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Newspaper Page Text
a MAN OF TRICKS; BjrCecille Langdon. ,An antique.-ring had been stolen from a jew,elry tray in .the case .under my 'charge. Goldstein '& Co. had acted promptly. I was notified that my serv ices were .no longer -required. The senior partner of the firm took great pains to,inform me that my dismissal carried; with it no implication of per sonal dishonesty. There had been so "I; Am Certain of It." many of such thefts recently; how ever, that an example! of presumable carelessness must be made. Unfor tunately they had begun with me. If it had not" been for the stenog rapher, Miss" Lura,"Vesey,I think I should have packed up instanter to return to my native town, disgusted with jewelers in general and "justly indignant at Goldstein. & Co. After I had parted with several good friends .among the clerks, who honestly re gretted my departure, I was' surprised to find. Miss Vesey at; my side, just as I was leaving, .the pjace.,v She -was in tears. She placed a slsterly,.affection ate hand onmy .arm. in ji pleading, sympathetic way that; softened me. . "You will not get discouraged?" she said. t "Does it matter much?" I jerked out, still wroth at my summary dis missal. "It does to me," she replied earn estly, "more than you think. It mat- ters.to my brother, too, Mr. Winthrbp."" Xou found huji a good position, and he will always be grateful. If I can help ypu " But I shook, my head dejectedly. , "At least, let me hear how you get along," she added, and there was a tremor in her voice that inspired me with the" idea that I had. one sterling friend in the . world. So I .promised her, and went on my way.. Then my thoughts began to crystallize-to-some coherency! I set my teeth hard. I clenched my fists with determination. ' - 'Til see this thing through!" I said to myself "if it is only to set at rest any possible imputation of wrong do ihg that may .follow me." ' You see, I remembered all about that missing antique ring. In fact, I knew the man who had stolen it. Atj least I thought T did. Aye,.I,knew him twice! That is a strange thing-"to say but even thrice! I mean: dis guised. I was sure, as Ixefle.cted, that the sleek thief had twice before vis ited the store on occasions after which articles of value had been found missing. I am not much of a story teller, but, to look ahead a little, my hard think ing assured me that I might make a good detective. That reflection led to action, I discovered my natural forte, and that is why I havel become a se cret service man, where -I have an easy case about once1 a year, plenty of time to work on it, and good pay. My first step' was. to go to the Jewelers' Board of Trade. That was where, they keptthe records of the trade, and I knew .mine would follow