Our American cousins are, as I have said, well served by their official detectives, but private agents do much of the business of pursuit and detection, and of these semi-official aids to justice one firm has gained a world-wide celebrity. Some account of the chief and first of the Pinkertons may be introduced here. Allan Pinkerton began life as a cooper, and was doing a thriving business at Dundee, some thirty-eight miles north-west of Chicago, about 1847. The times were primitive; barter took the place of cash payments in the absence of a currency. To remedy this inconvenience, a bank was started in Milwaukee, which throve and had many branches, doing such a good business that its notes passed everywhere, and were extensively counterfeited. A gang of the forgers had been discovered by Allan Pinkerton on a small island in the Fox River near Dundee. Wanting poles and staves for his trade, he had gone to cut them in the woods, when he came upon the embers of camp-fires, and signs that the island was secretly frequented by tramps and others. Pinkerton informed the sheriff, and active steps were taken by which a large confederacy of horse thieves, "cover-men," and counterfeiters was broken up. The trade still flourished, however, and some of the reputable citizens of Dundee begged Allan Pinkerton to do further service to his town in trying to check it. A suspicious stranger had just come to Dundee, asking for "old man Crane"; this Crane was known as a "hard character," the associate of thieves and evil-doers, and an agent, it was thought, for the distribution of bogus notes. The villagers generally gave him a wide berth, and when the counterfeit money reappeared in the shape of many forged ten-dollar bills, this "old man Crane" was credited with being the centre of the traffic. Any friend or acquaintance of his came equally under suspicion, and Allan Pinkerton was set to discover what he could about this new arrival. He proved to be a hale, strong man, advanced in years, who rode a splendid horse. Pinkerton found him waiting at the saddler's, where some repairs were being made to his saddle, and easily got into conversation with him. The stranger wanted to know where "old man Crane" lived, and when informed, casually mentioned that he often had some business with him. Pinkerton seemed to understand, and the other suddenly asked, "Do you ever deal, any?" "Yes, when I can get a first-rate article," promptly replied Pinkerton. Whereupon the stranger said he had some that were "bang up," and pulled out a bundle of notes, which he handed over for Pinkerton's inspection, believing him to be a "square man."