The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-03-09
T)uped by a
Slick Detective.

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The people of the little town Of Glen
coe were greatly excited over the
robbery of the American Express COM
pany's office, which had occurred the
night before. Some unknown persons had
broken the door of the office and hao
blow the safe open with nitroglycerln.
They had not disturbed anyone in the
town and no one knew of the presence
of the robbers until the next morning
when the agent went to his office. He
was surprised to find the door broken
open and, on entering, to see the safe
door lying on the floor torn from its
hinges.
He Immediately telegraphd the route
agent that the office had been burglarized
and then began an investigation to ascer>
tain the amount of the loss Checking
over his books he found that the safe had
contained 1896 in cash. besides a package
with collection Of $625 on it. The money
and this package was all that was miss
ing, but 1t represented a considerable
sum- The package was supposed to con-
tain jewelry of considerable value, and
had been consigned to a man who was
evidently travelling, for the postmaster
had never heard of his name before
Of course when the news became pub
lie that a daring robbery had been com
mitted, the people were greatly excited
over the matter. The only topic that
came up for consideration among the
town gossips for some time was the rob-
berry, They were all ready to advance
some theory as to the guilty parties,
but there seemed to be but little founda-
ton for their suspicious one man was
sure that he had seen the burglars a
little after dark on the night of the crime
was committed. and he confidently ac.
knowledged that while he was natural
ly brave man. yet he would not care
to interfere with them, as they were bad
looking characters" All agreed that his
story was correct, and it was finaAy
conceded by all that the burglary had
been committed by three men seen by
him and that they were professional
crooks.
AT the end of fortnight the matter
had been entirely dropped and the peo-
pie no longer continued to discuss lie
robbery The ten days wonder had died
out 1t was the opinion of everyone that
the deed had been done by some parties
who were smart enough to elude the
clutches of the law, and thus the event
was nearly forgotten.
But one day, about three weeks after
the robbery Of the express company s
office a man appeared in Glencoe and
wenu 10 the blacksmith shop in search
of work 1t happened that the local
blacksmith was greatly in need of a man,
and as the stranger had letters recon-
mending him as a good workman and
steady man, he was employed. The
stranger gave the name Of Terrence Nc
Guffy, and his ready Irish wit and gem
eral good nature soon made him a favor
lite with the people of the little town.
Chummed With the Sports.
Shortly f+ar baoipni,,er tv,vor1, q, C,Iov,.o1
McGuffy began to associate with a GER
tain class of fast young fellows who
were in the habit of playing poker in
one of the barber shops. 1t was rumored
ABOUT that he was able to keep even
with these young sports though at times
he was compelled to leave the table a
heavy loser. He always seemed to have
money and whether a winner or loser he
was always a good fellow. Thus as time
went on he became quite chummy with
three of these young men who bore the
worst regulations.
One night the crowd was gathered in
the barber shop engaged in a game of
poker The game was going along slow
ly and no one appeared to be winning
much money. Finally McGuffy stretched
himself and yawned saying II am tired
Of this game. 1t is too small. Let's take
off the limit and bet what our hands are
worth"
One or two Of the boys. who were a
little Short" said they did not care to
engage in such a game, but IF the rest
of them wished to play a game without a
limit. they would step out" So it was
finally agreed that the game should be
played without a limit. There were only
four men who remained at the table
McGuffy, John Lewis. Tom Mclean and
George Owens.
At first the game was quite moderate
and the betting remained low But it
seemed that McGuffy was lucky, as he
kept slowly gaining. AS the Others kept
constantly losing they began to get des-
perate and the bets became heavier
Finally John Lewis came to the end of
his finances, but as he did so he. picked
UP a beautiful full hand. All the others
were out except McGuffy, and who, ldok-
ing quietly at Lewis who had bet his last
cent, raised him SO. Lewis hesitated a
minute and said:
Il have put in my last cent but
have here a diamond ring which IS worth
$225. If you are agreed 1 viii put it up
as security against your money
"AIl right" replied RIcGuffy while a
queer smile seemed to play about his
mouth, put up your ring and IL I win
you can redeem the ring by paying me
the money"
The ring was placed on the table and
the hands shown. Lewis had an ace full,
but it was no good against McGuffys
four sevens. The money and ring passed
over into the possession of the black
smith:
This hand broke up the game and the
boys separated. each starting toward his
own home with the exception of McGuffy.
who seemed to be restless. He, however.
turned off into a dark street, where he re-
manned a few minutes, and then came out
and logged the steps Of Lewis who. when
he thought he was not perceived, mad
turned off in direction opposite to that