Year: 1878

CHAF LEN l.


AS an ex.detective, am often asked to re-
late my adventures, and at one time was
ready enough to do so but soon found my
tales were looked upon as dull, prosy things
and not at all what detectives ought to have
to say for themselves. Everybody seemed to
think that detectives ought to find things out
by sort of magical divination but was
reckoned pretty good one, and have known
some of our greatest celebrities and the only
way any of US ever found anything out was
by inquiring of everybody who was likely to
know q little, keeping our eyes on any proba
BILE party, holding our tongues, and putting
all the scraps together. Now and then we are
befriended by a lucky chance and when this
happened we got 6. hundred times more praise
than when we puzzle out the darkest and
toughest case. The last affair | was ever en-
gagged in was of this kind. / was first con-
cerned in it two years before left the Police,
after, by.the-bye, had quite given up the de-
tective branch; and resumed it three years
afterward, that is three years after had LETT
the Police; and this is how it occurred. l
must first say, however, that | don't at all re-
gard this as one Of the dull, prosy cases re-
ferred to in fact, it was the most exciting
business l was ever engaged in.


had left the detective work, as said, and
indeed, had left London, for when grew a
little tired of the business, was recommend
ed to the authorities Of Combestead, thrl-
wing market town in one of the home coun-
ties and had very comfortable situation
there, having little to do, very good pay, and
being head Of the borough Police. Of course
there is great deal of difference between life
in the country and life in town, and from a
policeman's view it perhaps appears greater,
and whereas l have wondered how anybody
could be detected in London, l was equally
surprised to think how anybody could hope to
escape in the country; for excepting when
strangers came down on some carefully
planned burglary, we could nearly always tell
where to look for our men if anything went
wrong; in short, I knew everybody. AS
matter of course, everybody knew me.


There was a midd!e.aged party lived in a
quiet row of houses in Orchard street
which ran parallel with our High street-a
Miss Parkway, who was renuted to be pretty
we'll of, although not extremely rich, and re-,
puted also to be rather eccentric. She lived
by herself, in the sense of having none of her
relatives with her; but there were other per-
sons, although not many, in the large house
where she lodged. 1 had my attention drawn
to her by seeing her walking repeatedly in
company with young man of no very good
character, who was fully twenty years her ju-
nior, and at last heard she was going to be
married to him. All the town professed to be
surprised and shocked at this, but | wasn't.
Whether detectives get hard of heart in such
things or not cannot say, but nothing in the
way of woman of 6ve.and-forty marrying
a man of fve.and-twenty would ever surprise
me, nor should 1 be surprised at the man
marrying the woman if she had money, as in
this case After all, although | have said
John Lytherly-that was his name-was OF
no very good character, yet there was moth
ing serious against him. He was good-tem.
pered, good looking, easy sort of fellow, with
a lot of cleverness about him, too, that al
WAYS showed itself when it wasn't wanted and
never showed itself when it might be of SER
vice. He now called himself photographer !;
but had been a solicitors clerk, an actor, a
traveller for a wine-merchant, barman, and
had once, before his mother, been bought out
of the lancers. However, it was now pretty
we'll known that John was going to marry
Miss Parkway, and half the young chaps in
Combestead envied and rdiculed him by
turns.


Matters progressed so far that it was known
the lady had given orders to Bunnyman d
Company, our chief bankers, to call in a
thousand pounds of her money which was out
~ ho Mt GpN n
buy one of the houses in High street and fit
it up as a photographers. 1t was also re-
ported that old Mr.. Bunnyman said: 81 hope,
Miss Parkway, that whatever you do with
your money, you will do nothing that you
have not we'll considered" And it was also
said that Miss Parkway replied "If | want
ed to be preached to, Mr.. Bunnyman, |
should 20 70 your brother, the Ranter =
perhaps because Mr.. Bunnyman, had bro
ther who preached, though he wasn't ranter
at all. However, as these two were by them
selves, I don't see how any one could have
known what passed and these confidential
conversations in books and histories are GER
tainly things don't believe in.


1t was known for certain, however, that she
had not only given notice, but had actually
withdrawn the money; and among other
things it was said that she admitted to her
landlady, Mrs Amblas, that the match with
Lytherly would break off all intimacy with
her friends. She only had one relative who
came to see her, and that was gentleman
living some forty miles away, but he had not
been to Combestead lately. Whether he was
offended or not, neither the landlady nor
hnf fho LOTT foo ho
was as she had written and told him exactly
how affairs stood and what steps she had ta-
ken, but had received no reply to her letter.
Lytherly seemed, very naturally, to be bright
ening up, and took our jocular congratula'
tions-for had my say as we'll as the 9TH
ers-in good tempered although rather a
conceited style. One annoyance he felt,
which was that everybody to whom he owed
money-which was every one who would trust
him-was anxious to be the first paid and,
thinking that little gentle pressure might
help them, two or three of the tradesmen
took out court summonses against him and
this he said, was very hard OH him, and very
selfish. However, there seemed little chance
that they would defeat themselves, for har-
rassed and worried by these doings, he was
forced to ask Miss Parkway for an advance
of money, being the first time he had ever
done. He had received money from her, but
she had always offered it, and pressed it upon
him when he made a show, if he was not ac-
tually in earnest, of wishing to refuse it.
Whether she was in bad temper at the time,
or whether she was hurt at his making such
q request, Lytherly could not say, but she re-
fused to make the advance, and they parted
worse friends than they had been for some
time