The daily Alaskan., 1913-10-17
A Detective
 Story
 By ALBERT KENYON
By ALBERT KENYON

so lNSSiuuLluE IS LuiL lL IS u peIpSLuai puzzle, Then there are so many in genious methods of perpetrating swim
 dies and concealing all kinds of crime.
 A detective never knows when he is going to light on a new and ingenious device.
 But 1t is not in such cases that l,
 now twenty years a detective. have found the keenest relish. The mur- derer is not in a condition of mind to think out a problem coOlly. He Is tn
 an abnormal condition. For my part I could hover understand how any one could commit crime the discovery ot
 which would bring a dreadful punish ment Nevertheless criminals often
 work out very intricate problems. 1t Is when two or three persons above
 the average in the social scale and in education conspire together that the
 most ingenious devices develop. Per haps this is because each gives the other courage. That is what makes hunting down a gang of counterfeiters so interesting. They are usually intelli-
 gent men and work together. Yet ther6
 Is one thing they all lose sight of or disregard-the fact that they are al- ways caught in the end.
 The most interesting surprise ever encountered was IR unearthing one of 1 these counterfeiting gangs. say sur
 prise. for 1t was no credit to me that made the discovery. Indeed, had ] not made a criminal of myself should
 never have got on to them. 1 was put
 on the case in this way: Some counter felt twenty dollar bills were being put into circulation. They seemed to come to the surface in q small town in Kan sas and drift eastward. At any rate, one of them was traced to thls place, and | was sent out there to invesd- gate There Is always a difference in towns. some being inhabited in the
 main by good. religious people, others being uUtoriously bad. N, the point where the counterfeit bill came from.
 was neither good nor bad, but not long before my arrival party had begun
 to assemble every evening to play poker. The game or series of games had been started by two or three men
 who had recently come to the town, and a number of citizens had gradu. ally come to take a part in the pro-
 ceedings. They were played in the room sometimes of one, sometimes Of another. member of the party.
 went into the town ostensibly to
 buy cattle. 4 day or two after my arrival I was informed by man whose acquaintance 1 had made that there was poker party in a room up- stairs. He said he was going up to
 look on, and I told him l would go with him if he would introduce me. The truth is I have suffered all through my life from the gambling passion. Having a fortune, 1 lost 1t, and that
 was what threw me into the detective business. should not have gone to
 watch this game. for l ran great
 risk of being drawn into 1t.
 found a party of good fellows, who
 received me cordially. and 1t was not long before ! called for some chips. l
 soon lost what good money l had
 about me and to recoup yielded to a
 temntatiOn to use counterfeit bill
 that 1 had brought with me for sam
 pie. The moment l laid 1t on the ta-
 bic saw two of the players give each
 other meaning look; then both
 turned their eyes on me. A cold chill
 ran down my back, for 1t looked as if
 I were detected on the start. But my
 business had schooled me in conceal ing my feelings. and I returned the
 mems g!ances with blank stare.
 Doubtless it was this that caused one of them to make a mistake. He gave
 me a crafty look. returned It with one equally crafty.
 I had no idea what this meant. l happened to win the bill had put up and something besides. Then caution got the better of my passion, and l played only so long as I could play on what I had won. I saw the men who had noticed the bill go on the table watching me Evidently didn't fill the bill of what they, had expected of me. for got no more confidential glances. One thing 1 notced-several twenty dollar bills came out from those men on the same bank as the one I had used for stake and pass ed into the hands of other players One of them fell to me. The man who had given me the meaning glance at once asked me for 1t, offering four
 lives" for it. But told him I would rather keep 1t. However. knowing | some game was going on other than the open one on the table, I gave 1t to him. This seemed to allay a slight | suspicion of me that had come to him.
 It was the producing of these twenty | dollar bills, all on the same bank, and their passing into the hands of others | that gave me an explanation of the mystery. COunterfeiters were using | the game to shove the spurious money | or to such citizens of the place as were drawn into their poker game. | Immediately I put out all the bills l | v1n F1H