n't anything hid that he can't find." The dividing of the fifty
thousand dollars made great pleasure; when it was finished the chief
made a little speech while he put his share in his pocket, in which he
said, "Enjoy it, boys, for you've earned it; and, more than that, you've
earned for the detective profession undying fame."

A telegram arrived, which read:

MONROE, MICH., 10 P.M.
First time I've struck a telegraph office in over three weeks. Have
followed those footprints, horseback, through the woods, a thousand
miles to here, and they get stronger and bigger and fresher every day.
Don't worry-inside of another week I'll have the elephant. This is dead
sure. DARLEY, Detective.

The chief ordered three cheers for "Darley, one of the finest minds on
the force," and then commanded that he be telegraphed to come home and
receive his share of the reward.

So ended that marvelous episode of the stolen elephant. The newspapers
were pleasant with praises once more, the next day, with one
contemptible exception. This sheet said, "Great is the detective! He may
be a little slow in finding a little thing like a mislaid elephant he
may hunt him all day and sleep with his rotting carcass all night for
three weeks, but he will find him at last if he can get the man who
mislaid him to show him the place!"

Poor Hassan was lost to me forever. The cannonshots had wounded him
fatally, he had crept to that unfriendly place in the fog, and there,
surrounded by his enemies and in constant danger of detection, he had
wasted away with hunger and suffering till death gave him peace.

The compromise cost me one hundred thousand dollars; my detective
expenses were forty-two thousand dollars more; I never applied for a
place again under my government; I am a ruined man and a wanderer on the
earth but my admiration for that man, whom I believe to be the greatest
detective the world has ever produced, remains undimmed to this day, and
will so remain unto the end.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stolen White Elephant
by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOLEN WHITE ELEPHANT ***

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