LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Shelf _J..::^::r i-^ <; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. p- ^ X y ,^-* ^4 2S ALLAN PINKERTON'S GREAT DETECTIVE BOOKS. 1, — MOLLIS Mi^UIKES AND DETECTIVES. 2. — STRIKERS, COMMUNISTS, AND DETECTIVES. 3. — CRIMINAL REMINISCENCES AND DETECTIVES. 4. — THE MODEL TOWN AND DETECTIVES. 5. — SPIRITUALISTS AND DETECTIVES. 6. — EXPRESSMEN AND DETECTIVES. 7. — THE SOMNAMBULIST AND DETECTIVES. 8. — CLAUDE MELNOTTE AS A DETECTIVE. 9. — MISSISSIPPI OUTLAWS AND DETECTIVES. These wonderful Detective Stories by Allan Pinkerton are having an unprecedented success. Their sale is fast approaching one hundred thousand copies. "The interest which the reader feels from the outset is intense and resistless ; he is swept along by the narrative, held by it whether he will or no." All beautifully illustrated and published uniform with this volume. Price $1.50 each. Sold by all booksellers and Bent free by mail, on receipt of price, by G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers, New York. i MISSISSIPPI OUTLAWS AND THE DETECTIVES. DON PEDRO AND THE DETECTIVES. POISONER AND THE DETECTIVES. / BY ALLAN PINEEE-^ON, AUTHOK OF "THE EXPRESSMAN AND THE DETECTIVE," "THE MODEL TOWN AND THE DETECTIVES," "THE SPIRITUALISTS AND THE DETECTIVES," "THE MOLLIE MAGUIRES AND THE DETECTIVES," "STRIKERS, COMMTJNISTS, TRAMPS AND DETECTIVES," ETC., ETC., ETC. V.% \8^^ .^// NEW YORK : G, IV, Carle ton & Co., Publishers, LONDON : S. LOW, SON & CO. MDCCCLXXIX. \ [Wll^ 14- COPYRIGHT BY ALLAN PINKERTON, 1879. SAsrtTKL Stodder, STKIIEOTYI'KK, 90 Ann Stueet, N. Y. Tro-w PRrNTING AND BoOK BINDING CO. N. Y. ^Mmmmmmimwmm ^. ._ _ .. ,1^1 ■riMmm.m mmmmmmmmmmm^m H CHARLES DICKENS' WORKS. A New Edition. i\mon^ the many editions of the works of this greatest ti English Novelists, rhere has not been until now orn; that entiifljf satisfies the public demand, — Without exception, tley each have some stroiij distinctive objection, — either the form and dimensions of the volumes are unhandy — or, the type is small and indistinct — or. the Ulustrations are unsatisfactory — or, the binding is poor — or, the price ts too high. An entirely new edition is now, however, published by G. W, Carleton & Co, of New Yoric, which, it is believed, will, in every iTe^)cct, eonipletely satisfy the popular demand. — It is known as "Carleton's New Illustrated EditlC'ii." Complete in 15 Volumes. The size and form is most convenient for holding,— the type is entirely new, and of a clear and open character that has received the approval of the reading community in other popular woiks. The illustrations are by the original artists chosen I y Charles Dickens himself — and the paper, printing, and binding are of an attractive and substantial character. This beautiful new edition is complete in 15 volumes — at the extremely reasonable price of $1.50 per volume, as follows : — I. — PICKWICK PAPERS AND CATALOGUE. 2. OLIVER TWIST. — UNCOMMERCIAL TRAVELLER. 3. — DAVID COPPERFIELD. 4. — GREAT EXPECTATIONS. — ITALY AND AMERICA. 5. — DOMBEY AND SON. 6. — EARNABY RUDGE AND EDWIN DROOD. 7. — NICHOLAS NICKLEBY. 8. — CURIOSITY SHOP AND MISCELLANEOUS, 9. — BLEAK HOUSE. la — LITTLE DORRIT. H. — MARTIN ClIUZZLEWIT. 12.— OUR MUTUAL FRIEND. 13. — CHRISTMAS BOOKS. — TALE OF TWC CITIES. 4. — SKETCHES BY i-OZ AND HARD TIMES. 15. — CHILD'S ENGLAND AND MISCELLANEOUS. The first volume —Pickwick Papers — contains an alph;ibeticjJ catalogue of all of Charles Dickens' writings, with their p>^sltiaJa in the volumes. Thii edition is sold by Booksellers, everywhere — and single spcci- mea copies will be forwarded by mail, pcstage free^ on rcu>ipt of price, §1.50^ by G. W. CARLETON k CO., Publishers, Madison Souare, Nerr Yerib IL :s: Mrs. Mary J. Holmes' Works. TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE. ENGLISH ORPHANS. HOMESTEAD ON HILLSIDE. 'LENA RIVERS. MEADOW BROOK. DORA DEANE. COUSIN MAUDE. MARIAN GREY. EDITH LYLE. DAISY THORNTON. (Netu). DARKNESS AND DAYLIGHT. HUGH WORTH IN GTON. CAMERON PRIDE. ROSE MATHER. ETHKLYN'S MISTAKE. /, A MILLBANK. EDNA BROWNING. WEST LAWN. MILDRED. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. "Mrs. Holmes' stories are universally read. Her admirers are numberless. She is in many respects without a rival in the world of fiction. Her characters are always life-like, and she makes them talk and act like human beings, subject to the same emotions, swayed by the same passions, and actuated by the same niotives which are common among men and women of every day existence. Mrs. Holmes is very happy in portraying domestic life. Old and young peruse her stories with great delight, for she writes in a style that all can comprehend." — New York Weekly. The North American Review, vol. 8i, page 557, says of Mrs. Mary J. Holmes' novel, "English Orphans": — "With this novel of Mrs. Holmes' we have been charmed, and so have a pretty numerous circle of discriminating readers to whom we have lent it. The characterization is exquisite, especially so far as concerns rural and village life, of which there are some pictures that deserve to be hung up in perpetual memory of types of humanity fast becoming extinct. The dialogues are generally brief, pointed, and appropriate. The plot seems simple, so easily and naturally is it developed and consummated. Moreover, the story thus gracefully constructed and written, inculcates without obtruding, not only pure Christian morality in general, but, with especial point and power, the depen- dence of true success on character, and of true respectability on merit.'' "Mrs. Holmes' stories are all of a domestic character, and their interest, there- fore, is not so intense as if they were more highly seasoned with sensationalism, but it is of a healthy and abiding character. Almost any new book whi; h her publisher mi°;ht choose to annoimce from her pen would get an immediate and general readmg. The interest in her tales begins at once, and is maintained to the close. Her sentiments are so sound, her sympathies so warm and ready, and her knowledge of manners, character, and the varied incidents of ordinary life is so thorough, that she would find it difficult to write any other than an excellent tale if she were to try it." — Boston Banner. t^~ The volumes are all handsomely printed and bound in cloth, sold every- where, and sent by mail, postage free, on receipt of price [$1.50 each], by ••^ G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers, Madison Square^ New York. •^ CONTENTS. MISSISSIPPI OUTLAWS AND THE DETECTIYES. CHAPTER I. i-AGK A daring Express Robbery. —Mr. Pinker ton appealed to.— Cane-brakes and cane-fed People.— Annoying delays and Amateur Detectives 9 CHAPTER IT. Difficulties.— Blind Trails and False Scents.— A Series of Illustrations show- ino- the Number of Officious People and Confidence Men that often seek Notoriety and Profit through important Detective Operations 21 CHAPTER III. " Olc^ Hicks " a drunken Planter, is entertained by a Hunting-Party.— Les- ter's Landing.— Its Grocery-Store and Mysterious Merchants.— A danger- ous Situation.— The unfortunate Escape of Two of the Robbers 64 CHAPTER IV. The Captured Ruffians are desired for Guides, but dare not join m the Search for the Outlaws.— One of the Robbers is Taken, but subsequently Escapes from the Amateur Detectives.— Another Clue suddenly fails. ... 44 CHAPTER V. A Rich Lead Struck at Last ^ CHAPTER VL ^ The Mother of the Farringtons, being arrested, boasts that her Sons • Will never be taken Alive.''— Another Unfortunate Blunder by Amateur De- tectives —An interesting Fate intended for the Detectives.— VVJUiam A. Pinkerton captures the Murderer of a Negro in Union City, proving ' a very good Fellow— for a Yankee." ^" CHAPTER VII. . „ . The Scene of Action transferred to Missouri.— The Chase becoming Hot 68 CHAPTER VIII. _, ^ ^ .^ „• 1 A determined Party of Horsemen.— The Outlaws surrounded and the Birds cageZ— A Parley.— The burning Cabin.— Its Occupants finally surrender. 80 CHAPTER IX. Barton's Confession.-The Express Robberies, and the Outlaw's subsequent Experiences fully set forth therein.— A Clue that had been suddenly dropped taken up with so much Profit ^i CHAPTER X. .^,,. . „ A terrible Struggle for Life or Death upon the Transfer-boat 'Illmois - " OverboarSI"— One less Desperado.— Fourth and Last Robber taken.. . 104 CHAPTER XL The last Scene in the Drama approaching.— A new Character appears.— Ihe Citizens of Union City suddenly seem to have important business on hand.— The Vigilantes and their Work.— The End ii* DON PEDRO AND THE DETECTIVES. CHAPTER L . _ A fraudulent Scheme contemplated. -A dashing Peruvian Don and Donna.-- A regal Forger.— Mr. Pinkerton engaged by Senator Muirhead to unvail ^^ the mystery of his Life CHAPTER 11. . ^ ., Madame Sevier, Widow, of Chicago, and Monsieur Lesparre of Bordeaux, also arrive at Gloster.— Mr. Pinkerton, as a Laborer, anxious for a Job, inspects the Morita Mansion •^** VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. PAGE Monpieur Lesparre, havino: a re<^entive memory, becomes serviceable to Don Pedro.— Diamond fields and droll Americans.— A pompous Judge in an unfortunate Predicament. — The grand Reception closes with a happy Arrangement that the gay Senor and Seaora shall dine with Mr. Pinker- ton's Detectives on the next evening 159 CHAPTER IV. Madame Sevier and Her Work.— Unaccountable Coquettishneps between Man and Wife. — A Startling Scheme, Illustrating the Rashness of American Business Men and the Supreme Assurance of Don Pedro 170 CHAPTER V. The third Detective is made welcome at Don Pedro's. — The Sefior is paid the first half-million dollars from the great Diamond Compa^ny. — How Don Pedro is " working " his diamond mines 189 CHAPTER 'Sa. An unexpected Meeting and a starlling Recognition. An old friend some- what disturbs the Equanimity of Don Pedro. The Detectives fix their Attention upon Pietro Bernard! 205 CHAPTER YII. Pietro Bemardi and the Detective become warm Friends. — A Tete-a-tete worth one thousand dollars 219 CHAPTER VIII. Don Pedro anxious for Pietro Bernardi's absence. — " Coppering the Jack and playing the Ace and Queen open.'' — Bemardi Quieted, and he subse- quently departs richer by five thousand dollars 232 CHAPTER IX. Important InfoTnation from the Peruvian Government. — Arrival in Gloster of the Peruvian Minister and Consul. — In Consultation. — " Robbing Peter to pay Paul." — Mr. Pinkerton's Card is presented. — Juan Sanchez, I arrest you, and you are my Prisoner. — Mr. Pinkcrton not " For Sale." 249 CHAPTER X. The Fete Champetre. — A grand Carnival. — The disappointed married Lover. — A vain Request. — Unmasked ! — An indignant Deacon. — Don Pedro taken to Pern in a man-of-war, where he is convicted and sentenced to fifteen years Imprisonment 265 THE POISONER AND THE DETECTIVES. CHAPTER I. Mr. Pinkerton at a Water-cure becomes interested in a Couple, one of whom subsequently causes the Detective Operation from which this Story is written.- A wealthy ship-owner and his son.— The son '• Found dead." — Mr. Pinkerton secured to solve the Mystery. — Chicago after the Fire 283 CHAPTER II. The Detectives at work. — Mrs. Sanford described. — Charlie, the Policeman. — Mrs. Sanford develops Interest in Government Bonds. — Chicago Relief and Aid Benefits. — Mrs. Sanford's Story of Trafton's Death 298 CHAPTER III. The dangerous Side of the Woman's Character. — Robert A. Pinkerton as Adamson. the drunken, but wealthy Stranger, has a violent Struggle to escape from Mrs. Sanford. and is afterwarcfs robbed. — Detective Ingham arrested, but very shortly liberated 319 CHAPTER IV. Connecting Links. — Mrs. Sanford's Ability as an Imitator of Actors. — One Detective tears himself away from her, and another takes his Place. — Mrs, Sanford's mind frequently burdened with the subject of Murder. . . 340 CHAPTER V. A moneyed young Texan becomes one of ^Irs. Sanford's Lodgers. — The bonds are seen and their Numbers taken by the Detectives. — Sirs. Sanford ar- rested. — She is found guilty of " Involuntary Manslaughter," and sen- tenced to the Illinois Penitentiary for five years.— llr. Pinkerton's Theory of the Manner in which Traif ton was murdered 856 PREFACE. Ii^" presenting to the public another volume of my detective stories, I would call the attention of the reader to the fact, that these stories are literally written from facts and incidents which have come under my own observation, or been worked up by officers acting di- rectly under my instructions. The Mississippi River has for many years — more especially since the close of the war — been infested by a class of men who never would try to get an honest living, but would prey upon their neighbors or attack the property of southern railroads and express com- panies ; these marauders could be seen any day prowl- ing along the banks of the Mississippi, in fact, the shores and immediate neighborhood were peopled by just such a class, who cared not how they obtained a living ; for the crimes they committed, they often suffered infinitely worse punishment, more so than any suffering which could have been entailed on them from leading a poor but honest life. VIU PREFACE. The story of the " Mississippi Outlaws and the Detectives " is written to illustrate incidents which took place in the southern section of the country at no very remote date. " Don Pedro and the Detectives " is another story of detective experience, which came under my own observation and management ; it is a truthful narrative, and shows that some men are worse than known crimi- nals, and can squander the money they have obtained by false pretenses, in a very lavish manner. " The Poisoner and the Detectives " is a well- known bit of detective experience, which, when read, will be recognized by any one who ever takes an inter- est in crime, and the bringing to justice its perpetrators. The reader must remember that fictitious names are used in all of these stories, otherwise the facts are plainly and truthfully told as they occurred. ALLAN PINKERTON. AprU, 1879. f THE MISSISSIPPI ODTLAWS AND THEE] id:e3t:hotiv^:e3s. CHAPTER I. A daring Mispress Bohhery.^Mr. Pinkerton appealed to.— Gaiie-hraJces and cane-fed People,— Annoying Belays and Amateur Petectims. THE southern and border states, since the close of the war of the rebelhon, have been the frequent scenes of extensive and audacious rob- beries. This has been largely owing to the sparsely-settled condition of certain districts, to the disorder and lawlessness generated by the war, and to the temptations offered by the care- lessness of many persons having large sums in- trusted to their care in transit through lonely and desolate localities. The express companies have always been fav- orite objects of attack by thieves of every grade, from the embezzhng cashier to the petty sneak- thief, and some of the operations connected with the detection of this class of criminals are among the most difficult and dangerous that have ever [9] 10 A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. been intrusted to me. Probably a no more reck- less and desperate body of men were ever banded together in a civilized community than those who were brought to my attention in 1871 by the Southern Express Company's officers in Memphis; and I consider the successful termination of my efforts in this case as of the greatest value to the people of the South and West. The whole affair was conducted with such a limited force, and under such adverse circumstances, that I take pride in here recording the history of the affair and my connection with it. Though I maintained a general supervision of the operation, my eldest son, William A. Pinkerton, was the person hav- ing immediate charge of the matter, and to his energy, perseverance, and sagacity is mainly at- tributable our success. Some time in the latter part of July, 1871, an express messenger on the Mobile and Ohio Eail- road was overpowered by three men at Moscow, Kentucky, and his safe was robbed of about six- teen hundred dollars. The manner of effecting the robbery was a very bold one, showing the presence of men of experience in crime. The loss was not heavy, but the company made every ef- f oi-t to discover the robbers, in the hope of bring- ing them to a severe punishment as a warning to other criminals. In spite, however, of the efforts. ,.A of two of my men, who were immediately sent to - the scene of the robbery, the guilty parties es- caped into the almost impenetrable swamps along the Mississippi River, and the chase was reluct- A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. 11 antly abandoned, as it was impossible to tell where they would come out or cross the river. The amount stolen was not sufficiently large to war- rant the expenditure of much time or money in the pursuit of the thieves, and my men were soon wholly withdrawn from the operation. In order, however, to guard against a repetition of such a raid, an exti'a man was placed in each express car to act as guard to the regular messenger. It was considered that two men, well armed, ought to be surely able to protect the company against further loss, and everything ran smoothly until October 21, 1871. At this time, the money shipments by ex- press were very heavy, as a rule, and orders were given that special care should be exercised by all the employes having money packages in charge. The northern-bound train on the Mobile and Ohio Kailroad was due at Union City, Tennessee, about half- past seven o'clock in the evening. At this point the northern and southern-bound trains usually passed each other, and stopped long enough for supper, the train arriving first being tiie one to take the side track ready to pull out. Saturday evening, October 21st, the northern- bound train arrived on time, stopped at the station long enough to let the passengers go to supper, and then took the side track to await the arrival of the train bound south. As soon as the side track was reached the conductor, engineer, fireman, brakeman, and express messenger went to supper, leaving the train deserted except by the express guard, named George Thompson, and 12 A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. a fow passengers. The local express agent came up at this moment, gave his packages to Thomp- son, receiving his receipt therefor, and returned to the station. This action was directly contrary to the rules of the company, v^hich forbade the messenger to leave the car during his whole run, or to go to sleep; also, the guard was forbidden to transact any business, or to have possession of the safe key. Martin Crowley, the messenger, had given his key to Thompson, however, to enable him to attend to the business of the local agent while Crowley was away at supper. In accordance with Thompson's request, Crowley sent a negro porter to the express car with Thompson's supper on a tray, and the porter, after handing the tray to Thompson, turned to walk away. As he did so, he saw two men spring into the partly open door of the express car, and, almost immediately, the train began to back. The negro knew that something was wrong, and he hurried to the station to give the alarm. By the time he arrived there, however, the train was backing at a moderate speed, and was well beyond the reach of pursuit on foot. Meantime, the guard, having received his sup- per from the negro porter, turned his back to the door to set the tray down. Before reaching the desk, he heard a noise at the door, and turning, he was confronted by two men, one of whom held a revolver at his head, while the other seized his throat. Thompson was a young man, and, not being accustomed to meet such hard characters, A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. 13 he was badly frightened. He immediately gave up the safe key and helped one of the men to un- lock the safe. Having taken all the money out of the safe, one of the robbers took also the con- tents of Thompson's pocket-book; but here the other man interfered, insisting that the guai-d's money be returned to him, which was done. No conversation took place, but when the safe had been carefully examined and all the money it con- tained taken, one of the men stepped to the door and swung a lantern once or twice. The train, which had been backing at a moderate rate of speed, now stopped, and the two men jumped off, telling Thompson to stay where he was and keep quiet. When the conductor, engineer, and other persons, whom the porter had alarmed, reached the train, they found everything in order except the safe, into which poor Thompson was vainly peering in the hope of discovering that some por- tion of the funds might have been overlooked. The men had disappeared in the thick woods, and no trace of them was found except a small car- pet-bag containing potatoes and bread. The amount missing from the safe was about six thousand dollars in currency. Although the robbery was at once reported to Mr. M. J. O'Brien, the General Superintendent, by tel- egraph, no action seems to have been taken until the following Wednesday — four days later — when Mr. O'Brien sent me a brief telegram announcing the robbery, and requesting me to come to Union City in person, if possible, and if not, to send my 14 A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. eldest son, William A. Pinkerton. The telegraph was used freely for the next two days, and while my son was gathering clues and making his prep- arations, we learned most of the facts by letter. William arrived in Union City on Saturday, just one week after the robbery had been committed, and he instantly began to gather information from every available source. Except the statements of the negro porter and Thompson, the guard, as condensed in the account heretofore given, little information could be obtained, as so few persons were about the train when it began to move off. While two or three had seen the men who had entered the car, no one had seen who had run the locomotive, and there was, -therefore, no cer- tainty as to the number of persons engaged in the job. One passenger had seen two men walk- ing toward the engine in a suspicious manner, and, as his description of these two was entirely different from that given of the men who had entered the car, it was fair to presume that they had been a part of the gang. Still, no one had seen them get on the engine, and it was not cer- tain that they had had anything to do with the affair. At the end of thre^ days, however, Wil- liam had collected sufficient information to sat- isfy himself that either four or five men had been at work together; and, by collating the various descriptions he received, he obtained a pretty fair idea of the party. The first thing which struck him was the simi- larity of this robbery to the one which had occurred A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. 15 exactly three months before at Moscow, Kentucky. The appearance of the men and their actions had been precisely like those of the Moscow party, and it was evident that they had been emboldened to a second venture by the ease with which they had carried through their former scheme. One thing was imperative: the capture of the whole gang would be necessary to insure the safety of the ex- press company's property in the future. Indeed, it was a mere piece of good fortune that the loss in this instance was not irreparable, for the amount of money carried on the southern-bound train was eighty thousand dollars, and the robbers would have obtained this large amount if the southern-bound train had chanced to arrive first. The robbery was clearly one which no common tramp or sneak-thief would have dared to attempt, and William saw immediately the difficulties of his work. Before proceeding with the incidents of the operation, I must give some idea of the country and the people living there, since no--:^ne would otherwise comprehend one-half of the ob- stacles and dangers which were involved in a search for the criminals in that vicinity. The southwestern part of Kentucky and the northwestern part of Tennessee are about as des- olate portions of the v^orld as are inhabited by a civilized people. There seems to have been some convulsion of the earth at this point, which is sunk so far below the general level of the whole country as to make it a perpetual swamp. The annual overflow of the Ohio and Mississippi lays 16 A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. the country under water for a distance of many miles, while even in the dry est season, the mo rasses, sunken lakes, and dense cane-brakes, ren- der it almost impassable, except for people who have been thoroughly acquainted with the locahty for years. The sunken lakes are natural curiosities in them- selves, and, although they have attracted consid- erable attention from scientific men, no satisfac- tory explanation of their causes and phenomena has been found. The country is full of game and the water is alive with fish, so that the necessities of life are easily obtainable. The cane-brakes are wonderful growths of bamboo cane, and they sometimes cover strips of country as much as seventy miles long. In the spring-time, the water rises to such a height that a skiff can navigate freely above and through the tops of the cane; but in dry weather, the stalks grow so closely to- gether that the brake becomes impenetrable to man or beast, except by winding toituously around the clumps through the comparatively thin portions of the undergrowth. To search for any one wishing to remain concealed therein is like the proverbial attempt to look for a needle in a hay-stack, sinc6 a man can pass within ten yards of another without seeing him or being aware of his presence. The only roads which traverse these places are mere cattle paths, which begin at no place and run nowhere; and, unless a man be thoroughly acquainted with the country, he ca:n never tell where any given path will lead him. ,- ••*'^' A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. IT The people around the towns, such as Hickman, Union City, Dyersburg, and Moscow, are a highly respectable and well-educated class ; but in the low, swampy country, in the cane brake and along the river, they are not, as a rule, a very agreeable class to live among. Of course, here, as in all other places, there are many intelligent, reliable, honorable men, but the great mass of the cane- brake population are ignorant and brutal. The term which they apply to their stock is also emi- nently appropriate to designate the people : they are ''cane-fed." It is the custom to turn the cat- tle into the cane to feed when it is young and tender, and, as the amount of nutriment thus obtained is not very large, the " cane-fed " animals bear about the same relation to grain-fed stock that the people in that vicinity bear to the residents of healthy, prosperous, and educated communities. The larger portion of the population may be classed as "poor whites," and they constitute a peculiar variety of the human species. The men are tall, loose-jointed, and dyspeptic ; they bear a marked resemblance to the vegetable productions of the vicinity, being rapid of growth, prolific, and gen- erally worthless. Their education consists mainly of woodcraft and rifle -shooting ; their proficiency in both of these branches is sometimes astonish- ing, and it is frequently said of their most ex- pert hunters that they seem to have been born shot-gun or rifle in hand. Accomplishments they have none, except the rare instances where a few tunes upon the banjo have been learned from the 18 A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. negroes. Their tastes are few and simple, — whisky, snuff, hog, and hominy being the necessities and luxuries of life ; that is, whisky and snuff are the necessities, all other things being secondary con- siderations. In their sober moods, they are frank, rough, and courageous ; yet, even then, there is little about them to excite other feelings than those of pity and aversion. When full of bad whisky, however, they are apt to become quar- relsome and brutal, so that no man can feel sure of his safety in their company. An affront, real or imaginary, will then be apt to cause bloodshed, even if the insulted party has to bushwhack his enemy from a secure covert on the roadside as he is returning to his home. Every man goes armed, and, though fair fights in broad daylight are rare, cold-blooded murders are not infrequent. The law is seldom invoked to settle private differences, and, in fact, the functions of the legal officials are practically very limited in their influence. If a coroner ever sits upon a corpse, it is understood that he has done his whole duty by recording a verdict that ' ' the deceased came to his death at the hands of some person or persons unknown." The women, like the men, are tall, thin, and round-shouldered. Up to the age of sixteen they sometimes are quite pretty, though sallow and lifeless always ; after that period, they become gaunt, emaciated, and yellow. Whisky hath charms for them, also, but their favorite dissipa- tion is snuff -dipping. They marry very early and bear children nearly every year, so that the size A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. 19 of many of these West Tennessee families is often enormous. The father exercises patriarchal con- trol over his whole household until the daughters are married and the sons old enough and strong enough to defy the parental authority as enforced by a hickory rod. The wife never escapes the ap- plication of this potent instrument of marital dis- cipline ; and, indeed, should a husband fail to make frequent use of it for the correction of his better half, he would probably soon learn that his dutiful spouse could find a use for it on his own person. Throughout this whole district, the people suf- fer from fever and ague for nine months of the year, and dyspepsia seems hereditary. Their phy- sicians, however, ucually require no further edu- cation than is requisite to attend fractured limbs and gun-shot wounds, the whole school of medi- cine being limited to three specifics : quinine, calomel, and whisky. As before stated, it should be understood that the foregoing description applies to the majority of the inhabitants of the low swamp lands only, and not to the residents in and about the towns ; even in the cane country itself are to be found oc- casionally men of education, abihty, and good character, and to several of them William was largely indebted for assistance and information. There was one redeeming feature also to the character of the "cane-fed" population; in the main they were honest, and they w^ould do all in their power to break up a thieving gang, even if 20 A DARING EXPRESS ROBBERY. they had to hang a few of its members as a warn- ing to the rest. I was thus able to trust them to a certain extent, though the fear which they had of this band of desperadoes rather kept their naturally honest impulses in check for a time. William was thoroughly acquainted with the character of the people, and he knew what a difficult task had been set before him, especially as he was allowed no other detectives of my force to assist him, the express company being de- sirous of conducting the operation as economically as possible. Among the large number of men employed directly by the company were two or three good men, but the majority were even worse than useless, and the expense of the affair was finally much greater than as if only my own men had been employed. Besides the fact that William was thus continually working with strange men, he was harassed by large numbers of amateur detectives, to whose stories the com- pany's officers too often lent a ready ear. Indeed, every express agent in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri seemed impressed with the idea that he was a naturally gifted detective,' and many were the annoying delays which resulted from their interference. BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. 21 CHAPTER II. Difficulties. — Blind Trails and False Scents. — A Series of Ilhistrations showing the Number of Officious People and Confidence Men that often seek Noto- riety and Profit through important Detective Opera- tions. THE art of detecting crime cannot be learned in a day, nor can the man of business un- derstand, without previous experience in the hab- its of criminals, the expedients which the boldest class of law-breakers adopt; hence none but skilled detectives can hope to cope with them. Yet often my clients insist on some certain method of pro- cedure wholly contrary to my judgment and ex- perience, until the total failure of their plan convinces them that there can be but one thoroughly successful mode of detection, namely, to submit the case to a skilled detective of char- acter and standing, and allow him to act according to his judgment. The range of investigation in such a case as this robbery will often extend from New York to San Francisco, and unless one mind gathers up the clues, classifies the information, and determines the general plan, there will be continual error and delay. Such a state of affairs frequently occurred during this operation, and much time and money were spent upon matters too trifling even for con- sideration. je 22 BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. The principal of a detective agency, from his long experience with criminals, learns the ear- marks of different classes of men, and he is often able to determine the name of the guilty party in any given robbery by the manner in which the job was done. He can readily see whether a novice in crime was engaged, and also whether any col- lusion existed between the parties robbed and the criminals; and so, when he sees the traces of a bold, skillful, and experienced man, he knows that it is useless to track down some insignificant sneak-thief, simply because the latter happens to have been in the vicinity. Yet, neither will he slight the smallest clue if there is a bare chance that any valuable fact may be obtained from it. But the si7ie qua non is that he, and he alone, shall direct the whole affair. A divided responsi- bility simply doubles the criminal's opportunities for escape. Among the many difficulties of the detective's work, none are more embarrassing than the early development of false clues. In the stories here- tofore published, the direct steps leading to the detection and arrest of the criminals have been related, without referring to the innumerable other investigations, which were progressing sim- ultaneously, and which, though involving the expenditure of much thought, time, and money, proved after all to be of no value whatever in developing any evidence in the case. In this operation, such instances were of frequent occur- rence, and I propose to mention a few of them to BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. 23 show how wide is the range of the detective's inquiries, and also the annoying delays to which he is often subjected by the inconsiderate zeal and interference of outside parties. These latter may be — indeed, they generally are — well mean- ing people, anxious to serve the cause of justice; though, on the other hand, they are sometimes spiteful meddlers, striving to fix suspicion upon some personal enemy. The plan of detection which alone can insure success, must be one which neither forgets nor neglects anything. In investigating any alleged crime^ the first questions to be considered are: 1. Has any crime been perpetrated, and, if so, what? 2. What was the object sought thereby? The matter of time, place, and means employed must then be carefully noted, and finally we come to consider: 1. Who are the criminals? 2. Where are they now? 3. How can they be taken? The fact that a crime has been committed is generally apparent, though there have been cases in which the determination of that point re- quires as much skill as the whole remainder of the operation. Such was the case in the detec- tion of Mrs. Pattmore's murder, related in my story of " The Murderer and the Fortune Teller." The object of a crime is also sometimes obscure, and, where such are the circumstances, the de- tection of the criminal is apt to be one of the most difficult of all operations. Having once solved these two difficulties satisfactorily, however, and having observed the relative bearings of time, 24 BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. place, and means to the crime itself, the question of individuals is the important one to be deter- mined. It often happens that there is no conceal- ment of identity, the problem to be solved being simply the way to catch the guilty parties; but, on the other hand, the greatest skill, experience, patience, and perseverance are sometimes required to discover, first of all, the persons engaged in the crime. Indeed, an operation is often divisible into two distinct methods of action, the first being to find out the identity of the criminals, the sec- ond to follow up and capture them. In the course of a blind trail, such as we were obliged to travel in the case of this express rob- bery, it was impossible to know whence the men had come or whither they had gone ; hence, I was forced to take up every trifling clue and fol- low it to the end. Even after I was satisfied in my own mind of the identity of the criminals, the agents and officers of the express company were continually finding mares' nests which they wished investigated, and the operation was some- times greatly hindered on this account. As an example of the number of discouragements which the detective must always expect to encounter, I propose to mention some of the false scents which we were forced to follow during this operation. Three or four days after William's arrival in Union City, he was informed by the superin- tendent of the express company having charge of the operation, that there was a young man in Moscow who could give important information BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. relative to the first robbery at tliat place. This young man, Thomas Carr by namB, was a lawyer who had once had fine prospects, but he had be- come very dissipated, and he finally had been taken seriously ill, so that he had lost his practice. On recovering his health he had reformed his habits, but he had found great difficulty in winning back clients, and his income was hardly enough to support him. On learning that this impecuni- ous lawyer had valuable information, William strongly suspected that it would amount to little more than a good lie, invented to obtain money from the express company; nevertheless, he sent for the young man and heard his story. According to Carr, a man named John Wither- spoon had visited him about six weeks before, and had asked him whether he would like to get a large sum of money. Carr replied affirmatively, of course, and wished to know how it could be obtained. Witherspoon had said that the express company could be robbed very easily by boarding a train at any water-tank, overpowering the mes- senger, and making him open the safe. Wither- spoon also had said that he and several others had robbed a train at Moscow some weeks before, and that they had got only sixteen hundred dol- lars, but that they should do better next time. He had asked Carr to go to Cairo and find out when there would be a large shipment of money to the South; then Carr was to take the same train and give a signal to the rest of the party on arriving at the designated spot. 3 o^o BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. On hearing Carr's story, William sent him back to Moscow with instructions to renew Ris inti- macy with Witherspoon, and to report any news he might learn at once; m case it should prove to be of any value, the company would pay him well for his services. It is hardly necessary to add that Mr. Carr, having failed to get, as he had hoped, a roving commission as detective at the company's expense, was not heard from again, his bonanza of news having run out very quickly on discovering that no money was to be paid in advance. The next case was a more plausible one, and William began its investigation with the feeling that something might be developed therefrom. It was learned that a former express messenger named Eobert Trunnion, who had been dis- charged several months before, had been hanging around Columbus, Kentucky, ever since. While in conversation with the clerk of a second-class hotel. Trunnion had spoken of the ease with which a few dettenined men could board an ex- press car, throw a blanket over the messenger's head, and then rob the safe. The clerk said that Trunnion had made the suggestion to him twice, and the second time he had given Trunnion a piece of his mind for making such a proposition. Trunnion had then said he was only fooling, and that he did not mean anything by it. William learned that Trunnion was then engaged in selling trees for a nursery at Clinton, Kentucky, and that he was regarded as a half -cracked, boasting fool, BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. 27 who might be anything bad, if he were influenced by bold, unscrupulous men. William therefore paid a visit to Mr. Trunnion, whom he found to be a very high-toned youth, too fiery -tempered and sensitive to submit to any questioning as to his words or actions. In a very brief space of time, however, his lordly tone came down to a very humble acknowledgment that he had used the language attributed to him; but he protested that he had meant nothing; in short, his confes- sion was not only complete, but exceedingly candid; he admitted that he was a gas-bag and a fool, without discretion enough to keep his tongue from getting him into trouble continually; and, having clearly shown that he was nowhere in the vicinity of either robbery, he asked humbly not to be held responsible for being a born idiot. William was satisfied that the fellow had told the truth, and, after scaring him out of all his high-toned pride, he let him go, with a severe lecture on the danger of talking too much. On the nineteenth of November, when the iden- tity of the robbers had been fully established, William was called away to luka, Mississippi, on information received from Mr. O'Brien, the gen- eral superintendent of the express company, that a man named Santon had seen the leader of the party in that place, just a week before. Santon represented that he knew the man well, having been acquainted with him for years in Cairo, and that he could not be mistaken, as he had spoken with him on the day mentioned. William found 28 BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. that the man Santon was a natural har, who could not tell the truth even when it was for his inter- est to do so. The descriptions of the various rob- bers had been scattered broadcast everywhere, and none of them were represented as over thirty- five years of age; yet Santon said that his man was over fifty years old, and that he had been a pilot on the Mississippi for years. This was a case — not an infrequent one, either — where peo- ple talk and lie about a crime for the sole purpose of getting a little temporary notoriety. Owing to various accidents and railway detentions, Wil- liam lost three days in going to hunt up this lying fellow's testimony. Perhaps the most impudent of all the stories brought to the express company's officers was that of a man named Swing, living at Columbus, Kentucky. He sent a friend to Union City to tell them that he could give them a valuable clue to the identity of the robbers, and Wilham accom- panied this friend back to Columbus. On the way, William drew out all that Swing's friend knew about the matter, and satisfied himself that S^\ang's sole object in sending word to the officers of the company was to get them to do a piece of detective work for him. It appeared that his nephew had stolen one of his horses just after the robbery, and he intended to tell the company's officers that this nephew had been engaged in the robbery; then if the company captured the nephew, Swing hoped to get back his horse. A truly brilliant scheme it was, but, unfortunately BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. 29 for his expectations, William could not be misled by his plausible story; and, if he ever recovered his horse, he did so without the assistance of the express company. Nevertheless, he took Wil- liam away from his work for nearly a whole day, at a time when his presence was almost indis- pensable. Another pecuHar phase of a detective's experi- ence is, that while following up one set of crim- inals, he may accidentally unearth the evidences of some other crime; occasionally it happens that he is able to arrest the criminals thus unexpect- edly discovered, but too often they take the alarm and escape before the interested parties can be put in possession of th»^ facts. About two weeks after the Union City robbery, in the course of my ex- tended inquiries by telegraph, I came across a pair of suspicious characters in Kansas City, Mis- souri. I learned that two fine-looking women had arrived in that city with about eight thousand dollars in ^ve, ten, and twenty dollar bills, which they were trying to exchange for bills of a larger denomination. The women were well dressed, but they were evidently of loose character, and the possession of so much money by two females of that class excited suspicion instantly in the minds of the bankers to whom they applied, and they could not make the desired exchange. One of the women was a blonde and the other was a brunette. They were about of the same height, and they dressed in such marked contrast as to set each other off to the best advantage; indeed, 30 BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. their di^esses seemed to have attracted so much attention that I could gain very httle acquaintance with their personal appearance. I could not con- nect them in any way with the robbery at Union City, nor with any other recent crime, though I had little doubt that the money they had with them was the proceeds of some criminal transac- tion; still, having my hands full at that time, it would have been impossible for me to look after them, even had I thought best to do so. As it is my practice to imdertake investigations only when engaged for the purpose by some responsible per- son, I did not waste any time in endeavoring to discover the source whence these women obtained their money; though, of course, had I learned enough about them to suspect them of complicity in any specific crime, I should have reported my suspicions to the parties interested, to enable them to take such action as they might have seen fit. The most important of all the false clues brought out in this investigation was presented by a noted confidence man and horse-thief named Charles Lavalle, alias Hildebrand. I call it the most important, not because I considered it of any value at the time, but because it illustrates one of the most profitable forms of confidence operation, and because the express company, by refusing to accept my advice in the matter, were put to a large expense with no possibility of a return. Very shortly after the Union City robbery, a letter was received from a man in Kansas City, calling himself Charles Lavalle. The writer BLIND TRAILS AND FALSE SCENTS. 31 claimed that he had been with the gang who had robbed the train, but that they had refused to divide with him, and so, out of revenge, he was anxious to bring them to punishment. He claimed further that he was then in the confidence of an- other party, who were soon going to make another raid upon the express company somewhere be- tween New Orleans and Mobile. The plausibility of his story was such that he obtained quite a large sum from the express company to enable him to follow up and re- main with the gang of thieves with whom he professed to be associated. No news was received from him, however, and at length I was requested to put a '^shadow" upon his track. My operative followed him to St. Joseph, Missouri, and thence to Quincy, Illi- nois, but, during two weeks of close investigation, no trace of the villains in Lavalle's company could be found, and he was never seen in the society of any known burglars or thieves. It was soon evi- dent that he was playing upon the express com- pany a weU-worn confidence game, which has been attempted probably every time a large rob- bery has occurred in the last fifteen years. He became very importunate for more money while in Quincy, as he stated that the gang to which he belonged were ready to start for New Orleans; but, finding that his appeals were useless, and that no more money w^ould be advanced until some of his party were actually discovered and trapped through his agency, he soon ceased writ- ing:. V 32 MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. The foregoing are only a few of the instances in which our attention was diverted from the real criminals; and, although the efforts of my operatives were rarely misdirected in any one af- fair for any length of time, still these false alarms were always a source of great annoyance and em- barrassment. CHAPTER III. ^^Old IlicJcSy'^ a drunken Planter^ is entertained hy a Smiting -party . — Lester^s Landing. — Its Grocery- sf<^e and Mysterious Merchants. — A dangerous Situation and a desperate Encounter. — The unfor- tunate Escape of Ttoo of the Mohbers. ONE of the most direct sources of information relative to the party was found in the per- son, of an old planter, named Hicks, who lived some distance down the track of the railroad. He was in the habit of visiting Union City very fre- quently, and he usually rounded off his day's pleasure by becoming jovially drunk, in which condition he would start for his home, walking down the railroad track. He had been in Union City all of Friday before the robbery, and about ten o'clock in the evening he was in a state of happy inebriety, ready to "hail fellow, well met," with any person he might encounter. On his way home, about three-quarters of a mile west of Union City, he saw a camp-fire burning a MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. 33 short distance from the track, and around it were gathered Hyb men. They hailed him, and asked him to take a drink ; and as this was an invitation which Hicks could not refuse, even from the devil himself, he joined them, drank with them, and danced a hornpipe for their edification. Hicks acknowledged in his account of meeting them, that by the time they had made him dance for them, he was heartily frightened at their looks and talk. He heard one of them say that they wanted ten thousand at least, but he could not tell what the remark referred to. He asked them why they were camping out, and one, who seemed to be the leader of the party, said they were out hunting.' *' Yes," continued another one, ''I am out hunt- ing for somebody's girl, and when I find her we are going to run away together." At this, they all laughed, as if there was some hidden meaning in his words. Hicks described all of the men, three of them quite minutely ; but the fourth was evidently the same as the second, and the fifth was lying down asleep all the time, so that Hicks could not tell much about him. They were armed with large navy revolvers, which they wore in belts, and their clothing was quite good. The tall man, who seemed to be the leader, related an account of a deer-hunt in which he had participated, in Fay- ette county, Illinois, on the Kaskaskia river, and when he mentioned the place, the others scowled and winked at him, as if to stop him. Hicks said that they seemed to be familiar with Cincinnati, 2* 34: MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. Louisville, Evansville, and other northern cities, and that they talked somewhat like Yankees. He remained with them until about midnight, when a negro came down the track. Hicks and the negro then went on together to Hicks's house, leaving the five men still camped in the woods. Other persons reported having seen the same party in the same vicinity several times before the night of the robbery, though some had seen only two, others three and four ; but no one, ex- cept Hicks, had seen five. The accounts given by the persons near the train when the robbery oc- curred did not show the presence of more than three persons, though possibly there might have been a fourth. The descriptions of the suspected parties were quite varied in some respects ; yet the general tenor of them was to the same effect, and, as no one knew who these persons were, it was quite certain that this quartette of strangers had committed the robbery. In the case of the Moscow robbery, we had strongly suspected two notorious thieves, named Jack Nelson and Miles Ogle, so that my first ac- tion, on learning of this second affair in the same vicinity, was to telegraph to my correspondents and agents throughout the country, to learn whether either of these men had been seen lately. I could gain no news whatever, except from St. Louis, whence an answer was returned to the effect that Nelson was said to be stopping some- where in the country back of Hickman, Ken- tucky. Ogle's wife was in St. Louis, and she had MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. 35 been seen by a detective walking and talking earn- estly with a strange man a short time previous. The information about Nelson was important, since, if true, it showed that he was in the imme- diate neighborhood of the points where the rob- beries had occurred. The man seen with Mrs. Ogle might have been one of the party, sent by her husband to appoint a future rendezvous. The description of the tall, dark man, mentioned by Hicks and others, talhed very closely with Ogle's appearance. My son, Wilham, was well advised of these facts, and, as soon as he had obtained the statements of every one acquainted with any of the occurrences at the time of the robbery, he was ready for action. His first inquiries were directed toward discov- ering where Nelson was staying near Hickman, and he learned in a very short time that this ru- mor had no truth in it. While making search for Nelson, however, he heard of a low grocery- store at Lester's Landing, about twelve miles below Hickman on the Mississippi River. The store was situated four miles from any other house in a sparsely settled country, where the amount of legitimate trade would hardly amount to twelve hundred dollars per year. It was said to be the resort of a very low class of men, and the propri- etors passed for river gamblers. On William's return to Union City from Hick- man, he decided to make a visit to this grocery- store to learn something about the men who fre- quented it. Having none of his own men with 36 MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. him, he chose one of the express company's de- tectives, named Patrick Connell, to accompany him, and, on the last day of October, they started on horseback, with an old resident named Bledsoe for a guide. On arriving at the house of a well-to- do planter, named Wilson Merrick, they obtained considerable information about the men who kept the store and the people who visited it. Mr. Merrick said that a man named John Wes- ley Lester kept a wood-yard on the Mississippi, and the spot was called Lester's Landing. About three or four months before, three men arrived there and obtained leave from Lester to put up a store, which they stocked with groceries and whisky. The men gave their names as J. H. Clark, Ed. J. EusseU, and William Barton, and they seemed to have some means, as the store did only a limited business, except in whisky. They were all men of abihty and determination, and, as they were always well armed, the people of the cane-brake country were rather afraid of them. Nothing positive was known against them, but it was suspected from their looks and actions that they were Northern desperadoes lying quiet for a time. They seemed to be well ac- quainted in Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, and New Orleans, but they were careful never to give any hint of their pre- vious place of residence in the hearing of stran- gers. Mr. Merrick had, however, heard EusseU say that he had once run a stationary engine in Missouri, and from occasional expressions Jiv MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. 37 Barton it would appear that the latter had once worked on a railroad in some capacity. They dressed quite well, and treated strangers politely, though not cordially. Although they were all three rather hard drinkers, they never became intoxicated, and they seemed to understand each other well enough not to quarrel among them- selves. Clark was the oldest of the party, but Eussell seemed to be the leader, Barton being ap- parently quite a young man. They stated that they intended to exchange groceries for fish and game, and ship the latter articles to St. Louis and Memphis. From the description of the men, William be- gan to suspect that they formed a portion of the party of robbers, and he determined to push on at once. He induced a young man named Gor- don to go with him as guide and to assist in mak- ing the arrest of these men, if he should deem it advisable. By hard riding they succeeded in reaching Lester's Landing before nightfall, but the twilight was fast fading as they came out of the dense underbrush and cane-brake into the clearing around Lester's log-cabin. The spot was dreary and forlorn in the extreme. The river was then nearly at low water, and its muddy current skirted one side of the clearing at a distance of about thirty yards from the house. The wood-yard and landing at the water's level were some ten or fifteen feet below the rising ground upon which the house stood. The store was a shanty of rough pine boards with one door 38 MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. and one window, and it stood at the head of the diagonal path leading from the landing to the liigh ground. A short distance back was a rail fence surrounding Lester's house and corn-field, and back of this clearing, about one hundred yards from the house, was a dense cane-brake. The corn-stalks had never been cut, and, as they grew very high and thick within twenty feet of the house, they offered a good cover to any one ap- proaching or retreating through them. A rough log barn stood a short distance inside the rail fence, and, like the house, it was raised several feet above the ground, on account of the annual overflow of the whole tract. The house was a rather large building built of logs, the chinks be- ing partly filled with mud, but it was in a dilapi- dated condition, the roof being leaky and the sides partly open, where the mud had fallen out from between the timbers. On entering the clearing, Wilham's party rode up to the store and tried to enter, but, finding the door locked, they approached the house. At the rail fence, William and Connell dismounted, leaving Gordon and Bledsoe to hold their horses. •Up to this time, they had seen no signs of life about the place, and they began to think that the birds had flown. The quiet and the absence of men about the clearing did not prevent William from exercising his usual caution in approaching the house; but he did consider it unnecessary to take any str'^nger force into an apparently unoccupied log-cabm, where at most he had only vague sus- MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. 39 picions of finding the objects of his search; hence, he left Gordon and Bledsoe behind. Know- ing the general construction of this class of houses to be the same, he sent Connell to the rear, while he entered the front door. A wide hall di- vided the house through the center, and the occu- pants of the house were in the room on the right. William's door leading into the room opened from this hall, while Connell's was a direct en- trance from the back porch, and there were no other doors to the room. As the two strangers entered simultaneously, five men, a woman, and a girl started to their feet and demanded what they wanted. The situation was evidently one of great danger to the detectives ; one glance at the men, coupled with the fierce tones of their inquiries, showrjci William that he had entered a den of siiakes without adequate force ; but it was too late to retreat, and he replied that they vv-ere strangers who, having lost their way, desired info, inatiou. The scene was a striking one^ and it i'emains as vividly in William's mind to-day, as if it bad occurred but yesterday: tn the center of the room, opposite him, was a broad fireplace, in which the smouldering legs feebly burned and gave forth the only light in the room. In one corner stood several shot-guns, and in another, four or five heavy axes. Grouped about near the fire, in different attitudes of surprise, defiance, and alarm, were the occupants of the cabin, while to the left, in the half-open door, stood 40 MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. Connell. The flickering flame of the rotten wood gave a most unsatisfactory Hght, in which they all seemed nearly as dark as negroes, so that William asked the woman to light a candle. She rephed that they had none, and at the same moment a young fellow tried to slip by Connell, but he was promptly stopped. Another large, powerful man, whose name afterward proved to be Burtine, again demanded, with several oaths, what their business was. ^^IVe told you once that I want some informa- tion," replied William, "and now I intend to have you stop here until I can take a look at your faces." While William was making them stand up in hue against the wall, one of the largest drew a Bavy revolver quickly and fired straight at ^^^'^illiam's stomach, the ball just cutting the flesh 1 his left side. At the same instant, the young jllow oroviously mentioned, darted out the door, Connell having sprang to William's side, thinking him seriously wounded. Connell's approach pre- vented WilHani from returning the fire of the tall man, who had jumped for the door also the moment he had fired. William fired two shots at him through the doox way, and Connell followed him instantly, on seeing that Wilham was un- hurt. Once outside, the tall fellow sprang behind a large cottonwood tree and fired back at Connell and William, who were in full view on the porch. The second shot struck Connell in the pit of the stomach, and he fell backward. At this moment, \ ^ MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. 41 the powerful ruffian, Burtine, seized WilKam from behind and tried to drag him down, at the same time caUing for a shot-gun 'Ho finish the Yankee ." Turning suddenly upon his assailant, William raised his revolver, a heavy Tranter, and brought it down twice, with all his force, upon Burtine's head. The man staggered at the first blow and fell at the second, so that, by levehng his revolver at the other two, William was able to cow them into submission. The affray had passed so quickly that it was wholly over before Gordon and Bledsoe could reach the house, though they had sprung from their horses on hearing the first shot. The two men had escaped by this time into the dense cane-brake back of the house, and it was necessary to attend to those who had been se- cured, and to examine the injuries of Connell and Burtine. The latter's head was in a pretty bad condition, though no serious results were likely to follow, while Connell had escaped a mortal wound by the merest hair's breadth. He was dressed in a heavy suit of Kentucky jeans, with large iron buttons down the front of the coat. The ball had struck one of these buttons, aiid, in- stead of passing straight through his vitals, it had glanced around his side, cutting a deep flesh fur- row nearly to the small of his back, where it had gone out. The shock of the blow had stunned him somewhat, the button having been forced edgewise some distance into the flesh, but his wound was very trifling, and he was able to go 42 MYSTEPJOUS IMERCHANTS. on with the search with very httle inconvenience. Having captured three out of the five inmates of the cabin, WiUiam felt as though he had done as much as could have been expected of two men under such circumstances, and he then began a search of the premises to see whether any evi- dence of their connection with the robbery could be found. Absolutely no clue whatever was ob- tained in the cabin and barn, nor did the store afford any better results so far as the robbery was concerned, but on this point William was already satisfied, and he was anxious to get all informa- tion possible about these so-called storekeepers. In the store, he found bills and invoices showing that the stock of goods had been purchased in Evansville, but there was no other writing of any character except some scribbling, apparently done in an idle moment, upon some fragments of paper in a drawer. On one was written: ''Mrs. Kate Graham, Farmington, 111."; and on another, amid many repetitions of the name, " Kate Gra- ham," were the words, " My dear cousin." Having found very little of value, the party re- turned to the three prisoners and closely exam- ined them. To William's intense chagrin, he found that these men were, undoubtedly, mere wood-choppers living with Lester and having no connection with the proprietors of the store. Although desperate, brutal, and reckless, ready for a fight at all times, as shown in this affray, they were clearly not the train robbers, while it was equaUy evident that the two who had escaped were the guilty pai-ties. MYSTERIOUS MERCHANTS. 43 William learned that the young man who had first slipped out was Barton, and the man who had done the shooting was EusselL Clark, they said, had taken the steamer for Cape Girardeau, Missouri, two days before, accompanied by a married woman, named Slaughter. The descrip- tion of the train robbers tallied so well with the appearance of Barton and Eussell, that, taking their actions into consideration, there could no longer be any doubt of their complicity in the affair, and it was highly provoking that these two should have escaped. Still, it was an acci- dent which could hardly have been avoided. The fact that the express company would not consent to the employment of a larger force of detectives was the principal cause of this misfortune, for it could have been prevented easily, had William been accompanied by two more good men of my force. As it was, two detectives, dropping unexpect- edly upon a nest of five villainous-looking men in the dark, could have hardly hoped to do better than to secure three of them. It could not have, been supposed that they would know which were the important ones to capture, especially as they could not distinguish one from another in the uncertain hght. Indeed, as afterward appeared, they were fortunate in having escaped alive, for the close approach to fatal wounds, which they both received, showed how deadly had been the intentions of the man Eussell, while Burtine had evidently intended that they should never leave the house aUve. 44 THE CAPTURED RUFFIANS. It may be supposed that the shooting on both sides was none of the best, but it must be remem- bered that it began without warning, and was over in two minutes. It cannot be expected that snap-shooting, even at close quarters, should be very accurate; yet it was afterward learned that EusseU's escape had been about as narrow as WiUiam's, two balls having passed through his clothes and grazed his flesh. CHAPTEE IV. The Captured Ruffians are desired for Guides, but dare not join in the Search for the Outlaios. — One of the Mobhers is Taken, but subsequently Escapes from the Amateur Detectives. — Another Clue suddenly Fails. HAVING searched the whole place, and sat- isfied himself that the men captured had had no connection with the robbery or the rob- bers, William offered them one hundred dollars to act as guides through the cane-brake to arrest Barton and Eussell. They said they could not if they would, since no man could find his way there in broad daylight, much less at night. They further admitted that they dare not attempt it, as Eussell would kill them if they learned of their action. It was now pitch dark, and after a vain THE CAPTURED RUFFIANS. 45 attempt to beat through the cane in search of the fugitives, WiUiam decided to return to Mr. Mer- rick's until next day. The next morning at daybreak he started back for Lester's, accompanied by a number of the cane-brake population, all of whom were anxious to secure the one hundred dollars reward. They had long suspected the men at the store of being desperadoes, but they had had a wholesome fear of them on account of their fierce ways and their reckless habit of drawing their revolvers on slight provocation. On arriving at Lester's, the party found that Lester had returned from Hickman during the night. He was a treacherous-looking scoundrel, and his reputation was bad, although he had never been caught in any crime in that vicinity. His name, John Wesley Lester, showed that he must have once belonged to a pious Methodist family, and, indeed, he claimed to have once been a Methodist preacher himself. He had sunken eyes, milky white, and his hair was lank and long; his complexion was dark, cheeks hol- low, chin pointed, and forehead low. His man- ner was fawning and obsequious to those above him, and he looked and acted like a second *' Uriah Heap." He pretended to know nothing of Russell, Clark, and Barton, except that they had come to his place in July, built the store there, and had been around the landing more or less ever since. He said that he knew nothing against them, except that they were gamblers, ) 46 THE CAPTURED RUFFIANS. and that they often went off on gambhng excur- sions, during one of which, according to their own statements, they had killed a man in a quar- rel. WilHam learned from Lester's daughter that Barton had returned during the night to get a shawl, blanket, and two shot-guns. He had told her that Eussell was hurt pretty badly, but that they intended to take the first packet down the river. From other parties William learned ^that the packet Julia had passed down during the night, and had stopped at a point about seven miles below, having been hailed from the bank. He did not place much faith in the theory that the men had taken passage by the Julia, for the rea- son that Lester's girl was too anxious to tell the story of the route Barton proposed taking. He discovered that Barton had been paying lover-like attentions to the girl, and he believed that Bar- ton had instructed her to say that he intended taking the next packet, in order to give them a false scent. Having set the men of the neighborhood at work searching for Eussell and Barton, Wil- liam returned to Union City. From Hickman Connell was sent to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to capture Clark, who was said to have gone there three days before. On the arrival of William in Union City, the superintendent telegraphed to me the result of William's visit to Lester's Landing, and au- thorized me to send an operative to Farmington, Illinois, to hunt up Mrs. Kate Graham, and learn TfiE CAPTURED RUFFIANS. 4T what she could tell about RussjU, Clark, and Barton. A man was sent there the next day, and he had no difficulty in finding Mrs. Graham, who proved to be the wife of a highly respectable business man. She was a member of the church, and was held in high esteem by every one ac- quainted with her. My agent, therefore, called upon her without any circumlocution or deception, and asked to see her on business. She was con- fined to her room by illness, but she saw him for a few minutes, and answered his questions so frankly that there was no doubt she was telling the truth. She stated that she was not ac- quainted with any one living at Lester's Landing; that she did not know, nor ever had known, any persons of the names given (Eussell, Clark, and Barton); and that she knew no one who would answer to their descriptions. This clue seemed to come to an end very quickly, yet it afterward proved to be the means by which we captured one of the gang, and it was a striking instance of the necessity for the most careful and minute inquiry upon every point of news obtained, especially upon those received directly from the criminals themselves. On the 3d of November, Connell went with a constable to the house of Mrs. Gully, the mother of Clark's companion, Mrs. Slaughter, and there he found them both. Clark was surprised by the officers, but he made a bold fight, and was over- powered with difficulty. When finally hand- cuffed and searched, a navy revolver and fifty 4:8 THE CAPTURED RUFFIANS. dollars in money were taken from him; he was then taken nine miles on horseback to Cape Girar- deau, where Connell obtained a hght wagon to drive sixteen miles to Allenville, on the railroad leading to Hickman. On this trip Connell made the mistake of trusting to handcuffs alone, in- stead of securely fastening his prisoner's feet with rope. The idea that one man in handcuffs could escape from two active, unimpeded men did not, however, occur to Connell, and so the con- stable drove the horse, while Clark and Connell occupied the back seat. In justice to Connell, it should be stated that he had been constantly in the saddle for several days in raw and rainy weather, and had had very httle sleep for two nights previous/ About nine o'clock in the evening, when only a mile from Allenville, Clark suddenly made a leap out of the wagon. The horse was jogging along at a good trot, and, though Connell sprang after his prisoner instantly, it was a couple of minutes before the constable could follow. As he ran, Connell fired at the dim figure disappearing in the thick brush; but the next instant he pitched headlong into a deep mud-hole, and, by the time he got out, the cylinder of his revolver was choked with mud, and Clark was far in advance. The chase was kept up as long as the pursuers were able to distinguish the direction of his flight, ])ut, in tho darkness of the gloomy woods, it was impossible to follow an athletic fellow like Clark with any hope of success. Connell returned to \ ) THE CAPTURED RUFFIANS. 49 Union City very much crestfallen, and reported his misfortune. My first feeling, on learning the news, was one of deep regret and anxiety at the loss of one of the leaders of the gang; my second thought was one of profound thankfulness that my men were in no way responsible for it. The situation was an illustration of the disappoint- ments and difficulties which are so often met in a detective's experience; and, though I felt some- what discouraged, I was more than ever deter- mined that none of these men should eventually escape, even though it should be necessary to fol- low them for months. The desire of the express company to employ as few as possible of my operatives embarrassed me exceedingly, for William was obliged to de- pend upon strangers, and he had little confidence in their abihty or discretion. He was now satis- fied of the identity of the parties he was in search of, and all that he needed was a small force of ex- perienced and reliable men. Had I been limited and interfered with in the Maroney case, described in " The Expressman and the Detective," as I was in this, there is no doubt that I might have failed to capture the criminal ; but the cordial cooperation and support of the Adams Express Company gave me a fair oppor- tunity to work to good advantage, and victory was the result. 60 A RICH LEAD. CHAPTEE V. A. Mich Lead Struch at Last. WILLIAM was quite sure, from the reputa- tion and actions of Eussell, Clark, and Barton, that they had been the leaders in the rob- bery, and he believed that Lester could give im- portant information about them ; he therefore caused Lester to be brought to Union City, and, on November 5, he succeeded in getting a state- ment of the doings of these men since Lester had known them. The important points developed were as follows : They came to Lester's Landing in the middle of July, and built their store. They were rarely there together, as they would go off for two or three weeks at a time, leaving Barton or Clark in charge, and sometimes putting Lester in as store- keeper during the absence of all three. On one occasion, Eussell showed him a pocket-book con- taining nearly one thousand dollars, which he thought he had lost, but which he found under a rail fence where he had hidden it ; the other men, also, seemed to have plenty of money. About the middle of October, the three storekeepers went away, and were gone until October 24, three days after the robbery, on which day Lester met Clark and Barton walking toward his house, on the way from Hickman. They seemed quite ex- A RICH LEAD. 51 cited, and said that they had been engaged in a difficulty, but they did not state what it was. They asked him whether he had seen Eussell re- cently, and also whether there was a skiff at his landing ; both questions were answered nega- tively, and they passed on toward the store, while Lester continued his walk to Hickman. On his return at night, he found that Clark and Barton had been across the river all day, scouting the Missouri shore for Eussell, and that shortly after their return, Eussell had come across the river in a skiff. Eussell said that he had been shot, but that he was not much hurt, and he did not seem to act as if he had been hurt at all. Sunday morn- ing, October 29, Clark took passage in a steamer for Cape Girardeau, having Mrs. Slaughter in company, and it was understood that he was go- ing with Mrs. Slaughter to the house of her mother, nine miles from the Cape. Tuesday evening, William and Connell arrived at Lester's, the fight took place, and Barton and Eussell escaped. After the detectives had gone back to Campbell's, Barton returned to the house and obtained a shawl, blanket, and two shot-guns ; he said that they would never be taken alive, but that Eussell had been badly wounded by one of the detectives. William had left two men at the landing the next day to capture the men if they returned, but they were afraid to attempt it, al- though they had a good opportunity that night. Eussell came into the house alone, showing no signs of having been wounded, and said that he 62 A RICH LEAD. and Barton had joined four friends, who were outside waiting for him ; that they were all well mounted and armed, and that they intended to kill any one who should betray them or attempt their capture. He added that they intended to make their way on horseback to Alabama, and that they were strong enough to fight their way through, if necessary. Of course, Eussell's object was to frighten the detectives and others who were searching for him, as he had no one with him except Barton. Among other points of value in Lester's state- ment, was some incidental information relative to the men, which he had learned during the time they boarded with him. He had heard Clark say that his mother lived sixty miles back of Nash- ville, and Russell had once run a stationary engine in Missouri. Lester was shown the satchel found on the engine after the robbery, and he recog- nized it as having been left at his house once by a wood-chopper named Bill Taylor, who lived in the cane-brake, some distance below him. He said that the three men each carried a navy re- volver and a derringer, while Eussell had also a new, large-sized Smith & Wesson revolver. Meantime, the telegraph had been used con- stantly to learn something about the three men, Eussell, Clark, and Barton, from whatever source information could be obtained. Barton was well known in Nashville, New Madrid, and Union City. He was quite young, but he had been in- volved in a stabbing affray in Nashville, and was A RICH LEAD. 53 regarded as a desperate character. He had been respectably brought up by Major Landis, General Agent of the Nashville and Northwestern Eail- road, and had been given a place m the employ of that road, with good prospects for promotion. Having become dissipated and hardened, he had been discharged from his position, and Major Landis had cast him off ; thenceforward, his career had been rapid in the downward direction. With regard to the other two men, little could be learned, until a rich lead was struck on the seventh of November. The corrected descriptions of the different parties having been sent to all the agents of the express company, Mr. Charles Pink, agent at Cairo, recognized Eussell as a man who had sent eight hundred dollars in currency from Cairo to Mrs. M. Farrington, Gillem Station, Ten- nessee, on the eleventh of September, and who had then started, according to his own statement, for his home in Illinois. Mr. Pink also stated that the chief of police in Cairo claimed to know" ' Eussell, and to be able to find him — for a suffi- cient consideration. Not having any use for the services of this disinterested officer, his offer was politely declined. The superintendent of the express company was strongly impressed with the belief that Eus- sell and Barton were lurking around Lester's, and so, while William went to Nashville to see what could be learned about Barton and his compan- ions, a number of men were hired to scour the country, hunt through the brake, and guard the 54 A RICH LEAD. Mississippi ferries, while Connell and Crowley, the express messenger, were placed on the Mis- souri bank, to scout that side of the river. I may say here, en passant, that, with the exception of the two named, these men were a source not only of great unnecessary expense to the company, but of vexation and hindrance to William. In most cases, their scouting consisted in riding the high-roads from one tavern to another, and in order to have something to show for their work, they would bring in every species of wild and foolish rumor that they could discover or invent. As the superintendent frequently desired that these reports should be investigated, much valu- able time was thus wasted. These men were not only employed without my advice, but they were retained long a^fter I had urgently requested the discharge of the whole party, and I had great difficulty in obtaining their discharge, even after I was positively sure that the robbers had crossed the Mississippi and escaped into Missouri. Wilham spent one day in Nashville, and then went to Gillem Station, where he learned that Mrs. Farrington, to whom Eussell had sent eight hundred dollars from Cairo, lived on an old, worn- out farm, and passed for a rich widow. She had three sons — Hillary, Levi, and Peter, the latter being quite young. Hillary and Levi Farrington bore a very bad reputation, having been mixed up in all kinds of fights and quarrels for a num- ber of years. They were suspected of horse- stealing and counterfeiting ; but most people were A RICH LEAD. 55 afraid of them, and they had never been arrested in that vicinity. WiUiam here learned, also, that Barton had been a frequent visitor at the Farring- tons', and that he was as bad as the others. While at Gillem Station, William met Pete Far- rington, the youngest of the three brothers, and his resemblance to Eussell, whose face William had seen by the dim firelight and the flash of his pistol in the cabin at Lester's Landing, caused a sudden possibility to flash across his mind. He reasoned out the connection of the different facts about as follows : ^^ Eussell was, undoubtedly, one of the Moscow and Union City robbers, and he obtained a con- siderable share of the plunder ; two ixionths after the first robbery, I find that he sent eight hun- dred dollars to Mrs. Farrington ; this establishes the connection of those two persons. Barton was one of the actors in both robberies, also, and I find that he was formerly intimate with Mrs. Farrington and her sons ; another link. Pete Farrington bears a strong resemblance to Eussell, their peculiar Eoman noses, with a lump in the middle, being exactly alike, and this creates a strong presumption that they belong to the same family. Now, Eussell and Clark were so similar in their general appearance, that many people who have seen them together believe them to have been brothers. Hillary and Levi Farring- ton, I am told, also closely resemble each other, and they have not been seen about here for some months, they being, according to their mother's 56 ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. account, in Texas. The chain of evidence is very complete ; what if Kussell and Clark should prove to be the Farrington brothers ! " CHAPTEE VI. The Mother of the Farringtons, being arrested, boasts that her Sons " Will never be taken Alive^ — Another Unfortunate Shmder by Amateur Detectives. — An i7iteresting Fate intended for the Detectives. — Wil- liam A. Pinherton captures the Murderer of a Negro 171 Union City, pro^ving " a very good Fellow — for a Yankee.'''' — Aii Unfortunate Publication. — N^ig- ger - Wool Sioamp and its Outlaws. THE more William thought about it, the more convinced he became that his theory was correct, and he took steps to verify his suspicions by placing a watch upon Mrs. Farrington's move- ments. He also made arrangements to get pos- session of any letters that might come for her, and then, being hastily recalled by the superin- tendent of the express company, he hurried back to Union City. He there learned that, during his absence, Clark had talked with both Lester and his wife. The latter had warned him of his danger, and he had then disappeared in the cane-brake. The men stationed at Lester's for the express purpose of arresting any of the robbers who might come there, had been either unaware of Clark's visit, ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. 57 or else they had been afraid to attempt his cap- ture, and he had escaped again when almost within our grasp. William had, therefore, been called back by telegraph to take chargo of the men engaged in beating through the cane-brake, as it had been clearly demonstrated that, without a determined leader, these men w^re no more useful than a flock of sheep. The hunt w.nt on for several days with no results v/hatever, while at the same time scouts patroled the highways, and other men kept watch upon the ferries and fords for many miles around. While this was going on, the express agent at Gillem Station was keeping a close watch upon Mrs. Farrington, when suddenly she announced her intention of going to join her sons in Texas. Instead of sending word to William at once, the agent began operations on his own account, and when Mrs. Farrington arrived at Waverly, Ten- nessee, he caused her arrest. She had started with two new wagons and a complete outfit for an overland journey of some length, so that her progress could not have been very rapid, and nothing would have been lost by waiting for in- structions ; but the insane desire to play detective seemed to overpower all other considerations in the minds of the company's agents, and she was arrested by the sheriff and a posse of citizens. Her salutation to the officer who stopped her set- tled the question of identity at once, for, on being told that she would be obliged to let him search her wagons for certain men, she rephed : 3* 58 ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. " Oh ! yes ; I know what you want. You would hke to find my two sons and Barton for the ex- press robbery ; but you will never catch them, for they are not now in this country, and they will never be taken alive." This piece of information led the express agent to take the only sensible step of his whole proceed- ing. Mrs. Farrington had two negro families with her, some of whom had belonged to her be- fore the war ; and, with the personal attachment noticeable in many of the colored people, they were now desirous of going West with her. It occurred to the agent that some of them, from their confidential relations to the family, might be able to give some information as to the where- abouts of the boys. The negroes were, therefore, taken separately and closely examined, until one of the men was urgently persuaded to reveal what he knew. He said that Levi, Hillary, and Barton had committed the robbery, and that they had since been at Mrs. Farrington's together. According to an agreepient between the mother and her sons, she was to start for Texas, passing through Nigger- Wool Swamp, on the west side of the Mississippi, and the two eldest sons were to meet her in the swamp, when they would deter- . mine where to go. The agent also learned that the men had ar- rived at their mother's house Friday evening, No- vember 10, and that a man who had gone there to sell her a wagon had been "met by Hillary Far- ring-ton with a shot-gun ; on seeing that it was a ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. 59 neighbor, however, Hillary had lowered his gun and allowed him to come in. It was also learned that the three desperadoes had been seen at the house of the Farringtons' uncle, named Douglas, on Hurricane Creek, about ten miles from Wav- erly ; again, on Monday, they had been noticed at Hurricane Mills, making their way to Fowler's Landing, on the Tennessee Eiver between Flor- ence and Johnsonville, fourteen miles from the last-named place. It was evident that they in- tended to strike across the country below Eeel's Foot Lake, and cross the Mississippi at some point between Columbus and Memphis. The men were all well mounted and armed, and they had changed their personal appearance somewhat by altering the arrangement of their hair, whiskers, and beards. The arrest of Mrs. Farrington was a most un- fortunate blunder, since it disclosed to the crim- inals how close had been their pursuit, while httle really important information was obtained. It was a good illustration of the danger of taking any decided step in a criminal investigation be- fore knowing to a certainty that some good result would be obtained. The parties thus learned that we were not only aware of their identity, but also that we were very close upon their track, and the danger, as well as the difficulty, of the case was largely increased. These men were despera- does of the most reckless type, and they would not have hesitated a moment to lie in ambush and kill their pursuers, if they had found it pos- sible to do so. 60 ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. In order to intercept the fugitives before reach- ing the swampy country near the Mississippi, the number of scouts and patroUing parties was in- creased by the superintendent of the express company, and two men, named Ball and Bledsoe, were engaged to follow Mrs. Farrington on horse- back until her sons should jom her in Nigger- Wool Swamp. This would have been a sensible and necessary move if the right kind of men had been employed ; but the selection of untrained men for the delicate and important w^ork of ^'shadowing" such an experienced gang of vil- lains was risky in the extreme. Had they ever met Barton and the Farringtons, the latter would have undoubtedly murdered both of them with- out scruple ; but there was no danger of such a meeting, since the robbers, and Mrs. Farrington also, were perfectly aware of the presence of their pursuers from the start. Indeed, they afterward stated that it had been their intention to have led the detectives on as far as the wild, unsettled country of Western Missouri, and to have then hanged them in some unfrequented spot, placing the inscription ^'Horse-thief" upon each of the bodies. Subsequent events prevented them from carrying out this plan, but there was no doubt that they would have taken that or some other equally daring means of ridding themselves of pursuit. The manner in which Ball and Bledsoe exposed their intentions wherever they went showed the inexperience of both men in such work ; for, along the whole route over which ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. 61 they passed, they were known as officers track- ing a band of thieves ; and we afterward learned that, wliile they were innocently and unsuspect- ingly following Mrs. Farrington, two of the men, Barton and Clark, were almost continually watch- ing them. However, they had been started on their mission by the superintendent before Wil- liam could make any other arrangements, as he was away at Lester's Landing when the chase began. From William's reports to me, I saw the use- lessness of maintaining such a body of men in the work of scouting, watching ferries, and beat- ing the cane-brake, for the reason that no good could come of it. I knew that if the robbers could escape from Lester's Landing and make their way to Gillem Station once, they could do it again. Clark (or Hillary Farrington) had been at Lester's early Thursday morning, while guards were stationed all about ; yet, on Saturday morn- ing he was at his mother's farm, and no one had even seen him on the way. This convinced me that they had such a knowledge of the country as to make it impossible to stop them by any sys- tem of guards or patrols, and I therefore wrote several letters asking that the superintendent dis- charge this expensive force at once, and allow me to manage the whole operation by my own plans and with my own men. While William, there- fore, was at work with indefatigable energy and perseverance, scouting and following up all the reports brought in by the vast army of volunteer 62 ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. detectives in the company's employ, we were both satisfied that the method adopted was useless, and that even the ferry guards would discover noth- ing. Knowing the character of the three desper- adoes, I had no doubt of their sagacity in avoid- ing observation and pursuit ; they would never try to cross without knowing positively whether the ferry was guarded, and if there should be any real danger, they would undoubtedly steal a skiff and make their horses swim across the river, a feat of no great risk in the then low condition of the water. About this time an incident occurred v/hich added greatly to William's popularity in Union City, and gained for him the respect and kindly feeling of the community. On Sunday two roughs, having drank enough bad whisky to be absolutely fiendish, began to beat an old and inof- fensive negro whom they happened to meet. A merchant, named Blakemore, v/ho was passing at the time, stopped to remonstrate with the ruffians, when one of them turned and plunged a knife into his stomach, inflicting a wound which caused his death next day. The murderer was the terror of the town, and so great was the fear of him that he would have probably escaped had not William appeared on the street as he rushed away flourishing his bloody knife and threaten- ing to kill any one who should stand in his way. The sight of William's heavy revolver leveled at his head, backed by the certainty which he saw in William's face that death or surrender was his ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. 63 only alternative, caused him to choose the latter, and he was lodged in jail to await his trial for murder. The people of the town were quite en- thusiastic over the way in which William had brought the fellow to bay, and then compelled his surrender ; and they even went so far as to say that he was '^ a good fellow, a very good fel- low indeed — for a Yankee." On the twentieth of November an unfortunate publicity was given to our operations by the pub- lication in the Union City Journal of a long his- tory of the Farringtons, showing their whole career of crime, and terminating with an account of their latest exploit, as developed by our inves- tigations in and about Union City. It is unneces- sary to state the source whence this information was derived, further than to say that it was not obtained from any member of my force. It was a very dangerous piece of news to be published, since it might have wholly overthrown all our plans, besides involving the death of two or three men engaged in the operation ; fortunately, the robbers were undoubtedly across the Mississippi by that time, and beyond the reach of newspapers for some weeks at least. On the same day that this matter was published, Mrs. Farrington crossed the Mississippi Eiver at Bird's Point, opposite Cairo, and the fact was re- ported to William and to me by telegraph. We had previously learned that Mrs. Farrington had relatives in Springfield, Missouri, and in Dade County, in the same State, and the probabilities 64 ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. K were that, instead of going to Texas, she was going to visit in one of these places. Meanwhile, though my opinion was that her sons intended to rejoin her somewhere, either in Nigger -Wool Swamp or at her place of destination, I had no certainty that such was their intention ; and, bearing in mind the warning they had received by her arrest at Waverly (and possibly by read- ing the newspaper article previously mentioned), I felt that every clue must be carefully traced, even though it might lead in an exactly opposite direction from that in which our previous suspi- cions had caused us to look. My correspondents and agents in Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and New Orleans were, therefore, kept on the alert to capture the men if they should venture into those cities, while I held three determined men ready to go at once in pursuit of Mrs. Far- rington, in case she should take the route through Nigger- Wool Swamp. It will be remembered that one of the negroes accompanying Mrs. Farrington had stated that her sons were to join her in that swamp ; now, there were three possibilities about this state- ment : first, the negro might have lied ; second, he might have been so informed by the old lady on purpose to give a false scent in case he should be questioned ; and, third, while their intention might have been to meet there, subsequent events might have altered their plans. Still, thinking the subject over carefully, I decided that she would not take so difficult a course unless she ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. 65 really intended to meet her sons there. My rea- sons for so thinking were based upon the nature of the place, and, to comprehend my solicitude about Nigger -Wool Swamp, a description of it will be necessary. /The swamp is more than seventy miles long by about thirty-five miles wide, and, as a piece of bottomless ooze, itsr superior cannot be found in the United States. There are just two roads crossing it, one running from Hall's Ferry, at Point Pleasant, Missouri, and the other f]'om Mitchell's Ferry, thirty -five miles below. These roads are mere bog-paths in themselves, being heavily overlaid with underbrush and corduroy logs, yet they afford the only means of crossing this vast morass. The period of the annual over- flow turns it into a turbid, sluggish lake, the roads being then deeply buried under water ; but even in the dryest seasons the greater portion of the swamp is a bottomless slime of mud and putre- fying vegetation. Large tracts of thickly-wooded land are contained within the limits of the swamp, and these constitute a semi-substantial basis for the two roads which run through them ; but even these clumps are impassable at most seasons, except along the artificially- constructed roads. Sometimes, for miles and miles, nothing but the rankest of swamp-vegetation is seen, growing in wild profusion and covering the treacherous ooze with a close network of leaves and branches, until the surface looks firm enough to be taken for solid ground ; but should any unfortunate 66 ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. traveler venture to cross such a spot, his hmbs v^ould be clogged by these clinging water-plants, his feet would find no secure resting-place, and, sinking rapidly deeper and deeper into the mire, his bones would find a sepulcher where nothing but a general natural convulsion would ever dis- turb them. Still, there are occasional islands of firm ground through this section, and these have become the resort of lawless characters of every nationality and degree of crime. Over the entrance to Nig- ger-Wool Swamp might be placed, with perfect truthfulness, the motto: ^'Who enters here leaves hope behind." Each man is a law unto himself, and he must maintain his rights by the strong arm and the ready shot-gun. In one thing only are the dwellers of the swamp united, namely : a bitter and deadly resistance to the law. No ofiicer of justice ventures therein to perform any of the duties of his office ; unless backed by a powerful body of determined men, he would never return alive, and, if so accompa- nied, he would never succeed in catching a glimpse of any criminal whom he might be seeking. About the middle of the swamp, the two roads cross each other at a spot called ''The Gates," and every person traveling through either way must pass this place. Knowing this fact, I felt sure that Mrs. Farrington would await the arrival of her sons at " The Gates," in case she entered the swamp, and I determined that, in such an event, ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE BLUNDER. 67 I should try to capture them there. I was fully aware of the danger of such an attempt, but I knew that to take the bull by the horns is some- times the safest means of overpowering him. To send officers to that point with the avowed pur- pose of arresting any one, would be equivalent to sending them to their certain death, and I had no intention of doing anything of the kind ; but I had men of my force who could visit Nigger- Wool Swamp for the professed purpose of hiding there from pursuit for alleged crimes, and, wlien the moment came for action, I did not doubt that they would bring out their men before the neigh- boring outlaws could discover their object. Everything depended upon the course Mrs. Far- rington should take on leaving the Mississippi River, since by striking north from the point where she crossed, she could skirt the edge of the swamp, while if she turned south toward Point Pleasant, I should know that she intended to carry out her original programme. This question was quickly settled, however, not only by the re- ports of the scouts, Ball and Bledsoe, who were following Mrs. Farrington, but also by an unex- pected piece of intelligence from Gillem Station. Mrs. Farrington moved about twenty or twenty- five miles each day, and, from the fact that she went north to Fredericktown, there was no doubt that she had changed her plan of meeting her sons in Nigger- Wool Swamp. 68 THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. CHAPTER VII. The Scene of Action transferred to Missouri, — TJie Chase becoming Sot. ON the twenty-second of November, William learned that a letter had arrived at Gillem Station, postmarked Verona, Missouri, November 13, and he immediately took measures to obtain this letter. Three days later he learned its con- tents, which were of such an important character as to give a new direction to our efforts. The letter read as follows: ''Verona, Mo., Nov. 13, 1871. " My dear Cousin: "" I seat myself to answer your kind letter, which came to hand last evening, and was glad to hear from you, and hear you was well and doing well. I have nothing new to write, only that we are aU well at present, hoping that when these few lines come to hand they may find you well and doing well as ever, as you say you have been doing very well. It must be a good thing if it could stay so. Sometimes it was well and sometimes it wasn't, but I hope it will stay so, as you say it is a soft thing — as soft as things gets to be. I would like to see something like that, you bet. You talk like it can't be beat. That is the thing to take in. I think, and I know you think it, for I saw your THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. 69 name. I guess I did see you. You know Mr. Crapmel? He is a great fellow; you bet it is so. 1 have nothing more to write at present, as you said you are going to start out here. You said you was coming by here. Cousin, if you do come by, we don't live where we did when you were here; we live two miles nearer Verona. Come the same road. We hve now half mile off the road on John Ellis' place. You can find out where we live any- where. Come out the same road you did when you came before. John Timothy has just come out here; has been out here about three weeks. He is well satisfied here. So I will close for this time. ^^ From your cousin, '' J. M. Durham. *' M. F. sends her love to all of the family. Ex- cuse my bad writing and bad spelling." It was evident that Mrs. Farrington had pre- viously written to her cousin informing him of her intention to visit him soon, and this letter was intended to direct her to the new location. The allusions in the letter to the "good thing " in which she was engaged showed that the writer had been made aware of the Farringtons' success as express robbers, and that he quite approved of their operations. On reading this letter, William sent a copy to me immediately, and suggested that one or two good men be sent to Verona to get work near this man Durham, and to get into the confidence of YO THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. the family, so that, when Mrs. Farrington should arrive, she would not be likely to suspect any one who had come before her. I fully approved of Wilham's plan, and, on the last day of Novem- ber, Detectives George W. Cottrell and Arthur C. Marriott started for Verona. I inferred that the people in that vicinity were rather lawless and desperate characters, from the fact that Durham spoke of "John Timothy" being well satisfied there. On the principle that ' ' birds of a feather flock together," I judged the Farringtons,the Dur- hams, and this fellow Timothy to belong to the same type of people; hence, I concluded that, if Durham and Timothy were satisfied with the country, the people living there must be congenial spirits, especially since Mrs. Farrington was about to make a place of refuge in that vicinity. My two men were detained a day in St. Louis, and they did not arrive in Verona until the sec- ond of December. The first thing they noticed about the town was the total absence of liquor sa- loons, and a few minutes' conversation with one or two of the citizens convinced them that no more orderly, honest, law-abiding community ex- isted in Missouri than the population of Lawrence County. This discovery made a marked change in their plans necessary, as my instructions to them had been based upon the supposition that they would find a number of robbers, horse- thieves, and counterfeiters around Verona, and that the)^ would be easily able to get Durham's confidenq ) by appearing as reckless and desperate THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. Yl as any one. They had each prepared a choice au- tobiography for use among the residents, and, ac- cording to their own intended accounts of them- selves, two greater scoundrels never went un- hung. All this was necessarily useless in the changed circumstances surrounding them. To attempt the role of criminal characters, hiding from justice, would quickly cause their banishment from the place, or possibly their arrest, and a new plan was essential. Their instructions had been that they should not put any confidence in any one, and they were obhged to invent a plausible rea- son for their presence there; also to have some business which would enable them to ride about the country, making inquiries and scouting for Mrs. Farrington and her sons. Finding that the railroad company had a land agent in Verona, Cottrell decided to represent themselves as would-be purchasers of land. This would give them an excuse for going all over the county, examining different farms and unim- proved tracts. They were introduced to Mr. Purdy, the land agent, by the hotel clerk, and from him they obtained a map of the county. It was then agreed that Mr. Purdy should go out with Cottrell and Marriott on Tuesday, December 5, to look at some pieces of property which the raihoad company wished to sell. During Sunday and Monday both of the detectives were trying to learn where Durham lived, but no one seemed to know; neither could any one tell them anything 72 THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. about John Ellis, upon whose farm Durham had said he was living. The idea that Mrs. Farrington was rapidly pushing west, toward Durham's place, made Cottrell very anxious to begin operations as quickly as possible, since, if she should arrive before the detectives were established in the vicin- ity, there would be great difficulty in working into her confidence, as she would instantly sus- pect their true character; whereas, if she should find them already there, she would have nq pos- sible occasion to distrust them. They therefore thought best to confide the real object of their visit to Mr. Purdy, the land agent, and to ask his advice and assistance. Mr. Purdy had been an officer in the Union army during the war of the rebelhon, and had settled in Verona at the close of the war. He was evidently an honorable man, who would always be found on the side of law and order, and as he was very popular in Verona, he would be able to give them a great deal of as- sistance in capturing the Farrington party. On communicating with me by telegraph on this point, they stated the facts briefly, and I author- ized them to confer with Mr. Purdy on the sub- ject, at the same time forwarding full instruc- tions by letter. On Tuesday, therefore, they told the whole story to Mr. Purdy, and showed him their cre- dentials. He was quite astonished at their reve- lations, but he was very hearty and sincere in his expressions of good will toward them, and he promised to aid thom in every possible way. He THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. T3 knew John Ellis quite well, having sold him the farm on which he was living, and he had heard of Durham, who hired a small portion of the EUis farm. He said that if force should be necessary to capture the Farrington party, he could raise fifty determined men in ten minutes to help the officers. He said that af fcer the war Verona had been a very bad place for a short time, but that, as Eastern men began to settle there, the respect- able people had tried to drive out the hard cases; this had been slow work at first, but they event- ually had been completely successful; they not only had driven out the dangerous characters, but they had closed all the hquor saloons also; and now, having once got rid of them, they would take care not to let any of that class of people back again. Mr. Purdy was called away for a day or two on business, but he promised, on his return, to go with the detectives to Durham's place, and, mean- time, he said he would speak of them as gentle- men who intended buying land in that section, and who wished to ride over the country until they found a place which satisfied them. During the next three days, therefore, they learned nothing new, their time being occupied in scout- ing the road along which they expected Mrs. Far- rington to come. Thus the first week of December passed, z..^^^ the operation was not progressing very favorably anywhere. Ball and Bledsoe had reported Mrs. Farrington's route up to the thirtieth of November, 74 THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. and she had moved quite rapidly up to that date, but nothing had been learned since, and I expected to hear of her arrival at Verona every day. She had gone from Cairo to Frederickstown, Missouri, and thence to Ironton; then, instead of following a direct road, she had struck up north to Potosi, in Washington County; again taking a westerly route, she had passed through Steelville, Crawford County, and on the thirtieth of November, she had camped at Waynesville, Pulaski County. Beyond this we knew nothing of her movements, although by the eighth of December she had had ample time to reach Verona. William had spent this week in following up a clue received from Louisville, Kentucky. It will be remembered that about November 9, a pair of dashing w^omen had been reported as having visited the banks in Kansas City, trying to get large bills for about eight thousand dollars in small bills. I had not believed the story at that time, and therefore had taken no steps to follow them. When William learned from Louisville, however, that a woman named Annie Martin, whom Levi Farrington had been in the habit of supporting on the proceeds of his robberies, had been stay- ing there v\^ith another woman named Lillie Baker, who had sustained the same relations to Barton, it occurred to him that these might have been the women who were said to have been in Kansas City with so much money. He started at once for Louisville, at the same time tele- graphing to me liis suspicions in the matter, and I f THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. 75 began inquiries again in Kansas City by telegraph. I coald learn very little except from the teller of one bank, who described the women as well as he could remember their appearance; but the descrip- tion was not accurate enough to determine whether these two women had or had not been Annie Martin and LiUie Baker. In Louisville, however, William learned that these women had been there recently, and they had appeared to be well supphed with money. They had not re- mained very long, but had gone to New Orleans, where they were then hving in good style. As Mr. O'Brien, the general superintendent of the express company, was in New Orleans, the in- formation was sent to him, and he agreed to have a sharp watch kept to discover Farrington and Barton, in case they should follow these women. On the eighth of December, Cottreil, Marriott, and Mr. Purdy started on horseback to visit John Ehis's farm, where the Durhams lived. About a mile before arriving there, they met a farmer named Wisbey, who v/as a neighbor of Elhs and the Durhams. Without letting him into their con- fidence, they talked with him a long time, and gradually drew out a number of important facts. The Durham family consisted of two brothers and a young sister living with their mother, old Mrs. Durham, and they rented a small house on a part of the Ellis farm. Nothing positive had ever been . discovered against the character of either Jam or Tihnan Durham, but the neighbors had a poor opinion of them, and kept a pretty close watch *h T6 THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. upon their actions. During the previous fall a young man had visited them for sonie time, and his description was exactly that of Levi Farring- ton; but Wisbey could not tell his name, though he promised to learn it, and let Mr. Purdy know. Mr. Wisbey was a downright honest, intelligent man, and Mr. Purdy asked him to learn everything possible about the Durhams and their visitors; in case any wagons should arrive, it was agreed that he should send word to Mr. Purdy instantly. There was no occasion for telling him the whole story, as he was quite willing to undertake the trust on the strength of Mr. Purdy's request, with- out asking further particulars; and, as he was a thoroughly discreet man, there was little danger that he would betray his mission by idle talking. The detectives and Mr. Purdy then returned to Verona, it being considered undesirable that they should visit the Durhams, lest they might pos- sibly excite suspicion. The day following their visit to Wisbey, he ar- rived in Verona and told Cottrell that he had sent his son-in-law, Mr. Stone, to see Jim Durham, and the latter had said that he was expecting the arrival of some relatives very soon. He had learned further that the young man who had visited Durham in the latter part of the previous September had given his name as Levi Farrington, and had passed as the beau of the young Durham girl. In speaking of him, Jim Durham had told Mr. Stone that he did not wish his sister to marry Farrington, as the latter was a dangerous man, THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. Y7 and had recently killed a man in a quarrel, while those who stood about were too much afraid of him to arrest him. Mr. Wisbey then returned home, with instructions to alternate with Mr. Stone in secretly watching Durham's place, so that every occurrence might be at once reported. On the tenth of December I received a dispatch from Mr. O'Brien, saying that 1 he express agent at Springfield, Missouri, had telegraphed to him on the eighth that the wagons of Mrs. Farrington's party had camped five miles from Springfield, and that the three men were known to be sixty miles south of EoUa. Mr. O'Brien therefore requested me to send a good detective to meet Connell in St. Louis, whence they would go together to cap- ture the men at Eolla. I at once sent one of my best men, named Martin Oalway, with instruc- tions to join Connell, and, in case the Eolla report should prove to be a false alarm, they were to go on to Verona to assist Cottrell and Marriott. I had hardly completed my instructions to Gal way, ere I received a telegram in cipher from Cottrell, as follows: ^'Levi Farrington and a man calling himself George Cousins are at Durham's. They came on Thursday evening. Shall I arrest them ? I can get all the help I need." I immediately replied, also by a cipher dispatch, as follows: ''Are you sure it is Levi Farrington? His brother and Barton will probably be at Verona soon. We must get the whole. I think they 78 THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. will come from Douglas County. Probably Con- nell and Galway will be with you by Monday or Tuesday night; they can identify the men. Mrs. Farrington will be at Durham's by Sunday night or Monday morning. Keep a cool, clear head, and advise with Purdy. Have written by mail to- night. Keep me posted. WilKam will arrive by Tuesday. " At the same time I wrote full instructions to Cottrell, ordering him to keep a close watch upon the men at Durham's, but to take no action until William should arrive, unless they attempted to go away. I did not alter Galway's instructions, but I telegraphed to William to start for Verona at once, to take charge of the operations there. The chase was now becoming hot, and a few days would decide the question of success or failure. I had reason to believe that the outlaws would not be taken without a desperate resistance, and I was anxious to have Wilham present to direct the attack. On Sunday, the tenth, Cottrell and Marriott rode out to see Wisbey, who met them just out- side of Verona and informed them that Levi Farrington had arrived at Jim Durham's late Thursday night, accompanied by a young man named George Cousins. They did not receive my reply to their telegram announcing this fact until late that day, and so they could do nothing toward satisfying themselves as to Levi Farring- ton's identity until next morning, when they visited Wisbey at his own house. Mr. Stone, THE CHASE BECOMING HOT. 19 "Wisbey's son-in-law, had met a man named Smothers, who worked for Jim Durham, and Smothers had told him all about the two men who had just arrived. According to their own account, they had left Mrs. Farrington at Ash Grove, in Greene County, where she was going to buy a farm, Levi having given her five thousand dollars for that purpose; Levi and Cousins were on their way to Kansas, where they intended to settle down to raise cattle; Levi's brother was said to be at Lester's Landing for the purpose of selhng off a stock of groceries which they owned there. Both men were well armed, having three navy revolvers and a shot-gun. When this news was transmitted to me by telegraph, I decided that this man Cousins must be Barton, and that Hillary Farrington might pos- sibly be at Lester's Landing, as they said.' I therefore telegraphed to William, who I knew would be in St. Louis that day, en route to Verona, that he had better take Connell and Galway back to Lester's to capture Hillary, while Cottrell and Marriott undertook the arrest of Levi and Barton at Durham's. I also sent a dispatch to Cottrell to take no steps for their ar- rest until after William should have captured Hillary. William, having previously thoroughly ex- amined the contents of the store at Lester's, knew that they were not worth over two hundred dollars,, and he telegraphed me to that effect, suggesting that it was improbable that Hillary 80 THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. should ritn so much risk for so small a sum. On learning this fact, I coincided with him, and ordered him to go on to Yerona, as I had originally intended. I desired that he should keep the Durham place carefully watched until the arrival of the other Farrington, who, I believed, would soon join the rest of the party; then, in case he arrived, we should get all three together; but,, if the other two should show any signs of moving off, they could be taken at any time. Mr. O'Brien obtained requisitions from the Governor of Tennessee on the Governor of Mis- souri for the three men, and I felt that success was only delayed a day or two at most. CHAPTEE Vni. j4 (determined Party of Horsemen. — The Outlaws sur- rounded and the Birds caged, — A Parley. — An affecting Scene. — The burning Cabin. — Its Occu- pants finally surrender. ■TXT"HILE the telegrams were fljning back and VV forth on Tuesday, the twelfth, Cottrell and Marriott were busily engaged. Early that morning Mr. Stone came to Verona, and told them that he had learned that Farrington and cousins intended to leave Durham's for the In- dian Territory the next day. The news was doubtless authentic. Stone having heard it from THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. 81 Smothers, who had said that Farrington had told him so himself. It was clearly impossible to wail for Wilham's arrival, as, by that time, the men might be safely hidden in the wild country to the westward. Instant action was absolutely neces sary, and Cottrell so informed Mr. Purdy, who soon gathered a force of eight men. Very little would have been needed to obtain even a larger number of recruits, for, had Mr. Purdy and the detectives publicly told the story of the men whom they wished to capture, there would have been plenty of eager volunteers, all anxious to aid in ridding the country of such a band of out- laws. It was not deemed advisable, however, to summon a large posse, lest the news might spread so fast as to reach the ears of the crimi- nals before the detectives could surround them ; on this account only a few reliable men were let into the secret, and the}^ left town singly and in pairs to avoid observation, having a rendezvous outside. Just before starting, Mr. Purdy received a dis- patch from the general land agent, ordering him to Pearce City instantly, as several purchasers of land were awaiting him there ; although he tried to have his visit postponed one day, he was un- successful, his orders being imperatively repeated by telegraph, and so he was unable to accompany the detectives and citizens on their expedition to Durham's. The party of eight met the detec- tives outside the town, and they were joined on their way by three others, who Uved on the road. 4* 82 THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. They were all substantial business men or farmers, but they were accustomed to a life in the saddle, and they had all borne arms during the war on one side or the other. In spite of their present peaceful occupations they were not a body who could be trifled with, and it was evi- dent that any gang of desperadoes would find their match in these cool, determined, law-abid- ing men. A few miles from Verona they met a young lady riding a large brown mule, but none of the men in the party knew her. Cottrell felt sure, however, that she was Durham's sister, and that she was riding Farrington's mule. The descrip- tions he had received of the girl from Stone and Wisbey coincided exactly with her appearance, while the mule could not be mistaken. He there- fore sent a man back to watch her, lest she should have taken alarm at so large a cavalcade of armed men. She rode on to Verona, however, without showing any signs of uneasiness, and the scout soon overtook the party. On arriving one mile from Wisbey's, Marriott went on to Stone's house with six men, while Cottrell went to Wisbey's with the other five. Stone and Wisbey soon gathered a number of the neighbors, among whom was John Ellis, who owned the house and land where the Durhams were living; he was a very highly respected citi- zen, and was not at all displeased at the idea of getting rid of his semi-disreputable tenants. The management of the affair was then un?nimonsly THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. 83 vcted to Cottrell, and the party rode rapidly toward the Durham house. It was situated at the edge of a clearing, with underbrush anc- woodland close to it on three sides, so that great caution was necessary, lest the villains shou.d see them approaching, and escape mto the woods. At a reasonable distance from the house, there- fore, the party divided, a part, under Marriotts direction, dismounting and making their way to the rear of the house on foot. When sufficient time had elapsed to enable the latter party to surround the house, Cottrell, with the remaindei% dashed up to the front of the house and spread out so as to make sure that no one should escape. As they approached, a man, who proved to be Jim Durham, appeared on the porch and asked what they wanted; to which Cottrell replied that he wanted the men in the house. - The words had hardly passed his lips ere Barton sprang into the open doorway with a navy revolver leveled at Cottrell; but, seeing that the latter as well as several others, had him covered he shut the door quickly and started for the back of the house By this time, however, the cordon ot guards had drawn close around, and, as he emerged at the rear, he found himself confronted by half a dozen determined men, who ordered him to surrender. He then hastily tried to c ose the back door also, and pointed his revolver through the crack; but the discharge of several shots, which struck close to him, caused him to withdraw his pistol and tightly close the door, it 84 THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. was evident that the birds were caged at last, and it was now only a question of time when they would be taken; as it was only one o'clock in the afternoon, there were still four hours of daylight to conduct the siege. Jim Durham, when he saw the rifles and revolv- ers of so large a force pointed at him, was thor- oughly frightened, and he begged piteously that they would not shoot him. Cottrell placed his men behind trees, fences, and other protections, so as to be safe from any attempt to pick them off by the men in the house, and yet to guard every means of exit from the place; he then called Jim Durham out and searched him, finding nothing but a single-barreled pistol. He then sent Jim to the door of the house to summon the men inside to surrender, telling them that he was determined to have them — alive if possible, but if not, dead. They refused to surrender, saying that they would kill any man who should approach the house. When Durham brought back their an- swer, Cottrell sent word that he would give them five minutes in which to decide whether they would yield peaceably or be burned out and shot to death. Just then Mrs. Durham, the mother of the Durham boys, begged Cottre'l to allow her to go speak to Farrington and Barton, as she believed she could induce them to surrender. Accordingly, she went to the front window and implored them not to have the house burned down, as all her household goods would be de- stroyed. They rephed that they might as well THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. 85 die inside as to come out and be shot down. Cot- trell sent back word that they should be treated Hke all other prisoners if they would pans out their arms and surrender quietly; but if they tried to fight or resist, they would surely be killed. As they still refused, Jim Durham was sent to barricade the doors with fence rails, so that they should not be able to rush out unexpectedly. He whined and complained that the men inside would shoot him, but he was obliged to go, and though they did threaten him, he was able to crawl up and lay the rails without getting within range. The house was a solid log cabin, with only two doors and very few windows, so that it was pos- sible to approach it in one or two directions with- out exposure to a fire from within. When the doors had been securely barricaded, Cottrell or- dered him to get on the roof, which was a com- mon shingle roof, and set fire to the house. Mrs. Durham was carrying on at a great rate, first begging Farrington to surrender, and then pray- ing to Cottrell not to burn her property. John Ellis, to whom the house belonged, gave full per- mission to burn it, and a fire was built in the open air to make brands to set it afire. Mrs. Durham was allowed to make one more appeal to the ruffians inside, but they would not listen to her entreaties. They asked her, how- ever, what kind of a looking man Cottrell was, and what he wanted to arrest them for. Cottrell was standing near enough to hear the question, 86 THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. and after Mrs. Durham had described his appear- ance, he told them that he wanted them fox an express robbery; that he would treat them kindly if they should yield peaceably; but if they should refuse this, his last offer, he should set fire to the house and shoot them down as they ran out. He said he had no ^\ash to Idll them, but that he was determined they should not escape; rather than allow them to get away, he would have them shot on sight; but they would be protected and brought to trial if they would surrender. To this they replied that they intended killing some of their besiegers first, anyhow. Finding further parley useless, therefore, Cottrell gave the order to burn the building, and Durham was forced to carry the embers and brands to burn his own premises. Just at this time, the young girl, whom they had met riding a mule toward Verona, rode up to the house and asked what was the matter. As Cottrell had surmised, this was Miss Durham, and she was very much frightened at what she saw. The afternoon sun was buried in a deep bank of clouds, so that the twilight was rapidly draw- ing on, there being just enough light to show the barricaded doors, the deserted porch, and the de- termined men scattered around, with shot-ginis and rifles pointed at the low log cabin, above which a frightened man stood out in bold relief against the sky, tearing off the shingles and piling them upon a glowing flame at his feet. Everything was now hushed in deathly silence, ''% THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. 87 ix . it needed no explanation for any one to un- derstand that a bloody tragedy was about to occur if that flame should be allowed to envelop the building. It was now the prison of its two oc- cupants, but only a short time would elapse before it would be their tomb. On seeing the situation, Miss Durham asked to be allowed to speak to the men, as she said she knew they would listen to her. On Cottrell's re- fusal to hold any more parley with them, she burst into tears, threw her arms around his neck, and implored him to let her speak to Barton just once, if only for five minutes. Finally, seeing that most of his party wished to give the girl a chance to speak to her sweetheart, Cottrell said that she could have three minutes to obtain their arms; if they surrendered immediately, the fire should be put out; but, if they should still refuse, their last chance of saving the house and their lives would be gone. Miss Durham then went to the window, and talked with the men in the most imploring manner, urging them not to sacrifice themselves, as they would surely do if they re- mained in the burning house. Her entreaties did not seem to affect them at first; and, as the flames were then beginning to gather strength, Cottrell ordered her to come away from the house, and leave them to their fate. She made one more appeal, and Barton handed her a navy revolver; then Farrington did the same, and she brought them to Cottrell, saying that they would surrender if they could be sure "ihat their lives 88 THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. would be spared. Cottrell told her to go back and get the rest of their arms, and assure them that they should be taken to Tennessee for trial. She soon returned with another revolver and a shot-gun, and said that the men would come out. Cottrell therefore removed the rails, opened the front door, and called them out — Barton coming first, and then Farrington. The latter proved to be Hillary, not Levi, as he had called himself. It was not known why he had used his brother's name, but it was supposed that Hillary had taken his name to enable him to prove an alibi in case he should be arrested. Cottrell's party first secured the prisoners with ropes, and then assisted Jim Durham to extinguish the fire on the roof ; the latter was quite rotten, and it had burned so slowly that very little damage had been done. The prisoners were thoroughly searched, but nothing of any consequence was found upon them, the total of their funds being less than three dollars. A prolonged search through the house revealed nothing of importance, except the fact that it was quite an arsenal for arms, there being found six navy revolvers, two double-barreled shot-guns, and a Spencer repeat- ing rifle. The siege had lasted nearly three hours, and, another hour having been spent in searching the house and saddling their animals, it was nearly dark by the time they started for Verona. Far- rington and Barton were carefully tied upon the horse and mule respectively, and, after thanking the neighboring farmers for their assistance, Cot- THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. 89 trell took the road back, accompanied by the eleven men who belonged in and about Verona. The greatest care was taken that the prisoners should have no opportunity for escape, and they were informed that any attempt to get away would be the signal for riddling them with bullets. "While riding along, Cottrell learned from Bar- ton that the party had been very lucky in finding the two men in the house, since their usual cus- tom had been to spend the days in the woods, coming in only at night to sleep. On this occa- sion, however, the weather was so cold that they were spending the day indoors. . When asked why they had not surrendered be- fore, they both made the same reply, namely: that they behoved the posse of citizens intended either to shoot them immediately, or to hang them after a trial by lynch law. On arriving in Verona early in the evening, the prisoners were securely tied up with ropes, and Cottrell alternated during the night with Marriott in watching them. A blacksmith was also called up, and shortly after midnight he completed two pair of leg shackles, with which they were fast- ened together. My men were greatly fatigued, having ridden a large number of miles every day for a week, and the excitement of the affair added, of course, to their prostration, but they resolutely paced the floor in alternate four-hour watches, determined that no possible loophole for escape should again be afforded to such daring villains as these two. 90 THE OUTLAWS SURROUNDED. The result of the expedition was, of course, transmitted to me in telegraphic cipher at once: but the arrest was kept secret for the time, in or- der to prevent a knowledge of it coming to Levi Farrington, who was still at large. According to Barton, Levi was concealed somewhere in Ten- nessee, but this statement was proof positive that he was not in Tennessee at all, since Barton's ob- ject in telling anything about him was evidently intended to mislead us; hence, no faith was put in his story, and other steps were taken to capture Levi. William arrived in Verona on the morning after the fight, and he prepared to return with the prisoners to St. Louis by the noon train. It was supposed that Levi Farrington was also on his way to the rendezvous at Durham's farm, and that he would probably approach by the direct road through Douglas County. CottreU and Marriott were left, therefore, to attend to Levi and the old lady, whose whereabouts were still uncertain. William saw most of the citi- zens engaged in the affair, and heartily thanked them for their aid; being questioned as to whethei they should receive the reward of one thousand dollars offered by the express company for the capture of the two Farringtons and Barton, he informed them that he considered them entitled to it, and that he should recommend its payment, but that the matter would be decided by the offi- cers of the company. I may here anticipate events somewhat to state that the company paid barton's confession. 91 the citizens and farmers a liberal amount for theii seryices in capturing the robbers, and a settle- ment was made which was satisfactory to all par- ties. William left Verona about noon of the day he arrived, taking Hillary Farrington and Barton with him, under guard of Galway and Connell. On arriving in St. Louis^ he separated the prison- ers in order to induce Barton to confess; and, after a long conversation, in which he showed Barton how conclusive was the evidence against all three of the men, he obtained a very full con- fession, of which the greater part is here given exactly as it was taken down from Barton's lips. CHAPTEE IX. Barton's Confession. — The Express Mohberies and the Outlaws'' sub sequent. Experiences fully set forth there- in. — A Clue that had been suddenly dropped taken up with so tnuch Profit, that, after a desperate Strug- gle, another Desperado is Captured. *' T" AM twenty-two years of age," said Barton, JL '' and my native place was Columbus, Mis- sissippi. When quite young, I left home and took to following the army. About five or six years ago I moved to Normandy, Tennessee, and lived with the family of Major Landis, and two or three years later, I went to work on the Nash- 92 barton's confession. ville and Northwestern Eailroad as a brakeman, remaining as such over two years. About three years since I formed the acquaintance of Hillary and Levi Farrington, at Waverly, Tennessee. These are the men otherwise known as J. H. Clark and Edward J. Eussell. Afterward I opened a saloon in Nashville, and Levi Harrington vis- ited me there several times. Last April or May he was arrested on suspicion of counterfeiting, but as there was no case against him, he was dis- charged. After a short time, I went down to visit Levi at Mrs. Farrington's; she lived at the head of Tumbling Kun Creek, twelve miles back of Gil- lem Station. Hillalt-y was in jail at Memphis at that time, charged with murder and horse-steal- ing. When he got out of jail, Levi, Hillary, and myself all made a trip to Little Eock, Arkan- sas, gambling by throwing three -card monte, and we won about thirteen hundred dollars; we then returned to Gillem Station, where we remained until the twenty-first of July, this year. During this time, Levi, who frequently rode back and forth on the express trains, spoke of the feasibil- ity of robbing them. '^ On the morning of July 21, Levi, Hillary, and myself left Gillem Station for the purpose of rob- bing the express train at some of the stations either on that road or on the Mobile and Ohio Eailroad. At Union City we changed cars, and arrived at Moscow just after dark. The j^lan was, that we all three should enter the car and over- power the messenger; but Levi and Hillary were barton's confession. 93 the only ones who entered. I remained on the platform of the first passenger coach and kept watch. When the train was passing the water tank, they slacked up the speed, and we all jumped off and struck for the woods. The mes- senger had nothing whatever to do with this robbery, so far as I was ever informed. ''As I said before, we struck into the woods and reached the river just above Hickman, where we stole a fisherman's skiff, and all three of us started down the river. Finding that we w^ere pursued, we left the skiff on the Tennessee shore, near Island Number Ten. We then took the river road and walked back as far as Lester's Landing, arriving tliere about dinner-time, July 23. Levi divided the money, giving me one-third of one thousand dollars, which was all, he said, in the safe, although I always believed there was more. "So far as I know, neither of the Farringtons had ever met Lester before, and I am sure that I had never set eyes on him until we w^ent to his place at this time. On account of the spot being so lonely and isolated, Hillary proposed that we put up a store there, as it would be a good cover for our actual business. We started the store, and applied to the postmaster to establish a post- office, to be known as Lester's Landing ; our ob- ject in this move was, of course, to give an added color of respectability and bond fide business to our transactions. From this time until the mid- dle of October, I remained at the store nearly all 94 barton's confession. the time ; Hillaiy was also there most of the time, but Levi very seldom. During one of the latter's western trips, he said he had been out to see his Aunt Durham. "Along in October, Levi proposed that we again strike the express company when the train stopped for supper at Union City. Hillary had been in the habit of riding back and forth on the engine, and he understood how to run a train. I^evi suggested that we take a man named Bill Taylor into the robbery with us ; he was then employed chopping wood for Lester, and when Levi approached him on the subject he agreed to go. Levi left Lester's a few days before the rob- bery. Hillary and I did not leave until the nine- teenth, when we went up to Columbus by steamer, taking along a large quantity of fish. Having sold our fish, we took the train for Union City, where we arrived the same evening. On getting off the train, we met Levi and Bill Taylor on the platform, and the only conversation which took place was when Levi asked why we had not ar- rived sooner, to which we replied that we came as soon as we could. The next morning we met again, having slept in separate places so as not to attract attention, and went down the road some distance toward Hickman. While camped in the woods that evening, about ten o'clock, an old man named Hicks came along with a bottle of whisky and stopped at our camp-fire quite a time. There were present Hillary, Levi, myself, and Bill Taylor. We remained in the woods all barton's confession. 95 that night. The next day we moved further into the woods toward Hickman, and at night, just at dark, we came back to Union City. " We had been there only a few minutes when the up train came along; she stopped and backed down a httle ways, when all the train hands left her and went to supper. Hillary and Taylor then boarded the engine, and Levi and myself jumped aboard the express car. The messenger was eating his supper when we went in, and, seeing Levi point a Derringer at him, he ex- claimed: 'Don't shoot me ! I will surrender.' Levi compelled him to unlock the safe, and we took all the money. Levi then swung the mes- senger's lantern, and the train stopped, when we all jumped off and started down the railroad to Hickman. Our intention was to go to the wood- yard near Union City, and steal a ride on a freight train to Hickman. We hid under the platform at the wood-yard, and while there Levi acciden- tally shot himself in the thigh; but the wound was very slight, and it hardly interfered with his walking. As the freight train did not stop, we were obliged to walli to Hickman, where we ar- rived Sunday night. We had had some provis- ions when we first camped out, which Bill Tay- lor had carried in a vahse; but he had left the valise and all its contents on .he engine, so that we had very little to eat. ''Wliile in the woods we divided the money, but Levi, who carried it, showed up only twenty- three hundred dollars. ,;.r \ 96 BARTON'S CONFESSION. *' Sunday night we stole a skiff in Hickman and went down the river to James' Bayou, and while there, on Monday morning, we saw Mes- senger Cross, whose car had been robbed, making inquiries about us in a grocery-store. We then started off on foot, going down the river on the Missouri shore. About a mile below James' Bayou we found the skiff which we had previously set adrift, and which had evidently been picked up by some one. Taking this skiff again, Hillary, Taylor, and I dropped down to a point about a mile above Lester's, leaving Levi on the Missouri shore, where we started from. We landed on the Ten- nessee shore, and walked down the river road a short distance, when Taylor left us, remaining in the woods. Hillary and I met Lester on the road soon afterward, and told him that we had come down on a steamboat which was then tied up, on account of the heavy fog. Levi arrived next day, having come across the river with a fisherman. ^'The following Sunday, October 29, Hillary left on a steamboat, taking with him a woman named Slaughter, with whom he said he was go- ing to Davidson's wood-yard, nine miles above Cape Girardeau. He expected to return in a few days. *^The next thing of any importance which oc- curred was on the Tuesday night following, when Messrs. Pinkerton and Connell rode up to Lester's house. At the first glance, I thought they were ofBi^rs, and Levi told me that he thought the barton's confession.' 97 same. I saw him pull his pistol out of his pocket before getting out of his chair." [The moment Connell opened the door, Levi knew that he was a detective, having seen him acting in that capacity in Memphis, when Hil- lary was arrested for horse -steahng the previous spring.] * 'When I made my escape from Lester's house, " continued Barton, ' ' I ran right back through the cornfield; I heard all the shooting, but did not see it. In a short time Levi joined me in the cane-brake back of the cornfield. Levi told me that he had had a shooting match with the two officers, but he did not know whether he had hit either of them or not; they had not hit him, but he had had a very narrow escape. ^' After awhile we slipped up to the house, and saw that the officers were gone; so we went in, got our supper, and took our pistols, besides a shawl and blanket. We then got an old skiff, crossed the river, and slept in the woods on the Missouri shore. The next day we remained under cover until nightfall, when we recrossed the river, and went through the woods to Union City, spending Wednesday night and Thursday in the woods on the way. On Thursday night we took the train from Union City to Gillem Station. The conductor of the train was Conductor Roberts, on whose iTin I had formerly been brakeman; and, being afraid he might recognize me, I laid down in my seat and covered up my face, while Levi paid both fares. We arrived at Gillem StUl^i 5 98 barton's confession. about three o'clock in the morning, and reached Mrs. Farrington's house about dayhght. '^I gave Mrs. Farrington five hundred and fifty dollars in money to keep for me, this amount being the proceeds of both express robberies, and she still has it in her possession. Before leaving Lester's, Hillary had given most of his money to Levi to take to their mother to keep for him, and Levi left with her nearly the v^hole of his share of the plunder also. ^'We had been at Mrs. Farrington's a week when Hillary arrived. Before this, we all thought that the officers had captured him, and we were quite surprised to see him safe. He said that Detective Connell had arrested him at Mrs. Gully's, and that he had made his escape by jumping out of Connell's wagon into a thicket near AUenville; he had then gone right back to the house where he had left Mrs. Slaughter, where he got a pistol and some money, and had his irons removed. *^ At the time Hillary arrived at Mrs. Farring- ton's, the old lady had been gone a day and a night on her way to Texas or Missouri. It was under- stood that Levi and I were to meet her some- where on the road, or at Helton's farm, near the line between Lawrence and Dade Counties, Mis- souri. The day after Hillary arrived, we started for Missouri; I was riding a sorrel horse; Hillary, a chestnut-sorrel horse; and Levi, a large brown mule. We spent two days at the house of Mr. Douglas, near Mrs. Farrington's, and then crossed tiJMpirennessee River at Cuba. We crossed the barton's confession. 99 Mississippi River by the last ferryboat on Friday evening, November 10, at Hall's Ferry, opposite Point Pleasant, Missouri. We saw no men on guard at the ferries. We struck right out through Nigger- Wool Swamp to Bloomfield, where Levi left us. He said he was going to Farmington, Illinois, as that was a good place to keep under cover. After he left us, nothing important oc- curred until our arrest. We knew where Mrs. Farrington was every night, and also knew all about the two men who were following her; we did not mind letting them follow her, as they could not have captured us, and we could have shaken them off at any time if we had wanted to do so. ''Levi and Hillary frequently spoke of making other raids upon the express company, and said what a soft thing it was. It was my intention to separate from them as soon as I could get my money from the old lady, as I wished to return to my friends below Columbus, Mississippi. ' ' The foregoing is all I know of the Farring- tons or the express robberies. (Signed), ''William Barton." It wiU be observed how completely this confes- sion corroborated our investigations, there being few new points learned. The information that Mrs. Farrington had possession of nearly all the stolen money was valuable, and I sent instruc- tions to Cottrell, at once, to attach all of her property in the name of the Southern Express 100 barton's confession. Company, if it could be done. But the most im- portant feature brought out was the hiding- place of Levi Farrington, which was given as Farmington, Illinois. It will be remembered that WiUiam found, at the store at Lester's Landing, some pieces of paper, upon which was scribbled, '^Kate Graham, Farmington, Illinois;" that I sent a detective to that place to see Mrs. Graham ; that the latter answered, with every evidence of truthfulness, that she did not know Russell, Clark, or Barton ; and that the clue was dropped immediately. From Barton, however, William learned that Mrs. Kate Graham was a cousin of the Farringtons, and that, being a highly respect- able and conscientious woman, she knew nothing of their aliases, nor of their crimes. It was there that Levi Farrington had gone to hide. Barton's confession was made on the fourteenth, and William instantly sent me a cipher dispatch con- taining the important features of it. By the evening train of that day, my other son, Eobert A. Pinkerton, took passage for Farmington, ac- companied by Detective W. T. Brown, of my force. They arrived there about noon the next day, and soon learned that Levi Farrington was staying with his relatives. Having presented letters of introduction to one or two influential men, Robert obtained an introduction to the city marshal, who promised to give all the aid in his power to arrest Farrington. About two o'clock they saw the latter coming down the street, and, by previous arrangement, barton's confession. 101 Eobert allowed Levi to pass him, both walking toward Brown and the marshal. Levi Farring- ton was a very powerful man, standing six feet in his stockings, with a frame and muscles in proportion to his size. Eemembering the desper- ate character of the man, Eobert did not deem it advisable to give him any chance to draw a weapon or show fight; he therefore followed Farrington closely until he was about ten feet from the marshal, and then, springing at him, he pinioned the desperado's arms by clasping him tightly around the body just at the elbows. Farrington did not stop to question the cause of this proceeding — he knew the reason of his seiz- ure well enough — but, gathering his whole strength, he made one jump away from the two officers who were approaching in front, and landed nearly in the middle of the street, taking Eobert along with him. Eobert clung to him hke a vise, however, and before he could make another such an effort, the other two were upon him. A terrible struggle now ensued in the street, during which both Eobert and Brown were badly bruised by being rolled upon and kicked by their powerful prisoner. Eobert knew that Far- rington was desperate enough to fight to the bitter end, and that he would kill as many as he could before being killed himself; to release his arms, therefore, would enable him to draw a weapon, as he was undoubtedly Avell armed, hence Eobert never relaxed his hold. Having a profes- sional pride in securing his prisoner alive, more- 102 barton's confession. over, he did not wish to resort to extreme measures except to save the Hves of other persons, and, as a large crowd had gatJiered aromid the moment the struggle began, there would have been evident danger in allowing him an instant's freedom. Over and over they rolled together, therefore, Farrington striving with all his strength to break Eobert's clasp upon his arms, while the other two officers were doing their best to pinion his legs. After a ten minutes' struggle, they succeeded at length in holding him down and sitting upon his legs until he could be tied with ropes. By this time, the whole party were pretty thoroughly exhausted, but, after resting a few minutes to recover their breath, the officers got handcuffs on their prisoner's wrists, and took him to the rail- road station, where he was searched. Little money was found on his person, but he had a large revolver, two Derringer pistols, and a large dirk concealed about him. He was then placed in the freight office, while Brown and Mr. Graham, Mrs. Kate Graham's husband, went to the latter's house to get Levi's baggage. On their return, the whole party took passage for Chicago, where they did not arrive until next day, owing to the failure to make connections. In Levi's valise were found two revolvers, some jewelry, and a very large sum of money. They arrived so late on Saturday that there was no train for Cairo before the following even- ing, and meantime the prisoner required the most careful watching, as none of our handcuffs ba^rton's confession. 103 were large enough to fit his wrists without cut- ting into the flesh. Eobert and Brown were com- pletely prostrated by the strain upon their muscles and the injuries they had received, so that they felt the effects of the struggle for several days. The moment that Eobert arrived in Chicago with his prisoner, the latter was taken to the First Precinct pohce station, where he was placed in a cell for safe keeping. During the afternoon it was learned that h'e had sent for a lawyer to obtain a writ of habeas corpus. The arrest had been made without any warrant, and no requisi- tion had been obtained for use in Illinois, as I had expected to capture all three of the men in Mis- souri. Should Farrington succeed in getting the desired writ, I should be forced to give up my hold upon him, and, before the requisition of the Governor of Tennessee upon the Governor of II- hnois could be received, he would be probably beyond the reach of pursuit. I therefore procured a closed vehicle and took the prisoner out for a drive, carefully bound, with two reliable men as guards. The afternoon was thus spent, and, after dark, there being no longer any object in driving around the suburbs of the city, Farrington was taken to my office and kept all night. He behaved very well, and did not seem anxious to get away by force. He tried, however, to induce Robert to let him go, telling him that it would be worth a very large amount of money to him to do so. Finding his offers dis- regarded, he appeared to take his arrest very 104 A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. coolly, saying that he guessed he had money enough to see him through. On Sunday evening, Eobert and Brown took him to the railroad station, and the party em- barked for Cairo. CHAPTEE X. A terrible Struggle for Life or Death upon the Transfer- boat '''■Illinois.'''' — '■''Overboard!'^'' — One less Des- perado. — The Fourth and Last Robber taken. <^ AFTEE Barton had made his confession to William in St. Louis, the prisoners, Hillary Farrington and Barton, were kept separate, as the latter was afraid that Hillary would find some means of killing him. About midnight of Thursday, December fourteenth, they all took passage by railroad for Cairo, and there they im- mediately went on board the large transfer-boat to Columbus, Kentucky. All the detectives were thoroughly worn out from excitement and loss of sleep, but they did not for an insant relax their' vigilant watch upon their prisoners. William had been talking for some time with Hillary, trying to obtain a confession and to learn what had been done with the money secured at the two robberies. From the questions that William asked, Hillary soon learned, or surmised, that Barton had confessed. He was terribly enraged A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 105 at this, and without doubt he would hav^e killed Barton if he could have got at him; but being unable to do so, his fury was all turned upon his captors. My son hoped by threatening to have Mrs. Farrington arrested and imprisoned, to induce Hillary to give up his share of the plunder rather than have his mother punished. This threat seemed to infuriate him beyond anything, and he swore that he would have his revenge on William if he had to wait twenty years for it. After sitting sullenly tliinking on the subject for a time, he said he was cold, and wanted to get a drink. Wilham therefore offered to go with him into the bar-room, and they walked toward the forward end of the saloon, leaving Galway and Barton seated together. Connell had gone into the water-closet a few moments before, but, as there was a detective with each of the prisoners, no attempt at escape was anticipated. The steamer was the powerfully-built transfer- boat " Illinois," and she was running with great speed, her ponderous wheels revolving at an un- usually rapid rate. The bar-room was situated just forward of the saloon, after passing through the barber shop, and it could be entered from the saloon or through a door leading upon the guards, just forward of the paddle-box. As they were about to enter the barber shop from the saloon, Hillary drew back, saying that he did not want to go that way, as there were some men in that room whom he knew. They 5* 106 A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. therefore went out upon the guards to walk along to the outer door of the bar-room. The space was narrow, and the rail quite low, so that it would not have been at all difficult for a man to spring overboard, even though he were in irons. This idea occurred to William, but he did not trouble himself about it, since he knew that the heavy strokes of the paddle-wheel would instantly kill any one who might attempt such a thing. William wore a loose-fitting sack coat with large pockets, in one of which he carried a heavy army revolver, which he had taken from Hillary, his own revolver being in his belt. In walking it was his habit to put his hand on the butt of this army revolver, which protruded somewhat from the pocket. On reaching the door, however, he took his right hand from the pistol to turn the knob. This was a careless action, of which he never would have been guilty, had he been less fatigued, mentally and physically, but, being so used up as to act almost mechanically, his habit- ual though tfulness was momentarily absent, and he was caught off his guard for an instant in a manner which nearly cost him his life. It should be understood that the scene which ensued oc- curred so rapidly as to occupy less time in its passage than is required to read about it, and that during those few seconds a struggle of life and death was going on. Hardly had William's hand touched the door- knob ere he felt the pistol drawn out of his coat pocket. He knew there was but one person who A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 107 could have done it, and that person was a perfect devil thirsting for his blood. Turning like a flash, he seized Farrington by both wrists, just as the latter was trying to cock the pistol; then there was a terrible contest. The pistol was in Farrington's hands, which were held so close to- gether by the irons as to make it impossible to w^rench one aw^ay from the other; it was pointed directly at Wilham's head, and should Farring- ton succeed in cocking it, William's death would be instantaneous. All his energies, therefore, were directed tow^ard keeping Farrington's hands far enough apart to prevent him from drawing back the hammer. The space was too narrow to permit of such a struggle mthout one party or the other being forced back upon the rail, and, in a moment, William had lifted his lighter antago- nist from the deck, pressing him against the rail- ing, and at the same time shouting for assistance. In response to his call, Connell came running out in dishabille, with his pistol in one hand and his pantaloons in the other. At this moment the cold muzzle of the pistol was pressed against William's temple, and he heard the click of the hammer as his desperate prisoner succeeded in drawing it back. He made a violent plunge for- ward, ducking his head as he did so, and simulta- neously the pistol exploded close to his ear, the ball ploughing a little furrow in the scalp, while the pow^der scorched his neck and hair. Staggering back stunned and dizzy for a moment, he was caught by Connell, who asked whether he was 108 A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. much hurt. He soon gathered his senses, and, findmg his wound to be only trifling, he asked what had become of Farrington. Connell pointed overboard, and no further answer was necessary; no man dropping in front of those wheels could have lived for an instant, and, even had he not been struck, he could not have kept himself up in the rapid current then running filled with fine ice. By this time the bar-room, barber shop, and sa- loon had been emptied of their occupants, and the boat had been stopped to see whether the man could be picked up; but, as this was clearly hope- less, the trip was soon resumed. Connell's arrival had been most opportune for William, since he had caught the weapon the moment it was dis- charged, and succeeded in changing the course of the bullet sutliciently to save William's life. Thinking, however, that William had been killed, Connell had struck Farrington on the head Avith his pistol almost simultaneously with the explo- sion, and the blow, aided by the plunge which William made forward in endeavoring to dodge the pistol-shot, had sent Farrington over the rail into the water, where he was undoubtedly killed the next instant by the paddle-wheels. The fact of the man's death was so absolutely certain that no person could doubt it, if acquainted with the circumstances; yet there were not want- ing people who insinuated that he had been allowed to escape by jumping overboard and swimming ashore. The absurdity of such a story is manifest, for, even supposing that his irons had A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 109 been removed, and that he had escaped injury from the paddle-wheels, he never could have swam ashore at the spot where the affair occurred. The nearest point of the river bank was more than three hundred yards away, and the current at that place was running off the shore; besides, the night was very cold, and the water was covered with a film of ice, so that after five minutes' im- mersion in it, a man would have become wholly numbed and insensible. Barton was not at all surprised when he heard of Hillary Farrington's death, for he said that he knew Hillary so well that he had expected nothing else from the time he was taken; he was so desperate that his intention undoubtedly had been to have seized William and dragged him overboard; but, seeing the pistol, another idea had probably occurred to him. Barton said that had Hillary succeeded in killing William, he would have gone up to the pilot-house with the revolver, and forced the pilot to land him immediately; once on shore, his knowledge of the country would have enabled him to escape again. What- ever had been his plans, however, he had failed in his attempt at murder, and had paid the penalty of his rashness with his life. The rest of the party went on to Columbus, where they took passage for Union City, arriving there Friday morning. About this time, Mr. Ball, who had been sent to follow the wagon train of Mrs. Farrington, re- ported, after a silence of several days, that he had 110 A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. traced her into the Indian Territory. In point of fact, she was settled at Ash Grove, near Mount Vernon, in Greene County, Missouri, and had been there ever since Hillary and Barton had left her before their arrest at Durham's. It will thus be seen how fortunate it was that I had not trusted to Ball and Bledsoe to keep track of Mrs. Farrington, since they had utterly lost the trail, and had followed another set of wagons for sev- eral days as far as the Indian Territory ; when, probably suspecting that he had made a mistake. Ball telegraphed to the express company's officers for instructions. He was then ordered to return at once with Bledsoe, the whole party having been captured by that time. While speaking of Mrs. Farrington, I may as well give an account of all our dealings with her, irrespective of the chronological order of the story : Having received Barton's order upon her for all of the wagons and stock, and for five hundred and fifty dollars in money, Cottrell endeavored to attach her property in a civil suit. She insisted that she had none of Barton's money — indeed, that she had no money at all — and she refused to give up anything. At last, finding that he could not legally attach her property, Cottrell took the bold step of arresting her for receiving stolen goods. She was taken to Mount Vernon, where she engaged a lawyer to defend her, and then, of course, Cottrell was also obliged to employ a legal adviser. At length, a compromise was effected, A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. Ill by which Mrs. Farrington was allowed to retain a small portion of the property ; Cottrell then took possession of the remainder as agent of the express company, and Mrs. Farrington was dis- charged from custody. After selling some of the animals, Cottrell shipped all the remaining chat- tels to St. Louis, where the agent of the express company took charge of them. The two detec- tives then returned to Chicago, and no further attention was paid to Mrs. Farrington. On Saturday, after the arrival of William's party, with Barton, in Union City, Detectives Galway and Connell started out to arrest Bill Taylor, the fourth one of the party of robbers. This man was a long, lank, round-shouldered fellow, with putty face, long, straggling hair and beard, and a vacant expression of countenance, who hved by hunting and chopping wood, below Lester's Landing, in the vicinity of Reel's Foot Lake. William had been satisfied of his com- plicity in the robbery for some time previous to the arrest of the others, but he had not arrested him for the reason that he was sure of picking him up whenever he wished to do so ; and, know- ing Taylor to have been merely a weak accom- plice, he was anxious to secure the leaders in the crime first. Barton's confession made the sus- picion of Taylor's guilt a certainty, and so Gal- way and Connell were sent to arrest him.- At Mr. Merrick's they obtained a good guide, and four other citizens joined them, so that iiiey had quite a formidable party. After visiting sev- 112 A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. eral houses in the cane-brake, they learned where Taylor was staying, and, on going there, they saw him looking at them from a front window. Galway asked Taylor to come down a few min- utes to give them some information, and Taylor unsuspectingly complied. He had been allowed to go free so long, and had so often talked with William and others about the robbery, that he did not imagine their object on this occasion. On coming into the yard, therefore, he greeted the men cordially, supposing them to be a party scouting for the other robbers, of whose arrest he had not heard. When he saw a couple of navy revolvers close to his head, and heard an order to throw up his hands, he surrendered without a word. He was evidently badly frightened, but he would not confess having had any part in the robbery, and he refused to tell where his share of the money was concealed. He was placed on ConnelPs horse and taken to Merrick's, where another horse was obtained, and the party went on to Hickman; thence he was taken by wagon to Union City, arriving there about midnight of Saturday. Both Barton and Taylor were placed in rooms in the hotel, where they were carefully watched night and day by my detectives, the county jail being almost useless as a place for keeping prisoners. On learning that the whole party had been ar- rested, Taylor made a very full confession of all the circumstances connected with the robbery, and the movements of the robbers after it had A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 113 occurred. He confirmed Barton's account in every particular, but revealed nothing new of any im- portance. His share of the stolen money had been only about one hundred and fifty dollars, as Levi had made him believe that they had ob- tained only six hundred dollars in all. About fifty dollars were found on Taylor's person; the rest he had spent. He said that Levi Farrington had hidden all the checks, drafts, and unnegotia- ble paper underneath an old log in the woods, but that he could not tell where the log was, nor find it, since it was not marked in any way, nor had they taken any bearings by which to remem- ber it. He gave an account of the evening when Hicks, the tipsy planter, came to their camp-fire, which agreed exactly with the previous state- ments of Hicks and Barton; but one slight re- mark in his confession seemed to account for the fifth man mentioned by Hicks. Taylor said that during most of the time Hicks was at their camp, one or two of the party were lying on the ground with their feet toward the fire, and that there was a log of wood lying beside them. Now, it is probable that Hicks was just drunk enough to be unable to tell the difference be- tween a man and a log, especially as, in his de- scription of the men, he gave the appearance of Hillary Farrington twice as belonging to differ- ent persons. Hicks's vision was somewhat un- certain that night, evidently. 114: THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. CHAPTER XI. The last Scene iii the Drainci approaching, — A new Char- acter appears. — The Ciiizens of Union City suddenly see'in to have itnjyortant business on hand. — The Vigilantes and their Work. — Their Bullets and Judge Lynch administer a. quietus to Levi Farrington and David Towler. — Tlie End. THE last scene in this drama seemed about to end in the complete defeat of the whole gang of villains and the triumph of law and jus- tice, when a new character came upon the stage, and the curtain fell upon a bloody tragedy. That substantial justice was done cannot be denied, though the manner of its execution was beyond and outside all forms of law. It was a striking instance of the manner in which an outraged community, particularly in the West and South, will arrive at a satisfactory settlement of import- ant questions without the intervention of courts, juries, or lawyers. The court of Judge Lynch makes mistakes occasionally, but it rarely ad- mits of an appeal from its decision. Robert arrived in Union City with Levi Far- rington on Monday, December eighteenth, and he took his prisoner to the hotel for safe keeping, with the others. They were kept in separate rooms, and a detective remained with each of them constantly. William spent several hours with Levi Farrington, trying to induce him to THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. 115 tell where he had hidden the stolen papers, and also what he had done with his share of the money, of which he had undoubtedly retained the greater part. Finally he agreed to return all the papers, and about twenty-five hundred dollars besides, on condition that he should receive a sentence of only five years in the penitentiary on entering a plea of guilty. Having agreed to this arrangement, William went to his room, which w^as a large one, with several beds, occupied by Eobert, Brown, and Connell. As the men of my force were all pretty well used up, Taylor and Barton were placed in the same room, with Gal- way guarding them, while Farrington, being such a desperate fellow, was put in another room, with three of the Union City policemen as guards. Soon after the arrival of Robert with Levi Far- rington, a man, named David Towler, tried to get admission to Farrington's room. On being denied, he was very insolent, and he insisted on seeing Farrington alone. Finding that this would not be permitted, he went away cursing the officers and swearing to be revenged. His actions naturally attracted the attention of the police, and caused him to be regarded with a great deal of suspicion, as a probable member of the Far- rington party of robbers. About eleven o'cLock that night, a policeman, named Benjamin Kline, discovered this man Towler with a drawn revol- ver, skulking behind a car standing on the side track near the depot. He immediately called for 116 THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. the railroad company's night watchman, and the two approached the thief to arrest him. The man instantly shot Kline through the lungs, and then shot Moran, the watchman. Kline's wound was mortal, and he died in a few minutes, while Moran was supposed to be fatally hurt also. The pistol-shots quickly drew a crowd, and a few determined men gave chase to the murderer. After quite a long pursuit he was captured, and brought back to the station where Kline had just died. A justice of the peace held a preliminary examination at once, and the prisoner, David Towler, was held for murder, without bail. He was known to be a low, desperate fellow, who had been imprisoned for horse -stealing and other kindred crimes, until he was regarded almost as an outlaw. He had long lived near Eeel's Foot Lake, and while there he had become acquainted with the Farringtons. That their friendship was more than that of two casual acquaintances was shown by an important circumstance discovered by William. It will be remembered that when Levi Farrington stopped in Cairo to send eight hundred dollars to his mother, he purchased two of the largest-sized Smith & Wesson revolvers. They were exact fac-similes of each other, and were numbered 1,278 and 1,279 respectively. At the time of Levi's arrest, only one of these revol- vers was found, and he said that he had given away the other to a friend, retaining number 1,279 himself. When Towler was captured, William happened to notice that his revolver was THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. Ill similar to the one Levi had carried. This would have been nothing to be remarked under ordinary circumstances, since there were, undoubtedly, many of these revolvers in use, all exactly alike except in number ; but Wilham connected this man Towler's appearance in Union City with the arrival of the express robbers, and the new revol- ver caught his eye at once. On closely examining it, his suspicions were fully confirmed : it was mimftered 1,278, and was, without question, the mate to Levi's, bought by him in Cairo and given to Towler. When this news became known to the throng of citizens whom the shooting of Khne and Moran had drawn together, the feehng against all the prisoners became intense, and when Towler was committed by the justice to the guard of the men who were watching Levi, the citizens began to depart very suddenly, as if they either had im- portant business elsewhere, or were in a hurry to get home. By midnight the town was quiet, and after a visit to the guards, to caution them to be extra vigilant, William and Kobert retired to their room, together with Brown and Connell. Young Kline, w^hom Towler had murdered, was very highly esteemed in Union City, and his death at the hands of an outlaw would have aroused deep indignation at any time ; but just now there were additional reasons why the affair should ex- cite a desire for summary vengeance upon his assassin. It had been shown that Towler must have formerly been on intimate terms with the 118 THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. Farringtons, and these latter were well known as desperadoes, whose hand was turned against every man; hence, the crimes of the whole party were considered as a sort of partnership affaii*, for which each member of the firm was individually liable. But, besides the natural indignation of the law-abiding citizens for the crimes committed by these men, there was a widespread sense of insecurity so long as they were in that vicinity. Towler had remarked, when captured, that he would soon be out again, and all the prisoners bore themselves with an air of bravado, as if they had no fear nor expectation of punishment. It was beheved that a, number of friends of the gang among the desperadoes living in Nigger- Wool Swamp and near Eeel's Foot Lake intended to at- tempt the rescue of the whole party of express robbers, before they could be consigned to a secure place of confinement. The citizens who had risked their lives to capture Towler and the others, who had turned out in time to see poor Kline die in agony, were determined that nothing should occur to prevent justice from reaching the crim- inals, and exacting the fullest penalty for their numerous crimes; hence the sudden departure of the throng who had attended Towler's preliminary examination before the justice. They did not go to their homes, but gathered in a secluded place, and formed a Committee of Safety. The question as to what course would best protect the lives and property of the community was then dis- cussed, and a conclusion was soon reached, with- out a dissenting voice. THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. 119 Throughout the town all was hushed in the usual stillness of a winter's night; no lights were burning anywhere, save in an occasional sick- chamber, and sleep seemed to have fallen ahke upon the just and unjust. In one room of the hotel were Barton and Taylor, guarded by Gahvay and an employe of the express company, while near by was the room where Levi Farrington and David Towler were watched by three of the city policemen. A dim hght burned in each room, and, while the guards paced the floor in their stocking feet, the prisoners lay on their beds in deep slumber. Not a memory of the past, full as it was of scenes of crime and blood, came to break their repose; not a thought of the future, with its possibilities of punishment, caused them to lose one moment of their customary rest. Fear they had never known; remorse was long since forgotten; unconscious or careless of their im- pending doom, they slept the night away. About two o'clock there was a stealthy gather- ing of masked men at the door of the hotel, and, at a given signal from the leader, a certain num- ber slipped up-stairs with httle noise, and filled the corridor from which the prisoners' rooms opened. So sudden was their appearance and so quiet their approach that even the wakeful guards scarce heard them until the doors were forced open. Then the pohcy of silence was dropped, and a rush upon the guards was made. A battery of pistols suddenly confronted them, and, as resist- ance was clearly impossible, an unconditional 120 THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. surrender was at once made. The bursting in of the doors awakened WiUiam and Eobert, who hastily sprang up, and, without stopping to put on any clothing, opened their door, pistol in hand. This move, however, had been anticipated by the vigilantes, and a dozen or more pistols were thrust in their faces as they appeared in the doorway. ^'Go back, Pinkerton, we don't want to hurt you," said one of the men outside, and they were pushed back into the room, while the door tn^s hastily closed in their faces. To resist such a body with the few men at his command, William knew, would be suicidal, and he did not especially care to sacrifice himself in the interest of such a villainous band as those whom the vigilantes were seeking. The four de- tectives, therefore, dressed themselves and re- mained in their room awaiting further develop- ments. Having overpowered the guards, the leader of the vigilantes ordered the removal of Towler, and, as the latter was hustled out of the door, Levi Farrington knew that his hour had come. Stand- ing up and facing the remainder of the crowd, who had withdrawn to the further side of the room, he defied them all, and told them to fire away. A volley of pistol-shots was the reply to his words, and a rattling fire continued for two or three minutes; when it ceased, Levi Farring- ton was no more, his body having been struck by more than thirty balls, almost any one of which would have been instantaneously fatal. His THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. 121 body was left where it fell, and the room was soon deserted as the party hastened after the de- tachment which had Towler in charge. The whole affair was over in ten minutes, and when the detectives again left their room none of the masked party were to be seen. Levi Farring- ton's body was f omid in his room, but no trace of Towler could be discovered. Finding that the excitement was over, the detectives returned to bed, leaving Barton and Taylor still carefully guarded. The former had slept through the con fusion and noise without even a start or restless movement, but Taylor was terribly frightened, and he fully expec*ted to be lynched also. The next morning at breakfast, William was informed that the body of Towler had been found hanging to a tree near the graveyard, and, on going to the spot, they found him as represented. At the coroner's inquest little testimony could be obtained further than that one man had been shot to death and the other hung by parties unknown, and the verdict was rendered accordingly. There was naturally considerable excitement over the affair for two or three days, but the general ver- dict was, ^'Served 'em right." However violent had been their taking off, there were few who did not feel that society demanded their death, not only as a punishment for their past crimes, but as a means of security in the future. Be- lieving that a sentence to the penitentiary was wholly inadequate, and that their escape there- from was not only possible, but probable, the cit- 6 122 THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. izens preferred to take no risks of future rob- beries and murders by these desperadoes, and they therefore took the most effectual method of preventing their occurrence. Their action was illegal, it is true, but then it was just — which is a mure important consideration sometimes. On the following Friday, Barton and Taylor had their preliminary hearing before a justice, when they waived examination, and were com- mitted for trial in default of bail in the sum of ten thousand dollars each. Upon the representa- tion to the justice that the county jail was an unsafe place to confine the prisoners, permission was obtained to remove them to the jail in Mem- phis; the proper papers were made out, and the transfer was made under WiUiam's management. The death of Levi Farrington made the recovery of the missing checks, papers, and money an im- possibility, since neither Barton nor Taylor were able to conduct the officers to the place where they were hidden. Barton gave the company a bill of sale of the goods in the store at Lester's Landing, however, and an assignment of all debts due the firm, from which about five or six hun- dred dollars were eventually realized. Eobert and Brown attended to this matter and retui'ned to Chicago. William was on duty until the two remaining prisoners were safely lodged in jail in Memphis, and then, having settled up all the business of which he had had charge, he also re- turned home. At the next term of court in Obion County. THE LAST SCENE IN THE DRAMA. 123 Tennessee, Barton and Taylor pleaded guilty of grand larceny, and were each sentenced to five years' confinement at hard labor in the peniten- tiary. Thus, out of a party of four engaged in this robbery, two were finally brought to trial and appropriately punished, while the other two would have been so punished also, had not a higher penalty been demanded by the circum- stances of their cases, aggravated by their own brutal and revengeful dispositions. No reminis- cence in my experience shows a more striking illustration of the certainty of retribution for crime than does the career and fate of these out- laws of the Southwest. THE END. DON PEDRO AND THE DETECTIVES. CHAPTER I . A Fraudulent Scheme contemplated. — A Dashing Peru-' man Don and Donna. — A Regal Forger. — Mr. PinJcerton engaged hy Senator Muirhead to unveil the Mystery of his Life. — The Don and Donna Morito arrive at Gloster. — ^^ Personnel of Gloster'^s ^^ First Families.'''' THE history of crimes against prosperity is of vital interest to the public. The ingenuity of thieves, burglars, forgers, and confidence men is active and incessant, so that their plans are often successful even against the experience and precautions of men of the most wary and cautious character. This seems to be especially true when the amounts at stake are large, for petty attempts to defraud are so frequent, that when a criminal plays for a large sum, the suspicion of the capi- talist is wholly allayed by the improbability that a mere swindler should undertake an operation of such magnitude. Indeed, in many cases the cupidity of the victim is so great that the sharper hardly offers the bait ere it is swallowed by some confiding simpleton. Hence, as a warning for the future, the lessons of past frauds possess no small degree of interest and value to the world ; [125] 126 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. and as there is no portion of society free from the depredations of these schemers, their varioas wiles and snares cannot be exposed too often. More than twenty years ago, the city of Gloster was one of the most thriving cities of the West. Controlhng the interior trade to a large extent, its interests were of the most varied cha- racter, and its inhabitants were already distin- guished as being more cosmopolitan than those of any other city in the Union, except New York. They had imbibed, perhaps, some of the genius of the prairies, and their scorn of petty methods of doing business, their breadth of charity and hearty hospitality, were as boundless as the great plains gf which the city was the business center at that time. Among such a people, a plausible adventurer had a fine field of operation, and I was not surprised when I was asked to go to Gloster in the latter part of the winter to investi- gate the character of some persons who were living there. The application came from Senator Muirhead, a man whom I had long known, both in his pub- lic and private life. His suspicions were of the vaguest possible character, and a hasty examina- tion of the case failed to convince me that they were well founded; yet he was convinced in his own mind that there was a fraudulent scheme in contemplation, and his positive conviction had great weight with me. The Senator's interest in the case had led him to make extensive inquiries into the antecedents of these parties, but he was A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. 127 unable to trace thein further back than their arri- val in New York, several months before. There they had suddenly appeared in society with a great display of wealth, stating that they had been traveling in Europe for some time, and were gradually making their way back to Peru, where they lived. Don Pedro P. L. de Morito and his wife, having enjoyed life in JSTew York for several months, now proposed to spend at least a year in Gloster, and it was this couple whose character was suspected by the Senator. Indeed, he felt sure that, at least, they were traveling under as- sumed names, and certain coincidences led him to believe that they were adroit swindlers of the most capable, dangerous type. He had discovered a chain of circumstantial evidence which needed only one link to make a clear connection between certain crimes and these fascinating Peruvians, and it was for the purpose of discovering this link that he had requested my aid. In brief, his suspicions were, that after innumerable frauds in other countries, this plausible pair had settled in Gloster to add to their ill-gotten wealth by some new scheme of viUainy. His theoretic history of the man, derived from various sources, mainly newspapers in which crimes had been described bearing the same style of workmanship, was as follows : Jose Gomez, a cadet of the ancient Brazilian family of that name, began life with a fine phys- ique, ample mental endo^vments. and a high so- cial position. He was the heir- expect ant of a 128 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. valuable estate, and no pains were spared upon his education. As he grew to manhood, how- ever, his habits became such as to excite the gravest apprehensions as to his future, and by the time he was thirty years of age he Avas a reckless libertine, gambler, and spendthrift. Find- ing that his source of supphes was about to be cut off by his family, he obtained large sums of money by means of forged paper, with which he fled from Eio Janeiro to Lima, Peru. His where- abouts were not discovered for a long time, but when the information was received, the Brazilian Government made an effort to obtain his extra- dition. He was living in fine style in Lima, un- der the assumed name of Juan Sanchez, and, in some way, he was warned of his danger. Before any steps had been taken to expose or arrest him, he perpetrated another series of forgeries, by which he obtained a large amount of money, and then wholly disappeared. The aggregate of his forgeries was so great that a considerable no- toriety attached to the case, and the facts were pubhshed in full in the leading newspapers of this country. About the time of the great rush to California, after the gold discoveries there, a gentleman known as Don Jose Michel appeared in San Fran- cisco, where he lived in regal splendor; indeed, his extravagance was so great as to make him conspicuous even among the reckless throng who filled the Golden City. After wasting a fortune with a prodigal hand, however, he suddenly van- i A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. 129 ished, and, although little was known positively on the subject, it was commonly understood that he had swindled a number of bankers and cap- itahsts by worthless notes, drafts, and checks, many of which were wholly or partly forged. The men thus defrauded kept the matter quiet, both because they were ashamed to acknowledge how easily they had been imposed upon, and be- cause they hoped to facilitate the capture of the criminal by working in secret. The incidents were related to Senator Muirhead in a casual con- versation with a friend who had recently re- turned from the Pacific coast, and the description given of Don Jose Michel taUied exactly with that of Juan Sanchez and Jose Gomez. By an odd coincidence, the month after the de- parture of Don Jose Michel from San Francisco, a briUiant gentleman of nearly the same name appeared in Quito, Ecuador, where he pursued a course so exactly similar in character to that of Gomez, Sanchez, and Michel, that it was not diffi- cult to imagine that that ubiquitous person was identical with the elegant Don Pedro Michel who created such a brief excitement in Quito, termi- nating with forgery and a hasty flight. About two years previous to the time of which I write, a wealthy Brazilian arrived in London, and became a great favorite in society. His wife was a beautiful Spaniard, and her exquisite taste, courtesy, and knowledge of the world were highly appreciated by the select circle of aristocracy into which she and her husband were soon admitted. 6* 130 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. Don Jos6 Arias was the name of this gentleman, and he was soon known in nearly every drawing- room in Belgravia. He was introduced by the Brazilian charge d'affaires, in the absence of the Minister Resident, and this semi-official guarantee of his position in Brazil gave him a passport every- where. It was not strange, therefore, that such a handsome, refined, and agreeable couple should be cordially and hospitably received, especially as their wealth was undoubtedly enormous, while their manners showed that they had been born in the purple of aristocracy. It was a sad shock to society when it was learned that Don Jose and Donna Maria had absconded suddenly, taking with them about fifty thousand pounds sterling, ob- tained by forgery. It was then learned that the Brazilian legation had been the victim of forged documents also, though the intimate acquaintance of Don Jose with the policy and statecraft of Brazil in many important affairs had contributed largely to his success in deceiving the young diplomat who was temporarily in charge of the legation. It was not until more than a year after this oc- currence that Don Pedro P. L. de Morito arrived in New York, with his beautiful wife, Donna Lucia. They did not stop long in New York after their arrival, but spent the latter part of the sum- mer in the White Mountains in a very retired manner, although they lived in the best style that the place afforded. In August, they made a hasty trip to Washington and back to New A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. 131 York again, where they began a more pretentious mode of Hfe than they had chosen theretofore. Don Pedro kept a yacht elegantly fitted up, and his horses were the best that money could ob- tain. His bachelor suppers were models of epi- curean perfection, and when his wife gave a re- ception, everything was in the best taste and style. While visiting Washington, Don Pedro had met Senator Muirhead, who had gone there for a few days on public business, and the ac- quaintance was renewed in New York, where the Senator had some private interests demanding his attention. Something had led the Senator to connect Don Pedro with Gomez, Sanchez, Michel, and Arias, and though the idea was a vague one in his mind, it was sufficiently fixed to cause him to institute inquiries into Senor Morito's antece- dents. As previously stated, nothing could be learned of him previous to his arrival in New York, and the only circumstance wiiich could possibly be regarded as suspicious was, that both in Washington and New York he had avoided meeting the Peruvian Minister and other fellow- countrymen. The peculiarity of the case interested me, and, after a long conversation with the Senator, I agreed to unravel the slight mystery surrounding the parties, and to make a complete review of their past history so far as it might be possible to obtain it. No harm could result from such a course, whether they were honest or the reverse; and so, having decided upon a simple plan, I re- 132 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. turned to Chicago to select the persons to repre- sent me in Gloster. My prehminary survey of the field had brought me into contact with many of the most fashion- able people in Gloster; and, as I foresaw that my operatives would be called upon to move in the best society while engaged in this investigation, I obtained as extended information about the mem- bers of the creme de la creme as possible. Since many of them will figure conspicuously in the incidents of this story, a brief description of the leaders will be necessary. One of the wealthiest men of Gloster was a bachelor, named Henry 0. Mather. He was about fifty years old, but he still retained much of the fire of youth, and he was one of the most popular members of society. At an early day in the history of the Great West he had settled at Gloster, where he had invested largely in unim- proved lands; and, by forethought and good judgment in his speculations, he had rapidly in- creased his property in extent and value, until, at this time, he was one of the few millionaires west of the Alleghanies. About three years pre- vious to the time of which I write, he had in- vested largely in the new railroad schemes then organized, and his importance as a railway mag- nate was recognized throughout the whole coun- try. His reputation as a shrewd business man made him a species of authority among his fel- low-townspeople, and few persons would have ventured to distrust the safety of any enterprise 1 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. Ibo in which he was actively interested. Indeed, so complete was the confidence of most men in him, that it was not considered necessary in buying real estate to trace the title further back than to Henry 0. Mather, a deed from him being consid- ered as secure as a patent from the government. Personally he was a very agreeable man, being gallant without affectation, and brilliant without priggishness. His figure was of medium height, compact' y built, and he carried himself with an erect bearing and springy gait, which greatly aided in deceiving strangers as to his age. His hair was brown, turning gradually to gray, and he wore full gray side- whiskers. His features were quite pleasing except the mouth, which was rather large and sensual. On the whole, he was a man with uncommon ability to please when he felt disposed to exert himself, and his great wealth was an additional charm which society was not slow to recognize. He owned a large house, occupying the whole of a square in the most fashionable part of the city, and his sister- in-law was installed as its mistress. Kichard Perkins was an Englishman who had long lived in Gloster, where he owned the largest brewery in the West. He was of middle height, but being quite fleshy, his gait was a kind of waddle — the reverse of elegant or dignified. His smooth, round, jovial face was strongly expres- sive of an appreciation of the good things of this world, and he rarely denied himself any indul- gence that passion craved and that money could procure. xH A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. It was while Mather and Perkins were on their annual visit to New York that they met Seiior Morito and his beautiful wife, Donna Lucia. The distinguished foreigners soon made a com- plete conquest of both the western gentlemen, who invited them in the most cordial manner to visit Gloster at their earliest convenience. The delights of New York society were enjoyed for several months by these wealthy and aristo- cratic foreigners before they were able to keep the promise made to Mather and Perkins ; for they were entertained by the old Knickerbocker families of Manhattan in a princely style. They were the guests of the most exclusive circles of the city, and everywhere they displayed such perfect courtesy, good breeding, and savoir faire, that it was evident they were accustomed to wealth and high social position. They had ele- gant apartments in the leading hotel of the city, and their cash expenditures showed the posses- sion of an unlimited fortune. They finally tore themselves away from New York, arriving in Gloster during the comparatively dull season of Lent. Here their fame had become known in society through the incessant praises of Mather and Perkins, and their reception into the highest circles was coincident with their arrival. The unanimous verdict of those who made their ac- quaintance was, that Gloster had never enter- tained two more thoroughly pleasing guests than the Don and Donna Morito. Don Pedro was aboui forty years of age, but A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. 135 he had all the brilliancy and ease of a man of thirty. His fi'gnre was very fine, being slightly above the medium height, erect, compact, and muscular, nis hands and feet were small and elegantly shaped, but were not effeminate. His rich oliye complexion was in admirable harmony with his soft black eyes and deep red lips. His face was a good oval, without being unmanly, and his black, glossy hair was beautifully curly and wavy. He wore side-whiskers and a long moustache, beneath which his smile, the ladies said, was faultless. Like most South Americans, he seemed too lazy to be unamiable, and his gen- eral style was that of a man who, having pos- sessed wealth always, would be perfectly lost without it. Donna Lucia was a fine specimen of Spanish beauty, education, and refinement. It was easy to see that she possessed more force of character than her husband, and that her passionate nature was like a volcano, which might burst forth at any time, driving her to the most dangerous courses if it took possession of her. A detailed description of such a woman is an impossibility. In general, she was a beauty of the Andalusian type, as nearly perfect in form and feature as can be conceived; but her expression was of an infi- nite variety of characters, each one giving the precise shade of meaning most applicable to the time, place, person, and sentiment. In short, she was so m^ar perfection that nearly all the men she met were in love with her, and nine-tenths of 136 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. them more than half believed that she regretted her marriage for their sake. Nevertheless, she kept all admirers at a certain distance, which only bewitched them the more. # At the time of which I write, Don Pedro was so much pleased with Gloster, that he had rented a large residence in a very fashionable locality, and was making preparations to spend a year there. The charming manner in which they had entertained their friends at the hotel was ample guarantee that when the Don and Donna were established in their new home, they would sur- pass anything in the way of festivities ever seen in Gloster; hence, all the best society of the place rejoiced greatly at the arrival of this new con- stellation in the social firmament. Among the bachelors most noted in salons and parlors of the city were Daniel McCarthy and Charles Sylvanus, the former a lawyer, and the latter a journalist. McCarthy was an Irishman, of bi'illiant talents and ready wit. Although still comparatively a young man, he was the county prosecuting attorney, and was considered one of the foremost lawyers of the city. He was very good-looking and good-hearted, and his natural drollery made him a most entertaining companion. While speaking in court, and often in society, he had a habit of running his fingers through his long, thick hair, which he would also, at times, throw back with a peculiar jerk of his head. This habit was especially frequent when he bo- came deeply interested in his subject, and the A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. 137 spectators could always tell whether Dan was doing his best, even when they could not hear his words. Sylvanus was editor and part proprietor of an evening newspaper. As a journalist he was not above mediocrity, but he was well received in society, where even a moderate allowance of brains will suffice for success. A conspicuous member of society and a pillar of the Swedenborgian church was Mr. John Pres- ton, a banker and capitalist. With a book of Swedenborgian revelations in one hand and a bundle of tax titles in the other, he would fre- quently orate to a crowd of unbelievers, from a text drawn from his book, in a manner calculated to quite convert them, were it not that they knew he was only working up a fresh head of steam to enable him to grind the faces of the poor upon whose property he held tax titles. In fact, many people were of the opinion that this man was a dangerous character, in spite of his pretense of piety, his ostentatious charity, and his assump- tion of the role of a professional philanthropist. They insinuated that a man could afford to give largely to an astronomical society, a college, an academy of sciences^ and other objects of educa- tion, when he had appropriated many thousands of dollars belonging to the school fund to his own use; that he could easily contribute freely to his church, when he used the church property in his own interests and managed the society to suit himself ; and that there was no great amount of 138 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. philanthropy in giving a few hundred dollars to miscellaneous charities, when he made ten times the amount in shaving notes at usurious interest and acquiring land by means only one remove from actual theft; these things were becoming so notorious that a man of less indomitable brass than John Preston would have long since been sent to Coventry, if not to jail; but he revolved on his own center, subhmely indifferent to the attacks of his enemies, for whom, by the way, he used to pray with most fervent unction. His wife was a pleasant, motherly woman, who gave liberally to charitable objects, and who regarded her husband as one of the saints of the earth. There were three children — a young man and two girls. The former gave no promise of either ability, probity, or ambition, and there was about him a noticeable air of deficiency in both mental and moral worth. The girls were commonplace nonentities, with no pretensions to beauty or grace. One of the most prominent citizens of Gloster was a wealthy tanner, named Charles H. Sanders. Having foreseen at an early day the great pro- gress which the city would make in population and importance, he had invested largely in tracts of unimproved land, which he held against all offers to purchase until his real estate was more extended and valuable than that of any other property-owner in the city. Personally he was very thin and angular, with such a sickly look that his death seemed possible any day, though A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. 139 his constitution was of that character which might hold out much longer than that of a more robust type. His wife was a very charming woman, and they had two young daughters, who gave promise of consideral3le beauty when they should arrive at maturity. Mr. Thomas Burke and his wife were, perhaps, the most general favorites in Gloster society. Mr. Burke was tall and well built, and his large head and commanding appearance made him con- spicuous in any group. He had a broad, high forehead, heavy eyebrows, deep-set black eyes, a Eoman nose, and a heavy black moustache, which completely covered his mouth . His straight, black hair, high cheek-bones, and swarthy complexion, gave him slightly the look of having Indian blood in his veins; but the rest of his features were un- mistakably Celtic, and the moment he spoke, the Irishman stood confessed. He was a man of such extensive reading and general information that few persons excelled him in conversation. His wife was also cultivated and intelligent, so that either as guest or hostess she was equally agree- able and popular. They had a large family of bright and interesting children. One of the social curiosities of the city was known as Deacon Humphrey. He was a striking instance of the importance which self-complacent mediocrity can obtain in a newly-settled com- munity, in spite of ponderous stupidity. His large head gave him his only excuse for profess- ing to have brains, and his air of preoccupation 140 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. made him in appearance the personification of wisdom; indeed, a witty journahst, who had sounded the depths of Humphrey's ignorance, once said that ^'no man could be as wise as Humphrey looked.^'' No better condensation of this character in a few words could be made. He was part proprietor of a morning newspaper, and at times, to the dismay of the other stockholders, he aspired to the editorial tripod. The mighty lucubrations of his intellect were generally as- signed to the waste-basket, and in the city it was well known that his influence in the columns of the paper was absolutely nothing, though in the country he was still regarded with awe by the bucolic mind. He was generally known as *' Deacon " from his honorary occupancy of that office in a Presbyterian church. Mrs. Humphrey was seldom seen, being in poor health almost con- stantly, but their only daughter, Jennie, was one of the foremost of the fashionable of the dilet- tanti of the city. Indeed, it was confidently an- ticipated that, some day. Miss Jennie would burst forth as a full-blown authoress, and overpower an expectant public with the radiance of her intel- lect and the elegance of her style. No description of Gloster celebrities would be complete without that of Ethan Allen Benson, Esq., formerly Member of Congress, and late Minister Plenipotentiary at an important Euro- pean court. The suggestion having once been made to him by some waggish diplomat that he resembled the first Napoleon, he was ever after- A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. 141 •ward desirous of drawing attention to this fan- cied resemblance. He was a vain, fussy, conse- quential politician, whose principal strength w-as in the ward caucus and the saloon. Judge Peter B. Taylor was another old settler, and he was frequently seen in social circles in spite of his age. His forehead was very broad indeed, but his face tapered so rapidly to a pointed chin as to make his head wedge-shaped. He had coarse, faded hair, but no whiskers nor beard, and only a scrubby, gray moustache. He had a singular habit of working his eyes inde- pendently of each other, and the effect upon a stranger who was not aware of this pecuharity was sometimes startling. His mouth was quite large, one side appearing larger than the other, and his lower lip slightly protruded, giving him a very harsh and forbidding appearance. He had at one time occupied a seat on the judicial bench, but few persons could understand on what grounds he deserved the office, unless it were that people believed the adage about a poor law- yer making a good judge. He was quite w^ealthy, and his business was that of a money leaner and real estate speculator. He was considered to be very pious and charitable— on Sunday; during the rest of the week no Shylock ever demanded his pound of flesh more relentlessly than he his three per cent, a month. It was among a society of which the foregoing were shining lights, that I was to operate at the request of Senator Muirhead. On returning to 142 A FRAUDULENT SCHEME. Chicago from Gloster, I gave a great deal of thought to the case, for there was so httle to act upon that none of the ordinary plans could be depended upon. During his stay in this country, Don Pedro had apparently acted in a perfectly honorable manner toward every one, and it would be impossible to proceed against him le- gally in the United States for crimes committed elsewhere, until the aggrieved parties should take the necessary steps for his extradition ; with sev- eral of the countries in which he was supposed to have committed his crimes we had no extradition treaty, and nothing could be done here to arrest or punish him ; hence, the task of exposing his previous career might be fruitless, even though the Senator's suspicions should be confirmed in every particular. Nothing whatever could be adduced against his character since his arrival in the United States, and I was, therefore, confined to the prevention of future frauds rather than the detection of old ones. The primary object of my efforts was thus made to be the discovery of the Don's intentions, as, without some slight forecast of his plans, I might be unable to cir- cumvent them. Accordingly, I decided that I must furnish him with a friend who would be sufiiciently intimate with him to become his trusted companion and adviser. At the same time, it would be essential to learn as much as possible relative to the previous career of both the Don and Donna, for it might be desirable to use a little moral suasion with them by showing MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. 143 that their history was known. This plan would involve no injustice to them, for, if innocent of wrong-doing, they would never know that they had been under surveillance ; while, if guilty, they deserved no consideration. CHAPTER II. Madame Sevier, Wido^o, of Chicago, and 3fonsieur Lesparre, of JBordeaux, also arrive at Gloster. — Mr. Pinkerton, as a Laborer, anonous for a Job, inspects the Morito Mansion. — A Tender Scene, resulting in Profit to the fascinating Senora. — Madame Sevier is installed as a Guest at Don Pedro's. MY first action in this affair was to detail a man to '^shadow" Don Pedro and the Donna until the detectives chosen for the more difficult portions of the work should be in a posi- tion to take notice of all their movements. As three detectives would require some little prepa- ration to gain the position I desired them to fill, I hastened to select them and give them their instructions. For this mission I detailed a married couple, who had been several years in my employ. Mr. and Mrs. Rosel were natives of France, and as they had been constantly in my service almost from the time of their arrival in this country, I felt sure they would not be recog- nized as detectives by any one in the city of 144: MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. Gloster. They were people of more than average intelhgence and education, with a natural refine- ment which would be especially desirable in the prosecution of this case. In a few days all their preparations were completed, and they went to Gloster by different routes. Mrs. Rosel was not handsome, but she had a good figure, and she was very attractive, on ac- count of her dashing, spirited ways, and because she could assume a deep interest in every one whom she met. She spoke English with so slight an accent that it was only noticed as an added charm to her winning conversation. I instructed her to represent herself in Gloster as Madame Sevier, the widow of a lace merchant, lately of Chicago, where he had carried on a moderate business. His death had thrown his affairs into some confusion, but the estate would be settled up soon, leaving a comfortable fortune to his widow. Madame Sevier did not like the chmate of Chicago, and therefore she had decided to remain in Gloster until her business affairs were settled, when she would probably return to her relatives in France. I intended that she should mix in society as much as would be consistent with her character as a widow, and that she should endeavor to become intimate with Donna Lucia. Mr. Eosel was to make a slight detour, arriving in Gloster from the east. He would be known as Monsieur Girard Lesparre, and his ostensible character was to be that of a man of moderate MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. 145 capital from Bordeaux, looking for a favorable opportunity to invest some of his means in a profitable business. I followed the Rosels in a day or two, and found that Monsieur Lesparre was pleasantly located at a fashionable family hotel, while Madame Sevier had taken apartments in a stylish board- ing-house only a few doors from the handsome residence which the Moritos were to occupy. This was quite satisfactory, and I turned my attention to the examination of the reports made by my ' ^ shadow. " The reports were very monot- onous in character, except as evidences of the popularity of the Don and Donna. The dull days of Lent had just passed, and the close of the season was now more crowded with parties and balls than the earlier portion had been. The presence of two such distinguished guests as Don Pedro and Donna Lucia contributed largely to the reasons for this rush of gayety, and they were overwhelmed with visitors and invitations. Mr. Mather had set the example by giving a large dinner-party in their honor, followed in the even- ing by a grand ball; and they had so charmed the other leaders of society that no entertainment was considered complete without the presence of Don Pedro P. L. de Morito and his beautiful wife. On leaving my hotel to visit the house which Don Pedro was fitting up for his residence, I met Charlie Morton, the United States Commissioner of Gloster. Morton was a capable lawyer and a 7 146 MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. shrewd politician. He was equally attentive to ladies as to gentlemen, and it was well known that Charlie would never slight any one who could cast or influence a vote. His acquaintance extended through all classes, from the lowest to the highest, and few men were more generally popular. His powers of observation were only equaled by his tact, so that, while he saw all that went on about him, he never talked indis- creetly. He and I were quite intimate, and we chatted for some time about various people before I succeeded in bringing up the names of those in Gloster in whom I was just then most interested. '' I suppose you are quite glad that the gay sea- son is over, Charlie," I said, interrogatively. ^'As usual, you will not have many social events of any consequence after Lent, I presume? " '^Oh! yes, indeed," he replied; ^'we shall be more active in society for the next month or two than ever before. You see, we have two wealthy and aristocratic Peruvians visiting Gloster, and they are so fascinating that they have quite taken our people by storm. They have been accus tomed to the finest society of Europe and South America, so that we are put upon our mettle to show how well Gloster can compare in wealth, luxury, and refinement with older cities at home and abroad." ^^ Are they then such remarkable lions ? " I asked, '^or do people run after them simply be- cause they are rich foreigners ? " ■ ' Of course their wealth and foreign birth MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. 147 would cause many people to pay them attention," said Morton ; ^' but their popularity is something exceptional, and is undoubtedly due to their per- fect knowledge of all the courtesies and customs of modern society, to their charming manners, and largely to their personal good looks. Seilor Morito has fascinated all the ladies, while nearly every man in society is in love with the Senora." ^' Well, take care of yourself, my boy," I said, jokingly. "If the lovely Donna causes Charlie Morton to strike his colors, she must be danger- ous indeed." After leaving Morton, I sauntered along to the house which Don Pedro had rented, and which was now nearly ready for occupancy. It was a large residence, with ample grounds fronting on the principal avenue, and its imposing front of heavy columns gave it a striking appearance as compared with the more commonplace stone fronts around it. While I was glancing curiously about, a truck arrived laden with costly furniture. I was rather roughly dressed, and the driver asked me if I wanted a job of work. I accepted his offer to aid in carrying the furniture into the house, as I was anxious to examine the interior. After finishing the job, the furniture salesman took me over the house to show off the elegance with which it was decorated and furnished. It was certainly a model of good taste, while the paintings, statuary, frescoing, and articles of bijouterie were evidences of enormous expendi- tures. Having obtained a thorough knowledge 148 MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. of the plan of the house, I withdrew, receiving fifty cents for my labor. The time when Don Pedro was to occupy his residence was to be signalized by a grand recep- tion held therein, and the invitations were already out. Meantime entertainments were given by John Preston, Alexander Mclntyre, and Charles H. Sanders. The latter's reception was especially brilliant, and those who knew Mr. Sanders's par- simonious character wore much surprised at his profuse expenditure for the occasion. I soon afterwards obtained an explanation of this un- usual liberality, by hearing another banker casu- ally remark that Don Pedro had withdrawn a part of his funds from New York, and had de posited them in Mr. Sanders's bank. This gave me a hint, and I immediately acted upon it. Be- ing well acquainted with a number of bankers, I visited several of them, and talked about various business men of Gloster, as if I were desirous of getting information about their commercial stand- ing and credit. In each case I succeeded in learn- ing the extent to which Don Pedro had deposited money in bank. The total amount then due him by the three houses with whom he had made de- posits was about $17,000, although his original deposits had amounted to more than double that sum. Heavy drafts to pay his current expenses and to furnish his house had largely reduced his available cash, though he still had an ample sum on hand. Knowing how enormous his expenses were, I felt sure that he would reach the end of MK. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. 149 his bank account in a short time, unless he should have other funds, of whose existence I was un- aware. If this sum of seventeen thousand dol- lars represented his total capital, however, he would soon show whether he was what he claimed to be, or an adventurer; for, in the former case, he would draw money from his Peruvian estates, and, in the latter, he would ac- complish some great swindle. I was, therefore, anxious to put my detectives at work as quickly as possible to enable me to learn something defi- nite of his intentions. Madame Sevier was making quite rapid progress in her new quarters. Mrs. Courtney, the lady who kept the house, was a widow of some means, who took boarders to enable her to educate her children in the best manner. She was highly re- garded by every one, and her visiting-list included all the most fashionable people in the city. She soon became greatly interested in Madame Sevier, and through her assistance the Madame made the acquaintance of a number of the families living in the neighborhood. As the rage for for- eigners was at its height just then, Madame Sevier soon became highly popular, and she was invited to several entertainments, where she met Don Pedro and Donna Lucia. The latter, finding that Madame Sevier was to be her near neighbor in her new residence, became very intimate with her, especially as Donna Lucia was desirous of reviving her knowledge and practice of the French language. Consequently, when Don Pedro's ar- 150 MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. rangements were all completed and the new house occupied, Madame Sevier used to drop in for a few minutes' chat every day. As she was a very capable manager, she was frequently able to give Donna Lucia valuable hints about her household affairs, especially with reference to the approaching reception. Ever since the arrival of the Moritos, Mr. Heniy 0. Mather had been a constant attendant upon the Donna. His attentions had not been so pub- licly marked as to have created scandal; but he had been so assiduous in paying his regards, that he was much more intimate than Mrs. Grundy would have thought strictly proper. He was in the habit of calling very frequently, and he often took the Don and Donna out for a drive. Some- times the party would consist wholly of ladies, and occasionally the Donna accompanied him alone. In short, he became a sort of intimate friend of the family, welcome at all times, with- out the necessity of invitation or ceremony. One day, Madame Sevier went in to see Donna Lucia in the afternoon, and was told by the ser- vant that she would find the Donna in the hbrary. Without permitting the servant to announce her, she passed on toward the room mentioned ; but, as she approached the door, hearing voices with- in, she paused a moment to see who was with Donna Lucia. The room was in a very retired part of the house, and she was able to take a po- sition close to the partly open door without the probabiUty of being noticed by any one. She MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. 151 was thus enabled to overhear a highly interesting ( onversation between the Donna and Henry 0. Mather, who had evidently arrived only a mo- ment or two before her. ''You are not in good spirits to-day, Donna 1 Lucia ? " questioned Mather, sympathetically. ''No, Mr. Mather; I have my troubles at times, like other people, but I try not to let others see them." " Then you do not care for sympathy, Senora," said Mather, with a tender sigh ; " I see that you have been in tears, and it grieves me to think that I cannot save you from the painful things which cause you to cry. " " Oh ! Mr. Mather, I do appreciate your kind- ness, I assure you," said the Donna, also sighing deeply ; " I am almost tempted to ask your ad- vice, for I feel that you are truly my friend ; but I am afraid you will think I have been naughty in having exposed myself to such annoyances." "No, indeed, my dear Donna," replied the mil- honaire", quite enraptured at this evident token of her confidence in him; " I know that you are too lovely to be anything but an angel, and I shall be only too happy to give you advice upon any subject that you confide to me." As the conversation was becoming highly in- teresting, the tones of the parties being of a really lover-hke tenderness, Madame Sevier took a hasty glimpse through the door, and saw that she could watch as well as hsten, unperceived. Mather was standing beside the Donna, bending 152 MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. over her and looking into her face, while she had her head half turned away, as if in coy inde- cision. '' Well, Mr. Mather " ^' Why do you address me always so formally? Can you not call me Henry?" asked Mather, boldly. " How would it sound if any one should hear me ? " said the Donna, casting down her eyes and playing with her watch-chain. ' ' But when we are alone no one can hear you," replied Mather. "Won't you call me Henry when we have an occasional tete-d- Utef' ''Well, then you must be very discreet, Hen- ry," answered she, looking up, blushing and hes- itating as she spoke. "I will be discretion itself," said the now wholly infatuated Mather, with a look of triumph; and to show that he accepted the con- ditions of the agreement, he sealed it by raising her hand to his lips. "Oh! fie! fie!" she exclaimed; "is it thus that you show your discretion? I shall be obliged to retract my promise if you become so rash. Now, sit down beside me, and be more polite in future." " I will not be so hasty again, my dear Donna ; but my pleasure was so great that I was some- what beside myself. Now tell me what it was that caused your troubles." "Well, Mr. Math " MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. 153 (( No, no ; not ' Mr. Mather ; ' recollect your pi'omise," interrupted Mather, as he saw she hes- itated to call him by his first name. ''Well, then, Henry, I have been very thought- less and extravagant, and I do not know what to do. You see, I have always spent money for everything I needed without regard to cost ; for my own fortune was ample for everything, and Pedro would give me any amount that I might desire. But last month a draft for six thousand pounds, which was sent me by my trustees, was lost on the way, and so I have used up all my own funds. Having run up several large bills in New York, I asked Pedro to p^y them, and he did so; but he said that, having ordered his fac- tors to send him no more money until his arrival in Callao, he should be somewhat embarrassed until he heard from them again. His sudden determination to fit up and occupy a residence here has exhausted all his available funds except a few thousand dollars for current expenses, and he requested me not to make any large purchases until one of us should receive a remittance from our estates. Well, you see, I expected surely to have received a large sum before now, and so I made purchases without regard to consequences; the result is, that I am deeply in debt, my money has not arrived, and I am afraid to tell Pedro, because he will not forgive me for running in debt and disobeying him. Unfortunately, I have done both these things, and I am momentarily in fear that some of the bills will be sent to him 7* 154: MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. Now, my dear Henry, you see that I have good cause to look sad and cry." As she finished, the Donna began to whimper and put her handkerchief to her eyes in so touch- ing a manner that Mather was quite overpow- ered. The artistic expression with which she hastily called him her '^dear Henry" was the finishing touch to an already powerful attack, and he surrendered completely. *'My dear Donna," he exclaimed, seizing her hand in both of his, ''how glad I am that you confided in me. I will see that you are not troubled by another anxious thought in this mat- ter. Tell me how much you need to settle all your indebtedness." '' Indeed, Henry, I cannot let you do anything of the kind^" she protested, feebly. " Why, it is a very large sum in all, and it may be several months before I can repay you." "Now don't talk about payment, but just tell me how much you need," replied Mather. ' ' The large bills amount to over four thousand dollars, and there are a number of small ones which I have not figured up," she said, thought- fully. ' ' Well, then, I will bring you around five thousand dollars to-morrow, and you can pay the bills without any one knowing where the money comes from," said Mather, again kissing her hand. ''Oh! you dear, good fellow!" exclaimed the Donna; and, overcome by his generous response MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER, 155 to her request, she threw her arms about his neck and kissed him several times. ^' There, there," she continued, releasing her- self and coquettishly tapping his lips with her hand, '^I don't know how I came to do such a thing, but you were so kind that I couldn't help it." ''If that is the case," said the overjoyed Mather, " I will add five thousand more to have a similar expression of your gratitude." " Will you, really? I believe I am half in love with you," she murmured, as she allowed him to embrace her a second time, and press burning kisses on her hps. The ringing of the door-bell interrupted their happiness, and Madame Sevier hastily retired to the drawing-room, into which other visitors were shown by the servant. Donna Lucia soon en- tered, perfectly self-possessed, and greeted all her friends with her usual ease and cordiality. Mr. Mather probably passed out by the hbrary en- trance, for he did not appear in the parlor. The ladies conversed together for some time, one of the important subjects of their talk being the troubles of household management. Donna Lucia complained bitterly that her servants robbed her, and that they were careless, dirty, and impudent. She knew very little about housekeeping, and every domestic in her employ took advantage of her. She added that, as soon as her housewarm- ing was over, she intended to get, if possible, a lady who would be a member of the family, and 156 MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. who would relieve her of the management of the house. ^'Now," said she, in her most winning man- ner, "here is Madame Sevier, who has nothing to occupy her time, who is a natural manager of other people, and who is so agreeable that she would be a positive charm to any household ; and I have been thinking, positively, of asking her to take charge of my whole establishment, and help me entertain my guests. What should you think, Madame Sevier, of such a request ? " The opportunity of becoming domesticated in the Morito mansion was thus afforded to one of my detectives, but she knew better than to accept at once. She therefore professed to treat it as a pleasantry, and said that she had no doubt that she should succeed as a housekeeper, but whether she could add anything of attraction to such a charming home was greatly to be doubted. The other ladies, however, thought the idea an admirable one, and they all urged Madame Sevier to adopt it. Having once broached the subject, Donna Lucia again spoke of it with the greatest interest, showing, by her arguments and deter- mination to coax Madame Sevier to decide favor- ably, that she had thought about such a plan be- fore, and that she was really in earnest in her re- quest. Finally, Madame Sevier said that she saw no objection to accepting the offer, as she really enjoyed taking care of a large establishment, but she was not prepared to accept it at once, and she would wait a few days to reflect upon it. It MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. 157 was then agreed that she should give her decision, at the grand reception to be given as a house- warming. This part of my plan had worked admirably, and I felt confident of my eventual success in learning all about the affairs of the Morito family. The method by which Donna Lucia had obtained ten thousand dollars from Mr. Mather was a decided confirmation of Senator Muirhead's suspicions; though there Avas nothing in the transaction which could make her liable to pun- ishment by law, and as there was no danger that her victim would ever appear against her, I paid no further attention to this episode. I ordered Madame Sevier to accept Donna Lucia's offer on the following terms: she should have full authority over all the female servants in the house; she should have charge of the ordering of all articles for household use; she should be considered in the same light as a guest, so far as social intercourse went; she should go and come as she chose, without regard to the duties of the menage ; and she should receive no salary. This last point she was to insist upon, as necessary to preserve her feeling of independence, and enable her to occupy her time as she might see fit. As the day approached for the Moritos' recep- tion, all Gloster's best society were filled with pleasurable excitement and anticipation, as the preparations were known to be far more magnifi- cent than those for any similar entertainment 168 MR. PINKERTON AS A LABORER. since Gloster was settled. As Monsieur Lesparre had already made Don Pedro's acquaintance, and had received an invitation, I felt sure that I should be thoroughly informed as to all the occurrences of the evening, and so I awaited de- velopments. The employment of detectives to penetrate into the social life and domestic surroundings of any family is strongly repugnant to my sense of pro- priety, and I rarely countenance the practice, if I can possibly attain my object in any other way. I dislike to feel that I am trespassing upon the privacy of any man's home, even though that man may be a criminal. The idea of introducing a spy into a household is opposed to the spirit of our free American institutions, violating, as it does, the unwritten law that ' ^ a man's house is his castle ; " hence, I never resort to such a measure, except in extreme cases. I saw, however, that there was no other means of protecting the inter- ests of my client. Senator Muirhead ; he was acting disinterestedly in the case, to save his con- stituents from being defrauded, and I could only prevent the threatened swindle by learning in advance the exact plan of operation proposed by the suspected person. I was careful, however, to employ my most discreet and cautious agents, in order that I should quickly learn whether the Senator's suspicions were based on fact ; in case I should find that the suspected parties were innocent, I was determined to withdraw instantly. They would not then AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. 159 suffer any injustice, for my employes would keep their discoveries secret from every one except my- self, and no one would ever know that they had been the objects of suspicion. CHAPTER III. 3fonsieur Lesparre, having a retentive memory, becomes serviceable to Don Pedro. — Diamond Fields and droll Americans. — A pompous Judge in an unfor- tunate Predicament. — The grand Peception closes with the hajypy Arrangement that the gay Scnor and Seriora shall dine loith Mr. Pinherton^s Detec- tives on the next evening. THE day of the reception was unusually pleas- ant, and at nightfall the full moon rose to add her splendor to the attractiveness of the evening. The Morito mansion was ablaze with wax candles, gaslight being considered too com- mon for use on such an occasion. From the street to the door was a passageway of double canvas, vA\h an opening at the sidewalk to prevent inter- ference with passers. This opening w^as brilliantly lighted, and was hung with flags, pennants, and flowers, artistically arranged so as to give the guests a charming prospect when alighting from their carriages. The rooms of the house needed no decoration beyond that already given by the frescoes and paintings adorning the walls and ceilings. Nevertheless, flowers were abundantly 160 AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. distributed about the spacious apartments. The beautiful conservatory contained a superb foun- tain, whose jets and sprays gave forth exquisite odor and ripphng music. Everywhere through- out the house the most artistic grouping of furniture, pictures, and statuary could be seen, and the variety of taste displayed was only equaled by the unity of arrangements as a whole. At ten o'clock the guests began to arrive, and as the throng of carriages became thicker, it seemed as if the house would be over-crowded. This did not happen to any noticeable degree, however, as the whole of two floors were thrown open to accommodate the guests. The music was furnished by the best musicians of the city, and the supper was a miracle of epicurean excel- lence, Delmonico having sent one of his chief assistants from New York to superintend its preparation. Never had Gloster seen an affair where such elegance and good taste had been displayed; even the smallest details were perfect, and the Don and Donna received innumerable congratulations and good wishes from their guests. During his brief stay in Gloster, Monsieur Le- sparre had been very active in forming acquaint- ances, and he was already well known in society. He had a very retentive memory, and, when once introduced to any gentleman, he immediately t ok pains to learn everything possible about him. By careful observation and perseverance, he had learned the general history of a very large num- AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. 161 ber of the leading people in society, and his droll comments and half-sarcastic criticism of them, expressed sotto voce to the Don on various occa- sions, had caught the latter's attention. The Don therefore frequently singled out Lesparre for a companion in society, in order to obtain infor- mation about the social and business standing of various people. ''You see, my dear Lesparre," said the Don, " I am such a poor judge of character that I am liable to be imposed upon unless I know some- thing about the previous history of people who seek my friendship. And, as I have a miserable memory for faces, names, places, and everything else, it is a great pleasure to find some one who can keep me posted as to the status of the people I meet. You must let me see as much of you as possible, for, being both foreigners, we ought to have a common bond of sympathy." ''It will give me great pleasure," replied Le- sparre. " Of coarse our friends here are very at- tentive; but then, you know, they lack the polish one meets in European salons^ and they are too apt to obtrude their business into their social relations." " Exactly; I agree with you perfectly, and it is for that reason that I enjoy a conversation with a gentleman of Continental education and tastes. It is wonderful how keen these Americans are in their pursuit of the 'Almighty Dollar.' Why, only a week or two ago, I happened to mention to Mr. Mather and a few others, that some of my 162 AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. estates in the Peruvian Andes contained extensive diamond fields, when they began to upbraid me for not working them and adding to my already ample revenue. They seemed positively shocked when I told them, that I saw no reason for in- creasing my income, as I had as much money as I could use now. They insisted that I was doing a positive wrong to my fellow mortals in refusing to burden myself with a new enterprise, and I assure you they were quite in earnest in their re- monstrances. All! how droll they are, Monsieur Lesparre! " ''Yes, indeed, I have found the same spirit even with reference to my humble means," re- plied Lesparre. ''They want me to invest in something right away, and I have very many disinterested offers of advice; but they cannot understand my delay, and they think I am throw- ing away so many good chances by waiting. Now, I should be content to settle down for a year, before investing, just to examine at length all the openings offered me; but I doubt whether I could afford to do that, unless I could obtain a satisfactory salaried position, and I feel that that is impossible. There are very few such positions as I would be willing to accept, as I do not care to be tied down to regular duties." The gentlemen had stepped into the supper- room while this conversation was going on, and were about to take a glass of wine together. Lesparre's last remark seemed to give a sudden idea to Don Pedro, and he sipped his wine in AN UNFORTLTNATE PREDICAMENT. 163 silence for a moment or two. Then he said, inquiringly: ''I suppose you would hke a position of a re- sp[)nsible character, where your knowledge of commercial and financial affairs would be avail- able, but where your whole time would not be absorbed? " " i'es, that was my wish/' answered Lesparre; *'but, of course, I do not expect to realize my hopes." "Possibly you may, Monsieur Lesparre," said Don Pedro; "but let us leave the subject of busi- ness until to-morrow, when I should like to talk with you more fully about this matter. Now, let us return to the drawing-room, and when you see any of my guests approaching, please tell me briefly who and what they are. For instance, tell me about that stiff and military-looking per- son crossing the room." "That is Captain Adrian L. Kerr, a retired army officer, who has lived here a long time. He has been unsuccessful in business, and it would be difficult to account for his means of livelihood were it not that his wife, the brilliant brunette near the mantel-piece, is supposed to have an in- come of her own. Some people are so ill-natured as to suggest that Alexander Mclntyre, the w^ealthy Scotch banker now talking to her, is the source of her revenue, but that may be pure gos- sip. At any rate, she is always elegantly dressed, and she moves in the best society." *'If people suspect her of improper intimacy 164 AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. with Mclntyre, why do they admit her to their houses ? " asked Don Pedro. '^ Well, you see, many of the merchants and business men have financial dealings with Mcln- tyre, and they do not dare to offend him. As an illustration of his power, I will relate an incident that occurred recently. The wife of a well-known merchant was about to give a large party, and, m making out her list of invitations, she pur- posely left out the name of Mrs. Kerr. Her hus- band, on going to the bank to obtain the renewal of a note, found Mclntyre as surly and savage as a bear, and the renewal was refused. As he had never before had any difficulty in obtaining such an accommodation when hard pressed for money, he could not account for the change in Mclntyre's conduct ; but when his wife informed him of her action the day previous in withholding an invita- tion from Mrs. Kerr, he understood it all. His affairs were in such a condition that he could not afford to quarrel with Mclntyre, and so he in- sisted that an invitation be sent to Mrs. Kerr, in spite of his wife's assertion that Mrs. Kerr was an improper character. He was willing to admit that fact, but he preferred to submit to her pres- ence rather than to be seriously crippled in business. An invitation was therefore sent in such a way as to make the delay in its delivery appear accidental, and in a few days Mr. Mcln- tyre was willing to renew the merchant's note.'* '^ AVell, she certainly does carry things with a high hand," replied Don Pedro, smihng. f'l AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. 165 wonder how she would have retahated upon me if I had struck her name off my hst to-night ? However, it is not my business to question her character, and if my wife is satisfied to receive her, I shall not interfere." As the Don finished speaking, the music sounded the preliminary notes of a quadrille, and he hastened to find a partner. Among the guests were Mr. and Mrs. Arlington, whose minds were of such opposite characters as to keep them continually quarrehng. He was a wealthy banker of austere manners and Puri- tanic tastes, while she was a butterfly of fashion, fit only to be petted, kissed, and caressed. She was all gayety and life ; he, all piety and gloom. Her pleasures he considered sinful, while his recreations were to her the most painfully mel- ancholy observances that could be devised. While he believed that she was a child of wrath, a creature of the world, the flesh, and the devil, she was equally satisfied that he was on the highway to fanaticism and hypocrisy. Under these circumstances, it was not unnatural that she should seek her friends among those who mingled in fashionable society, nor that her hus- f band should consider it necessary to follow her into the gay world in order to keep a watch upon her. Her most attentive cavaher was a young bachelor named Harry Bertram, who seemed infatuated with her. Indeed, their pref- erence for each other's society was so marked that the tongue of scandal had already begun to 166 AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. wag, although no overt act could be cited against them. The Don, on leaving Lesparre, chanced to meet Mrs. Arlington, and she readily accorded him the pleasure of dancing with her. In the same set were Daniel McCarthy and Donna Lu- cia, Charles Sylvanus and Madame Sevier, and Mr. Mather and Mrs. Simon. In the adjoining set were Mr. Benson and M^ss Jennie Humphrey, Alexander Mclntyre and Mrs. Kerr, Harry Ber- tram and Mrs. Sanders, and Judge Eobert Mor- gan and Mrs. Middleton. Judge Morgan was a remarkable-looking per- son at any time, but his appearance was especially noticeable in a dancing -set, the incongruity of his presence in such a scene being irresistibly comical. He was about fifty years of age, but his face was smooth and unwrinkled ; though he was of the medium height, his great size gave him the look of a short man, which effect was partly increased by his long arms. He was very broad and fat, his stomach projecting to an ab- surd degree. At the same time he stood very erect, so that a profile view gave him a general resemblance to a loggerhead turtle set on end. His eyes were small and treacherous, his cheeks were puffy and flabby, his mouth was large and sensual. His hair and whiskers were brown and fine, but they always seemed unkempt. He wore closely-fitting black clothes, and he was fond of displaying an unusual amount of jewelry. He had obtained the office of judge of the criminal court by currying favor with the very classes AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. 167 most likely to be brought before him for trial, and his judicial ermine was not considered free from the foulest stams. His private life was. in many respects, a counterpart of his ofQcial con- duct ; though married to an agreeable woman, he was a notorious libertine and profligate. Still, he held his position in society, and was admitted to the acquaintance of the most reputable people in the city; hence, he frequently appeared at balls and dancing-parties, where he always tried to act like a light and graceful youth. On this occasion he was especially anxious to display his manly form in the same set with the Donna, but being disappointed in this, he chose the set next to hers, and acted like a playful hip- popotamus. While backing rapidly, in an at- tempt to balance to his partner, he came in con- tact with Mrs. Simon of the next set, and, trip- ping on her dress, he fell violently upon her. Her partner, Mr. Mather, tried to catch her as she also fell, but the ponderous form of the Judge came upon them both with crushing effect, and all three were brought to the floor at once. Mr. Mather and Mrs. Simon were quickly on their feet again, flushed with mortification but unhurt. But it was no such easy matter for the corpulent Judge to raise himself erect; he lay on liis back a moment groaning, and it was thought that he might be seriously injured, as his fall had jarred the whole house. Several gentlemen care- fully Hfted him upright, and the ladies gathered about to condole with him, when it was suddenly 168 AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. discovered that, if the Judge's person had not suifered, his clothing had. His tight dress coat was spHt several inches down the back, while a hasty ghmpse behind his coat-tails satisfied the spectators that his pants were in an even worse condition than his coat. It may be imagined that the situation caused some merriment, in spite of the efforts of the more well-bred guests to preserve their gravity; but when the Judge, having regained his feet, vociferated in great wrath: ^'You are a pack of monkeys. I don't see anything to laugh at," there was a universal burst of laughter which could not be repressed. This so enraged him that it was difficult to make him understand his absurd position, but at length Don Pedro and Monsieur Lesparre induced him to go to the dressing-room for repairs. As there was no coat in the house large enough for him, the Don was at his wits' end to make him suffi- ciently presentable to enable him to return to the drawing-room; but at length the Judge was arrayed in one of the Don's gorgeous dressing- gowns, which was large enough to hide most of the effects of the fall. He soon returned to the lower rooms dressed in the most remarkable cos- tume ever worn at a full-dress party in Gloster. With the exception of this accident, the even- ing passed off with the most perfect success, and the unanimous verdict was that there had never been a more thoroughly enjoyable enter- tainment given m the city. During the evening, Madame Sevier informed Donna Lucia of her AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. 169 willingness to take charge of the Morito establish- ment, and agreed to begin her reign the next day. Donna Lucia was dehghted at this news, and wiUingly accepted all the conditions, though she insisted for some time on giving Madame Sevier a liberal salary. Finding that Madame Sevier was resolute in her refusal to receive pay, the Donna informed her friends that she had in- vited Madame Sevier to Uve with her, and that the Madame had kindly agreed to assist her in entertaining her numerous guests. It was not until nearly daybreak that the more indefatigable revelers became weary of dancing and flirting, so that the Donna was quite ex- hausted when the last guest had departed. Madame Sevier remained to the end, as she in- tended occupying her room in the Morito man- sion at once, instead of returning to her boarding- place. Donna Lucia left orders that she was not to be disturbed until five o'clock in the afternoon, but Madame Sevier decided to get up at twelve o'clock, in order to superintend the work of clear- ing away the decorations and debris of the ball. The Don had invited Monsieur Lesparre to dine with him at six o'clock, and so it was arranged that they should all meet at that hour. '8 170 A STARTLING SCHEME. CHAPTER IV. Madame Sevier and Her Worl^. — Unaccountable Co- quettishness between Man and Wife. — A Startling Scheme^ ilhtstrating the Rashness and Gullibility of A-onerican business Men and the Supreme Assur- ance of Don Pedro. — Disaster approaching the Gloster Capitalists. — Other Suspicions Aroused. — The Story of Mr. Warner English Diplomatic Agetit. — A New Move. MADAME SEVIEE began lier work of re- form in the household as soon as she was dressed that afternoon. Finding that they now had a mistress competent to control them, the servants showed a greater willingness to be use- ful, though some of them were inclined to be lazy and impudent as before. The Madame made mental notes of everything, took charge of the keys to all storerooms and closets, and clearly demonstrated that she was able to manage the house according to her own ideas. The cook, thinking she was indispensable, and that she could act independent of control, was very im- pertinent to Madame, and she evinced an insub- ordinate spirit that created a good deal of trouble. Seeing that prompt and severe measures were necessary, Madame Sevier paid this woman her wages and discharged her without a moment's warning. The effect upon the other servants was most satisfactory, and although the Madame was obliged to make some minor changes after- A STARTLING SCHEME. I7l ward, she was never again annoyed by imperti- nence or presumption. The dinner for that day was prepared by the assistant cook, under Madame Sevier's direction, and when the Don and Donna came down from their chamber, they were dehghted to find that the house was in per- fect order, showing no signs of having been the scene of revelry and dissipation the night before. During dinner, at which Monsieur Lesparre was the only guest, Don Pedro, after compH- menting Madame Sevier very highly upon her success in bringing order out of chaos, turned to his wife and said: '' Lucia, your selection of a companion and ad- visor has been so fortunate that I am more than ever disposed to follow your example. What do you think, Monsieur Lesparre, cannot you serve me as confidential secretary and financial agent as satisfactorily as Madame Sevier assists my wife?" ''Indeed, Don Pedro,'' replied Lesparre, gal- lantly, "if you impose upon me the task of equalhng so accomphshed and charming a lady as Madame Sevier, you will probably be disap- pointed in everything I do." "Bravo, bravo. Monsieur Lesparre!" cried the Donna; "you will certainly be successful in pay- ing delicate compHments, at least. Yes, Pedro, I think you ought to secure Monsieur Lesparre's services at once; when you have nothing for him to do, he will be an agreeable companion for us. What say you, Madame Sevier?" 172 A STARTLING SCHEME. ^' I quite agree with you," replied the Madame, casting down her eyes coquettishly; ''but I prophesy that Monsieur Lesparre would find his position an onerous one if he should be under obligations to pay me compliments." ''Ah! the obligation would be unnecessary," said Lesparre; '' the difficulty would be to avoid doing so constantly." The Don and Donna smiled at each other sig- nificantly, thinking that they saw the incipient signs of a mutual attachment between these two, and that it was not unreasonable to imagine that a wedding might result therefrom. How little they imagined that these apparently distant ac- quaintances were, in fact, already man and wife! After dinner, the Don and Lesparre repaired to the billiard-room to smoke, while the ladies en- tered the drawing-room to receive visitors. "Monsieur Lesparre," said the Don, as they lounged back in luxuriant easy-chairs, ' ' what do you think of my suggestion at dinner? I shoald really like to obtain your services as private sec- retary, and I will gladly give you such a salary as will make you independent of other labor. While you are attending to my affairs you will naturally become well acquainted with many business men, and will be able to investigate a number of enter- prises, so that you will be better able a year hence to invest your capital to advantage." "Your offer is truly liberal," replied Lesparre, puffing his cigar thoughtfully, "and I feel dis- posed to accept it. What would be my duties ? " A STARTLING SCHEME. 173 ^' Well, I will explain what I v.'ish fully, and then you can judge how the position would suit you," answered Don Pedro. '^ In the first place, I wish a financial agent, a man whom I can trust, who will attend to all my affairs. You see, I detest the details of business. I desire to live free from, the vexing annoyances consequent upon the providing and disbursing of money. My estates produce as much as I can use, and I do not trouble myself to inquire whether they might not yield more. I am accustomed to buy whatever I wish, but I hate to bother my head to know whether I have enough on hand to pay for my purchases; hence I want my secretary to at- tend to such matters for me. There is another thing in which you could be of the greatest ser- vice to me; for, while it is an affair of great im- portance, involving large interests, I am posi- tively too fond of my own ease to give it the attention which it deserves. I know I can trust you not to repeat the slightest portion of what I am about to tell you, for it is not desirable that it should be talked about, unless the enterprise is successfully carried out." " Indeed, you can rest assured that I shall never mention a hint of it to any one," repHed Lesparre. " Well, you recollect I told you last night that Mather, Perkins, and some others were anxious to have me explore and open up the diamond fields which, I have reason to believe, constitute a large part of one of my estates in Peru ? Some 174 A STARTLING SCHEME. time after I spoke to you, toward the end of the party, I missed Mather, Perkins, Mclntyre, San- ders, and several others from the rooms, and while I was wondering what had become of them, Mather came up and asked me to go up to my dressing-room, which, you recollect, adjoined the room used for the gentlemen's dressing room last night. On arriving there, I found about a dozen of the wealthiest men of Gloster sitting around the room, with Dan McCarthy at the table acting as secretary. Will you believe it? They had actually formed a business meeting in my own house, and had made speeches, passed resokitions, and voted upon two propositions, which they wished to submit to me; they had then sent the chairman, Mr. Mather, to bring me in, and I was expected to stand and deliver my decision at a moment's notice. The idea was perfectly ludicrous to me, yet it did not strike any of them that they were doing anything unusual. I believe that if a party of these Glos- ter business men were to be landed suddenly in hell, they would organize a stock exchange to . deal in brimstone and ashes ! " ' ' They certainly carry their business instincts everywhere," said Lesparre, laughing heartily. *'I suppose they had fully arranged everything before you were sent for ? " ' ' Yes, indeed ; the very minor details were pro- vided for, and I could not raise an objection which had not already been discussed and re- moved. Both propositions provided for the for- A STARTLING SCHEME. 175 mation of a stock company for the mining, cutting, and sale of diamonds. According to the first plan, I was to fix a price upon ray diamond fields, which the company would then purchase, pay- ing me three-fourths in cash, and one-fourth in stock. In case, however, that I should be un- wiUing to part with my controlling interest, the second plan provided that I should receive one- fourth the estimated value of the land in money, giving to the company therefor the privilege of mining for a certain length of time, and receiving also one-half of the value of the diamonds found. The idea of disposing of this property had never before occurred to me, and naturally I was not prepared to give any answer on such short notice; but if I had done so then, I should have positively rejected both propositions. In fact, I said as much to Mather, and he then suggested to the meeting that 'Senor Merit o be given a week to decide upon the propositions submitted to him.' The cool impudence of thus graciously giving me a week did not seem to strike them, and the meeting broke up with great satisfaction, every man feeling certain that I must accept one proposition or the other. It was further decided to appoint a committee to draw up a charter and by-laws, 'so as to save time,' as one gentleman remarked. After the gentlemen had left the room, Mather urged the matter upon me ^^ery strongly. He apologized for having acted with such precipitation, but, he said, the others were so eager, as soon as they heard that. 176 A STARTLING SCHEME. I owned a vast tract of unworked diamond fields, that he could not restrain them. He begged me to make some arrangement with the ^Droposed company, as the men who had become interested in it were wealthy and enterprising, and they would surely push it to a profitable^ conclusion. In answer to my remark that I was rich enough already, he said that I ought to give others a chance to make some money who needed it, per- haps, more than I. Finally, as he urged it as a personal favor to himself, I agreed to give the most favorable answer that I could, and so the matter stands." '^ When are you to give your answer?" asked Lesparre. ''The committee adjourned until a week from last night," replied the Don, "and I shall then again be summoned before them, I presume. Now, although the first proposition would not probably pay me so well in the end as the second, I much prefer it. You see I do not wish to keep a controlling interest because I should have the continual annoyance of supervising the business; and, as I have said before, I wish to be perfectly free from cares and responsibilities. My object is to enjoy life, and I can't be happy if I am obliged to work. Nevertheless, I do not wish to turn over this property to a body of men who will squeeze it like a sponge, leaving it a mere waste. There are a large body of tenants occu- pying portions of it, whose rights must be respected. They will make willing and honest A STARTLING SCHEME. 177 laborers if properly treated, and I wish to protect tliem as far as possible from cruelty and extor- tion. Hence, I desire to learn all I can about the men who will create and manage the company before I agree to put the property into their hands, no matter what price they may be willing to pay for it; it is here, my dear Lesparre, that you can be of great service to me. You are well acquainted among all classes of business men in Gloster, and you can readily learn all about the people who purpose buying stock. This will be considered very natural and proper if you become my private secretary, and your duties will not be severe. What do you say ? " ''I think I can do what you wish," said Le- sparre, '' but I should like a day for reflection. I never like to act hastily in an important matter, even where my mind is already made up." '^You are quite right," said the Don ; '^butl hope your mind will remain unchanged in regard to this matter. I will give you whatever salary you wish, and shall expect you, of course, to live here on equal terms with myself and wife. Now, let us join the ladies." On receiving Lesparre's report, I saw the whole scheme at a glance, and I was now convinced that Senator Muirhead's suspicions witji regard to Don Pedro were correct. I immediately vis- ited the Senator, and laid the latest developments before him. We could not helj) admiring the con- summate knowledge of human nature which the Don displayed ; he had baited his hook so skill- 178 A STARTLING SCHEME. fully that the gudgeons were actually fearful lest something should prevent them from swallowing it ; but there seemed to be no probability of de- feating his schemes unless we could obtain posi- tive proofs of his dishonesty elsewhere, or detect him in some criminal offense in this country. We therefore decided to keep a close watch upon all his movements, and await further develop- ments. It was evident that the sufferers by Don Jose Michel's forgeries in California would not take any active steps against him unless they were sure of the identity of the man, and so we had no ground of accusation against him which we could rely upon. Both Senator Muirhead and myself were indignant at the audacity displayed in his swindling projects, but we did not dare to attempt his exposure without absolute proof of our charges. The waiting game is never a pleas- ant one to play, but I could not do otherwise under the circumstances. About this time I was called back to Chicago on important business, but I immediately sent my superintendent, Mr. Bangs, to Gloster, to take charge of the case there. During my ab- sence little of note occurred, except the meeting to hear the Don's answer to the propositions to purchase the diamond fields. At this meeting the Don was apparently anxious to decline all offers, saying that the property had been in the possession of his family for about two hundred years, and that he considered himself in honor bound to retain an interest in it. Also, he tried A STARTLING SCHEME. 179 to cool the ardor of the would-be purchasers by telling them that he had no positive certainty that there wex^e valuable diamond fields on the property, though such was probably the case. His reluctance to sell the land only made them more determined to buy, for they argued that he was so well satisfied with it as a means of reve- nue that he wished to retain possession of it all himself. At length he found that they would give him no peace until he yielded, and so he graciously agreed to accept the first proposition. The question of price then remained to be dis- cussed, but, on this point, there was little oppor- tunity for disagreement. Having had so much difficulty in inducing the Don to sell at all, they were not disposed to endanger the sale by hag- gling about the price; and when the latter was fixed at one million five hundred thousand dol- lars, they made no demur, although the sum rather staggered their enthusiasm at first. This effect was only momentary, however, for the vivid anticipations of dividends in proportion to this price quickly banished their fears, and they hastened to subscribe the amounts required. These facts were all reported to me immediately after my return to Grloster, which occurred a day or two after the meeting, and I saw that the day of disaster to the trusting capitalists of that city was fast approaching. Neither Monsieur Lesparre nor Madame Sevier had learned much about the private affairs of the Moritos, for, whenever the latter had anything 180 A STARTLING SCHEME. important to say to each other, they usually spoke Spanish. The Don's remaining funds amounted to only about eight thousand dollars, and at the rate with which he had hitherto spent money, this sum would not last much more than five or six weeks. The time might be extended to two months by running the establishment on credit ; but the Don was averse to such a course, and all bills were paid promptly at the end of each month. He showed no uneasiness as his cash began to run low, but merely said that if the first installment on the mine should be paid in soon, it would obviate the necessity of drawing upon his agents' in Lima, otherwise he should call upon them for fifty thousand dollars to carry him through the year. There was nothing in his manner or actions to excite suspicion, and cer- tainly, if he intended to defraud the Diamond Company, he had too much nerve to betray him- self, even to so close an observer as Monsieur Lesparre. Having heard the reports, I strolled out in the evening for a walk with Mr. Bangs, and while passing one of the leading hotels, I met a very intimate friend, named Judge Key. The Judge was an old resident of Gloster, and his character was highly esteemed by all who knew him. He was a man of great ability and force; but, pos- sessing little ambition, he was not nearly so well known as many of those who were his inferiors in point of intellect and morals. We had a great deal of business between us at one time, and our A STARTLING SCHEME. 181 relations to each other were of the most cordial character, partaking more of the nature of per- sonal friendship than mere business acquaint- ance. I had not visited him previously during my stay in Glostor, for the reason that, even to my intimate friends, I never make my presence known when engaged in an operation, if I can avoid doing so. On this occasion, the Judge recognized me instantly, and greeted me with great warmth, at the same time adding that I was just the man above all others whom he wished to see. He then introduced his com- panion to Mr. Bangs and myself as Mr. Edward Ashley Warne, of London, England. *' Now, Mr. Pinkerton," said the Judge, ^4et us step into the club close by, and over a social glass of wine, Mr. Warne will tell you about a pecu- liar case of mistaken identity, or of consummate rascality — it is hard to know which. Possibly you may be able to understand some things which puzzle us, and to frustrate a fraudulent scheme, if our suspicions are correct. You both know each other by reputation, I guess, and I presume, Mr. Warne, that you will not object to tell Mr. Pinkerton what you have told me." "Oh! yes, I have often heard of Mr. Pinker- ton," said Mr. Warne, " and I think, as you say, that he can clear up the mystery, if any one can. I shall be pleased to tell him all that I know with regard to it." Mr. Edward Ashley Warne was an attache of the British diplomatic service, and, having been 182 A. STARTLING SCHEME. entrusted with the settlement of some questions relative to commerce between the United States and Great Britain, he had executed his mission with such fairness, good sense, and courtesy that he was regarded with great kindness and respect by our people as well as by his own government. He was on a rapid tour through the United States, previous to his return to London, and he had spent a week in Gloster with Judge Key at the time when we met in front of the hotel. We were soon comfortably seated in one of the pri- vate dining-rooms of the club, and, after a few sips of wine, Mr. Warne began his story. '^I don't know whether I am the victim of imagination, or the gentlemen of Gloster are likely to be the victims of an impostor; but one thing is certain, that a gentleman here known as Don Pedro P. L. de Morito is the exact image of a man who was known in London as Don Jose Arias." This information came so unawares that I al- most betrayed my interest in the case by utter- ing a hasty exclamation. I restrained my feel- ings, however, and asked Mr. Warne to tell me all he knew about this man. ''Well, I first met him in Paris, when I was a member of the French Legation," replied Mr. Warne. '' He was then moving in the most aristocratic society, and his wealth was reputed enormous. I saw a great deal of him at times, and, indeed, I was better acquainted with him than I was with many of my countrymen ; but I A STARTLING SCHEME. 183 was recalled to London about that time, and I soon forgot all about Don Jose Arias." "Pardon me," I interrupted; "was the Don married ? " ' ' Oh ! yes ; he had a beautiful wife, I have been told, but I never happened to see her. I think she was Spanish, if I recollect rightly. One day, after my return to England, as I was entering the Foreign Office, I met Don Jose com- ing out, and he seemed delighted to see me. He said that lie had come to spend some months in London, and he hoped to enjoy my society fre- quently. I was then engaged in studying a very difficult diplomatic question, and I was unable to give any time whatever to society ; I therefore expressed my regrets that I should be obliged to dechne all invitations, and, after some further conversation, we separated. I often heard of him in connection with social events in the best, circles, and, on one or two occasions, I met him in the street ; but I did not renew our former de- gree of intimacy, for the simple reason that I did not have the time to do so. Just before I left London on the mission for which I had been pre- paring myself, I was astonished to learn that Don Jose Arias had proved to be a scoundrel of the most dangerous character. He had not hunted small game, it is true, but this was prob- ably a part of his Avhole scheme. So far as I could learn, he had left no unpaid bills in the hands of tradesmen, but he had taken enough out of bankers and capitalists to pay his trades- 184 A STARTLING SCHEME. men's bills for half a century. The aggregate fraudulently obtained by him was never known, for many of his victims refused to state their loss ; but it was surmised that he obtained as much as forty or fifty thousand pounds sterling in London alone, while several Paris bankers also suffered heavily. I was not specially interested in the affair, and it had wholly passed from my mind, when suddenly, while walking in the streets of this city last week, I came upon Don Jose Arias again. He wore his hair differently from his old way in London and Paris, having now full side-whiskers, whereas then he wore only moustache and goatee ; but I could not be mistaken, and I said to Judge Key : 'There is a man who forged paper to an immense amount in London less than two years ago.' ' Impossible ! ' replied the Judge ; ' he is a very wealthy man, moving in the best society in the city.' The Judge then vouched for him with such earnest- ness that I began to believe that I was mistaken; but I determined to meet him face to face, to see whether there could be two persons so nearly re- sembling each other. Unfortunately he had an opportunity to see me before I saw him when T next met him, so that I lost the chance of sur prising him into betraying himself. He ap- peared to glance at me casually, as any stranger would do, and then went on with his conversation without hesitation or embarrassment. I have met him several times since then, and he always acts with the same natural ease of manner, as if A STARTLING SCHEME. 185 we had always been perfect strangers to each other ; but, Mr. Pinkerton, the more I see of him, the more fully am I convinced that Don Jose Arias, of London, and Don Pedro P. L. de Morito, of Gloster, are identical; and, believing this, I consider it my duty to tell you these facts in order that your citizens may be protected against him, if possible." '^ Well, Mr. Pinkerton," said Judge Key, '^ what do you think of this affair? Mr. Warne does not admit that he can be mistaken, and there are some corroboratory evidences that he may be right; yet, it seems incredible. It is a pity that Mr. Warne should have never seen Don Jose's wife, because he could then compare her with Senora Morito, and if they, too, were exact resemblances, there would be no longer any room for doubt." *^That would certainly be a strong proof," I remarked; ''but I think it is unnecessary. The suspicion you have spoken of, Mr. Warne, has already been raised by another gentleman in this city, and I have been requested to discover whether or not it is correct." ''Why, you astonish me!" exclaimed Judge Key, "for Mr. Warne has not mentioned the subject to any one but me, and I have never even hinted anything about it except to you gentle- men." "Nevertheless, I have suspected for some tim6 that this Don Pedro was an impostor, and have been trying to obtain positive proof of my 186 A STARTLING SCHEME. opinion, in order to save many persons here from being swindled by him. You are acquainted with Senato'r Muirhead, Judge? " ''Oh! yes, quite well." ''He has taken enough interest in the affairs of his constituents to place in my hands the task of exposing this man, Don Pedro, in his true light." " That seems very kind and disinterested on the part of our Senator," said Judge Key, with a quizzical smile; "but I will venture to say that his interest has been excited more by the Don's marked attentions to Mrs. Muirhead, than by the fear that some of his constituents would be de- frauded." Of course I took no notice of this remark, although I was quite convinced that such was the fact; but as the Senator was my client, it would have been eminently improper for me to discuss his motives, and so I turned to Mr. Warne. "As you have already met this man under another name, Mr. Warne," I said, " can you not go with me to meet Senator Muirhead, and tell him what you know about him? " "I must beg you to excuse me, Mr. Pinker- ton," he replied. "You see, I am in this country in an official capacity, and, while I am personally perfectly satisfied of the truth of the statements I have made to you, I cannot prove them ; hence, I must be careful not to involve myself in a diffi- culty which would compromise my position as a A STARTLING SCHEME. 18^ diplomatic agent of Great Britain. I shall imme- diately give to the police, on my arrival in Lon- don, a description of this man, and I presume that prompt action will be taken to insure his arrest and extradition, in case his offenses should come under the extradition treaty. But as this is a question upon which the decision of both governments may be required, the delay may enable this man to escape. I will use all my influence with the London authorities ; you will readily see, however, that personally I cannot appear here as an accuser against him. " I recognized the force of Mr. Warne's objec- tion, and did not press him further, but Judge Key agreed to visit the Senator as soon as the latter should return to the city. When I left Mr. Warne we had agreed that any British official who might be sent to identify and arrest Don Pedro, should communicate with me the moment he arrived in this country, so that we could work together for the same object, though my whole duty in the case would be to protect the interests of my client, Senator Muirhead. I then returned to my room with Mr. Bangs, and made a new move. I saw that more than two months would elapse before any news could be expected from London, as Mr. Warne would be somewhat delayed in his return home, and mean- time, the Don would probably obtain a large advance payment for his fictitious minesv If anything should occur to prevent us from sending him to England, he might succeed in getting 188 A STARTLING SCHEME. away with his plunder before we could find any new grounds upon which to hold him. I therefore instructed Mr. Bangs to write to the proper authorities in Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador, describ- ing Don Pedro and his numerous suspected aliases accurately, and asking that some steps be taken by his victims to bring him to justice. It was true that we had no extradition treaties with those countries, but nevertheless he might be arrested and frightened into surrendering him- self voluntarily. The letters were dispatched at once, and duplicates were also forwarded by the next steamer. There remained nothing further for me to do except to keep a strict watch upon the Moritos to ^see that they should not slip off suddenly with a large sum of money. The Dia- mond Company were in such haste to bind the bargain with Don Pedro, by making him a large payment, that there could be no hope of prevent- ing the partial success of his scheme. Whether I might not be able to force him to disgorge afterward was uncertain, but I determined to use every means in my power to accomplish such a result. VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. 189 o CHAPTER V. The third Detective is made welcome at Don Pedro's. — The Senor is paid the first half-million dollars from the great Diamond Company.— Hoio Don Pedro is ''working'' his Diamond 3fines.— Ver\j suspicious preparations.— The Don describes his proposed Fete Ghampetre. NE evening, as the members of the Morito family were about to retire, Monsiem^ Le- sparre noticed a nervousness and abstraction in Don Pedro such as he had never shown before. Thinking that something new might be learned by overhearing th^ conversation between the Don and Donna when they should be alone, Lesparre, instead of going to his own room, shpped into an unused closet adjoining the Don's dressing-room, and communicating therewith by a door, which was kept locked. There was a transom over this door, and, by climbing to one of the shelves, Lesparre could hear aU that was said in either room of the Don's bedroom suite. He had hardly taken this position when the two entered their apartments. ''See what a handsome necklace that old tool Mather sent me to-day," said the Donna. '' Yes, it is very elegant and valuable," said Don Pedro, with a yawn; "but what we most need is money. However, I do not imagine we shall have any difficulty, for I expect a large sum in a 190 VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. few days from the stockholders in this Diamond Company. Still, you may as well get all you can out of Mather and the others, for we must keep up our present style of living to the end." Just at this moment the shelf upon which Le- sparre was sitting gave a loud creak, and he had only just time to slip down and regain his own room before the Don came out to see what was the matter. Fortunately, there was a large pet cat in the hall, and she received the credit of having made the noise. The next day, on hearing Lesparre's report, I decided to place still another detective in the Morito mansion, and so I instructed Lesparre to recommend the employment of a young man to assist the butler and to do genetal work about the house. As I expected, Don Pedro acquiesced in the suggestion, and told Lesparre to engage such men-servants as he considered necessary. Accordingly, I at once telegraphed to Chicago to have a young fellow named George Salter sent to Gloster at once. He was a very intelligent French Canadian, and I chose him because of his slim build, his ingenuity, and his capacity as an eavesdropper. He could listen to a conversa- tion with such a stolid expression that no one would imagine he had an idea in his head beyond the performance of his regular tasks, and even when caught in a place where he had no right to be, he could invent a plausible reason on the in- stant, which would divert all suspicion from him. On his arrival in Gloster, he was sent to ask em- VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. 191 ployment of Monsieur Lesparre, and, of course, the latter was so pleased with him as to engage him at once. He made himself very useful in the house, and soon became popular with every inmate. A few days later a meeting of the stockholders of the Diamond Company was held, and it was agreed to make a payment of five hundred thou- sand dollars at once, another like sum when the title-deeds should be delivered, and the balance within one year from that time. This arrange- ment was satisfactory to the Don, and the sum of half a million dollars was paid over that day in the checks of the different original subscribers. The meeting then appointed a committee of two to visit Peru and examine the property. There was some difficulty in selecting two gentlemen who would be willing to go, and yet who would be satisfactory to the others; but Deacon Hum- phrey and John Preston were finally chosen. Either of these gentlemen was willing to go any- where at others' expense, and it was believed that John Preston was too well versed in fraudu- lent practices to let any one else do any cheating; hence, he was sent to investigate the mines, and Deacon Humphrey was sent to see that John Preston should not steal them. They were not to depart on their mission, however, until the title-deeds were received from Peru and delivered to the directors. Don Pedro passed the checks over to Lesparre, and informed the meeting that ho had already 192 VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. sent to Peru for the deeds, and that the directors should be informed the moment they should ar- rive; thereafter, all business matters relative to his interest in the mines would be attended to by Eobert Harrington, Esq., who would be his attor- ney in fact. The deeds would be directed to Mr. Harrington, and that gentleman would deliver them to the directors, receive the second pay- ment, and give his receipt therefor. This arrangement was satisfactory to all, and the meeting adjourned in good spirits, every man feeling that the Don had done him a personal favor in accepting his check in part payment for such a valuable property. The Don, having indorsed the checks, in- structed Lesparre to present them at once for payment, each at its own bank, and to bring the money to the house; he was to obtain as much as possible in gold, as the Don professed to have little confidence in the bills of private banks. ^' They may be perfectly sound, Lesparre," he said, in an off-hand way, ^^but then, you know, we foreigners are accustomed to government bills, or gold, and so I prefer to have the latter." Taking Don Pedro's carriage, Lesparre visited each bank, and by the time he had cashed the last check, he had a considerable weight of gold and a large amount of bills, about two-thirds having been paid in coin. Lesparre and Salter carried all the money up to the Don's dressing- room, where the Don and Donna were sitting. *' There, my dear," said Don Pedro to his wife. VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. 193 ''this is the first installment of the purchase money of the diamond fields, so that now it will not be long before they will be thoroughly worked. The directors have promised me that you shall have the finest diamond set that the mines can produce within a year from this time, as a pres- ent from the company, and you need no longer plague me for not having tried to work them be- fore." "Oh! Pedro, how lovely!" exclaimed the Donna; "you know I have always wanted you to open those mines, and I am so glad that you have consented. Now I shall have a set that I shall be proud of." ''Well, I did not like to give up the old estate to strangers, I confess," replied the Don; "but now that it is done, I do not regret it. If you wish any money, help yourself; you can write to your agents in Rio that they need not send any more for the present, for we shall have as much as we can use for a year or two. George," he con- tinued, addressing Salter, " you will find a stout iron box in the attic, and I think it will serve as a safe for the present. Bring it down here and put it in this room." The box was soon brought, and the Don checked off the packages of gold and bills as Le- sparre packed them away, the gold at the bottom. "Now, you can check against my bank ac- counts for our current expenses, Lesparre," said Don Pedro, with a complacent smile; "and when the funds on deposit are exhausted, I will give 194 VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. you cash monthly to pay all bills as heretofore. I intend to give a grand fete champetre soon, as a lesson to these Gloster people how to enjoy life. I propose to engage one of the islands in the river at once, and begin the necessary work of preparing it artistically for the scene of our revelry. I shall choose one of the large wooded islands with ridges and ravines running through it, and it will take about two weeks to clear away the underbrush, to clean up the grass and pre- pare the landing-places. Then, by the end of an- other week, the weather will be delightful, and our arrangements will be completed. I will make the place a fairy spectacle, such as the unim- aginative inhabitants of Gloster never dreamed of, and then we will prepare for our summer trip to Newport and Saratoga. What do you think of the plan, Monsieur Lesparre ? " ^ ^ It is an admirable one, and I feel sure that the people of Gloster will enjoy such an entertain- ment far more than any that has ever been given here." ^^Well, I shall rely largely upon your assist- ance," continued the Don, carefully locking his safe as he spoke, ''and we must divide the duties between us, though of course my time will be somewhat taken up by society. Suppose we issue invitations for three weeks from to-day ? " ''Better say five weeks, if not six," replied Le- sparre, anxious to delay Don Pedro's departure as much as possible in order to obtain an answer to our letters to Peru and Brazil. "You see, the VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. 195 people here are not accustomed to such gayeties, and it will take some time to prepare their minds to appreciate it." "Yes, that is true," said the Don, reflectively; ''but I do not like to defer it so long. However, let us compromise by fixing one month hence as the time, and we will make it a masquerade as well as an outdoor fete. The guests will then have ample time to prepare their costumes, and we can give that as a reason for issuing the invi- tations so long in advance." The Don was in no special hurry to escape with his plunder, but neither was he desirous of remaining too long in the vicinity of his victims; hence, although he had no suspicion that his schemes had been discovered by any one, he fixed an earlier date than that suggested by Lesparre in order to prevent the probability of any accident occurring to mar his plans. Lesparre immediately ordered the cards of invi- tation, and in a few days all Gloster was in a state of pleasurable excitement over the news of the coming event. Never had such a commotion been created in the placid waters of society as was raised by the delicate cards of invitation to Senora Morito's fete cliampetre and hat masque. The number who received invitations was enor- mous, including every individual having any claims to be regarded as a member of good society. From that time forward, Lesparre was so busy with the preparations for the fete that he was able to see very little of the rest of the family except 396 VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. in the evening. The Don and Donna and Madame Sevier continued their usual round of dissipation and gayety, however, and ''all went merry as a marriage bell." Still there were some curious features of their conduct which I regarded with suspicion. Every day the Don gave Lesparre a large sum in bank- bills to be exchanged for gold, and the coin was then locked up in the iron safe. Then the Don and Donna held frequent conversations in Span- ish, during which it was easy to see by their manner that they were discussing an affair of great importance. Madame Sevier found a new- ly-purchased traveler's guide-book in the Donna's bureau, and from various marks and turned pages it was evident that it had been carefully consulted with reference to an ocean voyage. These things led me to the conclusion that the Don was preparing for a journey, and the fact that he made no mention of it, even to Lesparre, showed that he intended to go secretly. To all his acquaintances he spoke freely of his con- templated tour of the watering-places during the summer, but he always promised to spend the following winter in Gloster, without fail; hence it was clear that he was playing a double game, to deceive some one. I could only w^ait further developments, and heartily wish for advices from Peru or England. In company with Judge Key I called upon Sen- ator Muirhead, on the return of that gentleman from the session of Congress, and we discussed VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. 197 together the best plan to pursue, to foil the schemes of Don Pedro. The Senator was very anxious to proceed against him immediately, with the intention of showing him up in his true character, and thus saving his victims from any further loss. '' Indeed, Senator Muirhead," I replied, '' I am as desirous to arrest his fraudulent operations as yourself, but I want to be sure of success before I do anything, and I do not see my way clear to act just now. At present we can prove nothing whatever against him; in fact, the only charge we could make would be that of obtaining money under false pretenses. Now, what evidence could we bring to substantiate the accusation ? There is no judge living that would hold him on my or your individual opinion that he has sold mines which do not exist, and we should have nothing else to offer." ^'Yes, but you forget his forgeries in other countries," interrupted the Senator. " In the first place," I replied, '' you could not charge him in this country with crimes com- mitted elsewhere, even though you had the posi- tive proof of those crimes. If you charged him here with obtaining money under false pre- tenses, you could produce no testimony except such as bore upon the specific act alleged in your complaint; all other testimony would be ruled out. But, even suppose that such testimony were admissible, can you produce any witness to his crimes in other countries ? Indeed, admitting 108 VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. again that these crimes were proven, can we es- tablish the identity of Don Pedro P. L. de Morito as the perpetrator of those crimes? No, sir; wf have not a single witness; I ask you as a lawyer, Judge Key, am I not right ? " ^'You are correct in every particular, Mr. Pinkerton," replied the Judge. ^' I confess that you present the difficulties of the case more forcibly than I could have done myself." ^' Yes, you are right, Mr. Pinkerton," said Sen- ator Muirhead ; ''I do not see that we can do anything ; yet it seems shameful to sit idly doing nothing, when we know that this scoundrel is obtaining such immense sums from our people. What do you propose to do in the future, Mr. Pinkerton ? " ' ' I can hardly tell what may be possible as yet," I answered; ^^but I feel sure that I shall not only prevent him from securing any more plunder, but also wrest from him that which has already fallen into his hands. He feels secure in the possession of this large sum, and he is in no great hurry to get away; he will undoubtedly re- main until after his fete champetre at least. Be- fore that time, I hope to hear something definite from either England or Peru, and then I can act with a power in reserve in case our own means should be insufficient to enforce our demands for restitution. Any action against him now would only result in hastening his departure with ah the money he has gained, for I am certain thai we could not hold him." VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. 199 ^' Well, I see that nothing can be done now," said the Senator, despondently; ''but do not lose sight of this man for a moment, Mr. Pinkerton, for he seems an adept in all the tricks of crime." ''Never fear, Senator Muirhead," I replied, cheerfully; "I feel sure that we shall eventually not only bring his career here to a hasty close, but also recover the money which he has fraudu- lently obtained." When we parted, the Senator was a little more hopeful, though he said that he should not be at all surprised if Don Pedro outwitted us after all. The loss to the Senator's friends would, of course, be very large; but, perhaps, the lesson would not be a bad thing for them; they would know better thereafter than to part with their money so fool- ishly. That same evening the Don and Donna, Mon- sieur Lesparre, and Madame Sevier, were engaged for the evening at a dancing party given by Judge Peter B. Taylor. Knowing of their inten- tions to attend this party, I saw an excellent op- portunity for Salter to examine the private apart- ments of the Don and Donna. Accordingly, after the family had gone away in the carriage, Salter began to talk to the other servants about the advantages of belonging to a family where the domestics were allowed to do as they pleased, instead of being so carefully watched. The laun- dress then related how much less pleasure they had, now that Madame Sevier was in charge of the household. 200 VERY SUSPICIOUS PREPARATIONS. ^' Why," said she, '' before this French woiP