Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-03-06

service. 1 was following the trail or I
c0unterfeiter who had been issuing ~
notes; n the scent a become 81
warm That 1 expected to make an ar
rest within a few days. But wa:
stopped in the pursuit by a telegram
from Washington ordering me to D.
to meet a man named Qet us say Fldu
who had an important case for me
i wired back to Washington a plea o.
tEnrnincncc and urgency i'm the matte
in hand. The orders We're repeated. 81
/ detailed a man to pick up the coun
terfeiter's trail where I had dropped 1t
and l took the train to D. in Il colo
fume OF resentment against Fidd.
l knew all that there was to kno"
about Fidd. Some years before. Fldc
had been soliciting business for a pho
to engraver whom the government
agents suspected of having made plate
to print a counterfeit note. fidd hao
secretly assisted the authorities. re
had co-operated confidentially with the
guilty: and he had impressed hlmsell
with the idea that he had shown a no.
ticeable ability in the work.
He had since become AN amateur de-
t%ective. without pay. operating by the
long distance deductive method on
every case that appeared in the news
papers specializing In the literature OF
CIlfUc JTlu lIc arm CudiI StuNAS VI Nui
rent murder mysteries" and sending
to Washington whenever the appear
ance OF q new counterfeit was report
ed In the press dispatches.
He had inherited a little money, in
the shape of two town lots. and he had
married a little more. in the person of
a plump widow. With her assistance.
he had set up an office i'm D. as a
real estate dealer. insurance solicitor,
fVn1lVritnr lrnpt and notary agent.
and notary public. with his desk in the
window of Il plumbers shop-of which
he was the landlord-and his wife
keeping house upstairs on the exper-
fence and the furniture of her pre-
q marriage.
The Amateur.
He was a very Shrewd looking, small
man, with what is called a "hatchet
face" and he believed in paying a good
price for the material of his clothes
and having them made by a cheap tall
or. SO thai he was always dressed in
the enduring shabbiness of misfits. He
wore pale blue neckties. remem-
bered him as having watery blue eyes,
like SKINNED milk. AS a matter of
fact. his eyes We're brownish ray 1t
was the necktie that put the blue into
my recollection of them. Ever notice
that about a necktie?
ucI WIS II StOIy III Vuc DluLIlUcI -
shop that his wife had said he had
right pert little legs" and it described
them p~icturesquely. He wore bicycle
clips on his ankles. and stood with his
heels together. his knees tight. and his
calves curving out behind him like the
blade of a sickle" 1t gave him the
unsolicited advice and misinformation
the archives OF the secret service.
That silence was part of his acquired
nErtnASC nf y SnnrrnW 40 If ha W. n,
about to hop. But there the resem-
blance ended. He never chirped: he
was never cheerful, publicly: and his
silence was extensive enough to cover
all the confidential information in all
no one could ever have found out what
clew he was %concealing. Parentheti-
cally the first thing a detective has to
be is a busy talker.
had a deep feeling for Fidd-the
feeling that a fire chief has for a buff
falO" with a police badge. that the
stage has for the student of
dramatic literature seeking 'exper-
ience." that the worried professional
always has for the intrusive amateur.
Fidd was a public spirited citizen. 1t
understood that he knew how to
make money and save 1t. His wife
Gould not have been more fondly proud
OF him II he a been her infant prod
ICY. He was admired even by the
plumber. There was only one thing
the matter with him. He was Il. blamed
nuisance.
Burns Goes to Fidd.
I arrived In D. in the afternoon,
left my satchel at the brick hotel across
the road from the railway station, and
found Fidd in his office. writing a let
ter, as an insurance solicitor. on the
typewriter for which he was the local
gent.
He arose with the greatest presence
Of mind when he recognized me. "The
piece o. property that you want to-
see." he said. in a voice to reach the
plumber. who was busy smearing him
self with red a in the back of the
shop. lis about a mile m a half out
the Suttonville road. Well drive"
He had evidently %rehearsed this
speech, in preparation, and carefully
ected out in his mind an exact per-
sormance of how he was to proceed. He
had that look In his face-the look OF
an attention directed inward-with his
fixed on my chin.
What is it?" I asked. .'What've you
been wiring about?"
He turned hastily to the door. I fol-
owed him i~mpatiently. He explained
In q low tone. addressing the opposite
side of the street: We'll be safer in
the buggy. There's no one kin over
xAonI III OuSSy, see. Wait Till L
hitch her up And he hurried off with
his head down.
II was h market street of D. on
which l waited. and 1t was enjoying it's
afternoon nap. A farmers ago stood
empty outside the feed store. A pigeon
was perking around In the cobblestones
OF the dry gutter. A grocer across the
road came out in his apron. and picked
two cabbages from q pile on a window
BENCH. and thOuuhtful1v f,,rnod over q
cantalOupe-to conceal u sore spot-and
went back In again.
I looked at my watch. as a man will
when everything else seems to have
stopped. I wa anxious to get back to
my counterfeiter before the chase end
ed. SO As to be in al the arrest. When
Eiad row out from q nearby alley.