Show i A HORN DETECTIVE I Ii i A Detroit Negro Who Cleverly Cap turcd a Watermelon Thief II I j A colored man came out of an alley on I Michigan avenue yesterday and inquired i of the grocer on the corner I Say boss has you had ti water mellyon stole away today i Why I declare if some one hasnt j I stolen a big one which laid on the end of I the shelf exclaimed the grocer Did you see a white man and a culld i feller hangin round yer Come to think of it I did iDem i-Dem ar de chaps what stop dat meU j yon i YonDid you see them asked the grocer i Nebber did sah Then how do you know The colored man then took him down the alley and showed him two heaps of < melon rinds and exclaimed If de mellyon wasnt dun stole nobody i would come in i heah to eat it Dat pile of rinds haint halfgnawed Dats just de way white folks eat em De odder pile Jam J-am gnawed right down to the bark Dats de work of a culld man an doan you forgit it Down dar am a rind all alone De chaps got scart an rund away afore dey were dun Say maybe you are sharp enough to catchem said the grocer Well I dunno was the reply hut iu the course of half an hour the I man brought in a hangdog looking African and turned him over with there mark markHealis one of em but the odder has skipped How do you know that this fellow is guiltyKase I dun looked for a darkey wid a mellyon seed on shirtbosom an heah i he am lies dun guilty and has got 35 i cents to settle wid ye The grocer says hell have that man on the detective force or break a leg Detroit j Free Press I I |