The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-04-24
well?. he said, looking up.


working out one OF these advertising
puzzles whore they offer a prize for
finding the misspelled word" replied
Poe
There was something near the
last. reflected Mitchell Some word
seemed out of its regular appearance"
Read 1t again." suggested Poe v
" Oh, see! cried the other, having
glanced through the last line once
more. Its the word labour that
should be spelled labor"
That's what Webster says"
IL noticed 1t at first but didn't
think" continued Mitchell. ~ sup
pose that shows the counterfeiter is IL
literate?
"On the contrary, It shows he is
pretty well educated" replied Poe.
Mitchell looked at him blankly, his
lower jaw hanging loose. Oh, he re-
marked
Guess the others overlooked that,
too" said Poe.
It's not one OF the usual ways OF de-
tecting counterfeit. wouldn't ever
think Of reading the printing on bill"
The little things count
But surely you can't see any clue
in that misspelling?
Il certainly have an inkling to
the counterfeiter from It." was the
abrupt reply. as Poe rapidly thumbed
| through the stack OF five-dollar bills,
looking first at one side and then the
other, and paying no attention to Nit
chell's importunate questions
Finally he folded the roll carefully
and placed 1t in his breast pocket.
IyH take these with no, X you don't
/ need them" he said. Tell me, where
have those things been passed."
Mostly around New York. It's
! funny, the counterfeiting band doesn't
seem to have many agents outside,
most of 1t has cropped out in Brook.
| lyn; but, then, this is the first batch,
and ] suppose weIl soon be getting
others from the interior states
Poe secured list OF the banks that
had been caught on the bills and de-
| parted
He went at once to his rooms. where
he spent several hours closely examin-
ing each bill. Finally he separated
one from the lot, the only one which
showed slight difference from the
others. This he put beneath the mag
nifying glass and studied at great
length. Only one portion OF the bill
interested him; It was the white spot
1 on the back of the bill. at the left, bal
| ancing the frame which contained the
printed notice with labor mis-
spelled
On that blank spot was the light i'm
1 preston OF finger. Poe bent close
over 1t and followed the light ridges
| which had left their Impressions. Evi-
| IDENTIFY he was classifying the kind Of
4 mark 1t was. in accordance with the
! system of finger-print identification.
I He studied away mumbling quick
/ phrases to himself, according to a
habit he could not break:
/ " First finger, right hand Loops APP
prox. tented arches-eleven ridges
ulnar outer terminus - accidentals.
/ -engraver--graver. Hmmmm
s-twins-needles, no! - alb.
East India. Faker. Paper ="
Christopher Poe dropped the magni-
! fer and swung around to the telephone
= at his elbow. In minutes time he
was connected with Mitchell
!" How about the Coney Island
bank?" he asked How much of the
queer was showed off there!''
They took in seven thousand of It.
nearly. Got in heaviest there.
Doesn't seem possible: but It's the
cleverest counterfeit ever made" *
\ And the Brooklyn National?n
Stuck for nearly five thousand
Goodi Poe started to hang IN
when Mitchell's voice broke in anx-
iously:
Have you got anything to work
on?"
Yes, a good deal"
hope you're not trusting entirely
to that misspelled word? l don't see
anything in that"
4 No, I've got finger print to work
on now. Just discovered 1t on one of
the notes"
But 1t might be anybody's finger
mark, the bills have passed through a
lot of hands since they were made
t There's something different about
this mark that assures me 1t was left
by the counterfeiter himself"
Is that SOL" the voice became anx.
ious. Suppose I run over and have
a look at it,
Better hurry. then" replied Poe.
It's after three now and I've got to
get out to Coney Island before supper. .
4 He paused. started to hang up. and
then called, Bring Burns with You
Burns was the third member of the
little group of well-known bankers who
spent their leisure time In ferreting
out criminals who prey on banks.
Their work was always done in secret
and none knew Of their intimate ac-
quitance with the haunts Of criminals.
the world over
The pair of bankers arrived shortly
and Poe showed them the finger print
he had discovered Both looked at It
carefully, but neither believed that ii
was all important discovery.
4 Why" insisted Mitchell, that An.
I ger print could have bean left nv or,,