, which was waiting upon
a side-track, and which was immediately afterwards attached to the
train.

The safes having been placed in the car, the door was securely
locked, and, as the train was then ready to start, the agent of the
company gave the word "All right!" The train started and sped upon
its journey, and nothing further was known until its arrival at New
Haven and the discovery of the theft.

I was immediately notified of the matter, and after a careful
observation of the safes and an investigation into the facts of the
case, I thought I detected the handiwork of a party of young thieves
whom I had accidentally encountered in another operation in which I
had been engaged some months previously.

Operatives were immediately despatched in various directions, and the
movements of the suspected parties were carefully but unobservedly
watched. Very soon after, I succeeded in running down two of the
parties, named John Tristram and Thomas Clark, and upon arresting
them each one had in his possession a gold watch, both of which were
identified as stolen property. They were accordingly conveyed to
Bridgeport and held to await their trial.

Mr. Wells, the genial and efficient keeper of the prison, whose
acquaintance I had previously made, received the prisoners and
securely fastened them up.

A few days following this, an old resident of Norwalk, who was also
an uncle of one of the men arrested, was observed by one of my men,
carrying a package of unusual weight from his residence to the house
of a sister of Tristram in New York City, and an examination of the
house resulted in finding nearly eighty seven thousand dollars of the
stolen treasure. The old man was arrested, but developments proved
too plainly that he was only acting as a mere blind messenger for the
other parties, and he was accordingly discharged.

The trial of the two men, which subsequently took place at
Bridgeport, was attended by a large array of New York burglars,
shoplifters and pick-pockets--all friends of the criminals. They were
closely watched, as it was feared that they intended making some
attempt to rescue the prisoners. This precaution proved not to have
been in vain, for during the sitting of the court an attempt was made
to purloin an iron box in which most of the testimony intended for
use in the case, was kept. This was fortunately discovered in time,
and many of the individuals concerned in it left town immediately.

On the tr