The Palatka news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1907-08-23
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: THE MAN WITH :
; A HEEL. :
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Copyright, 1901 by Mary McKeon.I

a period of fourteen years before HI
was made assistant manager and giveI
charge of the unset stones.
For two years after he had beer
given charge of the gems James bod,
was simply waiting. He meant to fiji
his pockets with plumber and skip. HI
was methodical and cold blooded. II,
would not make the mistake so many
others had. He would make none al
all. Step by step he prepared for the
coup. He must change his looks, his
| gait and his voice. An actor taught
him the art of appearing to be ter
years older. Some one else taught
him that by holding a peach stone in
his mouth he could alter the tones OF
his voice. A shoemaker made him q
shoe for a deformed foot, and for
more than 800 nights he walked
the streets with it. 1t gave him a
limp and a lop shoulder. He tested
these things in the Severest way. In
his disguise he went boldly into the
store as a stranger and made pur-
chases of men who had known him for
years and years.
Three months before the affair was
ripe James Dodd had his every plan
laid. He would not flee abroad, as
others had done and been Overhauled
almost at once. He purchased a book
stand not five blocks away. He pur-
chased an old house to live in. He Sc
cured a housekeeper. He had worn
his wig a hundred times. The shoe
for the deformed foot had a cavity in
the heel. The diamonds hidden away
there would always be at hand. At
closing time one day the event came
off. Uncut and unset diamonds to the
amount OF 100000 were carried home
in his pocket An hour later he had
taken possession Of his new quarters
under another name.
The diamond mystery" made a
great sensation. The house believed
in the honesty of its employee; the po-
lice believed he had skipped Three
or four days We're lost in discussion,
sleuths let loose. They telegraphed to
every port in the empire. They gave
notice to all the steamers that had
sailed. They had every constable in
every village on the watch. If Dodd
had committed five cold blooded muir
ders the hunt couldn't have been ferc-
er. 1t dragged into days and weeks
and months. 1t was discussed over
and over in the press and in every
police station and barroom in the land
A young man who had lived life
beyond reproach for fourteen years
walks out of the house where he has
been employed and disappears from the
ken Of men. He was not even seen to
leave his boarding house that evening.
No one saw him on the street. He
had not gone abroad by any sort of
craft. He had not taken a train for
any point within the empire. While
he was directly in charge of the gems,
the manager or either one of the part
ners had access to them. The detec-
tiyes figured it out that Dodd must
surely be the guilty party, but a large
element of the public shook their heads
doubtfully and made comments that
put others In embarrassing positions.
After six months the hunt was
abandoned. 1t was the general opin-
ion that Dodd was dead by accident or
suicide. Meanwhile the bookstand
flourished. Its only attendant day by
day was Mr.. Cooper, its owner. The
only one to penetrate the old house be-
hind it was the aged housekeeper, and
she went to her own home o. nights.
The public had been buying books OF
a certain man for years. One day he
dropped out of sight and new man
stood behind the counter. There was
a moment of surprise at seeing him. q
question or two. perhaps, as to the
other, and then business went on as
usual That's the way with the pub
lie. The old goes and the new comes.
There We're no newer or better books.
There was no change in prices. There
was nothing to call for discussion.
Detectives loafed away a quarter Of
an hour at the stand Employees of
the house of Walfour & Co. turned up
there almost daily. All sorts of men
stopped there For weeks Mr.. Cooper
heard his case discussed, but 1t was
rarely that he had a word to say. Soon
after the bOokstand changed hands a
little girl twelve years old began to
pass that way every day with her ia
theirs dinner. BY and by she and Mr..
Cooper began to nod and smile to each
other: Sometimes she would stop and
chat for a minute, and sometimes he
handed her a penny. She told her IA
Their of these things, and he was
wrOth, but after walking around to the
stand one day and looking the man
over he decided that there was no
harm in him.
A year lacking a few days had gone
by, and it was midwinter again, when
one day as the girl passed the stand
two dogs began fighting in her path.
Mr.. Cooper hurried out to kick them
apart and make a safe passage for her,
but in doing so he Slipped and fell and
rolled off the narrow walk in front of
a van and was run over. There were
two or three minutes of excitement
and then he was taken away to the
hospital, and the doctors found him al
ready dead Mr.. Cooper was known
by name, but Of course his clothing
was overhauled. AS the shoe for the
deformed foot was removed II was
seen that the heel was turned a little
A minutes investigation revealed the
fact that there was cavity and in
that cavity the diamonds stolen from
the house in Bond street The man
had planned and plotted and lodged
and waited and yet it had all been In
vain. The veriest trne had exposed |
him and lost him his life at one and
he same moment NJ nTTAn