The Tupelo journal., 1915-08-20

counterfeit plate or Impression OF II,
or any paper made in imitation Of the
Paper on which it is printed Is Eel
ony, and is punishable by Five Thou
sand CSC, 000) Dollars FINE, or Fifteen
(16) years Imprisonment at Hard La
bour or both"
"Well?" he said, looking up.
You wouldn't amount to much in
working out one of these advertising
puzzles where they offer a prize for
finding the misspelled word" replied
Poe.
There was something near the
last" reflected Mitchell. Some
word seemed out of it's regular appear
ance."
Read it again." suggested Poe.
"Oh, / see!" cried the other, having
glanced through the last line once
more. Its the word 1abour;" that
should be spelled labor"
That's what Webster says"
Its not one of the usual ways of
detecting a counterfeit. I wouldn't
ever think of reading the printing on
a bill"
The little things count"
But surely you cant see any clue
in that misspelling?"
Il certainly have an inkling to the
counterfeiter from it," vas the abrupt
reply, as Poe rapidly thumbed through
the stack of five-dollar bills, looking
first at n side and then the other,
and paying no attention to Mitchell's
importunate questions.
Finally he folded the roll carefully
and placed it in his breast-pocket.
IN take these with me, if you
don't need them" he said. Tell me.
where have those things been passed."
Mostly around New York. It's
funny, the counterfeiting band doesn't
seem to have many agents outside,
most of it has cropped out in Brook
Ign; but then, this is the first batch,
and l suppose We'll soon be getting
others from the interior states"
Poe secured a list of the banks that
had been caught on the bills and de-
parted.
He went at once to his rooms, where
he spent several hours closely exam.
ing each bill. Finally he separated
one from the lot, the only n which
showed a slight difference from the
others. This he put beneath the mag
nifying-glass, and studied it at great
length. Only n portion of the bill
| interested him; it was the white spot
on the back, at the left. balancing the
frame which contained the printed
notice with labor" misspelled.
On that blank spot was the light
impression of a finger. Poe bent close
over it, and followed the light ridges
which had left their impressions. Evil
IDENTIFY he was classifying the kind OF
mark it was, in accordance with the
system of finger-print identification,
He studied away, mumbling quick
| phrases to himself, according to a
habit he could not break:
First finger, right hand. Loops ap.
prox. tented arches-eleven ridges
ulnar-outer terminus-accIdentals.
| Callus-engraver-graver, Hmmmm-
curious - twins needles, no.! ali!
East India. Fakir. Paper. l.
Christopher Poe dropped the mag
infer, and swung around to the tele-
| phone at his elbow. In a minutes
time he was connected with Mitchell.
How about the Coney Island bank?"
he asked. How much of the queer
was showed off there?"
They took in seven thousand of 1t,
nearly. Got in heaviest there. Doesn't
seem possible; but it's the cleverest
counterfeit ever made"
And the Brooklyn NatiOnal?"
Stuck for nearly five thousand"
Good" Poe started to hang up
when MitchelTs voice broke in axious-
ly:
Il hope you're not trusting entirely
to that misspelled word? don't see
anything in that"
mo, I've got a %finger-print to work
on now. Just discovered it on n of
the notes."
us that so?" the voice became anx-
ious. Suppose l run over and have q
look at it."
Better hurry, then," replied Poe.
Its after three now, and I've got to
get out to Coney before supper" He
paused, started to hang up. and then
called, Bring Burns with you"
The pair of bankers arrived shortly,
and Poe showed them the finger-prints
he had discovered. Both looked at it
| carefully, but neither believed that it
was an important discovery.
Why insisted Mitchell, that I'm
ger print could have been left by any
of a hundred people who might have
handled the bill"
Then how on earth are you going
to find the man? It's impossible You
say he can't be an old crook, and his
work certainly isn't that OF any one
recognize. You aren't going to look
at everybody's fingers until you find
the one that matches this, are you?"
queried Burns.
Hardly that smiled Poe. Since