The Banner Weekly: 'The Captain's Enemy' — page 5: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

BS ft BEN TT ely OD ae eee ld Lae oe be + 7 + ' ¥ ° % i ’ a ’ ° ee Ld . i i é - - : : 4 = ; c * oe te a <a —_ <= 7 —_ ~ Jam, waa ~~." ~ . ' ONLY TO SEE THEE AGAIN. BY MARK WILTON LARKINS. What would I give to be near thee, - Once more thy form to infold? ‘What would | give just to bear thee eee my name as of old? All that is mine of life's pleasures— _ All that to me doth remain Freely lc give for the pleasure— Only to see thee again! ‘Long time itis since I missed you, Down where the daisies are white; Long time it is kissed you Under the moon’s silver light: Now where the «weet bloom is paling, Sadly the breezes comptain;_ Still is my prayer unavailing, Only to see tnee again! ‘Only to clasp and to bold you, ow would my heart’s pulses leap, OY could my pty anes — you, omething forever to keep Dark have tne hours been, and lonely, All through the summer's brief reign, Waiting and watching here lonely— Only to see thee again! Sometimes in dreams we are treading Paths by us oft trod before; Fond eyes their glory are shedding, Sweet words my lost h restore. Then do I cease to remember Joys that misfortuoe 1.as slain:— Ah. the sad waking from slumber, Never to see thee again! The Cuff-Button Clew. BY A DETECTIVE, AsIpE from my vocation, there is nothing for which | have a greater fondness than for horses—a fondness that has ever been mine; and how closely the two ue connected, it is my pur- pose to show in this sketch. My father was a well-to-do man and, during my earlier years, every advantage for a thor- ough education was afforded me,so far as it was attainable m the common schools and a re- Having reached my majority, my father pre- sented me with a very handsome » sum of money, ‘* Henceforth, you willbe yourownman. At my death you would inherit a sum equal to that which I have given you. and | prefer that you have it now. Many a large fortune has been acquired by those ing a far inferior start in life than is yours, and | trust you will make a good use of that which I give you.” I thanked him for his generosity and then to his disappointment, not to say disgust, pur- chased a livery-stable conn l with the hotel in Warfield—the village of my nativity. With numerous borses er my immediate care and supervision, [I was well content; and, really, my business was more lucrative than, in my opinion, is the calling of the average professional gentleman, if not quite so elegant. Warfield is a central point, and among m best customers were the ‘‘commercial travel- ers,”’ woo came to the place by rail and thence visited surrounding towns by private convey- ance which [ furnished them, as a monopolist of the livery business in Warfield. Finding all *‘drummers” genial, gentlemanly, prompt in settling their indebtedness to me, I was particularly attracted to one of the frater- nity, Frank Hosmer. e bad a handsome physique, was somewhat less. than thirty years of age, and entirely free from any habits which, if not actually “ er do not have a favorable influence upon one’s re- putation. And, without the least Spersee ment to the rest of mankind, I must say that his manner was more pirating than that of any other gentleman whom I ever knew, winning the kindl of all with whom he came in contact, the outset. These characteristics rendered bim an excep- Genetly oxroliont salesman, and the a0 Bh ose employ he was, was regarded very fortu- nate in retaining him, though it was only by the payment of a princely ‘ ao One day in Jan , when it was snowin an Owes furiously, he came to me an den and back train this ev ” Camden is eight miles from Warfield and, consulting my watch I found it uearly three o'clock. ‘*T have just received a telegram from my firm, req morrow evening,” he continued, ‘‘and I have important business in Camden that must be at- tended to before my return to the city. No train toward Boston from Camden leaves be- tween 4:15 this afternoon and 7:12 in the morn- ing, neither of which will answer my purpose.” How long a time will be required to transact your business in Camden?” _** Possibly half an hour.” ‘* Sixteen miles is a short distance to drive in four hours, under unfavorable circumstances, but to-da things are worse than unfavorable, owing to the drifts that you will encounter,” ‘** The impossible cannot beaccomplished. Do the best for me that you can.” I had my best roadster harnessed without de- lay, and as Mr. Hosmer seated himself in the sleigh, remarked : ‘*T think he will enable you to do what you wish—if any horse could.” ‘* He looks asif he would,” returned Mr. Hos- past eight, that evening, the horse and sleigh were returned to me by one of the boys in the village, who said he was hired to take them to me by a man at the rail- road station who barely had time to board the train but not to purchase a ticket, ‘*T am glad he was in season to hit the train but he would not have been if the train had no been half an hour late, owing to the snow,” I mentally commented, That he had driven the horse almost to death was evident from the condition of the ani but I well knew he would willingly pay all dam- es. ay days later, the proprietor of the ho- to me, said: osmer is among the missing.” ‘* What!” 1 exclaimed, in surprise, **T have received a note from his firm which states that they had a telegram from him dated at this place, last Wednesday, promising to be in Boston the following morning; that they have heard nothing from him siuce; asking for such information as I can give concerning him,” . P I acquainted the landlord with the facts above narrated, adding: “Tt is very singular what can have become of ” ‘““ Who knows but he may be an embezzler and has run away?” ‘‘Neither you nor I think Frank Hosmer guilty of any wrong-doing,” I remarked, em- phatically. ‘‘ No, yet he may be,” persisted the landlord. I made no response, but determined to do all in my power toward fathoming the deep mys- tery. Going to the boy who had returned the horse and sleigh used by Mr, Hosmer, | inquired: “Do you know a drummer by the name of Hosmer?” ‘* No,” was the reply, ‘*Can you describe the man from whom you took my horse and sleigh at the railroad sta- tion?” ‘*He was about as tall as you and more fleshy.” Mr. Hosmer was not so tall as I, and was a trifle more pian “* Did you see his face?’ I continued. ‘* No, for he was all muffled up.” ‘* How was he dressed?” ; “He wore a sealskin cap and coat,” So did Mr, Hosmer. Further questioning elicited no other impor- “ Have you a horse that will take me to Cam- in season to leave here on the 7:30 me to bein Boston by ten to- tant information from the lad, and I left him firmly believing that the man was Mr. Hosmer, though the matter of his hight combated such ‘abebef. Butit would be an easy thing for the boy to be mistaken in this respect. terviewing the conductor of the 7:50 train, he said: ‘*T am well ted with Hosmer, and he certainly was not on my train last Wednesday evening. Yes, there was a man on the train who wore a sealskin coat and cap, but he was a stranger to me,” | The mystery was growing deeper: my inter- est in its solution grew stronger. I drove to Camden, hunted out the indivi- duals with whom Mr. Hosmer had transacted business; learned that each of them had paid him a large sum of money and that he had started from Camden at exactly 6:25. | The mysterious disappearance, then, was be- tween Camden and W arfield. I informed the firm in whose service Mr. Hos- mer had been with what I had learned, and its senior member at once came to Warfield, and began an investigation, to which end the ser- vices of the local officers were enlisted. The residences between Warfield and Camden are few, and noone, that stormy Wednesday, bad seen any person traveling toward the for- mer place, though one bad been seen driving in an 5 om direction in the afternoon—doubt- less Mr. Hosmer. The efforts of the local officers were futile, and a skilled detective was employed, whose es- pecial endeavors were to find the man who, wearing a sealskin coat and cap, had left War- field on the train which Mr. Hosmer had desir- ed totake. Stimulated by the reward of $5,000 offered by the Boston firm for the apprehension this personage, the detective did his level best, but in vain. Along in April, when the snow had mostly gone and the warm weather be in earnest, atacertain point between Warfield and Cam- den, a terrible offensive odor manifested itself. A careful examination of the locality revealed, just over a wall running parallel with the high- way, a sadly decomposed body—the body of Frank Hosmer, Two bullet-holes proved that he had been murdéred, and the absence from the body of all valuables indicated conclusively that the motive for the crime had been plunder. The excitement previously created by Mr. Hosmer’s ous disappearance was nothing compared with that caused by the knowledge that he had been foully dealt with. Renewed efforts were made by his firm, by his friends everywhere, by the authorities of Warfield and Camden to discover some clew to the assassin—doubtless the man in the sealskin coatandcap. Threeof the best detectives in the country were employed; the reward for the apprehension of the criminal was increased to $10,000, Nothing resulted from these efforts, however, In September, I was engaged to furnish a farm-house team to convey a large party to a pond some four miles from Warfield, where there was a picnic, and drove the turnout myself, Fastening a a comms, | ribbon around the throat of one of the young ladies of the party, | sawa pin that caused me to tremble in every fiber; and I could hardly refrain from impertinently asking her where she got it. It was a plain band of silver, with cross-bars of gold, along which were set various gems; nothing particularly expensive or attractive, but—it was precisely of the same pattern with a cuff-button which I had found in the sleigh used by Mr. Hosmer that Wednesday afternoon, the following day, the owner of which I had not been able to find. : By careless inquiries I learned that it had heen presented to the lady by one Walter Thurs- by, of Camden, who was paying her marked at- tention. po gph eyed that he tes sg to dissipation, though very agreeable in his ways; that,in order to obtain the means for gratifying his depraved tendencies, he had once forged his wealthy father’s signature to a check for a considerable amount; that he had been of other misdemeanors which, but for is father’s influence, would have been severely punished. I went to Camden and learned that for sever- al days or to the memorable Wednesday, Thursby had been at home; that, on the same day, he had left Camden, to be gone nearly two months—where, no one knew: that, since his re- turn, he had been very steady and apparently low-spirited. Taking all things into consideration, I made up my mind that he was responsible for Mr. = Ae death, and did not wonder at his ‘*low-spiritedness, ” with the burden of a mur- der resting on his soul. I would show him the cuff-button and see what effect its sight would produce. Drawing the article from my pocket one day, I passed it to bim, asking: ‘‘Did you ever see anything like this?” ‘* 7] never saw a cuff-button like it, but know a in whose pattern closely resembles it,” he quiet- ly answered, having examined the button. ‘*The one you gave Miss Ellsworth?” ‘* Yes,” be replied, in a tone of surprise. ‘*] saw the pin worn by Miss Ellsworth, and, knowing that —_ presented it to her, thought you might be the owner of this button which is exactly like it. I me the pin was made from the mate to this button, as the pattern is so unique.” ‘*? think the pin may have been mace from a cuff-button, very likely from the mate to that in your hand, bought it of a pawnbroker in Portland.” ‘* Will you please give me his name and ad- |. dress?” He did so and, thanking him, I went from his presence, coufident that he had not been con- nected with the crime. I visited the shop in Portland where he said he purchased the pin, and showing the Jew who presided over the establishment the button, put to him the question which I had asked Thursby. He distinctly remembered having purchased a button of its pattern the preceding winter from a man who had lost its mate; of converting it into a pin. Moreover, he knew the person of whom he purchased it and ay his name to me —James Denton, of Ashleigh. To Ashleigh I then went and found that Den- ton was a man who, having squandered an im- mense inheritance, ‘‘ lived by his wits”—some- times having an abundance of money, while at other times he was so reduced that he was obliged to pawn hisclothing.. Responsive to a note which I sent the propri- etor of the hotel in Camden, I received the fol- lowing: ‘** CAMDEN, Oct. 6th, 18 —. ‘*DEAR SIR*— ‘Reading the description of him concerning whom you inquire, 1 remembered having enter- tained such a person; and, consulting my ister, found ‘ James Denton’ upon it, under date of Janu- aryl7th. He left the hotel very suddenly, Wednes- day, January 19th, directly after tea, how or for what place I never knew. ‘Respectfully, ‘*‘Amos GreGoryY.” I acquainted the Selectmen of Ashleigh with the result of my investigations, and then, ac- companied by one of them and a sheriff, called upon Denton. After a formal introduction to him, I showed him the button and said: ‘*7 understand that you once possessed a pair of buttons like this.” ‘*T did,” he replied, ‘* And lost one of them?” sé Yes.” ‘Did you ever see others like them?” ‘*T do not think there are such, as I designed the pattern myself.” Pre what did you do with the ‘*Having lost one, other?” “T sold it to a pawnbrokerin Portland, with whom I do quite a business,” smiling as he ke, ts found this in the sleigh in which Frank Hosmer was or had been riding when mur- dered.” ‘‘ Prank Hosmer? I do not think I was ever acquainted with any one by that name.” ‘* He was a Boston drummer who left Camden for Warfield im the afternoon of January 19th last, the same day and at about the same hour that you left the same place.” ‘* Therefore, you think that I am—” ‘* Mr. Hosmer’s murderer,” [ interrupted. ‘lL suppose I might put you to some trouble in verifying your suspicions,” he observed, with the utmost sang froid, ‘but I will not do so, You are correct in thinking as you do, and my only wonder is that my crime has not found me out before this. . ‘** Let me tell you how it was: I went to Cam- den to see a gentleman who was heavily indebt- ed to me, hoping he would pay me a part of what was my due, as I was ina terrible condi- tion pecuniarily. He could not accommodate me, and | was prepared to take almost any means whereby to obtain the desired money. ‘* Learning that a drummer well tg Sa with cash, was about to leave Camden for War- field, | resolved to waylay and rob him: so I started from Camden in advance of him. He overtook and asked meto ride with bim. I jumped into the sleigh and had gone some little distance when I drew a revolver—not intending to use it—and demanded his money. In the en- counter that followed, the revolver was acci- dentally discharged and he fell back, gasping. Not realizing what I did, 1 shot him a second time, through the heart. Then. baving remov- ed all his valuables, I carried his body over a wall and left it, aware that, owing to the furi- ous snow-storm then prevail , no trace of the occurrence would be visible in the morning. I put on his overcoat and cap, came to Warfield, sent the horse and sleigh to their owner, and boarded the evening - He was ed, tried, easily convicted of murder in the first degree, sentenced to be hanged after three years imprisonment, He died in less than a year subsequent to his ar- rest. Later, I learned that Walter Thursby was the ‘* gentleman” whom Denton visited in Cam- den: that he, Thursby, sus d his creditor— for ‘‘ debts of honor "—of criminality in con- nection with Mr. Hosmer’s disappearance and— murder: that his fears in this direction effected a radical reform in his babits and rendered him ‘* low-spirited.” I received the $10,000 reward, and was high- ly complimented for the detective ability I dis- played. And so pleased was [ with my success, that I at once renounced my business and join- ed the army of detectives, where [I have since remained. My lcvefor horsesled meto engagein the livery business, and the latter led—indirectly, perhaps—to my present vocation; as you can readily see—verifying the truth of the state- ment in my initial sentence. THE YOUNG YEAR. BY PAUL PASTNOR. The year is young, The requiem that the angels sung For Time’s dead cbild swells newly forth, In psalms of joy across the earth; For the new babe, the brighter birth Of buds and lights, of flowers and floods, Of sunny fields and shady woods, Betokens that the year is young. The childish year will wiser grow, Ere ee bells ring o’er the snow! Its buds will blossom into flowers: Rich fruit will bang in leafy bowers; Swift torrents from the sunlit hills Will sink to silver-rippled rills. The harvest’s richer ds of gold Such amber treasures willinfold; And at the sunset close of day, Rose-clouds will kiss the mountains gray, THE SOFT-HAND SPORT; OR, Unmasking the Masks, ---—hUhtrrl'rvOVOlr" BY JOS. E. BADGER, JR., AUTHOR OF “* MONTE JIM,” ‘‘ OLD 49,” ‘* THE MAN OF SILK,” *“‘ TOP SAWYER SAM,” BTC. CHAPTER X. BROCKY SAM AND HIS MISSION, THAT ride to the mansion of the Merediths, on Hill, was anything but a delight to no one would have sus- pe Nicol ‘Faulkner, thoug ed what a sea of ugly ions was surging neath that polite, humble demeanor with which he tried to efface all disagreeable feelings which bis share in that nearly fatal accident had given birth. Linnet never spoke a word, Even when directly addressed she contented herself with a silent bow or shake of the head. And though Stuart Meredith spoke often enough, it was after anything but an agreeable fashion. He seemed to divide the blame of the accident equally between the unknown rider of the bicy- cle and a oa broker. And when Nicol tried to explain that unlucky slip of his horse, it oniy made matters worse. ** You should know better than to own such a clumsy brute, sir!” the nabob stiffly retorted. ‘*Or, if you must own such, vou ought to know better than come near other people to endanger their lives, sir!” This is only a sample of what Faulkner was called upon to meekly endure during that ride, and brief though it was, as to distance, he never spent a more disagreeable quarter of an hour. When Belle View was reached he assisted Lin- net out of the hack and ventured a gentle press- ure of her little hand as he muttered something about calling to inquire after her precious health ; but, if the young lady heard, sbe certain- ly made no reply, hastening at once into the house. And Stuart Meredith hobbled after her without even bidding Faulkner good-evening. Altogether, the broker felt that he had put in a most unprofitable day, and as he strode away bitter curses came through his clinched teeth. ‘*And that infernal shyster, too!” he grated viciously, his hands clinching as though he longed to feel the throat of his rival between his sinewy fingers. ‘*‘He had to turn up just when he wasn’t wanted!” He stopped short at that, with a slight shiver. For the first time he realized that, only for the man whom he was cursing, all his golden hopes might have been destroyed—and the woman whom he vowed to make his wife lying a loath- some mass of mangled flesh! ‘* And he’ll trade on it, too—unless I cut in be- fore him!” he scowled, as he strode swiftly down the street. But there was ae of all this to be read in his face as, very early that evening, he ascended the marble steps leading to the nt door of Meredith’s mansion. And as the door swung silently open in answer to his ring, the soft flood of light from the chandelier in the wide hall fell on oh te smiling face as he asked for Miss Meredith. “As wellas might be expected, sir,” politely answer