Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1903-08-21
DYkEMAN's PRowEss.
After all His Boosting He Proved to
be Hero.


Henry Dykeman's mind was occupied
with deeds of daring. Our little set OF
newspaper eporters-Dykeman was
one of us--was constantly treated by
him to some fanciful exploit In which
he had been engaged, though he mod
estly left all the credit to some one else
At one time he had come upon man
overpowered by footpads just in time,
with the assistance of others, to drive
the rascals off. At another he had res
cued child from the fourth story Of a
burning building, mentioning, by the
way, that n woman had been rescued
from the firth story by some one else
under far more difficult circumstances.
Then there We're constant encounters
with men in the dives" where Dyke
man considered it necessary to go in
the pursuance of some of his assign
ments for criminal news. Occasionally
some one not acquainted with him
would hear him recount these episodes
and sheer, but those Of us who be-
longed to the gang" as we disre-
spectfully referred to ourselves, be-
lieved that Dykeman was simply suf-
fering from having got into the wrong
sphere Of life and his stories of adven-
ture were hissings of steam from his
safety valve.
you were missing last night, Dyke
man." l would say to him at dinner,
when we were assembled at the little
acfo Mt tn oil a
dined together. Where do you spend
your evenings when off duty?"
Last night-let me see. All, l re-
member! Last night | was walking
on street when Il woman threw up
window in house | was passing
and cried for help. l went in and
found a thief, who had got into the
second floor Of the house while the
family were at dinner, just climbing
down a latticework from rear porch.
reached over and, selling his coat
collar, drew him up. Just then po-
liceman entered, and turned him
over"
"Did any one else come in for any OF
the credit" asked one of the gang
Eyes; 1t was all due to the woman
who called for help. She had induced
the man to enter closet by assuring
him that he would find the silver there,
and when she got him in she slammed
the door and turned the key. How
ever, the door was frail, and he broke
1t down. l tell you she was plucky,
that woman"
"But where were you the night be-
fore and the night before that? You
are never with us any more. Do you
rescue some one every nightW
A panied expression came over his
face, and l fastened to add:
"Never mind. dear boy. You shall
spend your evenings where you please"
Nevertheless curiosity got the better |
Of us, and many We're our discussions
as to how Dykeman occupied his lei |
sure hours. One said that he was Sc |
cretly taking boxing lessons, another
hat he had Joined the militia and was
giving all his spare time In drill. Dyke
man himself when twitted with the
subject gave out that he had job to
shadow a multimillionaire.
Time gave no explanation, SO at last
We concluded to hunt up one for our
selves. Choosing an evening when
We were all off duty together, we made
'ur arrangements to follow Dykeman.
"Will you go to the theater this even
ng" I asked him. I'VE are all Of
onight and can take in any show you
ike"
Thanks. I would like to be with
'ou. but you see
II don't see"
"Well, then, there is bank
(Which is TO be robbed tonight"
How did you know that?"
"Never mind. Go on"
"They need some man who Is quick
n the trigger, who has plenty Of
luscle"-
"That will do; business before pleas :
re. You can go to the theater with
s some other evening"
We left Dykeman sitting over glass
( sour wine and sailed forth, osten-
IDLY to the theater, really to places
+ concealment, from which we
yatched till he came out, then followed :
i'm. He soon stopped at a candy q
tore, from which he emerged with
aper of sweets. a
SIS he going to head off the bank v
obbers by peppering them with bon t
ons?" remarked one Of the gang" o
A second stop was at fruit stand, :
here he purchased some luscious u
on chps and vol1ow bananas l
81 see," said another. He's going !,
, scatter the skins ON the floor In :.
ont Of the vault, and the robbers n
ill find their feet in the air and s
on their backs" |,
There We're no more stops till Dyke r.
ian entered little frame trap on the :
ltskirts of the city. He went in at
he door, and we took position at the
indow. A dim light shone within,
nd there was half an inch of space
etween the window shade and sill
trough which we peered from the
Inside. A little girl of some seven
; eight years was lying on couch.
er cheeks were thin, her eyes were "
rye and lustrous with disease, and Il
eir expression as they tiared upon the $;
eat muscular figure of Dykeman was $,
lat of one who had waited hungrily q,
r him all through the long day. She il
rev her thin arms about him as he HI
mt over her and patted his broad
lex, the only manifestation Of her b'
light visible to us now that he was -
tween her and us. Then the candy