The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1914-06-12
she read little item Of news .sst
above the cough balm advertisement:

worth many thousands of dollars, and
the reward of $4,000 for the appre-
hensiOn Of the thieves and the recov-
cry of the stolen property should at
tract the attention of all detectives,
amateur and professional. 1t is be-
lieved that the job was accomplished
with the aid of a motorcar."
"Ten thousand dollars reward"
groaned Miss Ducey, tucking the pa
per away. Zone thousand dollars
would be whole lot to me. Wish
lived where things were going on.
Nothing ever happens at the end of
blind street. / declare, If that white
hen amt cackling again.
She tied veil over her sandy hair
and darted out to the orchard and be-
yond the fruit trees to little grove OF
younglocusts that had grown up around
the heap of broken down wagons.
Miss Ducey poked around in the
rank grass, now fattened in peculiar
way. Certainly those were the marks
of wheels.
How did they come there? Were
bile? Nettie Ducey ran to and fro
like q hound on the scent, and in fif-
teen minutes she had discovered the
mystery of the motorcar that disap-
peared at the end of Block street ev-
cry night.
From Block street the machine turn
ed into the lot beyond her orchard. and
some one must have been there to care
fully obliterate all traces of its pass
ing. Through the lot it had gone to
the farthest confines. A fence rail had
been lowered and replaced, and, 10, the
machine had sped through another va
cant lot into a street that ran parallel
with Block street and so disappeared.
"Haw cried Miss Ducey, just like
great detective who has made a marvel
GUS discovery. Then she added in
puzzled tone, "But what in time does
any man want to cut such capers for?"
After awhile, finding this question
unanswered, Miss Ducey went back to
the heap of old wagons and nosed
around in search of the white hens
stolen nest. She crept down on all
tours and jeopardiZed life and limb
among the weather worn vehicles, but
there was no sign of the hens nest.
Miss Ducey sat down on the grass
under her fathers old buggy and
rested
"I'll have a spell of rheumatic after
thisv' she groaned, bowling her head in
her hands.
Presently she lifted her head and
looked up at the bottom Of the box
body of the old buggy under which she
sat. Her gaze became fixed on some
thing bright that was wedged in
crack. She put up hand and pulled,
and down into her lap there tumbled
silver spoon-a solid silver teaspoon!
Nettie Ducey scrambled out from I'M
der the buggy and peered under the
lifted lid of the box. In order to do
this she had to raise the decaying hood
Of the vehicle.
In the box was what looked like a
pile of dirty canvas. Nettie Ducey in
vestigated and discovered that they
were bags filled with solid silverware,
and a small leather bag contained
jewelry hastily huddled together.
1t was the hidden loot of thieves!
What thieves? Why, the ones she
Ten thousand dollars reward! Almost
any of her modest dreams might come
true-she might take trip to Wash
ington some day!
Nettie Ducey never ran so fast in all
her life as she did when she left the
rubbish pile in the lot behind the or
chard.
At last she reached the constables
Office, where she poured out her mar
velous tale, exhibited the newspaper
and before witnesses laid claim to the
reward. The constable telephoned to
the city police, and then he swore in
score of deputies.
Constable Bigley, accompanied by
Nettie Ducey and trailed by twenty
deputies all armed to the teeth, swarm
ed up Block street, through Nettie's
orchard to the rubbish pile.
And when the constable and his men
had brought out the missing stuff and
identified it beyond doubt as that be-
longing to Buffam & Jiggs Miss Du-
cey told them the story of the motor
ghost and showed them the mysterious
tracks across the lots to the parallel
street, establishing beyond q doubt
that the black car was the vehicle Of
the thieves and that the cleverness of
the observing spinster had resulted in
her finding the hiding place of the
thieves.
The city police arrived by an after
noon train, and at night. when the mo-
tor ghosts essayed another mysterious
fight through Block street, they met
warm welcome.
1t was happy day when Nettie Du-
cey met Messrs. Buffam & Jiggs In
their palatial Offices and received the
promised reward. There was money
enough to make her comfortable the
rest of her life and to help many Of
her relatives and friends, and that was
what Miss Ducey had always wanted
to do, only she couldn't afford it. She
didn't sell the cottage after all, but she