His discharge (which he no doubt desired) was thought best, in order to throw him upon his own resources, with the hope of bringing to light some of the stolen funds, if they were still in his hands. Much of the money, which amounted in all to some $8000, could be identified. The Middletown package of §2000 consisted of small bills, put up in parcels of §200 each; and upon every bill there was a mark by which it could be readily known. Up to this time none of the money contained in this package or the others, except that mentioned as coming from Vermont, had found its way to the banks by which it was issued. One day, about noon, I observed Pat's giant-like form crossing Broadway, and for more than an hour I followed him without his knowledge, until he brought up in a stone-cutter's establishment. As I passed and repassed the door, I thought I observed him paying over some bank-notes to the occupant. After he had left, I stepped in, and was soon in possession of three $5 notes of the Middletown (Ct.) Bank, with which he had paid for the _grave-stones_ of "_his darling boy!_" The bills were clearly a part of the §2000 Middletown package, being of the same denomination, and exhibiting the same unmistakable marks. This accidental meeting, at once supplying a key to the mystery, was one of those misfortunes that so often befall criminals at some point of their guilty career, and even when they imagine themselves perfectly successful, and permanently secure against the possibility of detection. I must here tell the reader a secret, explanatory of a question that naturally arises, namely, why, with such overwhelming proof in my possession, an arrest was not at once made. It was simply because he would have gone clear before any tribunal, had I depended on the case as it then stood. The bills of the §2000 package were all marked as stated, but unfortunately a large amount, with precisely the same peculiarities, was in circulation at this very time, though not supposed to be in that vicinity. Had the arrest taken place then, and the cashier been summoned to testify on the point of identity, he would have said that he put _such_ bills into the Philadelphia package, but could not have sworn that they were some of the identical notes. Besides, it was no unimportant part of this difficult business, to effect a return of the funds, as far as possible, to the pockets of the victims of these robberies. The scarcity of live game in any direction within several miles of Brooklyn, and Pat's supposed want of experience in the use of the "shooting iron," suggested the possibility that his frequent excursions to a neighboring wood had some other object than hunting. Possibly it might be the guarding of his hidden treasures.