ing,
eventually forging invoices of articles, and drawing bills of exchange
upon the Confederate Government, which were duly honored. This villainy
was perpetrated towards the end of the war, and at its close, Sandy
Keith absconded with his ill-gotten gains, a considerable proportion
consisting of money in his hands, belonging to private individuals.
Among his victims was Colonel S. of Baltimore, who determined to make an
effort to recover his money. His first step was a visit to Halifax. His
endeavors there to find Keith's whereabouts were for some time
fruitless. But at last a clue was found. A girl, who had accompanied
Keith in his flight, had written a letter to a relative in Halifax, and
Colonel S. by some means obtained a sight of the envelope. The
post-mark, plainly legible, indicated that the letter had been written
at an obscure little village in Missouri. S. hastened back to Baltimore,
and secured the cooperation of a detective, not for the purpose of
arresting Keith, because he doubted whether he could recover possession
of his property by the slippery and uncertain process of law, but for
the sake of the detective's strong arm and presence of mind in the event
of resistance. The reward to the detective being made contingent upon
the recovery of the money, the pair left Baltimore, and in due time
reached the village in the backwoods, where they learned that two
persons, as man and wife, were boarding at the house of a widow, a mile
or two distant. They waited until night, and then, arming themselves
with revolvers, started for the house of the widow. Knocking at the
door, it was opened to them, and as they passed in, Keith's voice was
heard, inquiring who had entered. Guided by the sound, they rushed to
the room occupied by him. He had retired for the night. His loaded
pistol was lying on a table near his bedside; but he had neglected to
lock the door of his chamber, and S. and the detective had secured his
arms and held him a prisoner before he was fairly awake. There was
little parleying between them, the detective merely assuring him that if
he did not come to terms speedily, his trunk would be broken open and
all of its contents seized. The whole affair was amicably settled in ten
minutes, by a check upon the bank in which Keith had deposited some of
his money, for the amount due to S., and the detective's reward. Keith
demurred a little to the latter demand, but finally yielded to moral
suasion; and next