Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-06-07
THE MYSTERY"
Startling Discovery Concerning Man
With No Visible Means of support.


whom we called the mystery as no
one knew how he made his money" ex-
claimed a we'll known New Yorker to
q party OF friends who were passing
away the time by relating yarns. 'He
lived in style, his children were fash
ionably dressed and attended pri-
vate school, and his wife had serv-
ant to help her with the housewol1.
Every morning, as regular as clock
work, he would leave the house about
six and return soon after dark. He
always carried cane and a medium
sized black bag. He had slight limp
in his walk and was not altogether
bad looking fellow.
''He lived in the neighborhood for
years. In all that time no one had
ever been invited to the house and
advances from neighbors for social
intercourse were discouraged. Vari-
GUS theories were presented as to
what this fellows business was, and
now, when we all know how he got
his money, they all appear ridiculous.
The very simplicity of the method
possibly accounts why no one could
guess what it was.
"Once or twice some very inquisi-
tive person tried to follow the mys-
terry when he left the house in the
morning; but as he was shadowing
the man with the limp walk he would
disappear so suddenly as if he had
dropped though the sidewalk. OF
course, as the story was circulated
around, that only heightened the in
terest in him and resulted in the
soubriquet by which he was best
known.
''It is doubtful whether anyone
would ever have learned his business
had not particularly bright sister,
in-law. One day while out shopping
she CHANGED to pass beggar and was
struck by the pitiful condition he ap-
peared to be in. He was minus an
arm, one of his legs was shorter than
it really used to be, his eyes were fixed
in such manner as to convey the i'm
preston that if he was not blind he
was not far from his being so, and his
whole general appearance was of such
character as to excite even the sym
pathy of the most cold -blooded per-
son imaginable. A placard which he
had in front of him stated that he had
family to support, and that was no
lie.
"While my sister-in-law dropped a
coin in the tin mug he had for that
purpose, she thought she saw some
thing familiar about his appearance.
His makeup did not seem to be real,
but a very clever disguise. There
was a suspicious lump under his coat
where an arm ought to be, and other
details gave her the impression that
he was q first class fake. But that re-
semblance to some one she had seen
somewhere. OF course the mystery
was go far out of her mind that she
did not connect him with the beggar.
cat dinner thai night my sisterin
law told what she had seen that after
noon as an amusing incident in a
days shopping. While we were
laughing over her recital an idea
possessed me. BY Jove,' [ remarked,
suppose the beggar should be "the
mystery, and instantly discussion
began which almost made us forget
our dinner. Here was q real mystery,
80 we thought, and the upshot of the
matter, being as were human, was
that we decided to solve it for our
selves. Accordingly we hired two
private detectives, told them all we
knew about the fellow and left the
case to their own good Judgment. We
did not want any bungling through
our own amateurish detective work.
"Well, his method was simple
enough. When our detectives report
ed the result of their Investigations
we learned that the mystery left his
house early in the morning, went to a
place situated in q poor quarter of the
city, taking extreme care to cover up
his tracks, which explained why the
person who had followed him lost the
trail. When he emerged an hour or
so later he was disguised as beggar,
aud betook himself off to the crowded
fashionable thoroughfares where he
sat in some conspicuous place. He
must have taken in from ten to thirty
dollars day, and certainly he Sc.
cured enough money for his wife to
live in style and for his children to &C
to private schools.
"What became of him? Well, he
was such a humbug, and the story
was too good to keep, so the authori-
ties finally learned who he was. We
did not make any charge, the news
just spread as such news will. He
was arrested one day and his life
story was made public The family
moved away suddenly and disappeared
from view. The house in the poor
section was the rendezvous of band
of such fellows who were professional
beggars. The band, of course, was
broken up, the fakirs dispersed, but
there are others in the great city OF