El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-14
Great Cases of Detective Burns---By William J. Burns
XIThe Customs Spy-Tn % % 8 the High

. when he found that it was Thorne. a
/ man whom he knew. in distant sort
/ of way, in the city ThOrne seemed TO
/ be one of those men who knew every
! body. Most Of all, he knew some body"
I in the customs service. They talked the
! thing over in practical manner. No
/ trunks were asked Tor or shown The
I upshOt was that eventually $1,000 was
/ passed to Thorne, VINO passed il on, and
/ the whole thing died Of inanitiOn.
Burns Spots the GObetWeen.
That was just the sort OF thing was
{ looking for. But when I learned of the
! case. Burke happened to be abroad
/ again. / made careful inquiries, and
J fortunately found that il was just about
( time for Burke 10 return. learned the
I name of the steamer, and one day, IN
the haze of an early autumn morning, /
! went down the bay on the customs tug
| So far. I had kept pretty much in the
] background. / noticed on the tug
! rather nervous and anxious individual
/ who did not seem to belong to the ser
vice Of anything 1t was ThOrne, the
man who had played the gObetween. /
! knew him. even though he had never
heard of me. As the tug breasted the
chOppy seas I did some quick planning.
/ Without attracting attention. 1 man
aged to catch the ear Of the boarding
/ officer in charge OF the customs men on
Z the tug The officer knew that i was
something or other, perhaps connected
[ with the service At any rate, il didn't
] matter; the flUtter over the first rumor
say" I whispered. do You see that
( fellow over there, fidSetiug by the rail
/ W ell, there something queer about
] him. He doesn't belong to the customs
I service, does he2 NO2 I think you ought
! to hold him back a few minutes when
Z we get 10 the ship, and let him on only
: after our own men. don't like his
looks, though I suppose his pass is all
right enough
/ The boarding officer thanked me for
the hint 1t seemed quite reasonable.
SO, when the tug pulled up beside the
/ big liner, / was among the acting depu-
{ ties who clambered up the rope ladder
/ TO the deck.
/ Burke was standing all alone I
( walked up to him and shook hands as If
I I had known him all his life Burke
I thought perhaps / had 1t is no un-
common thing Tor passengers TO talk
Z about everything from the ships table
I tial mood
Burns Gets BurI1e's Story.
say, / asked, didn't fellow hold
I you up last year after you got away
yes" smiled Burke YEARLY. They
I get you going or coming. Yes, was
I held up last year for thousand iron
well" I advised. coming closer. to
the point They tell me he is waiting
at the pier now thought I'd warn
for it. ! suppose you know Miss Du-
Q =
some one else knew she was on the
3 boat too" I limited. He knew that
you'd rather pay than have your pic
ture in the papers with hers She isn't
A comprehending look fitted over
Burkes face He began TO see the kind
Of game that had been rigEed up on
by George he exclaimed. shes
right over there by the rail, and her
sisters with her. too. I've got two
with me this timeI"
did not bat an eyelash at the humor
Of the mans situation We'll. any
anything this time It's blackmail.
Who was the fellow you suspect Of
shaking you down.
Burke mentioned a name. 7 whistled
with mock surprise It was, Of course.
ThOrne's friend. high in the service I
had got his story AS Burke finished.
signaled the boarding officer TO allow
Ihorne to get aboard the ship
Scarcely a minute later the EO-be-
tween was rushing like a madman in
and out among the knots Of pasSen-
gers, seeking some one He ran plump
into Burke almost before he knew it,
He did not take time to notice who
was standing a little behind him
How do you DO, Burke ne almost
shouted in his effusiveness. The very
man I'm looking for. For heavens
sake, man. he added dropping his
that little affair of last year with any
one I hear that Burns. Of the secret
must know something about it. Don't
say a word. Let il blow over. They'll
get you. too, for giving the money.
Keep mum on the story"
You're too late" I chimed in. 'T Just
got it."
Chagrin was no name FOR the look
that crossed the emissary's face The
deuce he ground out, turning his
head.
Then explained to Burke that the
government was merely seeking TO fas-
% O. or a CT inns esHnrH
whom / suspected, a man apparently
with great power Burke consented to
make an affidavit. and did so.
IL began 10 look pretty good to me
But not As hours passed before some
one had got after Burke. There was
another affidavit now In it he de-
MED absolutely that he had ever given
the thousand dollars TO any one in the
customs service As a matter of fact.
he had never said that in the first
place He had paid the money over TO
ThOrne
However. 7 was much closer now to l
my man at the top of the little system. Z
It only remained to dig up a case where I
the fellow had fallen down hard There |
was one time. ] found. that he had met
his match. 1t was in a case, too, that |
Illustrated the spys method to dot
Sporting Man Meets ObiEing Friend.
He had met and cultivated the ac-
Qualntance OF noted sporting gentle
man named Bradley, both in London !
and Paris, while he was over there for I
the government So closely did they /
become acquainted that Bradley. in an 4
unguarded moment, cOnfided to him 3
that he intended bringing over some I
expensive iewelry for his wife. Bradley I
even mentioned the pieces he had and /
where he had bought them As a mat I
ter OF fact, he hadn't bought them at .
all yet; he was only looking a them.
We'll" remarked his new friend, {
don't be a boob and pay the duty.
Just pass 1t through without saying a !
word. If you have any trouble here's !
my card. Thatu fix 1T all right. old I
man. I'd do anything to please a /
friend and save him some money"
But Bradley was not a fall guy: he I
was a wise guy. why" he asked him I
self has that fellow, on such short I
acquaintance, offered to betray the
government, and help me to escape /
payment2"
He couldn't reason it out satisfac-
tOrily- There. however. was the name I
on the card and the official position
Il think there's a job in it." Bradley
said to himself at last "TI look out"
The day he landed in the United I
States, he made his declaration that
he had nothing dutiable. The inspec-
tor passed his baggage, put on it the
official rubber stamp. marked It go. I
K, and Bradley turned to leave the
dock.
Il beg pardon" interrupted another