| Show n ii P T ifill a Q L 0 r abb 13 T 2 dow the common belief that men in my profession work upon one case at a time to the absolute exclusion of oc any other is said mhd theold old secret service man of coul course couls s w when he n w we b are ae given an assignment we follow it earnestly and attentively but at the same time we keep our eyes and ears open for anything that may lead to tb a clue in any of the cases and they are generally numerous that have baffled us in the past and it has not t been an uncommon occurrence for me to stumble suddenly upon the very information for which at soma some previous s time I 1 had spent many precious weeks if abt months in search 1 I remember one i oc occasion caslon many years ago while 1 was investigating some pil feringa in the mail service I 1 c d 1 waa a passenger on an ohio elver steamer conmy on my way from pittsburg to cincinnati i hud and while the boat was lying at one oi of the ilie small towns on the kentucky side of the river 1 stepped upon the wharf boat and sto stood fad idly wate watching laing the deckhands deck hands loading a shipment p genf of tobacco while I 1 was thus engaged P negro staggered past me bonding bending under the weight of a box upon his shoulder and as our eyes met for a brief in 31 stood but a few feat feet away watching me keenly stant I 1 theard heard him say golly lis Hs am de heb biest derbacher ter backer bacher I 1 eber tackled instantly there swept through me a strange sensation as though chad I 1 ad fou foud id a clue for which I 1 had long been searching impulsively I 1 followed follow td the darkey aboard the boat and noted where tile the box was stored later when I 1 had an opportunity I 1 casually inspected the box and found that ia was ni marked aked M and consigned to cincinnati 1 I was about to lift one end of the box in order to test its weight when I 1 noticed a small dark eyed man who stood but a few feet away watching me keenly the caution which I 1 had developed from years of training in my profession prompted me to turn my attention to other packages lying near to idly examine them and to leisurely ascend the stairs to the cabin of pi the e boat I 1 that the box boi concealed some mystery I 1 now entertained entertain bd no doubt but I 1 was baffled euid and knew not how best to proceed that the black eyerman eyed man was an important factor in the case I 1 was confident and I 1 determined to keep an eye on him but further than that I 1 did not know how far I 1 dared idaree to go during the remainder of the journey to cincinnati I 1 saw the man with the darl dark eyes several times he was invariably afi ina la position to note if any one should examine the box too closely I 1 this circumstance of course did not escape my attention and had the effect of increasing my suspicions but I 1 could get nothing tangible upon w which to base a theory from the clerk of the boat I 1 learned that the shipper and consignee of the box of tobacco as it had been billed were the same probably the dark eyed stranger sti anger further than that the clerk could give me no information the man so the clerk informed me was a stranger to him although lie he made occasional trips to cincinnati 1 always taking a box of tobacco with him As the steamer neared cincinnati my anxiety to fathom the mystery of the box naturally increased for some reason I 1 felt fell thata was upon the very threshold of an important revelation but what this was tp to be bb I 1 had not the power to even guess when I 1 finally reached the end ot of my journey you may be sure I 1 kept watch of that box I 1 saw it carried aboard the wharf boat and expected to see the dark eyed 1 nar mars hovering imar but in that I 1 was disappointed tor dis embarking with the other passengers 0 ers lie he took a bus and was driven away when the confusion incident to the arrival of tho the boat had some somewhat W hat subsided r revealed my Iden identity tit to the and requested that the box be opened my request was granted and ana when the lid was pried off I 1 found to my astonishment that the box was full of counterfeit silver coin dollars and half dollars then and not tui till then it occurred to me that for a year past there had been reports of an abundance of counterfeit money along the ohio valley some of the best men in the service lad had been detailed to run down the makers of the bogus but had been unable to do so or even to obtain a definite clue and I 1 had stumbled upon it by accident for a moment I 1 was actually stupefied with surprise and delight then pulling my wits together I 1 ordered that the box be renal recalled nailed re led and left intact to await the consignee 1 I next drafted the services of the local officers and giving orders that any one calling for the box should be arrested or I 1 went in search of the stranger w with ith the dark eyes but I 1 could not find him and so far as I 1 know he was never appi apprehended eh ended A week later when I 1 had finished the job ob to which I 1 had been assigned I 1 returned to cincinnati the box of tobacco was still at the wharf boat the dark dack eyed man had evidently got next but having stumbled upon a lead I 1 had bad no intention of rosing my game so easily first confiscating the box of bogus I 1 took the next boat u up p the river and soon after landed at the little kentucky town whence the box had been shipped it did not take me long to locate the headquarters of the gang for whom the dark eyed man was ony a ho floater boater ater the gang occupied a two story brick house that thai stood in a gloomy ravine between two hills in the edge of the town there were seven or eight of them and they were all smooth men so I 1 considered it wiser before attempting to spring any traps to procure assistance from headquarters in due time four of the boys arrived and wo we planned to make a raid raad early the following morning shortly after sunrise we surrounded the house and leaving two ot oi the boys outside to see that no one got away the other othe r three ln including ilu dang myself broke in the front door anc brou prou ceedee to take possession of things we found the men all right but what was just as important evidence of their guilt was lacking I 1 had learned enough to convince me that a mint was w a s located in the building but bu t though we sd searched arched the house care carefully from the dingy garret to lo the cellar that was darker than midnight not ot a tool too nor mold or anything to indicate counterfeiting could coul d be found of course the men under arrest protested r their innocence innocenc be and the boys had considerable fun at my ex 0 1 10 0 Is 0 r look at the light shining on that cellar windoal win dowl pense I 1 will admit I 1 feel very comfortable we decided however to put our men inthe in the town jail and marching them between us we left tho building jow for some teason reason I 1 chanced to glance back after going a few yards from the house what I 1 saw caused me to grin and on one 0 of tho the boys noticed me well the matter YOW you now he asked 1 dont you see I 1 answer answered ea look 1001 at the light shining on that cellar win dow what of it he demanded what of it I 1 grinned nothing only there any window in the cellar we visited it was darker than hades so we went back and finally found a trapdoor trap door that opened into a second fa compartment of 04 the cellar and there we found all the evidence we wanted 1 it was the most complete mint I 1 ever y caw but if it been for that cellar window new york times |
