The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-01-11
Following a Trail.

Just before taking It was employed
% look into the loss OF $4,000 dia,
mond ring. II belonged to Louis BAN
berger. He missed 1t one day, and ]
was sent to bis house incog. TO inves
tigate. He didn't know when the ring
had been taken. since he had not seen
It for a fortnight at least before be
missed It. II was kept in a bureau
drawer in his bedroom.
For ten days kept my eyes open,
followed up every clew, however
slight, but made no headway what.
ever. l told Mr.. Bamberger that II
any one In the house had taken the
ring ! couldn't find out who was the
criminal. ] gave up the job.
A month later took murder case.
While driving along a country road in
the neighborhood of the scene Of the
murder on a fencepost / noticed some
thing that resembled a Masonic SYM
boil. II was circle and a triangle
roughly cut, the circle everything the
triangle, one Of the angles Of the lat
ter Being acute. I pulled up beside the
post 70 examine 1t. Any one but a de-
tective would have likely considered it
the work of some idle boy. / did not
regard II so lightly, but had not then
a knowledge gained afterward which
would have enabled me to decipher 1t.
] drove on much puzzled.
Later came to q point where an
other road Joined the one l was on.
Not hundred yards before reaching
the fork I saw>a duplicate of the cir
Gle and triangle carved on a tree stand
ing a short distance from the road. It
mt once occurred to me that these SYM
bols indicated route. Again I stop
ped and studied. l noticed that the
acute angle. of the triangle pointed in
the same direction as the one ] had
seen cut on the post, direction the
reverse Of that in which l was driv-
ing. Ten miles farther on the murder
had been committed the traces OF
which / was looking for. II these
signs continued at intervals to q point
near the house Of the murder / had
made an important discovery. | drove
on, watching for the sign, and saw
two, each at a road fork or crossing.
On the way passed the Bamberger
house and mile farther on came to
the house Of the murder A mile and
a half before reaching the latter the
road forked, and found the circle and
angle. This was the last signal in that
direction. ! turned and drove back
past the symbols and two miles be-
yond the FIRST ] had seen came to an
other, then another and another, driv-
Ing till it was too dark to see them.
Then I put up at farmhouse and
spent the night.
expected that I might have chase
before me lasting several days. but
never dreamed Of what l had really |
undertaken. Every morning I would |
start out, drive all day, seldom having |
to do much hunting for the symbols.
and turn in at night, hoping the next
lay to come to the end Of my pilgrim /
age. | had started from a point near
followed the "blazed" route
across Illinois to St. Louis, thence to
Topeka, thence to Santa Re, a distance |
as the crow nies) Of some 400 miles. /
On reaching Santa Fe examined ev-
FRY route leading in every direction,
Ending no symbols on any of them.
BY this time had done good deal |
Of thinking and had come to the con-
clusi0n that some one was showing the |
route to some one else. Had the some |
Dne else arrived? / examined the last |
symbol carefully and saw that it was
fresh cut. I had no clew to discover |
The person who had been showing the
route, SO / determined to look out for
whoever might be following. There
was house near where the last sym
Dol had been cut and / took room
here, watching all day from my win
low or while sitting on the porch. /
,elt confident that should discover
some one who had been engaged IN the
murder. He would not travel at night.
'or he could not see In the dark the
Iignals intended for him any better
han could.
One morning six days after ! had
segun my watch a tramp came down
he road / was In the yard at the
irne cleaning my revolver. AS usual,
lpon seeing any one approach kept
ny head bent down, but my eye on the
ramp. The moment he caught sight
Il the symbol I knew that had found
nv man. He made no secret Of his in
crest. why should he? He was some
900 miles by the shortest roads from
where the first signal had been cut
Iear the house of the murder. He
rent up to the circle and angle, looked
/ it squarely and was proceeding on
lis way when / covered him with my
eyolVer and ordered him to throw up
is hands He turned white, put his
ands over his head, and ] ordered
i'm to walk on ahead of me toward
ANITA Re, few miles distant
Taking him to a police station, the
rst thing / did after getting there
ras to search him for evidence con-
Getting him with the murder. What
Id find7 A ring set with tremen-
Gus diamond.
Well, TO close up, IT turned out that
bout week before the Bamberger
iamond was missed couple of
ramps stopped at the house and were
ed there Being left alone by care
.ss servant, one Of them found oppor-
unity to 90 upstairs and took the dia-
iond. After leaving the house be left