service. The aid of the
Pinkertons and of countless private detective agencies was called in,
and in addition to this thousands were upon our payroll. Our agents
swarmed everywhere, in all guises, penetrating all classes of society.
They grasped at a myriad clues; hundreds of suspects were jailed, and at
various times thousands of suspicious persons were under surveillance,
but nothing tangible came to light. With its communications the M. of
M. continually changed its method of delivery. And every messenger
they sent us was arrested forthwith. But these inevitably proved to be
innocent individuals, while their descriptions of the persons who had
employed them for the errand never tallied. On the last day of December
we received this notification:

OFFICE OF THE M. OF M., December 31, 1899.

MR. EBEN HALE, Money Baron:

Dear Sir,--Pursuant of our policy, with which we flatter ourselves you
are already well versed, we beg to state that we shall give a passport
from this Vale of Tears to Inspector Bying, with whom, because of our
attentions, you have become so well acquainted. It is his custom to be
in his private office at this hour. Even as you read this he breathes
his last.

Cordially yours,

THE MINIONS OF MIDAS.

I dropped the letter and sprang to the telephone. Great was my relief
when I heard the Inspector's hearty voice. But, even as he spoke, his
voice died away in the receiver to a gurgling sob, and I heard faintly
the crash of a falling body. Then a strange voice hello'd me, sent me
the regards of the M. of M., and broke the switch. Like a flash I called
up the public office of the Central Police, telling them to go at once
to the Inspector's aid in his private office. I then held the line, and
a few minutes later received the intelligence that he had been
found bathed in his own blood and breathing his last. There were no
eyewitnesses, and no trace was discoverable of the murderer.

Whereupon Mr. Hale immediately increased his secret service till a
quarter of a million flowed weekly from his coffers. He was determined
to win out. His graduated rewards aggregated over ten millions. You have
a fair idea of his resources and you can see in what manner he drew upon
them. It was the principle, he affirmed, that he was fighting for, not
the gold. And it must be admitted that his course proved the nobility of
his motive. The police departments of all the great cities cooperated,
and even the United States G