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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jim Cummings, by Frank Pinkerton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Jim Cummings
+       or, The Great Adams Express Robbery
+
+Author: Frank Pinkerton
+
+Posting Date: August 3, 2012 [EBook #5695]
+Release Date: May, 2004
+First Posted: August 9, 2002
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JIM CUMMINGS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Rose Koven, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+JIM CUMMINGS
+
+OR
+
+THE GREAT ADAMS EXPRESS ROBBERY
+
+With a portrait of the notorious Jim Cummings and illustrations of
+scenes connected with the great robbery
+
+By Frank Pinkerton
+
+Vol. I, March 1887. The Pinkerton Detective Series, issued monthly, by
+subscription, $3.00 per annum.
+
+Chicago
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE CONSPIRATORS--THE FORGED LETTER--THE PLAN.
+
+
+In the rear room of a small frame building, the front of which was
+occupied as a coal office, located on West Lake street, Chicago, three
+men were seated around a square pine table. The curtains of the window
+were not only drawn inside, but the heavy shutters were closed on the
+outside. A blanket was nailed over the only door of the room, and every
+thing and every action showed that great secrecy was a most important
+factor of the assembly.
+
+The large argand burner of a student's lamp filled the small room with
+its white, strong light, The table was covered with railroad
+time-tables, maps, bits of paper, on which were written two names a
+great number of times, and pens of different makes and widths of point
+were scattered amidst the papers.
+
+One man, a large, powerfully-built fellow, deep-chested, and
+long-limbed, was occupied in writing, again and again, the name of
+"J.B. Barrett." He had covered sheet after sheet with the name, looking
+first at a letter before him, but was still far from satisfied. "Damn a
+man who will make his 'J's' in such a heathenish way."
+
+"Try it again, Wittrock," said one of his companions.
+
+"Curse you," shouted the man called Wittrock. "How often must I tell
+you not to call me that name. By God, I'll bore a hole through you yet,
+d'ye mind, now."
+
+"Oh, no harm been done, Cummings; no need of your flying in such a stew
+for nothing. We're all in the same box here, eh?"
+
+"Well, you be more careful hereafter," said "Cummings," and again he
+bent to his laborious task of forging the name of "J.B. Barrett."
+
+Nothing was heard for half an hour but the scratching of the pen, or
+the muttered curses of Cummings (as he was called).
+
+Suddenly he threw down his pen with a laugh of triumph, and holding a
+piece of paper before him, exclaimed: "There, lads, there it is;
+there's the key that will unlock a little mint for us."
+
+Throwing himself back in his chair, he drew a cigar from his pocket,
+and, lighting it, listened with great satisfaction to the words of
+praise uttered by his companions as they compared the forged with the
+genuine signature.
+
+These three men were on the eve of a desperate enterprise. For months
+they had been planning and working together, and the time for action
+was rapidly approaching.
+
+The one called "Cummings," the leader, was apparently, the youngest one
+of the three. There was nothing in his face to denote the criminal. A
+stranger looking at him, would imagine him to be a good-natured, jovial
+chap, a little shrewd perhaps, but fond of a good dinner, a good drink,
+a good cigar, and nothing else.
+
+One of his colleagues, whom he called "Roe," evidently an alias, was
+smaller in size, but had a determined expression on his face, that
+showed him to be a man who would take a desperate chance if necessary.
+
+The third man, called sometimes Weaver, and sometimes Williams, was the
+smallest one of the conspirators, and also the eldest. His frame,
+though small, was compact and muscular, but his face lacked both the
+determination of Roe and the frank, open expression of Cummings.
+
+After scrutinizing the forgery for a time, Roe returned it to Cummings
+and said, "Jim, who has the run out on the Frisco when you make the
+plant?"
+
+"A fellow named Fotheringham, a big chap, too. I was going to lay for
+the other messenger, Hart, who is a small man, and could be easily
+handled, but he has the day run now."
+
+"This Fotheringham will have to be a dandy if he can tell whether
+Barrett has written this or not, eh, Jim?"
+
+"Aye, that he will. Let me once get in that car, and if the letter
+don't work, I'll give him a taste of the barker."
+
+"No shooting, Jim, no shooting, I swear to God I'll back out if you
+spill a drop of blood."
+
+Jim's eyes glittered, and he hissed between his teeth:
+
+"You back out, Roe, and you'll see some shooting."
+
+Roe laughed a nervous laugh, and said, as he pushed some blank
+letter-heads toward Cummings, "Who's goin' to back out, only I don't
+like the idea of shooting a man, even to get the plunder. Here's the
+Adam's Express letter-heads I got to-day. Try your hand on the letter."
+
+Cummings, somewhat pacified, with careful and laborious strokes of the
+pen, wrote as follows:
+
+"SPRINGFIELD, Mo., October 24th, '86.
+
+MESSENGER, TRAIN No. 3, ST. L & ST. F. RTE:
+
+DR. SIR:  You will let the bearer, John Broson, Ride in your car to
+Peirce, and give him all the Instructions that you can.  Yours,
+
+J.B. Barrett, R.A."
+
+"Hit it the first time. Look at that Roe; cast your eye on that elegant
+bit of literature, Weaver," and Cummings, greatly excited, paced up and
+down the room, whistling, and indulging in other signs of huge
+gratification.
+
+"Well done, Jim, well done. Now write the other one, and we'll go and
+licker up."
+
+Again Cummings picked up his facile pen, and was soon successful in
+writing the following letter, purporting to be from this same J. B.
+Barrett.
+
+"SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Oct. 21, '86.
+
+"JOHN BRONSON, Esq., St. Louis, Mo.
+
+"DR. SIR: Come at once to Peirce City by train No. 3, leaving St. Louis
+8:25 p.m. Inclosed find note to messenger on the train, which you can
+use for a pass in case you see Mr. Damsel in time. Agent at Peirce City
+will instruct you further.
+
+"Respectfully,             J. B. BARRETT, R. A."
+
+Jim drew a long, deep sigh of relief as he muttered:
+
+"Half the work is done; half the work is done."
+
+Drawing the railroad map of the Chicago & Alton road toward him, he put
+the pen point on St. Louis, and slowing following the St. L. & S. F.
+Division, paused at Kirkwood.
+
+"Roe, here's the place I shall tackle this messenger. It is rather
+close to St. Louis, but it's down grade and the train will be making
+fast time. She stops at Pacific--here, and we will jump the train
+there, strike for the river, and paddle down to the K. & S. W. You must
+jump on at the crossing near the limits, plug the bell cord so the
+damned messenger can't pull the rope on me, and I will have him foul."
+
+Roe listened attentively to these instructions, nodding his head slowly
+several times to express his approval, and said:
+
+"When will we go down?"
+
+Jim Cummings, looking at the time-table, answered:
+
+"This is--what date is this, Weaver?"
+
+"October 11th."
+
+"Two weeks from to-day will be the 25th. That is on--let's see, that is
+Tuesday."
+
+"Two weeks from to-day, Roe, you will have to take the train at St.
+Louis; get your ticket to Kirkwood. I see by this time-table that No. 3
+does stop there. When you get off, run ahead, plug the bell-cord, and I
+will wait till she gets up speed after leaving Kirkwood before I draw
+my deposit."
+
+Thus did these three men plan a robbery that was to mulct the Adams
+Express Company of $100,000, baffle the renowned Pinkertons for weeks
+and excite universal admiration for its boldness, skill, and
+completeness.
+
+The papers upon which Cummings had exercised his skill, were torn into
+little bits, the time-tables and maps were folded and placed in coat
+pockets, the lamp extinguished, and three men were soon strolling down
+Lake street as calmly as if they had no other object than to saunter
+into their favorite bar-room, and toss off a social drink or two.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE SUCCESS OF THE LETTERS--THE ATTACK--THE ROBBERS--THE ESCAPE.
+
+
+The Union depot at St. Louis was ablaze with lights. The long Kansas
+City train was standing, all made up, the engine coupled on, and almost
+ready to pull out. Belated passengers were rushing frantically from the
+ticket window to the baggage-room, and then to the train, when a man,
+wearing side whiskers, and carrying a small valise, parted from his
+companion at the entrance to the depot, and, after buying a ticket to
+Kirkwood, entered the smoking car. His companion, a tall, well-built
+man, having a smooth face, and a very erect carriage, walked with a
+business-like step down the platform until he reached the express car.
+Tossing the valise which he carried into the car, he climbed in himself
+with the aid of the hand-rail on the side of the door, and, as the
+messenger came toward him, he held out his hand, saying:
+
+"Is this Mr. Fotheringham?"
+
+"Yes, that's my name."
+
+"I have a letter from Mr. Bassett for you," and, taking it from his
+pocket, he handed it to the messenger.
+
+Fotheringham read the letter carefully, and placing it in his pocket,
+said:
+
+"Going to get a job, eh?"
+
+"Yes, the old man said he would give me a show, and as soon as there
+was a regular run open, he would let me have it."
+
+"Well, I'm pretty busy now; make yourself comfortable until we pull
+out, and then I'll post you up as best I can, Mr. Bronson."
+
+Mr. "Bronson" pulled off his overcoat, and, seating himself in a chair,
+glanced around the car.
+
+In one end packages, crates, butter, egg-cases, and parts of machinery
+were piled up. At the other end a small iron safe was lying. As it
+caught Bronson's eye an expression came over his face, which, if
+Fotheringham had seen, would have saved him a vast amount of trouble.
+But the messenger, too busy to notice his visitor, paid him no
+attention, and in a moment Bronson was puffing his cigar with a
+nonchalant air, that would disarm any suspicions which the messenger
+might have entertained, but he had none, as it was a common practice to
+send new men over his run, that he might "break them in."
+
+The train had pulled out, and after passing the city limits, was flying
+through the suburbs at full speed.
+
+Fotheringham, seated in front of his safe, with his way bills on his
+lap, was checking them off as Bronson called off each item of freight
+in the car.
+
+The long shriek of the whistle and the jerking of the car caused by the
+tightening of the air brake on the wheels, showed the train to be
+approaching a station.
+
+"This is Kirkwood," said Fotheringham, "nothing for them to-night."
+
+The train was almost at a standstill, when Bronson, saying "What sort
+of a place is it?" threw back the door and peered out into the dark.
+
+As he did so, a man passed swiftly by, and in passing glanced into the
+car. As Bronson looked, he saw it was the same man that had bought a
+ticket for Kirkwood and had ridden in the smoker.
+
+The train moved on. Bronson shut the door and buttoned his coat.
+Fotheringham, still busy on his way bills, was whistling softly to
+himself, and sitting with his back to his fellow passenger.
+
+Some unusual noise in the front end of the car caught his ear, and
+raising his head, he exclaimed:
+
+"What's that?"
+
+The answer came, not from the front of the car but from behind.
+
+A strong muscular hand was placed on his neck. A brawny arm was thrown
+around his chest, and lifted from the chair, he was thrown violently to
+the floor of the car.
+
+In a flash he realized his position. With an almost superhuman effort,
+he threw Bronson from him, and reaching around felt for his revolver.
+It was gone, and thrown to the other end of the car.
+
+Little did the passengers on the train know of the stirring drama which
+was being enacted in the car before them. Little did they think as they
+leaned back in their comfortable seats, of the terrific struggle which
+was then taking place. On one hand it was a struggle for $100,000; on
+the other, for reputation, for honor, perhaps for life.
+
+Fotheringham, strong as he vas (for he was large of frame, and
+muscular) was no match for his assailant. He struggled manfully, but
+was hurled again to the floor, and as he looked up, saw the cold barrel
+of a 32-calibre pointed at his head. Bronson's face, distorted with
+passion and stern with the fight, glared down at him, as he hissed
+through his teeth:
+
+"Make a sound, and you are a dead man."
+
+The messenger, seeing all was lost, lay passive upon the floor. The
+robber, whipping out a long, strong, silk handkerchief, tied his hands
+behind his back, and making a double-knotted gag of Fotheringham's
+handkerchief, gagged him. Searching the car he discovered a shawl-strap
+with which he tied the messenger's feet, and thus had him powerless as
+a log. Then, and not till then, did he speak aloud.
+
+"Done, and well done, too."
+
+The flush faded from his face, his eye became sullen, and drawing the
+messenger's chair to him he sat down. As he gazed at his discomfited
+prisoner an expression of intense relief came over his features. His
+forged letters had proved successful, his only formidable obstacle
+between himself and his anticipated booty lay stretched at his feet,
+helpless and harmless. The nature of the car prevented any interruption
+from the ends, as the only entrance was through the side doors, and he
+had all night before him to escape.
+
+Now for the plunder. The key to the safe was in Fotheringham's pocket.
+It took but a second to secure it, and but another second to use it in
+unlocking the strong-box. The messenger, unable to prevent this in any
+way, looked on in intense mental agony. He saw that he would be
+suspected as an accomplice. The mere fact that one man could disarm,
+bind and gag him, would be used as a suspicious circumstance against
+him. Although he did not know the exact sum of money in the safe he was
+aware that it was of a very considerable amount, and he fairly writhed
+in his agony of mind. In an instant Cummings (or, as he had been called
+by the messenger, Bronson) was on his feet, revolver in hand, and again
+the cruel, murderous expression dwelt on his face, as he exclaimed:
+
+"Lie still, damn you, lie still. If you attempt to create an alarm,
+I'll fill you so full of lead that some tenderfoot will locate you for
+a mineral claim. D'ye understand?"
+
+After this facetious threat he paid no further attention to the
+messenger.
+
+Emptying his valise of its contents of underclothing and linen, he
+stuffed it full of the packages of currency which the safe contained.
+
+One package, containing $30,000, from the Continental Bank of St.
+Louis, was consigned to the American National Bank of Kansas City.
+Another large package held $12,000, from the Merchants National Bank of
+St. Louis for the Merchants Bank of Forth Smith, Arkansas, and various
+other packages, amounting altogether to $53,000.
+
+With wonderful sang froid, Cummings stuffed this valuable booty in his
+valise, and then proceeded to open the bags containing coin. His keen
+knife-blade ripped bag after bag, but finding it all silver, he
+desisted, and turning to Fotheringham, demanded:
+
+"Any gold aboard?"
+
+Fotheringham shook his head in reply.
+
+"Does that mean there is none, or you don't know?"
+
+Again the messenger shook his head.
+
+"Well, I reckon your right, all silver, too heavy and don't amount to
+much."
+
+As he was talking, the whistle of the engine suddenly sound two short
+notes, and the air-brakes were applied.
+
+The train stopped, and the noise of men walking on the gravel was heard.
+
+As Fotheringham lay there, his ears strained to catch every sound, and
+hoping for the help that never came, his heart gave a joyful throb, as
+some one pounded noisily on the door. Almost at the same instant he
+felt the cold muzzle of a revolver against his head, and the ominous
+"click, click" was more eloquent than threats or words could be.
+
+The pounding ceased, and in a short time the train moved on again.
+
+Apparently not satisfied that the messenger was bound safe and fast,
+Cummings took the companion strap to the one which pinioned the feet of
+his victim, and passing it around his neck, fastened it to the handle
+of the safe in such a way that any extra exertion on Fotheringham's
+part would pull the safe over and choke him.
+
+Opening the car door, he threw away the clothing which he had taken
+from his valise.
+
+Returning to the messenger, he stooped over him, and took from his
+pocket the forged letter with which he gained entrance to the car.
+
+Fotheringham tried to speak, but the gag permitted nothing but a
+rattling sound to escape.
+
+"I know what you want, young fellow. You want this letter to prove that
+you had some sort of authority to let me ride. Sorry I can't
+accommodate you, my son, but those devilish Pinkertons will be after me
+in twenty-four hours, and this letter would be just meat to them. I'll
+fix you all right, though. My name's Cummings, Jim Cummings, and I'll
+write a letter to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat that will clear you
+Honest to God, I will. You've been pretty generous to-night; given me
+lots of swag, and I'll never go back on you.
+
+"Give my love to Billy Pinkerton when you see him. Tell him Jim
+Cummings did this job."
+
+As he uttered these words, the train commenced slacking up, and as it
+stopped, Cummings, opening the door, with his valuable valise, leaped
+to the ground, closed the door behind him, the darkness closed around
+him and he was gone.
+
+Inside the car, a rifled safe, a bound and gagged messenger, and the
+Adams Express Company was poorer by $100,000 than it was when the
+'Frisco train pulled out of the depot the evening before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+PINKERTON TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+The next day the country knew of the robbery. Newspapers in every city
+had huge head lines, telling the story in the most graphic style.
+
+JESSE JAMES OUTDONE! The Adams Express Company ROBBED OF $100,000!
+
+THE EXPRESS MESSENGER FOUND GAGGED AND BOUND TO HIS OWN SAFE--THE
+ROBBER ESCAPES--ABSOLUTELY NO CLEWS--PINKERTON TO THE RESCUE!
+
+Mr. Damsel, the superintendent of the St. Louis branch of the Adams
+Express Company, was pacing anxiously up and down his private office.
+Fotheringham was relating his exciting experience, which a stenographer
+immediately took down in shorthand. At frequent intervals Mr. Damsel
+would ask a searching question, to which the messenger replied in a
+straightforward manner and without hesitation. It was a trying ordeal
+to him. Innocent as he was, his own testimony was against him. He knew
+it and felt it, but nothing that he could do or say would lighten the
+weight of the damaging evidence. He could but tell the facts and await
+developments. When he was through Mr. Damsel left him in the office,
+and immediately telegraphed to every station between Pacific and St.
+Louis to look for the linen and underclothing which the robbers had
+thrown from the car. The wires were working in all directions, giving a
+full description of Cummings and such other information as would lead
+to his discovery.
+
+Local detectives were closeted with Mr. Damsel all day, but so shrewdly
+and cunningly had the express robber covered his tracks, that nothing
+but the bare description of the man could be used as a clew.
+
+Fotheringham was put through the "sweating process" time and again,
+but, though he gave the most minute and detailed account of the affair,
+the detectives could find nothing to help them.
+
+That Fotheringham "stood in" with the robber was the universal theory.
+The story of the letter and order from Mr. Barrett was received with
+derision and suspicion.
+
+Mr. Damsel himself was almost confident that his employee had a hand in
+the robbery. It was a long and anxious day, and as it wore along and no
+new developments turned up, Mr. Damsel became more anxious and
+troubled: $100,000 is a large sum and the Adams Express Company had a
+reputation at stake. What was to be done?
+
+Almost instantly the answer came: telegraph for Pinkerton.
+
+The telegram was sent, and when William Pinkerton wired back that he
+would come at once. Mr. Damsel felt his load of responsibility begin to
+grow lighter, and he waited impatiently for the morning to come.
+
+The next morning about 10 o'clock Mr. Damsel received a note, signed
+"Pinkerton," requesting him to call at room 84 of the Southern Hotel.
+He went at once. A pleasant-faced gentleman, with a heavy mustache and
+keen eyes, greeted him, and Mr. Damsel was shaking hands with the
+famous detective, on whose shoulders had fallen the mantle of his
+father, Allan Pinkerton, probably the finest detective the world has
+ever seen.
+
+Mr. Damsel had his stenographer's notes, which had been transcribed on
+the type-writer, and Mr. Pinkerton carefully and slowly read every word.
+
+"What sort of a man is this Fotheringham?"
+
+"He is a large, well built, and I should say, muscular young fellow.
+Has always been reliable before, and has been with us some years."
+
+"Has he ever been arrested before?"
+
+"He says twice. Once for shooting off a gun on Sunday, and again for
+knocking a man down for insulting a lady."
+
+"You think he is guilty--that is, you think he had a hand in the
+robbery?"
+
+"Mr. Pinkerton, I regret to say I do. It doesn't seem probable that a
+strong, hearty man would allow another man to disarm him, gag him, tie
+him hand and foot, get away with $100,000, and all that without a
+desperate struggle, and he hasn't the sign of a scratch or bruise on
+him."
+
+"N-n-no, it doesn't. Still it could be done. You have him under arrest,
+then."
+
+"Not exactly. He is in my office now, and apparently has no thought of
+trying to escape."
+
+"Well, Mr. Damsel, I am inclined to think that this man Fotheringham
+knows no more of this robbery than he has told you. If he is in
+collusion with the robber, or robbers--for I think that more than one
+had to do with it--he would have made up a story in which two or more
+had attacked him. He would have had a cut in the arm, a bruised head or
+some such corroborating testimony to show. The fact that he was held up
+by a single man goes a good way, in my judgment, to prove him innocent
+of any criminal connection with the robbery. We must look elsewhere for
+the culprits."
+
+"Had you not better see Fotheringham?"
+
+"Of course I intend doing that. Did you secure the clothing which this
+so-called Cummings threw out of the train?"
+
+"Telegrams have been sent out, and I hope to have it sent in by
+to-morrow."
+
+"That is good--we may find something which we can grasp. The public
+generally have an idea that a detective can make something out of
+nothing that the merest film of a clew is all that is necessary with
+which to build up a strong substantial edifice of facts. It is only the
+Messieurs La Coqs and 'Old Sleuths' of books and illustrated weeklies
+that are possessed with the second sight, and can hunt down the
+shrewdest criminals, without being bound to such petty things as clews,
+circumstantial evidence or witnesses. We American detectives can
+generally make 4 by putting 2 and 2 together, but we must have a
+starting point, and an old shirt or a pair of stockings, such as this
+robber threw away, may contain just what we need."
+
+A knock on the door, and an employee of the office entered.
+
+"Mr. Damsel, the entire road has been carefully searched, and no trace
+of the clothing can be found."
+
+"That's bad," said Mr. Pinkerton, "we should have found that."
+
+Mr. Damsel bade the employee to return to the office, and turning to
+Mr. Pinkerton, said:
+
+"The case is in your hands. Do what you want, if any man can run that
+Cummings down, you can."
+
+"Well, I'll take it. I should advise you first to have Fotheringham
+arrested as an accomplice. While I do not think he is one, he may be;
+at any rate it will lead the principals in the case to believe we are
+on the wrong track, but I must confess there don't seem to be any track
+at all, wrong or right."
+
+"I will do that. I will swear out a warrant to-day against him."
+
+Mr. Damsel took his leave, and that night Fotheringham slept behind
+iron bars.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE DETECTIVE AND THE MESSENGER.
+
+
+After Mr. Damsel had left the hotel, Mr. Pinkerton sat in deep thought.
+He had carefully re-read Fotheringham's statement, but could find
+nothing that could be put out as a tracer; no little straw to tell
+which way the wind was blowing.
+
+"Cummings, Cummings, Jim Cummings. By George, that can't be the Jim
+Cummings that used to flock with the Jesse James gang. That Cummings
+was a gray-haired man, while this Cummings is young, about 26 years
+old. Besides he is a much larger than Jesse James' Jim Cummings. That
+name is evidently assumed.
+
+"This statement says he was dressed in a good suit of clothes, and wore
+a very flashy cravat. Furthermore, he bragged a good deal about what he
+would do with the money. Also that he would write a letter to the St.
+Louis Globe-Democrat exonerating the messenger. Well, a man who will
+brag like that, and wears flashy articles of neck-wear, is just the man
+that will talk too much, or make some bad break. If he writes that
+letter, he's a goner. There will be something in it that will give me a
+hold. The paper, the ink, the hand-writing, the place and time it was
+mailed--something that will give him away."
+
+"I must see this messenger, and I must see him here; alone. He may be
+able to give me a little glimmer of light."
+
+To think with "Billy" Pinkerton was to act.
+
+He pressed the annunciator button, and sitting down, wrote a short note
+to Mr. Damsel, requesting him to bring Fotheringham with him to his
+room.
+
+The bell-boy who answered the call bore the note away with him, and in
+a short time, Mr. Pinkerton, looking out of his window, saw Mr. Damsel
+in his buggy drive up to the hotel accompanied by a young man, whom Mr.
+Pinkerton recognized from the description given him, as the unfortunate
+Fotheringham, who had evidently, as yet, not been arrested.
+
+It took but a few moments for Mr. Damsel to reach Room 84, and after
+introducing Fotheringham to the detective, left him there.
+
+Fotheringham wore a worried and hunted look. The black rings under his
+eyes told of loss of sleep, and his whole demeanor was that of a
+discouraged person. Still he bore the keen scrutiny of the detective
+without flinching, and looking him squarely in the eye, said:
+
+"Mr. Pinkerton, don't ask me to repeat my story again. I have told it
+time after time. I have been cross-questioned, and turned and twisted
+until I almost believe I committed the robbery myself, tied my own
+hands and feet, put the gag in my own mouth, and hid the money some
+place."
+
+Mr. Pinkerton did not answer him, but gazing at him with those sharp,
+far-seeing eyes, which had ferreted out so many crimes, and had made so
+many criminals tremble, took in every detail of Fotheringham's
+features, as if reading his very soul. Fotheringham leaned back, closed
+his eyes wearily, as if it were a matter of the smallest consequence
+what might occur, and remained in that position until Mr. Pinkerton
+spoke.
+
+"Mr. Fotheringham, I don't believe you had anything to do with the
+robbery, except being robbed."
+
+"Thank God for those words, Mr. Pinkerton," exclaimed the messenger in
+broken tones, the tears welling to his eyes. "That's the first bit of
+comfort I've had since the dastardly villain first knocked me down."
+
+"Can you not give me some peculiarity which you noticed about this
+Cummings? How did he talk?"
+
+"Slowly, with a very pleasant voice."
+
+"Did he have any marks about him--any scars?"
+
+Fotheringham sat in deep thought for a while.
+
+"He had a triangular gold filling on one of his front teeth, and he had
+a way of hanging his head a little to one side, as if he were deaf, but
+I did not see any scars, excepting a bit of court-plaster on one of the
+fingers of his right hand."
+
+"Was he disguised at all?"
+
+"Not a bit, at least I could see no disguise on him."
+
+"How did he walk?"
+
+"Very erect, and, yes, I noticed he limped a little, as if he had a
+sore foot."
+
+"I see by this report," taking up the papers Mr. Damsel had left, "that
+you have given a very close and full description of his appearance, but
+that amounts to little. Disguises are easy, and the mere changing of
+clothing will effect a great difference."
+
+"I am positive, from his features, that he was a hard drinker. He had
+been drinking before he came to the car, as I smelled it on his breath."
+
+"Well, Mr. Fotheringham, I will not detain you any longer. If you are
+innocent, you know you have nothing to fear."
+
+"Except the disgrace of being arrested."
+
+"Possibly," said Mr. Pinkerton, shortly, and bowing his visitor out, he
+pondered long and deeply over the case; but he felt he was groping in
+the dark, for the robber had apparently left no trace behind him. He
+had appeared on the scene, done his work, and the dark shadows of the
+night had swallowed him up, and Mr. Pinkerton, for the time, was
+completely baffled.
+
+"If he would only write that letter," he muttered, "and I believe he
+will--"
+
+A tap at the door followed these words, and two men entered--both
+Pinkerton detectives.
+
+One of them carried a bundle in his arms.
+
+As Mr. Pinkerton caught sight of it, his face lightened up.
+
+"Ah! You did get it?"
+
+"Yes; found them in a ditch the other side of Kirkwood."
+
+Mr. Pinkerton laughed, and taking the bundle, said:
+
+"Mr. Damsel said they could not be found; but I knew you, Chip. It was
+a good move on your part to go after these clothes without waiting for
+orders. You are starting in well, my boy, and if you have the making of
+a detective in you, this case will bring it out."
+
+Chip blushed. Such words of praise from his superior were worth working
+for. The youngest man on the force, he had his spurs to win, and the
+approbation of his chief was reward enough.
+
+The bundle was untied, and disclosed a shirt, a pair of drawers, socks
+and a dirty handkerchief. As the clothing fell on the floor, the odor
+of some sort of liniment filled the room, and on the leg of the
+drawers, below the knee, a stain was seen. Examining it more closely, a
+little clotted blood was seen. The stain extended half way around the
+leg, and showed that the cut or bruise was quite an extensive one.
+
+"No wonder he limped," said Mr. Pinkerton, as he dropped the drawers
+and picked up the handkerchief.
+
+The handkerchief, a common linen one, had evidently been used as a
+bandage, for it was stained with the liniment, and covered with blood
+clots. In one corner had been written a name, but the only letters now
+readable were "W--r--k."
+
+This was placed on the table and the shirt carefully examined.
+
+Nothing, not even the maker's name, could be seen. It was a cheap
+shirt, such as could be bought at any store which labels everything
+belonging to a man as "Gents' Furnishing." The socks were common, and
+like thousands of similar socks.
+
+"Not much of a find, Chip--the letters on the handkerchief can be found
+in a hundred different names--a sore knee is covered by a pair of
+trousers, and one out of every ten men you meet, limps."
+
+The other detective, who had all this time been silent, now laid some
+Adams Express letter-heads on the table. On these were written "J. B.
+Barrett," in all forms of chirography--several sheets were covered with
+the name.
+
+"Where did you get these?"
+
+"Out of Fotheringham's trunk, in his room."
+
+"By Jove, what a consummate actor that man is. Do you know, boys, up to
+this minute, I firmly believed that messenger was innocent--I have been
+sold like an ordinary fool," and Mr. Pinkerton looked at the tell-tale
+papers admiringly, for, although he felt a trifle chagrined at being
+taken in so nicely, he could not but pay tribute to the man who did it,
+for the man that could get the better of "Billy" Pinkerton, must be one
+of extraordinary ability.
+
+"If you please," said Chip, "I do not see that the mere finding of this
+paper in Fotheringham's trunk should fasten suspicion on him. If he was
+shrewd enough to capture the money, he would certainly not leave such
+damaging evidence as this paper would be. It seems to me that it would
+be a very plausible theory to advance, that the real robbers placed
+this in his trunk to direct suspicion against him. In fact, it was the
+first thing to be seen when the lid was lifted, for I was with Barney
+when he searched the room."
+
+Barney said nothing to his companion's remarks, but nodded his head to
+show that he acquiesced.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton listened carefully, and merely saying, "we'll look at
+this later," gave a very careful and complete description of Cummings,
+which he directed Chip and Barney to take to the St. Louis branch of
+this firm, and from there send it through all the divisions and
+sub-divisions of this vast detective cob-web.
+
+After issuing further and more orders relating to the case in hand, he
+put on his hat, and descended to the hotel office, followed by his two
+subordinates.
+
+After the exciting episode in the express car had been brought to a
+close by Jim Cummings leaping from the car, the train moved on, and
+left him alone, the possessor of nearly $100,000. The game had been a
+desperate one, and well played, and nervy and cool as he was, the
+desperado was forced to seat himself on a pile of railroad ties, until
+he could regain possession of himself, for he trembled in every limb,
+and shook as with a chill. He pulled himself together, however, and
+picking up his valise, with its valuable contents, turned toward the
+river.
+
+He stepped from tie to tie, feeling his way in the darkness, every
+sense on the alert, and straining his eyes to catch a glimpse of some
+landmark. He had walked nearly a mile when, from behind a pile of brush
+heaped up near the track, a man stepped forth. The double click of a
+revolver was heard, and in an imperative tone, the unknown man called
+out:
+
+"Halt! Put your hands above your head. I've got the drop on you!"
+
+Startled as he was by the sudden appearance of the man, and hardly
+recovered from his hard fight with the messenger, Cummings was too
+brave and too daring to yield so tamely. Dropping his valise, he sprang
+upon the audacious stranger so suddenly that he was taken completely by
+surprise. The sharp report of the revolver rang out upon the quiet
+night, and the two men, Cummings uppermost, fell upon the grading of
+the road. The men were very evenly matched, and the fortunes of war
+wavered from one to the other. The hoarse breathing, the muttered
+curses, and savage blows told that a desperate conflict was taking
+place. Clasped in each other's embrace, the men lay, side by side,
+neither able to gain the mastery. Far around the curve the rumbling of
+an approaching freight train was heard. Nearer and nearer it came, and
+still the men fought on. With a grip of iron Cummings held the
+stranger's throat to the rail, and with arms of steel clasped around
+Cummings, his assailant pressed him to the ground.
+
+It was an even thing, a fair field and no favor, when the sudden flash
+of the headlight of the approaching engine, as it shot around the
+curve, caused both men to lose their hold and spring from the track.
+The strong, clear light flooded both with its brilliancy, and in that
+instant mutual recognition took place.
+
+"Wittrock!"
+
+"Moriarity!"
+
+The train swept by, and the darkness again settled around the late
+combatants.
+
+Cummings was the first to speak.
+
+"How the devil did you get here, Dan?"
+
+"Just what I was going to ask you, Fred."
+
+"Then you didn't get my letter?"
+
+"What letter."
+
+"I wrote you from Chicago, to be on hand at the 'plant' to-night."
+
+"Did you send it to Leavenworth?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I am on my way there now. Got busted in St. Louis, couldn't make a
+raise, and I commenced to count ties for Leavenworth."
+
+"Yes, then you took me for some jay, and tried to hold me up. It's
+lucky I met you, I need you."
+
+"Any money in it?"
+
+"Slathers of it."
+
+"What's your lay?"
+
+Cummings hesitated a minute before replying, and then said:
+
+"Dan! you went back on me once, I don't know that I can trust you, you
+are too--"
+
+"Trust me! You give Dan Moriarity a chance to cover some tin, and he's
+yours, body and soul."
+
+"What's your price to help me, and keep your mouth shut?"
+
+"$2,000."
+
+"It's a go," and Cummings held out his hand.
+
+The compact was thus sealed, and lighting a match, Cummings commenced
+to look for his valise.
+
+It had, fortunately, fallen outside the rails, and picking it up,
+Cummings led the way, followed by the somewhat surprised and still more
+curious Moriarity.
+
+At this point on the Missouri river, the bluffs rise abruptly from the
+banks. The railroad, winding around the curves, was literally hewn from
+the solid rock. Deep gullies and ravines, starting from the water,
+Intersected all portions of the country, and the thick underbrush made
+this place a safe and secure hiding-place for fugitives from justice,
+river pirates and moonshiners.
+
+Cummings, at a point where one of these gullies branched off from the
+railroad, turned into it, and with confident steps, followed closely by
+Moriarity, scaled the rocky precipice. Half way up the toilsome ascent,
+he halted, and placing his fingers in his mouth, gave three shrill
+whistles. Two short, and one long drawn sounds.
+
+It was immediately answered; and in an instant, a flaming torch sprang
+into view, and almost as quickly was extinguished.
+
+A short climb, and turning sharply to the right, Cummings again
+stopped. The signal, repeated softly, was answered by a voice asking:
+
+"Who comes there?"
+
+To which Cummings replied:
+
+"It is I, be not afraid," at the same time poking Moriarity in the
+ribs, and chuckling:
+
+"I haven't forgotten my Bible yet, eh, Dan?"
+
+A blanket was lifted to one side, and disclosed to view the entrance to
+a natural cave, into the wall of which was stuck a naming, pitch-pine
+knot. Entering, the blanket was dropped, and preceded by a man, whose
+features the fitful glare of the torch failed to reveal, the two
+adventurers were ushered into the main portion of the cavern.
+
+In one corner the copper kettle and coiled worm of a whisky still told
+it was the abode of an illicit distiller, or a "moonshiner."
+
+A large fire cast a ruddy glow over the cave, and blankets and cooking
+utensils were scattered about. As the guide stepped into the light, he
+turned around, his eyes first falling on the well-stuffed valise and
+then upon Cummings' face, which wore such an expression of success and
+satisfaction that he exclaimed, as he held out his hand:
+
+"By the ghost of Jesse James, you did it, old man."
+
+"This looks like it, don't it?" said the successful express-car robber,
+holding his valise to the light. "Don't you know this man, Haight?"
+
+"Damme, if it isn't Dan Moriarity."
+
+"The same old penny--Haight," and Moriarity clasped his hand.
+
+Haight, as host, did the honors. An empty flour barrel, covered by a
+square board, made an acceptable table. Small whisky barrels did duty
+as chairs, and a substantial repast of boiled fish, partridges and gray
+squirrels, supplemented with steaming glasses of hot toddy, satisfied
+the inner man, and, for a time, caused them to forget the exciting
+train of events through which they had just passed.
+
+After their hunger had been appeased pipes were lit, and the fragrant
+glass of spirits, filled to the brim, were placed conveniently and
+seductively near at hand.
+
+Cummings then related, in detail, his night's exploit and ended by
+opening the valise and taking out the packages of currency which it
+contained. It was a strange picture to gaze upon. The fire-lit cave,
+shrouded outside with mystery and darkness, but its heart alive with
+light and warmth; the rude appliances and paraphernalia for distilling
+the contraband "mountain dew"; the floor strewn with blankets,
+cooking-tins, a rifle or two, and provisions, while, bathed in the warm
+glow of the cheerful fire, secure from pursuit and comfortably housed
+from the weather, the three men, with greedy eyes, drank in the
+enchanting vision of luxurious wealth, which lay, bound in its neat
+wrappers, upon the floor of the cave.
+
+Not one of these men could be classed with professional criminals,
+Moriarity, perhaps, had several times done some "fine work," but was
+unknown in the strata of crime, and was never seen in the society of
+"experts."
+
+His attack upon Cummings could be called his debut, just as Cummings'
+late success could be looked on as his first definite step within the
+portals of outlawry and crime. Haight, as an accessory to the robbery,
+had hardly taken his first plunge. Some time before this these same
+men, with others, had planned an extensive robbery on the same line,
+but Moriarity weakened at the last moment and the whole thing fell
+through. It was this incident which caused Cummings to doubt his
+trustworthiness. Still Moriarity had a certain amount of bull courage,
+of which Cummings was aware, and if his palm was but crossed by the
+almighty dollar he would be a valuable ally. For this reason Cummings
+had taken him again into his confidence.
+
+For some moments the three men sat silently puffing their pipes and
+picturing the delight of spending their ill-gotten booty, when
+Cummings, rising from his seat, placed the money on the table and cut
+the strings which bound it together.
+
+A hasty count revealed $53,000 in currency and about $40,000 in bonds,
+mortgage deeds, and other unconvertible valuables.
+
+He had evidently fully considered his plans, and without any previous
+beating around the bush, proceeded to execute them.
+
+Opening a package of smaller bills he divided it into three parts,
+giving Haight and Moriarity each a share. The remainder of the plunder
+he again divided into three portions, and taking the larger one for
+himself, proceeded to wrap it and tie it securely; his companions,
+taking their cue from him, doing likewise.
+
+"Boys," he then said, "as soon as the robbery is discovered the company
+will turn hell itself upside down to find it. Pinkerton will be on our
+trail in forty-eight hours. The first thing they will do will be to
+suspect the messenger. He will be arrested, and while they are
+monkeying with him we must get out of the way. I told the poor devil I
+would write a letter to some paper, I think I said the Globe-Democrat,
+which would clear him, but we must make ourselves safe first.
+
+"Dan, you must get to Leavenworth, find Cook, and have him plant what
+you have. Haight will go to Chicago and know what to do, while
+I--well--I am going south for my health."
+
+Stopping abruptly he drew his revolver, and stepping up to Moriarity,
+placed the cold muzzle to his temple. His eyes, cold as steel and sharp
+as an arrow, were fastened upon Dan's very heart, and speaking with
+terrible earnestness, he said:
+
+"Dan Moriarity, if ever you break faith with me, I'll kill you like a
+cur, so help me God!"
+
+Moriarity stood the ordeal without flinching, and holding his right
+hand above his head, took a solemn oath never to betray, by word or
+deed, the trust which had been placed in him.
+
+Without another word each man carefully placed his particular charge
+securely about his person. Every scrap of paper was gathered up, and,
+after extinguishing the fire, the three men left the cave, and in the
+dawn of the early morning descended to the railroad track.
+
+Hands were shaken, the last words of advice given, and Cummings plunged
+into the labyrinth of gullies and underbrush, leaving his companions
+each to pursue his own way, Moriarity going west, while Haight, going
+east, sprang the fence, and entering a thick patch of bushes, brought
+out a horse, saddled and bridled. Mounting this he struck into a quick
+canter across the country toward St. Louis.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE FIRST CLEW FOUND.
+
+
+Mr. Pinkerton had passed an anxious week, Never before had he been so
+completely baffled. The finding of the letter-heads with Bartlett's
+name written on them in Fotheringham's trunk had quite upset his
+theories. Yet the most searching examination could find nothing in the
+suspected messenger's previous movements, upon which to fasten any
+connection with the robbery.
+
+The vast machinery of Pinkerton's Detective Agency was at work all over
+the country. His brightest and keenest operatives had been brought
+together in St. Louis, Kansas City, Leavenworth and Chicago. False
+clews were sprung every day, and run down to a disappointed
+termination. But all to no purpose. Outwitted and baffled, Mr.
+Pinkerton was treading his apartment at the Southern Hotel with
+impatient steps; his brow was wrinkled with thought and his eyes heavy
+with loss of sleep. In his vast and varied experience with criminals he
+had never yet met one who had so completely covered his tracks as this
+same Jim Cummings. Of one thing he was satisfied, however, and that
+was, that no professional criminal had committed the robbery, and again
+that two or more men were concerned in it.
+
+In Fotheringham's description of the robbery, he had mentioned hearing
+an unusual noise in the fore part of the car, as if some one were
+tapping on the partition, and on examining the car, the bell-cord was
+found to be plugged. This showed an accomplice, or perhaps more than
+one.
+
+That it was not done by a professional was clear, because Mr.
+Pinkerton, having the entire directory and encyclopedia of crime and
+criminals at his fingers' end, knew of no one that would have gone
+about the affair as this man Cummings had done.
+
+As everything else has its system, and each system has its followers,
+so robbery has its method, and each method its advocates and
+practitioners. This is so assuredly the fact that the detective almost
+instantly recognizes the hand which did the work by the manner in which
+the work was done.
+
+This particular robbery was unique. An express car had never been
+looted in this manner before. "Therefore," said Mr. Pinkerton, "it was
+done by a new man, and although this new man had the nerve, brains and
+shrewdness necessary to successfully terminate his plans, yet he will
+lack the cunning and experience of an old hand in keeping clear of the
+detectives and the law, and will do some one thing which will put us
+upon his track."
+
+He had just arrived at this comforting conclusion, when an impatient
+rap was heard on the door, followed almost instantly by Mr. Damsel
+opening it and entering the room.
+
+In his hand he held a letter, and, full of excitement, he waved it over
+his head, as he said:
+
+"He has written a letter."
+
+A gleam of satisfaction was in Mr. Pinkerton's eye as he took the paper
+from Mr. Damsel, but his manner was entirely void of excitement, and
+his voice was calm and even, as he replied:
+
+"I expected he would do something of that sort."
+
+Mr. Damsel--his excitement somewhat allayed by the nonchalant manner
+with which the detective had received the news--seated himself on the
+sofa.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton read the letter carefully.
+
+It was headed "St. Joe, Missouri," and addressed to the editor of the
+St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and a large number of sheets, closely written
+in a backhand, was signed "Yours truly, Jim Cummings." It stated, in
+substance, that the robbery had been carefully planned some time before
+the occurrence. That entrance had been gained to the express car by the
+presentation of a forged order from Route Agent Bartlett, and that
+Fotheringham was entirely innocent of the entire affair.
+
+The letter related, minutely, all that occurred from the time the train
+left St. Louis until it reached Pacific.
+
+It told how the messenger was attacked, gagged and bound, and, in fact,
+was such a complete expose of the robbery that Mr. Pinkerton laid it
+down with an incredulous smile, saying:
+
+"Nothing to that, Mr. Damsel. That letter was not written by the
+robber, but is a practical joke, played by some one who gleaned all his
+information from the newspapers."
+
+"Indeed," responded Mr. Damsel, "then what do you say to this?" and he
+handed Mr. Pinkerton two pieces of calendered white wrapping paper,
+showing the seals of the Adams Express Company upon it, the strings
+cut, but the paper still retaining the form of an oblong package.
+
+Surprised and puzzled, Mr. Pinkerton saw they were the original
+wrappings of the $30,000 and $12,000 packages which had been taken from
+the safe by the robber. The addresses were still on the paper, and Mr.
+Damsel, in a most emphatic tone, said:
+
+"I'm prepared to swear that they are genuine."
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, still silent, re-read the letter, carefully weighing
+each word, and this time finishing it.
+
+He came to one paragraph, which read:
+
+"Now to prove these facts * * * * I took my gun, a Smith we had
+practiced on, and checked the package in the St. Louis Union Depot,
+under the initials J. M. Now if you want a good little gun and billy,
+go and get out the packages checked to J. M. in the Union Depot October
+25th; there are probably seventy-five or eighty cents charges on it by
+this time, but the gun alone is worth $10. Also, if you want a
+double-barreled shot-gun, muzzle-loader, go along the bank of the
+Missouri River, on the north side, about a mile below St. Charles
+bridge, and about twenty feet along the bank, just east of that dike
+that runs out into the river, and you will find in a little gully a
+shot-gun and a musket. Be careful. I left them both loaded with
+buckshot and caps on the tubes. They were laying, wrapped up in an
+oil-cloth, with some weeds thrown over them. Also, down on the river
+just below the guns, I left my skiff and a lot of stuff, coffee-pot,
+skillet, and partially concealed, just west of the skiff, you will find
+a box of grub, coffee, bacon, etc. I came down the river in a skiff
+Tuesday night, October 26-27, from a point opposite Labodie. It is a
+run of thirty-five or thirty-six miles. They should all be there unless
+some one found them before you got there." * * * *
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, in a brown study, tapping the table with his fingers,
+sat for some moments. Rising abruptly, he placed his hat on his head,
+and requesting Mr. Damsel to follow, left the room. In a short time he
+was in the Union Depot, and stepping up to the clerk of the
+parcel-room, asked for a package which had been left there October
+25th, marked "J. M.," stating that he had lost his ticket. After some
+search, the clerk brought forward a parcel tied in a newspaper.
+
+"This is marked J. M., and was left here October 25th."
+
+"That is the one," said Mr. Pinkerton, and paying the charges, hastened
+back to the hotel.
+
+In spite of his habitual calmness and sang froid, Mr. Pinkerton's hand
+trembled as he cut the string. As the paper was unwrapped, both men
+gave an exclamation of surprise and joy, for disclosed to view was a
+revolver, a billy, some shirts and papers.
+
+"At last," cried Mr. Pinkerton, and he eagerly scanned the various
+articles. The revolver was an ordinary, self-cocking Smith & Wesson.
+The billy was the sort called "life-preservers." The Adams Express
+letter-heads were covered with the names "J. B. Barrett" and "W. H.
+Damsel." Mr. Pinkerton passed these to his companions.
+
+"They are pretty fair forgeries. Hang me, if it don't look as though I
+had written that name myself."
+
+The detective, all this time, was scrutinizing each article, hoping to
+find something new.
+
+With the papers he took out a printed ballad-sheet of the kind sold on
+the streets by newsboys and fakirs. Turning it over, he saw something
+written on it, and looking closely, read, "----, Chestnut street."
+
+The handwriting was the same as the handwriting of the letter. The
+first clew had been found.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"CHIP" BINGHAM.
+
+
+George Bingham, or as he was familiarly called, "Chip" Bingham, was the
+youngest operative in Mr. Pinkerton's service. His talents, in the
+detective line, ranged considerably higher than did the general run of
+his associates. Possessing an analytical mind, he could take the
+effect, and, by logical conclusions, retrace its path to the
+fundamental cause, and following this principle, he had made many
+valuable discoveries in mystery-shrouded cases, and had, many times,
+picked the end of a clew from a seemingly hopeless snarl, and raveled
+the entire mesh of circumstantial evidence, and made from it a strong
+cord of substantiated facts. Mr. Pinkerton had early recognized this
+talent, and having, besides, a peculiar attachment to the handsome
+young fellow, he frequently placed delicate and intricate cases into
+his hands, always with good results. It was for Chip, then, he sent,
+when he had finished his examination of the valuable package.
+
+Mr. Damsel, his mind somewhat freed from the trouble and worry it had
+carried since the robbery, had left Mr. Pinkerton alone and returned to
+his office.
+
+Chip, on receipt of his superior's message, immediately repaired to
+Room 84. His downcast countenance and disappointed air told of
+fruitless endeavors to catch even the slightest real clew. He said
+nothing as he entered the room, but with a gesture of hopeless failure
+he sank into a chair and awaited his chief's pleasure.
+
+"Chip, I've got a starter."
+
+With an indulgent smile Chip nodded his head, but failed to exhibit any
+extraordinary interest.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton's eyes twinkled. He understood the situation, but time
+was valuable and he could not waste any in humorous by-play. So without
+further parleying he handed Chip the tell-tale letter.
+
+The young detective, almost from the first word, put the letter down as
+a practical joke, perpetrated on the newspaper, but as the missive
+progressed he became interested, and when he had reached that portion
+which told of the package every fiber of his detective instinct was
+alive, and Mr. Pinkerton had no need of pointing to the precious parcel
+as corroborative evidence that the letter was genuine.
+
+In an instant Chip was examining the contents. Every portion of the
+revolver, billy and letterheads was searched with deepest scrutiny. The
+printed sheet of ballad music was picked up, the verses read and the
+sheet turned.
+
+An exclamation burst from his lips, as his eye caught the words,
+written in lead pencil, "----Chestnut Street," and placing it beside
+the letter, he saw it was written by the same hand. "The devil! Here is
+a starter!"
+
+His face glowed with animation, his eyes had the alert look of a hound
+on a hot scent, and carefully noting the number in his memorandum book,
+without waiting instructions from Mr. Pinkerton, he picked up his hat
+and hurriedly left the room.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, in full sympathy with his subordinate, lit a cigar, and
+settled back for a comfortable smoke until Chip made his report.
+
+Chip, regaining the street, engaged a hack standing near the hotel, and
+stopping it a short distance from the number he wanted on Chestnut
+street, walked the remaining distance to the house.
+
+A sign "Board by the week or day," and another one, "Furnished rooms to
+let," showed it to be an ordinary boarding-house. Chip had fully
+decided within himself, during the ride, that the men who had left the
+parcel had also left St. Louis. While it was not so much an
+improbability that the men would still be in the city, it was far more
+probable that they would put some distance between themselves and the
+scene of their exploit. For this reason, Chip decided that a plain
+course would result in no unfortunate mishap or premature flushing of
+the game.
+
+Ascending the steps, he rang the bell.
+
+The landlady of the house herself opened the door.
+
+Before Chip could speak, she said:
+
+"You're a detective, aren't you?"
+
+"Yes," said Chip, somewhat surprised, and regretting immediately that
+he had not made his entrance in a more detective-like manner.
+
+"I've been expecting some of you. You want to know about those two men
+that stopped with me a short time before the 'Frisco express robbery?"
+
+Seeing at once that he was conversing with a more than ordinary shrewd
+individual, Chip replied, "That's just what I'm here for. But why do
+you ask that question?"
+
+"Well, I suspicioned something was wrong with them two men. They came
+here on the fifteenth of October, and paid me a week's board in
+advance. They kept their room almost all the time, and when I went in
+to clean it, I saw a lot of railroad time-tables and maps scattered
+around. One of them was always in the room. It was never left alone. A
+week before the robbery, the smaller man left, he said for Kansas City,
+and the larger man told me if a letter came to the house, directed to
+Williams, that is for him. Well, on the Friday before the robbery, such
+a letter did come, and the big man, after reading it, said he had to go
+to Kansas City at once, but he didn't leave the house until Monday, and
+the next day the robbery occurred."
+
+"Can you give me a description of the men?"
+
+The landlady thereupon gave a full description of the larger man, which
+Chip carefully inserted in his note book, and recognized as the same
+given by Fotheringham of his assailant on that memorable night. But her
+description of the smaller of the two was somewhat vague, as she said
+he was only in the house a short time, and she saw very little of him.
+
+"May I go up to the room?"
+
+"Yes; come this way."
+
+Entering the room, the first thing which met the detective's eye was a
+bottle containing some sort of liniment, having on it a label of a
+neighboring druggist, In a closet a pair of drawers were found, and
+with the dark brown stain below the knee was almost identical to that
+which Chip had found on the railroad track, and which the robber had
+thrown from the express car. Not satisfied with this, Chip ripped up
+the carpet, and as a reward for his labor found an express tag, or
+rather a portion of one, for the tag was torn in two pieces. On the tag
+Chip read the portion of an address, "----ority," and below,
+"----worth, Kansas." Further questioning of the garrulous landlady
+gained a description of the valise which the larger man carried away
+with him. It tallied with the description given by Fotheringham of the
+valise into which Jim Cummings had put the stolen money.
+
+Gathering his trophies together, Chip bid his talkative lady friend
+good-day, and immediately bent his steps toward the drug store, from
+which had come the bottle of liniment.
+
+No, the druggist could not recollect what particular person had bought
+that bottle, but if the young man would call on Doctor B----, he could
+probably ascertain the fact from him, as the liniment was put up from
+the Doctor's prescription. Chip, in a short time, was ushered into the
+Doctor's presence.
+
+Yes, the Doctor not only recollected the man, but gave a very close
+description of him. The man had come to him, suffering from a bad
+bruise or cut on the leg below the knee. Nothing serious, but so
+painful that it caused him to limp. He had made out the prescription of
+the unguent which the bottle had contained, and the man had paid for
+it. But he gave no name, nor in what manner he had received the injury.
+
+Chip, satisfied with his work, left the physician, and whistling for
+his jehu, drove back to the hotel.
+
+That the large man who had boarded with the landlady at ---- Chestnut
+street, and had bought and used the ointment, was identical with Jim
+Cummings, the express robber, Chip had not the shadow of a doubt. The
+smaller man was, of course, his accomplice. He had seen where the men
+had secreted themselves a week before the robbery, he vas even pretty
+certain of their movements during that time, but the question was where
+had they gone AFTER the deed was committed. Who and where was the
+accomplice? What other men had aided and abetted them in the scheme?
+With his mind full of these perplexing queries, he sought Mr.
+Pinkerton's room, and laid before him the result of his search.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton listened attentively and picking up the torn express tag,
+examined it carefully.
+
+It was a portion of an ordinary tag, such as is used by the Adams
+Express Company.
+
+It had been torn about the middle. The strings were still on it. From
+its appearance it had been addressed, and the person, not satisfied
+with his work, had torn it in two and thrown it on the floor, from
+which it had probably been swept in a corner, and eventually got under
+the edge of the carpet, where Chip had found it. It read.
+
+  ority
+
+worth Kansas
+
+[Illustration: a drawing of a torn ticket.]
+
+On the reverse side in faint penciled characters were the words: "it to
+Cook," From the blurred appearance of the words it was evident that a
+rubber had been used to erase them. These words had escaped Chip's
+notice, but as soon as Mr. Pinkerton saw them, he said:
+
+"I see it all, Chip. I see it all. A message was written on the tag,
+probably giving some instructions, such as 'Send it to Cook,' or 'Give
+it to Cook,' and the person sending it changing his mind about writing
+his instructions so openly tried to erase the words with a rubber, but
+failing to do it tore the tag up and addressed another one.
+
+"The package to which this was to have been tied was sent to some man
+whose name ends in 'ority and who was in Leavenworth, Kansas. We can
+find that out to-morrow, Chip, so turn in and get some sleep."
+
+The next morning the books of the company were overhauled, and after a
+long, patient and careful search it was found that on October 23d, two
+days before the robbery, a valise had been expressed to a Daniel
+Moriarity, Leavenworth, Kansas, charges prepaid, by a man named John
+Williams.
+
+That evening Chip left St. Louis for Leavenworth and Mr. Pinkerton
+returned to Chicago.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE TRAMP.
+
+
+About the middle of November, after the now famous express robbery had
+taken place, a man, roughly dressed in a coarse suit of blue, wearing a
+woolen shirt open at the neck, and, knotted around his throat, a gaudy
+silk handkerchief, was strolling leisurely along the east bottoms near
+Kansas City. His face was tanned by exposure to the sun, and his shoes
+had the flattened and battered condition which is the natural
+consequence of a long and weary tramp. He walked as if he had no
+particular objective point, and looked like one of those peripatetic
+gentry who toil not neither do they spin, the genus "tramp." He
+complacently puffed a short clay nose-warmer, with his hands in his
+pockets, and taking first one side and then the other of the road, as
+his fancy dictated, found himself near the old distillery at the
+outskirts of the city.
+
+A saloon near at hand, with its front door invitingly open, attracted
+his attention, and the cheering sounds of a violin, scraping out some
+popular air, gave a further impetus to inclination, and the tramp
+turned to the open door and entered. Seated on an empty barrel, his
+foot executing vigorous time to his own music, sat the magician of the
+horse-hair bow.
+
+Leaning against the bar, or seated at the small tables scattered
+around, the tramp saw a goodly number of the disciples of Bacchus,
+while from an inner room the clicking of ivory chips and half
+suppressed expressions of "I'll see you an' go you tenner better." "A
+full house pat, what 'er ye got," designated the altar at which the
+worshipers of "draw poker" were offering sacrifices.
+
+The saloon consisted of one long, low room, on one side of which was
+located the conventional bar, with its background of glittering
+decanters and dazzling glasses and its "choice assortment of
+liquors"--to quote the sign which called attention to these necessary
+luxuries.
+
+A large stove stood in the center of the room, and a number of small
+tables were placed around promiscuously, The bar-tender, a
+smooth-faced, beetle-browed rascal, was engaged in shaking dice for the
+drinks with a customer, and, to the music of the violin, a light-footed
+Irishman was executing his national jig, to the great delight and no
+small edification of his enthusiastic audience.
+
+The wide sombreroes, perched back on the head, pointed out the cowboys
+who were making up for the lonesome days and nights on the plains.
+
+It was a motley crowd, a fair specimen of the heterogeneous mass of
+humanity which floats hither and there all over our western States, and
+contained some villainous-looking fellows.
+
+As the tramp entered, the interest in the jig was developing into
+enthusiasm. Hands were clapped, and fingers snapped to the time of the
+nimble heels and toes of the jaunty Corkonian. The violinist was
+settling down to vigorous work, and Pat, having the incentive of
+anticipated free drinks as a reward for his efforts, was executing the
+most intricate of steps.
+
+The tramp lounged to the bar, followed by the suspicious glance of the
+bar-keeper, who assumed a more respectful demeanor as the object of his
+suspicions threw down a silver quarter and named his drink. It was
+quickly furnished, and as quickly disposed of. The dancer had finished
+his jig and accepted with alacrity the proffered offers to wet his
+whistle. As he stepped to the bar his glance fell upon the tramp.
+
+"Are ye drinkin' this aivenin'?"
+
+"I am that," responded the tramp,
+
+"Faith, an' its not at yer own expinse, then," with a glance at the
+ragged clothing and "hard-up" appearance of the wanderer.
+
+"An' a divil sight less at yours," retorted the tramp. "But by the same
+token, we both get our rosy by manes of our heels."
+
+"Shure fir ye, lad. Its hard up I've been myself before the now, but
+its a cold day when Barney O'Hara will let a bog-trotter go dry--name
+your poison."
+
+"Its the rale ould stuff I'll be a takin' straight," and the tramp
+spread his elbows on the counter and soon demonstrated his ability to
+gulp down the fiery fluid without any such effeminate trimmings as
+water in it. After the first glass had been emptied the tramp said:
+
+"I've had a bit of luck to-day; what's your medicine?"
+
+"The same," responded Barney.
+
+The liquor was poured into the glasses, and the tramp, diving deep in
+his pockets, drew out some small silver currency, and, with a movement
+expressive of untold wealth, threw it on the counter.
+
+As he did so, the bar-keeper uttered an oath of astonishment, several
+of the roysterers sprang forward, and Barney, with an exclamation of
+amazement, put his hand on a Pinkerton detective star, with its
+terrible eye in the center, which had fallen on the counter with the
+nickles and dimes the tramp had thrown down.
+
+Dark looks and murderous eyes were turned on the tramp, and more than
+one hand was placed on a revolver, The bar-keeper with an ugly look,
+and bullying swagger, stepped from behind the bar and advanced on the
+tramp, his face distorted with rage, and his fists doubled in a most
+aggressive manner.
+
+The tramp, without moving, and apparently ignorant of the sensation he
+had created, raised his glass to his lips, and with a hearty "Here's to
+ye, lads," tossed off the whisky.
+
+As he replaced his glass, he became aware that he was the center of
+attention, and facing the bar-keeper, said:
+
+"What's the row with ye? I paid fer the drinks,"
+
+"What are you doin' with a detective's star?" said the bar-keeper,
+
+"Haven't I a right to one; I dunno--finders keepers, losers weepers--I
+picked the bit of brass up on the road not over an hour ago."
+
+The bar-keeper was not to be pacified by such a story, and in a
+threatening voice, he asked:
+
+"Are you a man-hunter or not?"
+
+The tramp threw a pitying glance of scorn at the pugilistic
+whisky-seller, as he replied:
+
+"Be gorra, ye damned fool, do you think that I'd be after givin' myself
+away like this if I WAS one?"
+
+"In course ye wouldn't," broke in Barney. "Don't be a fool, Jerry, this
+man is no detective," and Barney fastened the star to the vest which
+encircled the portly form of the bar-keeper.
+
+"Now ye're one yerself, an' will be after runnin' us all in fer not
+detectin' enough of the elegant liquor ye handle."
+
+To this the man could make no reply, save a deep, hoarse laugh, and
+resuming his professional position, was shortly engaged in alleviating
+the thirst of his patrons.
+
+This little episode had just occurred, when the door of the inner room
+was thrown violently open and a man, his coat off, rushed up to the bar.
+
+"Here, Jerry, break this fifty for me," at the same time throwing down
+a fifty-dollar bill, crisp and fresh.
+
+"Your playin' in bad luck to-day, Cook?"
+
+"Yes, damn it," said Cook. "Give me a drink for good luck."
+
+As the bar-keeper uttered the name of Cook a quick, but hardly
+perceptible glance of intelligence passed between Barney and the tramp.
+
+Cook hastily swallowed his whisky, rushed back to the poker table with
+a handful of five dollar bills, and quiet reigned over the place. The
+bar-keeper, who spied a possible good customer in the tramp, had
+entered into a little conversation at the end of the counter, on which
+the tramp leaned, the embodiment of solid comfort, puffing his cigar
+vigorously, or allowing it to burn itself out in little rings of smoke.
+
+"You're a stranger to these parts?"
+
+With an expressive wink, the tramp replied:
+
+"Not so much as ye think, I've spint many a noight around here."
+
+"Night hawk, eh? an' I took you for a man-trailer."
+
+"I've had the spalpeens after myself afore now," spoke the tramp, in a
+low, confidential whisper.
+
+"You keep yourself devilish low, then, for I know all the lads, and
+it's the first time I've clapped these two eyes on you."
+
+"Do ye think I mane to let the fly cops put their darbies on me, that I
+should be nosin' around in the broad day?"
+
+"You're too fly for them, I see," said the bar-keeper, with a sagacious
+shake of his head. "You an' Barney are a pair."
+
+"Barney? Ye mane the Irish lad that was just here a bit ago?"
+
+"The same. He's square. He's one of you."
+
+The tramp leaned forward, his eyes fastened on the bloodshot eyes of
+the drink-compounder, and in an earnest tone, asked:
+
+"Is he a bye that could crack a plant with the loikes o' me?"
+
+Impressed with the tone and manner of the tramp, the bar-keeper gazed
+quickly around the room, and in a still lower tone, replied:
+
+"He's on a lay himself. Would you like to go his pal?" The tramp slowly
+nodded his head, and after receiving the whispered invitation to come
+around later, strolled out of the saloon; and so on up the road.
+
+Turning a corner he nearly ran against Barney himself, who was sitting
+on a horse-block, enjoying a pipe and the sun.
+
+Not a soul was in sight. Satisfying himself of that fact, Barney gazed
+at the tramp and said:
+
+"By Jove, Chip, I thought you were a goner when that confounded star
+fell out."
+
+Chip gave a deep sigh of relief, and taking off his hat, pointed to the
+perspiration which moistened the band:
+
+"Don't that look as though I thought so, too, Sam?"
+
+"How in the name of all that's lovely, did you happen to be so
+careless?"
+
+"That's what it was, sheer carelessness. I suffered, though, for it. It
+would have been all up with me if the gang had not been so deucedly
+stupid. That Jerry is a villain, and no mistake. I told him that I was
+a profesh, and he told me that you were another, and had a plan to do
+some fine work without asking permission of the owners. So I am to meet
+him again to-night, and see if you will not take me as your pal. You
+have your cue, and will know how to act."
+
+"Chip, did you notice that man Cook?"
+
+"You mean, did I notice the fifty-dollar bill he threw down?"
+
+"Well, both."
+
+"Seems to me he didn't look like a man that ought to be carrying
+fifty-dollar bills around so recklessly."
+
+"He's a cooper, runs that little shop over there, and hasn't done a
+stroke of work for a month."
+
+The cooper-shop pointed out by Sam was a small frame building, having
+the sign, "Oscar Cook--Barrels and Kegs," painted over the door. It was
+a tumbled-down, rickety affair, evidently having seen its best days.
+
+Chip surveyed it intently, then turned to Sam, inquired:
+
+"That express tag had on it something about a man named Cook, didn't
+it?"
+
+"Yes, the words, 'it to Cook.'"
+
+"Supposing that Dan Moriarity, whom we now know had some connection
+with the robbery, had taken the valise, which was sent from St. Louis
+to Leavenworth, had obeyed the order, for it was evidently an order
+which was written on the tag, and given 'it to Cook,' it would be fair
+to infer that the Cook mentioned had some hand in the pudding, too, and
+ought to be pretty flush about this time."
+
+"You mean--"
+
+"No, I don't mean that the Cook over in the saloon playing poker and
+the Cook mentioned on the tag are the same person, but we found no Dan
+Moriarity or Cook in Leavenworth but what was above suspicion, and I
+think that the men who were smart enough to plan and carry out a
+robbery such as this was would be shrewd enough to take every possible
+precaution against discovery. I mean that neither Moriarity or Cook are
+Leavenworth people, and for all we know to the contrary, may live here
+in Kansas City."
+
+As Chip finished speaking, a man appeared in front of the cooper shop,
+and unlocking the door, entered.
+
+"There is Cook, now," said Sam, making a movement as if to rise.
+
+With a motion of the hand Chip cautioned him to remain where he was,
+and with lazy steps, lounged toward the shop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+CAPTURE AND RESCUE.
+
+
+The White Elephant was a large gambling hall in Kansas City, situated
+on one of the principal thoroughfares. It was centrally located, and
+night after night the brilliant lights and crowded tables bore witness
+to its rushing business.
+
+On this evening the tiger was out with all its claws. Rouge et noir,
+roulette, faro, keno, and stud-poker were going in full blast. The
+proprietor, his elegant diamonds flashing in the light, was seated on a
+raised platform from whence he could survey the entire company--his
+face, impassive as marble and unreadable as the sphinx, was turned
+toward the faro lay-out, which this evening appeared to be the center
+of attraction.
+
+Among the players sat one whose tall form and athletic frame would have
+been noticeable under any circumstances, but was now more so, as it
+towered above his fellow-gamesters who crowded around the table.
+
+Before him lay a high pile of chips. He played with the nonchalant air
+of one who was there merely to pass away a vacant hour, but his stakes
+were high and he played every shot. His calm, impassioned countenance
+bore the unmistakable stamp of the professional gambler, and, serene as
+a quiet mill-pond, he bore his losses or pocketed his winnings with the
+enviable sang froid which results from a long and intimate acquaintance
+with the green-baized table.
+
+Every night for a week had this man occupied the same seat, and with
+careless imperturbability had mulcted the bank of several thousands.
+
+Rieley, the proprietor, himself one of the coolest dare-devil gamblers
+in the West, had recognized a kindred spirit, but to all advances and
+efforts to make his acquaintance the stranger had turned a cool
+shoulder, and his identity was still a matter of conjecture.
+
+Rieley was watching him closely this evening, so intently, indeed, that
+the stranger, with a look of annoyance, swept the chips into his hat
+and stepping up to the banker cashed them in and walked out of the
+room. As he emerged from the door he came in violent contact with a man
+just entering.
+
+"I beg your pardon."
+
+"Not at--by Jove! Moriarity, you here too?"
+
+"Blest if it isn't Jim!"
+
+"Hush! you fool, speak lower."
+
+"Been up bucking the tiger?"
+
+"I've been making a damned fool of myself. Rieley watched me too close
+for comfort, and I am going to vamoose."
+
+"When?"
+
+"None of your business. I want you to come with me to-night. I must see
+Cook."
+
+"Don't do it, Jim. Pinkerton's men are as thick as blackberries. You
+will run into one of them if you don't lay low.
+
+"No danger for me. One of them has a room next to mine at the hotel,
+and I played billiards with him this afternoon."
+
+"You're a cool one, Jim. Too cool. It will get you into trouble yet."
+
+"Damn your croaking, man. Do you show the white feather now?"
+
+"Not I. I only warned you."
+
+"Well, put a clapper to your jaw, and come along."
+
+Boarding a street car, the men stood on the front platform smoking
+during the long ride to the terminus of the road.
+
+Leaving the car, they plunged through the darkness over the same path
+trod by the tramp earlier in the afternoon.
+
+The dark form of the distillery loomed up ahead of them, gloomy and
+lonesome.
+
+Overhead not a star was to be seen, and save an occasional drunkard
+staggering home, the two men were alone on the road.
+
+A short distance beyond the distillery the cooper-shop squatted beside
+the street, and the dim flicker of a candle cast its pitiful light
+through the dirt-encrusted window.
+
+As Moriarity and Cummings stepped from the shadow of the distillery, an
+indistinct form stole behind them, and keeping just within sight,
+followed the two men as they wended their lonely way to Cook's shop.
+
+Disdaining all attempts at concealment, Cummings rapped loudly on the
+door.
+
+The sound of clinking glasses was heard, and a voice, heavy and thick,
+growled out, "Come in."
+
+A vigorous shove opened the door, and Cummings was about to step
+inside, but at the sight of another man, a ragged tramp, drinking with
+Cook, he stopped short.
+
+"Come in, b'hoy, come in; d-d-don't keep the d-d-door open; come right
+in," stuttered Cook, too drunk to speak intelligibly.
+
+The tramp, elevating his glass above his head, with an inviting
+gesture, shouted the words of the old drinking song:
+
+    "Drink, puppy, drink, let every puppy drink
+        That's old enough to stand and to swallow.
+      For we'll pass the bottle round, when we've become a hound,
+        And merrily we'll drink and we'll hallo."
+
+Cook attempted to join in the chorus, but his voice failed him, his
+head sank down upon his breast, and, in a drunken stupor, he rolled
+from his seat, prone upon the ground.
+
+The tramp, rising to his feet, staggered to the side of his companion,
+and steadying himself with the aid of a chair, made futile attempts to
+raise his comrade to a perpendicular position. His knees bent under
+him, the chair fell from his unsteady grasp, and murmuring, "We'll pass
+the bottle round," he lurched forward, and falling across the recumbent
+Cook, passed from the worship of Bacchus to the arms of Morpheus,
+seemingly dead drunk.
+
+With a bitter curse of rage Cummings stepped forward, and, with rough
+hands, separated the boon companions, thrusting the tramp without
+ceremony under the table, Moriarity in the meantime shaking Cook in
+vain attempts to rouse him from his maudlin stupor. Cook, however, was
+too far "under the influence" to be aroused, and to the vigorous
+shakings and punchings would respond only with a hiccough and part of
+the refrain "puppies drink."
+
+Cummings, in a towering rage at finding Cook in such a helpless
+condition, paced the small shop with impatient tread, all the time
+pouring imprecations upon Cook's devoted head. A sudden turn in his
+short beat brought him facing the window, and flattened against the
+dirty pane was the face of a man gazing intently into the room.
+
+Another second and the face had disappeared.
+
+Cummings stopped abruptly at the sight of the apparition, his face
+became livid, and a shade of terror flashed across his countenance. It
+was but an instant, though, that he stood thus, and calling to
+Moriarity to follow, he dashed through the door, drawing his ready
+revolver from his side coat-pocket at the same time, and catching a
+fleeting glimpse of a flying shadow, sped after it.
+
+Moriarity, somewhat dazed at the unexpected turn of affairs, had risen
+to his feet, and stood blankly gazing at the open door, not
+comprehending what had occurred. A movement made by the pseudo tramp,
+caused him to turn around, and he was gazing straight into the open
+barrel of a dangerous-looking revolver, held by a steady hand, and cool
+daring eyes were glancing over the shining barrel, as a voice, decided
+and commanding, said:
+
+"Hands out, Dan Moriarity, I want you."
+
+Chip, as he was stretched on the floor feigning drunkenness, had kept
+his ears open, although obliged to keep his eyes closed.
+
+The single candle which lit the room, furnished light too indistinct
+for him to see the faces of the two visitors, and as he acted his
+character of the drunken man, he cudgeled his brains to account for
+their visit.
+
+The sudden disappearance of Cummings, and his calling out, "Moriarity,
+follow me," cleared the mystery.
+
+He comprehended the situation at once.
+
+While he did not know it was Jim Cummings that had been in the room,
+his mind with lightning speed grouped the torn express tag, the words
+"it to Cook," the man Cook, who lay beside him drunk, the fifty-dollar
+bill which he had changed at the bar-room, together with Dan Moriarity,
+and quick to reach his conclusions, he saw that it was the Moriarity he
+wanted, accompanied by some one who had come to see Cook.
+
+Half opening his eyes he saw that Moriarity was standing up, nonplussed
+at something, and instantly he drew his revolver, and as Moriarity
+turned around covered him and ordered him to hold out his hands.
+
+Staggered again the second time by seeing a ragged tramp, who a few
+seconds before was stretched at his feet in a drunken slumber, now
+erect, perfectly sober, and having the drop on him, Moriarity became
+more bewildered, and passively held out his hands.
+
+The sharp click of steel handcuffs brought the dazed man to his senses,
+but too late.
+
+He opened his mouth to cry for aid, but a strong hand was laid on his
+wind-pipe and the cry died before it was born.
+
+The cold barrel of the revolver against his ear, and the detective's
+"shut up or I'll shoot," was too strong an argument to combat, and
+Moriarity submitted to being pushed hurriedly from the room into the
+open air and dark night.
+
+Chip was beginning to congratulate himself on the important capture he
+had made, and with his hand on his captive's collar, and his revolver
+to his ear, was moving towards the center of the street, when a
+whistling "swish" was heard, the dull thud of a slung shot on the
+detective's head followed, and, every muscle relaxed, he sank a
+senseless man in the dust of the road.
+
+"Help me pick him up," said Cummings, "and be quick about it, there's
+another beak around."
+
+"I can't. I've got his darbies on."
+
+Cummings stooped down, and lifting Chip in his arms, walked rapidly
+down the road toward the river.
+
+"What are you going to do with him, Jim?"
+
+"Chuck him through the ice. He knows too much."
+
+With the senseless man in his arms, Cummings hurried forward, nor
+paused until he reached the river bank.
+
+The weather had been piercingly cold for a week, although no snow had
+fallen, and the river was frozen solid from bank to bank.
+
+To this fact Chip owed his life. When the train robber came to the ice,
+he sounded it with his heel. It was solid and firm, not even an air
+hole to be seen.
+
+Baffled in his murderous designs, he debated for a second whether it
+would not be the best thing to leave the detective on the ice, and let
+him freeze to death, but the publicity of the place, its proximity to
+the city, and the risk of having been shadowed by the man whom he had
+caught gazing through the window, caused him to think of some secure
+place wherein to put the senseless Chip. He first searched the wounded
+man's pockets, and, finding the key, released the handcuffs from
+Moriarity.
+
+The latter, seeing Cummings hesitate, and divining the cause, said in a
+questioning voice:
+
+"Why not take him to the widow's, Jim?"
+
+"I would a damned sight rather put him through the ice, but its too
+thick for me. Do you think we can carry him between us?"
+
+"It would never do to let people see us two with a dead man between us."
+
+"Then you must go up town and get a hack."
+
+Moriarity turned back to the shore, and climbing the bank, hurried in
+the direction of the city.
+
+Left alone with his victim, the desperado bent over him, placing his
+hand on Chip's heart. It beat steadily, though not strongly, and
+Cummings experienced a feeling of relief when he felt the regular
+pulsations.
+
+He had never yet shed blood, and his first passion having died out, he
+was glad that the thick ice had defeated his first purpose.
+
+The stunned detective stirred, the cold, crisp air was reviving him,
+and Cummings, his better nature asserting itself, hastily doffed his
+overcoat and threw it over the recumbent form of his captive.
+
+It was not very long before the noise of carriage wheels were heard,
+and Moriarity running out on the ice assisted Cummings in carrying Chip
+to the land and placed him in the carriage, which he had caught on the
+way to town.
+
+The driver, who had been told that "one of the boys had got more than
+he could carry," did not concern himself to investigate too closely,
+and having received his order, drove briskly from the scene.
+
+The darkness and open country gave way to gas-lights and paved streets,
+over which the carriage rattled at a lively pace. Turning into a side
+street, Dan pulled the check-strap, and the carriage turned to the curb
+and stopped.
+
+The detective, still unconscious, was lifted out, the driver paid and
+dismissed, and the two men, bearing Chip between them, entered a dark,
+narrow alley.
+
+Proceeding up this for some distance, they entered the low door of a
+basement and placed their still insensible burden on the floor.
+
+The damp, moldy smell of an underground room filled the air, and but
+for a slender beam of light which flashed beneath an adjoining door the
+place was dark as night.
+
+Softly stealing to the door, Moriarity applied his ear to the key-hole,
+and hearing no sounds within, gave a peculiar double rap on the panel.
+
+Receiving no answer, he cautiously opened the door and disclosed a
+small, square room, having a low ceiling, and lighted by a single
+low-burning gas jet.
+
+On the walls hung a large astronomical map, showing the solar system,
+and divided with the girdle of the zodiac into its various
+constellations.
+
+A grinning skull, mounted on a black pedestal, stood on a small table
+in the center of the room, and on shelves against the wall were ranged
+a number of curiously-shaped bottles.
+
+It was, in fact, the divining-room of a professional fortune-teller.
+
+The room was vacant when Moriarity opened the door, but as he threw it
+back, a small bell was sounded.
+
+Almost instantly heavy curtains which hung opposite the door were
+pushed aside, and the fortune-teller appeared.
+
+Advancing with stately strides, her tall form erect and her hands
+clasped before her, she fastened a pair of cruel, glittering eyes on
+Moriarity and in a deep voice asked:
+
+"Why this intrusion at this late hour?"
+
+"Oh! drop that stuff, Nance; it won't go down with us; we're no gulls
+to have pretty things told us by giving you a dollar."
+
+Recognizing her visitor, Nance, in her natural tone, inquired sharply:
+
+"What do you want at this time of night?"
+
+"In the first place we want you to keep your mouth shut. In the next
+place you must find a place for a man we've got here, and keep him for
+a while."
+
+"You're a loving nephew, you are, Dan Moriarity, Oh! you come around
+and see your old aunt when you're up to some devilment, I'm bound."
+
+Moriarity, not deigning to reply to this speech, had gone back to his
+companion, and now returned with the form of the detective between them.
+
+"My God! you haven't killed him, Dan?"
+
+"He has a pretty sore head, I reckon, but nothing worse. Take us
+up-stairs."
+
+Following Nance, the men carried Chip behind the curtain, through
+another room, and ascended a flight of stairs.
+
+Nance threw open a door and Chip was placed upon a bed. The room was
+sumptuously, even elegantly, furnished. Pictures adorned the walls, a
+heavy carpet deadened the sound of the feet, and rich curtains kept
+back the too-inquisitive light.
+
+Chip, wounded and insensible, was in the house of the "widow," the
+rendezvous of a daring band of robbers and the birth-place of many a
+dashing raid or successful bank robbery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+IN THE TOILS.
+
+
+The dark shadow that had followed Cummings and Moriarity from the
+distillery to Cook's cooper-shop was none other than the assumed Barney
+O'Hara, who had aired his heels so jauntily in the saloon that
+afternoon.
+
+Watching on the outside while Chip was working Cook, he had spotted and
+shadowed the two men as they came down the road.
+
+The careless exposure of his face to Cummings through the window was
+the cause of the latter's sudden attempt to catch him.
+
+His nimble heels again stood him in good stead, and in the darkness he
+easily eluded his pursuer.
+
+Cummings gave up the chase, and returning just in time, had stopped
+Chip's success by knocking him down with a slungshot and carrying him
+off.
+
+When Barney, or, rather, Sam, returned to renew his investigation, he
+found the shop empty, save the intoxicated Cook.
+
+Thinking his late pursuer and his companion had taken the alarm, and
+that Chip was now doubtless shadowing them, he walked into the shop,
+and, true to his detective instincts and education, began a diligent
+search of the place.
+
+He was actively engaged in this work when the sound of hasty footsteps
+reached his ears. Throwing himself flat on the floor, behind a pile of
+barrel staves, he drew his revolver and waited. The steps passed by,
+however, and Sam quickly but quietly left the shop.
+
+He could barely see the form of a man walking rapidly down the street
+to the horse-car track.
+
+As he passed the window of the saloon the light fell on him, and Sam
+saw it was one of the two men who had just left the cooper-shop.
+
+Following closely, using all his skill as a successful shadow, he
+trailed the man to the car, and boarding the front platform rode into
+town.
+
+Passing a livery stable the man left the car, still followed by Sam.
+
+When Moriarity, for it was he whom Sam was trailing, rode back to the
+river, Sam was perched on behind the hack.
+
+He saw the wounded Chip placed inside, thanks to the darkness, and
+still hanging on the back of the carriage was carried back to town.
+
+When the two train robbers turned into the alley Sam was right behind
+them, so close that he could hear their labored breathing. Suddenly, as
+if they had been swallowed by the earth, he was left alone in the dark,
+nonplussed and outwitted.
+
+Not a point of light was visible, and settling himself against the wall
+of a building, Sam started in for an all-night watch.
+
+He understood the case at once. Chip had been knocked down by the
+renegades, and, probably still insensible, had been carried to their
+haunt. Knocked down, either because they had discovered his disguise,
+or had suspected him.
+
+He was now firmly convinced that if Cook was not an accomplice in the
+train robbery, he was involved in something criminal, and Sam regretted
+that he had not been more thorough in his investigations. Now that Chip
+was in the hands of his enemies, all others sank into insignificance;
+so with keen eyes and sharp ears, Sam kept his solitary vigil.
+
+The gray dawn of the morning had taken the place of the night, and Sam,
+under the shadow of a convenient shed door had heard or seen nothing
+pass his post. The day grew stronger, and, chilled to the bone, the
+disappointed detective left the alley and wended his way to his
+boarding-house.
+
+The cause of the sudden disappearance of the two robbers the reader is
+acquainted with, and the reason Sam failed to see them again was
+because they had left the house by another exit.
+
+The widow, acting as a go-between and a fence for the light-fingered
+gentry who patronized her establishment, hid her real calling with the
+guise of a fortune-teller, and her house, poorly furnished, damp and
+moldy when entered from the alley, was well furnished in the upper
+stories.
+
+The room in which Chip was confined was the sybil's chief pride. Every
+article of furniture, every bit of painting, the carpets, and even the
+base-burning stove, were the trophies of successful robberies.
+
+The very sheets and towels had been deftly purloined by the widow
+herself.
+
+It was this stronghold of the "gang," to which Chip, battered and
+insensible, had been brought by his captors.
+
+Cummings, who from his actions was no stranger to the house, in brief
+authoritative tones, bade the witch to take charge of this prisoner
+until further disposition could be made of him.
+
+The widow listened to his words, and with the submission which all his
+associates rendered to him, promised to do all he commanded.
+
+The first gleam of the morning warned the two men that they must seek
+their cover, for despite Jim's natural boldness and daring, he was
+cautious and careful. Instead of descending to the room which had its
+entrance from the alley, they mounted another flight of stairs, and
+gaining the roof by means of the scuttle, walked the flat mansard until
+another hatch-door was reached, and through it they entered a quiet,
+unassuming appearing house, which stood on the side street from which
+the alley branched.
+
+The house, though completely furnished, was vacant, and the men reached
+the street without meeting any one.
+
+Cummings and Moriarity having left, the widow, for the first time
+ventured to look at her new charge. Her keen eyes noted the disguise
+which Chip had adopted. The wicked blow which had brought him to this
+plight had moved the red wig to one side and disclosed the dark
+clustering hair, now bathed and soaked in his blood.
+
+He was still unconscious, but his strong constitution was regaining its
+sway, and he moved uneasily on his soft couch.
+
+The widow, now remembering the commands which Cummings had laid upon
+her, hastened to bring water, and washed the wound. The slung shot had
+struck squarely across the crown of the head, but the cut was not very
+large or deep, and the widow, with ready skill, bound it neatly with
+bandages, and holding a brandy flask to his mouth forced some of its
+contents down his throat.
+
+The color came back to the detective's face, and in a few moments his
+eyes opened, and with a dazed expression wandered over the room.
+
+The widow, as she noticed the first signs of returning consciousness
+had retired from the room, now, with consummate skill, put a kindly,
+even tender, look toward the sufferer as she reappeared through the
+door.
+
+Chip, still very much bewildered, his head feeling as though it was
+whirling off his shoulders, heard a pleasant voice asking: "And how is
+my poor boy, now?"
+
+Chip gazed vacantly at her, as he responded:
+
+"Who are you? Where am I--my head--"
+
+"Come, come, don't talk. Take this medicine like a good boy, and go to
+sleep."
+
+With childlike obedience the detective swallowed the draught, which
+soon took possession of his senses, and he fell asleep.
+
+The widow quietly sat beside him until the opiate had taken full
+effect. Then muttering "You are safe for four and twenty hours," she
+descended to her divining-room, leaving the detective deep in slumber,
+and in complete ignorance of his surroundings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+ON THE WATCH.
+
+
+Sam Slade and Chip had been comrades at arms for almost two years. Many
+a dashing capture had they made Adventures and hair-breadth escapes
+were of frequent occurrence with the two "dare-devils," as the force
+had dubbed them, and before now each had saved the other's life by some
+bold stroke or skillful strategy.
+
+Satisfied that Chip was in danger, if not of his life at least of his
+liberty, Sam hastened to his room, and with the aid of soap and water
+resumed his natural appearance. The jaunty-looking Irish lad, Barney
+O'Hara, would never be recognized in the young gentleman who looked at
+you through gold-rimmed spectacles, with soft gray eyes, and whose
+sober demeanor and grave countenance bore the stamp of the student or
+minister.
+
+It was this metamorphized individual that walked languidly to the
+breakfast table and responded in gentle tones to the woman's
+salutations which greeted him. Breakfast served and over, Sam again
+sought his room. His boarding-house had been selected entirely on
+account of this room. The room had once been occupied by a physician as
+his office, and, standing on the corner of two streets, had a side
+entrance to it besides the entrance from the main portion of the house.
+
+Thus the detective could slip in and out entirely unobserved by the
+boarders or his landlady, the latter supposing him to be a man of
+enough means to enable him to live without daily labor.
+
+Sam had given her this idea, and supplemented it by stating he was
+engaged in literary pursuits.
+
+Reaching his room, Sam wrote out a full report for the last twenty-four
+hours (this constituted his literary labors) to be forwarded to Mr.
+Pinkerton in Chicago.
+
+After his report was finished, he hastily threw off his clothing, and
+replaced his sober suit of gray by the flashy costume of a man about
+town, he stood before his mirror to make up his face.
+
+No actor was more clever than Sam in artistic and realistic disguises.
+His smooth face was skillfully covered by a beard, short-cropped, his
+nose was given the slightest rosy tint, and putting on a light
+overcoat, the studious young gentleman of half an hour ago was
+transformed into a howling swell.
+
+Tan-colored gloves and a heavy, silver-headed cane completed his
+costume. Thus arrayed he sallied forth.
+
+It was now nearly noon. The streets were crowded, and Sam kept his eyes
+well opened, carelessly but keenly scrutinizing every man he met.
+
+One saloon after another was visited, but no sight of the mysterious
+men who had downed Chip could be obtained.
+
+He had carefully noted his bearings when he left the alley in the
+morning, so he had no trouble in finding the correct locality again.
+
+His hat was tipped rakishly over his left eye as he swaggered up the
+alley and entered a beer vault for which the alley was really the
+entrance. By good luck, no customers were present, and Sam engaged in a
+lively conversation with the bartender.
+
+Skillful pumping, judiciously mixed with high-priced drinks, soon gave
+Sam the entire history of the denizens of the locality.
+
+It was beside the shed door of the beer vault that Sam had kept his
+solitary watch and ward the previous night, so that somewhere about
+this point Chip had been carried by his captors.
+
+Gazing through the window, Sam saw a mass of debris; old cans, ashes
+and the like were scattered in the center of the court or alley, while
+on both sides, near the buildings, a narrow board walk was laid.
+
+Now, Sam knew that when he entered the place he was on the right-hand
+side, immediately behind his game.
+
+If they had crossed over to the side on which the beer vault stood, the
+crunching of the ashes or the noise of the old cans, which would be
+very apt to be moved, would have advised him of that fact.
+
+Putting these facts together, Sam was almost certain that they had not
+entered the beer cellar.
+
+Just opposite stood a half-open door, which, flush with the court,
+would have accounted for the sudden disappearance of the men if they
+had turned suddenly and entered it. These observations were made by the
+detective while he was engaged in a lively and pungent conversation
+with the burly bar-keeper.
+
+The saloon made a good post of observation, and Sam settled himself for
+an all-day patron if necessary. Taking a seat near the window, he
+called for a glass of beer, and tilting back his chair took a careful
+survey of the premises.
+
+The alley was what is termed a "blind alley." On each side were low
+doors entering the basements of the houses, and the population
+consisted of rag-pickers, second-hand clothiers and one pawnshop. It
+was just such a place as one would expect to meet the lowest types of
+humanity. Dirty children were playing in the half-deserted place, their
+blue lips and pinched faces speaking eloquently of their poverty.
+Italian hand-organ grinders were sitting on their door-steps, and
+slatternly women were leaning from their windows, exchanging gossip in
+loud, shrill tones. Occasionally a man would walk hurriedly up the
+narrow walk, carrying a suspicious bundle, and eyeing nervously every
+person he might meet, dodging suddenly into some one of the doors. All
+this Sam saw, but his eyes seldom left the half-open door immediately
+opposite.
+
+He had been at his post nearly an hour, smoking a cigar or supping his
+liquor, the bar-keeper not caring what his customer did or what he was,
+so long as he ordered and paid for an occasional drink, when there
+appeared at the door of the house which the detective was so closely
+watching a tall, dark-complexioned woman. Her eyes, strikingly
+brilliant, swept the place, but the shadows of the beer-cellar
+prevented her seeing the interested person who noted every movement she
+made. The woman, after gazing up and down the court, threw her shawl
+over her head, and with long, gliding steps, walked toward the street.
+
+The bar-keeper who was standing beside Sam, as the female passed down
+the court, said with an outward jerk of his thumb:
+
+"Rum old gal that."
+
+"Friend of yours?" lazily inquired the detective.
+
+"Naw. I don't have nothin' to do with her, nor she with me. She's a
+fortune-teller, she is."
+
+"One of them kind that lays out the cards, and spells out your fortune,
+eh?"
+
+"I dunno. I never was in her den."
+
+"Wonder if she could give me a luck charm?" asked Sam.
+
+"If you've got the dust, she can make you anything. Them as lives
+around here says she's a witch. Maybe so. I think she's some cursed
+half-breed, myself. None too good now, I tell you."
+
+"Lived here long?"
+
+"Who? Me?"
+
+"No, the woman."
+
+"I've been here five years, and she was here before me."
+
+"I suppose she has plenty of customers, eh?"
+
+"You bet she has. The fool-killer ought to lay around here for a while.
+There were two dandy blokes come out of there this morning."
+
+Sam started, and inwardly cursed his stupidity in letting his game get
+away from him. The two men of which the bar-keeper spoke, were probably
+the very persons he wanted, so, in an indifferent tone, he inquired:
+
+"What's her office hours?"
+
+"Any time night or day I reckon. The two swells came out about 10, I
+guess. Maybe later."
+
+"She don't throw on much style?"
+
+"Don't she though. Silks ain't nothin' to her. She's a clipper when she
+agonizes."
+
+Fearing, if he kept up the conversation much longer, that the
+bar-keeper would suspect his game, Sam called for another cigar, and
+picking up a deck of cards which lay on the table, suggested a game of
+"seven up." The bar-keeper seated himself with his back to the window,
+Sam still holding his post of survey.
+
+The game was only just begun, when the fortune-teller, carrying a small
+bottle, apparently of medicine, returned and entered the door.
+
+Sam's interest in the game died out shortly after, and patrons
+beginning to appear, the bar-keeper took his accustomed place behind
+the bar.
+
+The room gradually filled up, and taking advantage of a little crowd
+near the door, Sam quietly slipped through the door and walked straight
+across to the fortune-teller's house.
+
+As he entered, the inner door was opened and the dark woman herself
+appeared.
+
+With inimitable assurance the detective removed his hat and advanced
+toward her.
+
+Drawing herself up to her full height, the sibyl in a deep, solemn
+voice said:
+
+"What brings you here?"
+
+"I'm in hard luck. Got scooped up to the White Elephant and want you to
+give me a luck charm."
+
+The eyes of the hag glittered greedily as Sam held out a five-dollar
+bill, and throwing the door wide open she bade him enter.
+
+As Sam did so his experienced eye took in the whole room, the skull,
+charts, bottles and even the cards did not escape his gaze.
+
+Nance pushed forward a chair, and telling him under pain of breaking
+the spell not to utter a word, she retired behind the curtain.
+
+Left alone Sam took a more deliberate survey of the apartment and could
+hardly repress an exclamation of satisfaction as he saw lying on the
+floor the old slouch hat which Chip had worn the preceding day. His
+face, however, showed nothing as Nance reappeared bearing in one hand a
+peculiar lamp, scrolled and formed in a fanciful pattern and in the
+other a large book bound in parchment, covered with hieroglyphics.
+Putting the lamp on the table she extinguished the gas, and the
+pale-blue flame of the alcohol in the lamp cast its ghastly beams over
+the strange place.
+
+Muttering rapidly to herself she threw powder on the flame, causing a
+green flash to appear each time, with her eyes fastened on the open
+pages of the book.
+
+Amused at the hollow fraud, Sam looked on, very much interested and
+racking his brain to devise some means of gaining a further entrance to
+the house. From its outside appearance he knew he must be in one of the
+rear rooms, and if Chip was not behind the curtain he must be in an
+upper story. While he was thus occupied the fortune-teller had finished
+her incantations, and, taking from a drawer a small amulet sewed in oil
+skin, handed it to the detective.
+
+"Take this, my son--the stars are auspicious. It will bring you and
+keep near you good luck and high fortune. Now, depart in peace, for I
+am weary and would fain seek rest."
+
+His answer surprised her, for, rising abruptly, he struck a match, and,
+lighting the gas jet, pushed aside the curtains.
+
+With a scream of rage, Nance sprang forward.
+
+"Go but another step, and I'll tear your heart out!"
+
+Disregarding her, the detective pushed forward and threw open the door
+leading to the ascending stairs.
+
+In a trice he had mounted them and turning to the right, entered a
+room. His astonishment was so great that he half stopped, for the
+apartment was furnished in almost regal style; richly-upholstered
+furniture and oil paintings contrasted so vividly with the squalor and
+misery of the lower part of the house that the audacious detective
+could scarcely believe his senses.
+
+A smothered cry of rage and terror behind him warned him, and turning
+swiftly he beheld Nance, with wild eyes and disheveled hair, springing
+toward him. In her uplifted hand gleamed the glittering blade of a
+stilletto, and like a fury she rushed upon the bold intruder.
+
+The trained hand flew to the pocket and the ready revolver leaped forth.
+
+Nance staggered back, the dagger falling from her nerveless hand, as in
+abject terror she crouched on a chair.
+
+"Don't shoot! don't shoot! See, I won't hurt you," she moaned.
+
+Grasping her by the wrist, and pressing the revolver to her head, Sam
+said, sternly, and in a voice that would brook no delay:
+
+"What have you done with the man brought here last night?"
+
+Nance pointed to the next room, too frightened to speak, and thrusting
+her forward, Sam continued his search.
+
+Chip, his head covered with a bandage, and still somewhat confused,
+recognized his comrade as he entered the room. His mind was clear
+enough, however, to appreciate the situation, when the terror-stricken
+hag, pointing her long skinny finger at him, quivered in a tremulous
+voice: "He's alive; don't you see he's alive?"
+
+Overjoyed at finding Chip safe and still alive, Sam clasped his hands.
+
+"Can you walk, Chip?" he asked,
+
+"I don't know, Sam. I had a devilish close call," and Chip threw back
+the covers and essayed to step from the bed. His limbs trembled, and
+throwing up his hands despairingly, he sank back again. A flask of
+brandy stood on the table, and in an instant Sam had the cork out and
+had poured some of its contents down his friend's throat.
+
+The generous fluid warmed the blood and revived the strength of the
+wounded detective, who, making another attempt, stood on his feet.
+
+Throwing his arm around Chip's waist, Sam bade the thoroughly cowed
+woman to go before him, and was moving slowly to the door when a sharp,
+stern voice commanded:
+
+"Stop!"
+
+The detectives looked up, and standing in the open door, a revolver in
+each hand, stood Jim Cummings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A MIDNIGHT FLIGHT.
+
+
+THE two detectives were in a tight fix. One of them sorely wounded; the
+other, handicapped by his almost helpless comrade, would stand small
+chance against the burly man who checked their path. But Sam, who was
+nearly as large in build as was his opponent, and in an even fight,
+would not have hesitated to bear down upon him, slipped his arm from
+around Chip, and prepared himself for a desperate struggle.
+
+As his arm passed his side pocket, he felt his revolver. Keeping Chip
+before him, he slipped his hand onto it, and drew it out, Chip keeping
+Cummings from observing the movements. The scent of approaching danger
+had acted on Chip as a strong restorative, and his eyes met those of
+his late captor unflinchingly as he cried:
+
+"We know you now, Jim Cummings; you've betrayed yourself," and Chip
+again looked at the triangular gold which his parted lips disclosed on
+one of his teeth.
+
+Up to this moment the desperado had imagined himself to be unknown, but
+at the words Chip uttered, he started, and with eyes burning with rage,
+and features twitching with fury, he turned to Nance, who, still under
+the spell of complete terror, was huddled in a corner, her hands over
+her face, not daring to meet the outlaw's eye.
+
+"Ah," he hissed, "you did this," and like a flash his revolver covered
+her, and the whip-like report rang out. The answering voice of Sam's
+pistol echoed the first, and when the smoke had lifted, Cummings had
+disappeared.
+
+Without stopping to look after the hag, Sam lifted Chip in his arms,
+and hastily descended the stairs, It was dark when the alley was
+reached, and slowly walking to the corner, a hack was called and the
+two friends drove rapidly towards Sam's boarding-place.
+
+Stopping but just a second to tuck his friend in bed, Sam hastened to
+the Central Police Station and, in a few words, placed the case before
+the chief. The sergeant in charge at the time detailed five men to
+return with the detective. The house was entered and searched from
+basement to garret, but the birds had flown. The worn condition of the
+steps leading to the roof attracted Sam's attention, and further
+investigation disclosed the fact that this scuttle-way was the means of
+exit. Sam thus ascertained why his long, weary watch had been fruitless.
+
+After Cummings fired at the fortune-teller he turned quickly and ran up
+the steps to the roof of the house and so escaped through the vacant
+dwelling which faced the street. Believing that the old woman had
+either betrayed him or had been frightened into giving the desired
+information he decided to "vamoose the ranch" and that quickly.
+Moriarity must trust to his own good luck, for time was pressing and to
+save himself he must take an immediate departure.
+
+A thousand schemes passed through his head and a hundred disguises
+presented themselves to him as he hurried toward his room. Side streets
+and back alleys were taken and more than once he doubled on his track
+to ascertain if he was followed. Satisfied that, as yet, no one was on
+his track, Cummings allowed his fears to vanish. He was still safe and
+if he could only reach his "den" in safety he could lay low until the
+first wind had blown over. He knew that in a short time the whole city
+would be scoured for the noted Jim Cummings, and he laughed derisively
+as he thought of the open manner he had moved in the town since the
+robbery. No disguise had been attempted, no great secrecy and if it had
+not been for the unfortunate affair of the cooper-shop, he might have
+lived there for years without any suspicions being directed toward him.
+Although he had moved so openly and boldly he had kept to himself, not
+even telling Moriarity the location of his residence. To this place he
+now hurried. It was a large room in a first-class boarding-house whose
+landlady and boarders would have been horror-stricken had they known
+that "Mr. Williams," the jolly, good-natured young fellow who had
+proved such a valuable acquisition to their after-dinner gatherings,
+was the desperate free-booter who had walked away with the valuable
+express package.
+
+Cummings was no ordinary robber. Endowed by nature with cool nerves, an
+active brain and athletic frame, he had all the requirements necessary
+to make a successful and daring criminal. That he was so the preceding
+pages have testified. Now that he was threatened with discovery, he did
+not rush blindly into danger by attempting to flee from it, but he did
+the exact opposite.
+
+He knew that every train would be watched, that telegrams would stretch
+out in all directions, and the detectives, now on a hot scent, would
+crowd him night and day. All these thoughts passed through his mind, as
+he leaned back in a comfortable chair and puffed his Havana. And he
+decided it would be best to remain closely to his room until the hue
+and cry had subsided, and play invalid.
+
+For a week he stirred not from the house. And then thinking the first
+heat had passed, he commenced strolling out after dark.
+
+One evening, having lighted a cigar, he was walking leisurely up the
+avenue, all fears of discovery set at rest by his fancied security,
+when his dream was rudely disturbed by a hand placed lightly on his
+shoulder. Quick as a panther, he sprang to one side, placing himself on
+the defensive, and his hand upon his pistol ready for any emergency.
+His startled gaze met a pitiful sight. Ragged and tattered, his hands,
+trembling and face blanched with the first touch of delirium tremens,
+stood Oscar Cook. Tottering up to Cummings, he whispered in tremulous
+tones:
+
+"Jim, they're after me. They most nabbed me. Save me, Jim, save me!"
+
+Alarmed lest the poor wretch would attract attention, Cummings placed
+his arm around him, and half-carrying, half-dragging him, bore him to
+his room. Slipping the latch of the door, he turned up the gas.
+
+Cook sank into a chair, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in
+his hands. Every muscle was twitching, his eyes, staring stonily ahead,
+were bloodshot and fevered. Horror was printed on his face, and his
+fingers, curved like bird's claws, moved spasmodically over his head.
+
+"They're after me, Jim, they're after me," he repeated, again and again.
+
+Greatly disturbed by the sudden appearance of the wretched Cook,
+Cummings hardly knew how to meet the emergency. If he kept Cook with
+him, the tremens would come on, and in the delirium of the frenzy Cook
+would probably say something which would betray Cummings. On the other
+hand, if he left the house to place Cook in some safe quarters, he
+courted detection.
+
+He was in a tight box, and this, with the events which had just
+occurred and his close call of the week previous, made him somewhat
+nervous. As he looked at the miserable wretch before him he saw that he
+wore the high-heeled boots and spurs of the cowboys, who make Kansas
+City a rendezvous. In an instant his course was plain and he proceeded
+to execute it.
+
+Handing Cook a large glass full of brandy, he bade him drink it. The
+half-crazed man needed no urging, but clutching the glass he drank it
+down greedily. Its effect was almost instantaneous. His face lost the
+horrible expression, his fingers straightened out, and the trembling
+ceased. Cummings watched him closely, and knowing that the liquor would
+only sustain him for a short time, he said:
+
+"Cook, where's your horse?"
+
+"Down at the livery stable on the next block."
+
+"Can you get me one at the same place?"
+
+"Yes, a good one, too."
+
+"We must get out of here. The place is too hot for us. All the trains
+are watched, so we must leave a-horseback. Go get your horse, hire one
+for me, and we'll vamoose at once."
+
+Cook started up with alacrity, for as long as the brandy was potent the
+tremens would not effect him.
+
+Cummings hastily changed his apparel, putting on a pair of high boots
+and over them the fringed leather chapparels. A wide sombrero replaced
+the derby hat, and when fully costumed he had on the business rig of a
+typical cow-boy.
+
+He had hardly completed these arrangements when the noise of
+horse-hoofs on the pavement was heard. Opening the shutter Cummings
+waved his hand, and placing his revolver in the holster ran down the
+steps.
+
+He had written a note to his landlady saying that pressing business of
+the most urgent kind had suddenly called him out of town, and it was
+uncertain when he could return. This he left on the table and the
+landlady saw him no more.
+
+The horses were fresh, and striking into a canter the two men made for
+the open country. The excitement and motion combined with the bracing
+air drove the fumes of the liquor from Cook's head, and before many
+miles had been passed he was comparatively free from the terrible
+malady which threatened to consume him.
+
+The suburbs were passed, and under the clear sky and bright stars, the
+willing horses spurned the frozen mud from beneath their feet as they
+flew, neck and neck, down the road. Neither men had spoken a word since
+the start, but sitting low in the saddle, gave the horses loose reins
+nor checked them an instant.
+
+They had left the road and were speeding over the frozen prairie,
+skirting a small clump of scrub oak, when just before them, a solitary
+horseman could be seen, leisurely walking his steed. At the sudden
+appearance of the stranger, both men instinctively reined in their
+horses and pulled up short. The man at that moment, heard them, and
+giving a hasty look backward, drove his spurs into his horse, dashed
+forward at full speed.
+
+In sheer deviltry, Cummings did likewise, followed by Cook, and gave
+chase to the flying horseman. It was nearly dawn. The gray light was
+brightening the landscape, and, observing his game more closely,
+Cummings saw something familiar in his form; and when he glanced over
+his shoulder to see his pursuers, the heavy mustache could be seen,
+even in that uncertain light.
+
+Placing his fingers to his lips, Jim gave three whistles, two short and
+one long sounds. The shrill tones reached the stranger, who turned half
+around in his saddle and saw Cummings waving his hat. Checking his
+speed somewhat he allowed the distance between them to become less, but
+holding his horse well in hand, if any signs of treachery were observed
+he could have some chance of escaping.
+
+As the two men swept toward him they cried as in one voice:
+
+"Moriarity!"
+
+Moriarity, for such it was, immediately drew up his horse and the three
+friends were soon shaking hands.
+
+"The fly-cops made it too hot for me, boys," said Dan. "I came within
+an ace of being caught. One of the beaks had his hands on me, but I
+knocked him down and lit out."
+
+"Where are you bound for now?" asked Cummings.
+
+"Down to Swanson's ranche."
+
+"We were heading the same way," said Cummings.
+
+Swanson's ranche, situated in the northeastern part of the Indian
+Territory, near Coulby's Bluff, was about one hundred and fifty miles
+south of Kansas City. The rolling prairie which stretched between was
+interspersed with ranches, and an occasional small town, but for the
+greater part was wild and uninhabited.
+
+Swanson, an Americanized Norwegian, had married a Cherokee squaw, which
+enabled him to locate in the Indian country. His reputation was none of
+the best, but his unscrupulous character and well-known skill with the
+Winchester caused him to be feared, and an officer of the law would
+think twice before making any attempts to disturb him. It was at this
+place that the three fugitives were seeking refuge.
+
+The sun had risen, and it was broad day when Cummings, who naturally
+took the lead, commanded a halt.
+
+A clump of cotton-wood trees on the verge of a small, shallow creek
+offered a good camping ground.
+
+Hobbling their horses, after taking the saddles from them, they allowed
+them to graze at will, and the party busied themselves in collecting
+wood for a fire.
+
+A few sheep which had escaped from some ranch were grazing near the
+spot, and Moriarity, who had his Winchester, dropped one by a
+well-directed ball back of the shoulder.
+
+The warm fleece was taken from the still quivering body, and the
+appetizing smell of mutton steaks reminded the hungry men that the
+breakfast hour had long since passed. The meal over, nature asserted
+her claims, and the thoroughly tired-out travelers wrapped themselves
+in their blankets and fell asleep.
+
+They were not disturbed, for the trail which they had taken was seldom
+traveled over, and it was late in the afternoon when they were once
+more on their way.
+
+The trail led over the beds of dried-up streams, and skirted the
+numerous patches of scrub oak and cotton-wood trees which were
+scattered all over the prairie. The long prairie grass sometimes
+brushed the feet of the horsemen, and coveys of prairie chickens flew
+up and scurried away as the three outlaws galloped past. Mile after
+mile was left behind, the tough Indian ponies they bestrode keeping the
+tireless lope for which they are noted without slacking the pace or
+becoming exhausted. The three riders were expert horsemen, and had been
+accustomed to the saddle almost from infancy.
+
+Little was said and few words spoken by the men as they skimmed over
+the prairie save to call attention to some obstacle in the way, or to
+some change in the trail, which stretched before them plain and
+distinct.
+
+The few Indians and half-breeds they met paid no attention to them,
+thinking them to be cowboys bound for their camp, and in fact they did
+resemble those hardy specimens of plainsmen who range this country
+herding cattle or sheep.
+
+When the chill of the night had set in, Cummings ordered a second halt,
+and the horses, hobbled, commenced to graze on the short buffalo-grass
+which spread underfoot. The remainder of the carcass of mutton which
+Moriarity had shot had been strapped back of his saddle, and was now
+cut up into suitable sizes for the fire which Cook had built. The meat,
+laid on the glowing embers, was soon cooked and, their hunger appeased,
+the men, wrapped in their blankets, their feet to the fire, composed
+themselves for slumber.
+
+The long hours of the night passed on, the fire had died out, when
+Cummings, awakened by a sudden feeling of chilliness, rose to his feet
+and piled some twigs and branches together to make a blaze. As he
+stooped to the ground the faint, far-off beats of horses' hoofs reached
+his quick ear.
+
+"Dan! Cook! Wake up! Get up lively!" he cried, as he made a dash for
+his saddle and threw it on his horse. "They are after us."
+
+The camp was instantly in commotion, the saddles thrown over the horses
+and tightened with ready and experienced hands, and vaulting into the
+saddles the three men rode out into the bright moonlight as a company
+of ten men, armed to the teeth, swept like a whirlwind around the edge
+of the timber.
+
+A yell reached the ears of the three fugitives as they galloped out on
+the prairie and a voice, clear and commanding, rang out in tones
+familiar to Moriarity, who had heard them in the cooper-shop when the
+tramp commanded him to hold out his hands.
+
+"There they are lads. Forward!"
+
+Uttering a deep round oath Dan turned in his saddle, giving the horse
+the head, and leveling his rifle fired point-blank at the pursuing
+party.
+
+A cry of derision greeted the shot, and Cummings, saying "Hold your
+shots, you fool," drove his spurs cruelly into the horse's flanks and,
+followed closely by his companions, dashed down the trail toward
+Swanson's ranche.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE PURSUIT.
+
+
+Chip and Sam were not the only Pinkerton men in Kansas City at this
+time engaged on the Adams Express robbery case, for from the time Cook
+awoke from the drunken stupor in which Cummings and Moriarity found him
+at the cooper-shop on the night when Chip was captured he had been
+shadowed constantly by Barney, who with Chip had found the letter heads
+in Fotheringham's trunk.
+
+Day and night had Barney followed him, and he was but a short distance
+behind when Cummings took Cook on the verge of the delirium tremens to
+his room.
+
+When Cook came back with the horses and with Cummings rode away, Barney
+hastened to Chip, who, fully recovered from the terrible blow on the
+head, had again assumed his duties, and reported the fact to him.
+
+Sam, who was on the lookout for Moriarity, was notified at once, and
+the three detectives, laying the matter before the chief of police,
+were furnished with seven mounted men armed to the teeth, and all of
+them old Texas rangers.
+
+This formidable troop had left the city scarcely an hour after the
+robbers had started. The direction they took and the nature of the
+country pointed to Swanson's ranche as the point for which the outlaws
+were making.
+
+All night long the posse rode, and had they not taken a wrong trail,
+would have caught up to the robbers at their first camp.
+
+Retracing their path, a short halt only was made, saddle girths were
+tightened, the rifles closely inspected, and Chip, giving the cry of
+"Forward," led the company on the hot scent.
+
+Like a good general, Chip spread his men to the right and left of the
+trail, so that in moving forward a wide swath of country was swept.
+
+The first camp which the outlaws had made was discovered by the scout
+on the left flank. Raising the Texan yell, the rank closed in and
+gathered around the spot.
+
+One of the men, an old Indian hunter, burnt by the sun to living
+bronze, and scarred by the many hand-to-hand conflicts he had had with
+the red savages, leaped from his horse, his keen eyes fastened to the
+ground, read the signs which the outlaws had left as if they were
+printed words.
+
+Pointing to the fire and the remnants of the burnt meat and bones near
+it, he said:
+
+"They ain't more'n three hours ahead of us, and there's more than the
+two. Three fellars ate their grub here this morning."
+
+"How do you make that out?" said Chip.
+
+"Well, Cap'n, I've fit Ingins and herded cattle more'n twenty year, off
+an' on, and if there ain't been three men here not over three hour ago,
+I lose my reckonin'. See here, in this soft place where the sun has
+melted the ground a bit, is hoof-marks, and they belong to three
+different horses."
+
+"Perhaps they stole a horse?"
+
+"Mebbe so, and mebben't so. I reckon it mebben't so. Cause why? The
+fellar as walked over this patch wore boots and spurs, long rowels on
+'em, too. See where they cut the mud. Here is another one, a derned
+sight smaller foot, and here is one that had a sharp heel. No, Cap'n,
+they picked up a man somewhar along the road."
+
+To this the others who had come out with the detectives gave their
+unqualified assent, and Chip cried:
+
+"Three hours ahead is a good lead on us, boys. We must climb along."
+
+The command was again given, and, rendered more eager and enthusiastic
+by the knowledge that only thirty miles was between them and their
+game, the men moved forward with a cheer.
+
+Another short halt was made for supper and the trail was again covered
+just as the robbers had about commenced to sleep. A sharp lookout was
+maintained and the bright light of the full moon turned night into day
+and made the task so much the easier.
+
+As they rode around the edge of the timber in which Cummings and his
+companions were secreted they had no suspicion that they had gained so
+rapidly on the flying renegades, so that the sudden appearance of the
+men for whom they were searching somewhat surprised them. Giving their
+peculiar yell they pressed forward with a great burst of speed, not
+even checking the gait when the ball which Moriarity sent whistled over
+them.
+
+Instantly several rifles were leveled at the flying robbers, and had
+not Chip commanded them not to shoot it would have fared ill with Jim
+Cummings and his companions.
+
+With the speed of the wind the horses flew down the trail, the rapid
+hoof beats rang out on the still night and sent the slinking coyotes
+howling to their lairs. Just peering above the horizon could be seen
+the dark outlines of Goody's Bluff, fifteen miles away, and if Cummings
+could but reach its shadow he was safe, even from the posse which was
+pursuing him, for he would then be in the Indian Territory. Looking
+back at his pursuers, who in a solid group were following him so
+closely that he could almost distinguish their features, so bright was
+the night, he saw that their horses were not driven at the full height
+of their speed, but were rather being held back. Alarmed at this he
+communicated his fears to his companions, who, one on each side, were
+bending forward in the saddle, urging and caressing their horses to get
+all there was out of them, and right gamely did the stanch animals
+respond to the touch of the spur or pat of the hand, as they beat out
+mile after mile behind them, the hoof-beats echoed by the flying party
+behind. With starting eye-balls eagerly fixed on the dim outlines of
+the bluff, the hunted men watched it grow larger and more distinct, and
+hope began to revive in their breasts when a sharp "ping" of a rifle,
+followed by the whistle of the ball passing over their heads broke the
+silence of the wordless chase.
+
+As with one impulse, each man threw himself flat on his horse's neck,
+but did not for an instant relax speed or spur. Another shot followed,
+and Chip's voice, ringing and clear, shouted:
+
+"If you don't halt, we'll shoot your horses."
+
+"Shoot and be damned," said Jim Cummings, almost exultingly, as he drew
+his revolver from his belt. "Two can play at that game," and drawing a
+hasty bead on Chip, he pulled the trigger.
+
+Chip's horse, giving a convulsive leap to one side, staggered a little,
+and fell behind, but was soon in the lead again, apparently unhurt.
+
+"Boys," shouted Cummings, "d'ye see that dry creek bed. On the other
+side we're safe," The pursuing posse, hearing these words, and knowing
+their full import, gave spurs to their horses, and the distance between
+the two parties closed up so rapidly that the three outlaws could hear
+the heavy breathing of the following horses.
+
+Their own animals began to show signs of distress, and the dry creek
+bed was still a long, long distance off.
+
+Nearer and nearer crept Chip and his men, the thirteen men, pursuers
+and pursued, was almost in one party. Chip, who lead, and Cummings, who
+rode behind his comrades, were not a horse's length apart.
+
+Slowly the gallant beast Chip bestrode pushed forward, gaining little
+by little until his nose almost reached the flank of Jim's steed.
+
+"Jim Cummings, do you surrender?" and the sharp click of a revolver was
+heard.
+
+With a malignant scowl Cummings half turned in his saddle, and saying:
+
+"No, damn me, no; not while I live," placed his revolver at the head of
+Chip's mount and sent the ball crashing to its brain.
+
+Down in its tracks shot the noble steed, the dark, rich blood jetting
+from the ghastly hole, and deluging Chip with its crimson flood.
+
+Chip, with the address of an experienced horseman, had lighted upon his
+feet, his revolver still clutched in his hand.
+
+The sudden fall of the leading horse had caused the remainder of the
+party to haul up short to avoid running horse and rider down. This left
+the road clear before him, and Chip, dropping on his knee took a long
+careful sight at Cummings and fired.
+
+A sudden swerve of Jim's horse saved him, but uttering a cry of pain,
+Cook's steed, struck in a vital point, stopped short, and trembling in
+every limb slowly sank to the ground. Cook, taken so unexpectedly, had
+shot over his horse's head, and now lay, unconscious, in the center of
+the trail, his two companions, driving the spurs deeper into the flanks
+of their almost exhausted animals, dashed down the banks of the
+dividing line and stood safe on Indian Territory.
+
+The unconscious Cook was at once surrounded by the detectives and
+posse, and a generous dose of brandy poured down his throat brought him
+to his senses.
+
+Chagrined beyond measure at the escape of his man, just when he was
+about to put his hand on him, and at the loss of his horse, Chip was in
+no humor to allow a technical boundary line to keep him from capturing
+his men, who, riding around the edge of an elevation on the prairie
+were now lost to sight.
+
+"Brodey," he said, turning to the ranger who had been the guide of the
+expedition from the time it started from Kansas City, "how far is it to
+Swanson's ranche?"
+
+"A matter of twenty-five miles, as the crow flies."
+
+"How far by the trail?"
+
+"Well, Cap'n," responded Brodey, reflectively, as he threw his knee
+over the pommel of his saddle, "lemme see. The trail goes by that there
+belt of timber, then jines the stage-road to Allewe, an' follows that a
+piece, then it shunts off to the west straight for the bluff thar,
+purty nearly a bee-line. Thirty mile, sure--mebbe less."
+
+"Is that the Indian Territory 'tother side of the divide?"
+
+"Jesso--Cherokee Nation."
+
+"What sort of a man is this Swanson?"
+
+"Half-buffalo, half-painter, an' other half crocodile. He's wuss than a
+half-breed Apache, an would as soon shoot a man as to drink, an'
+Swanson's a right powerful punisher of the whisky-jug."
+
+"Yes! yes! I know all that, but is he cunning, shrewd, sharp, you know?"
+
+"Got eyes like an Injun, ears like a coyote an' a nose sharp as a
+gopher snake."
+
+"He must be a tough combination, but I'll do it, all the same."
+
+"Do what, Chip?" asked Sam.
+
+"Go down to Swanson's and bring in my man."
+
+"Bars and buffler skins," cried Brodey. "You don't mean to say that you
+will do such a blame fool thing as that. Sho!"
+
+"Not alone, Chip," said Sam. "I go with you."
+
+"See hyar, young fellers," expostulated Brodey. "Do ye know what your
+doin'! Got any idee ye'll come back alive! I've been in some tough
+places before now, but shoot my worthless carcass if I want to go to
+Swanson's. He's killed a man, torn out his heart and eaten it raw, fer
+a fact."
+
+"Pshaw, who would believe such a yarn as that, man."
+
+"Swar to gosh it's true," continued Brodey. "I don't believe thar's a
+man in the States what's got as much devil to thar square inch as this
+man Swanson. Better not go, Cap'n. I'd hate tremendous to have you
+killed."
+
+Chip laughed lightly, as he stroked the neck of the Ranger's horse, and
+said:
+
+"Brodey, I've been a detective for five years, and in those five years
+I've looked almost sure death in the face more than a score of times. I
+have seen the knife raised which was to be buried in my heart the next
+second. I have felt the revolver spit its flames plump in my face. I
+have been tied hand and feet and laid across the rail, with a lightning
+express train not over a thousand feet off, coming down like the wind,
+and I am a live man to-day. The man isn't born yet that can kill me."
+
+Chip said all this in a modest tone and no signs of braggadocio, for it
+was all true, and his listeners knew he was telling facts by his
+bearing and manner.
+
+"Yes," broke in Sam, "and I was with you on several of these occasions,
+and what's more, I shall be with you on this one you are planning."
+
+"I want you should be--but enough of this talk. We can do nothing more
+now. Our men have given us the slip. Dismount, boys, and give the nags
+a breathing spell."
+
+Cook, by this time, had regained his senses, and was sitting up in the
+middle of the trail rubbing his shoulder and wearing a most woebegone
+and dazed look upon his expressive countenance. Observing this, Chip
+walked toward him, and imitating a drunken stagger, sang:
+
+"Drink, puppies, drink; let every puppy drink, That's old enough to
+stand and to swallow."
+
+As the first strains fell on his ears, Cook started, and regarding Chip
+with questioning eyes, inquired:
+
+"Who are you fellows anyway; can't you let peaceable travelers alone
+without shooting their horses?"
+
+"Oh! you were peaceable travelers, were you? Well, now, that's strange,
+we took you to be some horse thieves that have been skurrying around
+these parts lately."
+
+"Do you think I look like a horse-thief?" indignantly.
+
+"Is that your own horse?"
+
+"Not exactly. I hired--"
+
+"Ah! yes, you hired it--they all say that--you hired it some time ago
+and have forgotten to pay the bill--"
+
+"Well, I didn't either, I hired it for a week, and--"
+
+"Really, Mr. Cook, you were going to make quite a visit--"
+
+"My name ain't Cook."
+
+"No? Let us call you Mr. Cook just for the sake of the argument. It's a
+good name, is Cook. I used to know a fellow named Cook once. He had a
+cooper-shop on the east bottoms, Kansas City. I went over to see him a
+week or so ago, and we had a high old time I can assure you. Cook was a
+very amusing gentleman. He could sing like Brignoli. What was that song
+he could sing so nicely? Oh! yes, I have it."
+
+"For we'll pass the bottle 'round When we've--"
+
+"The tramp!" ejaculated Cook looking at Chip with amazement.
+
+"The same, at your service, Mr. Cook, for that is your name, isn't it?"
+
+"I'm caught," confessed the puzzled Cook. "What are you making game of
+me for? What do you want me for?"
+
+"Nothing, nothing. We were afraid you might prolong your anticipated
+visit to such a length that we grew homesick for you, so I got some of
+the boys together, a sort of a picnic, you know, to ask you not to stay
+too long," bantered Chip. "We really can't take 'no' for an answer, Mr.
+Cook, really you must consider our feelings and return with us."
+
+"I guess I can't help myself," said Cook grimly.
+
+"It does look a little that way, don't it?"
+
+Cook shook his head as he arose to his feet, and stooping over his dead
+horse unloosed the girth and drew off the saddle, nor did he make any
+objection when Chip secured his revolver and ammunition belt. Escape
+was entirely cut off from him and he accepted his capture in a resigned
+spirit, because he could not help himself.
+
+"Brodey, how far is the railroad from here?"
+
+"About fifteen miles over thar," pointing toward the east, "Blue Jacket
+lies thar, and is on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas."
+
+"We'll make for it. You take the prisoner behind you and I will mount
+with Sam."
+
+The cavalcade were soon in motion, leaving the dead horses to be
+devoured by the buzzards and coyotes which were already beginning to
+gather around.
+
+Arriving at Blue Jacket, the party left Chip and his prisoner, and
+turning to the north cantered off for Kansas City.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. SWANSON'S RANCHE--THE DETECTIVES IN ROBBER'S RETREAT--THE
+SUCCESS OF THE DOCTOR--ANOTHER ROBBERY PLANNED.
+
+
+In the center of a beautiful valley, with high, rugged bluffs rising on
+all sides, and intersected by a clear stream of spring water, which
+fell in tiny cascades and little waterfalls, turning and twisting like
+a silver snake, stood Swanson's Ranche. The low frame building,
+surrounded on four sides by a wide porch, and standing on a gentle
+elevation which fell away to the creek, was the home of the redoubtable
+Swanson, who was monarch of all he surveyed for miles around. The
+evening was rapidly advancing into night, and the large open fireplace,
+huge and yawning, was roaring with the cheerful fire which Swanson's
+obedient squaw had built, that her liege lord might not be chilled by
+the cold wind which whistled over the plains.
+
+The floor of the large room, covered with fur rugs and huge
+buffalo-skins, was made of pounded clay, and the feet of many years had
+hardened it to almost stone-like solidity.
+
+Saddles, lariats, rifles, high boots, and all the trappings and harness
+belonging to a cowboy's outfit littered the place, and stretched out on
+the robes and furs, in easy, careless attitudes, lay some half-dozen
+men.
+
+Jim Cummings and Dan Moriarity were of the number. Thick clouds of
+tobacco smoke curled and eddied to the low ceiling, and seated near the
+fire to get the benefit of the light were a couple of card-playing
+ranchmen, indulging in a game of California Jack.
+
+Standing with his back to the blaze, his feet spread apart, and his
+hands deep in his pockets, stood the owner of the ranche--Swanson. Cast
+in a Herculean mold, he stood over six feet tall, his broad shoulders
+surmounted by a neck like a bull, and his red, cunning face, almost hid
+from sight by the thick, bushy whiskers which covered it.
+
+He had been relating, with great gusto, some adventure in which he had
+played a prominent part, and raising his broad hand in the air he
+brought it down on a table near him, as he exclaimed:
+
+"And if any detective comes skulking around this shanty, I swear I'll
+cut out his sneaking heart, and make him eat it raw"--when the sound of
+horses broke the thread of his discourse, and a voice was heard
+shouting:
+
+"Hello-o-o, the house!"
+
+"Yes, an be right smart about it, dis chile most froze."
+
+A young fellow near the door sprang to open it, and thrusting his head
+out, said:
+
+"Come in, there's no dogs around."
+
+"Dats all right, honey, we ain't got no fear of de hounds, me an' the
+Doctor ain't."
+
+"Keep quiet, you black imp," said the voice which had first been heard,
+"Hobble the nags and bring in my saddle, boys."
+
+"All right, sah; I's hearin' you, sah."
+
+To this conversation, which had taken place outside, the men in the
+room had listened with great interest. Anything was welcome that served
+to break the monotony of ranche life, and a stir of expectation went
+through the room as the two strangers were heard dismounting.
+
+The door opened and the new-comers entered.
+
+"By the great horn spoon if this ain't the old hoss doctor hisself!"
+exclaimed Swanson, as he reached out his huge paw. "I thought the
+Apaches had lifted your scalp years ago."
+
+"You can't kill a good hoss doctor, Swanson," replied the Doctor,
+grasping the offered hand and giving it a hearty shake. "Good hoss
+doctors don't grow on every bush."
+
+"Boys," said Swanson, turning the Doctor around. "This hyar gentleman
+is Doctor Skinner--"
+
+"Late graduate of the Philadelphia Veterinary Surgical Institute. Has
+practised in seventeen States and four Territories. Can cure anything
+on hoofs, from the devil to the five-legged broncho of Arizona, which
+has four legs, one on each corner, and one attached to his left flank.
+With it, he can travel faster than the swiftest race horse, and when
+hunted by the native red men, he throws it over his neck, and smiles
+urbanely upon his baffled pursuers."
+
+Swanson roared with delight as the Doctor rolled this off his tongue,
+and slapping him on the back, cried:
+
+"You're the same old codger. Haven't changed an inch in seven years.
+You've got to stay here a week, two weeks, a month. I've plenty of sick
+stock, and some of the boys have horses that need polishing."
+
+"Yes, sah!" broke in the Doctor's companion, a full-blooded negro.
+"We's gwine to camp down hyar shuah a monf--"
+
+"Hold your tongue, Scip," said the Doctor. "I'm the talking man here.
+Yes! gentlemen," addressing the attentive cowboys, "I can cure anything
+that touches the ground--biped, quadruped, or centipede--glanders,
+botts, greased hoofs, heaves, blind staggers, it makes no odds. My
+universal, self-acting, double compound elixir of equestrian ointment
+will perform a cure in each and every case. It is cheap! It is sure! It
+is patented! It is the best, and it is here. You may roll up, you may
+tumble up, you may walk up, any way to get up, or send your money up,
+and you will receive a two-quart bottle of this precious liquid, of
+which I am the sole owner, proprietor and manufacturer."
+
+Again Swanson expressed his unbounded delight, and the audience
+signified their entire approbation by shouting:
+
+"Go it, old hoss; keep it up!"
+
+When the doctor first entered, Cummings, who was extended on a large
+bear skin, fastened a searching look on him, taking in every feature
+and article of wearing apparel, and Moriarity, who was stretched near
+him, regarded the new-comer with suspicious eyes, but when they
+witnessed the cordial greeting which Swanson gave, they dismissed their
+suspicions and entering into the spirit of the evening, applauded as
+loudly and noisily as the rest.
+
+Scip, who had been attending to the horses outside, now stuck his head
+through the door and shouted:
+
+"Tole you what it was, Massa Doctor, dis yer chile can't tote dat
+bundle in alone, nohow."
+
+"All right, Scip, I'll help you," and disregarding, with a wave of his
+hands, the proffers of assistance which were tendered him, the doctor
+stepped onto the porch and found Scip struggling with a large pack,
+strapped to the back of a broncho, tugging and jerking, and swearing
+under his breath at "the old fool rope."
+
+Coming close to him the doctor said aloud:
+
+"Be careful you black imp of Satan; what are you so rough about?" and
+then followed in a whisper, "the men are both there, Chip."
+
+Scip, or rather, Chip, adopting the same tactics, replied:
+
+"Honey, I's handlin' dis yeah smoof as cottonseed oil"--whispering,
+"what a rascally-looking lot."
+
+The Doctor and Scip were none other than the two detectives. When Chip
+reached Kansas City he hunted around for some suitable disguise which
+would carry him through in safety. In his perplexity he went to the
+chief of police, with whom he was on the most friendly terms, and put
+the case before him.
+
+The chief said:
+
+"About seven years ago there used to be an old fraud named Skinner, a
+sort of horse-doctor, who stepped somewhat over the line and walked off
+with some other fellow's nag. He is now putting in his time at
+Jefferson City. He was hale fellow well met with all that gang,
+especially Swanson, and I think if you could run down to Jefferson
+City, put the case before the warden, you could get pointers from him."
+
+That afternoon Chip was in Jefferson City, and walking over to the
+penitentiary, found the warden willing, and Skinner was called to the
+visitor's cage.
+
+He had three years more to serve, and, on being told that any service
+he could render the State would be taken into account and to his
+credit, he gave Chip a minute and detailed description of his costume,
+manner of doing business, and brought up many interesting
+reminiscenses, which Chip carefully noted.
+
+Sam, who had a peculiar talent for disguises, was to take the part of
+Doctor Skinner, and Chip as his negro servant could slip in and out
+without attracting much attention.
+
+It was in these assumed characters that the detectives made their entre
+into Swanson's habitat.
+
+Further private conversation was barred by the massive form of Swanson
+filling the door, and urging his friend the Doctor to let "his nigger"
+take charge of the stock.
+
+"Can't be did, colonel," said the Doctor, "can't be trusted alone near
+this pack. Scip has too much love for the bottom of the flask to allow
+him too much freedom here."
+
+"Well, I'll send one of the boys out. Hyar, you, Abe; mosey out thar
+and yank that pack in hyar."
+
+Abe, a strong, strapping young plainsman, lifted the pack to his
+shoulder, and, followed by the "Easy, young man; step lightly; glass,
+you know; this side up with care," of the doctor, deposited it upon the
+floor.
+
+Opening the pack the Doctor held aloft a large square bottle, on which
+was pasted a yellow label, "Dr. Skinner's Incomparable Horse Healer,"
+commenced rapidly to dilate upon the peculiar excellence of the nostrum.
+
+"Gentleman, what is good for the noble brute is good for man. This
+compound, this superior selection of seventeen separate solvents is
+warranted to dissipate the most chronic complaints. It will incite
+slumber, mend the broken heart, cause the hair to grow, is good for
+chapped hands, sore eyes and ingrowing toe-nails. It is a panacea for
+all evils and a trial will cost you nothing."
+
+He passed the bottle to Swanson, who stood listening to his glib tongue
+in amused wonder, and invited him to test the medicine. Nothing loth,
+the giant took a huge drink.
+
+"Whisky," he shouted, joyfully, "the real, old stuff," and smacking his
+lips he again applied them to the bottle. It was passed around, and the
+doctor at once became the most popular man on the ranche.
+
+Scip, who had finally succeeded in securing his horses to his
+satisfaction, during which time he had made a tour of the premises and
+obtained the lay of the land, now entered the room and pushing his way
+through the crowd gathered around the Doctor and his bottle of "cure
+all," spread his hands to the fire, standing beside Cummings.
+
+"Where did you pick up the darkey, Doctor?" inquired Swanson,
+designating Scip by a jerk of his thumb.
+
+"The hard fact is, gentlemen, that we picked each other up. I was 1907
+and Scip was 1908.
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"I repeat. I was 1907 and Scip was 1908."
+
+"You mean to say you were doing--"
+
+"Simply that and nothing more, I found a halter in the road one day and
+picked it up, carrying it with me, and it wasn't until a most officious
+individual in blue coat and brass buttons came along and rudely placed
+a pair of exquisite steel bracelets on my delicate wrists, that I
+learned that a horse was tied at the other end of the halter, and the
+gentleman who is supposed to dispense justice in Kansas City urged me
+to remove to Jefferson City for a time; that is all. The number of my
+room was 1907 and my colored friend here had the apartment next to
+mine."
+
+"Yah, yah," laughed Scip, "we bof did our time together, suah."
+
+This new claim on Swanson's friendship had its effect, and the generous
+quantities of whisky which he had swallowed having put him into an
+extraordinary good humor, he threw his arms around the doctor and vowed
+he would keep him all his life.
+
+Thus the two detectives by a bold piece of strategy, had gained
+entrance to the express robbers' asylum and had been offered the right
+hand of fellowship. The evening wore on, cards were produced, and the
+click of the ivory poker chips was heard above the low hum of
+conversation. The doctor did not care to take a hand, and Scip,
+apparently tired out with his day's journey, had thrown himself on a
+buffalo-robe in a corner, and seemed fast asleep.
+
+The Doctor, his eyes half closed, and slowly puffing his pipe, closely
+and keenly eyed every face in the room; but most of all, he gazed at
+Swanson, who, partly overcome by liquor, was leaning back in an easy,
+cane-bottomed chair, looking into the fire. A malignant frown, ever and
+anon, knit his low brow, and his cruel mouth curled so as to show his
+teeth, as his thoughts passed through his befuddled brain.
+
+Cummings and Moriarity, who had withdrawn from the main party, had
+their heads together, earnestly engaged in conversation. Cummings was
+evidently endeavoring to persuade his fainter hearted comrade to do
+something, for he often bent a significant look on Swanson, or pointed
+his thumb toward him, but Moriarity, whose eyes were half indicative of
+fear, would shake his head as if in expostulation.
+
+The Doctor saw all this, through his half-closed eyes and strained his
+ears to catch even the slightest shred of their consultation, but the
+outlaws talked in such low tones that he was unable to hear anything.
+
+A glance at Skip, who was gently snoring near them, put his mind at
+rest, for he saw that the darkey was taking in every word that dropped,
+feigning sleep all the time. A sudden movement by some of the men,
+roused Swanson, and looking at a huge silver watch, he ordered them all
+to bed at once. Which command was obeyed by all except Cummings,
+Moriarity, the Doctor and Scip.
+
+An inner room, fitted with bunks, was used as the dormitory, but the
+two robbers, as special guests had rooms to themselves. Going to a
+cupboard, and bringing out an armful of blankets, Swanson threw them on
+the floor.
+
+"There my hearty, you and your boy will have to camp out here to-night.
+We're crowded, so make yourself comfortable," and then bidding them
+"Good-night," he staggered to his bed.
+
+Nothing could suit the detectives better than this. A room to
+themselves, a warm fire, plenty of blankets and no suspicions of their
+true character.
+
+Smoothing the blankets over the bear skins, the two friends lay down
+and a whispered conversation commenced.
+
+"What were Cummings and Moriarity talking about, Chip?" said Sam, in a
+cautious tone.
+
+"Cummings wants to rob the old man, Swanson. He says he's got thousands
+of dollars salted somewhere around here and thinks they might as well
+make hay while the sun shines, but Dan was afraid to do it."
+
+"What a precious pair of rascals, but we can use this idea first-rate
+to get them over the line again."
+
+"I thought of the same thing as they were talking. If you could only
+bring it up without awaking any suspicions, we might offer to help him
+do the job."
+
+"Trust me for that, old fellow. Even if we have to commit actual
+robbery, I'll do it."
+
+"Well, keep your eyes open, and don't be caught sleeping. Go to sleep,
+now. I'll keep first watch."
+
+This was the regular system of the two operators. While one slept the
+other kept watch and to this fact a large portion of their success was
+due.
+
+The ranche became quiet, its denizens all sleeping, and the night
+passed without any disturbance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE DOCTOR TURNS CONSPIRATOR--THE PLOT TO ROB THE RANCHE.
+
+
+The pseudo doctor had been at the ranche a week, during which he had
+become quite chummy with Jim Cummings and Dan Moriarity, who, finding
+that time hung very heavy on their hands, welcomed the jovial,
+story-telling doctor and spent most of their time in his company.
+
+Swanson, who was moving his stock further west and making preparations
+for the spring round-up, was obliged to be in the saddle all day and
+sometimes late at night. Although a hard drinker, an unscrupulous
+rascal and an inveterate gambler, he was a good stock-raiser, and kept
+good care of his cattle. He employed a large force of cowboys or
+herders, and, acting himself as captain of the round-up, he would
+absent himself from home for days at a time.
+
+One morning the Doctor, flashing a significant glance toward Scip,
+which said, "Take your cue and follow me," remarked in a careless tone:
+
+"I reckon the old man must have considerable dust salted down by this
+time."
+
+As the remark was a general one made to Cummings, Moriarity and Scip,
+the latter answered:
+
+"Yes, sah; Mass Swanson got a pile of gold laid up for a rainy day,
+suah."
+
+The Doctor continued:
+
+"He's had more than the average run of good luck the last few years. He
+told me the other day that he only lost a few head all year, and was
+just going to ship a big lot to Chicago."
+
+Cummings, blowing a blue column of tobacco smoke toward the rafters,
+said:
+
+"It's always been a question to me where he keeps his money. There's no
+bank around here."
+
+"Oh! he's a shrewd old chap, Swanson is," replied the Doctor. "He has a
+private bank somewhere near here probably."
+
+"Seems to me that would be pretty risky," said Cummings. "If he keeps
+it planted around here what would hinder some one from finding the
+cache and getting off with the plunder?"
+
+"I made that very remark to him," the Doctor answered; "and he laughed
+and said it would take something smarter than a cowboy or an Injun to
+find it, but there are others beside cowboys and Injuns that come this
+way," with a meaning smile. Cummings noted the smile, and glancing at
+Moriarity, said:
+
+"How would you go at it, Doctor, if you were to make the attempt?"
+
+The Doctor laughed quietly, as if he appreciated the joke, and leaning
+back in his chair, his thumbs in the arm-holes of his vest, his feet
+stretched on a chair before him, he answered:
+
+"Well, Cummings, I don't know as I would like to do it. Swanson's a
+good friend of mine, and--"
+
+"Hang it all, man, who the devil asked you to do it?" replied Jim,
+hotly. "I was only joking; do you think I wanted you to--"
+
+"Not at all, my dear fellow, not at all," said the Doctor, in a
+soothing tone. "No one supposed for a minute that you thought of such a
+thing, but if I was going to do a job like that I wouldn't care to do
+it alone. Two, certainly not more than three, more to help would be
+necessary. I would go at it about this way: The first thing would be to
+find out where Swanson kept his money. It is doubtless kept in close
+proximity to this place, evidently well secreted, for Swanson is not a
+man to let his right hand know what his left hand is doing. I think I
+would be apt to get him full some evening, then let him win a big pot
+from me in poker, and, feigning drunkenness, I would watch very keenly
+what he did with the money. You may depend on it, it is somewhere in
+this house. After I ascertained the hiding-place I would surprise the
+old fellow in his sleep with the aid of my confederates, and gagging
+him, and then binding his arms and feet, would rob his bank at my
+pleasure. THAT is the way I should do it."
+
+Cummings had followed every word, nodding his approval and manifesting
+his interest in various ways, and, without noticing what he was saying,
+muttered to himself, but so loud that the Doctor overheard it, "Just
+the way I would do it, and I will yet."
+
+"What makes you think Swanson keeps his wealth on the premises,
+Doctor?" asked Moriarity.
+
+"Safest and most convenient place," replied the Doctor, "He probably
+has had a special hole or cranny made for it, a double wall of some
+room, behind some picture or something like that. I recollect a chap
+that had a picture in his room, fastened close to the wall just like
+that picture there," and the Doctor pointed to the only picture in the
+house, a representation of the ranche painted by some wandering artist.
+"It was a painting of a man's face and by pressing the eye a spring was
+released and the whole picture swung back, showing a cavity back of it
+in which the old miser kept his valuables."
+
+Scip, who was always cutting some caper, here rose to his feet, saying
+
+"Dunno, but mebbe Massa Swanson keep he truck behind that chromiow.
+Heah now, I'se Massa Swanson," and Scip imitated Swanson's gait, "I'se
+playin' poker wid you gemmen. I'se out o' cash; Massa Cummins thar, he
+got a king full, and lay ovah my bob-tail flush, I say, 'Hole on thar,
+Massa Cummins, I'se got to unlock de combinashun of my safe.' Den I
+walk ovah to de picture, an' I hit a crack with my fist, so Well, I be
+damned!"
+
+The rest sprang to their feet in astonishment for, illustrating his
+remarks, Scip had struck the center of the oil painting with his hand,
+and stood dumb-founded, for the picture noiselessly swung forward and
+disclosed a large recess in the wall in which little sacks of some sort
+of money were piled one on the other. Scip, who was evidently the most
+surprised one of the party, was, however, the first to regain his
+composure. Pushing the frame to its place again the sharp click of the
+spring lock was heard, and turning swiftly around he caught meaning
+glances passing between Cummings and Moriarity.
+
+"Humph!" he said to himself, "Swanson's money is as good as gone now
+unless we nab these two rascals soon."
+
+The Doctor, who had reseated himself, remarked in a tone of wonder,
+
+"Really, this is a most remarkable coincidence, most remarkable indeed."
+
+"Oh! shut up that mummery, Doctor," broke in Cummings roughly, as he
+reared his head and squared his shoulders evidently intending to make a
+strike, "You and your nigger knew all about this, so you may as well
+own up."
+
+The Doctor, receiving a nod from Scip, leaned forward, his eyes
+fastened intently on Cummings and his voice sunk to a low whisper,
+replied:
+
+"And you may as well own up, too. We're all in the same boat. That is
+just what you are here for, and if you think I am fool enough to loaf
+around this hole a week for nothing, it shows you don't know me. I need
+you two and you need Scip and myself. Come, is it a bargain?"
+
+In answer Cummings held out his hand. The Doctor grasped it cordially
+and holding his left hand to Moriarity, who took it, said:
+
+"We four, for Scip is my pal, can do it OK, We can--"
+
+"Why not do it now," said Cummings, with energy. "Our horses are here
+and we can put a whole day between us and the ranche before Swanson
+returns."
+
+Now this was just what Sam (the Doctor) did not want. During the week
+which he and Scip had been spending at the ranche, seven or eight new
+men had been taken in by Swanson, who, as was before said, was getting
+in shape for the spring round-up. Of these new men six were Pinkerton
+detectives, and at this particular time were several miles from the
+ranche herding cattle. It was necessary that these men should be
+notified by Scip of the plot, and be ready to spring the trap as soon
+as the game was in the toils. For this reason the Doctor did not want
+the robbery to occur before the next night at the earliest. So shaking
+his head decidedly, he said in an emphatic manner:
+
+"No, it won't do; it would spoil the whole thing. All the money is in
+the shape of specie and tied up in bags. We have nothing in which to
+carry it, and would have to load it as it is on our horses. Besides,
+Swanson is expecting a large payment for his last shipment to-day. I
+know this, as he told me so, and we may make ten thousand dollars by
+waiting a day longer."
+
+After some demurring, Cummings acquiesced, although with very bad grace.
+
+"All right, have it your own way; but no later than to-morrow night."
+
+"To-morrow night it is, then," said the Doctor; then, as if struck with
+some suspicion, he turned suddenly and said:
+
+"And the Lord have mercy on your soul, Jim Cummings, if you or your
+mate play us false."
+
+"No fear of that, Doctor," replied the train robber. "You'll find me
+true blue at any rate--you're a man after my own heart. I wish I had
+known you sooner."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because, last October I did a little job and was almost nabbed because
+one of my pals weakened."
+
+Moriarity looked somewhat confused, but apparently not noticing it (but
+in reality nothing escaped the hawk eyes of the disguised detective)
+the Doctor said:
+
+"Last October! By Jove, you ARE the Jim Cummings that did up the Adams
+Express Co. The papers were full of it. If there is any man I have
+wanted to meet it is you." And the Doctor with great enthusiasm grasped
+the express robber's hand with every expression of intense admiration
+beaming from his eyes.
+
+His vanity tickled by this expression of homage, Cummings drew himself
+to his full height, and replied:
+
+"Well, yes, I did that work, and if you will stick by me we can work
+another one just as good."
+
+"I'm with you, and when I say 'I,' it means Scip, too, for he is a
+treasure."
+
+Scip ducked his head as he said:
+
+"We's a hull team and a dog under the waggin, but, Massa Doctor, I'se
+goin' out to look after the bosses," and he left the room.
+
+Moriarity, picking up a rifle and cartridge belt, said he was going out
+for a canter and see what luck he could have in the way of game. This
+left Cummings and the Doctor alone.
+
+Glancing out the window they saw Moriarity gallop off, and a short
+distance behind Scip on his horse, following.
+
+"Where did you pick up that darkey, Doctor?" asked Cummings.
+
+"In St. Louis, about five years ago. He is a good one, faithful and
+brave, and will never squeal. He is just the man to help us on this new
+deal."
+
+The subject of this conversation was all this time galloping over the
+level prairie, following closely behind Moriarity, who, with his rifle
+thrown across the pommel of his saddle, was on the look out for
+anything in the way of game which might come along.
+
+As they rode along they would meet one of the herders sitting at ease
+on his horse, or galloping madly after some refractory steer that was
+making a break for freedom. They had, in their ride, passed four of
+these men, and to every one Scip gave a signal, merely the wave of his
+hand in a peculiar manner, to which the men had responded likewise.
+They were nearing another stand, the ranchman, astride his pony, stood
+against the sky like a bronze bit of sculpture. As they came within
+speaking distance Scip, drawing in his horse, said.
+
+"I's goin' to loaf aroun' heah a bit, Massa Dan, I'll wait fer you."
+
+"All right," responded Dan, who gave his horse the spurs and swiftly
+disappeared behind the swell of land. Scip, walking his nag, drew near
+the cowboy.
+
+"Hye thar, honey, got any 'bacco?"
+
+"Plenty, blacky, plenty,"
+
+"Den give me some."
+
+"What is it, Chip?" asked the cowboy as Moriarity swept out of sight.
+
+"We have work to do to-morrow night, Barney, you must get the boys
+together, go down the divide to the ford and cross over, ready to come
+when I whistle. To-morrow night we must bag our game."
+
+"We will be there, Chip, and I am glad of it, for its devilish
+monotonous staying out here all day."
+
+"There will be a break in the monotony that will suit you. Be sure to
+be at the other side of the ford before twelve to-morrow night."
+
+Chip then explained to him the details of the projected robbery and the
+plan of capturing the outlaws as soon as they had crossed into Kansas,
+for the divide was the southern state line of that state.
+
+Barney, again repeating his statement that he would be there, loped his
+horse after some cattle that was straying too far off, and Chip, or
+rather Scip, stretching himself on the ground, awaited Moriarity's
+return.
+
+They arrived home in time for supper, and found Swanson had returned
+from Blue Jacket, where he had gone that morning, and the fact that he
+had made up beds for the Doctor and Scip in a side room was accepted by
+Cummings as proof that he had received the money he expected and wanted
+the room to himself that he might put his wealth behind the picture
+unobserved.
+
+The next day the ranche was deserted save by the four conspirators, who
+made preparations for the robbery of Swanson's money which was to take
+place that night. The picture was tried until the proper point for
+touching the hidden spring was found. A supply of food was quietly
+secreted in a bag and hid near the divide. Some heavy flour sacks made
+of canvas were ripped open and suitable bags for carrying the money
+were made from the pieces. All these preparations were made without
+interruption or discovery, and excepting a long ride which Scip made in
+the afternoon, ostensibly for the purpose of exercising his horse but
+really that he might again see the detectives who were acting as
+cowboys, the day wore along without any incident out of the ordinary
+way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE ROBBERY--CUMMINGS' NARROW ESCAPE--THE CAPTURE OF MORIARITY--JIM
+CUMMINGS SLIPS FROM THE TOILS--MR. PINKERTON TAKES A HAND.
+
+
+The ranche was asleep. Heavy breathing and deep snores from the
+sleeping-rooms indicated that slumber had fallen on all the inmates.
+Swanson, who had been repeatedly urged to drink by Cummings and
+Moriarity and had accepted every invitation, was stretched on his back
+a drunken mass of stupidity.
+
+The stamping of the horses and distant movements of the thousands of
+head of cattle alone broke the silence of the night and the darkness
+had cast its pall over the entire place.
+
+In the large room Scip and the Doctor coolly and calmly awaited the
+hour of their triumph. Fear was a stranger to both, and as they quietly
+conversed in whispered accents it would be difficult to believe that
+they were about to engage in a most desperate enterprise. In another
+room lay Cummings and Moriarity, completely dressed. The former, with
+his habitual sang froid, was whispering to Moriarity, who, somewhat
+excited, was calmed by his companion's nonchalance, and as the hour for
+the work drew near became like him. A stealthy step, noiseless as an
+Indian's, interrupted the conversation, and the faint rap on the door
+gave them the long-looked-for signal.
+
+Creeping on their hands and knees down the hall past Swanson's door,
+through which his hoarse breathing could be heard, the two men entered
+the room in which the treasure was stored. The dying embers in the
+fire-place created a dull glow, showing the Doctor and Scip, booted and
+spurred, standing in the center of the room. Softly Cummings approached
+the picture, his finger found the spring through the canvas and,
+pressing it hard, the frame swung slowly forward as if reluctant to
+give up its precious charge.
+
+Rapidly taking one bag after another from the cavity Cummings passed
+them to Moriarity, who placed them in the bags prepared for them.
+
+The Doctor and Scip had gone outside and now brought the four horses
+nearer the door. This they did that they might have as little to do
+with the robbery as possible, and they had so managed it that Jim and
+Dan had done the actual theft.
+
+Moriarity had brought two of the bags which the Doctor had placed on
+his own and Scip's horse and had gone back for the third, when the door
+from the inner hall opened, and, his tangled hair hanging in mats over
+his eyes, his clothing disarranged, his face purple with rage and a
+revolver in each hand, Swanson appeared before the surprised robbers.
+
+The dim light of the fire showed the picture open, and befogged as his
+brain was by the whisky, he realized he was being robbed, and with a
+roar like a mad bull he sprang upon Cummings.
+
+Swift as a flash Cummings' fist, sent forward with all the force of his
+powerful frame, struck the ranchman under the ear, and tossing his arms
+above his head he fell like a dead man on the floor.
+
+The sound of many feet hurrying to the scene was heard and, leaving the
+bag which he was about to take when Swanson sprang on him, Cummings
+bolted through the door, vaulted on his horse and followed closely by
+his companions, rushed swiftly into the darkness. It was none too soon,
+for at once a half score of men poured from the house, and the vicious
+snap of the rifles, followed by the pin-n-n-g of the bullets, as they
+cut the air close to their heads, caused the four men to drive their
+spurs into their ponies until the blood dropped from their lacerated
+flanks.
+
+Galloping swiftly to where the herding ponies were tethered, Cummings
+sprang from his horse and, whipping out his keen bowie knife, cut
+lariat after lariat, stampeding the whole herd. This done he remounted
+his horse, saying,
+
+"NOW, we can take our time. They won't get a horse to saddle under an
+hour," cantered off with an easy, strength-saving gait.
+
+"Curse that Swanson," broke in Cummings, after riding in silence a few
+moments. "Curse him, he kept me from making an extra ten thousand by
+his cursed appearance."
+
+Neither the Doctor nor Scip replied to this outburst from the
+disappointed outlaw. The time for action was coming, and as fast as
+their horses could gallop, the two outlaws were riding toward the trap
+laid for them. Leaning forward, with the skill of an expert pickpocket,
+Scip drew the revolver from the holster on Cummings' saddle, and
+dropped it in the dry grass which bordered the trail. Watching his
+opportunity, he pushed his horse against Moriarity, and in the slight
+confusion caused by the collision, he managed to obtain Dan's revolver
+in the same way. A whisper told the doctor that this had been done, and
+the disguised detectives each rode beside the man which they were to
+capture, the Doctor keeping his eye on Cummings and Scip ready to pull
+Moriarity off his horse at the proper time.
+
+On the other side of the river, or divide, dark shadows stood under the
+few cottonwood trees, motionless and quiet as the grave, their ears
+strained to catch the first sound of their quarry, and their hands
+grasping the ready revolver.
+
+The far-off sound of galloping horses warned them that the time to act
+had come, and soon the splashing of the water in the creek told them to
+stand ready.
+
+The voice of Scip was heard saying in loud tones:
+
+"Heah's de trail, gemmen, ovah dis yah way."
+
+The scurry of hoofs as the horses clambered up the steep banks, the
+low-spoken words of encouragement which were given their steeds by the
+robbers, and suddenly the shrill whistle giving the long-looked-for
+signal rang out on the still air.
+
+As Scip gave the whistle he passed his arm around Moriarity, saying:
+
+"Dan Moriarity, you are my prisoner."
+
+His words were instantly followed by the rush of the detectives who had
+been lying in ambush, and Moriarity, taken completely by surprise,
+threw his hands above his head in token of surrender, and then
+passively submitted to having the darbies snapped on his wrists.
+
+Cummings, at the first note of the vibrating signal, had his eyes
+opened. His hand flew to his holster, and the mocking laugh of the
+detective followed the discovery that his revolver was gone.
+
+Sam laid his hand on the outlaw's shoulder, and pressing his revolver
+against his head, called on him to surrender.
+
+Throwing his hands over his head as Moriarity had done, he suddenly
+brought his clinched fists full against Sam's temple, putting into the
+blow the strength of three men. Without a groan the detective's head
+sank forward, his revolver dropped from his nerveless grasp, and he lay
+unconscious on his horse's back.
+
+A yell of exultation, and Cummings, turning his horse, dashed down the
+bank, through the stream, and disappeared in the darkness on the other
+side.
+
+Instantly the detectives followed, leaving two men to guard Moriarity,
+for in the darkness Sam's condition was not noticed, but seeing the
+folly of attempting a pursuit in so dark a night, Chip's whistle
+recalled them, and the chagrined and disappointed operatives gathered
+around the cottonwood trees.
+
+Sam, who had merely been stunned, soon recovered, and with the aid of
+some brandy Richard was himself once more.
+
+The notorious Jim Cummings had escaped, but two of his accomplices,
+Cook and Moriarity, were in the clutches of the law.
+
+Dan maintained a dogged silence as the cavalcade cantered toward Kansas
+City, nor did he speak a word until he was safe behind the bars in that
+city.
+
+"You have caught me by a dirty, shabby trick, but you will never lay
+your hands on Jim Cummings," he boasted.
+
+To this Chip replied with a smile, "We'll see, Daniel, we'll see. Make
+yourself comfortable, for you will stay here a good long time, my cock
+robin."
+
+A growl and a curse was all that Dan deigned to answer, and turning on
+his heel Chip left the prison.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, who had received almost daily reports of what had
+occurred, which reports Chip had contrived to mail through some one of
+the detectives disguised as cowboys, now telegraphed that he would be
+in Kansas City the following night. Chip and Sam met him at the railway
+station and he accompanied them to Chip's room.
+
+A full and detailed recital of all that occurred was given him by his
+subordinates, who then put the case in his hands.
+
+"Boys," he said, "we must get one of these men, either Cook or
+Moriarity, to squeal."
+
+"They are both afraid of Jim Cummings, I can see that in every word
+they speak," said Chip, "they would rather go to Jefferson City than to
+turn State's evidence."
+
+"We must work on them in some other manner, then. Sam," turning to the
+detective, "are you a good hand at forgery?"
+
+"I can imitate most any one's handwriting," said Sam. "Sit down and I
+will dictate a letter to you."
+
+Sam, taking some paper from the table, wrote as Mr. Pinkerton dictated.
+
+MR. WILLIAM PINKERTON:
+
+DEAR SIR--The letter I wrote to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat is all
+correct, excepting that I did not tell who plugged the bell-cord. The
+man, Dan Moriarity, who is now under arrest in Kansas City, was the man
+who did it. He also forged the order which I gave to the messenger
+Fotheringham, and was the one who planned the robbery. I make this
+statement, relying on your word of honor to secure me a light sentence
+if I turn State's evidence and give information leading to the recovery
+of the money which I secured.
+
+Yours truly, JIM CUMMINGS.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, taking from his pocket-book the train robber's letter
+which he wrote to the St. Louis newspaper, handed it to Sam.
+
+"There is a letter in Jim's handwriting. Now sit down and write this
+letter in the same hand."
+
+In an hour the detective had completed his work and laid the forged
+letter before his superior. It was cleverly done, and Mr. Pinkerton
+felt satisfied.
+
+"Now for the jail," he said, and accompanied by his two "bowers," as he
+often called them, he left the room and walked to the Kansas City jail.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+MORIARITY IN THE SWEAT-BOX--THE SUCCESS OF THE FORGED LETTER--MORIARITY
+CONFESSES.
+
+
+Dan Moriarity, seated on a bare plank bench in his cell, was passing
+away the weary hours in figuring how he was to get out of the bad
+scrape into which he had plunged. He was now fully satisfied that the
+detectives were very certain that he had a hand in the express-car
+robbery--but how did they get hold of that dangerous fact? Not through
+Cook, for since his incarceration in the jail Dan had talked with Cook
+in the corridors, and Cook had sworn by all that was good and holy that
+he had not divulged a single word, and knowing that Cook stood in
+mortal fear of Cummings, as did he himself, Dan believed him.
+
+It was not at all probable that either Haight or Weaver had given the
+thing away in Chicago, for Dan knew from Cummings that they had not
+been disturbed, and Cummings had not, or would not have given any
+information. Then how did the cursed "man-hunters" find out that he had
+helped in the affair?
+
+Dan was busily engaged in trying to solve this knotty question when the
+bailiff in charge entered the door and told Dan to follow him to the
+office.
+
+When Dan reached the room he found three gentlemen awaiting him, all
+strange faces to the robber. The eldest of the three, as he came in,
+pointed to a chair, and with commanding brevity and in a tone which
+indicated that he was used to being obeyed, told him to sit down.
+
+The full glare of the light streaming in through the window fell full
+upon his face, while the remainder of the party, their faces turned
+toward him, were comparatively in the shadow, thus having him at a
+disadvantage. As was before remarked, Moriarity possessed a certain
+amount of bull courage, and seeing he was in for it, and feeling that
+he was to be put through the sweating process he sat erect in his
+chair, his lips compressed and his whole demeanor that of a cornered
+man determined to fight.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton saw that and with courteous suavity inquired, "Is this
+Mr. Moriarity?"
+
+"What's the use of asking me; you know well enough who I am," replied
+Dan, in short, curt syllables.
+
+"Of course, of course; but I thought I might be mistaken."
+
+"Well, you aren't."
+
+"Now, Mr. Moriarity, I think if you are inclined to you can get
+yourself out of this scrape."
+
+"Ya-as, I suppose so.
+
+"You will let me introduce myself. My name is William Pinkerton."
+
+Dan looked at the great detective with interest and a certain amount of
+awe, which, however, he quickly overcame and determined to keep a
+stiffer upper lip than ever.
+
+"Oh! You're Billy Pinkerton, are you?"
+
+"Yes, I am Billy Pinkerton, and I've been hunting for you for some
+time."
+
+"Well, you ought to be satisfied; you've caught me."
+
+"More than satisfied, Mr. Moriarity, for I've caught your friend too."
+
+"Cook?"
+
+"Oh, he was jailed before you."
+
+"You don't mean Jim?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"You can't stuff me with any such yarn as that."
+
+"Would you like to see him?" asked Mr. Pinkerton, quickly.
+
+"Seeing's believing."
+
+Turning to the bailiff Mr. Pinkerton inquired:
+
+"What cell is Jim Cummings in?"
+
+"Forty-three, sir."
+
+"Will you take us there?"
+
+"Yes, sir. This way, please."
+
+The detectives with Moriarity followed the turnkey and passing the
+entire length of the corridor paused in front of cell forty-three.
+
+The door of solid sheet steel had a small circular opening in it
+through which the guards could inspect their prisoners.
+
+Opening this Mr. Pinkerton looked in, then stepping back told Moriarity
+to step forward.
+
+Dan applied his eye to the opening and in surprised tones exclaimed,
+"By God, it IS Jim."
+
+He again looked and clinching his fist pounded on the door. "Jim! Jim!"
+he cried. "They got you at--"
+
+"Here, none of that," said the bailiff in a gruff tone. "None of that,
+I say," and taking Dan by the arm he marched him back to the office.
+
+"You see, Mr. Moriarity, I told the truth," said Mr. Pinkerton in a
+pleasant voice.
+
+"Looks like it," growled Dan. "But I don't see how the devil you did
+it."
+
+"Very easily done. He gave himself up."
+
+"What's that?" shouted Dan as he almost bounded from his chair.
+
+"He gave himself up, I said," repeated Mr. Pinkerton.
+
+"Jim Cummings gave himself up," said Dan slowly as if trying to grasp
+the idea.
+
+"Exactly. He saw we had him and that he couldn't get away, so to make
+his sentence as light as possible he did the best thing he could do and
+surrendered."
+
+Almost dumbfounded by this surprise Dan sat speechless and stared
+blankly at the detective.
+
+"Do you know, Mr. Moriarity," Mr. Pinkerton continued, "you strike me
+as being remarkably clever."
+
+Arousing himself Dan answered in a savage tone:
+
+"What are you driving at now?"
+
+"I mean that up to the time that Cummings surrendered himself we
+thought he was the principal man in the case, the prime mover and
+director of the whole affair, but now we find we are mistaken. That is
+why I say you are clever. You simply used him as a cat's paw, and
+played hide and seek with our whole force, and a man that can do that
+as long as you did is remarkably clever," and Mr. Pinkerton smiled
+admiringly at the man who sat before him. Puzzled at the words, and
+trying to see beneath the surface, Dan said: "Oh! come now, stop your
+chaffing, I won't squeal, and you can't make me. What do you want me
+for anyway?"
+
+Mr. Pinkerton's face became stern, and dropping the tone of levity
+which he had employed, he opened the letter Sam had forged, and
+suddenly handing it to Dan, said:
+
+"We want to know if what Jim Cummings says there is true."
+
+Somewhat impressed by Mr. Pinkerton's manner, Dan commenced to read the
+letter.
+
+At first he hardly understood its purport, but slowly the realization
+of his friend's treachery came over him, and springing to his feet he
+brought his fist down on his chair and shouted in angry tones:
+
+"It's a damned lie!"
+
+Without noticing the baliff or the detectives, he paced the floor with
+angry strides, his eyes flashing and the veins in his forehead swelling
+until they stood out like whip cords.
+
+The baliff, at a sign from Mr. Pinkerton, stationed himself at the
+door, but too excited to notice the movement, Dan continued to walk to
+and fro like a caged lion.
+
+"That is why he gave himself up, the coward--the lying turn-tale! The
+treacherous dog! Swearing it off on me to save a few years of his
+miserable life out of jail. See here!" stopping suddenly before Mr.
+Pinkerton, "That traitor made me swear I would never squeal. All I got
+out of the whole swag was two thousand dollars, but even then, if he
+had done the square thing, I would have kept mum, though I were sent
+down to rock-pile. But the man that would play that low, scaley trick
+on me is going to suffer for it. What do you want to know?"
+
+"Now you are getting sensible," said Mr. Pinkerton. "We want to get the
+money. You know where it is? We know that last October a valise was
+sent to you from St. Louis to Leavenworth, which you were to give to
+Cook. We know that Cook received some of the stolen money. You had
+some, too. We have shadowed you all over Kansas City. You have been
+seen in the White Elephant playing faro, you were followed to the
+widow's fortune-telling room. We know where you lived, and have letters
+which you received from Jim Cummings.
+
+"That isn't his name," broke in Dan.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton stopped. He saw he had Dan up to the proper point, and
+where before he would have died rather than given a grain of
+information in connection with the case, he was now anxious to tell all
+he knew of it. Dan continued:
+
+"Jim Cummings isn't his right name any more'n it's mine. His name is
+Fred Wittrock, and he lives in Chicago."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"At--West Lake street."
+
+"Will you swear to that?"
+
+"Yes, I will; he runs a coalyard there. He and a man named Weaver. I
+had nothing to do with robbing the car. It was all done before I ran
+across Wittrock near Pacific, and he gave me $2,000 to keep my mouth
+shut and help plant the plunder."
+
+"Do you know where it is planted?"
+
+"Part of it, yes. Weaver and another fellow named Haight have some hid
+in Chicago. Some is hid in the graveyard near Leaven worth, and some of
+it behind Cook's cooper-shop."
+
+"Has Fotheringham got any of it?"
+
+"Fotheringham hadn't anything to do with it--any more'n you
+did--Wittrock knocked him down and he couldn't help himself."
+
+"Mr. Moriarity, if all this is true, you will be benefited by the
+information you have given," then turning to the baliff, he said, "We
+are through now." Moriarity, still cursing Cummings, was led back to
+the cell, and the detectives left the jail for Chip's boarding-house.
+
+"It's plain sailing now, boys," said Mr. Pinkerton; "this end has been
+worked dry, and you must return to Chicago with me. Cummings, or rather
+Wittrock, if Moriarity has spoken the truth, will certainly make for
+Chicago, and you must be ready for him."
+
+The next day the three detectives were on their way to Chicago, leaving
+Barney, who had played the part of Jim Cummings in cell 43, to remain
+in Kansas City and hunt for the "planted swag."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+JIM CUMMINGS IN CHICAGO--THE SPOTTED HOUSE--SHADOWED BY CHIP--JIM
+CUMMINGS ARRESTED.
+
+
+When Jim Cummings, by his bold strike for liberty, escaped the trap set
+for him, he pushed his horse to its highest speed until he had put
+miles between himself and the spot where the detectives had made the
+attempt to capture him.
+
+He saw that Dan was captured, and with Cook also in jail he felt the
+toils of the law tightening around him. He must get out of the United
+States. To Canada, Mexico, Brazil, it mattered little, but he must
+first secure some of the money he had taken from the express car. To go
+to Kansas City or Leavenworth to raise it was like putting his head
+into the noose.
+
+Chicago was the only place open for him, and to Chicago he must go as
+fast as horse and steam could get him there.
+
+While he was thinking of all these things his horse was plunging
+through the dark over the plain, skirting the timber, dashing through
+streams of water without staying his speed, and at last the ring of its
+hoofs striking the steel rail, and the crunching of the gravel informed
+Jim that he was crossing a railroad track.
+
+He pulled in his panting steed, and, far on the horizon, he saw the
+approaching head-light of an engine.
+
+In the hurry and confusion incident to his escape, the outlaw had lost
+his bearings, but knew that this must be the M., T. & K. R. R., and
+shining over the head-light he saw the Great Dipper circling in the
+heavens.
+
+The train was, then, a south-bound train, either passenger or freight.
+Looking south along the track, he spied a small light twinkling through
+the night; and now, having recovered his reckoning, he surmised it was
+the water-tank some miles below Blue Jacket.
+
+He must reach that before the train arrived. Putting spurs to his
+horse, he flew down the track, the gravel flying in all directions, his
+sure-footed animal keeping the ties, nor did he pull rein or slack his
+speed until the large tank of the water station rose above him. Jumping
+from his horse, he walked to the keeper's shanty. The man was awake and
+trimming his lantern, nor did he exhibit any surprise at the advent of
+his belated visitor.
+
+"What train is this coming?" asked Jim.
+
+"Galveston express," answered the man.
+
+"Does she take water here?"
+
+"Every time."
+
+"By Jove, that's lucky. I was on my way to Blue Jacket to catch it and
+got turned around."
+
+"Where's your horse?"
+
+"Out near the tank. I will be back in five days and if you will take
+care of it I will make it all right for you."
+
+"That's O K. I often do that for the boys; but here's your train."
+
+The long train of cars drew up and came to a standstill as Jim left the
+shanty. Climbing aboard the smoker he found a seat and was soon on the
+way to Galveston Arriving there he took a gulf steamer to New Orleans,
+where he boarded an Illinois Central train and came to Chicago, where
+he arrived a week after his escape from the detectives.
+
+Late in the evening of the day on which he arrived he boarded a West
+Lake street car and jumping off at--Lake street, knocked at the door of
+a small frame building over which was the sign "F. Wittrock and Co.,
+Hard and Soft Coal."
+
+No lights were visible and for some time no answer came. Finally the
+noise of shuffling feet were heard and a clear voice inquired:
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"It is I, be not afraid," answered Cummings.
+
+"Thunder and lightning, it's Fred," exclaimed the voice in accents of
+great astonishment.
+
+"Well, why the devil don't you let me in, then?" asked Cummings, his
+mouth close to the keyhole.
+
+"Not the front door, Fred. Go to the corner, then up the cross street
+and come back through the coal yard."
+
+Cummings did as he was told and entering the yard was met by Weaver,
+who dragged him into the house, and after carefully closing the door,
+lit the lamp and said:
+
+"Dan's arrested."
+
+"Tell me something I don't know, you fool."
+
+"So is Cook."
+
+"If you have any news to tell me out with it; if you haven't go get the
+money. This cursed country is getting too hot for me. I'm off for
+Brazil."
+
+"The money is safe. Haight will be here soon. You are safe here."
+
+"Don't you be too sure about that. I thought I was safe down at
+Swanson's ranche, and damn it, two of those Pinkerton detectives ate
+with me, slept with me and gambled with me. They had their hands on me
+once but I floored one and got away. Dan, the coward, threw up his hand
+the first bluff and was walked off with the darbies on him."
+
+"Jim, suppose he should turn informer?"
+
+A terrible frown blackened the outlaw's brow, his eyes became hard and
+steely, and raising his hand above his head, he said:
+
+"So help me God, I would hunt him up, tear his cowardly heart from his
+breast and choke him to death with it, if I had to go to prison to do
+it and was hung for it."
+
+An involuntary shudder passed through Weaver as he heard these fearful
+words and he hastened to say:
+
+"No danger of Dan's squealing, Fred. He's true blue."
+
+"If he don't give the express robbery away he can easily get out of
+this other scrape. You see we had a lay to get away with Swanson's
+money and the two detectives went in with us. That is how they got Dan
+and nearly captured me. If Dan keeps his mouth shut they can't prove
+anything against him on account of the Adams Express affair. So, you
+see, if he is wise he will keep mum."
+
+While the two men were thus conversing Chip and Sam were seated before
+an open window on the second floor of the house opposite the coal
+office. The city directory readily gave them the address of Wittrock's
+coalyard, and securing this room a constant watch had been kept on the
+spotted house.
+
+Nothing suspicious had been noted during the day; customers had passed
+in and out, and Sam had even bought a half ton of coal which was
+carried to his room. The two men who ran the coalyard, whose names were
+found to be Weaver and Haight, were well spoken of in the neighborhood
+and did not look to be the sort of stuff out of which train robbers
+were manufactured.
+
+While buying the coal Sam had purposely called Weaver "Mr. Wittrock."
+
+"That isn't my name," said Weaver, "Me and my pardner bought out
+Wittrock last October."
+
+"Excuse me," said Sam; "I saw the name over the door and thought you
+were the gentleman."
+
+"We don't like to pull down the sign. People know the yard by that
+name, an' we don't care, so long as they buy the coal."
+
+This was said so frankly and openly that Sam almost believed it to be
+true. But the case was beginning to be too interesting to allow risks
+to be taken, so the detectives kept their long and tedious watch night
+and day. They had failed to see Cummings when he leaped from the car,
+for a team crossing the track had delayed the car long enough for him
+to get into the shadows on the other side of the street, so that the
+detectives little knew that the man they wanted was only just across
+the street from them.
+
+They recognized Haight when he let himself in with a latch-key, but as
+this was not unusual, they thought little of it.
+
+When Cummings left the coal office, he passed through the alley, and
+going south to Randolph street, returned to the hotel for the night.
+
+The next day two of the Pinkerton force relieved Sam and Chip, who
+immediately went to their room at the Commercial Hotel, where they
+boarded.
+
+As Chip was eating his supper that evening and glancing over the
+Evening Journal, a large broad-shouldered man, wearing a heavy
+mustache, passed the table, and, seating himself at another one, faced
+the detective.
+
+It was part of Chip's religion never to allow any man to pass him or
+remain near him without looking at him carefully, so lowering the paper
+until his eye could see just above the upper edge, he glanced at the
+new-comer. A thrill like an electric shock passed through him, for in
+every feature, except the heavy mustache, Chip saw Jim Cummings, the
+Adams Express robber.
+
+The broad girth of his shoulders, the triangular gold-filling of his
+front tooth, the peculiar manner of hanging his head slightly on one
+side as if he were a trifle deaf, all belonged to Jim Cummings, all but
+the mustache. Was it real or false? If real, the man was not the noted
+robber, but if false--well, if it were false Chip had a bit of paper in
+his pocket which would take it off.
+
+He felt in his pocket for the warrant, and to his disgust recollected
+that Sam had it.
+
+He could do nothing without it.
+
+He timed his supper so nicely with that of the suspected man that they
+both rose together, Chip passing out first; but going down the stairs
+he fell back and the electric light revealed to the keen eyes of the
+detective that the mustache was false.
+
+It WAS the train robber.
+
+Cummings, simply stopping a moment to buy a cigar, walked through the
+office, then crossed Lake on Dearborn street and walked to Randolph,
+closely followed by Chip.
+
+A Randolph street car came along and Jim sprang on the front platform,
+Chip jumping on the rear one. Passing through the car, he opened the
+front door and stood beside Cummings, who was puffing his cigar, his
+coat collar pulled up and his fur cap drawn down over his ears.
+
+Pulling a cigar from his pocket, Chip felt for some matches, but
+apparently not finding any, he asked:
+
+"I beg your pardon, but would you mind giving me some fire?"
+
+Cummings held out his lighted cigar, at the same time darting a
+searching look at his questioner, but in the handsome, well-dressed,
+almost dandified young man before him, he failed to recognize the
+uncouth, grimacing Scip of Swanson's ranche.
+
+The pair rode along together, and after passing Halsted street some
+distance, Chip saw that he was getting ready to jump off at the next
+cross street, so, as soon as the car reached the street, Chip stepped
+off and walked briskly toward Lake street.
+
+Cummings rode to the other crossing and did the same, utterly without
+any suspicion whatever.
+
+Although Chip walked straight ahead, he kept his eye on the dark figure
+moving parallel to his course on the other side, and saw it turn
+abruptly to the left and enter the alley.
+
+Quickening his steps, Chip hurried to the house in which the watch was
+kept, and bounding up the steps, to his delight, found Sam in the room.
+
+"Cummings is over there," said Chip, excitedly.
+
+"Sure?"
+
+"As certain as I am that I live."
+
+"Come on, then!" and Sam ran down the steps, followed by Chip and the
+other two detectives.
+
+As they reached the foot of the stairs the door of the coal office
+opened and three men stepped out on the sidewalk.
+
+"The devil," said Chip, "that is more than I bargained for."
+
+The three men stood a moment conversing, then the detectives heard
+Cummings say:
+
+"I'll be back in an hour," as he turned east and walked away.
+
+The other two, Weaver and Haight, turned in the opposite direction and
+sauntered slowly along.
+
+Turning to the two men who had been sent to relieve them, Chip said:
+
+"Follow those two, and arrest them if possible without any noise; your
+warrant covers them."
+
+By this time Cummings was some little distance below them, strolling
+leisurely along, and at the next corner the detectives saw him enter a
+saloon.
+
+Crossing the street, their revolvers in their side coat-pockets ready
+for use, Sam and Chip entered the saloon.
+
+Cummings, without the false mustache, which he had either removed or
+lost (in fact it dropped off as he entered the coalyard) had just
+ordered a drink as the detectives entered.
+
+Without a second's hesitation Chip stepped up to him, and placing his
+hand on the train robber's shoulder, said quietly:
+
+"Fred Wittrock, alias Jim Cummings, I want you."
+
+Wittrock sprang back as though he had been shot, and glaring like an
+enraged lion, seemed about to rush upon the audacious detective.
+
+In a twinkling the cold barrels of two revolvers were leveled at his
+head and, with the address and skill of a practiced adept, Sam passed
+his twisted steel wire "come alongs" around the outlaw's wrist, and Jim
+Cummings' career stopped short. Any attempt at escape was hopeless, and
+in silent surrender he held out his other hand and Chip snapped the
+hand-cuffs on him.
+
+Before the people in the saloon had recovered from their astonishment,
+the detectives had taken desperate prisoner away, and finding a livery
+stable near drove to the Pinkerton headquarters. Haight and Weaver had
+not gone a block before the two detectives arrested them without any
+struggle, so that within one short half hour the three principals of
+the GREAT ADAMS EXPRESS robbery were placed behind the bars.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+JIM CUMMINGS IN PINKERTON'S SWEAT-BOX--HIS CONFESSION.
+
+
+All night long "Jim Cummings" walked the narrow limits of his
+room--still undaunted and fearless as of old. The gravity of his
+position only made him the more daring, and when the first beams of the
+morning broke through the barred window he had recovered his usual grit
+and nerve, and determined to die hard and game. Mr. Pinkerton, alone,
+came into the room just as the outlaw had finished the excellent
+breakfast which had been served him. Jim looked up, and holding out his
+hand, in a cheery voice said:
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Pinkerton."
+
+For a second Mr. Pinkerton hardly knew what to say. He was prepared to
+encounter either a desperate or a sullen prisoner, and was somewhat
+taken back when he received such a cordial greeting. It was but a
+second, and fully alive to all the tricks and maneuvers practiced by
+arrested criminals, he was on the qui vive.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. 'Cummings'. I trust you have had a good breakfast?"
+
+"Oh, fair."
+
+"You slept well?"
+
+"Tip-top."
+
+"I trust you will be able to amuse yourself during the day."
+
+"I won't amuse you, that's certain."
+
+"You have been doing that for some time."
+
+"That's all right. Now, what am I here for?"
+
+"Just so. What ARE you here for?"
+
+"You've got the wrong man, Mr. Pinkerton."
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"Just now you called me 'Mr. Cummings'."
+
+"I should, perhaps, have said Mr. Wittrock."
+
+"What did you call me 'Cummings' for, then."
+
+"As you christened yourself you ought to know."
+
+"I'm arrested, of course, now for what?"
+
+"To tell the fact, Mr. Wittrock, it is because some time last October
+you played a little joke on the Adams Express Company, and they
+appreciated it so highly that they hired me to find you so that they
+could tell you so."
+
+"You dare accuse me of committing that robbery?"
+
+"That's about the size of it."
+
+"Why, man, I wasn't within five hundred miles of the place when it
+occurred."
+
+"Where were you?"
+
+"I was in New Orleans."
+
+"Positive of that?"
+
+"I can PROVE it."
+
+"You can?"
+
+"Yes, I can. You go over to my coalyard at--West Lake street, and ask
+my partner, Weaver. He will tell you where I was at that time."
+
+"Is he your partner?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Strange, very strange. He said he bought you out last October."
+
+"You've been there, have you?"
+
+"That is what he said."
+
+"He lies."
+
+"Or you do."
+
+"You wouldn't dare say that outside of this room."
+
+"Don't get excited, Mr. Wittrock. We have had enough bantering. You
+might as well make a clean breast of the whole affair, for we have a
+clear case against you."
+
+"I tell you I was at New Orleans at the time."
+
+"You were not. Listen to me and I can prove you are a liar."
+
+Wittrock flushed, and he began to get angry, which was just what Mr.
+Pinkerton wanted, and glaring at his persecutor he folded his arms and
+settled defiantly back in his chair. Mr. Pinkerton quietly continued:
+
+"A week before the robbery was committed you and a man named Haight
+took a room at Chestnut street. On the twenty-third of October you sent
+a valise to Daniel Moriarity at Leavenworth, Kansas, and a letter
+instructing him to give its contents to Oscar Cook, of Kansas City. A
+few days after you committed the robbery, and in a cave near Pacific,
+you, with Moriarity and Haight, divided the ill-gotten wealth. You then
+rowed down the river to St. Louis, or near there, and from thence went
+to Kansas City. You were often seen playing faro at the White Elephant,
+and one night you knocked one of my men senseless when he had arrested
+Moriarity, and took him to old Nance, the widow. Still later, you, Cook
+and Moriarity took refuge at Swanson's ranche in the Indian Territory,
+and after attempting to rob your host, which attempt was frustrated by
+my men, you came, in some roundabout way, to Chicago, where you put up
+at the Commercial Hotel, disguised by a false mustache. Every evening
+you went to West Lake street, and last night you were arrested. Now,
+Mr. Wittrock, what have you to say?"
+
+"That's a very pretty yarn; but as I don't happen to be the man that
+did all that I don't see how it concerns me."
+
+"Look at that and tell me what you have to say," and Mr. Pinkerton laid
+before him the sworn deposition of Daniel Moriarity, in which all the
+facts that Mr. Pinkerton had been relating were set forth, Wittrock did
+not show a trace of feeling other than amusement, as he read the long
+and legally worded document, and passing it back to Mr. Pinkerton with
+a gesture of disdain, he said:
+
+"So on the strength of that cock-and-bull story you mean to hold me for
+that robbery?"
+
+"Partly so."
+
+"There isn't a word of truth in it. That man, Moriarity, is a noted
+liar."
+
+"Ah!" said Mr. Pinkerton, quickly, "you know Moriarity?"
+
+"That is--I mean--yes, I sort of know him," stammered Wittrock, in
+confusion; "I have heard of him."
+
+"You are in desperate straits, Mr. Wittrock," said the detective. "In
+such desperate straits that you are doing the worst possible
+thing--denying all that is proved true. We have you safe and secure,
+and enough evidence against you to send you to Jefferson City for a
+long term of years. You can lighten your sentence by one thing."
+
+"You don't catch me that way, I am not to be taken in by soft words,
+and all the traps you set for me won't make me confess that I had
+anything to do with the robbery. You've arrested me without cause, and
+if there is any law in the land I'll make you suffer for it," and
+Wittrock walked excitedly around the room.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton did not reply to this, but touching a bell, told the man
+who opened the door to bring in the other prisoners.
+
+Wittrock had resumed his seat, his head bowed forward and eyes cast
+down, but hearing the door opening, he glanced up and saw Weaver and
+Haight, followed by two detectives, ushered into his room.
+
+Both of them looked discouraged and broken-spirited. The heart had been
+taken from them by their arrest, and Wittrock's boldness and defiant
+manner began to melt as he saw his faint-hearted accomplices.
+
+"You here, too," he exclaimed.
+
+"Looks like it, don't it," said Haight, with a grim smile.
+
+"You may as well own up, Fred," said Weaver, "they have the drop on us."
+
+"Coward!" hissed Wittrock. Then turning suddenly to Mr. Pinkerton, he
+said:
+
+"That cur is right, you have the drop on us."
+
+"Then you confess you committed the robbery?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, curtly.
+
+"Was Fotheringham in the ring, too?"
+
+"Fotheringham hadn't a thing to do with it."
+
+"How came it, then, that we found some of the Adams express letter
+heads in his trunk, and which were not the ones printed for the
+company?"
+
+"Did you do that?"
+
+"Yes; ten or twenty sheets."
+
+"He never got them from us. The first time I ever saw him was when I
+jumped on his car in St. Louis."
+
+Mr. Pinkerton looked at the frank, open face of the train robber, and
+wondered that such a man could have committed the crime for which he
+was now locked up in the "Pinkerton strong box." His manner and tone of
+sincerity, when he declared Fotheringham innocent of any complicity
+with him or his companions, carried conviction with it. He believed
+himself that a blunder had been made, and Fotheringham was wrongfully
+accused.
+
+"I said, a short time ago," he continued, addressing Wittrock, "that
+you could lighten your sentence if you wanted to do so."
+
+"How?"
+
+"Tell me where you have hid the money."
+
+Wittrock hesitated, and glanced at his companions. Perhaps he saw in
+their faces, that if he didn't tell, they would. He was willing,
+however, to give them the same benefit accorded him, and pointing to
+Weaver, he said:
+
+"Weaver knows where the money is planted in Chicago, and Cook has some
+hid around his shanty in Kansas City. I put some under the large tree,
+just east of the gate of the old graveyard at Leavenworth."
+
+A sign from Mr. Pinkerton to one of the detectives, and taking Weaver
+with him, the man left the room.
+
+Shortly after, Mr. Pinkerton, with the remaining detectives, also took
+his leave, and the two express robbers were alone.
+
+The door had scarcely closed, when, dropping his cool and calm
+demeanor, Wittrock sprang from his chair and confronting Haight with
+flaming eyes, he whispered in terrible tones:
+
+"Moriarity turned informer, he swore away our liberty, and all our work
+has been turned to naught by the cowardly traitor. Listen to me,
+Haight, listen well, and when you see the poltroon tell him that Jim
+Cummings swore he would cut his heart out. Aye! _I_ WILL DO IT, though
+he were guarded behind double bars. I'll search him out and tear the
+traitor heart from his breast and make him eat it, by God--make him eat
+it."
+
+A gurgling sound and hissing gasps recalled the furious man to his
+senses, and he saw that in his frenzy of anger he had clutched his
+companion by the throat and was choking him purple in the face.
+
+A few gasps, and Haight had recovered his breath, rubbing his throat
+ruefully, and edging away from his dangerous and excited companion.
+
+His passionate outburst over Wittrock regained his composure, and
+lighting a cigar, gave one to Haight, remarking in a light tone:
+
+"I beg your pardon, old man, I didn't mean to hurt you."
+
+"Next time don't take me for Moriarity," puffing the peace-offering.
+
+"Do you know whom I would like to see? Those two chaps that arrested
+me."
+
+As if in answer to his call the door opened, and Sam, with Chip
+following, entered.
+
+Wittrock recognized them, and with a hearty "Good-morning, gentlemen,"
+motioned them to a seat, with as little ceremony as if the room was in
+his own house.
+
+"Good-morning, Jim," said Chip, "I'm sorry we had to pull you in last
+night."
+
+"It was a ground-hog case, eh?"
+
+"You don't seem to recognize us," said Sam.
+
+"Yes, I do; you gave me enough cause last night to remember you all my
+life."
+
+"Suah enough, Massa Cummins," broke in Chip, imitating Scip's voice.
+
+Wittrock gazed at the speaker, and in astonishment, cried:
+
+"Scip!"
+
+"Suah as you bawn, honey, I's de same ole Scip."
+
+"And you?" turning to Sam.
+
+"Doctor Skinner, at your service,"
+
+"Then you're the two I have to thank for my being here."
+
+"We helped the thing a little."
+
+As they were talking, Weaver returned with the detective, bringing
+several packages of money, still in the original wrappers, which
+Wittrock had taken from the safe of the express car.
+
+The sight of the recovered plunder placed a quietus on the arrested
+men, who now saw that the last link in the chain had been forged, and
+felt the walls of the penitentiary looming up before them.
+
+Settling into a stubborn silence, they sullenly refused to utter
+another word, and maintained this position until they were placed on
+the train for St. Louis, where they were locked up to answer the
+indictments which the grand jury had already found against them.
+
+*****
+
+Fotheringham, who had all this time laid in jail, still protested his
+innocence. He stated that the letter heads found in his trunk he had
+taken from the general desk in the company's office, and that the
+reason the signatures of Route Agent Bartlett was found on the paper,
+was due to the fact that he was about to write for a permit for a
+vacation Christmas, and simply practised writing the name.
+
+This explanation was received with smiles, but his friends came to the
+rescue, and proved that he was in the habit of writing names on every
+bit of paper which came to hand. That this eccentricity was well known,
+and his explanation should be received with favor. The grand jury,
+however, found an indictment against him, and he was held as an
+accomplice to the robbery.
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+WHEN the now noted express car robbers, Wittrock, Haight and Weaver,
+were brought up for trial, they pleaded "guilty," and were sentenced to
+a term of years in the Missouri State penitentiary at Jefferson City. A
+few days later the train carried them to that city, and as they passed
+the various places, Wittrock pointed out the gully in which was located
+the moonshiner's cave where the plunder was divided, and then, as the
+train rounded the curve, he depicted, in graphic language, the struggle
+between Moriarity and himself, which was only ended by the freight
+train bearing down on them.
+
+When the train arrived at Jefferson City the three prisoners were
+driven to the warden's office of the penitentiary, and, after going
+through the regular formalities, the striped suits were put on them,
+and they became CONVICTS.
+
+Oscar Cook was sentenced to a term of years on the charge of being an
+accessory after the fact, but Moriarity, in consideration of the
+valuable services he had rendered the State, was not prosecuted.
+
+The house of Nance, the widow, fortune-teller and "fence," was broken
+up, and with it the rendezvous of one of the most daring bands of
+highwaymen which had ever infested that section of the country, Nance
+escaped the clutches of the law and disappeared from sight.
+
+The detective work in connection with this case was as skillful, daring
+and successful as any that have made the detectives of Paris world
+famous.
+
+Starting with the bit of torn express tag and following, thread by
+thread, the broken bits of clews which were discovered by the hawk eyes
+of the operatives until the arrest of Cook, it was as pretty a piece of
+business as ever brought criminals to their just punishment.
+
+A most remarkable fact connected with the robbery and the subsequent
+detection of its participators, is that from first to last not a single
+human life was taken.
+
+Unlike Jesse or Frank James, Redney Burns, Frank Rande or other noted
+outlaws, who always shot before a move was made, Jim Cummings pitted
+brute strength and brain power against brute strength and brain power.
+He doubtless would not have hesitated to take life if pushed to the
+last extremity, but he placed more reliance on his cunning, shrewdness
+and ready brain than on the deadly bullet.
+
+Jesse James on a fleet horse, a revolver in each hand, and surrounded
+by his band of horse thieves and cutthroats, was audacious and bold,
+and would not hesitate to take desperate chances, but it is doubtful if
+he would have quietly and with business-like foresight, prepared for
+every emergency, forged a letter on a forged letter-head of an express
+company, gained access to the car, and, single-handed, attack and bind
+a man nearly as strong as himself, and then leisurely helped himself to
+his booty.
+
+The writer is not holding Jim Cummings up in a laudatory spirit, or as
+an object to be envied and imitated, but as everything else has its
+degrees of comparison, so has the methods employed in committing
+robbery, and the address, audacity, skill, success and intelligence
+displayed by Jim Cummings in robbing the Adams Express Company of a
+cool $53,000, cannot help but excite a feeling akin to admiration. As
+this was his first attempt, it would take subsequent years to measure
+the height which he might attain as a highwayman. It may be that the
+modern Jack Sheppard had his career nipped in the bud by the Pinkerton
+Detective Agency. That "eye that never sleeps" must have winked pretty
+often, when it learned of the various and narrow escapes Jim Cummings
+had from its agents, and Mr. Pinkerton confessed afterward, that he
+passed many anxious nights and days on account of Jim Cummings. The
+money was gathered together from the various sources designated by the
+robbers, and when counted was found to be almost the whole sum
+originally put in the safe, The robbery was committed in the latter
+part of October, and the early part of the following January found the
+principals wearing the convicts' stripes.
+
+*        *           *           *           *
+
+The foregoing narrative would be incomplete did it not relate the
+incidents which brought Swanson's ranche to a pile of ashes, and
+Swanson himself to an untimely end.
+
+When Cummings and Moriarity, with Sam and Chip, the detectives,
+disguised as the Doctor and Scip, his negro servant, dashed away from
+the ranche, carrying the greater part of his wealth, Swanson was lying,
+an unconscious man, on the floor of the large room. The blow which
+felled him to the ground had been given with the full force of
+Cummings' right arm, and partly overcome by the copious libations of
+which he had partaken previous to his short but decisive fight with the
+train robber, it was several hours before he regained his senses. His
+men had rushed to the pony herd at the first alarm, only to find a
+stampede had loosened all the horses, and they were helpless to pursue
+the robbers.
+
+Swanson's rage, when he fully realized that he had been robbed, was
+something terrible. He roamed the vicinity of the ranche armed to the
+heel, cursing and foaming at the mouth, pouring maledictions of the
+most blasphemous character upon the men who had repaid his hospitality
+with such a scurvy trick.
+
+When finally the ponies had been corralled, he vaulted on one, and
+galloping with the speed of the wind, set out in pursuit of the robbers
+who had mulcted him of his wealth. All the day he ranged the country,
+until his horse, completely exhausted, refused to move another step.
+His own excited passion had calmed down somewhat, so hobbling his
+horse, he threw himself on the open prairie and sank into a deep
+slumber.
+
+During his absence a strange procession rode up to the ranche.
+
+A large band of Cherokee Indians and half-breeds, headed by a chief of
+the tribe, loped up the trail, and dismounting, asked for Swanson.
+
+The angry tones and flashing eyes of the red men portended a storm, and
+suspicious of coming danger to the master of the ranche, a cowboy
+mounted his pony and galloped off to warn Swanson.
+
+For several months previous the Indians had been missing stock from
+their herds of cattle. Steers and yearlings had mysteriously
+disappeared, even under the keen eyes and sharp ears of the Cherokees
+themselves. All efforts to discover the thieves had proved fruitless,
+until chagrined and mortified by their ill success, the Indians
+resolved to let nothing escape nor a stone unturned which would lead to
+the detection of the parties making away with their cattle.
+
+Relays of scouts were detailed, and a few days previous to their
+appearance at Swanson's ranche the first trail had been found, which
+they followed with all the skill and cunning that have made the red men
+of America peculiarly famous. Day and night the pursuit had been
+followed, and it led them direct to Swanson's.
+
+He had long been suspected of such methods of procuring his stock, but
+so cunningly had he managed to cover his tracks that he had escaped
+being caught lip to this time.
+
+His day of punishment had arrived, and his executioners were gathered
+around the ranche awaiting his return.
+
+The cowboy had failed to find him, and the early morning found Swanson
+returning home. The Indians had posted scouts in all directions, and
+when one of them galloped in, conveying the intelligence that Swanson
+was coming, the temporary camp was awakened, and with their blankets
+over their heads, the Indians patiently waited for their victim.
+
+All unsuspicious of danger, he came at a hard gallop over the range,
+nor did he discover his visitors until he wheeled around the corner of
+the house and found himself in their midst.
+
+A dozen hands immediately grappled him, dragging him from the saddle
+and pinioned his arms behind him. Not a word had been spoken, their
+silence and his own guilty conscience told him that he had no mercy to
+hope for. As husband of a Cherokee squaw, he was looked on as a member
+of their tribe, and as such would be tried by their methods, found
+guilty or not guilty; and if guilty, he knew he would be shot at once.
+
+His reckless, bold spirit asserted itself at this critical period, and
+holding his head erect, he asked, speaking the Cherokee tongue:
+
+"Am I a coyote, that my brother traps me in this way?"
+
+The dignified chief, folding his arms across his breast, his face stern
+and forbidding, replied:
+
+"Coyote! No, dog of a pale-face. The coyote would yelp in mockery to
+hear you call yourself one."
+
+"That isn't answering my question, Eagle Claw, What I want to know is,
+why am I jumped on in this way?" asked Swanson, his tone pacific and
+calm, and his manner free from anger, for he saw that it would require
+a deal of diplomacy to get him out of the scrape.
+
+"You shall be answered, but not here," and the chief, Eagle Claw,
+placing his curved hand to his mouth, emitted a shrill, piercing yell
+which was repeated by the line of scouts until the most remote vidette
+heard, and headed his horse to the ranche. The Indians in some parts of
+the Territory are partly civilized and live in organized towns and
+villages, electing their head men from time to time. Others are wild
+and uncivilized, wandering from place to place, pitching their tepees
+of buffalo hide on the bank of some rippling stream, or, sequestered in
+some lovely valley, engage in the pursuit of game and in the care of
+their herds of ponies and cattle.
+
+It was to the latter class that Eagle Claw and his band belonged. Gaudy
+paint, vemillion and yellow, smeared their faces in all the fantastic
+designs which their grotesque imaginations could invent. The tanned
+buckskin leggins, fringed and beaded, were supported at the waist by a
+belt of leather embroidered and figured. A blanket thrown carelessly
+over the shoulder completed the costume, with the addition of mocassins
+made of rawhide. Their ponies were selected from the cream of their
+stock, and the gorgeous trappings of the saddles and harness made a
+most picturesque scene as the cavalcade filed over the plains.
+
+Riding between two stalwart specimens of the Cherokee tribe, Swanson
+was closely guarded. All the answer he could get for his indignant
+questionings was a surly "Humph," or a sullen admonition to keep quiet.
+The chief led the party due southwest from Swanson's ranche, and all
+day long the sturdy ponies were kept at the long, swinging lope which
+enables them to cover miles during a day.
+
+Late in the afternoon the chief, raising in his stirrups, gave a
+peculiar, vibrating yell, which was immediately taken up by his
+followers until the welkin rang with the penetrating sounds.
+
+Like a faint echo an answering yell came back, and soon the forms of
+horsemen, dashing over the range, could be discerned.
+
+Familiar with all the Indian customs Swanson recognized the yell. It
+told the camp that the scouting party had returned successful.
+
+A short canter and the entire band wheeled around the edge of a tract
+of timber and came out upon the village, pitched on the banks of a
+stream of water, the tepees grouped in a circle around the chief's
+wigwam, the blue smoke curling lazily through the aperture at the top,
+and the welcome smell of cooking meats permeating the place. Swanson
+was given in charge of a guard and escorted to a vacant tepee, where he
+was firmly bound, hand and foot, and thrown upon a pile of fur robes.
+
+A large fire had been built near Eagle Claw's wigwam, and one by one
+the sub-chiefs, head-men and old Indians of the tribe gravely stalked
+toward it and seated themselves in the circle.
+
+Rising from his place Eagle Claw ordered the prisoner to be brought
+forward.
+
+As Swanson caught sight of the council-fire, the stern faces
+surrounding it, and the grave air of his captors, his guilty heart sank
+within him, and, trembling in every joint, he was hardly able to totter
+to the place assigned him. The Indians noted his condition with
+scornful eyes, and Eagle Claw, advancing from the rest, said:
+
+"How now, does the coyote tremble because he is asked to join the
+council with his brethren?"
+
+The mocking words brought Swanson's pluck back again, and drawing
+himself to his full height he answered:
+
+"You red devil! Don't brother me. Drop that beating around the bush and
+out with the truth."
+
+"'Tis well. A liar is a curse to his people. The Cherokees are men of
+truth and have but a single tongue."
+
+"The Cherokees are the biggest rascals in the Territory, the meanest
+horse-thieves, and couldn't tell the truth to save their rascally necks
+from the halter," said Swanson.
+
+The Indian's eyes flashed ominously at these words, and rising his
+voice, he said:
+
+"My brother has a long tongue. It might be well if it were cut out; but
+we know he is joking, for is he not a Cherokee himself?"
+
+"Not I. You can't make a mustang out of a broken-down broncho and you
+can't make a white man out of an Indian."
+
+"But you took one of the fairest of our young maidens to your tepee,
+and--"
+
+"Fairest young maiden? I took the skinniest rack-a-bones in the tribe.
+The old hag! She was too lazy to earn her salt, and was the biggest
+fool that ever wore calico."
+
+A terrible look of rage came into Eagle Claw's face, for Swanson had
+married his own sister, and such an insult was not to be brooked. But
+with all the powers of dissimulation which the Indian possesses, he
+forced a smile to his lips, and, blandly speaking, pointed to the
+thongs around Swanson's arms.
+
+"It is not well that our brother should be tied that way," and drawing
+his keen knife, he cut the thongs, and Swanson freed his arms.
+
+His arms free, all of Swanson's courage returned. Hastily glancing
+around the circle, he suddenly shot out his right arm. Reeling
+backward, Eagle Claw fell to the ground, and the Indians saw something
+pass them like the wind, straight for the pony herd.
+
+In an instant the camp was in commotion, hoarse yells came from tawny
+throats, and in swift pursuit of the flying Swanson the braves ran
+after him.
+
+He had the start, however, and agile and athletic to a remarkable
+degree, his hands pressed to his side, his mouth closed and saving his
+wind, he sped before the pursuing red men and gained the corral of the
+ponies.
+
+The Indians had not taken his knife from him, and hastily selecting his
+steed, the leather lariat was severed in a trice, and vaulting on his
+back, Swanson made a dash for life into the darkness. The thundering of
+hoofs told him that the red devils were close after him. Turning
+abruptly to one side he rode at right angles to his former course, and
+suddenly drawing up his horse he stood still. The sound of the chase
+neared him, and presently he heard them sweeping past, the darkness
+completely shrouding himself and his horse from their keen eyes.
+
+Leaping to the ground, he placed his ear to the earth, and the faint
+throbbing of the horse hoofs beating the ground grew fainter as his
+pursuers rode further away.
+
+Mounting his horse again, he commenced slowly and stealthily to
+circumnavigate the camp, and it wasn't until he had gained the opposite
+side, that he ventured to put his horse to a gallop.
+
+He had never been in that section of the country before, but it did not
+matter so long as he could put a good distance between himself and his
+captors in which direction he rode.
+
+The dawn of the next day found his horse loping along, Swanson keeping
+a sharp eye out for Indians.
+
+He was satisfied that he had at last eluded pursuit, and turning into a
+clump of timber he tied his horse with the remnants of the lariat and
+threw himself on the ground near it.
+
+All day long he slept, and as evening closed in he turned his horse
+from the timber and mounting a slight elevation near it, he gazed
+around for landmarks. To his surprise, he recognized the country as
+that near his own ranche, and feeling the pangs of hunger in a most
+distressing degree, he urged his horse in the direction of the ranche.
+
+He had ridden several hours, and he knew that he must be somewhere near
+his place, when, rising before him, he discerned the house.
+
+Almost simultaneous with his discovery a wide sheet of flame burst from
+the roof and, dismayed and astonished, Swanson checked his horse.
+
+A multitude of yells rent the air, and Swanson, turning his horse again
+fled before the avenging Cherokees, but a hissing whistling sound was
+heard, a long, writhing lariat shot out, and the noose, falling over
+Swanson's shoulders, drew together with the run, and, lifted completely
+from the saddle, Swanson was thrown senseless to the ground. A
+bucketful of water was dashed over his face, and recovering he saw the
+demon faces of Eagle Claw and his band surrounding him.
+
+"My brother was cold and we started a fire that he might get warm. He
+was lost and we made a light to guide him here. We love our brother
+Swanson. We would always have him with us," jeered the Indian.
+
+To this Swanson was incapable of replying. His senses were benumbed and
+he hardly realized what was going on around him. Staggering to his feet
+he reeled to and fro like a drunken man.
+
+As he walked toward the fire, he was suddenly grasped from behind, and
+again were his arms pinioned. There was no escape for him this time.
+Forced to his knees, he was placed facing half a dozen of the best
+marksmen of the tribe. His shirt was torn open, exposing his hairy
+breast. A signal was given, and the sharp reports of the rifles rang
+out in tune with the crackling timbers of the house, and falling to his
+face, Swanson gave a convulsive struggle and died as his own roof fell
+in; and a mass of blackened timbers marked the place where once stood
+Swanson's ranche.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jim Cummings, by Frank Pinkerton
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jim Cummings, by Frank Pinkerton
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+
+
+Title: Jim Cummings
+
+Author: Frank Pinkerton
+
+Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5695]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on August 9, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JIM CUMMINGS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Rose Koven, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+JIM CUMMINGS
+
+OR
+
+THE GREAT ADAMS EXPRESS ROBBERY
+
+With a portrait of the notorious Jim Cummings and
+illustrations of scenes connected with the great robbery
+
+By Frank Pinkerton
+
+Vol. I, March 1887.
+The Pinkerton Detective Series,
+issued monthly,
+by subscription, $3.00 per annum.
+
+Chicago
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE CONSPIRATORS--THE FORGED LETTER--THE PLAN.
+
+
+In the rear room of a small frame building, the front of which was
+occupied as a coal office, located on West Lake street, Chicago, three
+men were seated around a square pine table. The curtains of the window
+were not only drawn inside, but the heavy shutters were closed on the
+outside. A blanket was nailed over the only door of the room, and every
+thing and every action showed that great secrecy was a most important
+factor of the assembly.
+
+The large argand burner of a student's lamp filled the small room with
+its white, strong light, The table was covered with railroad time-
+tables, maps, bits of paper, on which were written two names a great
+number of times, and pens of different makes and widths of point were
+scattered amidst the papers,
+
+One man, a large, powerfully-built fellow, deep-chested, and long-
+limbed, was occupied in writing, again and again, the name of "J.B.
+Barrett." He had covered sheet after sheet with the name, looking first
+at a letter before him, but was still far from satisfied. "Damn a man
+who will make his 'J's' in such a heathenish way."
+
+"Try it again, Wittrock," said one of his companions.
+
+"Curse you," shouted the man called Wittrock. "How often must I tell you
+not to call me that name. By God, I'll bore a hole through you yet, d'ye
+mind, now."
+
+"Oh, no harm been done, Cummings; no need of your flying in such a stew
+for nothing. We're all in the same box here, eh?"
+
+"Well, you be more careful hereafter," said "Cummings," and again he
+bent to his laborious task of forging the name of "J.B. Barrett."
+
+Nothing was heard for half an hour but the scratching of the pen, or the
+muttered curses of Cummings (as he was called).
+
+Suddenly he threw down his pen with a laugh of triumph, and holding a
+piece of paper before him, exclaimed: "There, lads, there it is; there's
+the key that will unlock a little mint for us."
+
+Throwing himself back in his chair, he drew a cigar from his pocket,
+and, lighting it, listened with great satisfaction to the words of
+praise uttered by his companions as they compared the forged with the
+genuine signature.
+
+These three men were on the eve of a desperate enterprise. For months
+they had been planning and working together, and the time for action was
+rapidly approaching.
+
+The one called "Cummings," the leader, was apparently, the youngest one
+of the three. There was nothing in his face to denote the criminal. A
+stranger looking at him, would imagine him to be a good-natured, jovial
+chap, a little shrewd perhaps, but fond of a good dinner, a good drink,
+a good cigar, and nothing else.
+
+One of his colleagues, whom he called "Roe," evidently an alias, was
+smaller in size, but had a determined expression on his face, that
+showed him to be a man who would take a desperate chance if necessary.
+
+The third man, called sometimes Weaver, and sometimes Williams, was the
+smallest one of the conspirators, and also the eldest. His frame, though
+small, was compact and muscular, but his face lacked both the
+determination of Roe and the frank, open expression of Cummings.
+
+After scrutinizing the forgery for a time, Roe returned it to Cummings
+and said, "Jim, who has the run out on the Frisco when you make the
+plant?"
+
+"A fellow named Fotheringham, a big chap, too. I was going to lay for
+the other messenger, Hart, who is a small man, and could be easily
+handled, but he has the day run now."
+
+"This Fotheringham will have to be a dandy if he can tell whether
+Barrett has written this or not, eh, Jim?"
+
+"Aye, that he will. Let me once get in that car, and if the letter don't
+work, I'll give him a taste of the barker."
+
+"No shooting, Jim, no shooting, I swear to God I'll back out if you
+spill a drop of blood."
+
+Jim's eyes glittered, and he hissed between his teeth:
+
+"You back out, Roe, and you'll see some shooting."
+
+Roe laughed a nervous laugh, and said, as he pushed some blank letter-
+heads toward Cummings, "Who's goin' to back out, only I don't like the
+idea of shooting a man, even to get the plunder. Here's the Adam's
+Express letter-heads I got to-day. Try your hand on the letter."
+
+Cummings, somewhat pacified, with careful and laborious strokes of the
+pen, wrote as follows:
+
+"SPRINGFIELD, Mo., October 24th, '86.
+
+MESSENGER, TRAIN No. 3, ST. L & ST. F. RTE:
+
+DR. SIR:  You will let the bearer, John Broson, Ride in your car to
+Peirce, and give him all the Instructions that you can.  Yours,
+
+J.B. Barrett, R.A."
+
+"Hit it the first time. Look at that Roe; cast your eye on that elegant
+bit of literature, Weaver," and Cummings, greatly excited, paced up and
+down the room, whistling, and indulging in other signs of huge
+gratification.
+
+"Well done, Jim, well done. Now write the other one, and we'll go and
+licker up."
+
+Again Cummings picked up his facile pen, and was soon successful in
+writing the following letter, purporting to be from this same J. B.
+Barrett.
+
+"SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Oct. 21, '86.
+
+"JOHN BRONSON, Esq., St. Louis, Mo.
+
+"DR. SIR: Come at once to Peirce City by train No. 3, leaving St. Louis
+8:25 p.m. Inclosed find note to messenger on the train, which you can
+use for a pass in case you see Mr. Damsel in time. Agent at Peirce City
+will instruct you further.
+
+"Respectfully,             J. B. BARRETT, R. A."
+
+Jim drew a long, deep sigh of relief as he muttered:
+
+"Half the work is done; half the work is done."
+
+Drawing the railroad map of the Chicago & Alton road toward him, he put
+the pen point on St. Louis, and slowing following the St. L. & S. F.
+Division, paused at Kirkwood.
+
+"Roe, here's the place I shall tackle this messenger. It is rather close
+to St. Louis, but it's down grade and the train will be making fast
+time. She stops at Pacific--here, and we will jump the train there,
+strike for the river, and paddle down to the K. & S. W. You must jump on
+at the crossing near the limits, plug the bell cord so the damned
+messenger can't pull the rope on me, and I will have him foul."
+
+Roe listened attentively to these instructions, nodding his head slowly
+several times to express his approval, and said:
+
+"When will we go down?"
+
+Jim Cummings, looking at the time-table, answered:
+
+"This is--what date is this, Weaver?"
+
+"October 11th."
+
+"Two weeks from to-day will be the 25th. That is on--let's see, that is
+Tuesday."
+
+"Two weeks from to-day, Roe, you will have to take the train at St.
+Louis; get your ticket to Kirkwood. I see by this time-table that No. 3
+does stop there. When you get off, run ahead, plug the bell-cord, and I
+will wait till she gets up speed after leaving Kirkwood before I draw my
+deposit."
+
+Thus did these three men plan a robbery that was to mulet the Adams
+Express Company of $100,000, baffle the renowned Pinkertons for weeks
+and excite universal admiration for its boldness, skill, and
+completeness.
+
+The papers upon which Cummings had exercised his skill, were torn into
+little bits, the time-tables and maps were folded and placed in coat
+pockets, the lamp extinguished, and three men were soon strolling down
+Lake street as calmly as if they had no other object than to saunter
+into their favorite bar-room, and toss off a social drink or two.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE SUCCESS OF THE LETTERS--THE ATTACK--THE ROBBERS--THE ESCAPE.
+
+
+The Union depot at St. Louis was ablaze with lights. The long Kansas
+City train was standing, all made up, the engine coupled on, and almost
+ready to pull out. Belated passengers were rushing frantically from the
+ticket window to the baggage-room, and then to the train, when a man,
+wearing side whiskers, and carrying a small valise, parted from his
+companion at the entrance to the depot, and, after buying a ticket to
+Kirkwood, entered the smoking car. His companion, a tall, well-built
+man, having a smooth face, and a very erect carriage, walked with a
+business-like step down the platform until he reached the express car.
+Tossing the valise which he carried into the car, he climbed in himself
+with the aid of the hand-rail on the side of the door, and, as the
+messenger came toward him, he held out his hand, saying:
+
+"Is this Mr. Fotheringham?"
+
+"Yes, that's my name."
+
+"I have a letter from Mr. Bassett for you," and, taking it from his
+pocket, he handed it to the messenger.
+
+Fotheringham read the letter carefully, and placing it in his pocket,
+said:
+
+"Going to get a job, eh?"
+
+"Yes, the old man said he would give me a show, and as soon as there was
+a regular run open, he would let me have it."
+
+"Well, I'm pretty busy now; make yourself comfortable until we pull out,
+and then I'll post you up as best I can, Mr. Bronson."
+
+Mr. "Bronson" pulled off his overcoat, and, seating himself in a chair,
+glanced around the car.
+
+In one end packages, crates, butter, egg-cases, and parts of machinery
+were piled up. At the other end a small iron safe was lying. As it
+caught Bronson's eye an expression came over his face, which, if
+Fotheringham had seen, would have saved him a vast amount of trouble.
+But the messenger, too busy to notice his visitor, paid him no
+attention, and in a moment Bronson was puffing his cigar with a
+nonchalant air, that would disarm any suspicions which the messenger
+might have entertained, but he had none, as it was a common practice to
+send new men over his run, that he might "break them in."
+
+The train had pulled out, and after passing the city limits, was flying
+through the suburbs at full speed.
+
+Fotheringham, seated in front of his safe, with his way bills on his
+lap, was checking them off as Bronson called off each item of freight in
+the car.
+
+The long shriek of the whistle and the jerking of the car caused by the
+tightening of the air brake on the wheels, showed the train to be
+approaching a station.
+
+"This is Kirkwood," said Fotheringham, "nothing for them to-night."
+
+The train was almost at a standstill, when Bronson, saying "What sort of
+a place is it?" threw back the door and peered out into the dark.
+
+As he did so, a man passed swiftly by, and in passing glanced into the
+car. As Bronson looked, he saw it was the same man that had bought a
+ticket for Kirkwood and had ridden in the smoker.
+
+The train moved on. Bronson shut the door and buttoned his coat.
+Fotheringham, still busy on his way bills, was whistling softly to
+himself, and sitting with his back to his fellow passenger.
+
+Some unusual noise in the front end of the car caught his ear, and
+raising his head, he exclaimed:
+
+"What's that?"
+
+The answer came, not from the front of the car but from behind.
+
+A strong muscular hand was placed on his neck. A brawny arm was thrown
+around his chest, and lifted from the chair, he was thrown violently to
+the floor of the car.
+
+In a flash he realized his position. With an almost superhuman effort,
+he threw Bronson from him, and reaching around felt for his revolver. It
+was gone, and thrown to the other end of the car.
+
+Little did the passengers on the train know of the stirring drama which
+was being enacted in the car before them. Little did they think as they
+leaned back in their comfortable seats, of the terrific struggle which
+was then taking place. On one hand it was a struggle for $100,000; on
+the other, for reputation, for honor, perhaps for life.
+
+Fotheringham, strong as he vas (for he was large of frame, and muscular)
+was no match for his assailant. He struggled manfully, but was hurled
+again to the floor, and as he looked up, saw the cold barrel of a 32-
+calibre pointed at his head. Bronson's face, distorted with passion and
+stern with the fight, glared down at him, as he hissed through his
+teeth:
+
+"Make a sound, and you are a dead man."
+
+The messenger, seeing all was lost, lay passive upon the floor. The
+robber, whipping out a long, strong, silk handkerchief, tied his hands
+behind his back, and making a double-knotted gag of Fotheringham's
+handkerchief, gagged him. Searching the car he discovered a shawl-strap
+with which he tied the messenger's feet, and thus had him powerless as a
+log. Then, and not till then, did he speak aloud.
+
+"Done, and well done, too."
+
+The flush faded from his face, his eye became sullen, and drawing the
+messenger's chair to him he sat down. As he gazed at his discomfited
+prisoner an expression of intense relief came over his features. His
+forged letters had proved successful, his only formidable obstacle
+between himself and his anticipated booty lay stretched at his feet,
+helpless and harmless. The nature of the car prevented any interruption
+from the ends, as the only entrance was through the side doors, and he
+had all night before him to escape.
+
+Now for the plunder. The key to the safe was in Fotheringham's pocket.
+It took but a second to secure it, and but another second to use it in
+unlocking the strong-box. The messenger, unable to prevent this in any
+way, looked on in intense mental agony. He saw that he would be
+suspected as an accomplice. The mere fact that one man could disarm,
+bind and gag him, would be used as a suspicious circumstance against
+him. Although he did not know the exact sum of money in the safe he was
+aware that it was of a very considerable amount, and he fairly writhed
+in his agony of mind. In an instant Cummings (or, as he had been called
+by the messenger, Bronson) was on his feet, revolver in hand, and again
+the cruel, murderous expression dwelt on his face, as he exclaimed:
+
+"Lie still, damn you, lie still. If you attempt to create an alarm, I'll
+fill you so full of lead that some tenderfoot will locate you for a
+mineral claim. D'ye understand?"
+
+After this facetious threat he paid no further attention to the
+messenger.
+
+Emptying his valise of its contents of underclothing and linen, he
+stuffed it full of the packages of currency which the safe contained.
+
+One package, containing $30,000, from the Continental Bank of St. Louis,
+was consigned to the American National Bank of Kansas City. Another
+large package held $12,000, from the Merchants National Bank of St.
+Louis for the Merchants Bank of Forth Smith, Arkansas, and various other
+packages, amounting altogether to $53,000.
+
+With wonderful sang froid, Cummings stuffed this valuable booty in his
+valise, and then proceeded to open the bags containing coin. His keen
+knife-blade ripped bag after bag, but finding it all silver, he
+desisted, and turning to Fotheringham, demanded:
+
+"Any gold aboard?"
+
+Fotheringham shook his head in reply.
+
+"Does that mean there is none, or you don't know?"
+
+Again the messenger shook his head.
+
+"Well, I reckon your right, all silver, too heavy and don't amount to
+much."
+
+As he was talking, the whistle of the engine suddenly sound two short
+notes, and the air-brakes were applied.
+
+The train stopped, and the noise of men walking on the gravel was heard.
+
+As Fotheringham lay there, his ears strained to catch every sound, and
+hoping for the help that never came, his heart gave a joyful throb, as
+some one pounded noisily on the door. Almost at the same instant he felt
+the cold muzzle of a revolver against his head, and the ominous "click,
+click" was more eloquent than threats or words could be.
+
+The pounding ceased, and in a short time the train moved on again.
+
+Apparently not satisfied that the messenger was bound safe and fast,
+Cummings took the companion strap to the one which pinioned the feet of
+his victim, and passing it around his neck, fastened it to the handle of
+the safe in such a way that any extra exertion on Fotheringham's part
+would pull the safe over and choke him.
+
+Opening the car door, he threw away the clothing which he had taken from
+his valise.
+
+Returning to the messenger, he stooped over him, and took from his
+pocket the forged letter with which he gained entrance to the car.
+
+Fotheringham tried to speak, but the gag permitted nothing but a
+rattling sound to escape.
+
+"I know what you want, young fellow. You want this letter to prove that
+you had some sort of authority to let me ride. Sorry I can't accommodate
+you, my son, but those devilish Pinkertons will be after me in twenty-
+four hours, and this letter would be just meat to them. I'll fix you all
+right, though. My name's Cummings, Jim Cummings, and I'll write a letter
+to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat that will clear you Honest to God, I
+will. You've been pretty generous to-night; given me lots of swag, and
+I'll never go back on you.
+
+"Give my love to Billy Pinkerton when you see him. Tell him Jim Cummings
+did this job."
+
+As he uttered these words, the train commenced slacking up, and as it
+stopped, Cummings, opening the door, with his valuable valise, leaped to
+the ground, closed the door behind him, the darkness closed around him
+and he was gone.
+
+Inside the car, a rifled safe, a bound and gagged messenger, and the
+Adams Express Company was poorer by $100,000 than it was when the
+'Frisco train pulled out of the depot the evening before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+PINKERTON TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+The next day the country knew of the robbery. Newspapers in every city
+had huge head lines, telling the story in the most graphic style.
+
+JESSE JAMES OUTDONE! The Adams Express Company ROBBED OF $100,000!
+
+THE EXPRESS MESSENGER FOUND GAGGED AND BOUND TO HIS OWN SAFE--THE ROBBER
+ESCAPES--ABSOLUTELY NO CLEWS--PINKERTON TO THE RESCUE!
+
+Mr. Damsel, the superintendent of the St. Louis branch of the Adams
+Express Company, was pacing anxiously up and down his private office.
+Fotheringham was relating his exciting experience, which a stenographer
+immediately took down in shorthand. At frequent intervals Mr. Damsel
+would ask a searching question, to which the messenger replied in a
+straightforward manner and without hesitation. It was a trying ordeal to
+him. Innocent as he was, his own testimony was against him. He knew it
+and felt it, but nothing that he could do or say would lighten the
+weight of the damaging evidence. He could but tell the facts and await
+developments. When he was through Mr. Damsel left him in the office, and
+immediately telegraphed to every station between Pacific and St. Louis
+to look for the linen and underclothing which the robbers had thrown
+from the car. The wires were working in all directions, giving a full
+description of Cummings and such other information as would lead to his
+discovery.
+
+Local detectives were closeted with Mr. Damsel all day, but so shrewdly
+and cunningly had the express robber covered his tracks, that nothing
+but the bare description of the man could be used as a clew.
+
+Fotheringham was put through the "sweating process" time and again, but,
+though he gave the most minute and detailed account of the affair, the
+detectives could find nothing to help them.
+
+That Fotheringham "stood in" with the robber was the universal theory.
+The story of the letter and order from Mr. Barrett was received with
+derision and suspicion.
+
+Mr. Damsel himself was almost confident that his employee had a hand in
+the robbery. It was a long and anxious day, and as it wore along and no
+new developments turned up, Mr. Damsel became more anxious and troubled:
+$100,000 is a large sum and the Adams Express Company had a reputation
+at stake. What was to be done?
+
+Almost instantly the answer came: telegraph for Pinkerton.
+
+The telegram was sent, and when William Pinkerton wired back that he
+would come at once. Mr. Damsel felt his load of responsibility begin to
+grow lighter, and he waited impatiently for the morning to come.
+
+The next morning about 10 o'clock Mr. Damsel received a note, signed
+"Pinkerton," requesting him to call at room 84 of the Southern Hotel. He
+went at once. A pleasant-faced gentleman, with a heavy mustache and keen
+eyes, greeted him, and Mr. Damsel was shaking hands with the famous
+detective, on whose shoulders had fallen the mantle of his father, Allan
+Pinkerton, probably the finest detective the world has ever seen.
+
+Mr. Damsel had his stenographer's notes, which had been transcribed on
+the type-writer, and Mr. Pinkerton carefully and slowly read every word.
+
+"What sort of a man is this Fotheringham?"
+
+"He is a large, well built, and I should say, muscular young fellow. Has
+always been reliable before, and has been with us some years."
+
+"Has he ever been arrested before?"
+
+"He says twice. Once for shooting off a gun on Sunday, and again for
+knocking a man down for insulting a lady."
+
+"You think he is guilty--that is, you think he had a hand in the
+robbery?"
+
+"Mr. Pinkerton, I regret to say I do. It doesn't seem probable that a
+strong, hearty man would allow another man to disarm him, gag him, tie
+him hand and foot, get away with $100,000, and all that without a
+desperate struggle, and he hasn't the sign of a scratch or bruise on
+him."
+
+"N-n-no, it doesn't. Still it could be done. You have him under arrest,
+then."
+
+"Not exactly. He is in my office now, and apparently has no thought of
+trying to escape."
+
+"Well, Mr. Damsel, I am inclined to think that this man Fotheringham
+knows no more of this robbery than he has told you. If he is in
+collusion with the robber, or robbers--for I think that more than one
+had to do with it--he would have made up a story in which two or more
+had attacked him. He would have had a cut in the arm, a bruised head or
+some such corroborating testimony to show. The fact that he was held up
+by a single man goes a good way, in my judgment, to prove him innocent
+of any criminal connection with the robbery. We must look elsewhere for
+the culprits."
+
+"Had you not better see Fotheringham?"
+
+"Of course I intend doing that. Did you secure the clothing which this
+so-called Cummings threw out of the train?"
+
+"Telegrams have been sent out, and I hope to have it sent in by to-
+morrow."
+
+"That is good--we may find something which we can grasp. The public
+generally have an idea that a detective can make something out of
+nothing that the merest film of a clew is all that is necessary with
+which to build up a strong substantial edifice of facts. It is only the
+Messieurs La Coqs and 'Old Sleuths' of books and illustrated weeklies
+that are possessed with the second sight, and can hunt down the
+shrewdest criminals, without being bound to such petty things as clews,
+circumstantial evidence or witnesses. We American detectives can
+generally make 4 by putting 2 and 2 together, but we must have a
+starting point, and an old shirt or a pair of stockings, such as this
+robber threw away, may contain just what we need."
+
+A knock on the door, and an employee of the office entered.
+
+"Mr. Damsel, the entire road has been carefully searched, and no trace
+of the clothing can be found."
+
+"That's bad," said Mr. Pinkerton, "we should have found that."
+
+Mr. Damsel bade the employee to return to the office, and turning to Mr.
+Pinkerton, said:
+
+"The case is in your hands. Do what you want, if any man can run that
+Cummings down, you can."
+
+"Well, I'll take it. I should advise you first to have Fotheringham
+arrested as an accomplice. While I do not think he is one, he may be; at
+any rate it will lead the principals in the case to believe we are on
+the wrong track, but I must confess there don't seem to be any track at
+all, wrong or right."
+
+"I will do that. I will swear out a warrant to-day against him."
+
+Mr. Damsel took his leave, and that night Fotheringham slept behind iron
+bars.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE DETECTIVE AND THE MESSENGER.
+
+
+After Mr. Damsel had left the hotel, Mr. Pinkerton sat in deep thought.
+He had carefully re-read Fotheringham's statement, but could find
+nothing that could be put out as a tracer; no little straw to tell which
+way the wind was blowing.
+
+"Cummings, Cummings, Jim Cummings. By George, that can't be the Jim
+Cummings that used to flock with the Jesse James gang. That Cummings was
+a gray-haired man, while this Cummings is young, about 26 years old.
+Besides he is a much larger than Jesse James' Jim Cummings. That name is
+evidently assumed.
+
+"This statement says he was dressed in a good suit of clothes, and wore
+a very flashy cravat. Furthermore, he bragged a good deal about what he
+would do with the money. Also that he would write a letter to the St.
+Louis Globe-Democrat exonerating the messenger. Well, a man who will
+brag like that, and wears flashy articles of neck-wear, is just the man
+that will talk too much, or make some bad break. If he writes that
+letter, he's a goner. There will be something in it that will give me a
+hold. The paper, the ink, the hand-writing, the place and time it was
+mailed--something that will give him away,"
+
+"I must see this messenger, and I must see him here; alone. He may be
+able to give me a little glimmer of light."
+
+To think with "Billy" Pinkerton was to act.
+
+He pressed the annunciator button, and sitting down, wrote a short note
+to Mr. Damsel, requesting him to bring Fotheringham with him to his
+room.
+
+The bell-boy who answered the call bore the note away with him, and in a
+short time, Mr. Pinkerton, looking out of his window, saw Mr. Damsel in
+his buggy drive up to the hotel accompanied by a young man, whom Mr.
+Pinkerton recognized from the description given him, as the unfortunate
+Fotheringham, who had evidently, as yet, not been arrested.
+
+It took but a few moments for Mr. Damsel to reach Room 84, and after
+introducing Fotheringham to the detective, left him there.
+
+Fotheringham wore a worried and hunted look. The black rings under his
+eyes told of loss of sleep, and his whole demeanor was that of a
+discouraged person. Still he bore the keen scrutiny of the detective
+without flinching, and looking him squarely in the eye, said:
+
+"Mr. Pinkerton, don't ask me to repeat my story again. I have told it
+time after time. I have been cross-questioned, and turned and twisted
+until I almost believe I committed the robbery myself, tied my own hands
+and feet, put the gag in my own mouth, and hid the money some place."
+
+Mr. Pinkerton did not answer him, but gazing at him with those sharp,
+far-seeing eyes, which had ferreted out so many crimes, and had made so
+many criminals tremble, took in every detail of Fotheringham's features,
+as if reading his very soul. Fotheringham leaned back, closed his eyes
+wearily, as if it were a matter of the smallest consequence what might
+occur, and remained in that position until Mr. Pinkerton spoke.
+
+"Mr. Fotheringham, I don't believe you had anything to do with the
+robbery, except being robbed."
+
+"Thank God for those words, Mr. Pinkerton," exclaimed the messenger in
+broken tones, the tears welling to his eyes. "That's the first bit of
+comfort I've had since the dastardly villain first knocked me down."
+
+"Can you not give me some peculiarity which you noticed about this
+Cummings? How did he talk?"
+
+"Slowly, with a very pleasant voice."
+
+"Did he have any marks about him--any scars?"
+
+Fotheringham sat in deep thought for a while.
+
+"He had a triangular gold filling on one of his front teeth, and he had
+a way of hanging his head a little to one side, as if he were deaf, but
+I did not see any scars, excepting a bit of court-plaster on one of the
+fingers of his right hand."
+
+"Was he disguised at all?"
+
+"Not a bit, at least I could see no disguise on him."
+
+"How did he walk?"
+
+"Very erect, and, yes, I noticed he limped a little, as if he had a sore
+foot."
+
+"I see by this report," taking up the papers Mr. Damsel had left, "that
+you have given a very close and full description of his appearance, but
+that amounts to little. Disguises are easy, and the mere changing of
+clothing will effect a great difference."
+
+"I am positive, from his features, that he was a hard drinker. He had
+been drinking before he came to the car, as I smelled it on his breath."
+
+"Well, Mr. Fotheringham, I will not detain you any longer. If you are
+innocent, you know you have nothing to fear."
+
+"Except the disgrace of being arrested."
+
+"Possibly," said Mr. Pinkerton, shortly, and bowing his visitor out, he
+pondered long and deeply over the case; but he felt he was groping in
+the dark, for the robber had apparently left no trace behind him. He had
+appeared on the scene, done his work, and the dark shadows of the night
+had swallowed him up, and Mr. Pinkerton, for the time, was completely
+baffled.
+
+"If he would only write that letter," he muttered, "and I believe he
+will--"
+
+A tap at the door followed these words, and two men entered--both
+Pinkerton detectives.
+
+One of them carried a bundle in his arms.
+
+As Mr. Pinkerton caught sight of it, his face lightened up.
+
+"Ah! You did get it?"
+
+"Yes; found them in a ditch the other side of Kirkwood."
+
+Mr. Pinkerton laughed, and taking the bundle, said:
+
+"Mr. Damsel said they could not be found; but I knew you, Chip. It was a
+good move on your part to go after these clothes without waiting for
+orders. You are starting in well, my boy, and if you have the making of
+a detective in you, this case will bring it out."
+
+Chip blushed. Such words of praise from his superior were worth working
+for. The youngest man on the force, he had his spurs to win, and the
+approbation of his chief was reward enough.
+
+The bundle was untied, and disclosed a shirt, a pair of drawers, socks
+and a dirty handkerchief. As the clothing fell on the floor, the odor of
+some sort of liniment filled the room, and on the leg of the drawers,
+below the knee, a stain was seen. Examining it more closely, a little
+clotted blood was seen. The stain extended half way around the leg, and
+showed that the cut or bruise was quite an extensive one.
+
+"No wonder he limped," said Mr. Pinkerton, as he dropped the drawers and
+picked up the handkerchief.
+
+The handkerchief, a common linen one, had evidently been used as a
+bandage, for it was stained with the liniment, and covered with blood
+clots. In one corner had been written a name, but the only letters now
+readable were "W--r--k."
+
+This was placed on the table and the shirt carefully examined.
+
+Nothing, not even the maker's name, could be seen. It was a cheap shirt,
+such as could be bought at any store which labels everything belonging
+to a man as "Gents' Furnishing." The socks were common, and like
+thousands of similar socks.
+
+"Not much of a find, Chip--the letters on the handkerchief can be found
+in a hundred different names--a sore knee is covered by a pair of
+trousers, and one out of every ten men you meet, limps."
+
+The other detective, who had all this time been silent, now laid some
+Adams Express letter-heads on the table. On these were written "J. B.
+Barrett," in all forms of chirography--several sheets were covered with
+the name.
+
+"Where did you get these?"
+
+"Out of Fotheringham's trunk, in his room."
+
+"By Jove, what a consummate actor that man is. Do you know, boys, up to
+this minute, I firmly believed that messenger was innocent--I have been
+sold like an ordinary fool," and Mr. Pinkerton looked at the tell-tale
+papers admiringly, for, although he felt a trifle chagrined at being
+taken in so nicely, he could not but pay tribute to the man who did it,
+for the man that could get the better of "Billy" Pinkerton, must be one
+of extraordinary ability.
+
+"If you please," said Chip, "I do not see that the mere finding of this
+paper in Fotheringham's trunk should fasten suspicion on him. If he was
+shrewd enough to capture the money, he would certainly not leave such
+damaging evidence as this paper would be. It seems to me that it would
+be a very plausible theory to advance, that the real robbers placed this
+in his trunk to direct suspicion against him. In fact, it was the first
+thing to be seen when the lid was lifted, for I was with Barney when he
+searched the room."
+
+Barney said nothing to his companion's remarks, but nodded his head to
+show that he acquiesced.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton listened carefully, and merely saying, "we'll look at this
+later," gave a very careful and complete description of Cummings, which
+he directed Chip and Barney to take to the St. Louis branch of this
+firm, and from there send it through all the divisions and sub-divisions
+of this vast detective cob-web.
+
+After issuing further and more orders relating to the case in hand, he
+put on his hat, and descended to the hotel office, followed by his two
+subordinates.
+
+After the exciting episode in the express car had been brought to a
+close by Jim Cummings leaping from the car, the train moved on, and left
+him alone, the possessor of nearly $100,000. The game had been a
+desperate one, and well played, and nervy and cool as he was, the
+desperado was forced to seat himself on a pile of railroad ties, until
+he could regain possession of himself, for he trembled in every limb,
+and shook as with a chill. He pulled himself together, however, and
+picking up his valise, with its valuable contents, turned toward the
+river.
+
+He stepped from tie to tie, feeling his way in the darkness, every sense
+on the alert, and straining his eyes to catch a glimpse of some
+landmark. He had walked nearly a mile when, from behind a pile of brush
+heaped up near the track, a man stepped forth. The double click of a
+revolver was heard, and in an imperative tone, the unknown man called
+out:
+
+"Halt! Put your hands above your head. I've got the drop on you!"
+
+Startled as he was by the sudden appearance of the man, and hardly
+recovered from his hard fight with the messenger, Cummings was too brave
+and too daring to yield so tamely. Dropping his valise, he sprang upon
+the audacious stranger so suddenly that he was taken completely by
+surprise. The sharp report of the revolver rang out upon the quiet
+night, and the two men, Cummings uppermost, fell upon the grading of the
+road. The men were very evenly matched, and the fortunes of war wavered
+from one to the other. The hoarse breathing, the muttered curses, and
+savage blows told that a desperate conflict was taking place. Clasped in
+each other's embrace, the men lay, side by side, neither able to gain
+the mastery. Far around the curve the rumbling of an approaching freight
+train was heard. Nearer and nearer it came, and still the men fought on.
+With a grip of iron Cummings held the stranger's throat to the rail, and
+with arms of steel clasped around Cummings, his assailant pressed him to
+the ground.
+
+It was an even thing, a fair field and no favor, when the sudden flash
+of the headlight of the approaching engine, as it shot around the curve,
+caused both men to lose their hold and spring from the track. The
+strong, clear light flooded both with its brilliancy, and in that
+instant mutual recognition took place.
+
+"Wittrock!"
+
+"Moriarity!"
+
+The train swept by, and the darkness again settled around the late
+combatants.
+
+Cummings was the first to speak.
+
+"How the devil did you get here, Dan?"
+
+"Just what I was going to ask you, Fred."
+
+"Then you didn't get my letter?"
+
+"What letter."
+
+"I wrote you from Chicago, to be on hand at the 'plant' to-night."
+
+"Did you send it to Leavenworth?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I am on my way there now. Got busted in St, Louis, couldn't make a
+raise, and I commenced to count ties for Leavenworth."
+
+"Yes, then you took me for some jay, and tried to hold me up. It's lucky
+I met you, I need you."
+
+"Any money in it?"
+
+"Slathers of it."
+
+"What's your lay?"
+
+Cummings hesitated a minute before replying, and then said:
+
+"Dan! you went back on me once, I don't know that I can trust you, you
+are too--"
+
+"Trust me! You give Dan Moriarity a chance to cover some tin, and he's
+yours, body and soul."
+
+"What's your price to help me, and keep your mouth shut?"
+
+"$2,000."
+
+"It's a go," and Cummings held out his hand.
+
+The compact was thus sealed, and lighting a match, Cummings commenced to
+look for his valise.
+
+It had, fortunately, fallen outside the rails, and picking it up,
+Cummings led the way, followed by the somewhat surprised and still more
+curious Moriarity.
+
+At this point on the Missouri river, the bluffs rise abruptly from the
+banks. The railroad, winding around the curves, was literally hewn from
+the solid rock. Deep gullies and ravines, starting from the water,
+Intersected all portions of the country, and the thick underbrush made
+this place a safe and secure hiding-place for fugitives from justice,
+river pirates and moonshiners.
+
+Cummings, at a point where one of these gullies branched off from the
+railroad, turned into it, and with confident steps, followed closely by
+Moriarity, scaled the rocky precipice. Half way up the toilsome ascent,
+he halted, and placing his fingers in his mouth, gave three shrill
+whistles. Two short, and one long drawn sounds.
+
+It was immediately answered; and in an instant, a flaming torch sprang
+into view, and almost as quickly was extinguished.
+
+A short climb, and turning sharply to the right, Cummings again stopped.
+The signal, repeated softly, was answered by a voice asking:
+
+"Who comes there?"
+
+To which Cummings replied:
+
+"It is I, be not afraid," at the same time poking Moriarity in the ribs,
+and chuckling:
+
+"I haven't forgotten my Bible yet, eh, Dan?"
+
+A blanket was lifted to one side, and disclosed to view the entrance to
+a natural cave, into the wall of which was stuck a naming, pitch-pine
+knot. Entering, the blanket was dropped, and preceded by a man, whose
+features the fitful glare of the torch failed to reveal, the two
+adventurers were ushered into the main portion of the cavern.
+
+In one corner the copper kettle and coiled worm of a whisky still told
+it was the abode of an illicit distiller, or a "moonshiner."
+
+A large fire cast a ruddy glow over the cave, and blankets and cooking
+utensils were scattered about. As the guide stepped into the light, he
+turned around, his eyes first falling on the well-stuffed valise and
+then upon Cummings' face, which wore such an expression of success and
+satisfaction that he exclaimed, as he held out his hand:
+
+"By the ghost of Jesse James, you did it, old man."
+
+"This looks like it, don't it?" said the successful express-car robber,
+holding his valise to the light. "Don't you know this man, Haight?"
+
+"Damme, if it isn't Dan Moriarity."
+
+"The same old penny--Haight," and Moriarity clasped his hand.
+
+Haight, as host, did the honors. An empty flour barrel, covered by a
+square board, made an acceptable table. Small whisky barrels did duty as
+chairs, and a substantial repast of boiled fish, partridges and gray
+squirrels, supplemented with steaming glasses of hot toddy, satisfied
+the inner man, and, for a time, caused them to forget the exciting train
+of events through which they had just passed.
+
+After their hunger had been appeased pipes were lit, and the fragrant
+glass of spirits, filled to the brim, were placed conveniently and
+seductively near at hand.
+
+Cummings then related, in detail, his night's exploit and ended by
+opening the valise and taking out the packages of currency which it
+contained. It was a strange picture to gaze upon. The fire-lit cave,
+shrouded outside with mystery and darkness, but its heart alive with
+light and warmth; the rude appliances and paraphernalia for distilling
+the contraband "mountain dew"; the floor strewn with blankets, cooking-
+tins, a rifle or two, and provisions, while, bathed in the warm glow of
+the cheerful fire, secure from pursuit and comfortably housed from the
+weather, the three men, with greedy eyes, drank in the enchanting vision
+of luxurious wealth, which lay, bound in its neat wrappers, upon the
+floor of the cave.
+
+Not one of these men could be classed with professional criminals,
+Moriarity, perhaps, had several times done some "fine work," but was
+unknown in the strata of crime, and was never seen in the society of
+"experts."
+
+His attack upon Cummings could be called his debut, just as Cummings'
+late success could be looked on as his first definite step within the
+portals of outlawry and crime. Haight, as an accessory to the robbery,
+had hardly taken his first plunge. Some time before this these same men,
+with others, had planned an extensive robbery on the same line, but
+Moriarity weakened at the last moment and the whole thing fell through.
+It was this incident which caused Cummings to doubt his trustworthiness.
+Still Moriarity had a certain amount of bull courage, of which Cummings
+was aware, and if his palm was but crossed by the almighty dollar he
+would be a valuable ally. For this reason Cummings had taken him again
+into his confidence.
+
+For some moments the three men sat silently puffing their pipes and
+picturing the delight of spending their ill-gotten booty, when Cummings,
+rising from his seat, placed the money on the table and cut the strings
+which bound it together.
+
+A hasty count revealed $53,000 in currency and about $40,000 in bonds,
+mortgage deeds, and other unconvertible valuables.
+
+He had evidently fully considered his plans, and without any previous
+beating around the bush, proceeded to execute them.
+
+Opening a package of smaller bills he divided it into three parts,
+giving Haight and Moriarity each a share. The remainder of the plunder
+he again divided into three portions, and taking the larger one for
+himself, proceeded to wrap it and tie it securely; his companions,
+taking their cue from him, doing likewise.
+
+"Boys," he then said, "as soon as the robbery is discovered the company
+will turn hell itself upside down to find it. Pinkerton will be on our
+trail in forty-eight hours. The first thing they will do will be to
+suspect the messenger. He will be arrested, and while they are monkeying
+with him we must get out of the way. I told the poor devil I would write
+a letter to some paper, I think I said the Globe-Democrat, which would
+clear him, but we must make ourselves safe first.
+
+"Dan, you must get to Leavenworth, find Cook, and have him plant what
+you have. Haight will go to Chicago and know what to do, while I--well-
+-I am going south for my health."
+
+Stopping abruptly he drew his revolver, and stepping up to Moriarity,
+placed the cold muzzle to his temple. His eyes, cold as steel and sharp
+as an arrow, were fastened upon Dan's very heart, and speaking with
+terrible earnestness, he said:
+
+"Dan Moriarity, if ever you break faith with me, I'll kill you like a
+cur, so help me God!"
+
+Moriarity stood the ordeal without flinching, and holding his right hand
+above his head, took a solemn oath never to betray, by word or deed, the
+trust which had been placed in him.
+
+Without another word each man carefully placed his particular charge
+securely about his person. Every scrap of paper was gathered up, and,
+after extinguishing the fire, the three men left the cave, and in the
+dawn of the early morning descended to the railroad track.
+
+Hands were shaken, the last words of advice given, and Cummings plunged
+into the labyrinth of gullies and underbrush, leaving his companions
+each to pursue his own way, Moriarity going west, while Haight, going
+east, sprang the fence, and entering a thick patch of bushes, brought
+out a horse, saddled and bridled. Mounting this he struck into a quick
+canter across the country toward St. Louis.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE FIRST CLEW FOUND.
+
+
+Mr. Pinkerton had passed an anxious week, Never before had he been so
+completely baffled. The finding of the letter-heads with Bartlett's name
+written on them in Fotheringham's trunk had quite upset his theories.
+Yet the most searching examination could find nothing in the suspected
+messenger's previous movements, upon which to fasten any connection with
+the robbery.
+
+The vast machinery of Pinkerton's Detective Agency was at work all over
+the country. His brightest and keenest operatives had been brought
+together in St. Louis, Kansas City, Leavenworth and Chicago. False clews
+were sprung every day, and run down to a disappointed termination. But
+all to no purpose. Outwitted and baffled, Mr. Pinkerton was treading his
+apartment at the Southern Hotel with impatient steps; his brow was
+wrinkled with thought and his eyes heavy with loss of sleep. In his vast
+and varied experience with criminals he had never yet met one who had so
+completely covered his tracks as this same Jim Cummings. Of one thing he
+was satisfied, however, and that was, that no professional criminal had
+committed the robbery, and again that two or more men were concerned in
+it.
+
+In Fotheringham's description of the robbery, he had mentioned hearing
+an unusual noise in the fore part of the car, as if some one were
+tapping on the partition, and on examining the car, the bell-cord was
+found to be plugged. This showed an accomplice, or perhaps more than
+one.
+
+That it was not done by a professional was clear, because Mr. Pinkerton,
+having the entire directory and encyclopedia of crime and criminals at
+his fingers' end, knew of no one that would have gone about the affair
+as this man Cummings had done.
+
+As everything else has its system, and each system has its followers, so
+robbery has its method, and each method its advocates and practitioners.
+This is so assuredly the fact that the detective almost instantly
+recognizes the hand which did the work by the manner in which the work
+was done.
+
+This particular robbery was unique. An express car had never been looted
+in this manner before. "Therefore," said Mr. Pinkerton, "it was done by
+a new man, and although this new man had the nerve, brains and
+shrewdness necessary to successfully terminate his plans, yet he will
+lack the cunning and experience of an old hand in keeping clear of the
+detectives and the law, and will do some one thing which will put us
+upon his track."
+
+He had just arrived at this comforting conclusion, when an impatient rap
+was heard on the door, followed almost instantly by Mr. Damsel opening
+it and entering the room.
+
+In his hand he held a letter, and, full of excitement, he waved it over
+his head, as he said:
+
+"He has written a letter."
+
+A gleam of satisfaction was in Mr. Pinkerton's eye as he took the paper
+from Mr. Damsel, but his manner was entirely void of excitement, and his
+voice was calm and even, as he replied:
+
+"I expected he would do something of that sort."
+
+Mr. Damsel--his excitement somewhat allayed by the nonchalant manner
+with which the detective had received the news--seated himself on the
+sofa.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton read the letter carefully.
+
+It was headed "St. Joe, Missouri," and addressed to the editor of the
+St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and a large number of sheets, closely written
+in a backhand, was signed "Yours truly, Jim Cummings." It stated, in
+substance, that the robbery had been carefully planned some time before
+the occurrence. That entrance had been gained to the express car by the
+presentation of a forged order from Route Agent Bartlett, and that
+Fotheringham was entirely innocent of the entire affair.
+
+The letter related, minutely, all that occurred from the time the train
+left St. Louis until it reached Pacific.
+
+It told how the messenger was attacked, gagged and bound, and, in fact,
+was such a complete expose of the robbery that Mr. Pinkerton laid it
+down with an incredulous smile, saying:
+
+"Nothing to that, Mr. Damsel. That letter was not written by the robber,
+but is a practical joke, played by some one who gleaned all his
+information from the newspapers."
+
+"Indeed," responded Mr. Damsel, "then what do you say to this?" and he
+handed Mr. Pinkerton two pieces of calendered white wrapping paper,
+showing the seals of the Adams Express Company upon it, the strings cut,
+but the paper still retaining the form of an oblong package.
+
+Surprised and puzzled, Mr. Pinkerton saw they were the original
+wrappings of the $30,000 and $12,000 packages which had been taken from
+the safe by the robber. The addresses were still on the paper, and Mr.
+Damsel, in a most emphatic tone, said:
+
+"I'm prepared to swear that they are genuine."
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, still silent, re-read the letter, carefully weighing each
+word, and this time finishing it.
+
+He came to one paragraph, which read:
+
+"Now to prove these facts * * * * I took my gun, a Smith we had
+practiced on, and checked the package in the St. Louis Union Depot,
+under the initials J. M. Now if you want a good little gun and billy, go
+and get out the packages checked to J. M. in the Union Depot October
+25th; there are probably seventy-five or eighty cents charges on it by
+this time, but the gun alone is worth $10. Also, if you want a double-
+barreled shot-gun, muzzle-loader, go along the bank of the Missouri
+River, on the north side, about a mile below St. Charles bridge, and
+about twenty feet along the bank, just east of that dike that runs out
+into the river, and you will find in a little gully a shot-gun and a
+musket. Be careful. I left them both loaded with buckshot and caps on
+the tubes. They were laying, wrapped up in an oil-cloth, with some weeds
+thrown over them. Also, down on the river just below the guns, I left my
+skiff and a lot of stuff, coffee-pot, skillet, and partially concealed,
+just west of the skiff, you will find a box of grub, coffee, bacon, etc.
+I came down the river in a skiff Tuesday night, October 26-27, from a
+point opposite Labodie. It is a run of thirty-five or thirty-six miles.
+They should all be there unless some one found them before you got
+there." * * * *
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, in a brown study, tapping the table with his fingers, sat
+for some moments. Rising abruptly, he placed his hat on his head, and
+requesting Mr. Damsel to follow, left the room. In a short time he was
+in the Union Depot, and stepping up to the clerk of the parcel-room,
+asked for a package which had been left there October 25th, marked "J.
+M.," stating that he had lost his ticket. After some search, the clerk
+brought forward a parcel tied in a newspaper.
+
+"This is marked J. M., and was left here October 25th."
+
+"That is the one," said Mr. Pinkerton, and paying the charges, hastened
+back to the hotel,
+
+In spite of his habitual calmness and sang froid, Mr. Pinkerton's hand
+trembled as he cut the string. As the paper was unwrapped, both men gave
+an exclamation of surprise and joy, for disclosed to view was a
+revolver, a billy, some shirts and papers.
+
+"At last," cried Mr. Pinkerton, and he eagerly scanned the various
+articles. The revolver was an ordinary, self-cocking Smith & Wesson. The
+billy was the sort called "life-preservers." The Adams Express letter-
+heads were covered with the names "J. B. Barrett" and "W. H. Damsel."
+Mr. Pinkerton passed these to his companions.
+
+"They are pretty fair forgeries. Hang me, if it don't look as though I
+had written that name myself."
+
+The detective, all this time, was scrutinizing each article, hoping to
+find something new.
+
+With the papers he took out a printed ballad-sheet of the kind sold on
+the streets by newsboys and fakirs. Turning it over, he saw something
+written on it, and looking closely, read, "----, Chestnut street,"
+
+The handwriting was the same as the handwriting of the letter. The first
+clew had been found.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"CHIP" BINGHAM.
+
+
+George Bingham, or as he was familiarly called, "Chip" Bingham, was the
+youngest operative in Mr. Pinkerton's service. His talents, in the
+detective line, ranged considerably higher than did the general run of
+his associates. Possessing an analytical mind, he could take the effect,
+and, by logical conclusions, retrace its path to the fundamental cause,
+and following this principle, he had made many valuable discoveries in
+mystery-shrouded cases, and had, many times, picked the end of a clew
+from a seemingly hopeless snarl, and raveled the entire mesh of
+circumstantial evidence, and made from it a strong cord of substantiated
+facts. Mr. Pinkerton had early recognized this talent, and having,
+besides, a peculiar attachment to the handsome young fellow, he
+frequently placed delicate and intricate cases into his hands, always
+with good results. It was for Chip, then, he sent, when he had finished
+his examination of the valuable package.
+
+Mr. Damsel, his mind somewhat freed from the trouble and worry it had
+carried since the robbery, had left Mr. Pinkerton alone and returned to
+his office.
+
+Chip, on receipt of his superior's message, immediately repaired to Room
+84. His downcast countenance and disappointed air told of fruitless
+endeavors to catch even the slightest real clew. He said nothing as he
+entered the room, but with a gesture of hopeless failure he sank into a
+chair and awaited his chief's pleasure.
+
+"Chip, I've got a starter."
+
+With an indulgent smile Chip nodded his head, but failed to exhibit any
+extraordinary interest.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton's eyes twinkled. He understood the situation, but time was
+valuable and he could not waste any in humorous by-play. So without
+further parleying he handed Chip the tell-tale letter.
+
+The young detective, almost from the first word, put the letter down as
+a practical joke, perpetrated on the newspaper, but as the missive
+progressed he became interested, and when he had reached that portion
+which told of the package every fiber of his detective instinct was
+alive, and Mr. Pinkerton had no need of pointing to the precious parcel
+as corroborative evidence that the letter was genuine.
+
+In an instant Chip was examining the contents. Every portion of the
+revolver, billy and letterheads was searched with deepest scrutiny. The
+printed sheet of ballad music was picked up, the verses read and the
+sheet turned.
+
+An exclamation burst from his lips, as his eye caught the words, written
+in lead pencil, "----Chestnut Street," and placing it beside the letter,
+he saw it was written by the same hand. "The devil! Here is a starter!"
+
+His face glowed with animation, his eyes had the alert look of a hound
+on a hot scent, and carefully noting the number in his memorandum book,
+without waiting instructions from Mr. Pinkerton, he picked up his hat
+and hurriedly left the room.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, in full sympathy with his subordinate, lit a cigar, and
+settled back for a comfortable smoke until Chip made his report.
+
+Chip, regaining the street, engaged a hack standing near the hotel, and
+stopping it a short distance from the number he wanted on Chestnut
+street, walked the remaining distance to the house.
+
+A sign "Board by the week or day," and another one, "Furnished rooms to
+let," showed it to be an ordinary boarding-house. Chip had fully decided
+within himself, during the ride, that the men who had left the parcel
+had also left St. Louis. While it was not so much an improbability that
+the men would still be in the city, it was far more probable that they
+would put some distance between themselves and the scene of their
+exploit. For this reason, Chip decided that a plain course would result
+in no unfortunate mishap or premature flushing of the game.
+
+Ascending the steps, he rang the bell.
+
+The landlady of the house herself opened the door.
+
+Before Chip could speak, she said:
+
+"You're a detective, aren't you?"
+
+"Yes," said Chip, somewhat surprised, and regretting immediately that he
+had not made his entrance in a more detective-like manner.
+
+"I've been expecting some of you. You want to know about those two men
+that stopped with me a short time before the 'Frisco express robbery?"
+
+Seeing at once that he was conversing with a more than ordinary shrewd
+individual, Chip replied, "That's just what I'm here for. But why do you
+ask that question?"
+
+"Well, I suspicioned something was wrong with them two men. They came
+here on the fifteenth of October, and paid me a week's board in advance.
+They kept their room almost all the time, and when I went in to clean
+it, I saw a lot of railroad time-tables and maps scattered around. One
+of them was always in the room. It was never left alone. A week before
+the robbery, the smaller man left, he said for Kansas City, and the
+larger man told me if a letter came to the house, directed to Williams,
+that is for him. Well, on the Friday before the robbery, such a letter
+did come, and the big man, after reading it, said he had to go to Kansas
+City at once, but he didn't leave the house until Monday, and the next
+day the robbery occurred."
+
+"Can you give me a description of the men?"
+
+The landlady thereupon gave a full description of the larger man, which
+Chip carefully inserted in his note book, and recognized as the same
+given by Fotheringham of his assailant on that memorable night. But her
+description of the smaller of the two was somewhat vague, as she said he
+was only in the house a short time, and she saw very little of him.
+
+"May I go up to the room?"
+
+"Yes; come this way."
+
+Entering the room, the first thing which met the detective's eye was a
+bottle containing some sort of liniment, having on it a label of a
+neighboring druggist, In a closet a pair of drawers were found, and with
+the dark brown stain below the knee was almost identical to that which
+Chip had found on the railroad track, and which the robber had thrown
+from the express car. Not satisfied with this, Chip ripped up the
+carpet, and as a reward for his labor found an express tag, or rather a
+portion of one, for the tag was torn in two pieces. On the tag Chip read
+the portion of an address, "----ority," and below, "----worth, Kansas."
+Further questioning of the garrulous landlady gained a description of
+the valise which the larger man carried away with him. It tallied with
+the description given by Fotheringham of the valise into which Jim
+Cummings had put the stolen money.
+
+Gathering his trophies together, Chip bid his talkative lady friend
+good-day, and immediately bent his steps toward the drug store, from
+which had come the bottle of liniment.
+
+No, the druggist could not recollect what particular person had bought
+that bottle, but if the young man would call on Doctor B----, he could
+probably ascertain the fact from him, as the liniment was put up from
+the Doctor's prescription. Chip, in a short time, was ushered into the
+Doctor's presence.
+
+Yes, the Doctor not only recollected the man, but gave a very close
+description of him. The man had come to him, suffering from a bad bruise
+or cut on the leg below the knee. Nothing serious, but so painful that
+it caused him to limp. He had made out the prescription of the unguent
+which the bottle had contained, and the man had paid for it. But he gave
+no name, nor in what manner he had received the injury.
+
+Chip, satisfied with his work, left the physician, and whistling for his
+jehu, drove back to the hotel.
+
+That the large man who had boarded with the landlady at ---- Chestnut
+street, and had bought and used the ointment, was identical with Jim
+Cummings, the express robber, Chip had not the shadow of a doubt. The
+smaller man was, of course, his accomplice. He had seen where the men
+had secreted themselves a week before the robbery, he vas even pretty
+certain of their movements during that time, but the question was where
+had they gone AFTER the deed was committed. Who and where was the
+accomplice? What other men had aided and abetted them in the scheme?
+With his mind full of these perplexing queries, he sought Mr.
+Pinkerton's room, and laid before him the result of his search.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton listened attentively and picking up the torn express tag,
+examined it carefully.
+
+It was a portion of an ordinary tag, such as is used by the Adams
+Express Company.
+
+It had been torn about the middle. The strings were still on it. From
+its appearance it had been addressed, and the person, not satisfied with
+his work, had torn it in two and thrown it on the floor, from which it
+had probably been swept in a corner, and eventually got under the edge
+of the carpet, where Chip had found it. It read.
+
+ ority
+
+worth Kansas
+
+[Illustration: a drawing of a torn ticket.]
+
+On the reverse side in faint penciled characters were the words: "it to
+Cook," From the blurred appearance of the words it was evident that a
+rubber had been used to erase them. These words had escaped Chip's
+notice, but as soon as Mr. Pinkerton saw them, he said:
+
+"I see it all, Chip. I see it all. A message was written on the tag,
+probably giving some instructions, such as 'Send it to Cook,' or 'Give
+it to Cook,' and the person sending it changing his mind about writing
+his instructions so openly tried to erase the words with a rubber, but
+failing to do it tore the tag up and addressed another one.
+
+"The package to which this was to have been tied was sent to some man
+whose name ends in 'ority and who was in Leavenworth, Kansas. We can
+find that out to-morrow, Chip, so turn in and get some sleep."
+
+The next morning the books of the company were overhauled, and after a
+long, patient and careful search it was found that on October 23d, two
+days before the robbery, a valise had been expressed to a Daniel
+Moriarity, Leavenworth, Kansas, charges prepaid, by a man named John
+Williams.
+
+That evening Chip left St, Louis for Leavenworth and Mr. Pinkerton
+returned to Chicago.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE TRAMP.
+
+
+About the middle of November, after the now famous express robbery had
+taken place, a man, roughly dressed in a coarse suit of blue, wearing a
+woolen shirt open at the neck, and, knotted around his throat, a gaudy
+silk handkerchief, was strolling leisurely along the east bottoms near
+Kansas City. His face was tanned by exposure to the sun, and his shoes
+had the flattened and battered condition which is the natural
+consequence of a long and weary tramp. He walked as if he had no
+particular objective point, and looked like one of those peripatetic
+gentry who toil not neither do they spin, the genus "tramp." He
+complacently puffed a short clay nose-warmer, with his hands in his
+pockets, and taking first one side and then the other of the road, as
+his fancy dictated, found himself near the old distillery at the
+outskirts of the city.
+
+A saloon near at hand, with its front door invitingly open, attracted
+his attention, and the cheering sounds of a violin, scraping out some
+popular air, gave a further impetus to inclination, and the tramp turned
+to the open door and entered. Seated on an empty barrel, his foot
+executing vigorous time to his own music, sat the magician of the horse-
+hair bow.
+
+Leaning against the bar, or seated at the small tables scattered around,
+the tramp saw a goodly number of the disciples of Bacchus, while from an
+inner room the clicking of ivory chips and half suppressed expressions
+of "I'll see you an' go you tenner better." "A full house pat, what 'er
+ye got," designated the altar at which the worshipers of "draw poker"
+were offering sacrifices.
+
+The saloon consisted of one long, low room, on one side of which was
+located the conventional bar, with its background of glittering
+decanters and dazzling glasses and its "choice assortment of liquors"--
+to quote the sign which called attention to these necessary luxuries.
+
+A large stove stood in the center of the room, and a number of small
+tables were placed around promiscuously, The bar-tender, a smooth-faced,
+beetle-browed rascal, was engaged in shaking dice for the drinks with a
+customer, and, to the music of the violin, a light-footed Irishman was
+executing his national jig, to the great delight and no small
+edification of his enthusiastic audience.
+
+The wide sombreroes, perched back on the head, pointed out the cowboys
+who were making up for the lonesome days and nights on the plains.
+
+It was a motley crowd, a fair specimen of the heterogeneous mass of
+humanity which floats hither and there all over our western States, and
+contained some villainous-looking fellows.
+
+As the tramp entered, the interest in the jig was developing into
+enthusiasm. Hands were clapped, and fingers snapped to the time of the
+nimble heels and toes of the jaunty Corkonian. The violinist was
+settling down to vigorous work, and Pat, having the incentive of
+anticipated free drinks as a reward for his efforts, was executing the
+most intricate of steps.
+
+The tramp lounged to the bar, followed by the suspicious glance of the
+bar-keeper, who assumed a more respectful demeanor as the object of his
+suspicions threw down a silver quarter and named his drink. It was
+quickly furnished, and as quickly disposed of. The dancer had finished
+his jig and accepted with alacrity the proffered offers to wet his
+whistle. As he stepped to the bar his glance fell upon the tramp.
+
+"Are ye drinkin' this aivenin'?"
+
+"I am that," responded the tramp,
+
+"Faith, an' its not at yer own expinse, then," with a glance at the
+ragged clothing and "hard-up" appearance of the wanderer.
+
+"An' a divil sight less at yours," retorted the tramp. "But by the same
+token, we both get our rosy by manes of our heels."
+
+"Shure fir ye, lad. Its hard up I've been myself before the now, but its
+a cold day when Barney O'Hara will let a bog-trotter go dry--name your
+poison."
+
+"Its the rale ould stuff I'll be a takin' straight," and the tramp
+spread his elbows on the counter and soon demonstrated his ability to
+gulp down the fiery fluid without any such effeminate trimmings as water
+in it. After the first glass had been emptied the tramp said:
+
+"I've had a bit of luck to-day; what's your medicine?"
+
+"The same," responded Barney.
+
+The liquor was poured into the glasses, and the tramp, diving deep in
+his pockets, drew out some small silver currency, and, with a movement
+expressive of untold wealth, threw it on the counter.
+
+As he did so, the bar-keeper uttered an oath of astonishment, several of
+the roysterers sprang forward, and Barney, with an exclamation of
+amazement, put his hand on a Pinkerton detective star, with its terrible
+eye in the center, which had fallen on the counter with the nickles and
+dimes the tramp had thrown down.
+
+Dark looks and murderous eyes were turned on the tramp, and more than
+one hand was placed on a revolver, The bar-keeper with an ugly look, and
+bullying swagger, stepped from behind the bar and advanced on the tramp,
+his face distorted with rage, and his fists doubled in a most aggressive
+manner.
+
+The tramp, without moving, and apparently ignorant of the sensation he
+had created, raised his glass to his lips, and with a hearty "Here's to
+ye, lads," tossed off the whisky.
+
+As he replaced his glass, he became aware that he was the center of
+attention, and facing the bar-keeper, said:
+
+"What's the row with ye? I paid fer the drinks,"
+
+"What are you doin' with a detective's star?" said the bar-keeper,
+
+"Haven't I a right to one; I dunno--finders keepers, losers weepers--I
+picked the bit of brass up on the road not over an hour ago,"
+
+The bar-keeper was not to be pacified by such a story, and in a
+threatening voice, he asked:
+
+"Are you a man-hunter or not?"
+
+The tramp threw a pitying glance of scorn at the pugilistic whisky-
+seller, as he replied:
+
+"Be gorra, ye damned fool, do you think that I'd be after givin' myself
+away like this if I WAS one?"
+
+"In course ye wouldn't," broke in Barney. "Don't be a fool, Jerry, this
+man is no detective," and Barney fastened the star to the vest which
+encircled the portly form of the bar-keeper.
+
+"Now ye're one yerself, an' will be after runnin' us all in fer not
+detectin' enough of the elegant liquor ye handle."
+
+To this the man could make no reply, save a deep, hoarse laugh, and
+resuming his professional position, was shortly engaged in alleviating
+the thirst of his patrons.
+
+This little episode had just occurred, when the door of the inner room
+was thrown violently open and a man, his coat off, rushed up to the bar.
+
+"Here, Jerry, break this fifty for me," at the same time throwing down a
+fifty-dollar bill, crisp and fresh.
+
+"Your playin' in bad luck to-day, Cook?"
+
+"Yes, damn it," said Cook. "Give me a drink for good luck."
+
+As the bar-keeper uttered the name of Cook a quick, but hardly
+perceptible glance of intelligence passed between Barney and the tramp.
+
+Cook hastily swallowed his whisky, rushed back to the poker table with a
+handful of five dollar bills, and quiet reigned over the place. The bar-
+keeper, who spied a possible good customer in the tramp, had entered
+into a little conversation at the end of the counter, on which the tramp
+leaned, the embodiment of solid comfort, puffing his cigar vigorously,
+or allowing it to burn itself out in little rings of smoke.
+
+"You're a stranger to these parts?"
+
+With an expressive wink, the tramp replied:
+
+"Not so much as ye think, I've spint many a noight around here."
+
+"Night hawk, eh? an' I took you for a man-trailer."
+
+"I've had the spalpeens after myself afore now," spoke the tramp, in a
+low, confidential whisper.
+
+"You keep yourself devilish low, then, for I know all the lads, and it's
+the first time I've clapped these two eyes on you."
+
+"Do ye think I mane to let the fly cops put their darbies on me, that I
+should be nosin' around in the broad day?"
+
+"You're too fly for them, I see," said the bar-keeper, with a sagacious
+shake of his head. "You an' Barney are a pair."
+
+"Barney? Ye mane the Irish lad that was just here a bit ago?"
+
+"The same. He's square. He's one of you."
+
+The tramp leaned forward, his eyes fastened on the bloodshot eyes of the
+drink-compounder, and in an earnest tone, asked:
+
+"Is he a bye that could crack a plant with the loikes o' me?"
+
+Impressed with the tone and manner of the tramp, the bar-keeper gazed
+quickly around the room, and in a still lower tone, replied:
+
+"He's on a lay himself. Would you like to go his pal?" The tramp slowly
+nodded his head, and after receiving the whispered invitation to come
+around later, strolled out of the saloon; and so on up the road.
+
+Turning a corner he nearly ran against Barney himself, who was sitting
+on a horse-block, enjoying a pipe and the sun.
+
+Not a soul was in sight. Satisfying himself of that fact, Barney gazed
+at the tramp and said:
+
+"By Jove, Chip, I thought you were a goner when that confounded star
+fell out."
+
+Chip gave a deep sigh of relief, and taking off his hat, pointed to the
+perspiration which moistened the band:
+
+"Don't that look as though I thought so, too, Sam?"
+
+"How in the name of all that's lovely, did you happen to be so
+careless?"
+
+"That's what it was, sheer carelessness. I suffered, though, for it. It
+would have been all up with me if the gang had not been so deucedly
+stupid. That Jerry is a villain, and no mistake. I told him that I was a
+profesh, and he told me that you were another, and had a plan to do some
+fine work without asking permission of the owners. So I am to meet him
+again to-night, and see if you will not take me as your pal. You have
+your cue, and will know how to act."
+
+"Chip, did you notice that man Cook?"
+
+"You mean, did I notice the fifty-dollar bill he threw down?"
+
+"Well, both."
+
+"Seems to me he didn't look like a man that ought to be carrying fifty-
+dollar bills around so recklessly."
+
+"He's a cooper, runs that little shop over there, and hasn't done a
+stroke of work for a month."
+
+The cooper-shop pointed out by Sam was a small frame building, having
+the sign, "Oscar Cook--Barrels and Kegs," painted over the door. It was
+a tumbled-down, rickety affair, evidently having seen its best days.
+
+Chip surveyed it intently, then turned to Sam, inquired:
+
+"That express tag had on it something about a man named Cook, didn't
+it?"
+
+"Yes, the words, 'it to Cook.'"
+
+"Supposing that Dan Moriarity, whom we now know had some connection with
+the robbery, had taken the valise, which was sent from St. Louis to
+Leavenworth, had obeyed the order, for it was evidently an order which
+was written on the tag, and given 'it to Cook,' it would be fair to
+infer that the Cook mentioned had some hand in the pudding, too, and
+ought to be pretty flush about this time."
+
+"You mean--"
+
+"No, I don't mean that the Cook over in the saloon playing poker and the
+Cook mentioned on the tag are the same person, but we found no Dan
+Moriarity or Cook in Leavenworth but what was above suspicion, and I
+think that the men who were smart enough to plan and carry out a robbery
+such as this was would be shrewd enough to take every possible
+precaution against discovery. I mean that neither Moriarity or Cook are
+Leavenworth people, and for all we know to the contrary, may live here
+in Kansas City."
+
+As Chip finished speaking, a man appeared in front of the cooper shop,
+and unlocking the door, entered.
+
+"There is Cook, now," said Sam, making a movement as if to rise.
+
+With a motion of the hand Chip cautioned him to remain where he was, and
+with lazy steps, lounged toward the shop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+CAPTURE AND RESCUE.
+
+
+The White Elephant was a large gambling hall in Kansas City, situated on
+one of the principal thoroughfares. It was centrally located, and night
+after night the brilliant lights and crowded tables bore witness to its
+rushing business.
+
+On this evening the tiger was out with all its claws. Rouge et noir,
+roulette, faro, keno, and stud-poker were going in full blast. The
+proprietor, his elegant diamonds flashing in the light, was seated on a
+raised platform from whence he could survey the entire company--his
+face, impassive as marble and unreadable as the sphinx, was turned
+toward the faro lay-out, which this evening appeared to be the center of
+attraction.
+
+Among the players sat one whose tall form and athletic frame would have
+been noticeable under any circumstances, but was now more so, as it
+towered above his fellow-gamesters who crowded around the table.
+
+Before him lay a high pile of chips. He played with the nonchalant air
+of one who was there merely to pass away a vacant hour, but his stakes
+were high and he played every shot. His calm, impassioned countenance
+bore the unmistakable stamp of the professional gambler, and, serene as
+a quiet mill-pond, he bore his losses or pocketed his winnings with the
+enviable sang froid which results from a long and intimate acquaintance
+with the green-baized table.
+
+Every night for a week had this man occupied the same seat, and with
+careless imperturbability had mulcted the bank of several thousands.
+
+Rieley, the proprietor, himself one of the coolest dare-devil gamblers
+in the West, had recognized a kindred spirit, but to all advances and
+efforts to make his acquaintance the stranger had turned a cool
+shoulder, and his identity was still a matter of conjecture.
+
+Rieley was watching him closely this evening, so intently, indeed, that
+the stranger, with a look of annoyance, swept the chips into his hat and
+stepping up to the banker cashed them in and walked out of the room. As
+he emerged from the door he came in violent contact with a man just
+entering.
+
+"I beg your pardon."
+
+"Not at--by Jove! Moriarity, you here too?"
+
+"Blest if it isn't Jim!"
+
+"Hush! you fool, speak lower."
+
+"Been up bucking the tiger?"
+
+"I've been making a damned fool of myself. Rieley watched me too close
+for comfort, and I am going to vamoose."
+
+"When?"
+
+"None of your business. I want you to come with me to-night. I must see
+Cook."
+
+"Don't do it, Jim. Pinkerton's men are as thick as blackberries. You
+will run into one of them if you don't lay low.
+
+"No danger for me. One of them has a room next to mine at the hotel, and
+I played billiards with him this afternoon."
+
+"You're a cool one, Jim. Too cool. It will get you into trouble yet."
+
+"Damn your croaking, man. Do you show the white feather now?"
+
+"Not I. I only warned you."
+
+"Well, put a clapper to your jaw, and come along."
+
+Boarding a street car, the men stood on the front platform smoking
+during the long ride to the terminus of the road.
+
+Leaving the car, they plunged through the darkness over the same path
+trod by the tramp earlier in the afternoon.
+
+The dark form of the distillery loomed up ahead of them, gloomy and
+lonesome.
+
+Overhead not a star was to be seen, and save an occasional drunkard
+staggering home, the two men were alone on the road.
+
+A short distance beyond the distillery the cooper-shop squatted beside
+the street, and the dim flicker of a candle cast its pitiful light
+through the dirt-encrusted window.
+
+As Moriarity and Cummings stepped from the shadow of the distillery, an
+indistinct form stole behind them, and keeping just within sight,
+followed the two men as they wended their lonely way to Cook's shop.
+
+Disdaining all attempts at concealment, Cummings rapped loudly on the
+door.
+
+The sound of clinking glasses was heard, and a voice, heavy and thick,
+growled out, "Come in."
+
+A vigorous shove opened the door, and Cummings was about to step inside,
+but at the sight of another man, a ragged tramp, drinking with Cook, he
+stopped short.
+
+"Come in, b'hoy, come in; d-d-don't keep the d-d-door open; come right
+in," stuttered Cook, too drunk to speak intelligibly.
+
+The tramp, elevating his glass above his head, with an inviting gesture,
+shouted the words of the old drinking song:
+
+    "Drink, puppy, drink, let every puppy drink
+        That's old enough to stand and to swallow.
+      For we'll pass the bottle round, when we've become a hound,
+        And merrily we'll drink and we'll hallo."
+
+Cook attempted to join in the chorus, but his voice failed him, his head
+sank down upon his breast, and, in a drunken stupor, he rolled from his
+seat, prone upon the ground.
+
+The tramp, rising to his feet, staggered to the side of his companion,
+and steadying himself with the aid of a chair, made futile attempts to
+raise his comrade to a perpendicular position. His knees bent under him,
+the chair fell from his unsteady grasp, and murmuring, "We'll pass the
+bottle round," he lurched forward, and falling across the recumbent
+Cook, passed from the worship of Bacchus to the arms of Morpheus,
+seemingly dead drunk.
+
+With a bitter curse of rage Cummings stepped forward, and, with rough
+hands, separated the boon companions, thrusting the tramp without
+ceremony under the table, Moriarity in the meantime shaking Cook in vain
+attempts to rouse him from his maudlin stupor. Cook, however, was too
+far "under the influence" to be aroused, and to the vigorous shakings
+and punchings would respond only with a hiccough and part of the refrain
+"puppies drink."
+
+Cummings, in a towering rage at finding Cook in such a helpless
+condition, paced the small shop with impatient tread, all the time
+pouring imprecations upon Cook's devoted head. A sudden turn in his
+short beat brought him facing the window, and flattened against the
+dirty pane was the face of a man gazing intently into the room.
+
+Another second and the face had disappeared.
+
+Cummings stopped abruptly at the sight of the apparition, his face
+became livid, and a shade of terror flashed across his countenance. It
+was but an instant, though, that he stood thus, and calling to Moriarity
+to follow, he dashed through the door, drawing his ready revolver from
+his side coat-pocket at the same time, and catching a fleeting glimpse
+of a flying shadow, sped after it.
+
+Moriarity, somewhat dazed at the unexpected turn of affairs, had risen
+to his feet, and stood blankly gazing at the open door, not
+comprehending what had occurred. A movement made by the pseudo tramp,
+caused him to turn around, and he was gazing straight into the open
+barrel of a dangerous-looking revolver, held by a steady hand, and cool
+daring eyes were glancing over the shining barrel, as a voice, decided
+and commanding, said:
+
+"Hands out, Dan Moriarity, I want you."
+
+Chip, as he was stretched on the floor feigning drunkenness, had kept
+his ears open, although obliged to keep his eyes closed.
+
+The single candle which lit the room, furnished light too indistinct for
+him to see the faces of the two visitors, and as he acted his character
+of the drunken man, he cudgeled his brains to account for their visit.
+
+The sudden disappearance of Cummings, and his calling out, "Moriarity,
+follow me," cleared the mystery.
+
+He comprehended the situation at once.
+
+While he did not know it was Jim Cummings that had been in the room, his
+mind with lightning speed grouped the torn express tag, the words "it to
+Cook," the man Cook, who lay beside him drunk, the fifty-dollar bill
+which he had changed at the bar-room, together with Dan Moriarity, and
+quick to reach his conclusions, he saw that it was the Moriarity he
+wanted, accompanied by some one who had come to see Cook.
+
+Half opening his eyes he saw that Moriarity was standing up, nonplussed
+at something, and instantly he drew his revolver, and as Moriarity
+turned around covered him and ordered him to hold out his hands.
+
+Staggered again the second time by seeing a ragged tramp, who a few
+seconds before was stretched at his feet in a drunken slumber, now
+erect, perfectly sober, and having the drop on him, Moriarity became
+more bewildered, and passively held out his hands.
+
+The sharp click of steel handcuffs brought the dazed man to his senses,
+but too late.
+
+He opened his mouth to cry for aid, but a strong hand was laid on his
+wind-pipe and the cry died before it was born.
+
+The cold barrel of the revolver against his ear, and the detective's
+"shut up or I'll shoot," was too strong an argument to combat, and
+Moriarity submitted to being pushed hurriedly from the room into the
+open air and dark night.
+
+Chip was beginning to congratulate himself on the important capture he
+had made, and with his hand on his captive's collar, and his revolver to
+his ear, was moving towards the center of the street, when a whistling
+"swish" was heard, the dull thud of a slung shot on the detective's head
+followed, and, every muscle relaxed, he sank a senseless man in the dust
+of the road.
+
+"Help me pick him up," said Cummings, "and be quick about it, there's
+another beak around."
+
+"I can't. I've got his darbies on."
+
+Cummings stooped down, and lifting Chip in his arms, walked rapidly down
+the road toward the river.
+
+"What are you going to do with him, Jim?"
+
+"Chuck him through the ice. He knows too much."
+
+With the senseless man in his arms, Cummings hurried forward, nor paused
+until he reached the river bank.
+
+The weather had been piercingly cold for a week, although no snow had
+fallen, and the river was frozen solid from bank to bank.
+
+To this fact Chip owed his life. When the train robber came to the ice,
+he sounded it with his heel. It was solid and firm, not even an air hole
+to be seen.
+
+Baffled in his murderous designs, he debated for a second whether it
+would not be the best thing to leave the detective on the ice, and let
+him freeze to death, but the publicity of the place, its proximity to
+the city, and the risk of having been shadowed by the man whom he had
+caught gazing through the window, caused him to think of some secure
+place wherein to put the senseless Chip. He first searched the wounded
+man's pockets, and, finding the key, released the handcuffs from
+Moriarity.
+
+The latter, seeing Cummings hesitate, and divining the cause, said in a
+questioning voice:
+
+"Why not take him to the widow's, Jim?"
+
+"I would a damned sight rather put him through the ice, but its too
+thick for me. Do you think we can carry him between us?"
+
+"It would never do to let people see us two with a dead man between us."
+
+"Then you must go up town and get a hack."
+
+Moriarity turned back to the shore, and climbing the bank, hurried in
+the direction of the city.
+
+Left alone with his victim, the desperado bent over him, placing his
+hand on Chip's heart. It beat steadily, though not strongly, and
+Cummings experienced a feeling of relief when he felt the regular
+pulsations,
+
+He had never yet shed blood, and his first passion having died out, he
+was glad that the thick ice had defeated his first purpose.
+
+The stunned detective stirred, the cold, crisp air was reviving him, and
+Cummings, his better nature asserting itself, hastily doffed his
+overcoat and threw it over the recumbent form of his captive.
+
+It was not very long before the noise of carriage wheels were heard, and
+Moriarity running out on the ice assisted Cummings in carrying Chip to
+the land and placed him in the carriage, which he had caught on the way
+to town.
+
+The driver, who had been told that "one of the boys had got more than he
+could carry," did not concern himself to investigate too closely, and
+having received his order, drove briskly from the scene.
+
+The darkness and open country gave way to gas-lights and paved streets,
+over which the carriage rattled at a lively pace. Turning into a side
+street, Dan pulled the check-strap, and the carriage turned to the curb
+and stopped.
+
+The detective, still unconscious, was lifted out, the driver paid and
+dismissed, and the two men, bearing Chip between them, entered a dark,
+narrow alley.
+
+Proceeding up this for some distance, they entered the low door of a
+basement and placed their still insensible burden on the floor.
+
+The damp, moldy smell of an underground room filled the air, and but for
+a slender beam of light which flashed beneath an adjoining door the
+place was dark as night.
+
+Softly stealing to the door, Moriarity applied his ear to the key-hole,
+and hearing no sounds within, gave a peculiar double rap on the panel.
+
+Receiving no answer, he cautiously opened the door and disclosed a
+small, square room, having a low ceiling, and lighted by a single low-
+burning gas jet.
+
+On the walls hung a large astronomical map, showing the solar system,
+and divided with the girdle of the zodiac into its various
+constellations.
+
+A grinning skull, mounted on a black pedestal, stood on a small table in
+the center of the room, and on shelves against the wall were ranged a
+number of curiously-shaped bottles.
+
+It was, in fact, the divining-room of a professional fortune-teller.
+
+The room was vacant when Moriarity opened the door, but as he threw it
+back, a small bell was sounded.
+
+Almost instantly heavy curtains which hung opposite the door were pushed
+aside, and the fortune-teller appeared.
+
+Advancing with stately strides, her tall form erect and her hands
+clasped before her, she fastened a pair of cruel, glittering eyes on
+Moriarity and in a deep voice asked:
+
+"Why this intrusion at this late hour?"
+
+"Oh! drop that stuff, Nance; it won't go down with us; we're no gulls to
+have pretty things told us by giving you a dollar."
+
+Recognizing her visitor, Nance, in her natural tone, inquired sharply:
+
+"What do you want at this time of night?"
+
+"In the first place we want you to keep your mouth shut. In the next
+place you must find a place for a man we've got here, and keep him for a
+while."
+
+"You're a loving nephew, you are, Dan Moriarity, Oh! you come around and
+see your old aunt when you're up to some devilment, I'm bound."
+
+Moriarity, not deigning to reply to this speech, had gone back to his
+companion, and now returned with the form of the detective between them.
+
+"My God! you haven't killed him, Dan?"
+
+"He has a pretty sore head, I reckon, but nothing worse. Take us up-
+stairs."
+
+Following Nance, the men carried Chip behind the curtain, through
+another room, and ascended a flight of stairs.
+
+Nance threw open a door and Chip was placed upon a bed. The room was
+sumptuously, even elegantly, furnished. Pictures adorned the walls, a
+heavy carpet deadened the sound of the feet, and rich curtains kept back
+the too-inquisitive light.
+
+Chip, wounded and insensible, was in the house of the "widow," the
+rendezvous of a daring band of robbers and the birth-place of many a
+dashing raid or successful bank robbery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+IN THE TOILS.
+
+
+The dark shadow that had followed Cummings and Moriarity from the
+distillery to Cook's cooper-shop was none other than the assumed Barney
+O'Hara, who had aired his heels so jauntily in the saloon that
+afternoon.
+
+Watching on the outside while Chip was working Cook, he had spotted and
+shadowed the two men as they came down the road.
+
+The careless exposure of his face to Cummings through the window was the
+cause of the latter's sudden attempt to catch him.
+
+His nimble heels again stood him in good stead, and in the darkness he
+easily eluded his pursuer.
+
+Cummings gave up the chase, and returning just in time, had stopped
+Chip's success by knocking him down with a slungshot and carrying him
+off.
+
+When Barney, or, rather, Sam, returned to renew his investigation, he
+found the shop empty, save the intoxicated Cook.
+
+Thinking his late pursuer and his companion had taken the alarm, and
+that Chip was now doubtless shadowing them, he walked into the shop,
+and, true to his detective instincts and education, began a diligent
+search of the place.
+
+He was actively engaged in this work when the sound of hasty footsteps
+reached his ears. Throwing himself flat on the floor, behind a pile of
+barrel staves, he drew his revolver and waited. The steps passed by,
+however, and Sam quickly but quietly left the shop.
+
+He could barely see the form of a man walking rapidly down the street to
+the horse-car track.
+
+As he passed the window of the saloon the light fell on him, and Sam saw
+it was one of the two men who had just left the cooper-shop.
+
+Following closely, using all his skill as a successful shadow, he
+trailed the man to the car, and boarding the front platform rode into
+town.
+
+Passing a livery stable the man left the car, still followed by Sam.
+
+When Moriarity, for it was he whom Sam was trailing, rode back to the
+river, Sam was perched on behind the hack.
+
+He saw the wounded Chip placed inside, thanks to the darkness, and still
+hanging on the back of the carriage was carried back to town.
+
+When the two train robbers turned into the alley Sam was right behind
+them, so close that he could hear their labored breathing. Suddenly, as
+if they had been swallowed by the earth, he was left alone in the dark,
+nonplussed and outwitted.
+
+Not a point of light was visible, and settling himself against the wall
+of a building, Sam started in for an all-night watch.
+
+He understood the case at once. Chip had been knocked down by the
+renegades, and, probably still insensible, had been carried to their
+haunt. Knocked down, either because they had discovered his disguise, or
+had suspected him.
+
+He was now firmly convinced that if Cook was not an accomplice in the
+train robbery, he was involved in something criminal, and Sam regretted
+that he had not been more thorough in his investigations. Now that Chip
+was in the hands of his enemies, all others sank into insignificance; so
+with keen eyes and sharp ears, Sam kept his solitary vigil.
+
+The gray dawn of the morning had taken the place of the night, and Sam,
+under the shadow of a convenient shed door had heard or seen nothing
+pass his post. The day grew stronger, and, chilled to the bone, the
+disappointed detective left the alley and wended his way to his
+boarding-house.
+
+The cause of the sudden disappearance of the two robbers the reader is
+acquainted with, and the reason Sam failed to see them again was because
+they had left the house by another exit.
+
+The widow, acting as a go-between and a fence for the light-fingered
+gentry who patronized her establishment, hid her real calling with the
+guise of a fortune-teller, and her house, poorly furnished, damp and
+moldy when entered from the alley, was well furnished in the upper
+stories.
+
+The room in which Chip was confined was the sybil's chief pride. Every
+article of furniture, every bit of painting, the carpets, and even the
+base-burning stove, were the trophies of successful robberies.
+
+The very sheets and towels had been deftly purloined by the widow
+herself.
+
+It was this stronghold of the "gang," to which Chip, battered and
+insensible, had been brought by his captors.
+
+Cummings, who from his actions was no stranger to the house, in brief
+authoritative tones, bade the witch to take charge of this prisoner
+until further disposition could be made of him.
+
+The widow listened to his words, and with the submission which all his
+associates rendered to him, promised to do all he commanded.
+
+The first gleam of the morning warned the two men that they must seek
+their cover, for despite Jim's natural boldness and daring, he was
+cautious and careful. Instead of descending to the room which had its
+entrance from the alley, they mounted another flight of stairs, and
+gaining the roof by means of the scuttle, walked the flat mansard until
+another hatch-door was reached, and through it they entered a quiet,
+unassuming appearing house, which stood on the side street from which
+the alley branched.
+
+The house, though completely furnished, was vacant, and the men reached
+the street without meeting any one.
+
+Cummings and Moriarity having left, the widow, for the first time
+ventured to look at her new charge. Her keen eyes noted the disguise
+which Chip had adopted. The wicked blow which had brought him to this
+plight had moved the red wig to one side and disclosed the dark
+clustering hair, now bathed and soaked in his blood.
+
+He was still unconscious, but his strong constitution was regaining its
+sway, and he moved uneasily on his soft couch.
+
+The widow, now remembering the commands which Cummings had laid upon
+her, hastened to bring water, and washed the wound. The slung shot had
+struck squarely across the crown of the head, but the cut was not very
+large or deep, and the widow, with ready skill, bound it neatly with
+bandages, and holding a brandy flask to his mouth forced some of its
+contents down his throat.
+
+The color came back to the detective's face, and in a few moments his
+eyes opened, and with a dazed expression wandered over the room.
+
+The widow, as she noticed the first signs of returning consciousness had
+retired from the room, now, with consummate skill, put a kindly, even
+tender, look toward the sufferer as she reappeared through the door.
+
+Chip, still very much bewildered, his head feeling as though it was
+whirling off his shoulders, heard a pleasant voice asking: "And how is
+my poor boy, now?"
+
+Chip gazed vacantly at her, as he responded:
+
+"Who are you? Where am I--my head--"
+
+"Come, come, don't talk. Take this medicine like a good boy, and go to
+sleep."
+
+With childlike obedience the detective swallowed the draught, which soon
+took possession of his senses, and he fell asleep.
+
+The widow quietly sat beside him until the opiate had taken full effect.
+Then muttering "You are safe for four and twenty hours," she descended
+to her divining-room, leaving the detective deep in slumber, and in
+complete ignorance of his surroundings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+ON THE WATCH.
+
+
+Sam Slade and Chip had been comrades at arms for almost two years. Many
+a dashing capture had they made Adventures and hair-breadth escapes were
+of frequent occurrence with the two "dare-devils," as the force had
+dubbed them, and before now each had saved the other's life by some bold
+stroke or skillful strategy.
+
+Satisfied that Chip was in danger, if not of his life at least of his
+liberty, Sam hastened to his room, and with the aid of soap and water
+resumed his natural appearance. The jaunty-looking Irish lad, Barney
+O'Hara, would never be recognized in the young gentleman who looked at
+you through gold-rimmed spectacles, with soft gray eyes, and whose sober
+demeanor and grave countenance bore the stamp of the student or
+minister.
+
+It was this metamorphized individual that walked languidly to the
+breakfast table and responded in gentle tones to the woman's salutations
+which greeted him. Breakfast served and over, Sam again sought his room.
+His boarding-house had been selected entirely on account of this room.
+The room had once been occupied by a physician as his office, and,
+standing on the corner of two streets, had a side entrance to it besides
+the entrance from the main portion of the house.
+
+Thus the detective could slip in and out entirely unobserved by the
+boarders or his landlady, the latter supposing him to be a man of enough
+means to enable him to live without daily labor.
+
+Sam had given her this idea, and supplemented it by stating he was
+engaged in literary pursuits.
+
+Reaching his room, Sam wrote out a full report for the last twenty-four
+hours (this constituted his literary labors) to be forwarded to Mr.
+Pinkerton in Chicago.
+
+After his report was finished, he hastily threw off his clothing, and
+replaced his sober suit of gray by the flashy costume of a man about
+town, he stood before his mirror to make up his face.
+
+No actor was more clever than Sam in artistic and realistic disguises.
+His smooth face was skillfully covered by a beard, short-cropped, his
+nose was given the slightest rosy tint, and putting on a light overcoat,
+the studious young gentleman of half an hour ago was transformed into a
+howling swell.
+
+Tan-colored gloves and a heavy, silver-headed cane completed his
+costume. Thus arrayed he sallied forth.
+
+It was now nearly noon. The streets were crowded, and Sam kept his eyes
+well opened, carelessly but keenly scrutinizing every man he met.
+
+One saloon after another was visited, but no sight of the mysterious men
+who had downed Chip could be obtained.
+
+He had carefully noted his bearings when he left the alley in the
+morning, so he had no trouble in finding the correct locality again.
+
+His hat was tipped rakishly over his left eye as he swaggered up the
+alley and entered a beer vault for which the alley was really the
+entrance. By good luck, no customers were present, and Sam engaged in a
+lively conversation with the bartender.
+
+Skillful pumping, judiciously mixed with high-priced drinks, soon gave
+Sam the entire history of the denizens of the locality.
+
+It was beside the shed door of the beer vault that Sam had kept his
+solitary watch and ward the previous night, so that somewhere about this
+point Chip had been carried by his captors.
+
+Gazing through the window, Sam saw a mass of debris; old cans, ashes and
+the like were scattered in the center of the court or alley, while on
+both sides, near the buildings, a narrow board walk was laid.
+
+Now, Sam knew that when he entered the place he was on the right-hand
+side, immediately behind his game.
+
+If they had crossed over to the side on which the beer vault stood, the
+crunching of the ashes or the noise of the old cans, which would be very
+apt to be moved, would have advised him of that fact.
+
+Putting these facts together, Sam was almost certain that they had not
+entered the beer cellar.
+
+Just opposite stood a half-open door, which, flush with the court, would
+have accounted for the sudden disappearance of the men if they had
+turned suddenly and entered it. These observations were made by the
+detective while he was engaged in a lively and pungent conversation with
+the burly bar-keeper.
+
+The saloon made a good post of observation, and Sam settled himself for
+an all-day patron if necessary. Taking a seat near the window, he called
+for a glass of beer, and tilting back his chair took a careful survey of
+the premises.
+
+The alley was what is termed a "blind alley." On each side were low
+doors entering the basements of the houses, and the population consisted
+of rag-pickers, second-hand clothiers and one pawnshop. It was just such
+a place as one would expect to meet the lowest types of humanity. Dirty
+children were playing in the half-deserted place, their blue lips and
+pinched faces speaking eloquently of their poverty. Italian hand-organ
+grinders were sitting on their door-steps, and slatternly women were
+leaning from their windows, exchanging gossip in loud, shrill tones.
+Occasionally a man would walk hurriedly up the narrow walk, carrying a
+suspicious bundle, and eyeing nervously every person he might meet,
+dodging suddenly into some one of the doors. All this Sam saw, but his
+eyes seldom left the half-open door immediately opposite.
+
+He had been at his post nearly an hour, smoking a cigar or supping his
+liquor, the bar-keeper not caring what his customer did or what he was,
+so long as he ordered and paid for an occasional drink, when there
+appeared at the door of the house which the detective was so closely
+watching a tall, dark-complexioned woman. Her eyes, strikingly
+brilliant, swept the place, but the shadows of the beer-cellar prevented
+her seeing the interested person who noted every movement she made. The
+woman, after gazing up and down the court, threw her shawl over her
+head, and with long, gliding steps, walked toward the street.
+
+The bar-keeper who was standing beside Sam, as the female passed down
+the court, said with an outward jerk of his thumb:
+
+"Rum old gal that."
+
+"Friend of yours?" lazily inquired the detective.
+
+"Naw. I don't have nothin' to do with her, nor she with me. She's a
+fortune-teller, she is."
+
+"One of them kind that lays out the cards, and spells out your fortune,
+eh?"
+
+"I dunno. I never was in her den."
+
+"Wonder if she could give me a luck charm?" asked Sam.
+
+"If you've got the dust, she can make you anything. Them as lives around
+here says she's a witch. Maybe so. I think she's some cursed half-breed,
+myself. None too good now, I tell you."
+
+"Lived here long?"
+
+"Who? Me?"
+
+"No, the woman."
+
+"I've been here five years, and she was here before me."
+
+"I suppose she has plenty of customers, eh?"
+
+"You bet she has. The fool-killer ought to lay around here for a while.
+There were two dandy blokes come out of there this morning."
+
+Sam started, and inwardly cursed his stupidity in letting his game get
+away from him. The two men of which the bar-keeper spoke, were probably
+the very persons he wanted, so, in an indifferent tone, he inquired:
+
+"What's her office hours?"
+
+"Any time night or day I reckon. The two swells came out about 10, I
+guess. Maybe later."
+
+"She don't throw on much style?"
+
+"Don't she though. Silks ain't nothin' to her. She's a clipper when she
+agonizes."
+
+Fearing, if he kept up the conversation much longer, that the bar-keeper
+would suspect his game, Sam called for another cigar, and picking up a
+deck of cards which lay on the table, suggested a game of "seven up."
+The bar-keeper seated himself with his back to the window, Sam still
+holding his post of survey.
+
+The game was only just begun, when the fortune-teller, carrying a small
+bottle, apparently of medicine, returned and entered the door.
+
+Sam's interest in the game died out shortly after, and patrons beginning
+to appear, the bar-keeper took his accustomed place behind the bar.
+
+The room gradually filled up, and taking advantage of a little crowd
+near the door, Sam quietly slipped through the door and walked straight
+across to the fortune-teller's house.
+
+As he entered, the inner door was opened and the dark woman herself
+appeared.
+
+With inimitable assurance the detective removed his hat and advanced
+toward her.
+
+Drawing herself up to her full height, the sibyl in a deep, solemn voice
+said:
+
+"What brings you here?"
+
+"I'm in hard luck. Got scooped up to the White Elephant and want you to
+give me a luck charm."
+
+The eyes of the hag glittered greedily as Sam held out a five-dollar
+bill, and throwing the door wide open she bade him enter.
+
+As Sam did so his experienced eye took in the whole room, the skull,
+charts, bottles and even the cards did not escape his gaze.
+
+Nance pushed forward a chair, and telling him under pain of breaking the
+spell not to utter a word, she retired behind the curtain.
+
+Left alone Sam took a more deliberate survey of the apartment and could
+hardly repress an exclamation of satisfaction as he saw lying on the
+floor the old slouch hat which Chip had worn the preceding day. His
+face, however, showed nothing as Nance reappeared bearing in one hand a
+peculiar lamp, scrolled and formed in a fanciful pattern and in the
+other a large book bound in parchment, covered with hieroglyphics.
+Putting the lamp on the table she extinguished the gas, and the pale-
+blue flame of the alcohol in the lamp cast its ghastly beams over the
+strange place.
+
+Muttering rapidly to herself she threw powder on the flame, causing a
+green flash to appear each time, with her eyes fastened on the open
+pages of the book.
+
+Amused at the hollow fraud, Sam looked on, very much interested and
+racking his brain to devise some means of gaining a further entrance to
+the house. From its outside appearance he knew he must be in one of the
+rear rooms, and if Chip was not behind the curtain he must be in an
+upper story. While he was thus occupied the fortune-teller had finished
+her incantations, and, taking from a drawer a small amulet sewed in oil
+skin, handed it to the detective.
+
+"Take this, my son--the stars are auspicious. It will bring you and keep
+near you good luck and high fortune. Now, depart in peace, for I am
+weary and would fain seek rest."
+
+His answer surprised her, for, rising abruptly, he struck a match, and,
+lighting the gas jet, pushed aside the curtains.
+
+With a scream of rage, Nance sprang forward.
+
+"Go but another step, and I'll tear your heart out!"
+
+Disregarding her, the detective pushed forward and threw open the door
+leading to the ascending stairs.
+
+In a trice he had mounted them and turning to the right, entered a room.
+His astonishment was so great that he half stopped, for the apartment
+was furnished in almost regal style; richly-upholstered furniture and
+oil paintings contrasted so vividly with the squalor and misery of the
+lower part of the house that the audacious detective could scarcely
+believe his senses.
+
+A smothered cry of rage and terror behind him warned him, and turning
+swiftly he beheld Nance, with wild eyes and disheveled hair, springing
+toward him. In her uplifted hand gleamed the glittering blade of a
+stilletto, and like a fury she rushed upon the bold intruder.
+
+The trained hand flew to the pocket and the ready revolver leaped forth.
+
+Nance staggered back, the dagger falling from her nerveless hand, as in
+abject terror she crouched on a chair.
+
+"Don't shoot! don't shoot! See, I won't hurt you," she moaned.
+
+Grasping her by the wrist, and pressing the revolver to her head, Sam
+said, sternly, and in a voice that would brook no delay:
+
+"What have you done with the man brought here last night?"
+
+Nance pointed to the next room, too frightened to speak, and thrusting
+her forward, Sam continued his search.
+
+Chip, his head covered with a bandage, and still somewhat confused,
+recognized his comrade as he entered the room. His mind was clear
+enough, however, to appreciate the situation, when the terror-stricken
+hag, pointing her long skinny finger at him, quivered in a tremulous
+voice: "He's alive; don't you see he's alive?"
+
+Overjoyed at finding Chip safe and still alive, Sam clasped his hands.
+
+"Can you walk, Chip?" he asked,
+
+"I don't know, Sam. I had a devilish close call," and Chip threw back
+the covers and essayed to step from the bed. His limbs trembled, and
+throwing up his hands despairingly, he sank back again. A flask of
+brandy stood on the table, and in an instant Sam had the cork out and
+had poured some of its contents down his friend's throat.
+
+The generous fluid warmed the blood and revived the strength of the
+wounded detective, who, making another attempt, stood on his feet.
+
+Throwing his arm around Chip's waist, Sam bade the thoroughly cowed
+woman to go before him, and was moving slowly to the door when a sharp,
+stern voice commanded;
+
+"Stop!"
+
+The detectives looked up, and standing in the open door, a revolver in
+each hand, stood Jim Cummings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A MIDNIGHT FLIGHT.
+
+
+THE two detectives were in a tight fix. One of them sorely wounded; the
+other, handicapped by his almost helpless comrade, would stand small
+chance against the burly man who checked their path. But Sam, who was
+nearly as large in build as was his opponent, and in an even fight,
+would not have hesitated to bear down upon him, slipped his arm from
+around Chip, and prepared himself for a desperate struggle.
+
+As his arm passed his side pocket, he felt his revolver. Keeping Chip
+before him, he slipped his hand onto it, and drew it out, Chip keeping
+Cummings from observing the movements. The scent of approaching danger
+had acted on Chip as a strong restorative, and his eyes met those of his
+late captor unflinchingly as he cried:
+
+"We know you now, Jim Cummings; you've betrayed yourself," and Chip
+again looked at the triangular gold which his parted lips disclosed on
+one of his teeth.
+
+Up to this moment the desperado had imagined himself to be unknown, but
+at the words Chip uttered, he started, and with eyes burning with rage,
+and features twitching with fury, he turned to Nance, who, still under
+the spell of complete terror, was huddled in a corner, her hands over
+her face, not daring to meet the outlaw's eye.
+
+"Ah," he hissed, "you did this," and like a flash his revolver covered
+her, and the whip-like report rang out. The answering voice of Sam's
+pistol echoed the first, and when the smoke had lifted, Cummings had
+disappeared.
+
+Without stopping to look after the hag, Sam lifted Chip in his arms, and
+hastily descended the stairs, It was dark when the alley was reached,
+and slowly walking to the corner, a hack was called and the two friends
+drove rapidly towards Sam's boarding-place.
+
+Stopping but just a second to tuck his friend in bed, Sam hastened to
+the Central Police Station and, in a few words, placed the case before
+the chief. The sergeant in charge at the time detailed five men to
+return with the detective. The house was entered and searched from
+basement to garret, but the birds had flown. The worn condition of the
+steps leading to the roof attracted Sam's attention, and further
+investigation disclosed the fact that this scuttle-way was the means of
+exit. Sam thus ascertained why his long, weary watch had been fruitless.
+
+After Cummings fired at the fortune-teller he turned quickly and ran up
+the steps to the roof of the house and so escaped through the vacant
+dwelling which faced the street. Believing that the old woman had either
+betrayed him or had been frightened into giving the desired information
+he decided to "vamoose the ranch" and that quickly. Moriarity must trust
+to his own good luck, for time was pressing and to save himself he must
+take an immediate departure.
+
+A thousand schemes passed through his head and a hundred disguises
+presented themselves to him as he hurried toward his room. Side streets
+and back alleys were taken and more than once he doubled on his track to
+ascertain if he was followed. Satisfied that, as yet, no one was on his
+track, Cummings allowed his fears to vanish. He was still safe and if he
+could only reach his "den" in safety he could lay low until the first
+wind had blown over. He knew that in a short time the whole city would
+be scoured for the noted Jim Cummings, and he laughed derisively as he
+thought of the open manner he had moved in the town since the robbery.
+No disguise had been attempted, no great secrecy and if it had not been
+for the unfortunate affair of the cooper-shop, he might have lived there
+for years without any suspicions being directed toward him. Although he
+had moved so openly and boldly he had kept to himself, not even telling
+Moriarity the location of his residence. To this place he now hurried.
+It was a large room in a first-class boarding-house whose landlady and
+boarders would have been horror-stricken had they known that "Mr.
+Williams," the jolly, good-natured young fellow who had proved such a
+valuable acquisition to their after-dinner gatherings, was the desperate
+free-booter who had walked away with the valuable express package.
+
+Cummings was no ordinary robber. Endowed by nature with cool nerves, an
+active brain and athletic frame, he had all the requirements necessary
+to make a successful and daring criminal. That he was so the preceding
+pages have testified. Now that he was threatened with discovery, he did
+not rush blindly into danger by attempting to flee from it, but he did
+the exact opposite.
+
+He knew that every train would be watched, that telegrams would stretch
+out in all directions, and the detectives, now on a hot scent, would
+crowd him night and day. All these thoughts passed through his mind, as
+he leaned back in a comfortable chair and puffed his Havana. And he
+decided it would be best to remain closely to his room until the hue and
+cry had subsided, and play invalid.
+
+For a week he stirred not from the house. And then thinking the first
+heat had passed, he commenced strolling out after dark.
+
+One evening, having lighted a cigar, he was walking leisurely up the
+avenue, all fears of discovery set at rest by his fancied security, when
+his dream was rudely disturbed by a hand placed lightly on his shoulder.
+Quick as a panther, he sprang to one side, placing himself on the
+defensive, and his hand upon his pistol ready for any emergency. His
+startled gaze met a pitiful sight. Ragged and tattered, his hands,
+trembling and face blanched with the first touch of delirium tremens,
+stood Oscar Cook. Tottering up to Cummings, he whispered in tremulous
+tones:
+
+"Jim, they're after me. They most nabbed me. Save me, Jim, save me!"
+
+Alarmed lest the poor wretch would attract attention, Cummings placed
+his arm around him, and half-carrying, half-dragging him, bore him to
+his room. Slipping the latch of the door, he turned up the gas.
+
+Cook sank into a chair, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in
+his hands. Every muscle was twitching, his eyes, staring stonily ahead,
+were bloodshot and fevered. Horror was printed on his face, and his
+fingers, curved like bird's claws, moved spasmodically over his head.
+
+"They're after me, Jim, they're after me," he repeated, again and again.
+
+Greatly disturbed by the sudden appearance of the wretched Cook,
+Cummings hardly knew how to meet the emergency. If he kept Cook with
+him, the tremens would come on, and in the delirium of the frenzy Cook
+would probably say something which would betray Cummings. On the other
+hand, if he left the house to place Cook in some safe quarters, he
+courted detection.
+
+He was in a tight box, and this, with the events which had just occurred
+and his close call of the week previous, made him somewhat nervous. As
+he looked at the miserable wretch before him he saw that he wore the
+high-heeled boots and spurs of the cowboys, who make Kansas City a
+rendezvous. In an instant his course was plain and he proceeded to
+execute it.
+
+Handing Cook a large glass full of brandy, he bade him drink it. The
+half-crazed man needed no urging, but clutching the glass he drank it
+down greedily. Its effect was almost instantaneous. His face lost the
+horrible expression, his fingers straightened out, and the trembling
+ceased. Cummings watched him closely, and knowing that the liquor would
+only sustain him for a short time, he said:
+
+"Cook, where's your horse?"
+
+"Down at the livery stable on the next block."
+
+"Can you get me one at the same place?"
+
+"Yes, a good one, too."
+
+"We must get out of here. The place is too hot for us. All the trains
+are watched, so we must leave a-horseback. Go get your horse, hire one
+for me, and we'll vamoose at once."
+
+Cook started up with alacrity, for as long as the brandy was potent the
+tremens would not effect him.
+
+Cummings hastily changed his apparel, putting on a pair of high boots
+and over them the fringed leather chapparels. A wide sombrero replaced
+the derby hat, and when fully costumed he had on the business rig of a
+typical cow-boy.
+
+He had hardly completed these arrangements when the noise of horse-hoofs
+on the pavement was heard. Opening the shutter Cummings waved his hand,
+and placing his revolver in the holster ran down the steps.
+
+He had written a note to his landlady saying that pressing business of
+the most urgent kind had suddenly called him out of town, and it was
+uncertain when he could return. This he left on the table and the
+landlady saw him no more.
+
+The horses were fresh, and striking into a canter the two men made for
+the open country. The excitement and motion combined with the bracing
+air drove the fumes of the liquor from Cook's head, and before many
+miles had been passed he was comparatively free from the terrible malady
+which threatened to consume him.
+
+The suburbs were passed, and under the clear sky and bright stars, the
+willing horses spurned the frozen mud from beneath their feet as they
+flew, neck and neck, down the road. Neither men had spoken a word since
+the start, but sitting low in the saddle, gave the horses loose reins
+nor checked them an instant.
+
+They had left the road and were speeding over the frozen prairie,
+skirting a small clump of scrub oak, when just before them, a solitary
+horseman could be seen, leisurely walking his steed. At the sudden
+appearance of the stranger, both men instinctively reined in their
+horses and pulled up short. The man at that moment, heard them, and
+giving a hasty look backward, drove his spurs into his horse, dashed
+forward at full speed.
+
+In sheer deviltry, Cummings did likewise, followed by Cook, and gave
+chase to the flying horseman. It was nearly dawn. The gray light was
+brightening the landscape, and, observing his game more closely,
+Cummings saw something familiar in his form; and when he glanced over
+his shoulder to see his pursuers, the heavy mustache could be seen, even
+in that uncertain light.
+
+Placing his fingers to his lips, Jim gave three whistles, two short and
+one long sounds. The shrill tones reached the stranger, who turned half
+around in his saddle and saw Cummings waving his hat. Checking his speed
+somewhat he allowed the distance between them to become less, but
+holding his horse well in hand, if any signs of treachery were observed
+he could have some chance of escaping.
+
+As the two men swept toward him they cried as in one voice:"
+
+"Moriarity!"
+
+Moriarity, for such it was, immediately drew up his horse and the three
+friends were soon shaking hands.
+
+"The fly-cops made it too hot for me, boys," said Dan. "I came within an
+ace of being caught. One of the beaks had his hands on me, but I knocked
+him down and lit out."
+
+"Where are you bound for now?" asked Cummings.
+
+"Down to Swanson's ranche."
+
+"We were heading the same way," said Cummings.
+
+Swanson's ranche, situated in the northeastern part of the Indian
+Territory, near Coulby's Bluff, was about one hundred and fifty miles
+south of Kansas City. The rolling prairie which stretched between was
+interspersed with ranches, and an occasional small town, but for the
+greater part was wild and uninhabited.
+
+Swanson, an Americanized Norwegian, had married a Cherokee squaw, which
+enabled him to locate in the Indian country. His reputation was none of
+the best, but his unscrupulous character and well-known skill with the
+Winchester caused him to be feared, and an officer of the law would
+think twice before making any attempts to disturb him. It was at this
+place that the three fugitives were seeking refuge.
+
+The sun had risen, and it was broad day when Cummings, who naturally
+took the lead, commanded a halt.
+
+A clump of cotton-wood trees on the verge of a small, shallow creek
+offered a good camping ground.
+
+Hobbling their horses, after taking the saddles from them, they allowed
+them to graze at will, and the party busied themselves in collecting
+wood for a fire.
+
+A few sheep which had escaped from some ranch were grazing near the
+spot, and Moriarity, who had his Winchester, dropped one by a well-
+directed ball back of the shoulder.
+
+The warm fleece was taken from the still quivering body, and the
+appetizing smell of mutton steaks reminded the hungry men that the
+breakfast hour had long since passed. The meal over, nature asserted her
+claims, and the thoroughly tired-out travelers wrapped themselves in
+their blankets and fell asleep.
+
+They were not disturbed, for the trail which they had taken was seldom
+traveled over, and it was late in the afternoon when they were once more
+on their way.
+
+The trail led over the beds of dried-up streams, and skirted the
+numerous patches of scrub oak and cotton-wood trees which were scattered
+all over the prairie. The long prairie grass sometimes brushed the feet
+of the horsemen, and coveys of prairie chickens flew up and scurried
+away as the three outlaws galloped past. Mile after mile was left
+behind, the tough Indian ponies they bestrode keeping the tireless lope
+for which they are noted without slacking the pace or becoming
+exhausted. The three riders were expert horsemen, and had been
+accustomed to the saddle almost from infancy.
+
+Little was said and few words spoken by the men as they skimmed over the
+prairie save to call attention to some obstacle in the way, or to some
+change in the trail, which stretched before them plain and distinct.
+
+The few Indians and half-breeds they met paid no attention to them,
+thinking them to be cowboys bound for their camp, and in fact they did
+resemble those hardy specimens of plainsmen who range this country
+herding cattle or sheep.
+
+When the chill of the night had set in, Cummings ordered a second halt,
+and the horses, hobbled, commenced to graze on the short buffalo-grass
+which spread underfoot. The remainder of the carcass of mutton which
+Moriarity had shot had been strapped back of his saddle, and was now cut
+up into suitable sizes for the fire which Cook had built. The meat, laid
+on the glowing embers, was soon cooked and, their hunger appeased, the
+men, wrapped in their blankets, their feet to the fire, composed
+themselves for slumber.
+
+The long hours of the night passed on, the fire had died out, when
+Cummings, awakened by a sudden feeling of chilliness, rose to his feet
+and piled some twigs and branches together to make a blaze. As he
+stooped to the ground the faint, far-off beats of horses' hoofs reached
+his quick ear.
+
+"Dan! Cook! Wake up! Get up lively!" he cried, as he made a dash for his
+saddle and threw it on his horse. "They are after us."
+
+The camp was instantly in commotion, the saddles thrown over the horses
+and tightened with ready and experienced hands, and vaulting into the
+saddles the three men rode out into the bright moonlight as a company of
+ten men, armed to the teeth, swept like a whirlwind around the edge of
+the timber.
+
+A yell reached the ears of the three fugitives as they galloped out on
+the prairie and a voice, clear and commanding, rang out in tones
+familiar to Moriarity, who had heard them in the cooper-shop when the
+tramp commanded him to hold out his hands.
+
+"There they are lads. Forward!"
+
+Uttering a deep round oath Dan turned in his saddle, giving the horse
+the head, and leveling his rifle fired point-blank at the pursuing
+party.
+
+A cry of derision greeted the shot, and Cummings, saying "Hold your
+shots, you fool," drove his spurs cruelly into the horse's flanks and,
+followed closely by his companions, dashed down the trail toward
+Swanson's ranche.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE PURSUIT.
+
+
+Chip and Sam were not the only Pinkerton men in Kansas City at this time
+engaged on the Adams Express robbery case, for from the time Cook awoke
+from the drunken stupor in which Cummings and Moriarity found him at the
+cooper-shop on the night when Chip was captured he had been shadowed
+constantly by Barney, who with Chip had found the letter heads in
+Fotheringham's trunk.
+
+Day and night had Barney followed him, and he was but a short distance
+behind when Cummings took Cook on the verge of the delirium tremens to
+his room.
+
+When Cook came back with the horses and with Cummings rode away, Barney
+hastened to Chip, who, fully recovered from the terrible blow on the
+head, had again assumed his duties, and reported the fact to him.
+
+Sam, who was on the lookout for Moriarity, was notified at once, and the
+three detectives, laying the matter before the chief of police, were
+furnished with seven mounted men armed to the teeth, and all of them old
+Texas rangers.
+
+This formidable troop had left the city scarcely an hour after the
+robbers had started. The direction they took and the nature of the
+country pointed to Swanson's ranche as the point for which the outlaws
+were making.
+
+All night long the posse rode, and had they not taken a wrong trail,
+would have caught up to the robbers at their first camp.
+
+Retracing their path, a short halt only was made, saddle girths were
+tightened, the rifles closely inspected, and Chip, giving the cry of
+"Forward," led the company on the hot scent.
+
+Like a good general, Chip spread his men to the right and left of the
+trail, so that in moving forward a wide swath of country was swept.
+
+The first camp which the outlaws had made was discovered by the scout on
+the left flank. Raising the Texan yell, the rank closed in and gathered
+around the spot.
+
+One of the men, an old Indian hunter, burnt by the sun to living bronze,
+and scarred by the many hand-to-hand conflicts he had had with the red
+savages, leaped from his horse, his keen eyes fastened to the ground,
+read the signs which the outlaws had left as if they were printed words.
+
+Pointing to the fire and the remnants of the burnt meat and bones near
+it, he said:
+
+"They ain't more'n three hours ahead of us, and there's more than the
+two. Three fellars ate their grub here this morning."
+
+"How do you make that out?" said Chip.
+
+"Well, Cap'n, I've fit Ingins and herded cattle more'n twenty year, off
+an' on, and if there ain't been three men here not over three hour ago,
+I lose my reckonin'. See here, in this soft place where the sun has
+melted the ground a bit, is hoof-marks, and they belong to three
+different horses."
+
+"Perhaps they stole a horse?"
+
+"Mebbe so, and mebben't so. I reckon it mebben't so. Cause why? The
+fellar as walked over this patch wore boots and spurs, long rowels on
+'em, too. See where they cut the mud. Here is another one, a derned
+sight smaller foot, and here is one that had a sharp heel. No, Cap'n,
+they picked up a man somewhar along the road."
+
+To this the others who had come out with the detectives gave their
+unqualified assent, and Chip cried:
+
+"Three hours ahead is a good lead on us, boys. We must climb along."
+
+The command was again given, and, rendered more eager and enthusiastic
+by the knowledge that only thirty miles was between them and their game,
+the men moved forward with a cheer.
+
+Another short halt was made for supper and the trail was again covered
+just as the robbers had about commenced to sleep. A sharp lookout was
+maintained and the bright light of the full moon turned night into day
+and made the task so much the easier.
+
+As they rode around the edge of the timber in which Cummings and his
+companions were secreted they had no suspicion that they had gained so
+rapidly on the flying renegades, so that the sudden appearance of the
+men for whom they were searching somewhat surprised them. Giving their
+peculiar yell they pressed forward with a great burst of speed, not even
+checking the gait when the ball which Moriarity sent whistled over them.
+
+Instantly several rifles were leveled at the flying robbers, and had not
+Chip commanded them not to shoot it would have fared ill with Jim
+Cummings and his companions.
+
+With the speed of the wind the horses flew down the trail, the rapid
+hoof beats rang out on the still night and sent the slinking coyotes
+howling to their lairs. Just peering above the horizon could be seen the
+dark outlines of Goody's Bluff, fifteen miles away, and if Cummings
+could but reach its shadow he was safe, even from the posse which was
+pursuing him, for he would then be in the Indian Territory. Looking back
+at his pursuers, who in a solid group were following him so closely that
+he could almost distinguish their features, so bright was the night, he
+saw that their horses were not driven at the full height of their speed,
+but were rather being held back. Alarmed at this he communicated his
+fears to his companions, who, one on each side, were bending forward in
+the saddle, urging and caressing their horses to get all there was out
+of them, and right gamely did the stanch animals respond to the touch of
+the spur or pat of the hand, as they beat out mile after mile behind
+them, the hoof-beats echoed by the flying party behind. With starting
+eye-balls eagerly fixed on the dim outlines of the bluff, the hunted men
+watched it grow larger and more distinct, and hope began to revive in
+their breasts when a sharp "ping" of a rifle, followed by the whistle of
+the ball passing over their heads broke the silence of the wordless
+chase.
+
+As with one impulse, each man threw himself flat on his horse's neck,
+but did not for an instant relax speed or spur. Another shot followed,
+and Chip's voice, ringing and clear, shouted:
+
+"If you don't halt, we'll shoot your horses."
+
+"Shoot and be damned," said Jim Cummings, almost exultingly, as he drew
+his revolver from his belt. "Two can play at that game," and drawing a
+hasty bead on Chip, he pulled the trigger.
+
+Chip's horse, giving a convulsive leap to one side, staggered a little,
+and fell behind, but was soon in the lead again, apparently unhurt.
+
+"Boys," shouted Cummings, "d'ye see that dry creek bed. On the other
+side we're safe," The pursuing posse, hearing these words, and knowing
+their full import, gave spurs to their horses, and the distance between
+the two parties closed up so rapidly that the three outlaws could hear
+the heavy breathing of the following horses.
+
+Their own animals began to show signs of distress, and the dry creek bed
+was still a long, long distance off.
+
+Nearer and nearer crept Chip and his men, the thirteen men, pursuers and
+pursued, was almost in one party. Chip, who lead, and Cummings, who rode
+behind his comrades, were not a horse's length apart.
+
+Slowly the gallant beast Chip bestrode pushed forward, gaining little by
+little until his nose almost reached the flank of Jim's steed.
+
+"Jim Cummings, do you surrender?" and the sharp click of a revolver was
+heard.
+
+With a malignant scowl Cummings half turned in his saddle, and saying:
+
+"No, damn me, no; not while I live," placed his revolver at the head of
+Chip's mount and sent the ball crashing to its brain.
+
+Down in its tracks shot the noble steed, the dark, rich blood jetting
+from the ghastly hole, and deluging Chip with its crimson flood.
+
+Chip, with the address of an experienced horseman, had lighted upon his
+feet, his revolver still clutched in his hand.
+
+The sudden fall of the leading horse had caused the remainder of the
+party to haul up short to avoid running horse and rider down. This left
+the road clear before him, and Chip, dropping on his knee took a long
+careful sight at Cummings and fired.
+
+A sudden swerve of Jim's horse saved him, but uttering a cry of pain,
+Cook's steed, struck in a vital point, stopped short, and trembling in
+every limb slowly sank to the ground. Cook, taken so unexpectedly, had
+shot over his horse's head, and now lay, unconscious, in the center of
+the trail, his two companions, driving the spurs deeper into the flanks
+of their almost exhausted animals, dashed down the banks of the dividing
+line and stood safe on Indian Territory.
+
+The unconscious Cook was at once surrounded by the detectives and posse,
+and a generous dose of brandy poured down his throat brought him to his
+senses.
+
+Chagrined beyond measure at the escape of his man, just when he was
+about to put his hand on him, and at the loss of his horse, Chip was in
+no humor to allow a technical boundary line to keep him from capturing
+his men, who, riding around the edge of an elevation on the prairie were
+now lost to sight.
+
+"Brodey," he said, turning to the ranger who had been the guide of the
+expedition from the time it started from Kansas City, "how far is it to
+Swanson's ranche?"
+
+"A matter of twenty-five miles, as the crow flies."
+
+"How far by the trail?"
+
+"Well, Cap'n," responded Brodey, reflectively, as he threw his knee over
+the pommel of his saddle, "lemme see. The trail goes by that there belt
+of timber, then jines the stage-road to Allewe, an' follows that a
+piece, then it shunts off to the west straight for the bluff thar, purty
+nearly a bee-line. Thirty mile, sure--mebbe less."
+
+"Is that the Indian Territory 'tother side of the divide?"
+
+"Jesso--Cherokee Nation."
+
+"What sort of a man is this Swanson?"
+
+"Half-buffalo, half-painter, an' other half crocodile. He's wuss than a
+half-breed Apache, an would as soon shoot a man as to drink, an'
+Swanson's a right powerful punisher of the whisky-jug."
+
+"Yes! yes! I know all that, but is he cunning, shrewd, sharp, you know?"
+
+"Got eyes like an Injun, ears like a coyote an' a nose sharp as a gopher
+snake."
+
+"He must be a tough combination, but I'll do it, all the same."
+
+"Do what, Chip?" asked Sam.
+
+"Go down to Swanson's and bring in my man."
+
+"Bars and buffler skins," cried Brodey. "You don't mean to say that you
+will do such a blame fool thing as that. Sho!"
+
+"Not alone, Chip," said Sam. "I go with you."
+
+"See hyar, young fellers," expostulated Brodey. "Do ye know what your
+doin'! Got any idee ye'll come back alive! I've been in some tough
+places before now, but shoot my worthless carcass if I want to go to
+Swanson's. He's killed a man, torn out his heart and eaten it raw, fer a
+fact."
+
+"Pshaw, who would believe such a yarn as that, man."
+
+"Swar to gosh it's true," continued Brodey. "I don't believe thar's a
+man in the States what's got as much devil to thar square inch as this
+man Swanson. Better not go, Cap'n. I'd hate tremendous to have you
+killed."
+
+Chip laughed lightly, as he stroked the neck of the Ranger's horse, and
+said:
+
+"Brodey, I've been a detective for five years, and in those five years
+I've looked almost sure death in the face more than a score of times. I
+have seen the knife raised which was to be buried in my heart the next
+second. I have felt the revolver spit its flames plump in my face. I
+have been tied hand and feet and laid across the rail, with a lightning
+express train not over a thousand feet off, coming down like the wind,
+and I am a live man to-day. The man isn't born yet that can kill me."
+
+Chip said all this in a modest tone and no signs of braggadocio, for it
+was all true, and his listeners knew he was telling facts by his bearing
+and manner.
+
+"Yes," broke in Sam, "and I was with you on several of these occasions,
+and what's more, I shall be with you on this one you are planning."
+
+"I want you should be--but enough of this talk. We can do nothing more
+now. Our men have given us the slip. Dismount, boys, and give the nags a
+breathing spell."
+
+Cook, by this time, had regained his senses, and was sitting up in the
+middle of the trail rubbing his shoulder and wearing a most woebegone
+and dazed look upon his expressive countenance. Observing this, Chip
+walked toward him, and imitating a drunken stagger, sang:
+
+"Drink, puppies, drink; let every puppy drink, That's old enough to
+stand and to swallow."
+
+As the first strains fell on his ears, Cook started, and regarding Chip
+with questioning eyes, inquired:
+
+"Who are you fellows anyway; can't you let peaceable travelers alone
+without shooting their horses?"
+
+"Oh! you were peaceable travelers, were you? Well, now, that's strange,
+we took you to be some horse thieves that have been skurrying around
+these parts lately."
+
+"Do you think I look like a horse-thief?" indignantly.
+
+"Is that your own horse?"
+
+"Not exactly. I hired--"
+
+"Ah! yes, you hired it--they all say that--you hired it some time ago
+and have forgotten to pay the bill--"
+
+"Well, I didn't either, I hired it for a week, and--"
+
+"Really, Mr. Cook, you were going to make quite a visit--"
+
+"My name ain't Cook."
+
+"No? Let us call you Mr. Cook just for the sake of the argument. It's a
+good name, is Cook. I used to know a fellow named Cook once. He had a
+cooper-shop on the east bottoms, Kansas City. I went over to see him a
+week or so ago, and we had a high old time I can assure you. Cook was a
+very amusing gentleman. He could sing like Brignoli. What was that song
+he could sing so nicely? Oh! yes, I have it."
+
+"For we'll pass the bottle 'round When we've--"
+
+"The tramp!" ejaculated Cook looking at Chip with amazement.
+
+"The same, at your service, Mr. Cook, for that is your name, isn't it?"
+
+"I'm caught," confessed the puzzled Cook. "What are you making game of
+me for? What do you want me for?"
+
+"Nothing, nothing. We were afraid you might prolong your anticipated
+visit to such a length that we grew homesick for you, so I got some of
+the boys together, a sort of a picnic, you know, to ask you not to stay
+too long," bantered Chip. "We really can't take 'no' for an answer, Mr.
+Cook, really you must consider our feelings and return with us."
+
+"I guess I can't help myself," said Cook grimly.
+
+"It does look a little that way, don't it?"
+
+Cook shook his head as he arose to his feet, and stooping over his dead
+horse unloosed the girth and drew off the saddle, nor did he make any
+objection when Chip secured his revolver and ammunition belt. Escape was
+entirely cut off from him and he accepted his capture in a resigned
+spirit, because he could not help himself.
+
+"Brodey, how far is the railroad from here?"
+
+"About fifteen miles over thar," pointing toward the east, "Blue Jacket
+lies thar, and is on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas."
+
+"We'll make for it. You take the prisoner behind you and I will mount
+with Sam."
+
+The cavalcade were soon in motion, leaving the dead horses to be
+devoured by the buzzards and coyotes which were already beginning to
+gather around.
+
+Arriving at Blue Jacket, the party left Chip and his prisoner, and
+turning to the north cantered off for Kansas City.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. SWANSON'S RANCHE--THE DETECTIVES IN ROBBER'S RETREAT--THE
+SUCCESS OF THE DOCTOR--ANOTHER ROBBERY PLANNED.
+
+
+In the center of a beautiful valley, with high, rugged bluffs rising on
+all sides, and intersected by a clear stream of spring water, which fell
+in tiny cascades and little waterfalls, turning and twisting like a
+silver snake, stood Swanson's Ranche. The low frame building, surrounded
+on four sides by a wide porch, and standing on a gentle elevation which
+fell away to the creek, was the home of the redoubtable Swanson, who was
+monarch of all he surveyed for miles around. The evening was rapidly
+advancing into night, and the large open fireplace, huge and yawning,
+was roaring with the cheerful fire which Swanson's obedient squaw had
+built, that her liege lord might not be chilled by the cold wind which
+whistled over the plains.
+
+The floor of the large room, covered with fur rugs and huge buffalo-
+skins, was made of pounded clay, and the feet of many years had hardened
+it to almost stone-like solidity.
+
+Saddles, lariats, rifles, high boots, and all the trappings and harness
+belonging to a cowboy's outfit littered the place, and stretched out on
+the robes and furs, in easy, careless attitudes, lay some half-dozen
+men.
+
+Jim Cummings and Dan Moriarity were of the number. Thick clouds of
+tobacco smoke curled and eddied to the low ceiling, and seated near the
+fire to get the benefit of the light were a couple of card-playing
+ranchmen, indulging in a game of California Jack.
+
+Standing with his back to the blaze, his feet spread apart, and his
+hands deep in his pockets, stood the owner of the ranche--Swanson. Cast
+in a Herculean mold, he stood over six feet tall, his broad shoulders
+surmounted by a neck like a bull, and his red, cunning face, almost hid
+from sight by the thick, bushy whiskers which covered it.
+
+He had been relating, with great gusto, some adventure in which he had
+played a prominent part, and raising his broad hand in the air he
+brought it down on a table near him, as he exclaimed:
+
+"And if any detective comes skulking around this shanty, I swear I'll
+cut out his sneaking heart, and make him eat it raw"--when the sound of
+horses broke the thread of his discourse, and a voice was heard
+shouting:
+
+"Hello-o-o, the house!"
+
+"Yes, an be right smart about it, dis chile most froze."
+
+A young fellow near the door sprang to open it, and thrusting his head
+out, said:
+
+"Come in, there's no dogs around."
+
+"Dats all right, honey, we ain't got no fear of de hounds, me an' the
+Doctor ain't."
+
+"Keep quiet, you black imp," said the voice which had first been heard,
+"Hobble the nags and bring in my saddle, boys."
+
+"All right, sah; I's hearin' you, sah."
+
+To this conversation, which had taken place outside, the men in the room
+had listened with great interest. Anything was welcome that served to
+break the monotony of ranche life, and a stir of expectation went
+through the room as the two strangers were heard dismounting.
+
+The door opened and the new-comers entered.
+
+"By the great horn spoon if this ain't the old hoss doctor hisself!"
+exclaimed Swanson, as he reached out his huge paw. "I thought the
+Apaches had lifted your scalp years ago."
+
+"You can't kill a good hoss doctor, Swanson," replied the Doctor,
+grasping the offered hand and giving it a hearty shake. "Good hoss
+doctors don't grow on every bush."
+
+"Boys," said Swanson, turning the Doctor around. "This hyar gentleman
+is Doctor Skinner--"
+
+"Late graduate of the Philadelphia Veterinary Surgical Institute. Has
+practised in seventeen States and four Territories. Can cure anything on
+hoofs, from the devil to the five-legged broncho of Arizona, which has
+four legs, one on each corner, and one attached to his left flank. With
+it, he can travel faster than the swiftest race horse, and when hunted
+by the native red men, he throws it over his neck, and smiles urbanely
+upon his baffled pursuers."
+
+Swanson roared with delight as the Doctor rolled this off his tongue,
+and slapping him on the back, cried:
+
+"You're the same old codger. Haven't changed an inch in seven years.
+You've got to stay here a week, two weeks, a month. I've plenty of sick
+stock, and some of the boys have horses that need polishing."
+
+"Yes, sah!" broke in the Doctor's companion, a full-blooded negro. "We's
+gwine to camp down hyar shuah a monf--"
+
+"Hold your tongue, Scip," said the Doctor. "I'm the talking man here.
+Yes! gentlemen," addressing the attentive cowboys, "I can cure anything
+that touches the ground--biped, quadruped, or centipede--glanders,
+botts, greased hoofs, heaves, blind staggers, it makes no odds. My
+universal, self-acting, double compound elixir of equestrian ointment
+will perform a cure in each and every case. It is cheap! It is sure! It
+is patented! It is the best, and it is here. You may roll up, you may
+tumble up, you may walk up, any way to get up, or send your money up,
+and you will receive a two-quart bottle of this precious liquid, of
+which I am the sole owner, proprietor and manufacturer."
+
+Again Swanson expressed his unbounded delight, and the audience
+signified their entire approbation by shouting:
+
+"Go it, old hoss; keep it up!"
+
+When the doctor first entered, Cummings, who was extended on a large
+bear skin, fastened a searching look on him, taking in every feature and
+article of wearing apparel, and Moriarity, who was stretched near him,
+regarded the new-comer with suspicious eyes, but when they witnessed the
+cordial greeting which Swanson gave, they dismissed their suspicions and
+entering into the spirit of the evening, applauded as loudly and noisily
+as the rest.
+
+Scip, who had been attending to the horses outside, now stuck his head
+through the door and shouted:
+
+"Tole you what it was, Massa Doctor, dis yer chile can't tote dat bundle
+in alone, nohow."
+
+"All right, Scip, I'll help you," and disregarding, with a wave of his
+hands, the proffers of assistance which were tendered him, the doctor
+stepped onto the porch and found Scip struggling with a large pack,
+strapped to the back of a broncho, tugging and jerking, and swearing
+under his breath at "the old fool rope."
+
+Coming close to him the doctor said aloud:
+
+"Be careful you black imp of Satan; what are you so rough about?" and
+then followed in a whisper, "the men are both there, Chip."
+
+Scip, or rather, Chip, adopting the same tactics, replied:
+
+"Honey, I's handlin' dis yeah smoof as cottonseed oil"--whispering,
+"what a rascally-looking lot."
+
+The Doctor and Scip were none other than the two detectives. When Chip
+reached Kansas City he hunted around for some suitable disguise which
+would carry him through in safety. In his perplexity he went to the
+chief of police, with whom he was on the most friendly terms, and put
+the case before him.
+
+The chief said:
+
+"About seven years ago there used to be an old fraud named Skinner, a
+sort of horse-doctor, who stepped somewhat over the line and walked off
+with some other fellow's nag. He is now putting in his time at Jefferson
+City. He was hale fellow well met with all that gang, especially
+Swanson, and I think if you could run down to Jefferson City, put the
+case before the warden, you could get pointers from him."
+
+That afternoon Chip was in Jefferson City, and walking over to the
+penitentiary, found the warden willing, and Skinner was called to the
+visitor's cage,
+
+He had three years more to serve, and, on being told that any service he
+could render the State would be taken into account and to his credit, he
+gave Chip a minute and detailed description of his costume, manner of
+doing business, and brought up many interesting reminiscenses, which
+Chip carefully noted.
+
+Sam, who had a peculiar talent for disguises, was to take the part of
+Doctor Skinner, and Chip as his negro servant could slip in and out
+without attracting much attention.
+
+It was in these assumed characters that the detectives made their entre
+into Swanson's habitat.
+
+Further private conversation was barred by the massive form of Swanson
+filling the door, and urging his friend the Doctor to let "his nigger"
+take charge of the stock.
+
+"Can't be did, colonel," said the Doctor, "can't be trusted alone near
+this pack. Scip has too much love for the bottom of the flask to allow
+him too much freedom here."
+
+"Well, I'll send one of the boys out. Hyar, you, Abe; mosey out thar and
+yank that pack in hyar."
+
+Abe, a strong, strapping young plainsman, lifted the pack to his
+shoulder, and, followed by the "Easy, young man; step lightly; glass,
+you know; this side up with care," of the doctor, deposited it upon the
+floor.
+
+Opening the pack the Doctor held aloft a large square bottle, on which
+was pasted a yellow label, "Dr. Skinner's Incomparable Horse Healer,"
+commenced rapidly to dilate upon the peculiar excellence of the nostrum.
+
+"Gentleman, what is good for the noble brute is good for man. This
+compound, this superior selection of seventeen separate solvents is
+warranted to dissipate the most chronic complaints. It will incite
+slumber, mend the broken heart, cause the hair to grow, is good for
+chapped hands, sore eyes and ingrowing toe-nails. It is a panacea for
+all evils and a trial will cost you nothing."
+
+He passed the bottle to Swanson, who stood listening to his glib tongue
+in amused wonder, and invited him to test the medicine. Nothing loth,
+the giant took a huge drink.
+
+"Whisky," he shouted, joyfully, "the real, old stuff," and smacking his
+lips he again applied them to the bottle. It was passed around, and the
+doctor at once became the most popular man on the ranche.
+
+Scip, who had finally succeeded in securing his horses to his
+satisfaction, during which time he had made a tour of the premises and
+obtained the lay of the land, now entered the room and pushing his way
+through the crowd gathered around the Doctor and his bottle of "cure
+all," spread his hands to the fire, standing beside Cummings.
+
+"Where did you pick up the darkey, Doctor?" inquired Swanson,
+designating Scip by a jerk of his thumb.
+
+"The hard fact is, gentlemen, that we picked each other up. I was 1907
+and Scip was 1908.
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"I repeat. I was 1907 and Scip was 1908."
+
+"You mean to say you were doing--"
+
+"Simply that and nothing more, I found a halter in the road one day and
+picked it up, carrying it with me, and it wasn't until a most officious
+individual in blue coat and brass buttons came along and rudely placed a
+pair of exquisite steel bracelets on my delicate wrists, that I learned
+that a horse was tied at the other end of the halter, and the gentleman
+who is supposed to dispense justice in Kansas City urged me to remove to
+Jefferson City for a time; that is all. The number of my room was 1907
+and my colored friend here had the apartment next to mine."
+
+"Yah, yah," laughed Scip, "we bof did our time together, suah."
+
+This new claim on Swanson's friendship had its effect, and the generous
+quantities of whisky which he had swallowed having put him into an
+extraordinary good humor, he threw his arms around the doctor and vowed
+he would keep him all his life.
+
+Thus the two detectives by a bold piece of strategy, had gained entrance
+to the express robbers' asylum and had been offered the right hand of
+fellowship. The evening wore on, cards were produced, and the click of
+the ivory poker chips was heard above the low hum of conversation. The
+doctor did not care to take a hand, and Scip, apparently tired out with
+his day's journey, had thrown himself on a buffalo-robe in a corner, and
+seemed fast asleep.
+
+The Doctor, his eyes half closed, and slowly puffing his pipe, closely
+and keenly eyed every face in the room; but most of all, he gazed at
+Swanson, who, partly overcome by liquor, was leaning back in an easy,
+cane-bottomed chair, looking into the fire. A malignant frown, ever and
+anon, knit his low brow, and his cruel mouth curled so as to show his
+teeth, as his thoughts passed through his befuddled brain.
+
+Cummings and Moriarity, who had withdrawn from the main party, had their
+heads together, earnestly engaged in conversation. Cummings was
+evidently endeavoring to persuade his fainter hearted comrade to do
+something, for he often bent a significant look on Swanson, or pointed
+his thumb toward him, but Moriarity, whose eyes were half indicative of
+fear, would shake his head as if in expostulation.
+
+The Doctor saw all this, through his half-closed eyes and strained his
+ears to catch even the slightest shred of their consultation, but the
+outlaws talked in such low tones that he was unable to hear anything.
+
+A glance at Skip, who was gently snoring near them, put his mind at
+rest, for he saw that the darkey was taking in every word that dropped,
+feigning sleep all the time. A sudden movement by some of the men,
+roused Swanson, and looking at a huge silver watch, he ordered them all
+to bed at once. Which command was obeyed by all except Cummings,
+Moriarity, the Doctor and Scip.
+
+An inner room, fitted with bunks, was used as the dormitory, but the two
+robbers, as special guests had rooms to themselves. Going to a cupboard,
+and bringing out an armful of blankets, Swanson threw them on the floor.
+
+"There my hearty, you and your boy will have to camp out here to-night.
+We're crowded, so make yourself comfortable," and then bidding them
+"Good-night," he staggered to his bed.
+
+Nothing could suit the detectives better than this. A room to
+themselves, a warm fire, plenty of blankets and no suspicions of their
+true character.
+
+Smoothing the blankets over the bear skins, the two friends lay down and
+a whispered conversation commenced.
+
+"What were Cummings and Moriarity talking about, Chip?" said Sam, in a
+cautious tone.
+
+"Cummings wants to rob the old man, Swanson. He says he's got thousands
+of dollars salted somewhere around here and thinks they might as well
+make hay while the sun shines, but Dan was afraid to do it."
+
+"What a precious pair of rascals, but we can use this idea first-rate to
+get them over the line again."
+
+"I thought of the same thing as they were talking. If you could only
+bring it up without awaking any suspicions, we might offer to help him
+do the job."
+
+"Trust me for that, old fellow. Even if we have to commit actual
+robbery, I'll do it."
+
+"Well, keep your eyes open, and don't be caught sleeping. Go to sleep,
+now. I'll keep first watch."
+
+This was the regular system of the two operators. While one slept the
+other kept watch and to this fact a large portion of their success was
+due.
+
+The ranche became quiet, its denizens all sleeping, and the night passed
+without any disturbance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE DOCTOR TURNS CONSPIRATOR--THE PLOT TO ROB THE RANCHE.
+
+
+The pseudo doctor had been at the ranche a week, during which he had
+become quite chummy with Jim Cummings and Dan Moriarity, who, finding
+that time hung very heavy on their hands, welcomed the jovial, story-
+telling doctor and spent most of their time in his company.
+
+Swanson, who was moving his stock further west and making preparations
+for the spring round-up, was obliged to be in the saddle all day and
+sometimes late at night. Although a hard drinker, an unscrupulous rascal
+and an inveterate gambler, he was a good stock-raiser, and kept good
+care of his cattle. He employed a large force of cowboys or herders,
+and, acting himself as captain of the round-up, he would absent himself
+from home for days at a time.
+
+One morning the Doctor, flashing a significant glance toward Scip, which
+said, "Take your cue and follow me," remarked in a careless tone:
+
+"I reckon the old man must have considerable dust salted down by this
+time."
+
+As the remark was a general one made to Cummings, Moriarity and Scip,
+the latter answered:
+
+"Yes, sah; Mass Swanson got a pile of gold laid up for a rainy day,
+suah."
+
+The Doctor continued:
+
+"He's had more than the average run of good luck the last few years. He
+told me the other day that he only lost a few head all year, and was
+just going to ship a big lot to Chicago."
+
+Cummings, blowing a blue column of tobacco smoke toward the rafters,
+said:
+
+"It's always been a question to me where he keeps his money. There's no
+bank around here."
+
+"Oh! he's a shrewd old chap, Swanson is," replied the Doctor. He has a
+private bank somewhere near here probably."
+
+"Seems to me that would be pretty risky," said Cummings. "If he keeps it
+planted around here what would hinder some one from finding the cache
+and getting off with the plunder?"
+
+"I made that very remark to him," the Doctor answered; "and he laughed
+and said it would take something smarter than a cowboy or an Injun to
+find it, but there are others beside cowboys and Injuns that come this
+way," with a meaning smile. Cummings noted the smile, and glancing at
+Moriarity, said:
+
+"How would you go at it, Doctor, if you were to make the attempt?"
+
+The Doctor laughed quietly, as if he appreciated the joke, and leaning
+back in his chair, his thumbs in the arm-holes of his vest, his feet
+stretched on a chair before him, he answered:
+
+"Well, Cummings, I don't know as I would like to do it. Swanson's a good
+friend of mine, and--"
+
+"Hang it all, man, who the devil asked you to do it?" replied Jim,
+hotly. "I was only joking; do you think I wanted you to--"
+
+"Not at all, my dear fellow, not at all," said the Doctor, in a soothing
+tone. "No one supposed for a minute that you thought of such a thing,
+but if I was going to do a job like that I wouldn't care to do it alone.
+Two, certainly not more than three, more to help would be necessary. I
+would go at it about this way: The first thing would be to find out
+where Swanson kept his money. It is doubtless kept in close proximity to
+this place, evidently well secreted, for Swanson is not a man to let his
+right hand know what his left hand is doing. I think I would be apt to
+get him full some evening, then let him win a big pot from me in poker,
+and, feigning drunkenness, I would watch very keenly what he did with
+the money. You may depend on it, it is somewhere in this house. After I
+ascertained the hiding-place I would surprise the old fellow in his
+sleep with the aid of my confederates, and gagging him, and then binding
+his arms and feet, would rob his bank at my pleasure. THAT is the way I
+should do it."
+
+Cummings had followed every word, nodding his approval and manifesting
+his interest in various ways, and, without noticing what he was saying,
+muttered to himself, but so loud that the Doctor overheard it, "Just the
+way I would do it, and I will yet."
+
+"What makes you think Swanson keeps his wealth on the premises, Doctor?"
+asked Moriarity.
+
+"Safest and most convenient place," replied the Doctor, "He probably has
+had a special hole or cranny made for it, a double wall of some room,
+behind some picture or something like that. I recollect a chap that had
+a picture in his room, fastened close to the wall just like that picture
+there," and the Doctor pointed to the only picture in the house, a
+representation of the ranche painted by some wandering artist. "It was a
+painting of a man's face and by pressing the eye a spring was released
+and the whole picture swung back, showing a cavity back of it in which
+the old miser kept his valuables."
+
+Scip, who was always cutting some caper, here rose to his feet, saying
+
+"Dunno, but mebbe Massa Swanson keep he truck behind that chromiow. Heah
+now, I'se Massa Swanson," and Scip imitated Swanson's gait, "I'se
+playin' poker wid you gemmen. I'se out o' cash; Massa Cummins thar, he
+got a king full, and lay ovah my bob-tail flush, I say, 'Hole on thar,
+Massa Cummins, I'se got to unlock de combinashun of my safe.' Den I walk
+ovah to de picture, an' I hit a crack with my fist, so Well, I be
+damned!"
+
+The rest sprang to their feet in astonishment for, illustrating his
+remarks, Scip had struck the center of the oil painting with his hand,
+and stood dumb-founded, for the picture noiselessly swung forward and
+disclosed a large recess in the wall in which little sacks of some sort
+of money were piled one on the other. Scip, who was evidently the most
+surprised one of the party, was, however, the first to regain his
+composure. Pushing the frame to its place again the sharp click of the
+spring lock was heard, and turning swiftly around he caught meaning
+glances passing between Cummings and Moriarity.
+
+"Humph!" he said to himself, "Swanson's money is as good as gone now
+unless we nab these two rascals soon."
+
+The Doctor, who had reseated himself, remarked in a tone of wonder,
+
+"Really, this is a most remarkable coincidence, most remarkable indeed."
+
+"Oh! shut up that mummery, Doctor," broke in Cummings roughly, as he
+reared his head and squared his shoulders evidently intending to make a
+strike, "You and your nigger knew all about this, so you may as well own
+up."
+
+The Doctor, receiving a nod from Scip, leaned forward, his eyes fastened
+intently on Cummings and his voice sunk to a low whisper, replied:
+
+"And you may as well own up, too. We're all in the same boat. That is
+just what you are here for, and if you think I am fool enough to loaf
+around this hole a week for nothing, it shows you don't know me. I need
+you two and you need Scip and myself. Come, is it a bargain?"
+
+In answer Cummings held out his hand. The Doctor grasped it cordially
+and holding his left hand to Moriarity, who took it, said:
+
+"We four, for Scip is my pal, can do it OK, We can--"
+
+"Why not do it now," said Cummings, with energy. "Our horses are here
+and we can put a whole day between us and the ranche before Swanson
+returns."
+
+Now this was just what Sam (the Doctor) did not want. During the week
+which he and Scip had been spending at the ranche, seven or eight new
+men had been taken in by Swanson, who, as was before said, was getting
+in shape for the spring round-up. Of these new men six were Pinkerton
+detectives, and at this particular time were several miles from the
+ranche herding cattle. It was necessary that these men should be
+notified by Scip of the plot, and be ready to spring the trap as soon as
+the game was in the toils. For this reason the Doctor did not want the
+robbery to occur before the next night at the earliest. So shaking his
+head decidedly, he said in an emphatic manner:
+
+"No, it won't do; it would spoil the whole thing. All the money is in
+the shape of specie and tied up in bags. We have nothing in which to
+carry it, and would have to load it as it is on our horses. Besides,
+Swanson is expecting a large payment for his last shipment to-day. I
+know this, as he told me so, and we may make ten thousand dollars by
+waiting a day longer."
+
+After some demurring, Cummings acquiesced, although with very bad grace.
+
+"All right, have it your own way; but no later than to-morrow night."
+
+"To-morrow night it is, then," said the Doctor; then, as if struck with
+some suspicion, he turned suddenly and said:
+
+"And the Lord have mercy on your soul, Jim Cummings, if you or your mate
+play us false."
+
+"No fear of that, Doctor," replied the train robber. "You'll find me
+true blue at any rate--you're a man after my own heart. I wish I had
+known you sooner."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because, last October I did a little job and was almost nabbed because
+one of my pals weakened."
+
+Moriarity looked somewhat confused, but apparently not noticing it (but
+in reality nothing escaped the hawk eyes of the disguised detective) the
+Doctor said:
+
+"Last October! By Jove, you ARE the Jim Cummings that did up the Adams
+Express Co. The papers were full of it. If there is any man I have
+wanted to meet it is you." And the Doctor with great enthusiasm grasped
+the express robber's hand with every expression of intense admiration
+beaming from his eyes.
+
+His vanity tickled by this expression of homage, Cummings drew himself
+to his full height, and replied:
+
+"Well, yes, I did that work, and if you will stick by me we can work
+another one just as good."
+
+"I'm with you, and when I say 'I,' it means Scip, too, for he is a
+treasure."
+
+Scip ducked his head as he said:
+
+"We's a hull team and a dog under the waggin, but, Massa Doctor, I'se
+goin' out to look after the bosses," and he left the room.
+
+Moriarity, picking up a rifle and cartridge belt, said he was going out
+for a canter and see what luck he could have in the way of game. This
+left Cummings and the Doctor alone.
+
+Glancing out the window they saw Moriarity gallop off, and a short
+distance behind Scip on his horse, following.
+
+"Where did you pick up that darkey, Doctor?" asked Cummings.
+
+"In St. Louis, about five years ago. He is a good one, faithful and
+brave, and will never squeal. He is just the man to help us on this new
+deal."
+
+The subject of this conversation was all this time galloping over the
+level prairie, following closely behind Moriarity, who, with his rifle
+thrown across the pommel of his saddle, was on the look out for anything
+in the way of game which might come along.
+
+As they rode along they would meet one of the herders sitting at ease on
+his horse, or galloping madly after some refractory steer that was
+making a break for freedom. They had, in their ride, passed four of
+these men, and to every one Scip gave a signal, merely the wave of his
+hand in a peculiar manner, to which the men had responded likewise. They
+were nearing another stand, the ranchman, astride his pony, stood
+against the sky like a bronze bit of sculpture. As they came within
+speaking distance Scip, drawing in his horse, said.
+
+"I's goin' to loaf aroun' heah a bit, Massa Dan, I'll wait fer you."
+
+"All right," responded Dan, who gave his horse the spurs and swiftly
+disappeared behind the swell of land. Scip, walking his nag, drew near
+the cowboy.
+
+"Hye thar, honey, got any 'bacco?"
+
+"Plenty, blacky, plenty,"
+
+"Den give me some."
+
+"What is it, Chip?" asked the cowboy as Moriarity swept out of sight.
+
+"We have work to do to-morrow night, Barney, you must get the boys
+together, go down the divide to the ford and cross over, ready to come
+when I whistle. To-morrow night we must bag our game."
+
+"We will be there, Chip, and I am glad of it, for its devilish
+monotonous staying out here all day."
+
+"There will be a break in the monotony that will suit you. Be sure to be
+at the other side of the ford before twelve to-morrow night."
+
+Chip then explained to him the details of the projected robbery and the
+plan of capturing the outlaws as soon as they had crossed into Kansas,
+for the divide was the southern state line of that state.
+
+Barney, again repeating his statement that he would be there, loped his
+horse after some cattle that was straying too far off, and Chip, or
+rather Scip, stretching himself on the ground, awaited Moriarity's
+return.
+
+They arrived home in time for supper, and found Swanson had returned
+from Blue Jacket, where he had gone that morning, and the fact that he
+had made up beds for the Doctor and Scip in a side room was accepted by
+Cummings as proof that he had received the money he expected and wanted
+the room to himself that he might put his wealth behind the picture
+unobserved.
+
+The next day the ranche was deserted save by the four conspirators, who
+made preparations for the robbery of Swanson's money which was to take
+place that night. The picture was tried until the proper point for
+touching the hidden spring was found. A supply of food was quietly
+secreted in a bag and hid near the divide. Some heavy flour sacks made
+of canvas were ripped open and suitable bags for carrying the money were
+made from the pieces. All these preparations were made without
+interruption or discovery, and excepting a long ride which Scip made in
+the afternoon, ostensibly for the purpose of exercising his horse but
+really that he might again see the detectives who were acting as
+cowboys, the day wore along without any incident out of the ordinary
+way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE ROBBERY--CUMMINGS' NARROW ESCAPE--THE CAPTURE OF MORIARITY--JIM
+CUMMINGS SLIPS FROM THE TOILS--MR. PINKERTON TAKES A HAND.
+
+
+The ranche was asleep. Heavy breathing and deep snores from the
+sleeping-rooms indicated that slumber had fallen on all the inmates.
+Swanson, who had been repeatedly urged to drink by Cummings and
+Moriarity and had accepted every invitation, was stretched on his back a
+drunken mass of stupidity.
+
+The stamping of the horses and distant movements of the thousands of
+head of cattle alone broke the silence of the night and the darkness had
+cast its pall over the entire place.
+
+In the large room Scip and the Doctor coolly and calmly awaited the hour
+of their triumph. Fear was a stranger to both, and as they quietly
+conversed in whispered accents it would be difficult to believe that
+they were about to engage in a most desperate enterprise. In another
+room lay Cummings and Moriarity, completely dressed. The former, with
+his habitual sang froid, was whispering to Moriarity, who, somewhat
+excited, was calmed by his companion's nonchalance, and as the hour for
+the work drew near became like him. A stealthy step, noiseless as an
+Indian's, interrupted the conversation, and the faint rap on the door
+gave them the long-looked-for signal.
+
+Creeping on their hands and knees down the hall past Swanson's door,
+through which his hoarse breathing could be heard, the two men entered
+the room in which the treasure was stored. The dying embers in the fire-
+place created a dull glow, showing the Doctor and Scip, booted and
+spurred, standing in the center of the room. Softly Cummings approached
+the picture, his finger found the spring through the canvas and,
+pressing it hard, the frame swung slowly forward as if reluctant to give
+up its precious charge.
+
+Rapidly taking one bag after another from the cavity Cummings passed
+them to Moriarity, who placed them in the bags prepared for them.
+
+The Doctor and Scip had gone outside and now brought the four horses
+nearer the door. This they did that they might have as little to do with
+the robbery as possible, and they had so managed it that Jim and Dan had
+done the actual theft.
+
+Moriarity had brought two of the bags which the Doctor had placed on his
+own and Scip's horse and had gone back for the third, when the door from
+the inner hall opened, and, his tangled hair hanging in mats over his
+eyes, his clothing disarranged, his face purple with rage and a revolver
+in each hand, Swanson appeared before the surprised robbers.
+
+The dim light of the fire showed the picture open, and befogged as his
+brain was by the whisky, he realized he was being robbed, and with a
+roar like a mad bull he sprang upon Cummings.
+
+Swift as a flash Cummings' fist, sent forward with all the force of his
+powerful frame, struck the ranchman under the ear, and tossing his arms
+above his head he fell like a dead man on the floor.
+
+The sound of many feet hurrying to the scene was heard and, leaving the
+bag which he was about to take when Swanson sprang on him, Cummings
+bolted through the door, vaulted on his horse and followed closely by
+his companions, rushed swiftly into the darkness. It was none too soon,
+for at once a half score of men poured from the house, and the vicious
+snap of the rifles, followed by the pin-n-n-g of the bullets, as they
+cut the air close to their heads, caused the four men to drive their
+spurs into their ponies until the blood dropped from their lacerated
+flanks.
+
+Galloping swiftly to where the herding ponies were tethered, Cummings
+sprang from his horse and, whipping out his keen bowie knife, cut lariat
+after lariat, stampeding the whole herd. This done he remounted his
+horse, saying,
+
+"NOW, we can take our time. They won't get a horse to saddle under an
+hour," cantered off with an easy, strength-saving gait.
+
+"Curse that Swanson," broke in Cummings, after riding in silence a few
+moments. "Curse him, he kept me from making an extra ten thousand by his
+cursed appearance."
+
+Neither the Doctor nor Scip replied to this outburst from the
+disappointed outlaw. The time for action was coming, and as fast as
+their horses could gallop, the two outlaws were riding toward the trap
+laid for them. Leaning forward, with the skill of an expert pickpocket,
+Scip drew the revolver from the holster on Cummings' saddle, and dropped
+it in the dry grass which bordered the trail. Watching his opportunity,
+he pushed his horse against Moriarity, and in the slight confusion
+caused by the collision, he managed to obtain Dan's revolver in the same
+way. A whisper told the doctor that this had been done, and the
+disguised detectives each rode beside the man which they were to
+capture, the Doctor keeping his eye on Cummings and Scip ready to pull
+Moriarity off his horse at the proper time.
+
+On the other side of the river, or divide, dark shadows stood under the
+few cottonwood trees, motionless and quiet as the grave, their ears
+strained to catch the first sound of their quarry, and their hands
+grasping the ready revolver.
+
+The far-off sound of galloping horses warned them that the time to act
+had come, and soon the splashing of the water in the creek told them to
+stand ready.
+
+The voice of Scip was heard saying in loud tones:
+
+"Heah's de trail, gemmen, ovah dis yah way."
+
+The scurry of hoofs as the horses clambered up the steep banks, the low-
+spoken words of encouragement which were given their steeds by the
+robbers, and suddenly the shrill whistle giving the long-looked-for
+signal rang out on the still air.
+
+As Scip gave the whistle he passed his arm around Moriarity, saying:
+
+"Dan Moriarity, you are my prisoner."
+
+His words were instantly followed by the rush of the detectives who had
+been lying in ambush, and Moriarity, taken completely by surprise, threw
+his hands above his head in token of surrender, and then passively
+submitted to having the darbies snapped on his wrists.
+
+Cummings, at the first note of the vibrating signal, had his eyes
+opened. His hand flew to his holster, and the mocking laugh of the
+detective followed the discovery that his revolver was gone.
+
+Sam laid his hand on the outlaw's shoulder, and pressing his revolver
+against his head, called on him to surrender.
+
+Throwing his hands over his head as Moriarity had done, he suddenly
+brought his clinched fists full against Sam's temple, putting into the
+blow the strength of three men. Without a groan the detective's head
+sank forward, his revolver dropped from his nerveless grasp, and he lay
+unconscious on his horse's back.
+
+A yell of exultation, and Cummings, turning his horse, dashed down the
+bank, through the stream, and disappeared in the darkness on the other
+side.
+
+Instantly the detectives followed, leaving two men to guard Moriarity,
+for in the darkness Sam's condition was not noticed, but seeing the
+folly of attempting a pursuit in so dark a night, Chip's whistle
+recalled them, and the chagrined and disappointed operatives gathered
+around the cottonwood trees.
+
+Sam, who had merely been stunned, soon recovered, and with the aid of
+some brandy Richard was himself once more.
+
+The notorious Jim Cummings had escaped, but two of his accomplices, Cook
+and Moriarity, were in the clutches of the law.
+
+Dan maintained a dogged silence as the cavalcade cantered toward Kansas
+City, nor did he speak a word until he was safe behind the bars in that
+city.
+
+"You have caught me by a dirty, shabby trick, but you will never lay
+your hands on Jim Cummings," he boasted.
+
+To this Chip replied with a smile, "We'll see, Daniel, we'll see. Make
+yourself comfortable, for you will stay here a good long time, my cock
+robin."
+
+A growl and a curse was all that Dan deigned to answer, and turning on
+his heel Chip left the prison.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, who had received almost daily reports of what had
+occurred, which reports Chip had contrived to mail through some one of
+the detectives disguised as cowboys, now telegraphed that he would be in
+Kansas City the following night. Chip and Sam met him at the railway
+station and he accompanied them to Chip's room.
+
+A full and detailed recital of all that occurred was given him by his
+subordinates, who then put the case in his hands.
+
+"Boys," he said, "we must get one of these men, either Cook or
+Moriarity, to squeal."
+
+"They are both afraid of Jim Cummings, I can see that in every word they
+speak," said Chip, "they would rather go to Jefferson City than to turn
+State's evidence."
+
+"We must work on them in some other manner, then. Sam," turning to the
+detective, "are you a good hand at forgery?"
+
+"I can imitate most any one's handwriting," said Sam. "Sit down and I
+will dictate a letter to you."
+
+Sam, taking some paper from the table, wrote as Mr. Pinkerton dictated.
+
+MR. WILLIAM PINKERTON:
+
+DEAR SIR--The letter I wrote to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat is all
+correct, excepting that I did not tell who plugged the bell-cord. The
+man, Dan Moriarity, who is now under arrest in Kansas City, was the man
+who did it. He also forged the order which I gave to the messenger
+Fotheringham, and was the one who planned the robbery. I make this
+statement, relying on your word of honor to secure me a light sentence
+if I turn State's evidence and give information leading to the recovery
+of the money which I secured.
+
+Yours truly, JIM CUMMINGS.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton, taking from his pocket-book the train robber's letter
+which he wrote to the St. Louis newspaper, handed it to Sam.
+
+"There is a letter in Jim's handwriting. Now sit down and write this
+letter in the same hand."
+
+In an hour the detective had completed his work and laid the forged
+letter before his superior. It was cleverly done, and Mr. Pinkerton felt
+satisfied.
+
+"Now for the jail," he said, and accompanied by his two "bowers," as he
+often called them, he left the room and walked to the Kansas City jail.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+MORIARITY IN THE SWEAT-BOX--THE SUCCESS OF THE FORGED LETTER--MORIARITY
+CONFESSES.
+
+
+Dan Moriarity, seated on a bare plank bench in his cell, was passing
+away the weary hours in figuring how he was to get out of the bad scrape
+into which he had plunged. He was now fully satisfied that the
+detectives were very certain that he had a hand in the express-car
+robbery--but how did they get hold of that dangerous fact? Not through
+Cook, for since his incarceration in the jail Dan had talked with Cook
+in the corridors, and Cook had sworn by all that was good and holy that
+he had not divulged a single word, and knowing that Cook stood in mortal
+fear of Cummings, as did he himself, Dan believed him.
+
+It was not at all probable that either Haight or Weaver had given the
+thing away in Chicago, for Dan knew from Cummings that they had not been
+disturbed, and Cummings had not, or would not have given any
+information. Then how did the cursed "man-hunters" find out that he had
+helped in the affair?
+
+Dan was busily engaged in trying to solve this knotty question when the
+bailiff in charge entered the door and told Dan to follow him to the
+office.
+
+When Dan reached the room he found three gentlemen awaiting him, all
+strange faces to the robber. The eldest of the three, as he came in,
+pointed to a chair, and with commanding brevity and in a tone which
+indicated that he was used to being obeyed, told him to sit down.
+
+The full glare of the light streaming in through the window fell full
+upon his face, while the remainder of the party, their faces turned
+toward him, were comparatively in the shadow, thus having him at a
+disadvantage. As was before remarked, Moriarity possessed a certain
+amount of bull courage, and seeing he was in for it, and feeling that he
+was to be put through the sweating process he sat erect in his chair,
+his lips compressed and his whole demeanor that of a cornered man
+determined to fight.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton saw that and with courteous suavity inquired, "Is this Mr.
+Moriarity?"
+
+"What's the use of asking me; you know well enough who I am," replied
+Dan, in short, curt syllables.
+
+"Of course, of course; but I thought I might be mistaken."
+
+"Well, you aren't."
+
+"Now, Mr. Moriarity, I think if you are inclined to you can get yourself
+out of this scrape."
+
+"Ya-as, I suppose so.
+
+"You will let me introduce myself. My name is William Pinkerton."
+
+Dan looked at the great detective with interest and a certain amount of
+awe, which, however, he quickly overcame and determined to keep a
+stiffer upper lip than ever.
+
+"Oh! You're Billy Pinkerton, are you?"
+
+"Yes, I am Billy Pinkerton, and I've been hunting for you for some
+time."
+
+"Well, you ought to be satisfied; you've caught me."
+
+"More than satisfied, Mr. Moriarity, for I've caught your friend too."
+
+"Cook?"
+
+"Oh, he was jailed before you."
+
+"You don't mean Jim?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"You can't stuff me with any such yarn as that."
+
+"Would you like to see him?" asked Mr. Pinkerton, quickly.
+
+"Seeing's believing."
+
+Turning to the bailiff Mr. Pinkerton inquired:
+
+"What cell is Jim Cummings in?"
+
+"Forty-three, sir."
+
+"Will you take us there?"
+
+"Yes, sir. This way, please."
+
+The detectives with Moriarity followed the turnkey and passing the
+entire length of the corridor paused in front of cell forty-three.
+
+The door of solid sheet steel had a small circular opening in it through
+which the guards could inspect their prisoners.
+
+Opening this Mr. Pinkerton looked in, then stepping back told Moriarity
+to step forward.
+
+Dan applied his eye to the opening and in surprised tones exclaimed, "By
+God, it IS Jim."
+
+He again looked and clinching his fist pounded on the door. "Jim! Jim!"
+he cried. "They got you at--"
+
+"Here, none of that," said the bailiff in a gruff tone. "None of that, I
+say," and taking Dan by the arm he marched him back to the office.
+
+"You see, Mr. Moriarity, I told the truth," said Mr. Pinkerton in a
+pleasant voice.
+
+"Looks like it," growled Dan. "But I don't see how the devil you did
+it."
+
+"Very easily done. He gave himself up."
+
+"What's that?" shouted Dan as he almost bounded from his chair.
+
+"He gave himself up, I said," repeated Mr. Pinkerton.
+
+"Jim Cummings gave himself up," said Dan slowly as if trying to grasp
+the idea.
+
+"Exactly. He saw we had him and that he couldn't get away, so to make
+his sentence as light as possible he did the best thing he could do and
+surrendered."
+
+Almost dumbfounded by this surprise Dan sat speechless and stared
+blankly at the detective.
+
+"Do you know, Mr. Moriarity," Mr. Pinkerton continued, "you strike me as
+being remarkably clever."
+
+Arousing himself Dan answered in a savage tone:
+
+"What are you driving at now?"
+
+"I mean that up to the time that Cummings surrendered himself we thought
+he was the principal man in the case, the prime mover and director of
+the whole affair, but now we find we are mistaken. That is why I say you
+are clever. You simply used him as a cat's paw, and played hide and seek
+with our whole force, and a man that can do that as long as you did is
+remarkably clever," and Mr. Pinkerton smiled admiringly at the man who
+sat before him. Puzzled at the words, and trying to see beneath the
+surface, Dan said: "Oh! come now, stop your chaffing, I won't squeal,
+and you can't make me. What do you want me for anyway?"
+
+Mr. Pinkerton's face became stern, and dropping the tone of levity which
+he had employed, he opened the letter Sam had forged, and suddenly
+handing it to Dan, said:
+
+"We want to know if what Jim Cummings says there is true."
+
+Somewhat impressed by Mr. Pinkerton's manner, Dan commenced to read the
+letter.
+
+At first he hardly understood its purport, but slowly the realization of
+his friend's treachery came over him, and springing to his feet he
+brought his fist down on his chair and shouted in angry tones:
+
+"It's a damned lie!"
+
+Without noticing the baliff or the detectives, he paced the floor with
+angry strides, his eyes flashing and the veins in his forehead swelling
+until they stood out like whip cords.
+
+The baliff, at a sign from Mr. Pinkerton, stationed himself at the door,
+but too excited to notice the movement, Dan continued to walk to and fro
+like a caged lion.
+
+"That is why he gave himself up, the coward--the lying turn-tale! The
+treacherous dog! Swearing it off on me to save a few years of his
+miserable life out of jail. See here!" stopping suddenly before Mr.
+Pinkerton, "That traitor made me swear I would never squeal. All I got
+out of the whole swag was two thousand dollars, but even then, if he had
+done the square thing, I would have kept mum, though I were sent down to
+rock-pile. But the man that would play that low, scaley trick on me is
+going to suffer for it. What do you want to know?"
+
+"Now you are getting sensible," said Mr. Pinkerton. "We want to get the
+money. You know where it is? We know that last October a valise was sent
+to you from St. Louis to Leavenworth, which you were to give to Cook. We
+know that Cook received some of the stolen money. You had some, too. We
+have shadowed you all over Kansas City. You have been seen in the White
+Elephant playing faro, you were followed to the widow's fortune-telling
+room. We know where you lived, and have letters which you received from
+Jim Cummings.
+
+"That isn't his name," broke in Dan.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton stopped. He saw he had Dan up to the proper point, and
+where before he would have died rather than given a grain of information
+in connection with the case, he was now anxious to tell all he knew of
+it. Dan continued:
+
+"Jim Cummings isn't his right name any more'n it's mine. His name is
+Fred Wittrock, and he lives in Chicago."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"At--West Lake street."
+
+"Will you swear to that?" "Yes, I will; he runs a coalyard there. He ana
+a man named Weaver. I had nothing to do with robbing the car. It was all
+done before I ran across Wittrock near Pacific, and he gave me $2,000 to
+keep my mouth shut and help plant the plunder."
+
+"Do you know where it is planted?"
+
+"Part of it, yes. Weaver and another fellow named Haight have some hid
+in Chicago. Some is hid in the graveyard near Leaven worth, and some of
+it behind Cook's cooper-shop."
+
+"Has Fotheringham got any of it?"
+
+"Fotheringham hadn't anything to do with it--any more'n you did--
+Wittrock knocked him down and he couldn't help himself."
+
+"Mr. Moriarity, if all this is true, you will be benefited by the
+information you have given," then turning to the baliff, he said, "We
+are through now." Moriarity, still cursing Cummings, was led back to the
+cell, and the detectives left the jail for Chip's boarding-house,
+
+"It's plain sailing now, boys," said Mr. Pinkerton; "this end has been
+worked dry, and you must return to Chicago with me. Cummings, or rather
+Wittrock, if Moriarity has spoken the truth, will certainly make for
+Chicago, and you must be ready for him."
+
+The next day the three detectives were on their way to Chicago, leaving
+Barney, who had played the part of Jim Cummings in cell 43, to remain in
+Kansas City and hunt for the "planted swag."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+JIM CUMMINGS IN CHICAGO--THE SPOTTED HOUSE--SHADOWED BY CHIP--JIM
+CUMMINGS ARRESTED.
+
+
+When Jim Cummings, by his bold strike for liberty, escaped the trap set
+for him, he pushed his horse to its highest speed until he had put miles
+between himself and the spot where the detectives had made the attempt
+to capture him.
+
+He saw that Dan was captured, and with Cook also in jail he felt the
+toils of the law tightening around him. He must get out of the United
+States. To Canada, Mexico, Brazil, it mattered little, but he must first
+secure some of the money he had taken from the express car. To go to
+Kansas City or Leavenworth to raise it was like putting his head into
+the noose.
+
+Chicago was the only place open for him, and to Chicago he must go as
+fast as horse and steam could get him there.
+
+While he was thinking of all these things his horse was plunging through
+the dark over the plain, skirting the timber, dashing through streams of
+water without staying his speed, and at last the ring of its hoofs
+striking the steel rail, and the crunching of the gravel informed Jim
+that he was crossing a railroad track.
+
+He pulled in his panting steed, and, far on the horizon, he saw the
+approaching head-light of an engine.
+
+In the hurry and confusion incident to his escape, the outlaw had lost
+his bearings, but knew that this must be the M., T. & K. R. R., and
+shining over the head-light he saw the Great Dipper circling in the
+heavens.
+
+The train was, then, a south-bound train, either passenger or freight.
+Looking south along the track, he spied a small light twinkling through
+the night; and now, having recovered his reckoning, he surmised it was
+the water-tank some miles below Blue Jacket.
+
+He must reach that before the train arrived. Putting spurs to his horse,
+he flew down the track, the gravel flying in all directions, his sure-
+footed animal keeping the ties, nor did he pull rein or slack his speed
+until the large tank of the water station rose above him. Jumping from
+his horse, he walked to the keeper's shanty. The man was awake and
+trimming his lantern, nor did he exhibit any surprise at the advent of
+his belated visitor.
+
+"What train is this coming?" asked Jim.
+
+"Galveston express," answered the man.
+
+"Does she take water here?"
+
+"Every time."
+
+"By Jove, that's lucky. I was on my way to Blue Jacket to catch it and
+got turned around."
+
+"Where's your horse?"
+
+"Out near the tank. I will be back in five days and if you will take
+care of it I will make it all right for you."
+
+"That's O K. I often do that for the boys; but here's your train."
+
+The long train of cars drew up and came to a standstill as Jim left the
+shanty. Climbing aboard the smoker he found a seat and was soon on the
+way to Galveston Arriving there he took a gulf steamer to New Orleans,
+where he boarded an Illinois Central train and came to Chicago, where he
+arrived a week after his escape from the detectives.
+
+Late in the evening of the day on which he arrived he boarded a West
+Lake street car and jumping off at--Lake street, knocked at the door of
+a small frame building over which was the sign "F. Wittrock and Co.,
+Hard and Soft Coal."
+
+No lights were visible and for some time no answer came. Finally the
+noise of shuffling feet were heard and a clear voice inquired:
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"It is I, be not afraid," answered Cummings.
+
+"Thunder and lightning, it's Fred," exclaimed the voice in accents of
+great astonishment.
+
+"Well, why the devil don't you let me in, then?" asked Cummings, his
+mouth close to the keyhole.
+
+"Not the front door, Fred. Go to the corner, then up the cross street
+and come back through the coal yard."
+
+Cummings did as he was told and entering the yard was met by Weaver, who
+dragged him into the house, and after carefully closing the door, lit
+the lamp and said:
+
+"Dan's arrested."
+
+"Tell me something I don't know, you fool."
+
+"So is Cook."
+
+"If you have any news to tell me out with it; if you haven't go get the
+money. This cursed country is getting too hot for me. I'm off for
+Brazil."
+
+"The money is safe. Haight will be here soon. You are safe here."
+
+"Don't you be too sure about that. I thought I was safe down at
+Swanson's ranche, and damn it, two of those Pinkerton detectives ate
+with me, slept with me and gambled with me. They had their hands on me
+once but I floored one and got away. Dan, the coward, threw up his hand
+the first bluff and was walked off with the darbies on him."
+
+"Jim, suppose he should turn informer?"
+
+A terrible frown blackened the outlaw's brow, his eyes became hard and
+steely, and raising his hand above his head, he said:
+
+"So help me God, I would hunt him up, tear his cowardly heart from his
+breast and choke him to death with it, if I had to go to prison to do it
+and was hung for it."
+
+An involuntary shudder passed through Weaver as he heard these fearful
+words and he hastened to say:
+
+"No danger of Dan's squealing, Fred. He's true blue."
+
+"If he don't give the express robbery away he can easily get out of this
+other scrape. You see we had a lay to get away with Swanson's money and
+the two detectives went in with us. That is how they got Dan and nearly
+captured me. If Dan keeps his mouth shut they can't prove anything
+against him on account of the Adams Express affair. So, you see, if he
+is wise he will keep mum."
+
+While the two men were thus conversing Chip and Sam were seated before
+an open window on the second floor of the house opposite the coal
+office. The city directory readily gave them the address of Wittrock's
+coalyard, and securing this room a constant watch had been kept on the
+spotted house.
+
+Nothing suspicious had been noted during the day; customers had passed
+in and out, and Sam had even bought a half ton of coal which was carried
+to his room. The two men who ran the coalyard, whose names were found to
+be Weaver and Haight, were well spoken of in the neighborhood and did
+not look to be the sort of stuff out of which train robbers were
+manufactured.
+
+While buying the coal Sam had purposely called Weaver "Mr. Wittrock."
+
+"That isn't my name," said Weaver, "Me and my pardner bought out
+Wittrock last October."
+
+"Excuse me," said Sam; "I saw the name over the door and thought you
+were the gentleman."
+
+"We don't like to pull down the sign. People know the yard by that name,
+an' we don't care, so long as they buy the coal."
+
+This was said so frankly and openly that Sam almost believed it to be
+true. But the case was beginning to be too interesting to allow risks to
+be taken, so the detectives kept their long and tedious watch night and
+day. They had failed to see Cummings when he leaped from the car, for a
+team crossing the track had delayed the car long enough for him to get
+into the shadows on the other side of the street, so that the detectives
+little knew that the man they wanted was only just across the street
+from them.
+
+They recognized Haight when he let himself in with a latch-key, but as
+this was not unusual, they thought little of it.
+
+When Cummings left the coal office, he passed through the alley, and
+going south to Randolph street, returned to the hotel for the night.
+
+The next day two of the Pinkerton force relieved Sam and Chip, who
+immediately went to their room at the Commercial Hotel, where they
+boarded.
+
+As Chip was eating his supper that evening and glancing over the Evening
+Journal, a large broad-shouldered man, wearing a heavy mustache, passed
+the table, and, seating himself at another one, faced the detective.
+
+It was part of Chip's religion never to allow any man to pass him or
+remain near him without looking at him carefully, so lowering the paper
+until his eye could see just above the upper edge, he glanced at the
+new-comer. A thrill like an electric shock passed through him, for in
+every feature, except the heavy mustache, Chip saw Jim Cummings, the
+Adams Express robber.
+
+The broad girth of his shoulders, the triangular gold-filling of his
+front tooth, the peculiar manner of hanging his head slightly on one
+side as if he were a trifle deaf, all belonged to Jim Cummings, all but
+the mustache. Was it real or false? If real, the man was not the noted
+robber, but if false--well, if it were false Chip had a bit of paper in
+his pocket which would take it off.
+
+He felt in his pocket for the warrant, and to his disgust recollected
+that Sam had it.
+
+He could do nothing without it.
+
+He timed his supper so nicely with that of the suspected man that they
+both rose together, Chip passing out first; but going down the stairs he
+fell back and the electric light revealed to the keen eyes of the
+detective that the mustache was false.
+
+It WAS the train robber.
+
+Cummings, simply stopping a moment to buy a cigar, walked through the
+office, then crossed Lake on Dearborn street and walked to Randolph,
+closely followed by Chip.
+
+A Randolph street car came along and Jim sprang on the front platform,
+Chip jumping on the rear one. Passing through the car, he opened the
+front door and stood beside Cummings, who was puffing his cigar, his
+coat collar pulled up and his fur cap drawn down over his ears.
+
+Pulling a cigar from his pocket, Chip felt for some matches, but
+apparently not finding any, he asked:
+
+"I beg your pardon, but would you mind giving me some fire?"
+
+Cummings held out his lighted cigar, at the same time darting a
+searching look at his questioner, but in the handsome, well-dressed,
+almost dandified young man before him, he failed to recognize the
+uncouth, grimacing Scip of Swanson's ranche.
+
+The pair rode along together, and after passing Halsted street some
+distance, Chip saw that he was getting ready to jump off at the next
+cross street, so, as soon as the car reached the street, Chip stepped
+off and walked briskly toward Lake street.
+
+Cummings rode to the other crossing and did the same, utterly without
+any suspicion whatever.
+
+Although Chip walked straight ahead, he kept his eye on the dark figure
+moving parallel to his course on the other side, and saw it turn
+abruptly to the left and enter the alley.
+
+Quickening his steps, Chip hurried to the house in which the watch was
+kept, and bounding up the steps, to his delight, found Sam in the room.
+
+"Cummings is over there," said Chip, excitedly.
+
+"Sure?"
+
+"As certain as I am that I live."
+
+"Come on, then!" and Sam ran down the steps, followed by Chip and the
+other two detectives.
+
+As they reached the foot of the stairs the door of the coal office
+opened and three men stepped out on the sidewalk.
+
+"The devil," said Chip, "that is more than I bargained for."
+
+The three men stood a moment conversing, then the detectives heard
+Cummings say:
+
+"I'll be back in an hour," as he turned east and walked away.
+
+The other two, Weaver and Haight, turned in the opposite direction and
+sauntered slowly along.
+
+Turning to the two men who had been sent to relieve them, Chip said:
+
+"Follow those two, and arrest them if possible without any noise; your
+warrant covers them."
+
+By this time Cummings was some little distance below them, strolling
+leisurely along, and at the next corner the detectives saw him enter a
+saloon.
+
+Crossing the street, their revolvers in their side coat-pockets ready
+for use, Sam and Chip entered the saloon.
+
+Cummings, without the false mustache, which he had either removed or
+lost (in fact it dropped off as he entered the coalyard) had just
+ordered a drink as the detectives entered.
+
+Without a second's hesitation Chip stepped up to him, and placing his
+hand on the train robber's shoulder, said quietly:
+
+"Fred Wittrock, alias Jim Cummings, I want you."
+
+Wittrock sprang back as though he had been shot, and glaring like an
+enraged lion, seemed about to rush upon the audacious detective.
+
+In a twinkling the cold barrels of two revolvers were leveled at his
+head and, with the address and skill of a practiced adept, Sam passed
+his twisted steel wire "come alongs" around the outlaw's wrist, and Jim
+Cummings' career stopped short. Any attempt at escape was hopeless, and
+in silent surrender he held out his other hand and Chip snapped the
+hand-cuffs on him.
+
+Before the people in the saloon had recovered from their astonishment,
+the detectives had taken desperate prisoner away, and finding a livery
+stable near drove to the Pinkerton headquarters. Haight and Weaver had
+not gone a block before the two detectives arrested them without any
+struggle, so that within one short half hour the three principals of the
+GREAT ADAMS EXPRESS robbery were placed behind the bars.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+JIM CUMMINGS IN PINKERTON'S SWEAT-BOX--HIS CONFESSION.
+
+
+All night long "Jim Cummings" walked the narrow limits of his room--
+still undaunted and fearless as of old. The gravity of his position only
+made him the more daring, and when the first beams of the morning broke
+through the barred window he had recovered his usual grit and nerve, and
+determined to die hard and game. Mr. Pinkerton, alone, came into the
+room just as the outlaw had finished the excellent breakfast which had
+been served him. Jim looked up, and holding out his hand, in a cheery
+voice said:
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Pinkerton."
+
+For a second Mr. Pinkerton hardly knew what to say. He was prepared to
+encounter either a desperate or a sullen prisoner, and was somewhat
+taken back when he received such a cordial greeting. It was but a
+second, and fully alive to all the tricks and maneuvers practiced by
+arrested criminals, he was on the qui vive.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. 'Cummings'. I trust you have had a good breakfast?"
+
+"Oh, fair."
+
+"You slept well?"
+
+"Tip-top."
+
+"I trust you will be able to amuse yourself during the day."
+
+"I won't amuse you, that's certain."
+
+"You have been doing that for some time."
+
+"That's all right. Now, what am I here for?"
+
+"Just so. What ARE you here for?"
+
+"You've got the wrong man, Mr. Pinkerton."
+
+"Indeed?" "Just now you called me 'Mr. Cummings'."
+
+"I should, perhaps, have said Mr. Wittrock."
+
+"What did you call me 'Cummings' for, then."
+
+"As you christened yourself you ought to know."
+
+"I'm arrested, of course, now for what?"
+
+"To tell the fact, Mr. Wittrock, it is because some time last October
+you played a little joke on the Adams Express Company, and they
+appreciated it so highly that they hired me to find you so that they
+could tell you so."
+
+"You dare accuse me of committing that robbery?"
+
+"That's about the size of it."
+
+"Why, man, I wasn't within five hundred miles of the place when it
+occurred."
+
+"Where were you?"
+
+"I was in New Orleans."
+
+"Positive of that?"
+
+"I can PROVE it."
+
+"You can?"
+
+"Yes, I can. You go over to my coalyard at--West Lake street, and ask my
+partner, Weaver. He will tell you where I was at that time."
+
+"Is he your partner?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Strange, very strange. He said he bought you out last October."
+
+"You've been there, have you?"
+
+"That is what he said."
+
+"He lies."
+
+"Or you do."
+
+"You wouldn't dare say that outside of this room."
+
+"Don't get excited, Mr. Wittrock. We have had enough bantering. You
+might as well make a clean breast of the whole affair, for we have a
+clear case against you."
+
+"I tell you I was at New Orleans at the time."
+
+"You were not. Listen to me and I can prove you are a liar."
+
+Wittrock flushed, and he began to get angry, which was just what Mr.
+Pinkerton wanted, and glaring at his persecutor he folded his arms and
+settled defiantly back in his chair. Mr. Pinkerton quietly continued:
+
+"A week before the robbery was committed you and a man named Haight took
+a room at Chestnut street. On the twenty-third of October you sent a
+valise to Daniel Moriarity at Leavenworth, Kansas, and a letter
+instructing him to give its contents to Oscar Cook, of Kansas City. A
+few days after you committed the robbery, and in a cave near Pacific,
+you, with Moriarity and Haight, divided the ill-gotten wealth. You then
+rowed down the river to St. Louis, or near there, and from thence went
+to Kansas City. You were often seen playing faro at the White Elephant,
+and one night you knocked one of my men senseless when he had arrested
+Moriarity, and took him to old Nance, the widow. Still later, you, Cook
+and Moriarity took refuge at Swanson's ranche in the Indian Territory,
+and after attempting to rob your host, which attempt was frustrated by
+my men, you came, in some roundabout way, to Chicago, where you put up
+at the Commercial Hotel, disguised by a false mustache. Every evening
+you went to West Lake street, and last night you were arrested. Now, Mr.
+Wittrock, what have you to say?"
+
+"That's a very pretty yarn; but as I don't happen to be the man that did
+all that I don't see how it concerns me."
+
+"Look at that and tell me what you have to say," and Mr. Pinkerton laid
+before him the sworn deposition of Daniel Moriarity, in which all the
+facts that Mr. Pinkerton had been relating were set forth, Wittrock did
+not show a trace of feeling other than amusement, as he read the long
+and legally worded document, and passing it back to Mr. Pinkerton with a
+gesture of disdain, he said:
+
+"So on the strength of that cock-and-bull story you mean to hold me for
+that robbery?"
+
+"Partly so."
+
+"There isn't a word of truth in it. That man, Moriarity, is a noted
+liar."
+
+"Ah!" said Mr. Pinkerton, quickly, "you know Moriarity?"
+
+"That is--I mean--yes, I sort of know him," stammered Wittrock, in
+confusion; "I have heard of him."
+
+"You are in desperate straits, Mr. Wittrock," said the detective. "In
+such desperate straits that you are doing the worst possible thing--
+denying all that is proved true. We have you safe and secure, and enough
+evidence against you to send you to Jefferson City for a long term of
+years. You can lighten your sentence by one thing."
+
+"You don't catch me that way, I am not to be taken in by soft words, and
+all the traps you set for me won't make me confess that I had anything
+to do with the robbery. You've arrested me without cause, and if there
+is any law in the land I'll make you suffer for it," and Wittrock walked
+excitedly around the room.
+
+Mr. Pinkerton did not reply to this, but touching a bell, told the man
+who opened the door to bring in the other prisoners.
+
+Wittrock had resumed his seat, his head bowed forward and eyes cast
+down, but hearing the door opening, he glanced up and saw Weaver and
+Haight, followed by two detectives, ushered into his room.
+
+Both of them looked discouraged and broken-spirited. The heart had been
+taken from them by their arrest, and Wittrock's boldness and defiant
+manner began to melt as he saw his faint-hearted accomplices.
+
+"You here, too," he exclaimed.
+
+"Looks like it, don't it," said Haight, with a grim smile.
+
+"You may as well own up, Fred," said Weaver, "they have the drop on us."
+
+"Coward!" hissed Wittrock. Then turning suddenly to Mr. Pinkerton, he
+said:
+
+"That cur is right, you have the drop on us."
+
+"Then you confess you committed the robbery?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, curtly.
+
+"Was Fotheringham in the ring, too?"
+
+"Fotheringham hadn't a thing to do with it."
+
+"How came it, then, that we found some of the Adams express letter heads
+in his trunk, and which were not the ones printed for the company?"
+
+"Did you do that?"
+
+"Yes; ten or twenty sheets."
+
+"He never got them from us. The first time I ever saw him was when I
+jumped on his car in St. Louis."
+
+Mr. Pinkerton looked at the frank, open face of the train robber, and
+wondered that such a man could have committed the crime for which he was
+now locked up in the "Pinkerton strong box." His manner and tone of
+sincerity, when he declared Fotheringham innocent of any complicity with
+him or his companions, carried conviction with it. He believed himself
+that a blunder had been made, and Fotheringham was wrongfully accused.
+
+"I said, a short time ago," he continued, addressing Wittrock, "that you
+could lighten your sentence if you wanted to do so."
+
+"How?"
+
+"Tell me where you have hid the money."
+
+Wittrock hesitated, and glanced at his companions. Perhaps he saw in
+their faces, that if he didn't tell, they would. He was willing,
+however, to give them the same benefit accorded him, and pointing to
+Weaver, he said;
+
+"Weaver knows where the money is planted in Chicago, and Cook has some
+hid around his shanty in Kansas City. I put some under the large tree,
+just east of the gate of the old graveyard at Leavenworth."
+
+A sign from Mr. Pinkerton to one of the detectives, and taking Weaver
+with him, the man left the room.
+
+Shortly after, Mr. Pinkerton, with the remaining detectives, also took
+his leave, and the two express robbers were alone.
+
+The door had scarcely closed, when, dropping his cool and calm demeanor,
+Wittrock sprang from his chair and confronting Haight with flaming eyes,
+he whispered in terrible tones:
+
+"Moriarity turned informer, he swore away our liberty, and all our work
+has been turned to naught by the cowardly traitor. Listen to me, Haight,
+listen well, and when you see the poltroon tell him that Jim Cummings
+swore he would cut his heart out. Aye! _I_ WILL DO IT, though he were
+guarded behind double bars. I'll search him out and tear the traitor
+heart from his breast and make him eat it, by God--make him eat it."
+
+A gurgling sound and hissing gasps recalled the furious man to his
+senses, and he saw that in his frenzy of anger he had clutched his
+companion by the throat and was choking him purple in the face.
+
+A few gasps, and Haight had recovered his breath, rubbing his throat
+ruefully, and edging away from his dangerous and excited companion.
+
+His passionate outburst over Wittrock regained his composure, and
+lighting a cigar, gave one to Haight, remarking in a light tone:
+
+"I beg your pardon, old man, I didn't mean to hurt you."
+
+"Next time don't take me for Moriarity," puffing the peace-offering.
+
+"Do you know whom I would like to see? Those two chaps that arrested
+me."
+
+As if in answer to his call the door opened, and Sam, with Chip
+following, entered.
+
+Wittrock recognized them, and with a hearty "Good-morning, gentlemen,"
+motioned them to a seat, with as little ceremony as if the room was in
+his own house.
+
+"Good-morning, Jim," said Chip, "I'm sorry we had to pull you in last
+night."
+
+"It was a ground-hog case, eh?"
+
+"You don't seem to recognize us," said Sam.
+
+"Yes, I do; you gave me enough cause last night to remember you all my
+life."
+
+"Suah enough, Massa Cummins," broke in Chip, imitating Scip's voice.
+
+Wittrock gazed at the speaker, and in astonishment, cried:
+
+"Scip!"
+
+"Suah as you bawn, honey, I's de same ole Scip."
+
+"And you?" turning to Sam.
+
+"Doctor Skinner, at your service,"
+
+"Then you're the two I have to thank for my being here."
+
+"We helped the thing a little."
+
+As they were talking, Weaver returned with the detective, bringing
+several packages of money, still in the original wrappers, which
+Wittrock had taken from the safe of the express car.
+
+The sight of the recovered plunder placed a quietus on the arrested men,
+who now saw that the last link in the chain had been forged, and felt
+the walls of the penitentiary looming up before them.
+
+Settling into a stubborn silence, they sullenly refused to utter another
+word, and maintained this position until they were placed on the train
+for St. Louis, where they were locked up to answer the indictments which
+the grand jury had already found against them.
+
+*****
+
+Fotheringham, who had all this time laid in jail, still protested his
+innocence. He stated that the letter heads found in his trunk he had
+taken from the general desk in the company's office, and that the reason
+the signatures of Route Agent Bartlett was found on the paper, was due
+to the fact that he was about to write for a permit for a vacation
+Christmas, and simply practised writing the name.
+
+This explanation was received with smiles, but his friends came to the
+rescue, and proved that he was in the habit of writing names on every
+bit of paper which came to hand. That this eccentricity was well known,
+and his explanation should be received with favor. The grand jury,
+however, found an indictment against him, and he was held as an
+accomplice to the robbery.
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+WHEN the now noted express car robbers, Wittrock, Haight and Weaver,
+were brought up for trial, they pleaded "guilty," and were sentenced to
+a term of years in the Missouri State penitentiary at Jefferson City. A
+few days later the train carried them to that city, and as they passed
+the various places, Wittrock pointed out the gully in which was located
+the moonshiner's cave where the plunder was divided, and then, as the
+train rounded the curve, he depicted, in graphic language, the struggle
+between Moriarity and himself, which was only ended by the freight train
+bearing down on them.
+
+When the train arrived at Jefferson City the three prisoners were driven
+to the warden's office of the penitentiary, and, after going through the
+regular formalities, the striped suits were put on them, and they became
+CONVICTS.
+
+Oscar Cook was sentenced to a term of years on the charge of being an
+accessory after the fact, but Moriarity, in consideration of the
+valuable services he had rendered the State, was not prosecuted.
+
+The house of Nance, the widow, fortune-teller and "fence," was broken
+up, and with it the rendezvous of one of the most daring bands of
+highwaymen which had ever infested that section of the country, Nance
+escaped the clutches of the law and disappeared from sight.
+
+The detective work in connection with this case was as skillful, daring
+and successful as any that have made the detectives of Paris world
+famous.
+
+Starting with the bit of torn express tag and following, thread by
+thread, the broken bits of clews which were discovered by the hawk eyes
+of the operatives until the arrest of Cook, it was as pretty a piece of
+business as ever brought criminals to their just punishment.
+
+A most remarkable fact connected with the robbery and the subsequent
+detection of its participators, is that from first to last not a single
+human life was taken.
+
+Unlike Jesse or Frank James, Redney Burns, Frank Rande or other noted
+outlaws, who always shot before a move was made, Jim Cummings pitted
+brute strength and brain power against brute strength and brain power.
+He doubtless would not have hesitated to take life if pushed to the last
+extremity, but he placed more reliance on his cunning, shrewdness and
+ready brain than on the deadly bullet.
+
+Jesse James on a fleet horse, a revolver in each hand, and surrounded by
+his band of horse thieves and cutthroats, was audacious and bold, and
+would not hesitate to take desperate chances, but it is doubtful if he
+would have quietly and with business-like foresight, prepared for every
+emergency, forged a letter on a forged letter-head of an express
+company, gained access to the car, and, single-handed, attack and bind a
+man nearly as strong as himself, and then leisurely helped himself to
+his booty.
+
+The writer is not holding Jim Cummings up in a laudatory spirit, or as
+an object to be envied and imitated, but as everything else has its
+degrees of comparison, so has the methods employed in committing
+robbery, and the address, audacity, skill, success and intelligence
+displayed by Jim Cummings in robbing the Adams Express Company of a cool
+$53,000, cannot help but excite a feeling akin to admiration. As this
+was his first attempt, it would take subsequent years to measure the
+height which he might attain as a highwayman. It may be that the modern
+Jack Sheppard had his career nipped in the bud by the Pinkerton
+Detective Agency. That "eye that never sleeps" must have winked pretty
+often, when it learned of the various and narrow escapes Jim Cummings
+had from its agents, and Mr. Pinkerton confessed afterward, that he
+passed many anxious nights and days on account of Jim Cummings. The
+money was gathered together from the various sources designated by the
+robbers, and when counted was found to be almost the whole sum
+originally put in the safe, The robbery was committed in the latter part
+of October, and the early part of the following January found the
+principals wearing the convicts' stripes,
+
+*        *           *           *           *
+
+The foregoing narrative would be incomplete did it not relate the
+incidents which brought Swanson's ranche to a pile of ashes, and Swanson
+himself to an untimely end.
+
+When Cummings and Moriarity, with Sam and Chip, the detectives,
+disguised as the Doctor and Scip, his negro servant, dashed away from
+the ranche, carrying the greater part of his wealth, Swanson was lying,
+an unconscious man, on the floor of the large room. The blow which
+felled him to the ground had been given with the full force of Cummings'
+right arm, and partly overcome by the copious libations of which he had
+partaken previous to his short but decisive fight with the train robber,
+it was several hours before he regained his senses. His men had rushed
+to the pony herd at the first alarm, only to find a stampede had
+loosened all the horses, and they were helpless to pursue the robbers.
+
+Swanson's rage, when he fully realized that he had been robbed, was
+something terrible. He roamed the vicinity of the ranche armed to the
+heel, cursing and foaming at the mouth, pouring maledictions of the most
+blasphemous character upon the men who had repaid his hospitality with
+such a scurvy trick.
+
+When finally the ponies had been corralled, he vaulted on one, and
+galloping with the speed of the wind, set out in pursuit of the robbers
+who had mulcted him of his wealth. All the day he ranged the country,
+until his horse, completely exhausted, refused to move another step. His
+own excited passion had calmed down somewhat, so hobbling his horse, he
+threw himself on the open prairie and sank into a deep slumber.
+
+During his absence a strange procession rode up to the ranche.
+
+A large band of Cherokee Indians and half-breeds, headed by a chief of
+the tribe, loped up the trail, and dismounting, asked for Swanson.
+
+The angry tones and flashing eyes of the red men portended a storm, and
+suspicious of coming danger to the master of the ranche, a cowboy
+mounted his pony and galloped off to warn Swanson.
+
+For several months previous the Indians had been missing stock from
+their herds of cattle. Steers and yearlings had mysteriously
+disappeared, even under the keen eyes and sharp ears of the Cherokees
+themselves. All efforts to discover the thieves had proved fruitless,
+until chagrined and mortified by their ill success, the Indians resolved
+to let nothing escape nor a stone unturned which would lead to the
+detection of the parties making away with their cattle.
+
+Relays of scouts were detailed, and a few days previous to their
+appearance at Swanson's ranche the first trail had been found, which
+they followed with all the skill and cunning that have made the red men
+of America peculiarly famous. Day and night the pursuit had been
+followed, and it led them direct to Swanson's.
+
+He had long been suspected of such methods of procuring his stock, but
+so cunningly had he managed to cover his tracks that he had escaped
+being caught lip to this time.
+
+His day of punishment had arrived, and his executioners were gathered
+around the ranche awaiting his return.
+
+The cowboy had failed to find him, and the early morning found Swanson
+returning home. The Indians had posted scouts in all directions, and
+when one of them galloped in, conveying the intelligence that Swanson
+was coming, the temporary camp was awakened, and with their blankets
+over their heads, the Indians patiently waited for their victim.
+
+All unsuspicious of danger, he came at a hard gallop over the range, nor
+did he discover his visitors until he wheeled around the corner of the
+house and found himself in their midst.
+
+A dozen hands immediately grappled him, dragging him from the saddle and
+pinioned his arms behind him. Not a word had been spoken, their silence
+and his own guilty conscience told him that he had no mercy to hope for.
+As husband of a Cherokee squaw, he was looked on as a member of their
+tribe, and as such would be tried by their methods, found guilty or not
+guilty; and if guilty, he knew he would be shot at once.
+
+His reckless, bold spirit asserted itself at this critical period, and
+holding his head erect, he asked, speaking the Cherokee tongue:
+
+"Am I a coyote, that my brother traps me in this way?"
+
+The dignified chief, folding his arms across his breast, his face stern
+and forbidding, replied:
+
+"Coyote! No, dog of a pale-face. The coyote would yelp in mockery to
+hear you call yourself one."
+
+"That isn't answering my question, Eagle Claw, What I want to know is,
+why am I jumped on in this way?" asked Swanson, his tone pacific and
+calm, and his manner free from anger, for he saw that it would require a
+deal of diplomacy to get him out of the scrape.
+
+"You shall be answered, but not here," and the chief, Eagle Claw,
+placing his curved hand to his mouth, emitted a shrill, piercing yell
+which was repeated by the line of scouts until the most remote vidette
+heard, and headed his horse to the ranche. The Indians in some parts of
+the Territory are partly civilized and live in organized towns and
+villages, electing their head men from time to time. Others are wild and
+uncivilized, wandering from place to place, pitching their tepees of
+buffalo hide on the bank of some rippling stream, or, sequestered in
+some lovely valley, engage in the pursuit of game and in the care of
+their herds of ponies and cattle.
+
+It was to the latter class that Eagle Claw and his band belonged. Gaudy
+paint, vemillion and yellow, smeared their faces in all the fantastic
+designs which their grotesque imaginations could invent. The tanned
+buckskin leggins, fringed and beaded, were supported at the waist by a
+belt of leather embroidered and figured. A blanket thrown carelessly
+over the shoulder completed the costume, with the addition of mocassins
+made of rawhide. Their ponies were selected from the cream of their
+stock, and the gorgeous trappings of the saddles and harness made a most
+picturesque scene as the cavalcade filed over the plains.
+
+Riding between two stalwart specimens of the Cherokee tribe, Swanson was
+closely guarded. All the answer he could get for his indignant
+questionings was a surly "Humph," or a sullen admonition to keep quiet.
+The chief led the party due southwest from Swanson's ranche, and all day
+long the sturdy ponies were kept at the long, swinging lope which
+enables them to cover miles during a day.
+
+Late in the afternoon the chief, raising in his stirrups, gave a
+peculiar, vibrating yell, which was immediately taken up by his
+followers until the welkin rang with the penetrating sounds.
+
+Like a faint echo an answering yell came back, and soon the forms of
+horsemen, dashing over the range, could be discerned.
+
+Familiar with all the Indian customs Swanson recognized the yell. It
+told the camp that the scouting party had returned successful.
+
+A short canter and the entire band wheeled around the edge of a tract of
+timber and came out upon the village, pitched on the banks of a stream
+of water, the tepees grouped in a circle around the chief's wigwam, the
+blue smoke curling lazily through the aperture at the top, and the
+welcome smell of cooking meats permeating the place. Swanson was given
+in charge of a guard and escorted to a vacant tepee, where he was firmly
+bound, hand and foot, and thrown upon a pile of fur robes.
+
+A large fire had been built near Eagle Claw's wigwam, and one by one the
+sub-chiefs, head-men and old Indians of the tribe gravely stalked toward
+it and seated themselves in the circle.
+
+Rising from his place Eagle Claw ordered the prisoner to be brought
+forward.
+
+As Swanson caught sight of the council-fire, the stern faces surrounding
+it, and the grave air of his captors, his guilty heart sank within him,
+and, trembling in every joint, he was hardly able to totter to the place
+assigned him. The Indians noted his condition with scornful eyes, and
+Eagle Claw, advancing from the rest, said:
+
+"How now, does the coyote tremble because he is asked to join the
+council with his brethren?"
+
+The mocking words brought Swanson's pluck back again, and drawing
+himself to his full height he answered:
+
+"You red devil! Don't brother me. Drop that beating around the bush and
+out with the truth."
+
+"'Tis well. A liar is a curse to his people. The
+Cherokees are men of truth and have but a single tongue."
+
+"The Cherokees are the biggest rascals in the Territory, the meanest
+horse-thieves, and couldn't tell the truth to save their rascally necks
+from the halter," said Swanson.
+
+The Indian's eyes flashed ominously at these words, and rising his
+voice, he said:
+
+"My brother has a long tongue. It might be well if it were cut out; but
+we know he is joking, for is he not a Cherokee himself?"
+
+"Not I. You can't make a mustang out of a broken-down broncho and you
+can't make a white man out of an Indian."
+
+"But you took one of the fairest of our young maidens to your tepee,
+and--"
+
+"Fairest young maiden? I took the skinniest rack-a-bones in the tribe.
+The old hag! She was too lazy to earn her salt, and was the biggest fool
+that ever wore calico."
+
+A terrible look of rage came into Eagle Claw's face, for Swanson had
+married his own sister, and such an insult was not to be brooked. But
+with all the powers of dissimulation which the Indian possesses, he
+forced a smile to his lips, and, blandly speaking, pointed to the thongs
+around Swanson's arms.
+
+"It is not well that our brother should be tied that way," and drawing
+his keen knife, he cut the thongs, and Swanson freed his arms.
+
+His arms free, all of Swanson's courage returned. Hastily glancing
+around the circle, he suddenly shot out his right arm. Reeling backward,
+Eagle Claw fell to the ground, and the Indians saw something pass them
+like the wind, straight for the pony herd.
+
+In an instant the camp was in commotion, hoarse yells came from tawny
+throats, and in swift pursuit of the flying Swanson the braves ran after
+him.
+
+He had the start, however, and agile and athletic to a remarkable
+degree, his hands pressed to his side, his mouth closed and saving his
+wind, he sped before the pursuing red men and gained the corral of the
+ponies.
+
+The Indians had not taken his knife from him, and hastily selecting his
+steed, the leather lariat was severed in a trice, and vaulting on his
+back, Swanson made a dash for life into the darkness. The thundering of
+hoofs told him that the red devils were close after him. Turning
+abruptly to one side he rode at right angles to his former course, and
+suddenly drawing up his horse he stood still. The sound of the chase
+neared him, and presently he heard them sweeping past, the darkness
+completely shrouding himself and his horse from their keen eyes.
+
+Leaping to the ground, he placed his ear to the earth, and the faint
+throbbing of the horse hoofs beating the ground grew fainter as his
+pursuers rode further away.
+
+Mounting his horse again, he commenced slowly and stealthily to
+circumnavigate the camp, and it wasn't until he had gained the opposite
+side, that he ventured to put his horse to a gallop.
+
+He had never been in that section of the country before, but it did not
+matter so long as he could put a good distance between himself and his
+captors in which direction he rode.
+
+The dawn of the next day found his horse loping along, Swanson keeping a
+sharp eye out for Indians.
+
+He was satisfied that he had at last eluded pursuit, and turning into a
+clump of timber he tied his horse with the remnants of the lariat and
+threw himself on the ground near it.
+
+All day long he slept, and as evening closed in he turned his horse from
+the timber and mounting a slight elevation near it, he gazed around for
+landmarks. To his surprise, he recognized the country as that near his
+own ranche, and feeling the pangs of hunger in a most distressing
+degree, he urged his horse in the direction of the ranche.
+
+He had ridden several hours, and he knew that he must be somewhere near
+his place, when, rising before him, he discerned the house.
+
+Almost simultaneous with his discovery a wide sheet of flame burst from
+the roof and, dismayed and astonished, Swanson checked his horse.
+
+A multitude of yells rent the air, and Swanson, turning his horse again
+fled before the avenging Cherokees, but a hissing whistling sound was
+heard, a long, writhing lariat shot out, and the noose, falling over
+Swanson's shoulders, drew together with the run, and, lifted completely
+from the saddle, Swanson was thrown senseless to the ground. A bucketful
+of water was dashed over his face, and recovering he saw the demon faces
+of Eagle Claw and his band surrounding him.
+
+"My brother was cold and we started a fire that he might get warm. He
+was lost and we made a light to guide him here. We love our brother
+Swanson. We would always have him with us," jeered the Indian,
+
+To this Swanson was incapable of replying. His senses were benumbed and
+he hardly realized what was going on around him. Staggering to his feet
+he reeled to and fro like a drunken man.
+
+As he walked toward the fire, he was suddenly grasped from behind, and
+again were his arms pinioned. There was no escape for him this time.
+Forced to his knees, he was placed facing half a dozen of the best
+marksmen of the tribe. His shirt was torn open, exposing his hairy
+breast. A signal was given, and the sharp reports of the rifles rang out
+in tune with the crackling timbers of the house, and falling to his
+face, Swanson gave a convulsive struggle and died as his own roof fell
+in; and a mass of blackened timbers marked the place where once stood
+Swanson's ranche.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jim Cummings, by Frank Pinkerton
+
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