The daily Alaskan., 1908-11-05
66e Cute Mr. Davis
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Copyright 1908. by T. c. McClure.l
 The cute Mir. Davis figured out that to get safely away with fortune be- longing to some one else he must make himself all over. He must wipe him self out and create a new character. It was a matter requiring q good deal of consideration. One slip in the pro- gramme and the whole machinery would be thrown out of gear. When taking his position 9le had q fine mus tache and a pair of whlskers. He cul- tiyatcd them and let them grow at length. He had prominent ears, and he made them more prominent by combmg his hair in a new way. His speech was naturally brisk and con taincd a slight lisp. He cultivated the brlskncss and the lisp. He had bushy eyebrows that met In the middle. He called special attention to them as a heritage from strong race.
 In tue two years and half that the cute Mir Davis was getting ready for his grand coup he learned to speak the German language of q professor, He gave a wrong name, lied about hls occupation and let 1t be understood that he was going to Germany as agent for an American machinery house. He managed In one way and another to become better acquainted with the country for fifty miles around than any drover or peddler. Through second party he bought q log house and few acres of land in poor farming district where settlers were far between and let 1t be understood that a German professor was to oc- cupy 1t in time to make experiments in chemistry of the soils and In geol- ogy. In his own room he donned cer- tain garments and posed before his mirror. Ills brisk speech in English became a sort of drawl in German. In place of his perfect gait he culu- vatcd a slight limp. He learned some thing of the rudlments of chemistry and geology. He knew what chem lcaIs to buy to stain his face and hands and give him q swarthy look, He knew what change would come about when his whiskers and mustache dis. appeared
 Mr. Davis would have to ride fifty miles to his retreat when his coup came or. He could go by any one of a dozen trains, but he shook his head. Before the event was ready he had bought horse and buggy and knew every foot of the road. He had hired d room under another name in a differ- ent part of the city, aud what he need ed for the mctamOrphoSis was there days in advance of the event. The programme was gone over again and again. There was no flaw in 1t. The cute Mir. Davis would disappear off the face of the earth some day, and how the smart detectives were to con- meet Professor Schmidt with the late cashier was more than he could give them credit for. He tried hard enough, because that was hs destruction or salvation, but he had to pronounce his programme simply perfection.
 The great day came at last. The cashier went to the bank with the lar gest deposit for years-that is, coupe set him down at the bank, but ten minutes late: he was out on the walk and hurrylng away. He reached his rooms, changed Into his disguise and then shaved himself. Then hls eye brows were thinned out, his hair comb. ed according to programme, and the cute MT. Davis drew long breath and said to himself that he defled all the detectives on earth to identify him. The rest was dead easy. A German who spoke broken English drove out of town behind a gentle horse, and no one gave him any attention or cared whither he went. At the country inns where he put up no one had any curi- osity about him. When he reached his house he found that his nearest neigh Dor was two miles distant and a Rus sian Jew at that.
 The cute Mir. Davis had figured that his dropping out of sight would create a sensation. He was right, For the first twenty-four hours 1t was thought he might be the victim of foul play. Then tue bonding company began to hustle for other clews. The regular police were called in, and the reward offered brought scores of private de- tectves into the game Inside of three days everybody had settled down to the belief that 1t was q case of skip" and all work being done was based on that theory. Never was there hotter hunt for an embezzler. If Mir. Davis had committed murder the chase would not have been half as vigorous. With in a wee! the whole United States was on the watch for him, and copies of that photograph with the whiskers were flying about Ike leaves in gale. At the end of a month the army of de- tectiveS had to turn in their reports with the words "No clew" attached. It was believed that the criminal had escaped to a foreign country.
 The cute Mir Davis, alias Professor Schmidt, figured on making use of his retreat for a number of months and tbap oscuDoiup some other guSe In