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The day book. (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, May 15, 1914, NOON EDITION, Image 19


Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1914-05-15/ed-1/seq-19/

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They were fdttd, those same, fdf a
very superior reason. I was in love.
More than that, I was in love with the
daughter of John" Marsh, and John
Marsh was the then wealthy mer
chant from whom Haley" had stolen
in cash and Jewels a cool hundred
thousand dollars. '
At the time of the deed the lawyer
of Mr. Marsh paid me a" ffve'ftundred
dollar reward for capturing the. cul
prit. At the same" time he advised me
that in case I recovered the bodty or
any part of it, twenty-live per cent of
the same should be mine.. At the
end of a few months I gave" up hunt
ing for the hidden fortune for ten
All -that time, however, I kept Haley
in miiid. At the end of the ninth yefar
I sought out Mr. Marsh. He was no
longer a capitalist. The loss of the
hundred thousand dollars Had crip
pled and then ruined him. I found
him living in a very humble Way, old
and decrepit, supported by the earn
ings of his daughter, Constance, who
was a music teacher
When I recalled his former loss, he
wept bitter tears. When 1 bluntly in
timated1 that I hoped to recover it,
he was aroused, to desperate excite
ment. He offered me, half of- what I
might secure.
It was not this prospect of a munifi
cent Teward, however,-that impelled
me to perfect my plans with renewed
diligence and fervor. It was because
I had seen and now worshiped Con
stance Marsh. I think I first won her
kindly attention by my steadfastness
or purpose in pursuing an apparently
hopeless case to the end. Then when
I said that I coveted not the reward
but the fame of finishing up a difficult
case, and intimated what comfort the
restored wealth would bring to her
father, she became my"true friend.
I had not seen Dan Haley since he
entered the penitentiary. I was
shocked at his aged appearance. He
stooped and walked feebly. There
was none of the buoyancy and eager
ness one might have expected from a
man who was about to reap the rick
rewards of secrecy and patience.v
Another thing, he seemed lost in
his jiew environment. The free air,
the bright sunshine, varied crowds,
did not inspire him, they rather con-
fused. I saw at a glance that he was,.
a broken man.
His" first move with .the money the'
prison authorities had given him was
I to board a train for the town where
he had formerly lived. He was a wid
ower. Haley proceeded to the site of'
the house where; he had once lived. It
was easy to shadowvhim. In his dis-
spirited way he seemed indifferent to
The house he expected to find had
been burned down for two years. A
new one was now in course of con
struction. I stood outside the yard
while I watched him wander around
it It was evident he was seeking
something, but could not locate it. He
would start along hesitate, rub his
brow m a bewildered sort of a way
and finally, after an hour, he turned
from, the place.
My heart sank within me Dan
Haley had forgotten!
r knew it surer than ever" the next
day, when he left the little lodging
house he had putup at, with myself
for a vigilant neighbor in next room.
He started out seeking work. I was
near fa him when he" approached a
carpenter building a fence. The lat
ter held a board across a saw horse
and was'just turning it to mark where
it should be sawed with the pencil in
his band, when I noticed a sudden
glow in Haley's eyes. He uttered:
what was almost a scream. He start
ed from the spot on a dead run, the
astonished carpenter starting won
deringly after him, myself in. close
Straight to the railroad depot
Haley proceeded, thence by train to
the prison town and then td the very
doors of the penitentiary he "had left
less than twenty-four hours previ
ously. I am a detective and therefore have.

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