The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1909-06-10


ice. II was then
at the nro Of %, that ne began to
accumulate rich store Of experience
in dealing with counlorfcitors. the
arts OF burglars and other varieties
Of thieves, and the training thus
acquired was destined to be OF
Wra.".abic value 10 him in
after lie. lio spent nearly two years
as nia agent for the government,
anil vas then persuaded to 20 TO
Eric. IA. where during his carly days
'A 'H" lakes. he had made many
friends Mr. Thomas Cruwlry was
aAi" of m" Eric police force at that
sim" and at his invitation Murray be.
cam" q detective under him
Shortly after his arrival there
"a' "' ancabthoyiap sweep, over the
'n"n "d assumed very serious prupnr.
hpU- Even the furniture of private
houses disappeared ns If by magic
'Iothry took 10 itself wing. and
vanished iu'o the great unknown.
P."DHHa mad" strange ana uaaccount.
able exits from the farmers fields
i"hElne no trace behind Horses can.
tered 1~ay unseen by their owners
ana their stables knew them no more
Whole contents of stores were carried
on, aad from one Of them % dozen
pairs OF shoes appeared to have walk.
td INTO oblivion in the fun glare OF
neon. II was all SO mysterious ms ia
loo almost amusing To the un /
h'pnE losers and The outraged mem. /
bers OF the polio" force who were TO. |
lhily unable TO appreciate the humor .
or the situation
Finally Murray met II farmer who had
seen a fellow drive by hts house I'm a
ne" democrat about the time that
IoI"arthys wagon disappeared. and
the description Of both wagon and
drlFer convinced him that he was NJ
last upon the right track, Accom-.
panied by Crawley and an officer
named snyder Murray hired tenn
and drove along the road the stranger
hLd followed with the missing wagon
For iuIIy 10 miles they travelled. stop.
ping a. every farm, but found nothing
TO reward their cXortions. Deciding 10
reed and rest their horses thcy turned
on the main road, and in a secluded
Clearing with several acres of pinn
woods around 1t perceived lone
house.
No one was in sight, but in re.
Spouse TO hail buxom woman ,
about 20 years Old, made her nppcar. ,
hhce ana Inquired If the party want.
cd anything Chief Crawley asked :,
Tor The man OF the place. SAYING that =,
ne wanted to feed his horses. Tho :,
woman whstled shrlly and from hn. :
nina clump of bushes near the
parh' there came n little weakened ;,
man about 80 years of age. The in.
slant Murray saw the newcomer his y
Eyes frightened. The boys descriDtion ~
oi the stranger who left the ancient u
wagon IN the shed exactly fitted the -
mar who stood before him. !,
What is Your name" Murray asked ..
George Knapp, replied the with.
red individual
Have you lived here long?" CT
Me aud my wife have been here ~
bout year was the reply. u
rs that your Wife" INQUIRED tho de. pa
act;vt, CHANGING at the young woman ~
no WAS standing in the doorway of w
he Aousc. pa
Knapp Erinned and nodded assent an
e was not disposed To be communi 49,,
awe ana his eyes twlnkled cun. 49,
Ingly as they met Murray's stcadfast Nv Nv
axe. ph
7,,, a..., on
me detective yawncd and looked hi,
'ound in nonchaant, uninterestod
shiIn Presently he returned TO tbo co,
tack " '''o 7c'
IL anC
Have you seen ANYTHING NJ n !
ranger driving past here in new ten
wagon lately" he inquired nor
y kn2pp shook his head. wh,
/ am I seen anyone drIyin' rast r,I,
re, he responded. Not likely that ,ri.
q. uid either for there's no place to God
I've to. secn' that this is the end sin,
the road" :,
W Nhapp was armed at all saw
49," So, ~, curious seekers for In thrc
nation The officers proceeded To and
Re a thorough search of the prem. II
8 but Their explorations of barn eris
ise and onthuildings proved fruit larg
3. Murray however, felt intultiyely time
I the willy Mr. Knapp was not as worl
oceIt as he would have them be- mar
e stroling past the barn and dow,
veying the ground carefully the de. title
ave took Lote of stretch of clear Chic
land running down to the creek onjpi
saw that the sod had recently from
, turned In one or two places. operi
hit indications frequently lead to shor.
results and a sudden suspicion Kpa.
ned across Murray's mind. mia,
Knapp" he said pleasantly. 81 glary
n to tiy my hand at fishing in that AZ,
Lend me spade" evide
What do you want with a spade?" work
d Knapp, tightening his lips. gage,
o dig bait with. OF course" re. of tn