The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-02-11
he Ambition Of the Kaufman
Family.

Family.
"Speaking OF bolice stupidity an
queer Grimes" said the captain, mul
|ingIy, reminds me OF my first bi
case, how cut"ly work ed it and wba
u failure II IT,. ned out to be from tn
public pOir OF view. / was a gree
hand, but had rise en- to the degree q
plain cloth - ar. was beginning I
get u reputation with the department
and the newspapers when the haui
4 man case came up and put me to In
bad for keeps, especially with tn
police reporters.
"Old man Kaufman was cashier O
the Dexter Nat onal Bank and live,
in Cedar Grove, u subj ID chiefly notet
for "exclusive society,"" Half the pop
ulation kept poor trying to cut wid'
social swath, and the other half livet
in misery from envying their neigh
bors. Nobody was very rich, and no
body was very poor, and it was one o
those places where the people are al
ways talking about our first families,
pulling Off 'functi0ns' and plying tht
plain people, OF course didn't class
UP very well, being u detective, but old
man Kaufman overlooked that, ant
was the test, perhaps the only friend
had among the swells.
He bad u big family, about seven
children-all grown young women o
the .high-society' kind-and they
didn't do thing to the old mans fin.
ances. What with summer tours and
winter gayeties, pink teas, soirees,
theatre parties and all that sort ol
dOings, they kept the old fellows
nose 10 the grindstone for true. He
didn's have q thing IN the world but
his home and his salary. and / don't
think that was over three or four
thousand. / used TO sit with him In
the train very often, and ~ he was
stuck on talking and,I wasn't, came
to know q good deal about his affairs.
! don't think he was very strong nj
the society game himself, but he was
ali wrapped up in his family and let
them work him to the limit.
1.-THE black sheep Of Cedar Grove
owned the house next door TO kauf.
mans, and the chief ambition of the
cashier was to buy out his objection
able neighbor. His name was Heck
burg he was professional gambler,
and hia wife was what the suburban..
ties call "vulgar." Once about every
month the Heckburgs would have
what they called a house party but
nobody ever came to il except lot OF
fash looking guys from town. That
made the Kaufman ladies wild, and,
a. Heckburg's was dingy sort Of a
cottage. built right up against kauf.
mans lot, TIE old fellow. his wife, and
his high-toued daughters had their
hearts set on buying 1t.
d" 1T amt worth more than $4,000,
Kaufman explained 10 me one night,
'and could have had it for $500 last
summer when Heck burg went broke
on the races. 'I'll get him in the same
fix again, / hope. He won't sell now.
Never will sell 20 long as he's flush,
but the first time he goes broke I'll get
the place. last time I didn't have
the cash, ant like, he want
ed 1t right off-w ,uldn't wait a day.
I'm ready for min now though
"And Kaufman tapped his breast
and whispered ~ got $3OO0 In my in
side pocket. Carry it there all the
time, ready for Heckburg to 60 broke"
[ told the old man that he was foolish
to carry SO much cash around with
him, but he ~: li"ckburg was one Of
thee men tf,t coulCn't be induced to
let 60 for AL. thing lut ready money.
Il carry It my inside vest pocket.
and nobody knG ~ it but you and me,
he said. was little surprised ~
know that he had 80 much cash Of his
own, but didn't think much about II
till q few days later. when, as said |
got my first big case.
Ofcourse didn't live in the swell
part of Cedar Grove, but ut that my
room wasn't more than six or seven
blocks from Kaufman's. 1t was about
three o'clock one Water morning. just
before Christmas when l was routed
out of bed by aufman's coachman.
lit the gus and lot him ~, aud while
was dressing he t0lu me that the old
man had just been murdered. "Taint
more'n three days ago he told me II
anything ever happened to call you,
aud 30 came here first / thanked
NV stars that WAS TO have the first
chance, and in five minutes we were
trudging through the snow to the
kaufman house. From the coach
mans talk / learned that the first In.
dication of trouble had come about q
half-hour before, when he and the
family were awakened by the report OF
q shotgun, followed almost immedi.
stely by u. pistol shot.
"He slept in room over the barn
but had run over to the house and
reached the side porch before anyone
in the house had appeared. He found
old kaufman lying face down, dying,
on the porch floor. His shotgun lay
beside him, and, further away, a pis'
tol, which he supposed must have
been dropped by the burglar When
got to the house it was all lighted up
the women were upstairs screaming
aud going on, and two or three neigh.
bors, attracted by the shots. were JUS,
arriving. The poor old banker wa,
vet where he had fallen, and nobody
seemed to have the nerve 10 take ever
q second look at him. made every
body stay in the house, got q lantern
and stationed the coachman ut the
front gate TO keep newcomers from
tracking up the snow.
Zone Of the first things I did afte
making sure that Kaufman was deat
was to examine his pockets Hi
watch, q good gold one, was In his ves
which was unbuttOned, as II he NIGH
have hurriedly thrown 1t and the Goa
on. He was fully dressed, even to tn,
lacing Of his shoes. remembered
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