The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1900-03-08
; THE ST.. 10 3
CAR R0BBERIES
49, OF '03 ~ "a.
A Detective Yarn r
By ]. p. Barnitz.

We had returned from the dining car
to the smoking compartment of our
sleeper. There were five of us, all
having occupied the same car since
leaving St. Paul, we had become pref
ty well acquainted with each other.
There was but one other passenger in
the car, an elderly, taciturn man. who,
although exceedingly polite and gentle
manly in his department., rarely Joined
in the conversation when we all gath
cred in the smoking room.
Porter" one Of us asked when the
.darky brought some cigars we had or
dered, "can you tell us the name of the
gentleman in section 10"
Eyes, sab; his name is Mr.. Shortwell.
He trabels heap, he does, on dis yeah
line. He's de company's chief of de-
tectives an de only one of 'em we
knows by sight. He's a-goin eb'ry
place an no place all de time. But he's
de whitest man on tips Ize eber seen
deed an deed he is, sah!' he replied in
siI uatingly.
We were passing through the great
wheat district Of North Dakota. The
immense expanse Of ripe grain glisten-
ing in the slanting rays Of the fast
sinking sun seemed vast golden sea
stretching away to the northern hori-
zon. In the southwest heavy thun-
derstorm was raging. the lightning Wv
i'd and grand. The thunder rolled
across the plains like the distant rattle
OF musketry, and the sun. dipping be-
hind the bank of black clouds, left u
lurid glare athwart the sky. .u.'
Gentlemen, have you ever seen a
finer sight than thatT remarked Mr..
Shortwell as he came into the COM
partment and took a seat by the win
dow. "I've seen such storms frequent
ly in this section" he continued, land
each time I imagine I'm looking at
battling armies. the victorious forces
sweeping on, leaving fire and destruc-
ton in their wake. The forces of ma
ture are truly marvellous, are they
notT ..
From the subject Of storms the con-
versation drifted to personal expert
ences Of more or less remarkable ma
ture, and we noticed Mr.. Shortwell
Frightening up and listening intently
to the accounts of our various adven-
lures. g.. -.s.sa
Just as Fred Hardy. travelling
salesman for a New York jewelry
house, finished relating how his trunk
of valuable samples had been mistaken
by a lot Of train robbers for book
agents outfit from the heft of it In
hold up on the Santa Fe two years be-
fore, Mr.. Shortwell Strengthened up
from his lounging position on the heav-
ily upholstered seat and said:
'I presume. being travelling men, you
all remember the series of mysterious
robberies that occurred on the sleeping
cars Of various lines during the winter
of 1884? At that time was an en-
ployee Of one of the best known de-
tectiye agencies in the country, and
when the sleeping car company which
had suffered most from the depreda-
tions of the willy thief requested our
agency to take hold Of the matter ]
was given the case. ..s,... :,
when took up the scent, the thief
was operating on this line, and my first
move was to be employed by the sleep
ing car company as one of their con-
ductors. For six or seven weeks there
were no robberies reported, and was
working along in the role of sleeping
car conductor as completely In the
dark as. when took hold Of the case.
Zone night in the middle OF June,
Just after leaving a station, where. we
changed engines, walked out upon
the platform Of the rear sleeper in or
der to- catch the breeze, as the air In
the car was stuffy and hot. | lounged
over the brake wheel, watching the
lights of the town grow fainter and
fainter until nothing but pale white
glow on the sky marked its site. Sud
denly some one touched me lightly on
the arm, and an agitated voice said:
Conductor, I've been robbed of all
my money! Evensmy watch is gone!
shy detective instincts were aroused
in an instant. The opportunity for
which l had been waiting had at last
presented itself. swung quickly
around and followed my scantily clad
passenger into the dimly lighted body
Of the car.
.sHe was a short, stout man, proba-