The obvious point in the investigation was to learn if the robber had spent any of the stolen bills, and if so, to find out whether they could in any way be traced back to him. A quiet search was instituted in the towns at each end of the road, but without success. The detective then visited Hartwell, a village thirty miles beyond Wilna, where the wife of the messenger resided, and after examining all the cash in the stores, failed to discover either of the missing notes. Meanwhile the arrival of the officer in the territory had become generally known, and as he had recently effected several extraordinary arrests, public expectation was excited to the point where it demanded the most unreasonable results. At ordinary times this extravagant confidence might have flattered his vanity, but now it served only to augment the annoyances of the situation, as professional pride dislikes to admit that its accomplishments must, in all likelihood, fall far short of the popular requirement. For five days he worked and studied uninterruptedly, and as a reward for all this toil of body and mind, had not yet discovered the first clue to connect Middleton with the crime, though still entertaining not the slightest doubt of his guilt.

Under the most dexterous handling, the chances of bluffing a confession out of the ex-deputy marshal seemed exceedingly slim, as he knew all the tricks of the trade, having often practiced them himself. He had obviously studied the case, too, in all its bearings, and was prepared to meet attacks at all points.

The genius of the detective, however, rose to the level of the emergency. Middleton, as he knew, was always "hard up," and constitutionally unable to hold on to money. Hence it was safe to infer that he had spent a part if not the whole of the proceeds of the robbery. Guided by such reasoning, he hit upon a device which crushed the inveterate trickster, and laid the truth bare.

Going to the bank, he procured two perfectly new tendollar bills of the "Scandinavian Bank of Chicago." Pro

ceeding thence to his private room at the hotel, he drew forth the duplicate circular, describing the lost notes, and made, on an ordinary sheet of paper, what purported to be a correct copy of it, and which was a correct copy, except that in the place of the second and fifth of the ten-dollar bills actually stolen, he substituted a description of the two which had just come into his hands. He knew that Middleton had seen the retained list several times at the post-office, but did not think he had copied it, or that he would be able to iden

"Please copy this list in your own hand, on one of the regular blanks."

tify either of the notes, except, perhaps, the one for five hundred dollars, if confronted with them. On arriving at Wilna, the detective took the sheet away, and now intended to keep it out of sight.

Having fixed up the paper to suit his purposes, he sauntered carelessly over to the office, and taking the postmaster aside, said confidentially, "Here is a rough copy in my writ

ing of the duplicate description of the stolen money which you gave me several days ago. That sheet I haven't with me, and I may need it soon. Please copy this list in your own hand on one of the regular blanks."

The postmaster sat down at once and complied with the request. He had not charged his memory with the numbers of the bills, recollecting only that the tens were all new, and on the Scandinavian Bank of Chicago. If shown, the next day, the two lists made out by himself, he could not have told which was the genuine one. For prudential reasons the detective did not let him into the secret, and if this page should ever pass under his eye, it will inform him for the first time of the part he once inadvertently played in bringing a hardened criminal to justice.

Meantime Middleton manifested extreme anxiety to keep informed of the movements of Furay; and that officer, with the view of inspiring him with a vague and misty but terrible dread of danger from some mysterious quarter, instructed two or three trusty men, whom the fellow was certain to question, to report him as almost simultaneously present at widely distant places. Though seeing no possible way in which he could be caught, the culprit was fast losing his customary mental equilibrium through the distraction produced by the extraordinary and inexplicable flights of the detective, whose celerity seemed to surpass the swiftness of the eagle. A guilty conscience, under the play of its own fears, often reaches a state of apprehension where it looks for lightning from a clear sky.

Armed with the altered description, the officer proceeded to Ceylon, an important station on the line of the road, and telegraphed the postmaster at Tilsit to send up a clerk, who was to get off at that place and ask no questions.

The next morning, as the train passed Ceylon on the way west, Middleton inquired anxiously where Furay was, and was told by the local agent, whose information was furnished for the occasion, that he left the night before on horseback.

The clerk arrived in response to the telegram, and was duly posted in the part he was to enact in the approaching drama. During the morning the detective had studiously kept out of sight, that his little game might not by any mischance be exposed and frustrated.

In three or four hours the train would return from Wilna, and on its arrival the special agent was prepared to apply the grand bounce" to Mr. John Middleton.

To enhance the effectiveness of the onslaught, he mounted a fleet horse, and riding out of the village to a commanding point, where the cars. could be seen at a distance of several miles, he waited till just about time enough remained for a close connection, when he started back on a furious gallop, reaching the depot a few seconds after the train. Throwing the reins to an acquaintance, he dashed into the mail-room in a state of great apparent excitement, and, pretending to wipe the perspiration

from his face, as if overheated by the exercise of a long, hard ride, he inquired, impatiently," John Middleton, where is your mail-key?" Too surprised to answer, the mes

senger stood as immovable and speechless as a statue, when the question was repeated in a tone so imperious and peremptory, that it seemed to preclude the possibility of further temporizing. To any one else he would probably have denied the possession of a key, but knowing that a lie of that sort would avail nothing in the present instance, he replied, "It is here," producing a string from his pocket.

Taking it from the ring, the special agent handed it to the clerk from Tilsit, with instructions "To take charge of the mails on that road till otherwise ordered." Turning to the messenger, he then said, "Middleton, come with me."

"Isn't this rather an unceremonious proceeding?" queried that worthy, with the coolness of an Arctic iceberg.

"Perhaps so," answered the officer; "railroad trains don't wait for ceremony, and I am in a hurry. Come, there is no time to be lost."

"You know, I presume, what you are doing," replied the messenger defensively.

"Yes; you need borrow no uneasiness on that score, Mr. Middleton. I do know what I am about, and can assure you that I am doing right well."

The train was about to move, and the messenger still seemed exceedingly averse to quitting his cosy quarters for the cold world outside. The detective took him by the arm, and they hurried off together.

The crowd now piled across the platforms of the cars, manifesting great curiosity, but keeping at a respectful distance. No event since the organization of the territory had produced so much popular excitement as the late robbery, and, in addition to the citizens of the place, the large numbers then in attendance on the United States court at Ceylon were all on the alert to see "what Furay was going to do about it." With a vague though exalted appreciation of what were supposed to be his mystical gifts, they could not see exactly where or how an entrance was to be made to the heart of this carefully planned affair.