The New York herald., 1922-02-19

most half dollars, but over at the bank
they say there's something queer about
em. just thought you'd like to know"
We went to Suffern and there collected
about fifty of the same sort of spurious
coins we had seen on the Pacific coast.
Moreover, they were the same as we had
picked up in Boston and New York. One
shopkeeper told us he had received one Of
them from a giant whose most distinctive
feature was an enormous beard--a black
beard almost as wide as his shoulders and
reaching half way to his waist.
The False Coin Turns Up
In Small New Jersey Town
A druggist told us he had received one
from tall, thin man, with no whiskers,
but the bushiest eyebrows he had ever
seen. You'd know those eyebrows any
where. There never were such eyebrows.
Sort of made you want to shake EN- and
watch the rabbits run out
A trolley car conductor remembered the
man well. He was a medium sized man
in corduroys-sort of stopped and a shut
fe in his walk. Presently we began to
suspect all the freaks who ever travelled
with circuses were out circulating the
stuff. One farmer had sold dog to the
man and the purchaser Of that hound had
paid the farmer two dollars--all in coun-
terfeit half dollars. We took heart when
we heard that, for we suspected that the
dog would appear and by shadowing the
dog we might find his new owner. Shadow
dog? Believe me, desperate detective
will shadow a canary bird II he thinks 1t
will get him anywhere.
But the man who purchased the farmers
dog was little man, with a whining
voice and luxuriant mustache! And all
this up in Suffern and thereabout We
walked the streets of Suffern and climbed
all the Ramapo hills AS it turned out we
failed to climb the right one But I'm
coming to that.
Back to New York much chagrined!
Here was lad manufacturing money with.
in walking distance of our Offices and all
we knew about it was just that. There
was nothing to do but stop, look and listen.
And we proceeded to do much of each. In
the end our ears were victorious.
From man living at the foot of Ram
apo Mountain, near Suffern we received
telephone message telling us that the most
mysterious of men was doing something or
other on top of Ramapo. How did he
know? Well, in the first place he had a
habit of coming down of nights and steal
ing steel rails from the railroad near by.
Gangs had been working on the road re-
placing rails. The mysterious stranger
had been observed but two nights before
carting two lengths Of discarded rail up
the mountain.
Moreover, this farmers son, being an ad-
venturous youth, had gone over the noun
tain to see whet he could see. He came
across the mysterious stranger working at
a forge
whats that?" the boy had demanded,
indicating the forge.
THAT my son." replied the man, ''is an
insect exterminator. I am forester sent
down by the State to kill the bugs that are
killing the trees"
How do you kill the bugs?" persisted
the youth. Burn them?"
mo, the fumes kill them. Isn't that a
good idea?"
The boy told his father that the stranger
was tall man with kind face and tre-
mendous interest in his work. While the
boy questioned him he kept on blowing his
forge. He made no attempt to shoe the
boy off, 1t was all right; no secret; moth
ing to hide.
The boy led us to the forge It wasn't