Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1899-12-30
stin

still in
~well. certainly can try. What sort
Of a man was he2" asked.
"Ah, that is another difficulty. have
never seen him. All our business was
done by mail. Here is the address to
which the letters aud finally the money
were sent. That is all you will have
to work upon. Stop-here is one OF
the mans letters; you may need it; and
here is the book from which 'Daisy's
Quest was copied. Report to me if
you discover anything" And the
great man, for managing editors are
great men to reporters, rang his bell
to signify that the interview was over.
My first detective jobl 1 had had
three years of journalism, and had
found II commonplace work. Here was
my reward. Fame was within my
grasp. But was it? / read the letter
in my hand:
''Sir-I beg to submit to you as editor OF
the Gazette the enclosed stories. in the hope
that they will be found suitable for your
columns. As / expect to leave soon for
England. It would be a convenience could
you pay in advance of publication for one
or both OF the papers here offered. The
usual rate of compensation paid by the Ga
zette will be satisfactory. Very truly
yours.
JAMES G. DANDERS.
''s1S ESst Thirteenth Street"
So much for the letter. The book
was an odd volume, dated 1S4S, of an
English magazine, the Londoner, long
since dead. Such was my material
Obviously my first lead was to go
to the address given and inquire for
James G. Danders. The place proved
to be a cheap saloon. The barkeeper
knew but little of Danders, who came
there only for his mail and at long in
tervals; for the last fortnight he had
not been there at all. Evidently Mr..
Danders had covered his tracks. For
all L knew, he might be sending out
more stolen stories from the saloon on
the next corner. 1 drank some beer,
more because wanted to pump the
bartender than for inspiration.
''What sort of a man was Danders2"
echoed the bartender, in answer to my
question. 'sWell, not a man that you
would take much notice of; small
young fellow, perhaps 25 years old, red
dish hair, chin-whiskers, rather seedy
dress. When he came he'd sit there of
an evening reading the papers till clos
ing time. Never had much to say, and
never made no friends. But he paid for
his beer like man."
This last comment may have been a
reminder that l had not paid for my
beer. / paid, and took ten-mile walk
TO think the problem over. Surely some
ideas would come in the course of ten
miles. / went up Fifth avenue 20 the
end of the park and down along the
west side. 1t was cold, blowy day In
early May, and 1 felt chilled when 1
reached my own part of the town un-
der the shadow of the Jefferson Market
building. / knew that my own room
would be chilly, and so cast about me
for some warm and pleasant place
where 1 might rest and turn over in
my mind the few, very few, ideas that
my ten-mile tramp had brought up.
They hardly deserved TO be called ideas !;
was about as much in the dark as
when 1 started out. So far as 1 could
sec, my only chance of finding Mr.. Dan
ders was to become an habitus of the
saloon in Thirteenth street. The no
tion was not a pleasant one. 1t might
be days or weeks before Danders APP
peared. Or, again, he might not ap-
pear at all. He might have been telling
the truth when he wrote that he was
about to sail for England This de-
tective business was not all it had been
cracked up to be.
Somewhat disheartened, 1 turned
into the secondhand book-shop of my