure, and, think so easy, to elude him. '
The last speaker possessed voict
which was musical, and he articulatet
distinctly, though he scarcely venturet
above loud whisper. Mr.. Barnes eau
tiously raised his head, arranging hi
pillows so that his ear would be nea1
tho Partition. Fortunately the two mel
next to him had taken the whole sec
tion, and the upper berth had been al
lowed to remain closed. Mr.. Barne
now found that he could readily follow
the conversation, which continued thus
"But see how that Barnes tracked
this Pettingill day and night until h
had trapped him. Just as the fellow
supposed himself safe he was arrested
You must admit that was clever work. '
"Oh, yes, clever enough in its way
but there was nothing specially artistic
about il. Not that the detective was Il
blame. II was the fault of the criminal
There was no chance for the artistic.
Yet Mr.. Barnes had used that very atl
jective to himself in commenting upol
his conduct Of this case. The man con
linued: THE crime itself was inartis
tic. Pettingill bunSled, Barnes wa
shrewd enough to detect the flaw, an
with his experience and skill i'll sue
cases the end was inevitable"
1T seems to me either that you hav
not read the full account of the case O
else you do not appreciate the work c
the detective. Why, all the clew he ha
was button"
"Ah! Only button, but such a bu,
ton! That is where say that the crim
nal was inartistic. He should not hay
lost that button"
ut was an accident, suppose. an
one against which he could not hay
guarded. 1t was one Of the exisencies ,
his crime"
Exactly SO, and it is these little o.
cidents, always unforeseen, though a
ways occurring, which hang SO man,
and Jail so many. and give our detec
ives such an easy road to fame. That
the gist Of the whole matter. Ii is +.
uueuual game this between the Grimm