Year: 1876

A FEW months since, man named
William NJ. Dover presented at bank
in New York city forged check. The
check puuported to be drawn by a
prominent New York firm, and bore
the forged Endorsement of a country
merchant.


On this check he obtained the sum of
three hundred and thirty-fve dollars.
| He had possessed the money but two
days when he was arrested. He is
now, at the age Of twenty-six, serving
out sentence of seven years in the
State prison.


This case-one Of the many cases
wherein rogue and forger is brought
to grief-interested me, because |
knew Dover when he was boy. He
was native of town in northern New
England, and was considered one of the
smartest lads in that region.


AS l read in newspaper the nara
tive of his downfall, many incidents
of his early career came freshly to my
mind. They seemed the more vivid
from the, fact that i'll my younger days
| had sometimes admired his shrewd-
ness.


Everybody who lived in his native
town or in the county, ten or twelve
years ago, must remember Will Do
ver's "black fox" The affair caused
great deal of talk and merriment at
the time.


In those days the boys of the town
used to hunt foxes in the autumn and
winter. Sometimes we received very
remunerative prices for their skins. A
red foX-skin, if in prime condition,
was then worth five dollars. Red fox
eS were the most numerous. But oc-
casionally there was another species of
fox found, though it was rather rare,
which we called " "silver-gray;' and
twice | remember that black foxes had
been caught. A silver gray fox-skin
was worth from twelve to thirty dol
lars; and the skin of true black fox
was still more valuable.


There were also what we termed
crossed grays," whose skin, though
inferior to that of the "silver-grays, "
was yet worth, when in prime condi-
tion, as much or more than that of a
red fox. Whoever was lucky enough
to capture genuine 'silver-gray'' felt
that he had made good weeks work,
and to run down a black fox was a
great event.


But to return to the story of Will
Dover's "black fox tn


We had heard the baying of Dover s
hounds for two days, and supposed
that he had got a fox. When, howev-
er, the report reached us that Will had
caught black fox, all the young peo-
pie thereabouts were very much ex-
cited. Ee @2


We went in squads to see the skin.
1t seemed to be that of a black fox,
sure enough, and it was large one,
too. There was not white nor even
gray hair on the pelt.


"It's just like this, fellows" Will
said to us. II really don't think that
this fox was in just what You might
call prime condition, His hair, inside,
doesn't have Just the sparkle to it that
I wish it did; but it's very nice pelt,
for all that


True, the fur was not so glistening
as we had seen, yet it was jet black
and looked very rich. How we envied
Will his good fortune!


In February of each year there used
to come into that section of the coun.
try somewhat unscrupulous travel
ng fur dealer, named Latham.


In buying our furs, he used to take
advantage of us boys-at least we felt
so, and we had good reasons for the
suspicion.


He knew how to deceive us in de.
preciating our ftlrs. When bluffine
would not serve his purpose, he would
talk as patronizingly as the very fluent
statesmen in dry-goods stores. Every
shot hole he could find in skin less
ened its value. He was always telling
us that the prices of frs had fallen,
when, as we sometimes learned after
wards, there had been no depreciation
but on the contrary, a rise.
As you may well believe, we had M
respect for him, yet as he was the only
fur dealer in that section, and WI
knew little of the city market, W,
were forced always to sell to him-ant
at his own price.


4 Latham came to town that Febru
ary,- and of course he heard of th'
black fox skin long before-he went t,
see it. A
When he did see it he pronounced i
off condition, and would not offer neal
as much as Will asked,