Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-10-26
FOOTPRINTS
IN THE SNOW
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Copyright, 1905, by p. G.. Eastment.l
There had been no less than thirty
six thefts and burglaries in the eastern
suburb Of the city, all evidently by the
same hand, and yet the police had
not found the culprit.
1 know that the police worked hard
on this case, and that every seeming
clew was carefully followed, and that
| they let a boy fifteen years old take all
the credit away from them was not
their fault. l was that boy, and that
1 solved the mystery was owing to
luck. The crimes began about the
middle of September, and l gave them
no attention until about the LIST of No
vember. Then l happened to be talk
ing with a man who had had his push
cart stolen. This, in fact, vas at the
beginning Of the thefts. He mentioned
that the tire Of n of the wheels had
been wrapped with wire to tighten it.
On the night Of the talk another
house was robbed. 1t was only two
blocks from my fathers house, and l
went there, with others. The police re-
fused all information, but during the
day | was told by a son of he house
holder that they had found tracks un-
der a window. 1t was an open fall,
and the ground had not yet frozen.
The tracks were those Of a boot, and
the sole Of one had been mended. l
went up and down the alley in the rear
Of the house with this boy, and in
the dust we found the impress of what
looked to be buggy tires. They We're
something else, however-they We're the
impress Of the tires Of that pushcart.
At every revolution one Of the wheels
left a sort Of smudge, and 1 was JUS
titled in believing that it was the tire
that did it.
My theory was that all the stolen
goods had been taken away in the
pushcart, but the case was blocked
right there. Where had they been
taken? Had l gone to the police with
my theory I should have been ridicul-
ed. The detective who can't find a
cleW himself doesn't want any one else
to find me-. When 1 had lain awake a
dozen nights trying to figure things
out luck helped me. The streets We're
still dusty. y barn had been broken
open and a lot of bedding temporarily
stored therein had been taken.
1 happened to be passing the place
when the discovery was made and the
police telephoned for. There were the
tracks of the pushcart again. In the
dusty road following the cart were
boot tracks, and one Of them had a
patch On the sole. 1 followed them for
a mile straight out into the country
before they were lost.
1t was easy to figure that if the thief
was not selling any Of his plumber he
was storing it somewhere a9d that the
country offered a safer place than the
city. The idea now was to follow
along the road and spot off any likely
looking place. 1 had my mind made up
that it would be an old barn out about
two miles. 1 walked out on the road
for five miles and found no one but
farmers Of honest standing. 1 took
two crossroads and followed them for
a distance, but with the same result.
The thief had gone out that road with
the %pushcart and the bedding, but
where had he brought up? The wealth
er changed, the ground froZe, and
all at once the crimes ceased.
Then luck came again. I vas buy
ing a pair Of winter gloves in a store
when a farmer called and asked for a
pair Of mittens for a m Some
talk followed, and it came out that
she was a widow who was living next
to him, three miles out Of town. He
also asked where he could get a pair
Of rubber boots for her.
I got the idea right then and there
that the widow was the criminal. 1t
seemed absurd, but yet the idea chung.
A detective would have told me to go
home and soak my head, and a report
er would have laughed me out Of his
room. l chewed over the thing for a
week, and then something happened.
l had been sent on an errand directly
after breakfast, and l passed a house
which had been burglarized the night
before. There We're quite a number of
people about, and the owner was tell
ing them how entrance had been effect
~ dAlO "udC udu DCCu IdhCA. w lNl
hunters and farmers call a tracking
snow had fallen during the night, and
the first thing l looked for was the
track of that pushcart.
An alley ran alongside the house, and
) there they We're. There were also
( prints of rubber boots. The alley gate
opened rather hard, and sticking to it
( were some small threads Of blue yarn,
) The farmer had bought blue mittens
( for the widow. Taking up the tracks, I
) followed them for two miles before
( they were obliterated by travel. l kept
J on to the house Of the widow and
I found it a small cottage. Between the
: gate and the road the cart tracks and
the footprints were as plain as day.
l had worked the case as far as !
could, and I O went to the police. l
was sneered at and warned not to
NEEDLE with their business. l went to
the sufferer by the last robbery, and as
he was a man Of influence and anxious
to get his property back he not only