Connecticut western news., 1908-01-30
A GENTLEMAN H DETECTIVE.

by the chief Of police for detective work. How the chief ef1secured him for the purpose no one knew.
 MT. Travers was to make himself
 favorite in society and quietly give
 away the criminal element moving
 therein There was not the remotest chance that the most astute thief, male or female. could connect him with the
 police. In the first six months he gave tips that drove three or four families
 into retirement and Il false baron into prison. Then two events occurred si-
 multaneously to give him trouble. lady guest at Il country house was
 robbed of S10,OO0 worth of diamonds
 the night before he himself arrived for
 q weeks stay. and he had no sooner
 seen her than he fell in love with her.
 It was Edith Meridith who had suf- fered the loss, and Edith Meridith was the daughter of California million aire. He was travelling In Brazil for l time. and his wife and daughter were stopping in town. As for references, i the father and husband had been
 United States senator and three or
 four other things. and the wife and
 daughter had moved in the best so-
 ciety on the slope One might as we'll have asked for social references from ] the presidents wife.
 Mir. Travers found himself in two 1 fixes at once. He was in love, and he
 could not give away the fact that he
 was playing detective. He gave his
 opinion of the robbery, as did all other
 guests, but he had to stop at that. The
 room had been entered and the jewelry | taken In the afternoon while all the | guests were on the golf grounds. The
 first suspicious were against the serv-
 ants of course That Is thing that
 never fails. The servants were ex-
 .mfned and cross examined and put
 Hlrough the third degree, but no clew
 was obtained.
 The whole situation was rendered
 mighty uncomfortable. Travers. being
 the last conner, and not arriving until
 after the robbery, was the only one ex-
 empted from suspicion. He could not
 act openly. A detective was sent for, | but he could not make himself known.
 The opinion of the man, after going
 over the ground. was that some one had sneaked into the house by the
 front way. This theory was accepted
 by all. It did not recover the dla-
 monds. but Miss Meridith was kind
 enough not to take their loss too much
 at heart. They represented only
 days income of her fathers, and he
 could afford to lose one day out of the
 365.
 But after twenty-four hours some
 other theory had to be advanced.
 There was q second robbery This oc'
 cured in the evening, while all tho
 guests were looking at fireworks on
 the lawn. The victim was m old dow
 ager, and her loss was also thouson 's ! of dollars. Entrance by the windows was impossible Entrance by the front
 hall was impossible. The old dowager's maid had been sitting by a window in } the hall upstairs all the time. and sh" had seen none of the servants spying
 about. They were suspected again, Of course, and again there was great . ado. No clew-absolutely no clew. Another detective came down next
 day, and he gave it as his opinion that a magpie or tame crow had entered by . way of the window. That no magpie or tame crow had ever been kept
 around the house made no difference. You could take his opinion or not. . Even amid this excitement MT Travers progressed with his newborn
 love. Miss Meridith seemed smitten with him also. Perhaps smitten is too . strong a term, but she was very gra' cious. The two talked privately about
 the mysterious robberies, privately and confidentially. They didn't exactly lay them on to the old dowager, but they understood what each other thought The mysteries did not break up the house party, as might have been ex pected. This was because the third de tective who was put on the case no !. tified host, hostess and all the guests that he suspected one of the servants and must have a week or two to worh E up his case. After that five peaceful! | happy days and nights passed. TherS were no more robberies. Clews were being picked up like potatoes at dig ging time. It was only n matter of { few days when the guilty one would be punished and the plunder restored At the end of those five happy days ! and nights most of the guests were | whispering to each other that MT. Trav CTS and Miss Meridith would surel! | make a patch of 1t. They walked ant talked by day, and they sat and sighed in the moonlight of evenings, and or the sixth night. MT. Travers went tt bed reasonably satisfied. AS he di' | not appear up to late hour next morn | ing. and as the hs1me was the case witt Miss Meridith their doors were forced !! Miss Meridith was gone, and'n laddc {. at her window showed how she went Most of her wardrobe had gone w1tl 1 her.
 | MT. Travers hadn't gone. He hadh' + because he was tied and gagged an' 1 couldn't go. He had been despoiled o ! everything and the two men who ha' E tind oud dasppiled him had injured hi