Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-03-27

robbers are or tDat SORT, DuL Occdsiol
ally we run across either a gentlema
or one who Is very capable Of personal
ing a gentleman.
One of the dangers thieves and -
bers encounter is being given away y
q pal. 1t is singular how many case
there are of quarrelings over the al
vision of plumber taken by rascals wht
work together, and once a break Il
made among them 1t widens fndei
nitely. Revenge is always within
reach by informing, though this course
Is liable to react on the informer-
One morning the mail brought my
chief a letter. badly written and mis-
spelled. informing him that Jim Nc
! Farland, alias Slippery Jim and severa
other aliases, would that evening at
tend as a guest a function to be Civ
en- by one of the swells of the place
his object being to get away with GER
tain articles of value. No description
of Mr.. Mcfarland was giyen-indeed,
no other information than here men.
toned. / was directed to examine the
police records and the rogues' gallery
with a view to discovering biography
or photograph of the crook. But /
| found no mention of any such person,
| so I inferred that il the Information
received were genuine he must be a
newcomer 1 believed that it was genu-
inc, for 1 could not see that anything
was to be gained by sending in a false
statement Indeed, it was apparent to
me that thieves had fallen out and
honest men were likely to get their
dues.
l must attend the function, but ]
must do so either without an invitation
or the host must know that I am a
detective. To secure admission as
detective would require taking the host
into my confidence and as many others
as he chose to confide in. These people
would all be looking for the crook, and
he would be scared away. I preferred
to go to the ball myself incognito.
Sometimes a guest will be known to
the host, but not TO the hostess, and
vice versa. Therefore a person with
out an invitation stands a good chance
to attend a function without being
questioned On this chance I relied.
I got myself up as Immediately as
possible, parting my hair in the mid |
die in order to give me the appearance |
of superfne gentleman. In the dress !
ing room I made remarks upon the |
weather to several different men in or
der to give the impression that 1 was
acquainted with them and went down.
stairs chatting with man who SEEM
ed not averse to my advances l re-
Trained from going at once to salute
the host and hostess. keeping away
from them purposely while they were
together so they could not compare
notes concerning me.
1 had not been long on the main floor
when 1 began to scan the faces for my
quarry, though 1 expected to find him.
if at all, upstairs. l made frequent
visits TO the dressing room and after I
the guests had ceased to arrive and
the upper stories were deserted took
the risk of looking into rooms, some
times opening the doors in order to get
an inside view. In one of these ex-
plorations L opened the door of room
where a nurse was sitting beside a
,hild in its crib. / apologiZed for max
ng a mistake and withdrew at once.
Among the guests 1 noticed one who
seemed to be receiving the lions
share of attention. I asked who he
vas and was informed that he was the
Hon. Clifford Radcliffe, younger son
If British earl. He seemed to be
quiet sort of person. listening to
what was said to him rather than talk
ng himself and not flattered by the at
ention paid him. While observing
lin / saw a man presented to him
me in fine clothes, but with very or
Iinary face. His hair and beard were
f a disagreeable shade of red. Edging
lear enough to hear him speak, 1 found
hat his accent was English. What
specially struck me was that, while
ould not be sure he dropped his his,
he word have" sounded very like
ave"
While I am never disposed to jump
t conclusions, this red headed indi-
idual seemed to me to look more out
f place than any other of the guests. ,
It any rate, 1 resolved to keep an !
We on him. Considering that all were
rowing constantly, this was not easy. !
ONE time after had first noticed him $
looked about for him, but did not SEQ ,
i'm. Thinking that might catch him
pstairs purloining. I went up there ,
eturning to my expedient of opening /,
oors "by mistake" 1 turned several ;
nobs On one of these entrances i +,
as surprised to see the red headed ;
ian standing at a dresser He had i,
vested himself of his dress coat and =
adj put on a sack. At the moment l =
oened the door, which did softly. he
as looking for something on the dress =
:. I recognized him by his reflection h
the mirror. His eyes being lowered, "
= was not aware of my presence. De- q
rous of preserving this advantage a
rer him, l closed the door without =,
aking the slightest noise. hurried to h
telephone booth. which l had taken 8,
,ins to locate early In the evening,