The conductor did not suspect my identity. He put me off the train. If he had known whom I was, my life would probably not have been worth ten cents.
I hurried to the nearest station, hunted up the telegraph operator, and when the robbed train reached the end of its run, there were several policemen on hand to put the conductor and his accomplices under arrest.
For another lot of choice detective stories see No. 11 of Multum in Parvo Library.
Two Ghosts.
The following extraordinary story came under my observation some years ago:
Tom Johnson and Jack Spencer were close friends. One evening in Johnson’s room they played cards and Spencer won every cent Johnson had. Spencer was visiting his friend at the time, and retired to sleep with him. Sometime after midnight Spencer awoke feeling very uncomfortable. There was a strange silence in the room. Johnson, usually a loud snorer, was sleeping as quietly and peacefully as a baby. Was he really sleeping or was he dead? This question flashed across Spencer’s mind. He leaned toward his friend to ascertain whether he was breathing. He was not. He felt for his heart. It was not beating. He raised his friend’s head from the pillow. It dropped back, heavy as lead. The limbs were stiff. The rigor mortis had already come upon the body.
“Johnson must have committed suicide,” thought Spencer aghast. “It’s all on account of his losing so much money at cards. Now that it has been impressed upon me, I recall his strange remark on saying good-night. It was, ‘Well, if I should die to-night, good-bye, old fellow.’ And he seemed quite despondent. I also saw him drink something out of a small phial, poison, no doubt. What shall I do? I have been indirectly the cause of his committing suicide. I won all his money at cards—money which he no doubt had intended to devote to some special purpose. How can I face his mother under such circumstances? I can not and shall not. I’ll get out of the way for a few days, until I recover from the shock of this terrible affair.”
Another impulse came to him and he proceeded to set upon it. He took nearly all the money from his pocket and put it on the table, where the friends of the dead man would be sure to find it. He also placed near it a note, inscribed as follows: “Please use this money to defray the funeral expenses. Spencer.”
Then he quietly left the house, and he took the first train from the city. He eagerly scanned the evening papers next day, for news of the finding of the dead body of Johnson. There was nothing to that effect, but instead he read the following item concerning himself: