Show HUNTING OF HI 4 R ivi 10 U S i i j by geo pardy 1 sanctimonious countenance CHET AND A WISE SLEUTH ip J K JR 0 the town ot elmira coun ty ot waterlog Water loj canada as a capi er man of sanctimonious coun cenance and the posses sor 0 a long silken black mustache with drooping ends of which he was excessively proud by probes eton he was a school and his father kept a country store ard was re buted to be well to do when the young er herres was not engaged in impart ing knowledge in j ive niles ir i r singing german songs he was fond ol 01 flitting about the cou itry in search of amor ous adventures being what is gen brally known as a ladles man he w as by no n eans a favorite with the male foi his effee nate lackadaisical manners were not calca to endear him to the average man indeed he was so much of a top in appearance that one would never am agane him to be marked for the central figure in a stirring event where a whole town turned out to rescue him while his captor with drawn guns backed against a wall with herres at his feet stood prepared pie pared to sell his life as dearly as possible his father did not sympathize with his son s man ner of enjoying himself and the pa purse strings were not loosened to any great extent in order to pro vide the black haired lothario with funds yet the pleasures to which mr herres jr was devoted called tor a constant si aply of the root of all avil and an annoying tightness in the anoney market at a certain stage of his love affairs was the stumbling block aver which his feet were destined to trip on a fine summer s day in 1887 young mr herres sauntered into the office of john cavers manager of the imperial bank of gait ontario and presented two notes to be discounted one was signed by peter leveller a neighbor of the herres family and the other by pierres father they to and mr cavers discounted them pierres vanished with the ironey and shortly afterwards old man herres and peter Le weller pronounced their sig natures to be forgeries no trace could be found of the fascinating J herres who had presumably sought fresh fields and pastures new as soon as he had secured the necessary cash the officials of the imperial Imi erial bank am mediately took steps to hunt down the fugitive and detective john wil son murray was sent foi ana the case placed in his hands after an interview with managed cavers murray proceeded to berlin the county beat of waterloo and pre pared extradition papers for from in chlrles he had made he felt certain that herres had sought asylum in the united states he also held counsel with john kill pert the chief constable of waterloo Wat eiloo a shrewd old german who was one of the best police officers in the dominion klippert knew the missing man well by sight and was able to give the detective a good description of him shon said klippert imp es you will know him two ways one by his chet black hair and one by his ding dong mustaches he has some of the loftiest mustaches ou efer see they flow down like niagara falls and they too are chet black but its altogether likely that he has shaded them off demari ed mur ray den you will know them by the place they used to be said klippert and remember they are chet black murray set the telegraph alies work ing all over the country for a tiace of his man at length he learned that the fugitive had a cousin who was a lawyer at white cloud in minnesota and that herres had been in correspondence spon dence with this man whose ad dress was found in an old coat belong ing to herres A visit to white cloud was plainly in order tor murray and on september 28 he started tor st paul on arrival in the latter city he went to police headquarters inter viewed commissioner spencer and prepared the necessary warrant for herres arrest provided that he was to be found he also called upon an old acquaintance united states mar campbel of white cloud a prominent man in that part of the country campbell gave the canadian officer a letter to congressman F mcdonald of white cloud whom the marshal said would be able to render his friend valuable assistance in lo 10 eating the fugitive armed with this document murray went to white cloud and looked up the cousin of herres he learned from neighbors that the cousin had a visitor sometime before a dapper fellow with a remarkably fine mustache the stranger had tar ried only a few days and then driven away murray called on congressman mcdonald and was given letters of in to prominent people within a radius of miles part of the sur founding country was but thinly set tied at that time and the detective began a careful systematic search throughout the region for the gentle man with the luxuriant mustache for two days and nights murray made flying trips from point to point snatching an occasional hour s rest as best he might for there opre clues in plenty tales of men with black mustaches and ebony colored beards in different parts of the country but none of these turned out to be the much desired herres yet the silken adornment of the fugitive s upper lip was unquestionably a sate sign to identify hm by tor as murray rea if herres had not shaved it off during the earlier days of his flight when concealment was so desirable bis vanity would prevent its sacrifice at a stage when he was beginning to feel tolerably safe at length how ever murray found himself back at his original starting point of white cloud without having located his man then he learned of a settlement of germans at a place called little falls and remembered what he bad heard regarding herres fondness tor german songs also there was a man in white cloud who asserted that herres had a lelatt ve in the settlement in question determined not to overlook the slight est clue to the defaulter s hiding place murray set out tor little falls which is several hundred milea distant from st paul he arrived in little falls a place of about 1 inhabitants ai d made a house to house canvass in search of his quarry but found no trace of hei res he w ds about to return to white cloud when the school teaching side of herres came again to hia m nd and he I 1 proceeded roce eded to visit the schools ahe re s lit was unsatisfactory herres was not engaged in educating the younger generation of LI tie falls ut there were several country schools ind mur ray paid a visit to a storekeeper who was one of the school trustees thia man informed him that there had been some new teachers recently hired for country schools and suggested that the detective should interview the clerk of the school board who lived close by the latter official proved ac commo dating and enquired the names of the teachers whom the stranger sought marray said that he did not know their names the clerk stated that two new teachers had been ap pointed to little rural schools about 40 miles out in the country both of whom were new arrivals in that sec alon of the state but neither was named herres murray decided to visit the two new teachers and also determined to ob tain a companion who knew the coun try round about in order that there might be little delay as possible in making the trip there was a big fellow named rich arisen in the lown who held a sort of commission as town policeman or con stable and the detective without dis closing the real object of his journey asked him to accompany him on a hunt tor prairie chickens of which there was a plentiful supply in the woodlands richardson was delighted with the notion and asserted that mur ray coul dot have picked out a better guide as he had been born there and knew the country like a book murray hired a splendid team from a liveryman consisting of a light wagon and a pair of spirited horses he also procured a shotgun cartridge belt and two valuable dos the better to carry out the idea of the cupi ased shooting trip on wednes day october 5 the two men started and drove about 20 miles on the first stage of the journey halting to break fast at a crossroad stole here mur lay saw fit to inform his companion of the real object of their journey and the latter protested pio tested vigorously isly he did not relish the idea of substituting serious business for pleasure and changed from a jolly 1 unter of fowl to a solemn faced and much disgusted 11 policeman ol iceman still with considerable re lectance luc tance he consented to go on and they proceeded to the first school to which murray had been directed the teacher was a little frenchman who could not speak german and did not answer to the description of herres in any particular but he waxed elo quent in dilating on the physical at tractions of the teacher in the next district school zat man said the volatile gaul he hat ae long mustache very fine oh very fine ze long curling moos tache and I 1 haf no moustache moo stache at all he clasped his hands and sighed mournfully at the conclusion of his speech and murray having thanked him climbed back into the wagon fol lowed by the still sullen richardson Richa idson and drove off it began to look aa though the long trail was drawing to a close for judging from the little frenchman s description there was every indication that the other teacher was the much sought for herres when they came in sight of the school murray unhitched the horses tied them and the two men started across toward the building on foot it this is the man I 1 want said mur ray to his companion I 1 will nod to you and you arrest him do nothing of the kind said richardson sulkily in the first place I 1 have no authority and I 1 won t arrest a man without it murray swore savagely under bis breath but maintained an air of un ruffled coolness he saw that richard son who had been drawn into the affair against his will meant what he said and would probably persist in his refusal to assist him would neier do to have his mission fail just at the moment when it looked as though sue cess was about to down his efforts i lere was nothing for it but to try the effects of a gigantic bluff and coerce tl is unwilling policeman into second ing him he halted abruptly and sur keyed richardson with a cold and menacing air see here richardson he said sternly I 1 ve had enough of this inter ference with me in the execution of my duty I 1 want you to understand that I 1 m an united states marchal and that what I 1 say goes now let s have done with this nonsense I 1 here by declare you my deputy and under my orders you must obey the law and serve not without being sworn in re turned richardson doggedly for all his companion s show of bluster mur ray s quick eye detected signs of yield ing he drew a bundle of imposing looking documents from his pocket glanced over them and selected one with seeming care kneel down he commanded rich ardson with a burlesque air of au swear you in right now and then disobey me at your peril richardson hesitated a moment and then knelt down among the briers holding the official looking raper over his head murray slowly mumbled the form of an awe inspiring oath do you sweard he asked solemnly at the conclusion of the adjuration I 1 do responded res richardson than get up and come with me or dered murray and arising walked humbly beside his newly appointed chief to the schoolhouse they pushed open the door and entered there stood the teacher dapper and with broor ng mustaches but instead of being diet black his hai and mu tache were brawn in every other particular he answered the tion of the missing man he was a bleached heires murray scanned him closely and just then the suspect raised his hand and twirled his mus tache nervously that one action clinched the fidei atif cation in the of aicer s mind it was surely herres there were about 30 children mostly girls in the room and they eyed the strangers curiously teacher ho v long have you been herec asked murray for some time er since school 01 ened he rei lied in a sing sang voice f what is your john alker when did you leave canaday in quiren the detective I 1 have never been in canada in my life murray examined some of the school books which lay on the teacher s desk all of them were marked john walker are you a germana asked mur aay yes 1 am german was the john walker is not a german name commented murray the teacher only smiled murray turned upon him with a menacing frown ou are from can ada he said sternly the teacher raised his hands in in dinnant protest I 1 am not he exclaimed arid turn ing to the children addressed them rapidly in german run quickly and bring your fathers here at once said he tell them there are robbers here and to fetch along then guns unfortunately tor the successful carrying out of these instructions mur ray understood german perfectly and executed a counter stroke stand by that door and don t let anyone out he said to deputy mar richardson who took up his station as 01 dered the frightened children began to cry aloud that s right shrieked their teacher scream as lo 10 id as you can keep on shouting for help the scholar obeyed promptly they howled aloud in united chorus and the sound of their voices dratted tar away on the air murray stepped over to the teacher you come with me he ordered calmly I 1 will not responded the man sav abely tearing off his coat and throw lag himself into an attitude of defense the next instant murray was upon him with a tiger like spring and caught his shoulders in a grip of iron de spite his apparently slight build herres proved to be condei fully active and strong he writhed and wriggled with catlike agility struggling desperately and coiling his leg s around the detec tive As murray s sinewy hands forced him relentlessly backward his knees gave way suddenly and he went aown with his assailant on top even on the floor he continued to desist and it was not until murray corn pressed his ribs in a girdle that threat ened to break them that he relaxed his efforts to free himself keep the in said murray to richardson as he hauled his protesting captive to the door and don t move until I 1 fire a shot then run as fast as ou can to ahe wagon outside the schoolhouse herres having le covered his breath to some extent again began to resist furiously but by this time murray blood was up and he handled his troublesome captive with such tremendous energy that herres collapsed and submitted to be handcuffed without showing any more fight murray dragged him to the wagon aud tied him securely to a wheel while he hitched up the horses that done he lifted his prisoner into the wagon and fired the warning shot as a signal to richardson to leave his post never was signal a more promptly obeyed richardson Richa idson was only too glad to be relieved from his duties and came bounding across the space inter with the gleed of a race horse out of the schoolhouse rushed the crowd of excited children screaming for help and running in all directions half way to his goal richardson tripped over a briar bush and fell but was up in an instant and reached the wagon panting I 1 ov have had a fine run tor your money deputy laughed murray but we haven t any time to lose whip up those ho ses and drive like the devil to the nearest railway station those german farmers will be swarming around here like bees presently and I 1 don t want any argument with them richardson grasped the reins his whiplash hissed through the air and the horse plunged forward on the load to Royalton 30 miles away it was none too soon looking back murray saw the figures of armed men dotting the horizon here and there they were the parents of the scholars summoned from their farms by the children to aid the teacher but pursuit was out of the question just then for none of the farmers were mounted and the team of horses which murray had selected was in splendid condition and covered the ground at top speed the cries of the eh ildren were dying away in the dis tance and the detec the heaved a sigh of relief and turned to bis prisoner I 1 am afraid those friends af your s will be disappointed by your leaving them so s ddenny |