s' companion out. He was not hurt, and he held on
to the reins just long enough to check his horse's speed and change his
course. The spirited animal turned short across the road right in front
of Kelly's and the wagon was upset, throwing Mrs. Williams out. She fell
under the wagon and her left ankle and right thigh were fractured. A
great many people saw the upset and ran to the injured woman's
assistance. . . . . .

"When Mr. Williams was told about the accident he said, 'If that's so, I
give her up. If she has done that I am through with her. She cannot come
back to me. As long as she lies to me, to shield this other fellow, she
may go to him. She can't come to me.'"

This giddy Brooklyn woman reckoned too much on her influence over her
husband, when she expected to soothe his resentment by holding her
tongue. Those women who deceive good, indulgent husbands, frequently
discover, to their sorrow, that the most unmerciful and inexorable of
men are those who have been deceived by their idolized partners. Yet men
of this kind would be far more likely to thrash a private detective, who
had possessed himself of the particulars of the amour in a sneaking way,
than to recompense him, and properly, while the courts would absolutely
refuse to receive such testimony unless abundantly corroborated. For
those and other considerations, which will readily occur to the
thoughtful reader, the detective who engages to get up testimony in
cases of marital unfaithfulness is regarded as quite ghoulish by his
fellow-detectives, and looked upon as being entirely unworthy of
credence by lawyers and courts.

After all that has been said the press is, on the whole, the best
detective--the most reliable and efficient agent against evil-doers.
When a crime is committed the daily newspaper, with its Argus eyes,
gives such minute and circumstantial details, together with such
exhaustive particulars concerning its environment, and the details of
its perpetration and supposed authors, that the public at large, so
instructed and informed, become detectives. Hence "crooked" and wicked
people are really more afraid of the thunderbolt exposure of the
newspapers than of the slower and more uncertain action of the law.

CHAPTER XX.

GAMBLING AND GAMBLERS.

_The Delusins that Control the Devotees of Policy--What the Mathematical
Chances are Against the Players--Tricks in French Pools--"Bucking the
Tiger"--"Ropers-in"--How Strangers are Victi