With them and all they had, 'twas lightly come and lightly go; and when we left them my master said to me: "This is thy first lesson, but to-night we shall be at Hamburgh. Come with me to the 'rotboss' there, and I'll show thee all our folk and their lays, and especially 'the loseners, ' 'the dutzers, ' 'the schleppers. '" . .. "Enow!" cried I, stopping him, "art as gleesome as the evil one a-counting of his imps. I'll jot down in my tablet all these caitiffs and their accursed names; for knowledge is knowledge. But go among them alive or dead, that I will not with my good will. "

 --THE CLOISTER AND THE HEARTH. 

TRUE STORIES OF CRIMEFROM THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

BY ARTHUR TRAIN

FORMERLY DISTRICT ATTORNEYNEW YORK COUNTY

1908

PREFACE

The narratives composing this book are literally true stories of crime. In a majority of the cases the author conducted the prosecutionshimself, and therefore may claim to have a personal knowledge of thatwhereof he speaks. While no confidence has been abused, no essentialfacts have been omitted, distorted, or colored, and the accountsthemselves, being all matters of public record, may be easily verified. 

The scenes recorded here are not literature but history, and thecharacters who figure in them are not puppets of the imagination, butmen and women who lived and schemed, laughed, sinned and suffered, andpaid the price when the time came, most of them, without flinching. Afew of those who read these pages may profit perhaps by their example;others may gain somewhat in their knowledge of life and human nature;but all will agree that there are books in the running brooks, even ifthe streams be turbid, and sermons in stones, though these be the heartsof men. If in some instances the narratives savor in treatment more offiction than of fact, the writer must plead guilty to having fallenunder the spell of the romance of his subject, and he proffers theexcuse that, whereas such tales have lost nothing in accuracy, they mayhave gained in the truth of their final impression. 

ARTHUR TRAIN. 

CRIMINAL COURTS BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY, April 20, 1908. 

CONTENTS

I. THE WOMAN IN THE CASEII. FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARSIII. THE LOST STRADIVARIUSIV. THE LAST OF THE WIRE-TAPPERSV. THE FRANKLIN SYNDICATEVI. A STUDY IN FINANCEVII. THE "DUC DE NEVERS"VIII. A FINDER OF MISSING HEIRSIX. A MURDER CONSPIRACYX. A FLIGHT INTO TEXASXI. A CASE OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE

ILLUSTRATIONS

Envelope on the back of which Parker's forged order was writtenParker's order on Rogers, Peet & Co. , in the name of LangA letter-head "frill" of Mabel Parker'sExamples of Mabel Parker's penmanship, regular and forgedPractice signatures of the name of Alice KauserThe check on which the indictment for forgery was broughtParker's copy of the signature of Alice KauserOne of the sheets upon which Mabel Parker illustrated her skillOne of Miller's Franklin Syndicate Receipts. Ammon's deposit slips and a receipt signed by Mrs. Ammon. A group of H. Huffman Browne's forgeriesLast page of the forged Rice will of 1900The forged cremation letterForged assignment and Rice signaturesFirst page of the "Black Hand" letter written by Strollo

I

The Woman in the Case

On a sultry August afternoon in 1903, a dapper, if somewhat anaemic, young man entered the Broadway store of Rogers, Peet & Company, in NewYork City, and asked to be allowed to look at a suit of clothes. Havingselected one to his fancy and arranged for some alterations, he producedfrom his wallet a check for $280, drawn to the order of George B. Lang, and signed E. Bierstadt, and remarked to the attentive salesman:

"I haven't got quite enough cash with me to pay for these, but I havebeen intending to cash this check all the afternoon. Of course, youdon't know me or even that my name is Lang, but if you will forward thecheck to the bank they will certify it, and to-morrow I will send forthe suit and the balance of the money. "

"Certainly, Mr. Lang, " replied the salesman. "I will hold the suit andthe money to await your orders. "

The customer thanked him and took his departure. The check was sent tothe bank, the bank certified it, then cancelled its certification andreturned the check to Rogers, Peet & Company, and the store detectives, having communicated with Police Headquarters, anxiously awaited thearrival of Mr. Lang's messenger. 

[Illustration: FIG. 1. --Envelope on the back of which Parker's forgedorder was written. ]

Their efforts were rewarded a couple of days later by the appearance atthe store of a lad who presented a written order (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2)inscribed upon the back of an envelope bearing a cancelled stamp andaddressed to Geo. B. Lang, No. 13 West Twenty-sixth Street, New YorkCity, which read as follows:

 ROGERS, PEET & Co. 

 Please give to bearer the clothes I purchased on Tuesday--suit--pants--S. Coat, and also kindly put change in envelope in inside coat pocket. Trusting the alterations are satisfactory, and thanking you in advance for the favor and for past courtesies, I am, Resp. Yours, GEO. B. LANG. 

[Illustration: FIG. 2. --Parker's order on Rogers, Peet & Company, in thename of Lang. ]

The boy was immediately placed under arrest, and after proclaiming hisown innocence and vociferating that he was only doing an errand for a"gent, " who was waiting close by, was directed to return with his bundleas if nothing had occurred. This he did, and Mr. George B. Lang wassoon in the clutches of the law. 

Interrogated by his captors, the supposed Lang admitted that his realname was James Parker, that he lived at 110 West Thirty-eighth Street, and only requested that his wife be immediately notified of what hadhappened. At Headquarters the prisoner was identified as a gentleman whohad been very actively engaged during the preceding months in passingbad checks throughout the city, his more recent operations havingconsisted in cashing a check on the Lincoln National Bank for $160 onJuly 20th, one for $290 on the same bank on July 30th, still another for$510. 50 on August 4th, and one for $440. 50 on the National Shoe andLeather Bank, "to bearer, " on August 8th. This last, in someinexplicable way, had been cashed at the very bank itself. 

Believing that the forger had at last been caught, the precinctdetectives later on, during the evening of Parker's arrest, visited noWest Thirty-eighth Street, and on inquiring for "Mrs. Parker, " wereintroduced to a young girl of attractive appearance to whom theydelivered their unwelcome message. Mrs. Parker seemed overwhelmed at thenews and strongly asserted her confidence in her husband's innocence ofany wrong-doing. Having performed their errand the officers departed. 

A certain ineradicable jealousy has always existed between theplain-clothes men of the various precincts and the sleuths attached tothe Central Office, and in this instance the precinct men, having gainedthe credit for the arrest, it did not occur to them as necessary tocommunicate the knowledge of their acquaintance with Mrs. Parker toDetective Sergeants Peabody and Clark, originally assigned atHeadquarters to investigate the case. 

It seemed, however, to Peabody very unlikely that Parker had conductedhis operations alone, and he therefore at once inquired at the Tombswhat character of visitors came to see the prisoner. The gateman repliedthat as yet none had arrived. At that very instant a young girl steppedto the wicket and asked if she could be allowed to see Mr. James Parker. It took the detective but a moment to run across to the Criminal CourtsBuilding and to telephone the warden to detain her temporarily and thento refuse her request. Five minutes later the girl emergeddisconsolately from the Tombs and boarded a car going uptown. Peabodyfollowed her to 110 West Thirty-eighth Street, not for an instantsupposing that the girl herself could be the forger, but believing thatpossibly through her he might learn of other members of the gang andsecure additional evidence against Parker himself. 

Of course, no intelligent person to-day supposes that, outside of SirConan Doyle's interesting novels, detectives seek the baffling criminalby means of analyzing cigar butts, magnifying thumb marks orspecializing in the various perfumes in favor among the fair sex, or byany of those complicated, brain fatiguing processes of ratiocinationindulged in by our old friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. There are still, however, genuine detectives, and some of them are to be found upon theNew York police force. The magnifying glass is not one of the ordinarytools of the professional sleuth, and if he carries a pistol at all itis because the police rules require it, while those cases may benumbered upon the fingers of two hands where his own hair and whiskersare not entirely sufficient for his purposes in the course of hisprofessional career. 

The next morning Peabody donned the most disreputable suit in hiswardrobe, neglected his ordinary visit to the barber, and called at 110West Thirty-eighth Street, being, of course, at this time entirelyunaware of the fact that the girl was Parker's wife. He found hersitting in a rocking chair in a comfortable, well-furnished room, andreading a magazine. Assuming an expression of sheepish inanity heinformed her that he was an old pal of "Jim's" who had been sounfortunate as to be locked up in the same cell with him atHeadquarters, and that the latter was in desperate need of morphine. That Parker was an habitual user of the drug could be easily seen fromthe most casual inspection, but that it would prove an open sesame tothe girl's confidence was, as the detective afterward testified, "ahundred-to-one shot. "

"Poor Jim!" exclaimed the girl. "Couldn't you smuggle some into theTombs for him?"

Peabody took the hint. Of course he could. It would be a hard job--thoseturnkeys were so suspicious. But _he_ could do it for her if anybodycould. He rambled on, telling his experiences with Parker in the past, how he had been in Elmira Reformatory and elsewhere with him, andgaining each moment valuable information from the girl's exclamations, questions, and expression. He soon learned that she was Parker's wife, that they were living in comparative comfort, and that she was anexceedingly clever and well-educated woman, but she said nothing duringthe conversation which would indicate that she knew anything of herhusband's offenses or of any persons connected with them. 

After a few moments the girl slipped on her coat and hat and the twostarted down to the Tombs, where, by prearrangement with the officials, the detective succeeded in convincing her that he had been able to sendin to her husband a small hypodermic syringe (commonly called "theneedles") which she had purchased at a neighboring drug store. 

The apparent success of this undertaking put Mrs. Parker in excellenthumor and she invited the supposed crook to breakfast with her at theBroadway Central Hotel. So far, it will be observed, Peabody hadaccomplished practically nothing. At breakfast the girl inquired of hercompanion what his particular "graft" was, to which he replied that hewas an expert "second story man, " and then proceeded to indulge hisimagination in accounts of bold robberies in the brown stone districtsand clever "tricks" in other cities, which left Mrs. Parker in no doubtbut that her companion was an expert "gun" of long experience. 

Then he took, as he expressed it, "another chance. "

"Jim wanted me to tell you to put the gang 'wise, '" said he. 

The girl looked at him sharply and contracted her brows. 

"Gang?" she exclaimed. "What gang? Oh, perhaps he meant 'Dutch' and'Sweeney. '"

Peabody bit his lip. He had had a close call. 

"Don't know, " he replied, "he didn't say who they were--just to put them'wise. '"

A second time the detective had made a lucky hit, for Mrs. Parkersuddenly laid aside all pretense and asked:

"Do you want to make a lot of money?"

Peabody allowed that he did. 

"Do you know what they have got Jim for?" asked the girl. 

"'Phoney' paper, wasn't it?"

"Yes, " said Mrs. Parker, "but Jim didn't write those checks. I wrotethem myself. If you want to go in with me, we can earn enough money toget Jim out and you can do a good turn for yourself besides. "

The detective's blood leaped in his veins but he held himself undercontrol as well as he could and answered indifferently. 

"I guess not. I never met a woman that was very good at that sort ofgame. "

"Oh, you don't know _me_, " she persisted. "Why, I can copy anything in afew moments--really I can. "

"Too dangerous, " remarked Peabody. "I might get settled for ten years. "

"No, you wouldn't, " she continued. "It's the easiest thing in the world. All you have to do is to pick the mail out of some box on a corner. Ican show you how with a copper wire and a little piece of wax--and youare sure to find among the letters somebody's check in payment of abill. There at once you have the bank, and the signature. Then all youhave to do is to write a letter to the bank asking for a new check book, saying yours is used up, and sign the name that appears on the check. Ifyou can fool the cashier into giving your messenger a check book you cangamble pretty safely on his paying a check signed with the same name. Inthat way, you see, you can get all the blank checks you need and testthe cashier's watchfulness at the same time. It's too easy. The onlything you have to look out for is not to overdraw the account. Still, you find so many checks in the mail that you can usually choosesomebody's account that will stand the strain. Do you know, I have made_hundreds_ of checks and the banks have certified every single one!"

Peabody laughed good naturedly. Things were looking up a bit. 

"What do you think I am, anyhow?" he asked. "I must look like a'come-on. '"

"I'm giving it to you straight, " she said simply. "After you have madeout a good fat check, then you go to a store, buy something, tell themto forward the check to the bank for certification, and that you'll sendfor the goods and the change the next day. The bank always certifies thecheck, and you get the money. "

"Not always, " said Peabody with a grin. 

"No, not always, " acquiesced Mrs. Parker. "But Jim and I have beenaveraging over a hundred dollars a day for months. "

"Good graft, all right, " assented the detective. "But how does the onewho lays down the check identify himself? For instance, suppose I gointo Tiffany's and pick out a diamond, and say I'm Mr. John Smith, of100 West One Hundredth Street, and the floorwalker says, 'Sorry, Mr. Smith, but we don't know you, ' what then?"

"Just flash a few letters on him, " said the girl. "Letters andenvelopes. "

"Where do you get 'em?" asked Peabody. 

"Just write them, silly, and send them to yourself through the mail. "

"That's all right, " retorted the "second story man. " "But how can I mailmyself a letter to 100 West One Hundredth Street _when I don't livethere_?"

Mrs. Parker smiled in a superior manner. 

"I'm glad I can put you wise to a new game, I invented it myself. Youwant letters of identification? In different names and addresses ondifferent days? Very good. Buy a bundle of stamped envelopes and writeyour own name and address on them _in pencil_. When they arrive rub offthe pencil address. Then if you want to be John Smith of 100 West OneHundredth Street, or anybody else, just address the cancelled envelope_in ink_. "

"Mabel, " said Peabody with admiration, "you've got the 'gray matter' allright. You can have _me_, if you can deliver the rest of the goods. "

[Illustration: FIG. 3. --A letter-head frill of Mabel Parker's. ]

"There's still another little frill, " she continued, pleased at hiscompliment, "if you want to do the thing in style. Maybe you will find aletter or bill head in the mail at the same time that you get yoursample check. If you do, you can have it copied and write your requestfor the check book and your order for the goods on paper printedexactly like it. That gives a sort of final touch, you know. I rememberwe did that with a dentist named Budd, at 137 West Twenty-secondStreet. " (Fig. 3. )

"You've got all the rest whipped to a standstill, " cried Peabody. 

"Well, just come over to the room and I'll show you something worthwhile, " exclaimed the girl, getting up and paying their bill. 

"Now, " said she, when they were safely at no West Thirty-eighth Street, and she had closed the door of the room and drawn Peabody to a desk inthe bay window. "Here's my regular handwriting. "

She pulled towards her a pad which lay open upon the desk and wrote in afair, round hand:

"Mrs. James D. Singley. " (Fig. 4. )

"This, " she continued, changing her slant and dashing off a queerfeminine scrawl, "is the signature we fooled the Lincoln National Bankwith--Miss Kauser's, you know. And this, " she added a moment later, adopting a stiff, shaky, hump-backed orthography, "is the signature thatgot poor Jim into all this trouble, " and she inscribed twice upon thepaper the name "E. Bierstadt. " "Poor Jim!" she added to herself. 

"By George, Mabel, " remarked the detective, "you're a wonder! See ifyou can copy _my_ name. " And Peabody wrote the assumed name of WilliamHickey, first with a stub and then with a fine point, both of whichsignatures she copied like a flash, in each case, however, being guiltyof the lapse of spelling the word Willia_m_ "Willia_n_. "

The pad now contained more than enough evidence to convict twenty women, and Peabody, with the remark, "You don't want to leave this kind ofthing lying around, Mabel, " pretended to tear the page up, butsubstituted a blank sheet in its place and smuggled the precious bit ofpaper into his pocket. 

"Yes, I'll go into business with you, --sure I will!" said Peabody. 

"And we'll get enough money to set Jim free!" exclaimed the girl. 

They were now fast friends, and it was agreed that "Hickey" should goand make himself presentable, after which they would dine at somerestaurant and then sample a convenient mail box. Meantime Peabodytelephoned to Headquarters, and when the two set out for dinner at sixo'clock the supposed "Hickey" was stopped on Broadway by DetectiveSergeant Clark. 

"What are you doing here in New York?" demanded Clark. "Didn't I giveyou six hours to fly the coop? And who's this woman?"

[Illustration: Fig. 4--The upper signature is an example of MabelParker's regular penmanship; the next two are forgeries from memory; andthe last is a dashing imitation of her companion's handwriting. ]

"I was going, Clark, honest I was, " whined "Hickey, " "and this lady'sall right--she hasn't done a thing. "

"Well, I guess I'll have to lock you up at Headquarters for the night, "said Clark roughly. "The girl can go. "

"Oh, Mr. Clark, do come and have dinner with us first!" exclaimed Mrs. Parker. "Mr. Hickey has been very good to me, and he hasn't had anythingto eat for ever so long. "

"Don't care if I do, " said Clark. "I guess I can put up with the companyif the board is good. "

The three entered the Raleigh Hotel and ordered a substantial meal. Withthe arrival of dessert, however, the girl became uneasy, and apparentlyfearing arrest herself, slipped a roll of bills under the table to"Hickey" and whispered to him to keep it for her. The detective, thinking that the farce had gone far enough, threw the money on thetable and asked Clark to count it, at the same tune telling Mrs. Parkerthat she was in custody. The girl turned white, uttered a little scream, and then, regaining her self-possession, remarked as nonchalently as youplease:

"Well, clever as you think you are, you have destroyed the only evidenceagainst me--my handwriting. "

"Not much, " remarked Peabody, producing the sheet of paper. 

The girl saw that the game was up and made a mock bow to the twodetectives. 

"I take off my hat to the New York police, " said she. 

At this time, apparently, no thought of denying her guilt had enteredher mind, and at the station house she talked freely to the sergeant, the matron and the various newspaper men who were present, even drawingpictures of herself upon loose sheets of paper and signing her name, apparently rather enjoying the notoriety which her arrest hadoccasioned. A thorough search of her apartment was now made with theresult that several sheets of paper were found there bearing what wereevidently practice signatures of the name of Alice Kauser. (Fig. 5. )Evidence was also obtained showing that, on the day following herhusband's arrest, she had destroyed large quantities of blank checkbooks and blank checks. 

Upon the trial of Mrs. Parker the hand-writing experts testified thatthe Bierstadt and Kauser signatures were so perfect that it would bedifficult to state that they were not originals. The Parker woman waswhat is sometimes known as a "free hand" forger; she never tracedanything, and as her forgeries were written by a muscular imitation ofthe pen movement of the writer of the genuine signature they were almostimpossible of detection. When Albert T. Patrick forged the signature ofold Mr. Rice to the spurious will of 1900 and to the checks for $25, 000, $65, 000 and $135, 000 upon Swenson's bank and the Fifth Avenue Trust Co. , the forgeries were easily detected from the fact that as Patrick had_traced_ them they were _all almost exactly alike and practically couldbe superimposed one upon another, line for line, dot for dot_. [1]

[Footnote 1: See _Infra_, p. 304. ]

[Illustration: FIG. 5. --Practice signatures of the name of AliceKauser. ]

Mabel Parker's early history is shrouded in a certain amount ofobscurity, but there is reason to believe that she was the offspring ofrespectable laboring people who turned her over, while she was still aninfant, to a Mr. And Mrs. Prentice, instructors in physical culture inthe public schools, first of St. Louis and later of St. Paul, Minnesota. As a child, and afterwards as a young girl, she exhibited greatprecocity and a considerable amount of real ability in drawing and inEnglish composition, but her very cleverness and versatility were themeans of her becoming much more sophisticated than most young women ofher age, with the result that while still in her teens she gave heradopted parents ground for considerable uneasiness. Accordingly theydecided to place her for the next few years in a convent near New York. By this time she had attained a high degree of proficiency in writingshort stories and miscellaneous articles, which she illustrated herself, for the papers and inferior magazines. Convent life proved very dull forthis young lady, and accordingly one dark evening, she made her exitfrom the cloister by means of a conveniently located window. 

Waiting for her in the grounds below was James Parker, twenty-sevenyears old, already of a large criminal experience, although never yetconvicted of crime. The two made their way to New York, were married, and the girl entered upon her career. Her husband, whose real name wasJames D. Singley, was a professional Tenderloin crook, ready to turn hishand to any sort of cheap crime to satisfy his appetites and supportlife; the money easily secured was easily spent, and Singley, at thetime of his marriage, was addicted to most of the vices common to thehabitués of the under world. His worst enemy was the morphine habit andfrom her husband Mrs. Singley speedily learned the use of the drug. Atthis time Mabel Prentice-Parker-Singley was about five feet two inchesin height, weighing not more than 105 or 110 pounds, slender togirlishness and showing no maturity save in her face, which, with itshigh color, brilliant blue eyes, and her yellow hair, often led thosewho glanced at her casually to think her good looking. Furtherinspection, however, revealed a fox-like expression, an irregularity inthe position of the eyes, a hardness in the lines of the mouth and aflatness of the nose which belied the first impression. This wasparticularly true when, after being deprived of morphine in the Tombs, her ordinary high color gave way at her second trial to a waxy palenessof complexion. But the story of her career in the Tenderloin wouldprove neither profitable nor attractive. 

[Illustration: FIG. 6. --The check on which the indictment for forgerywas brought. ]

The subsequent history of the Parker case is a startling example of thecredulity of the ordinary jury. The evidence secured was absolutelyconclusive, but unfortunately juries are generally unwilling to take theuncorroborated word of a policeman against that of adefendant--particularly if the defendant be a young and pretty woman. Here at the very outset was a complete confession on the part of Mrs. Parker, supplemented by illustrations from her own pen of what she coulddo. Comparison showed that the signatures she had written without amodel upon the Peabody sheet were identical with those upon the forgedchecks (Fig. 6) and with Mr. Bierstadt's and Miss Kauser's handwriting. When Mrs. Parker's case, therefore, came on for pleading, her counsel, probably because they could think of nothing else to do, entered a pleaof _insanity_. It was also intimated that the young woman would probablyplead guilty, and the case was therefore placed upon the calendar andmoved for trial without much preparation on the part of the prosecution. Instead of this young person confessing her guilt, however, she amusedherself by ogling the jury and drawing pictures of the Court, theDistrict Attorney and the various witnesses. 

Probably no more extraordinary scene was ever beheld in a court of lawthan that exhibited by Part II of the General Sessions upon MabelParker's first trial for forgery. Attired in a sky blue dress andpicture hat, with new white gloves, she sat jauntily by the side of hercounsel throughout the proceedings toying with her pen and pencil and inthe very presence of the jury copying handwriting which was given herfor that purpose by various members of the yellow press who crowdedclose behind the rail. From time to time she would dash off an aphorismor a paragraph in regard to the trial which she handed to a reporter. Ifsatisfactory this was elaborated and sometimes even illustrated by herfor the evening edition of his paper. 

The Assistant District Attorney complained that this was clearly acontempt of court, particularly as the defendant had drawn a picturenot only of himself, but of the presiding justice and a witness, whichhad appeared in one of the evening papers. The Court, however, did notsee that anything could be done about it and the girl openly continuedher literary and artistic recreation. The Court itself was not a littleamused at the actions of the defendant, and when Detective Peabody wascalled to the stand the general hilarity had reached such a pitch thathe was unable to give his testimony without smiling. The natural result, therefore, at the first trial, was that the detective succeeded ingiving the unqualified impression that he was drawing the long bow in amost preposterous fashion. 

At the conclusion of the People's case the evidence that Mrs. Parker hadforged the checks amounted simply to this: That an officer who wasgreatly interested in her conviction had sworn to a most astonishingseries of facts from which the jury must infer that this exceedinglyastute young person had not only been entirely and completely deceivedby a detective, but also that at almost their first meeting she hadconfessed to him in detail the history of her crimes. Practically theonly other evidence tending to corroborate his story were a fewadmissions of a similar character made by her to newspaper men, matronsand officers at the police station. Unless the jury were to believe thatMrs. Parker had actually written the signatures on "the Peabody sheet"there was no evidence that she was the actual forger; hence uponPeabody's word alone depended the verdict of the jury. The trouble withthe case was that it was _too_ strong, _too_ good, to be entirelycredible, and had there been no defense it is exceedingly probable thatthe trial would have resulted in an acquittal, since the prosecution hadelected to go to the jury upon the question of whether or not thedefendant had actually signed the checks herself. 

Mrs. Parker, however, had withdrawn her plea of insanity and determinedto put in a defense, which proved in its turn to be even moreextraordinary than the case against her. This, in brief, was to theeffect that she had known Peabody to be a police officer all along, butthat it had occurred to her that if she could deceive him into believingthat it was she _herself_ who had committed the forgeries her husbandmight get off, and that later she might in turn establish her owninnocence. She had therefore hastily scratched her name on the top of asheet already containing her husband's handwriting and had told Peabodythat the signatures had been written by herself. That the sheet had beenwritten in the officer's presence she declared to be a pure inventionon his part to secure her conviction. She told her extremely illogicalstory with a certain winsome naïveté which carried an air ofsemi-probability with it. From her deportment on the stand one wouldhave taken her for a boarding school miss who in some inconsequentfashion had got mixed up in a frolic for which no really logicalexplanation could be given. 

Then the door in the back of the court room opened and James Parker wasled to the bar, where in the presence of the jury he pleaded guilty tothe forgery of the very signature for which his wife was standing trial. (Kauser check, Fig. 6. ) He was then sworn as a witness, took the standand testified that _he_ had written all the forged signatures to thechecks, including the signatures upon "the Peabody sheet. "

The District Attorney found himself in an embarrassing position. IfParker was the forger, why not challenge him to write the forgedsignatures upon the witness stand and thus to prove his alleged capacityfor so doing? The obvious objection to this was that Parker, inanticipation of this test, had probably been practicing the signature inthe Tombs for months. On the other hand if the District Attorney did notchallenge him to write the signatures, the defense would argue that hewas afraid to do so, and that as Parker had sworn himself to be theforger it was not incumbent upon the defense to prove it further--thatthat was a matter for cross examination. 

With considerable hesitation the prosecuting attorney asked Parker towrite the Kauser signature, which was the one set forth in theindictment charging the forgery, and after much backing and filling onthe part of the witness, who ingeniously complained that he was in a badnervous condition owing to lack of morphine, in consequence of which hishand trembled and he was in no condition to write forgeries, the lattertook his pen and managed to make a very fair copy of the Kausersignature from memory, good enough in fact to warrant a jury in formingthe conclusion that he was in fact the forger. (Fig. 7. ) This closed thecase. 

The defense claimed that it was clear that James Parker was the forger, since he had admitted it in open court, pleaded guilty to the indictmentand proved that he had the capacity. The prosecution, upon the otherhand, argued that the evidence was conclusive that the defendant herselfwas the writer of the check. The whole thing boiled down to whether ornot the jury was going to believe that Mrs. Parker had written "thePeabody sheet" in the presence of the detective, when her husbandclaimed that, with the exception of Mabel's signature, he had done ithimself and carelessly left the paper in his desk in the room. 

[Illustration: FIG. 7. --Parker's copy of the signature of Alice Kauser, made in court in an attempt to shield his wife. ]

The prosecuting attorney was at his wits' end for an argument to meetthe fact that Parker had written a sample forgery of the Kausersignature before the very eyes of the jury. He found it at last in anoffer on his own part in open court during his "summing up" to write forthe jury from memory a better forgery of the Kauser signature than thatwritten by Parker himself, and thus to show how simple a matter it wasto learn to do so. He had taken up his pen and was about to give asample of his handiwork in this respect when the defendant grasped hercounsel's arm and whispered: "For God's sake, don't let him do it!"whereupon the lawyer arose and objected, saying that such evidence wasimproper, as the case was closed. As might have been expected under thecircumstances, considering the blunders of the prosecution and theingenuous appearance of the defendant, the trial ended in adisagreement, the jury standing eight to four for acquittal. 

The District Attorney's office now took up a thorough investigation ofthe case, with the result that on a second prosecution Mrs. Parker wasconfronted with a mass of evidence which it was impossible for her torefute. A boy named Wallace Sweeney, sentenced to the ElmiraReformatory, was found to have been an active accomplice of the Parkersfor several years, and he was accordingly brought down to New York, where he gave a complete history of his relations with them. His storyproved beyond any doubt that Mrs. Parker was the forger of the checks inthe possession of the District Attorney, and of many others beside, someof them for very large amounts. The evidence of Sweeney was of itselfquite sufficient to warrant a conviction. To make assurance doubly sure, however, the District Attorney upon the second trial moved a newindictment, setting forth as the forgery a check signed "E. Bierstadt, "so that when Parker took the stand, as he had done in the former trialand testified that he was the forger, he found himself unable to writethis new signature, and hence his testimony went for nothing. 

But even the testimony of Sweeney was that of an accomplice, requiringcorroboration, while that of Peabody remained the evidence of "a merepoliceman, " eager to convict the defendant and "add another scalp to hisofficial belt. " With an extraordinary accumulation of evidence the casehinged on the veracity of these two men, to which was opposed the denialof the defendant and her husband. It is an interesting fact that in thefinal analysis of the case the jury were compelled to determine theissue by evidence entirely documentary in character. It is also anillustration of what tiny facts stamp whole masses of testimony as trueor false. 

On her examination Mrs. Parker had sworn among other things: (1) Thatshe had no knowledge of the envelope, the back of which had been used byParker for the purpose of directing Rogers, Peet & Co. To deliver theclothes and money to his messenger--and, of course, that the words "Mr. Geo. B. Lang" were not in her handwriting. This was one of the envelopesclaimed by the prosecution to have been originally addressed in penciland sent to themselves by the Parkers through the mail for this precisepurpose. (2) That she had never seen the "Kauser practice sheets, " andthat the words "Alice Kauser, " repeated hundreds of times thereon, werenot in her handwriting. For some reason unknown to the DistrictAttorney, however, she admitted having written the words "I am upstairsin the bath-room" upon a similar sheet, but claimed that at the timethis was done the reverse of the paper was entirely blank. 

Microscopic examination showed that among the words "Alice" and "Kauser"on the practice sheets some one had written a capital "M. " One of thelegs of the "M" crossed and was superimposed upon a letter in the word"Alice. " Hence, whoever wrote the "M" knew what was on the practicesheet. An enlargement of this "M" and a comparison of it with the "M" inthe defendant's signature to her formal examination in the police court, with the "M" in "_Mr. _" in the address on the envelope and with that inthe "Mrs. " on the "Peabody sheet, " rendered it obvious that they wereall written by one and the same hand. Therefore it was clear that thedefendant was familiar with the contents of the practice sheets (Fig. 8. ), even if she had not written them herself and had not told the truthin this regard. 

Moreover, it was fairly easy to see that the same hand that had writtenthe words "I am upstairs in the bath-room" upon the second practicesheet had at the same time and with the same pen written the rest of thesheet. This was clearly perceptible on examining the "e's" and "a's. "

A comparison of the address "Mr. Geo. B. Lang" (on Fig. 1) with the nameMrs. James D. Singley (on Fig. 4) also shows clearly that one and thesame person wrote them both. And to the accuracy of all theseself-evident propositions a leading handwriting expert in New York addedhis unqualified opinion. 

Thus, but for a little carelessness in failing to destroy odd scraps ofpaper and to disguise her penmanship which it seemed to her quiteunnecessary to do, as in the address of the "Lang" envelope, Mrs. Parkermight well have gone free after all. 

It is impossible to describe all the varied dramatic features of thisinteresting case. No one who was present is likely to forget theimpression made by the defendant at her second trial, when in defianceof overwhelming proof she still struggled to vindicate herself. 

Her counsel contended throughout the trial that she was a hithertoinnocent young woman led astray and started upon a criminal career by arascally husband, whom she still loved devotedly and for whose sakeshe had prepared to confess herself a criminal. That James Parkerintroduced his wife to a life of crime there can be no doubt, but thatshe had a natural predilection for it must be equally obvious. It isprobably true that Mabel Parker's affection for her convict husband wasunfeigned and deep. The natural repugnance of the American jury forconvicting a woman was shown when in spite of the overwhelming proofupon the Parker woman's second trial the jury remained out eight hoursand then found her guilty of "uttering only, " with a strongrecommendation for mercy. She was sentenced to the Bedford Reformatory. 

[Illustration: Fig. 8--One of the loose sheets upon which Mabel Parkerillustrated her methods and her skill as a penman to the supposedex-convict "Hickey. "]

II

Five Hundred Million Dollars

This story, which ends in New York, begins in the Department of theGironde at the town of Monségur, seventy-five kilometers from Bordeaux, in the little vineyard of Monsieur Emile Lapierre--"landowner. " In 1901Lapierre was a happy and contented man, making a good living out of hismodest farm. To-day he is--well, if you understand the language of theGironde, he will tell you with a shrug of his broad shoulders that hemight have been a Monte Cristo had not _le bon Dieu_ willed itotherwise. For did he not almost have five hundred million dollars--twoand a half _milliards_ of francs--in his very hands? _Hein_? But he did!Does M'sieu' have doubts? Nevertheless it is all true. _C'est tropvrai_! Is M'sieu' tired? And would he care to hear the story? There is acomfortable chair _sous le grand arbre_ in front of the veranda, andMadame will give M'sieu' a glass of wine from the presses, across theroad. Yes, it _is_ good wine, but there is little profit in it, when onethinks in _milliards_. 

The landowner lights his pipe and seats himself cross-legged against thetrunk of the big chestnut. Back of the house the vineyard slopes awaytoward the distant woods in straight, green, trellised alleys. A dimhaze hangs over the landscape sleeping so quietly in the midsummerafternoon. Down the road comes heavily, creaking and swaying, a wainloaded with a huge tower of empty casks and drawn by two oxen, theirheads swinging to the dust. Yes, it is hard to _comprendre_ twenty-fivehundred million francs. 

It was this way. Madame Lapierre was a Tessier of Bordeaux--an ancient_bourgeois_ family, and very proud indeed of being _bourgeois_. You cansee her passing and repassing the window if you watch carefully thekitchen, where she is superintending dinner. The Tessiers have alwayslived in Bordeaux and they are connected by marriage witheverybody--from the blacksmith up to the Mayor's notary. Once a Tessierwas Mayor himself. Years and years ago Madame's great-uncle Jean hademigrated to America, and from time to time vague rumors of the wealthhe had achieved in the new country reached the ears of hisrelatives--but no direct word ever came. 

Then one hot day--like this--appeared M. Le Général. He came walkingdown the road in the dust from the _gare_, in his tall silk hat andfrock coat and gold-headed cane, and stopped before the house to ask ifone of the descendants of a certain Jean Tessier did not livehereabouts. He was fat and red-faced, and he perspired, but--_Dieu_!--hewas _distingué_, and he had an order in his buttonhole. Madame Lapierre, who came out to answer his question, knew at once that he was anaristocrat. 

Ah! was she herself the grandniece of Jean Tessier? Then, Heaven bethanked! the General's toilsome journey was ended. He had much to tellthem--when he should be rested. He removed the silk hat and mopped hisshining forehead. He must introduce himself that he might have creditwith Madame, else she might hardly listen to his story, for there hadnever been a tale like it before since the world was. Let him presenthimself--M. Le Général Pedro Suarez de Moreno, Count de Tinoco andMarquis de la d'Essa. Although one was fatigued it refreshed one to bethe bearer of good news, and such was his mission. Let Madame prepareherself to hear. Yes, it would be proper for her to call M'sieu', herhusband, that he might participate. 

Over a draft of this same vintage M. Le Général imparted to them thesecret. Lapierre laughs and shrugs his shoulders as he recalls thescene--the apoplectic General, with the glass of wine in one hand, waving the other grandiloquently as he described the wealth about todescend upon them. 

Yes, the General must begin at the beginning, for it was a long story. First, as to himself and how he came to know of the affair. It had beenon his return from the Philippines after the surrender of Manila, wherehe had been in command of the armies of Spain, that he had paused forrepose in New York and had first learned of the Tessier inheritance. Theprecise manner of his discovery was left somewhat indefinite, but theLapierres were not particular. So many distinguished persons had playeda part in the drama that the recital left but a vague impression as toindividuals. A certain Madame Luchia, widow of one Roquefailaire, whomhe had accidentally met, had apparently been the instrument ofProvidence in disclosing the history of Jean Tessier to the General. Sheherself had been wronged by the villains and knew all the secrets of theconspirators. But she had waited for a suitable opportunity to speak. Jean Tessier had died possessed of properties which to-day, seventyyears after, were worth in the neighborhood of five hundred milliondollars! The General paused for the effect, solemnly nodding his headat his astounded auditors in affirmance. Yes, it was even so!

Five hundred million dollars! No more--and no less! Then he once moretook up the thread of his narrative. 

Tessier's lands, originally farms, were to-day occupied by huge_magasins_, government buildings, palaces and hotels. He had been afrugal, hardworking, far-seeing man of affairs whose money had doubleditself year by year. Then had appeared one Emmeric Lespinasse, aFrenchman, also from Bordeaux, who had plotted to rob him of his estate, and the better to accomplish his purpose had entered the millionaire'semploy. When Tessier died, in 1884, Lespinasse had seized his papers andthe property, destroyed his will, dispersed the clerks, secretaries, "notaries" and accountants of the deceased, and quietly got rid of suchpersons as stood actively in his way. The great wealth thus acquired hadenabled him to defy those who knew that he was not entitled to thefortune, and that the real heirs were in far-away France. 

He had prospered like the bay tree. His daughter, Marie Louise, hadmarried a distinguished English nobleman, and his sons were now therichest men in America. Yet they lived with the sword of Damocles overtheir heads, suspended by a single thread, and the General had the knifewherewith to cut it. Lespinasse, among other things, had caused themurder of the husband of Madame Luchia, and she was in possession ofconclusive proofs which, at the proper moment, could be produced toconvict him of his many crimes, or at least to oust his sons anddaughter from the stolen inheritance. 

It was a weird, bizarre nightmare, no more astonishing than the novelsthe Lapierres had read. America, they understood, was a land where therivers were full of gold--a country of bronzed and handsome savages, ofbirds of paradise and ruined Aztec temples, of vast tobacco fields andplantations of thousands of acres of cotton cultivated by naked slaves, while one lay in a hammock fanned by a "_petite nègre_" and languidlysipped _eau sucrée_. The General had made it all seem very, very real. At the weak spots he had gesticulated convincingly and digressed uponhis health. Then, while the narrative was fresh and he might have had toanswer questions about it had he given his listeners opportunity to askthem, he had hastily told of a visit to Tunis. There he had by chanceencountered Marie Louise, the daughter of Lespinasse, living with hernoble husband in a "handsome Oriental palace, " had been invited to dinewith them and had afterward seized the occasion while "walking in thegarden" with the lady to disclose the fact that he knew all, and had itin his power to ruin them as impostors. Marie Louise had beenfrightfully angry, but afterward her better nature had suggested thereturn of the inheritance, or at least a hundred millions or so, to therightful heirs. The General had left the palace believing all would bewell, and had retired to Paris to await letters and furtherdevelopments, but these had never come, and he had discovered that hehad been deceived. It had been merely a ruse on the part of the womanand her husband to gain time, and now every step that he took was doggedby spies in the pay of the Lespinasses, who followed him everywhere. Butthe right would triumph! He had sworn to run the conspiracy to earth!

Many hours were consumed in the telling of the story. The Lapierres wereenchanted. More than that, they were convinced--persuaded that they wereheirs to the richest inheritance in the world, which comprised most ofthe great American city of New York. 

Persons who were going to participate in twenty-five hundred millions offrancs could afford to be hospitable. M. Le Général stayed to dinner. Alist of the heirs living in or near Bordeaux was made out with the shareof each in the inheritance carefully computed. Madame Lapierre's wasonly fifty million dollars--but still that was almost enough to buy upBordeaux. And they could purchase Monségur as a country place. TheGeneral spoke of a stable of automobiles by means of which the journeyfrom Bordeaux to the farm could be accomplished in the space of an hour. 

That night the good man and his wife scarcely closed their eyes, and thenext day, accompanied by the General, they visited Bordeaux and theneighboring towns and broke the news gently to the other heirs. Therewas M. Pettit, the veterinary at Mormand; Tessier, the blacksmith inBordeaux; M. Pelegue and his wife, M. Rozier, M. Cazenava and his son, and others. One branch of the family lived in Brazil--the Joubin Frèresand one Tessier of "Saint Bezeille. " These last had to be reached bypost, a most annoyingly slow means of communication--_mais quevoulez-vous_?

Those were busy days in and around Bordeaux, and the General was thecentre of attraction. What a splendid figure he cut in his tall silk hatand gold-headed cane! But they were all very careful to let no inklingof their good fortune leak out, for it might spoil everything--give someopportunity to the spies of the impostor Lespinasse to fabricate newchains of title or to prepare for a defense of the fortune. The littleblacksmith, being addicted to white wine, was the only one who did notkeep his head. But even he managed to hold his mouth sufficiently shut. A family council was held; M. Le Général was given full power ofattorney to act for all the heirs; and each having contributed aninsignificant sum toward his necessary expenses, they waved him atremulous good-by as he stood on the upper deck of the steamer, his silkhat in one hand and his gold-headed cane in the other. 

"He will get it, if any one can!" cried the blacksmith enthusiastically. 

"It is as good as ours already!" echoed Rozier. 

"My friends, " Madame Lapierre assured them, "a General of the armies ofSpain and a Chevalier of the Order of Jiminez would die rather than failin his mission. Besides, " she added, her French blood asserting itself, "he is to get nineteen per cent. Of the inheritance!"

As long as the steamer remained in sight the General wavedencouragingly, his hat raised toward Heaven. 

"_Mais_, " says Lapierre, with another shrug as he lights his pipe, "evenyou would have believed him. _Vraiment_! He would have deceived thedevil himself!"

Up the road the wain comes creaking back again. A crow flaps across thevineyard, laughing scornfully at good M. Lapierre, and you yourselfwonder if such a thing could have been possible. 

On a rainy afternoon in March, 1905, there entered the writer's officein the Criminal Courts Building, New York City, a ruddy, stoutly-builtman, dressed in homespun garments, accompanied by an attractive andvivacious little woman, who, while unable to speak a single word ofEnglish, had no difficulty in making it obvious that she had a story totell of the most vital importance. An interpreter was soon found and thenames of the visitors disclosed. The lady, who did the talking for bothof them, introduced herself as Madame Valoie Reddon, of Bordeaux, andher companion as M. Emile Lapierre, landowner, of Monségur, They hadcome, she explained, from France to take possession of the inheritanceTessier. She was a personal friend of Madame Lapierre, and as theTessiers had exhausted all their money in paying the expenses connectedwith securing the fortune, she, being a well-to-do gentlewoman, had cometo their assistance, and for the last few months had been financing theenterprise on a fifteen per cent. Basis. If Madame Lapierre was toreceive ten million dollars, then, to be sure, Madame Reddon would haveone million five hundred thouand dollars; but, of course, it was not forthe money, but on account of friendship, that she was aiding them. Iwould understand that three years had elapsed since a certaindistinguished General Pedro Suarez de Moreno had disclosed to theLapierres the fact that Madame was the heiress to the greatest estate inAmerica. M. Lapierre solemnly nodded confirmation as the lady proceeded. It was the one subject talked about in the Gironde and Bordeaux--thatis, among those who had been fortunate enough to learn anything aboutit. And for three years the Tessiers, their wives, their sons' wives, and their connections, had been waiting to receive the glad tidings thatthe conspirators had been put to rout and the rightful heirs reinstated. 

It was some time before the good lady succeeded in convincing herauditor that such a ridiculous fraud as she described had actually beenperpetrated. But there was M. Lapierre and there was Madame ValerieReddon sitting in the office as living witnesses to the fact. Whatwonderful person could this General Moreno be, who could hypnotize ahard-headed, thrifty farmer from the Gironde and a clever little Frenchwoman from Bordeaux into believing that five hundred million dollars waswaiting for them on the other side of the Atlantic! I expressed mysurprise. Madame Reddon shrugged her sloping shoulders. Well, perhaps itwas hard for M'sieu' to believe, but then there were the proofs, thedocuments, the _dossier_, and, most of all, there was the Generalhimself. Oh' if M'sieu' could see the General in his tall silk hat andgold-headed cane!

I asked for the documents. Madame Reddon opened her bag and produced apackage of nearly one hundred letters, written in a fine Spanish hand. Oh! he had been a wonderful writer, this gorgeous Count de Tinoco andMarquis de la d'Essa. She had met him herself when he had been inBordeaux. Madame Lapierre had introduced him to her, and she had heardhim talk. How beautifully he talked! The stories of his experiences asGeneral of the armies of Spain under Don Carlos and as Brigadier-Generalin the Philippines were as fascinating as a romance. But it was hisletters which had really led her to take a personal interest in theundertaking. With a sigh Madame Valoie untied the little blue ribbonwhich bound up the pitiful little history. If M'sieu' would be goodenough to grant the time she would begin at the beginning. Here was hisfirst letter written after the General's return to America:

 _June 25, '02. _

 My dear M. Lapierre:

 We have had a terrible voyage. A horrible storm broke loose in mid-ocean, endangering all our lives. .. . The waves, like mountains, threatened every instant to swallow us all; the spectacle was terrifying. I fell from the top of the stairs 'way down into the hole (_sic_), hurting my right leg in the centre of the tibia bone. The ship's doctor, who is nothing but a stupid fool, left me helpless almost the entire day. .. . If ever I should have dreamt what would occur to me in this trip, not for all the gold in the world would I have embarked. But, now that I am here, I shall not retreat before any obstacle, in order to arrive at the fulfillment of my enterprise, and no matter at what cost, even at that of my life. It is necessary that I succeed--my pride demands it. Those who are in the right shall triumph, that is sure. .. . In the mean time, will you kindly give my regards to Madame and your son, and all of your relatives, not forgetting your good old servant. Squeezing your hand cordially, I bid you adieu. 

 Your devoted, Pedro S. De Moreno. 

"Can you not see the waves, and observe him falling down the hole?" asksMadame Reddon, "Mais, voici une autre. "

 _July 11, 1902. _

 M. Jean Lapierre. 

 _My dear M. Lapierre_: As soon as I could walk a little I began my research for the impostors of the inheritance Tessier. Without a doubt some person who is interested in the case has already advised them of my arrival in New York, and to take the necessary precautions to lead me astray in my researches. 

 Already I have discovered almost everything. I know even the house in which resided the deceased before his death. It is a house of twenty-five stories high, which resembles the Church of Saint Magdalene in Paris. To-day it is the biggest bank in New York. I have visited it from top to bottom, ascending and descending in steel elevators. This is a marvelous palace; it is worth more than five million dollars. The house itself has the numbers 100, 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116 and 118. In other words, it covers the ground of ten other houses made into one. 

 I have also visited six houses belonging to him, which are worth millions and are located around Central Park. .. . 

 As soon as the brothers Lespinasse knew that I had arrived in New York they immediately took their departure, one for Paris to find his father, Emmeric Lespinasse, the other to the city of Tuxpan, in Mexico, to visit the properties stolen from the heirs. I have come to an understanding with the Reverend Father Van Rensselaer, Father Superior of the Jesuits, and have offered him two millions for his poor, in recompense for his aid to recover and to enter into possession of the inheritance. He takes great pains, and is my veritable guide and confidant. .. . 

 I have visited Central Park, also a property of the deceased; this property alone is worth more than twenty million dollars. .. . I have great confidence in my success, and I am almost sure to reach the goal, if you are the heirs, for here there is a mix-up by all the devils. .. . 

 The wound of my leg has much improved, the consequences which I feared have disappeared, and I expect soon my complete convalescence, but the devil has bestowed upon me a toothache, which makes me almost crazy with pain. I shall leave, nevertheless, to begin my campaign. 

 Will you be kind enough to give my regards to your wife and son, and to our old friend, etc. , etc. 

 PEDRO S. DE MORENO. 

"May the devil bestow upon him five hundred million toothaches!"exclaims Lapierre, for the first time showing any sign of animation. 

The other letters were read in their order, interspersed with MadameReddon's explanations of their effect upon the heirs in France. Hisdescription of the elevators of steel and of the house that covered anentire block had caused a veritable sensation. Alas! those wonders arestill wonders to them, and they still, I fancy, more than half believein them. The letters are lying before me now, astonishing emanations, totally ridiculous to a prosaic American, but calculated to convince andstimulate the imagination of a _petit bourgeois_. 

The General in glowing terms paints his efforts to run down theLespinasse conspirators. Although suffering horribly from his fracturedtibia (when he fell into the "hole"), and from other dire ills, he has"not taken the slightest rest. " He has been everywhere--"New Orleans, Florida, to the city of Coney Island"--to corner the villains, who "fleein all directions. " The daughter, Marie Louise, through whom the Generalexpects to secure a compromise, has left for New Orleans. "Wonderfulcoincidence, " he writes, "they were all living quietly and I believe hadno intention whatever to travel, and two days after my arrival in NewYork they all disappeared. The most suspicious of it all is that thebanker, his wife and children had left for Coney Island for the summerand to spend their holidays, and certainly they disappeared withoutsaying good-by to their intimate friends. .. . I have the whole history ofTessier's life and how he made his fortune. There is a family for theuse of whom we must give at least a million, for the fortune of Tessierwas not his alone. He had a companion who shared his troubles and hiswork. According to the will they were to inherit one from the other; thecompanion died, and Tessier inherited everything. I do not see thenecessity of your trip to New York; that might make noise and perhapsdelay my negotiations. " Then follows the list of properties embraced inthe inheritance:

PROPERTY AND PERSONAL ESTATE OF THE HEIRS

1 The land of Central Park ceded to the city of New York, of the value of $5, 000, 000. 00

2 He had at the National Bank--United States Bank--deposited in gold--twenty to thirty million dollars. He never withdrew anything; on the contrary, he always deposited his income there 25, 000, 000. 00

3 The big house on Broadway, Nos. 100 to 118, of twenty-five stories, to-day the largest bank in New York 5, 000, 000. 00

4 The house on Fifth Avenue, No. 765, facing Central Park, to-day one of the first hotels of New York--Hotel Savoy 8, 000, 000. 00

5 House on Fifth Avenue, No. 767, facing Central Park, to-day the biggest and most handsomest of American hotels, where the greatest people and millionaires stop--Hotel Netherland 20, 000, 000. 00

6 Two coal mines at Folkustung in Texas 9, 000, 000. 00

7 A petroleum mine in Pennsylvania (Mexican frontier) 6, 000, 000. 00

8 Shares of silver mine at Tuxpan, Mexico 10, 000, 000. 00

9 The house at Tuxpan and its grounds, Mexico 15, 000. 00

10 The pleasure home and grounds in Florida (New Orleans) in the city of Coney Island 500, 000. 00

11 The house which covers all the Esquare Plaza (no number because it is all alone). It is an immense palace, with a park and gardens, and waters forming cascades and labyrinths, facing Central Park 12, 000, 000. 00

12 The block of houses on Fifth and Sixth Avenues, facing on this same Central Park, which, as all these grounds belong to him, he had put up. They are a hundred houses, that is called here a block 30, 000, 000. 00

13 He is the owner of two railroads and owns shares of others in Pennsylvania and Canada 40, 000, 000. 00

14 A line of steam and sail boats--Atlantic. The Pennsylvania and the Tessier and other names 100, 000, 000. 00

15 A dock and a quay of eight hundred meters on the Brooklyn River for his ships 130, 000, 000. 00

16 Several values and debts owed him and which at his death had not been collected $40, 000. 00 ---------------- $390, 555, 000. 00

 Which is in francs 1, 952, 775, 000 Plus 5 per cent 976, 388 -------------- Total in francs 1, 953, 751, 388

"Do you blame us?" asks Madame Valoie, as I listen as politely aspossible to this Arabian Nights' dream of riches. 

The letters continue: The General is surrounded by enemies, of which theworst are French, and he is forced continually to change his residencein order to escape their machinations. But all this takes money. How canhe go to Tuxpan or to the city of Coney Island? "You cannot know norimagine the expense which I have had to discover that which I havediscovered. I cannot live here like a miser, for the part I representdemands much of me. Every moment I change my residence, and that costsmoney. " He adds a little touch of detail. "I must always be dressedproperly, and laundry is very dear here--a shirt costs twenty-five centsto wash, and there are other necessary expenses. .. . You have forgottento tell me if you have received the album of views of New York in whichI have indicated the properties of the deceased, I squeeze your hand. "

"Yes, and our purses too, " adds Madame Valoie. "Would M'sieu' care tosee the album of the Tessier properties? Yes? M'sieu' Lapierre, kindlyshow the gentleman. "

Lapierre unbuttons his homespun coat and produces a cheap paper-coveredblank book in which are pasted small photographs and woodcuts of variouswell-known New York buildings. It is hard not to smile. 

"M'sieu' will see, " continues Madame Valoie, "that the dream hadsomething substantial about it. When we saw these pictures in Bordeauxwe were on the point of giving up in despair, but the pictures convincedus that it was all true. Moreover, just at that time the Generalintimated that unless he had more money he might yield to the efforts ofthe Lespinasse family to buy him off. "

Madame Valoie points vindictively to a certain paragraph in one of theletters: "Of course they are convinced that I am not for sale, not foranything. .. . To my regret, my very great regret, I shall be forced tocapitulate if you do not come to my aid and that quickly, for I repeatto you that my funds are all gone. "

"And here is his bill, " continues Madame Valoie, producing a foldeddocument composed of countless sheets of very thin paper, boundtogether at the edges by strips of heavier material. This, whenunfolded, stretches entirely across the room and is seen to be composedof hundreds of typewritten items, of which the following may serve asillustrations:

 EXPENSES IN NEW YORK

July 12, Train to New Orleans . .. .. .. .. . $25. 50" 16, Train to Florida . .. .. .. .. .. $ 2. 50" " Dinner on train . .. .. .. .. .. $ 2. 00" 17, Hotel in Florida . .. .. .. .. .. $ 2. 00" 18, Trip to Coney Island . .. .. .. .. .. $ . 50" 19, Return to Florida . .. .. .. .. .. $ . 50" 21, Return from Florida to New Orleans $ 2. 50" " Laundry . .. .. .. .. .. $ 1. 15Dec. 3, Return to New York . .. .. .. .. .. $ 6. 50" 24, Train to Vera Cruz . .. .. .. .. .. $57. 50Jan. 4, Trip to Tuxpan . .. .. .. .. .. $ 2. 50" 5, Return to Vera Cruz . .. .. .. .. .. $ 2. 50" 6, Sudden night trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, via Buffalo and Niagara Falls . .. .. .. .. .. $50. 50" 18, Laundry for three months . .. .. .. .. $ 5. 00 Etc. , etc. 

 EXTRAORDINARY EXPENSES

To Agent Pushyt John, a meerschaum and amber cigar-holder and pipe . .. .. .. .. .. $ 7. 00Tobacco jar of shell and silver . .. .. .. .. .. $ 4. 00To Indian Peter South-Go, a watch, a suit, and a pair of shoes . .. .. .. .. .. $16. 50To my general agent of confidential reports for his daughter, a gold ring and a feather fan . .. .. .. .. .. $ 7. 00A necktie for himself and scarf pin in gold and with stone for the necktie . .. $ 8. 60To the letter-carrier to bring me my correspondence and not give it to any one else when I should change address . $ 4. 00Invitation to the Consul and his two agents in Washington hotel . .. .. .. .. .. $12. 00Several invitations to cafés and saloons to the Police Agents . .. .. .. .. .. $ 2. 00Invitations to old employees of Jean Tessier, to tear from them the declarations . .. .. .. .. .. $ 1. 50Barber expenses . .. .. .. .. .. $11. 50Tobacco and matches, July to December, three packages each week, ten cents each . .. .. .. .. .. $ 7. 80Changing hotels to lead astray the agents of the impostors . .. .. .. .. .. $ 9. 50 Etc. , etc. 

"To obtain a collossal fortune as yours will be, it is necessary tospend money unstintingly and to have lots of patience. Court proceedingswill be useless, as trickery and lies are necessary to get the best ofthe scoundrels. It is necessary also to be a scoundrel. "

"That he might well say, " interpolates Lapierre. "He succeed, _c'estsure_. "

I rapidly glanced over the remaining letters. The General seems alwaysto be upon the verge of compelling a compromise. "I have alreadyprepared my net and the meshes are tightly drawn so that the fish willnot be able to escape. .. . For an office like this one needs money--moneyto go quickly from one place to another, prosecute the usurpers, notallow them an instant's rest. If they go to some city run after them atonce, tire them with my presence and constantly harass them, and by thismeans compel them to hasten a compromise--"

The General is meeting with superhuman obstacles. In addition to hisenemies he suffers all sorts of terrible bodily afflictions. Wheneverthe remittances from the Lapierres do not arrive the difficulties anddiseases increase. 

At last, however, after an interval of two years, things took a turn forthe better. A "confidential representative" of the conspirators--one"Mr. Benedict-Smith"--arrived to make a bona fide offer of one hundredand fifty million dollars in settlement of the case. The General writesat great length as to exactly in what proportion the money should bedivided among the heirs. The thing is so near a culmination that he isgreatly exercised over his shabby appearance. 

 I am without a son and too badly dressed to go before the banker in the very likely case of his arrival here. Send me my baggage at once with the first steamer, and mark each piece "fragile. " This is all. My regards to Madame Lapierre and your son. I am cordially yours, squeezing your hand. 

 PEDRO S. DE MORENO. 

But the Lapierres and Tessiers, while not for an instant distrusting thehonesty of the General, had become extremely weary of sending himmoney. Each heir felt that he had contributed enough toward theGeneral's "expenses and invitations. " Even the one hundred and fiftymillions within easy reach did not prompt immediate response. 

About the same time an extraordinary messenger arrived at the Lapierrefarm, purporting to come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, andinstructing Lapierre to repair immediately to Paris. The messengerexplained that the presence of Lapierre was desired at the Ministry inconnection with some investigation then in progress into the affairs ofone Jean Tessier. Then the messenger departed as mysteriously as he hadarrived. 

Good M. Lapierre was highly excited. Here was indubitable evidence ofthe truth of the General's assertions. But, just as the latter hadintended, perhaps, the worthy farmer jumped to the conclusion thatprobably the messenger from Paris had been sent by the conspirators. 

"At the last moment, " wrote Lapierre to Moreno, "I received from Paris aletter commanding me to go to the Ministry, and at the same time atelegram recommending that I leave at once. I shall write you from Parisall that I learn to your interest. If this letter should not reach yousealed in red wax, with small indentations made with a sewing thimbleand my initials, which I always sign, it is that our correspondence isseized and read. "

Events followed in rapid succession. Lapierre, the Tessiers, includingthe little blacksmith, became almost hysterical with excitement. Agentleman, by name "Mr. Francis Delas, " called upon Lapierre and offeredhim twenty-five million dollars spot cash for his wife's share in theTessier inheritance. This person also claimed that he had a power ofattorney from all the other heirs, with the exception of Pettit andRozier, and asserted that he was on the point of embarking for New Yorkin their interest. He urged Lapierre to substitute him for Moreno. ButLapierre, now convinced that everything was as the General had claimedit to be, indignantly rejected any such proposition aimed at his oldfriend, and sent Mr. Francis Delas packing about his business. 

 "This is what my answer has been to him: 'Sir, we have already an agent with whom we can only have cause to be satisfied, so that your services are not acceptable or needed. ' He left me most dissatisfied and scolding. "

The sending of this confederate on the part of the wily General hadprecisely the effect hoped for. Lapierre and his friends were nowconvinced that the inheritance Tessier was a reality, and that powerfulpersonages were not only exerting their influence to prevent therightful heirs from obtaining their property, but had also in some waysecured the cooperation of government officials. It was agreed, on allhands, that the worthy landowner, accompanied by Madame Reddon, hadbetter proceed at once to the scene of operations and unite with theGeneral in their common purpose. Once on the ground Lapierre couldassume direction of his own campaign. 

Lapierre and Madame Reddon accordingly sailed for America and arrived inNew York on the fourth of December, 1904, where they were met on thedock by the General, who, freshly barbered, and with a rose in hisbuttonhole, invited them, as soon as they had recovered from the fatigueof landing, to make a personal inspection of their properties. 

These heirs to hundreds of millions of dollars were conducted by the"Marquis de la d'Essa and Count de Tinoco" to the Battery, where hegallantly seated them in an electric surface car, and proceeded to showthem the inheritance. He pointed out successively Number 100 Broadway, the "Flatiron" Building, the Fifth Avenue Hotel and the Holland House, the Waldorf-Astoria, the Vanderbilt mansion at Fifty-seventh Street andFifth Avenue, the Hotel Savoy and the Hotel Netherland, incidentallytaking a cross-town trip to the ferry station at East Twenty-thirdStreet, and to Bellevue Hospital. A public omnibus conveyed them aroundCentral Park--also their own. And, in spite of the cold weather, theGeneral insisted on showing them the "Tessier mansion and estate at FortGeorge"--visible from the Washington Bridge--"a beautiful property inthe centre of a wood. " Returning, he took them to the Museum of NaturalHistory and to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contained"Tessier's collections. "

Having thus given them a bird's-eye view of the promised land, theGeneral escorted them to his apartments and allowed them to see the Arkof the Covenant in the shape of a somewhat dilapidated leather trunk, which contained a paper alleged to be the will of Jean Tessier, made inBellevue Hospital (one of his possessions), and unlawfully seized by theLespinasse family. It was only, Moreno alleged, through the powerfulinfluence of the Jesuits that he had been able to secure and keep a copyof this will. 

Although the Marquis de la d'Essa must have known that his days werenumbered, he was as gay and as entertaining as ever. Then, suddenly, thescales began to fall from Madame Reddon's eyes. The promised meetingwith Marie Louise Lespinasse and her mysterious representative, "Mr. Benedict-Smith, " was constantly adjourned; the "police agents, " whom ithad been so necessary to entertain and invite to saloons and cafés, werestrangely absent, and so were the counsellors, Jesuit Fathers, bankers, and others who had crowded the General's antechambers. A slatternlyHibernian woman appeared, claiming the hero as her husband; his landladycaused him to be evicted from her premises; and his trunk containing thefamous "_dossier_" was thrown into the street, where it lay until theGeneral himself, placing it upon his princely shoulders, bore it to afifteen-cent lodging-house. 

"And now, M'sieu', " said little Madame Reddon, raising her hands andclasping them entreatingly before her, "we have come to seek vengeanceupon this _misérable_! This _villain m'sieu_! He has taken our money andmade fools of us. Surely you will give us justice!"

"Yes, " echoed Lapierre stubbornly, "and the money was my own money, which I had made from the products of my farming. "

A month later Don Pedro Suarez de Moreno, Count de Tinoco, Marquis de lad'Essa, and Brigadier-General of the Royal Armies of the Philippines andof Spain, sat at the bar of the General Sessions, twirling his mustacheand uttering loud snorts of contempt while Lapierre and Madame Reddontold their story to an almost incredulous yet sympathetic jury. 

But the real trial began only when he arose to take the witness chair inhis own behalf. Apparently racked with pain, and laboring under the mostfrightful physical infirmities, the General, through an interpreter, introduced himself to the jury by all his titles, asserting that he hadinherited his patents of nobility from the "Prince of Arras, " from whomhe was descended, and that he was in very truth "General-in-Chief of theArmies of the King of Spain, General Secretary of War, and Custodian ofthe Royal Seal. " He admitted telling the Lapierres that they were theheirs of five hundred million dollars, but he had himself honestlybelieved it. When he and the rest of them had discovered their commonerror they had turned upon him and were now hounding him out of revenge. The courtly General was as _distingué_ as ever as he addressed thehard-headed jury of tradesmen before him. As what _canaille_ he musthave regarded them! What a position for the "Count de Tinoco"!

Then two officers entered the courtroom bearing the famous trunk of theGeneral between them. The top tray proved to contain thousands ofrailroad tickets. The prosecutor requested the defendant to explaintheir possession. 

"Ah!" exclaimed Moreno, twirling his mustaches, "when I was Generalunder my King Don Carlos, in the Seven Years' War of '75 and also inCatalonia in '80, I issued these tickets to wounded soldiers for theirreturn home. At the boundaries the Spanish tickets were exchanged forFrench tickets. " He looked as if he really meant it. 

Then the prosecutor called his attention to the fact that most of thembore the date of 1891 and were printed in French--not in Spanish. Theprisoner seemed greatly surprised and muttered under his breath vaguelyabout "plots" and "conspiracies. " Then he suddenly remembered that thetickets were a "collection, " made by his little son. 

Beneath the tickets were found sheaves of blank orders of nobility andblank commissions in the army of Spain, bearing what appeared to be theroyal seal. These the General asserted that he had the right to confer, by proxy, for his "King Don Carlos. " Hundreds of other documents bearingvarious arms and crests lay interspersed among them. The prisoner drewhimself up magnificently. 

"I was the General Secretary of War of my King, " said he. "When I had togive orders to the generals under me, of whom I was the chief, I had theright to put thereon the royal imprint of Don Carlos. I was given allthe papers incident to the granting of orders and grades in the army, and I had the seal of the King--the seal of the Royal King. "

But, unfortunately for the prisoner, the seals upon the papers turnedout to be the legitimate arms of Spain and not those of Don Carlos, andas a finale he ingenuously identified the seal of the Mayor of Madrid asthat of his "Royal King. "

Next came a selection of letters of nobility, sealed and signed in thename of Pope Leo the Thirteenth. These, he asserted, must have beenplaced there by his enemies. "I am a soldier and a general of honor, andI never did any such trafficking, " he cried grandly, when charged withselling bogus patents of nobility. 

He explained some of his correspondence with the Lapierres and hisfamous bill for twelve thousand dollars by saying that when he found outthat the inheritance Tessier did not exist he had conceived the idea ofmaking a novel of the story--a "fantastic history"--to be published "infour languages simultaneously, " and asserted solemnly that he hadintended printing the whole sixteen feet of bill as part of the romance. 

Then, to the undisguised horror of the unfortunate General, at a summonsfrom the prosecutor an elderly French woman arose in the audience andcame to the bar. The General turned first pale, then purple. He hotlydenied that he had married this lady in France twenty-three years ago. 

"Name of a name! He had known her! Yes--certainly! But she was no wifeof his--she had been only his servant. The other lady--theHibernian--was his only wife. " But the chickens had begun to come hometo roost. The pointed mustaches drooped with an unmistakable look ofdejection, and as he marched back to his seat his shoulders no longerhad the air of military distinction that one would expect in a generalof a "Royal King. " His head sank on his chest as his deserted wife tookthe stand against him--the wife whom, he had imagined, he would neversee again. 

Any one could have seen that Elizabeth de Moreno was a good woman. Herfather's name, she said, was Nichaud, and she had first met the prisonertwenty-three years ago in the village of Dalk, in the Department of theTarne, where, in 1883, he had been convicted and sentenced for stealingbed linen from the Hôtel Kassam. She had remained faithful to him inspite of his disgrace, and had visited him daily in prison, bringing himmilk and tobacco. On his liberation she had married him and they hadgone to live in Bordeaux. For years they had lived in comfort, and shehad borne him eight children. He had never been to any war and wasneither a general nor, so far as she had known, a friend of Don Carlos. She had supposed that her husband held some position in connection withthe inspection of railroads, but, in 1902, it had come out that he wasin the business of selling counterfeit railroad tickets, and hademployed a printer named Paul Casignol to print great numbers ofthird-class tickets for the purpose of selling them to ignorant soldiersand artisans. Moreno had fled to America. She had then discovered thathe had also made a practice of checking worthless baggage, _stealing ithimself_ and then presenting claims therefor against the railroadcompanies. She had been left without a sou, and the rascal had takeneverything she had away with him, including even the locket containingthe hair of her children. By the time she had finished her storyMoreno's courage had deserted him, the jury without hesitation returneda verdict of guilty, and the judge then and there sentenced the prisonerto a term at hard labor in State's prison. 

 * * * * *

"_Mais oui_, " grunts Lapierre, as the crow, with a final caw ofcontempt, alights in a poplar farther down the road, "I don't blame thebird for laughing at me. But, after all, there is nothing to be ashamedof. Is one to be blamed that one is fooled? _Hein_! We are all madefools of once and again, and, as I said before, he would have deceivedthe devil himself. But perhaps things are better as they are. Money isthe root of all evil. If I had an automobile I should probably be thrownout and have my neck broken. But if M'sieu' intends to take the nexttrain for Bordeaux it is as well that he should be starting. "

III

The Lost Stradivarius

In the year 1885 Jean Bott, a native of Hesse Cassel, Germany, emigratedwith his wife Matilda to this country, bringing with him a celebratedviolin known as "The Duke of Cambridge Stradivarius, " which he hadpurchased in 1873 for about three thousand thalers--a sum representingpractically the savings of a lifetime. Bott had been leader of a smallorchestra in Saxe Meiningen as early as 1860, and was well advanced inyears before he determined to seek his fortune in America. His wife wasan elderly woman and they had no offspring. 

"This violin, my husband and myself made up the family--I loved it likea child, " she testified at the trial. 

So also did Bott, the old musician, love his instrument, and no hand buthis own was ever permitted to lift it from its case or dust itsdarkly-glowing surface. 

Whatever may have been its owner's genius, he prospered little in thenew world, and, although he labored conscientiously at his profession, the year 1894 found him still giving lessons upon the violin to onlyhalf a dozen pupils, and living in two rooms at 355 West Thirty-firstStreet. But Bott, having the soul of a true musician, cared but littlefor money and was happy enough so long as he could smoke his oldmeerschaum pipe and draw the bow across the cherished violin heldlovingly to his cheek. Then hard times came a-knocking at the door. Themeagre account in the savings-bank grew smaller and smaller. Thelandlord, the doctor and the grocer had to be paid. One night Bott laiddown his pipe and, taking his wife's wrinkled hand in his, said gently:

"Matilda, there is nothing else--we must sell our violin!"

"Even so!" she answered, turning away her face that her husband mightnot see the tears. "As God wills. "

The next day "The Duke of Cambridge Stradivarius" was offered for saleby Victor S. Flechter, a friend of Bott's, who was a dealer in musicalinstruments at 23 Union Square. It so happened that Nicolini, thehusband of Adelina Patti, was ambitious to own a genuine Stradivarius, and had been looking for one for a long time, and, although he was butan indifferent player, he had, in default of skill to perform, the moneyto buy. The matter was easily adjusted by Flechter, and Nicolini drewhis check for the sum specified, which, properly certified, was tenderedto Bott. But Bott had never seen a certified check and was unaccustomedto the ways of business. 

"If I part with my violin I must have real money--money that I canfeel--money that I can count. It was that kind of money that I paid formy violin, " said he doggedly. 

Nicolini, in a rage, believing himself insulted, tore the check to bitsand declared the transaction at an end. 

Now the price agreed upon for the violin had been forty-five hundreddollars, of which Flechter was to receive five hundred dollars as hiscommission, and when, through old Professor Bott's stubbornness, thesale fell through, the dealer was naturally very angry. Out of thisincident grew the case against Flechter. 

The old musician was accustomed to leave his treasured instrument in thelowest drawer of his bureau at the boarding-house. He always removed itbefore his pupils arrived and never put it back until their departure, thus insuring the secrecy of its hiding-place, and only his wife, hissister-in-law, Mollenhauer, a friend, and Klopton, a prospectivepurchaser, knew where it lay. 

On the morning of March 31, 1894, not long after the Nicolini incident, Bott gave a single lesson to a pupil at the boarding-house, and afterhis midday meal set out with his wife for Hoboken to visit a friend. Theviolin was left in its customary place. It was dark when they returned, and after throwing off his coat and lighting the gas the old manhastened to make sure that his precious violin was safe. When he pulledout the drawer it was empty. The Stradivarius was gone, with its leathercase, its two bows and its wooden box. 

Half distracted the musician and his wife searched everywhere in theroom, in closets, under beds, even behind the curtains, before theycould bring themselves to admit that the violin had in fact disappeared. Frantically Bott called for Ellen, the servant girl. Yes, there had beena caller--a young man with dark hair and a small, dark mustache--atabout five o'clock. He had waited about half an hour and then had saidthat he guessed he would go. She had not noticed that he took anythingaway with him. In his despair the old man turned to his old friendFlechter, and the next day the dealer came to express his sympathy. Heurged Bott to notify the police of the theft, but the old man wasprostrated with grief, and it was the wife who, with Ellen Clancy, finally accompanied Flechter to Police Headquarters. The police had noidea who had taken the old fellow's fiddle, and did not particularlycare anyway. Later they cared a good deal. 

Bott now began an endless and almost hopeless search for his belovedinstrument, visiting every place where violins were sold, every pawnshopand second-hand store again and again until the proprietors began tothink the old man must be crazy. Sometimes Flechter went with him. Once, the two travelled all the way over to New Jersey, but the scent provedto be a false one. Bott grew thinner and older week by week, almost dayby day. When the professor did not feel equal to going outdoors Mrs. Bott went for him, and on these occasions often called at Flechter'sstore to report progress, ask his advice and secure his encouragement. 

One day during one of these visits in the July following the loss of theviolin Flechter handed Mrs. Bott a sheet of paper, saying:

"I have written something down here. If you have that printed and put areward to it you will get your violin back. "

The wording, partly printed and partly written in script, ran asfollows:

 VIOLIN LOST. $500 REWARD. 

 No questions asked for return of instrument taken from residence of Jean Bott March 31, 1894, 355 W. 31st St. Absolute safety and secrecy guaranteed. Victor S. Flechter, No. 21 Union Square, violin maker and dealer. 

Mrs. Bott thanked him and took the notice away with her, but itspublication had no result. The old professor began to fail, he no longerhad an instrument upon which to teach his pupils, and those he couldavail himself of seemed harsh and discordant. He had no appetite, andeven found no solace in his pipe. Almost penniless they were forced togive up their lodgings and move to Hoboken. Mrs. Bott still kept up thesearch, but the professor could no longer tramp the streets looking forhis violin. He sat silent in his room, slowly, surely, dying of a brokenheart. 

In course of time some one advised Mrs. Bott to lay her case before theDistrict Attorney, and accordingly, during the summer, she visited theCriminal Courts Building and told her story to Colonel Allen, one of theassistants, who became greatly interested. The overwrought old woman hadbegun to suspect everybody, and even to accuse her husband's friend, Flechter, of a lack of any real interest. She thought he ought to beable to find the violin if he really made the effort. Allen began totake notice. The sleuth in him pricked up its ears. Why, sure, certainly, Flechter was the one man who knew what Bott's violin wasreally worth--the one man who could sell it to advantage--and he hadbeen done out of five hundred dollars by the old musician's stupidity. Allen thought he'd take a look into the thing. Now, there lived in thesame boarding-house with Allen a friend of his named Harry P. Durden, and to Durden Allen recounted the story of the lost violin and voicedhis suspicions of Flechter. Durden entered enthusiastically into thecase, volunteering to play the part of an amateur detective. AccordinglyDurden, accompanied by a Central Office man named Baird, visitedFlechter's place of business and the two represented themselves asconnoisseurs in violins and anxious to procure a genuine Strad. For acertain Mr. Wright in St. Paul. Flechter expressed entire confidence inhis ability to procure one, and did almost succeed in purchasing forthem the so-called "Jupiter Strad. "

All this took time, and at last, on April 28th, 1895, poor old Bott diedin his boarding-house in Hoboken. After the funeral the widow settled upher affairs, changing her boarding place temporarily, and, having noties in this country, determined to return to end her days in theFatherland. On May 21st she wrote to Flechter, who had lost all track ofher, that her husband had died, that she had moved to 306 River Street, Hoboken, and that she thought seriously of going back to Germany. Twodays later Flechter wrote the following letter to the Central Officeman, who had given his name as Southan, an employe of the alleged Mr. Wright:

 MR. SOUTHAN, care of H. P. Durden. 

 _Dear Sir_: Write to inform you that I have a genuine Strad. To offer you and would like to see you at your earliest convenience. 

 Very respectfully yours, VICTOR S. FLECHTER. 

When Allen saw this letter it seemed to him absolutely to confirm hissuspicions. Now that the only person in the world who had beenauthoritatively able to identify the "Duke of Cambridge" Stradivariuswas dead, Flechter was offering one for sale. 

Then occurred the strangest thing of all. On May 28th, five days afterFlechter's letter to Southan, Mrs. Bott received the followingextraordinary epistle. Like the notice given her by Flechter in hisoffice, it was partly written in printed capitals and partly in script. 

 _May 28, 1895. _

 To MRS. BOTT, 306 River Street, Hoboken, N. J. 

 _Dear Madam_: I wish to inform you that the violin taken from your house some time ago will be returned if you are willing to abide by agreements that will be made between you and I later on. It was my intention first to dispose of it, but on account of its great value and the danger it would place me in by offering for sale being a violin maker and dealer and not being able to sell with safety for such a large sum of money I concluded to wait. I have now thought the matter over and come to the conclusion that a little money is better than none and if you are anxious for the return of the violin and willing to pay a sum of money, small compared with the value of the violin, I think we can make a deal. You can put a personal in the New York Sun saying I am willing to give a sum of money for the return of the violin. No questions asked. Mrs. J. Bott. When I see your personal in the Sun I will let you know how the exchange can be made. CAVE DWELLER. 

This letter appeared to be written in a somewhat similar hand to thatwhich penned the offer of the reward, which, according to Mrs. Bott, wasFlechter's. By this time the widow and Allen, were in closecommunication. The "Cave Dweller" letter, could it be shown to be inFlechter's penmanship, seemed to fix the crime on the violin dealer. 

Flechter's store is two flights up and looks out into Union Square. Before the window hangs a large gilded fiddle and the walls aredecorated with pictures of famous musicians. In the rear is a safe wherethe more valuable instruments are kept; in the front sits Flechterhimself, a stoutish man of middle height, with white hair and mustache. But on June 23, 1895, Flechter was out when Durden and Baird called, andonly his clerk and office-boy were on hand. Durden wished, he said, tosee the genuine Strad. About which Mr. Flechter had written him. The boywent to the safe and brought back a violin in a red silk bag. Inside wasinscribed:

"Antonius Stradivarius Cremonis fecit Anno Domini 1725. "

The figures 17 were printed and the 25 written in ink. Durden examinedit for some fifteen minutes and noted certain markings upon it. 

On June 26th they called again, found Flechter in and asked to see theviolin. This time the dealer look it himself from the safe, and, attheir request, carried it to 22 Gramercy Park, where Durden said hedesired some experts to pass upon its genuineness. On the way overFlechter guaranteed it to be a genuine Strad. , and said it belonged to aretired merchant named Rossman, who would expect to get four thousanddollars for it. He himself would want five hundred dollars, and Durdenshould have five hundred dollars, so that they must not take less thanfive thousand dollars. 

Once at Allen's boarding-house Flechter played upon the violin forDurden and the supposed Southan, and then the former asked to be allowedto take the instrument to a rear room and show it to a friend. HereMrs. Bott, positively identified the violin as that of her husband, clasping it to her bosom like a long-lost child. This was enough forDurden, who gave the instrument back to Flechter and caused his arrestas he was passing out of the front gate. The insulted dealer stormed andraged, but the Car of Juggernaut had started upon its course, and thatnight Flechter was lodged in the city prison. Next morning he wasbrought before Magistrate Flammer in the Jefferson Market Police Courtand the violin was taken out of its case, which the police had sealed. At this, the first hearing in this extraordinary case, Mrs. Bott, ofcourse, identified the violin positively as "The Duke of Cambridge, " andseveral other persons testified that, in substance, it was Bott'scelebrated violin. But for the defendant a number of violin makers sworethat it was not the Bott violin at all, and more--that it was not even aStradivarius. One of them, John J. Eller, to whom it will be necessaryto revert later, made oath that the violin was _his_, stolen from himand brought to Flechter by the thief. On this testimony the magistratenaturally decided that the identity of the instrument had not beenestablished and ordered that Flechter be discharged and the violinreturned to him. 

Ordinarily that would have been the end of the case, but Allen had hisown private views as to the guilt of the dealer and on August 28th theGrand Jury filed an indictment against Flechter accusing him offeloniously receiving stolen property--the violin--knowing it to havebeen stolen. Great was Flechter's anger and chagrin, but he promptlygave bail and employed the ablest counsel he could afford. 

Now began the second act of this tragedy of errors. The case was calledfor trial with the People's interests in the hands of James W. Osborne, just advancing into the limelight as a resourceful and relentlessprosecutor. I say the _People's_ case but perhaps _Allen's_ case wouldbe a more fitting title. For the defense Arthur W. Palmer held the fort, directing his fire upon Osborne and losing no advantage inadvertentlygiven him. The noise of the conflict filled the court house and drownedthe uproar on Broadway. Nightly and each morning the daily press gavecolumns to the proceedings. Every time the judge coughed the importantfact was given due prominence. And every gibe of counsel carried behindit its insignia of recognition--"[_Laughter_]" It was one of those firstgreat battles in which the professional value of compressed air as anexplosive force and small pica type as projectiles was demonstrated. Itwas a combat of wind and lead--an endurance contest during which thejury slept fitfully for three long weeks. 

Two things, the prosecution claimed, proved Flechter's guilt: first, thefact that the violin found in his possession was "The Duke ofCambridge"; second, that the "Cave-Dweller" letter was in the samehandwriting as Flechter's notice of reward. 

Of course the latter proposition carried with it the necessity ofproving in the first place that the notice itself was in Flechter'spenmanship. Flechter through his counsel said it wasn't, and that he hadnever told Mrs Bott that it was. He claimed that his brother-in-law, John D. Abraham, had written it. Mrs. Bott, he alleged, was an old ladyand was mistaken in her testimony when she swore that he had said, "Ihave written down something. " He had not said so. Mr. Abrahamcorroborated him. He had written it himself sitting in an armchair, allbut the words "355 West Thirty-first Street, " which had been put in by acertain Mr. Jopling who had been present. Mr. Jopling swore that thatwas so, too. But, on cross-examination, it developed that Mr. Abrahamhad been practicing making copies of the notice at the suggestion of thelawyer for the defense, and, when Mr. Jopling took the stand, he wascalled upon to explain an affidavit made by him for Assistant DistrictAttorney Allen, in which he affirmed that he did not know _who_ wrotethe words "355 West Thirty-first Street. " His explanation did notexplain, and, anyhow, there did not seem to be any particular reason whyAbraham and Jopling should have written Flechter's notice for him. Besides, even if Flechter did _not_ write it and Abraham _did_, it wouldstill remain almost as bad for Flechter if it was shown that "CaveDweller" was his own brother-in-law. 

But Mrs. Bott was a woman who appealed strongly to a jury's sympathies, and she was clear that Flechter had said that he had written the notice. Moreover, she recalled that the date had first been written _May_ andthat Flechter had erased it and inserted _March_ in its place. Amicroscopic examination revealed the fact that such an erasure had beenmade. When the smoke cleared the credibility of the defense appearedbadly damaged. But the precise point was of little importance, afterall. The great question was: the identity of 'CAVE DWELLER. ' On thispoint a number of witnesses testified from a general knowledge ofFlechter's handwriting that the "Cave Dweller" letter was his, and threewell-known handwriting "experts" (Dr. Persifor Frazer, Mr. Daniel T. Ames and Mr. David Carvalho) swore that, in their opinion, the same handhad written it that had penned the notice. 

It is not unlikely that Flechter's fear of a conviction led him toinvite testimony in his behalf which would not bear the test of carefulscrutiny. Many an innocent man has paid the penalty for uncommittedcrime because he has sought to bolster up his defense with doubtfulevidence without the incubus of which he would have been acquitted. 

Naturally the chief point against Flechter, if it could be established, was his actual possession of the Bott Stradivarius when he was arrested. Upon this proposition Mrs. Bott was absolutely positive beyond thepossibility of error. So were eight other witnesses for the prosecution. Then the defense produced a violin alleged to be the same one exhibitedin the police court and brought by Flechter to Durden's house, and askedMrs. Bott and her witnesses what they thought of it. Mrs. Bott could notidentify it, but she swore no less positively that it was an entirely_different_ violin from the one which she had seen before themagistrate. Then Osborne hurled his bomb over his enemy's parapet andcried loudly that a monstrous wicked fraud had been perpetrated tothwart Justice--that the defense had "faked" another violin and were nowtrying to foist the bogus thing in evidence to deceive the Court. _Tenwitnesses_ for the prosecution now swore that the violin so producedwas _not_ the one which Flechter had tried to sell Durden. Of course itwould have been comparatively easy to "fake" a violin, just as Osborneclaimed, and the case sheds some light upon the possibilities of the"old violin" industry. 

The star witness for the prosecution to prove that the instrumentproduced in the police court _was_ the Bott violin was August M. Gemunder, and his testimony upon the trial before Recorder Goff isworthy of careful examination, since the jury considered it of greatimportance in reaching a verdict, even requesting that it should bere-read to them some hours after retiring to deliberate. Gemundertestified, in substance, that he belonged to a family which had beenmaking violins for three generations and had himself been making themfor twenty years, that he was familiar with Bott's Stradivarius, havingseen it three times, and that he firmly believed a large part of theviolin produced before the magistrate _was_ the missing Bott--certainlythe back and scroll. Moreover, he was able to describe the markings ofthe Bott violin even to the label inside it. It should be mentioned, however, that in the magistrate's court he had been called only to_describe_ the Bott violin and not to _identify_ the one produced as theBott itself. He further swore that the violin now offered by the defenseon the trial was _not_ the one in evidence before the magistrate, butwas one which he had sold some years before to one Charles Palm. 

The defense, on the other hand, called among its witnesses John P. Frederick, a violin maker, who testified that he was familiar with theBott Strad. And had seen it in 1873 at Bott's house, Grenecher Castle, in Germany; that he had repaired it in this country in 1885; that theinstrument in court was not a Strad. Nor even a good imitation of one, and, of course, was not the "Duke of Cambridge, " but that it _was_ theidentical instrument produced before the magistrate, and one which herecognized as having been sent him for repair by Charles Palm in 1885. 

Thus both sides agreed that the fiddle now offered in evidence was abogus Strad. Once belonging to a man named Palm, the only element ofconflict being as to whether or not the violin which Flechter hadoffered for sale was the Palm instrument, or, in fact, Bott's famous"Duke of Cambridge. "

All this technical testimony about violins and violin structurenaturally bored the jury almost to extinction, and even the bitterpersonal encounters of counsel did not serve to relieve the drearinessof the trial. One oasis of humor in this desert of dry evidence gavethem passing refreshment, when a picturesque witness for the defense, aninstrument maker named Franz Bruckner, from South Germany, having beenasked if the violin shown him was a Strad. , replied, with a grunt ofdisgust: "Ach Himmel, nein!" Being then invited to describe all thecharacteristics of genuine Stradivarius workmanship, he tore his hairand, with an expression of utter hopelessness upon his wrinkled face, exclaimed despairingly to the interpreter:

"Doctor, if I gave you lessons in this every day for three weeks youwould know no more than you do now!"--an answer which was probably true, and equally so of the jury who were shouldered with the almostimpossible task of determining from this mass of conflicting opinionjust where the truth really lay. 

The chief witness for the defense was John J. Eller, who testified thathe had been a musician for thirty years and a collector of violins; thatthe violin in court was the same one produced before the magistrate, andwas not Bott's, but _his own_; that he had first seen it in thepossession of Charles Palm in 1886 in his house in Eighth Street and St. Mark's Place, New York City, had borrowed it from Palm and played on itfor two months in Seabright, and had finally purchased it from Palm in1891, and continued to play in concerts upon it, until having beenloaned by him to a music teacher named Perotti, in Twenty-third Street, it was stolen by the latter and sold to Flechter. 

It appeared that Eller had at once brought suit against Flechter for thepossession of the instrument, which suit, he asserted, he was stillpressing in the courts, and he now declared that the violin was inexactly the same condition in every respect as when produced in thepolice court, although it had been changed in some respects since it hadbeen stolen. It had originally been made of baked wood by one DedierNicholas (an instrument maker of the first half of the nineteenthcentury), and stamped with the maker's name, but this inscription wasnow covered by a Stradivarius label. Eller scornfully pointed out thatno Strad. Had ever been made of baked wood, and showed the jury certainpegs used by no other maker than Nicholas, and certain marks worn uponthe instrument by his, the witness', own playing. He also exhibited thecheck with which he had paid for it. 

In support of this evidence Charles Palm himself was called by thedefense and identified the violin as one which he had bought some twelveyears before for fifteen or twenty dollars and later sold to Eller. Uponthe question of the identity of the instrument then lying before thejury this evidence was conclusive, but, of course, it did not satisfythe jury as to whether Flechter had tried to sell the Palm violin orBott's violin to Durden. Unfortunately Eller's evidence threw a sidelight on the defence without which the trial might well have resulted inan acquittal. 

Eller had sworn that he was still vigorously endeavoring to get the Palmviolin back from Flechter. As contradicting him in this respect, and astending to show that the suit had not only been compromised but that heand Flechter were engaged in trying to put off the Palm violin as agenuine Stradivarius and share the profit of the fraud, the prosecutionintroduced the following letter from the witness to his lawyer:

 CLIFTON HOUSE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 

 _March 23, 1896. _

 _Dear Counsellor_: Received your letter just now. I have been expecting Mr. Flechter's lawyer would settle with you; he got nine hundred dollars for the violin and Mr. Meyer arranged with myself for the half, four hundred and fifty dollars, which he proposed himself and have been expecting a settlement on their part long ago. I have assisted Mr. Palmer, his able lawyer, with the best of my ability, _and have covered Mr. Flechter's shortcomings of faking the violin to a Strad_. 

 Yours most sincerely, JOHN ELLER, Metropolitan Opera Co. , Chicago, Ill. 

From this letter it was fairly inferable that although the defendantmight be innocent of the precise crime with which he was charged, hewas, nevertheless, upon his own evidence, guilty of having "faked" acheap Nicholas violin into a Strad. , and of having offered it for salefor the exorbitant price of five thousand dollars. This luckless pieceof evidence undoubtedly influenced the jury to convict him. 

It will be recalled that ten witnesses for the prosecution had swornthat the violin offered in evidence at the trial was _not_ the oneproduced in the police court, as against the defendant's five whoasserted that it _was_. 

The testimony was all highly technical and confusing, and the juryprobably relied more upon their general impressions of the credibilityof the witnesses than upon anything else. It is likely that most of thetestimony, on both sides, in regard to the identity of the violin washonestly given, for the question was one upon which a genuine divergenceof opinion was easily possible. 

Eller's letter from Chicago so affected the jury that they disregardedhis testimony and reverted to that of August Gemunder, to whose evidenceattention has already been called, and who swore that it was "The Dukeof Cambridge" which Flechter had tried to sell to Durden. Alas for thefallibility of even the most honest of witnesses!

The case was ably argued by both sides, and every phase of this curioustangle of evidence given its due consideration. The defense veryproperly laid stress upon the fact that it would have been a ridiculousperformance for Flechter to write the "Cave Dweller" letter and statetherein that he was "a violin dealer or maker, " thus pointing, unmistakably, to himself, and to further state that for one in hisposition to dispose of it would be difficult and dangerous. The onlyexplanation for the "Cave Dweller" letter which they could offer, however, was that some one interested in procuring Flechter's downfallhad caused it to be sent for that purpose. This might either be abusiness rival or some one connected with the prosecution. 

While Palmer was summing up for the defense he noticed AssistantDistrict Attorney Allen smiling and dramatically turning upon him, heshouted: "This is no laughing matter, Colonel Allen. It is a veryserious matter whether this man is to be allowed to-night to go home andkiss his little ones, or whether he is to be cast into jail because youused your brains to concoct a theory against him. "

Another consideration, which seemed deserving of weight, was that ifFlechter did steal "The Duke of Cambridge" it would have been a piece ofincredible folly and carelessness upon his part to leave it in such anexposed place as the safe of his store, where it could be found by thepolice or shown by the office-boy to any one who called. 

Yet the positive identification of August Gemunder and the fataldisclosures of Eller, coupled with the vehement insistence of theprosecution, led the jury to resolve what doubt they had in the caseagainst the prisoner, and, after deliberating eight or ten hours andbeing out all night, they returned a verdict of guilty. Flechter brokedown and declared bitterly that he was the victim of a conspiracy uponthe part of his enemies, assisted by a too credulous prosecutingattorney. Everybody admitted that it was an extraordinary case, but thepress was consistent in its clamor against Flechter, and opiniongenerally was that he had been rightly convicted. On May 22nd he wassentenced to the penitentiary for twelve months, but, after beingincarcerated in the Tombs for three weeks, he secured a certificate ofreasonable doubt and a stay until his conviction could be reviewed onappeal. Then he gave bail and was released. But he had been in jail!Flechter will never forget that! And, for the time being at least, hisreputation was gone, his family disgraced, and his business ruined. 

A calm reading of the record of the trial suggests that the caseabounded in doubts more or less reasonable, and that the Court mightwell have taken it from the jury on that account. But a printed page ofquestions and answers carries with it no more than a suggestion of thevalue of testimony the real significance of which lies in the manner inwhich it is given, the tone of the voice and the flash of the eye. 

Once again Flechter sat at his desk in the window behind the greatgilded fiddle. To him, as to its owner, the great Stradivarius hadbrought only sorrow. But for him the world had no pity. Surely thestrains of this wonderful instrument must have had a "dying fall" evenwhen played by the loving hand of old Jean Bott. 

At last, after several years, in 1899, the case came up in the AppellateDivision of the Supreme Court. Flechter had been led to believe that hisconviction would undoubtedly be reversed and a new trial ordered, whichwould be tantamount to an acquittal, for it was hardly likely in such anevent that a second trial would be considered advisable upon the sameevidence. But to his great disappointment his conviction was sustainedby a divided court, in which only two of the five justices voted for anew trial. Again Fortune had averted her face. If only one more judgehad thought the evidence insufficient! The great gilded fiddle seemed toFlechter an omen of misfortune. Once more he gave bail, this time infive thousand dollars, and was set at liberty pending his appeal to thehighest court in the State. Once more he took his seat in his office andtried to carry on his business. 

But time had dragged on. People had forgotten all about Flechter and thelost Stradivarius, and when his conviction was affirmed little noticewas taken of the fact. It was generally assumed that having beensentenced he was in jail. 

Then something happened which once more dragged Flechter into thelimelight. Editors rushed to their files and dusted the cobwebs off theissues containing the accounts of the trial. The sign of the gildedfiddle became the daily centre of a throng of excited musicians, lawyersand reporters. The lost Stradivarius--the great "Duke of Cambridge"--thenemesis of Bott and of Flechter--was found--by Flechter himself, as heclaimed, on August 17, 1900. According to the dealer and his witnessesthe amazing discovery occurred in this wise. A violin maker named JosephFarr, who at one time had worked for Flechter and had testified in hisbehalf at the trial (to the effect that the instrument produced in thepolice court was _not_ Bott's Stradivarius) saw by chance a very fineviolin in the possession of a family named Springer in Brooklyn, andnotified Flechter of the fact. The latter, who was always ready topurchase choice violins, after vainly trying for a long time to inducethe Springers to bring it to New York, called with Farr upon Mrs. Springer and asked to examine it. To his utter astonishment she producedfor his inspection Bott's long-lost Stradivarius. Hardly able to controlhis excitement Flechter immediately returned to New York and reportedthe discovery to the police, who instantly began a thorough examinationof the circumstances surrounding its discovery. 

The District Attorney's office and the Detective Bureau were at firsthighly suspicious of this opportune discovery on the part of a convictedfelon of the precise evidence necessary to clear him, but it was soondemonstrated to their pretty general satisfaction that the famousStradivarius had in fact been pawned in the shop of one Benjamin Fox onthe very day and within an hour of the theft, together with its case andtwo bows, for the insignificant sum of four dollars. After the legalperiod of redemption had expired it had been put up at auction and bidin by the pawnbroker for a small advance over the sum for which it hadbeen pawned. It lay exposed for purchase on Fox's shelf for some months, until, in December, 1895, a tailor named James Dooly visited the shop toredeem a silver watch. Being, at the same time, in funds, and able tosatisfy his taste as a virtuoso, he felt the need of and bought a violinfor ten dollars, but, Fox urging upon him the desirability of getting agood one while he was about it, was finally persuaded to purchase theBott violin for twenty dollars in its stead. Dooly took it home, playedupon it as the spirit moved, and whenever in need of ready money broughtit back to Fox as security, always redeeming it in time to prevent itssale. One day, being at Mrs. Springer's, where he was accustomed topurchase tailor trimmings, he offered it to her for sale, and, as herson was taking violin lessons, induced her to buy it for thirty dollars. And in the house of the Springers it had quietly remained ever since, while lawyers and prosecutors wrangled and thundered and witnesses sworepositively to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, toprove that Flechter stole the violin and tried to sell it to Durden. 

On these facts, which did not seem to admit of contradiction, RecorderGoff ordered an oral examination of all the witnesses, the hearing ofwhich, sandwiched in between the current trials in his court, draggedalong for months, but which finally resulted in establishing to theCourt's satisfaction that the violin discovered in the possession of theSpringers was the genuine "Duke of Cambridge, " and that it could nothave been in Flechter's possession at the time he was arrested. 

On July 7, 1902, eight years after Bott's death and the arrest andindictment of Flechter for the theft of the violin, a picturesque groupassembled in the General Sessions. There was Flechter and his lawyer, Mrs. Springer and her son, the attorneys for the prosecution, and lastlyold Mrs. Bott. The seals of the case were broken and the violinidentified by the widow as that of her husband. The Springers waived allclaim to the violin, and the Court dismissed the indictment against thedefendant and ordered the Stradivarius to be delivered to Mrs. Bott, with these words:

"Mrs. Bott, it affords very great pleasure to the Court to give theviolin to you. You have suffered many years of sorrow and trouble inregard to it. "

"Eight years, " sighed the old lady, clasping the violin in her arms. 

"I wish you a great deal of pleasure in its possession, " continued theRecorder. 

Thus ended, as a matter of record, the case of The People againstFlechter. For eight years the violin dealer and his family had enduredthe agony of disgrace, he had spent a fortune in his defense, and hadnevertheless been convicted of a crime of which he was at last provedinnocent. 

Yet, there are those who, when the case is mentioned, shake their headswisely, as if to say that the whole story of the lost Stradivarius hasnever been told. 

IV

The Last of the Wire-Tappers

 "Sir, " replied the knave unabashed, "I am one of those who do make a living by their wits. "

John Felix, a dealer in automatic musical instruments in New York City, was swindled out of $50, 000 on February 2d, 1905, by what is commonlyknown as the "wire-tapping" game. During the previous August a mancalling himself by the name of Nelson had hired Room 46, in a buildingat 27 East Twenty-second Street, as a school for "wireless telegraphy. "Later on he had installed over a dozen deal tables, each fitted with acomplete set of ordinary telegraph instruments and connected with wireswhich, while apparently passing out of the windows, in reality plungedbehind a desk into a small "dry" battery. Each table was fitted with ashaded electric drop-light, and the room was furnished with the ordinaryparaphernalia of a telegraph office. The janitor never observed anyactivity in the "school. " There seemed to be no pupils, and no onehaunted the place except a short, ill-favored person who appearedmonthly and paid the rent. 

On the afternoon of February 1st, 1905, Mr. Felix was called to thetelephone of his store and asked to make an appointment later in theafternoon, with a gentleman named Nelson who desired to submit to him abusiness proposition. Fifteen minutes afterward Mr. Nelson arrived inperson and introduced himself as having met Felix at "Lou" Ludlam'sgambling house. He then produced a copy of the _Evening Telegram_ whichcontained an article to the effect that the Western Union TelegraphCompany was about to resume its "pool-room service, "--that is to say, tosupply the pool rooms with the telegraphic returns of the varioushorse-races being run in different parts of the United States. The paperalso contained, in connection with this item of news, a photograph whichmight, by a stretch of the imagination, have been taken to resembleNelson himself. 

Mr. Felix, who was a German gentleman of French sympathies, married toan American lady, had recently returned to America after a ten years'sojourn in Europe. He had had an extensive commercial career, waspossessed of a considerable fortune, and had at length determined tosettle in New York, where he could invest his money to advantage and atthe same time conduct a conservative and harmonious business in musicalinstruments. Like the Teutons of old, dwelling among the forests of theElbe, Mr. Felix knew the fascination of games of chance and he had heardthe merry song of the wheel at both Hambourg and Monte Carlo. In Europethe pleasures of the gaming table had been comparatively inexpensive, but in New York for some unknown reason the fickle goddess had notfavored him and he had lost upward of $51, 000. "Zu viel!" as he himselfexpressed it. Being of a philosophic disposition, however, he hadpocketed his losses and contented himself with the consoling thoughtthat, whereas he might have lost all, he had in fact lost only a part. It might well have been that had not The Tempter appeared in the personof his afternoon visitor, he would have remained _in status quo_ for therest of his natural life. In the sunny window of his musical store, surrounded by zitherns, auto-harps, dulcimers, psalteries, sackbuts, andother instrument's of melody, the advent of Nelson produced the effectof a sudden and unexpected discord. Felix distrusted him from the veryfirst. 

The "proposition" was simplicity itself. It appeared that Mr. Nelson wasin the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company, which had justopened a branch office for racing news at 27 East Twenty-second Street. This branch was under the superintendence of an old associate andintimate friend of Nelson's by the name of McPherson. Assuming that theycould find some one with the requisite amount of cash, they could allmake their everlasting fortunes by simply having McPherson withhold thenews of some race from the pool rooms long enough to allow one of theothers to place a large bet upon some horse which had in fact alreadywon and was resting comfortably in the stable. Felix grasped the ideainstantly. At the same time he had his suspicions of his visitor. Itseemed peculiar that he, an inconspicuous citizen who had already lost$50, 000 in gambling houses, should be selected as the recipient of sucha momentous opportunity. Moreover, he knew very well that gentlemen ingambling houses were never introduced at all. He thought he detected theodor of a rodent. He naïvely inquired why, if all these things were so, Nelson and his friend were not already yet millionaires two or threetimes? The answer was at once forthcoming that they _had_ been, but alsohad been robbed--unmercifully robbed, by one in whom they had hadconfidence and to whom they had entrusted their money. 

"And now we are poor, penniless clerks!" sighed Nelson, "and if weshould offer to make a big bet ourselves, the gamblers would besuspicious and probably refuse to place it. "

"I think this looks like a schvindling game, " said Felix shrewdly. So itdid; so it was. 

By and by Felix put on his hat and, escorted by Nelson, paid a visit tothe "branch office" at 27 East Twenty-second Street. Where once solitudehad reigned supreme and the spider had spun his web amid thefast-gathering dust, all was now tumultuous activity. Fifteen busyoperators in eye shades and shirt sleeves took the news hot from thehumming wires and clicked it off to the waiting pool rooms. 

"Scarecrow wins by a neck!" cried one, "Blackbird second!"

"Make the odds 5 to 3, " shouted a short, ill-favored man, who sat at adesk puffing a large black cigar. The place buzzed like a beehive andticked like a clockmaker's. It had an atmosphere of breathlessexcitement all its own. Felix watched and marvelled, wondering if dreamscame true. 

The short, ill-favored man strolled over and condescended to make Mr. Felix's acquaintance. An hour later the three of them were closetedamong the zitherns. At the same moment the fifteen operators were rangedin a line in front, of a neighboring bar, their elbows simultaneouslyelevated at an angle of forty-five degrees. 

Felix still had lingering doubts. Hadn't Mr. McPherson some littlepaper--a letter, a bill, a receipt or a check, to show that he wasreally in the employ of the Western Union? No, said "Mac, " but he hadsomething better--the badge which he had received as the fastestoperator among the company's employees. Felix wanted to see it, but"Mac" explained that it was locked up in the vault at the Farmers' Loanand Trust Co. To Felix this had a safe sound--"Farmers' Trust Co. " Thenmatters began to move rapidly. It was arranged that Felix should go downin the morning and get $50, 000 from his bankers, Seligman and Meyer. After that he was to meet Nelson at the store and go with him to thepool room where the big financiers played their money. McPherson was toremain at the "office" and telephone them the results of the races inadvance. By nightfall they would be worth half a million. 

"I hope you have a good large safe, " remarked Nelson, tentatively. Thethree conspirators parted with mutual expressions of confidence andesteem. 

Next morning Mr. Felix went to his bankers and procured $50, 000 in fiveten-thousand-dollar bills. The day passed very slowly. There was noteven a flurry in zitherns. He waited impatiently for Nelson who was tocome at five o'clock. At last Nelson arrived and they hurried to theFifth Avenue Hotel where the _coup_ was to take place. 

And now another marvel. Wassermann Brothers' stock-brokering office, which closes at three hummed just as the "office" had done the eveningbefore--and with the very same bees, although Felix did not recognizethem. It was crowded with men who struggled violently with one anotherin their eagerness to force their bets into the hands of abenevolent-looking person, who, Felix was informed, was the "trustedcashier" of the establishment. And the sums were so large that evenFelix gasped. 

"Make that $40, 000 on Coco!" cried a bald-headed "capper. "

"Mr. Gates wants to double his bet on Jackstone, --make it $80, 000!"shrieked another. 

"Gentlemen! Gentlemen!" begged the "trusted cashier, " "not quite sofast, if you please. One at a time. "

"Sixty thousand on Hesper--for a place!" bawled one addressed as "Mr. Keene, " while Messrs. "Ryan, " "Whitney, " "Belmont, " "Sullivan, ""McCarren, " and "Murphy" all made handsome wagers. 

From time to time a sporty-looking man standing beside a ticker, shoutedthe odds and read off the returns. Felix heard with straining ears:

"They're off!"

"Baby leads at the quarter. "

"Susan is gaining!"

"They're on the stretch!"

"Satan wins by a nose--Peter second. "

There was a deafening uproar, hats were tossed ceilingward, and greatwads of money were passed out by the "trusted cashier" to indifferentmillionaires. Felix wanted to rush in and bet at once on something--ifhe waited it might be too late. Was it necessary to be introduced to thecashier? No? Would he take the bet? All right, but--

At that moment a page elbowed his way among the money callingplaintively for "Felix! Mr. Felix. " Shrinking at the thought of suchpublicity in such distinguished company, Felix caught the boy's arm andlearned that he was wanted at the telephone booth in the hotel. 

"It must be 'Mac, '" said Nelson. "Now don't make any mistake!" Felixpromised to use the utmost care. 

It was "Mac. "

"Is this Mr. Felix?--Yes? Well, be very careful now. I am going to giveyou the result of the third race which has already been run. I will holdback the news three minutes. This is merely to see if everything isworking right. Don't make any bet. If I give you the winners correctly, you can put your money on the fourth race. The horse that won the lastis Col. Starbottle--Don Juan is second. Now just step back and see if Iam right. "

Felix rushed back to the pool room. As he entered the man at the tapewas calling out that "they" were off. In due course "they" reached thequarter and then the half. A terrific struggle was in progress betweenCol. Starbottle and Don Juan. First one was ahead and then the other. Finally they came thundering down to the stretch, Col. Starbottlewinning by a neck. "Gates" won $90, 000, and several others pocketed wadsrunning anywhere from $20, 000 to $60, 000. 

Felix hurried back to the telephone. "Mac" was at the other end. 

"Now write this down, " admonished McPherson; "we can't afford to haveany mistake. Old Stone has just won the fourth race, with Calvertsecond. Play Old Stone to win at 5 to 1. We shall make $250, 000--and OldStone is safe in the stable all the time and his jockey is smoking acigarette on the club house veranda. Good luck, old man. "

Felix had some difficulty in getting near the "trusted cashier" so manyfinanciers were betting on Calvert. Felix smiled to himself. He'd showthem a thing or two. 

Finally he managed to push his envelope containing the fiveten-thousand-dollar bills into the "trusted cashier's" hand. The lattermarked it "Old Stone, 5 to 1 to win!" and thrust it into his pocket. Then "Whitney" or somebody bet $70, 000 on Calvert. 

"They're off!" shouted the man at the tape. 

How he lived while they tore around the course Felix never knew. Neckand neck Old Stone and Calvert passed the quarter, the half, and thethree-quarter post, and with the crowd yelling like demons came hurtlingdown the stretch. 

"Old Stone wins!" cried the "booster" at the tape in a voice husky withexcitement. "Calvert a close second!" Felix nearly fainted. His headswam. He had won a quarter of a million. Then the voice of the "booster"made itself audible above the confusion. 

"What! A mistake? Not possible!--Yes. Owing to some confusion at thefinish, both jockies wearing the same colors, the official returns nowread Calvert first; Old Stone second. "

Among the zitherns Felix sat and wondered if he had been schvindled. Hehad not returned to Wassermann Brothers. Had he done so he would havefound it empty five minutes after he had lost his money. Themillionaires were already streaming hilariously into Sharkey's. "Gates"pledged "Belmont" and "Keene" pledged "Whitney. " Each had earned fivedollars by the sweat of his brow. The glorious army of wire-tappers hadwon another victory and their generals had consummated a campaign ofmonths. Expenses (roughly), $600. Receipts, $50, 000. Net profits, $48, 400. Share of each, $16, 133. 

A day or two later Felix wandered down to Police Headquarters, and inthe Rogue's Gallery identified the photograph of Nelson, whom he thendiscovered to be none other than William Crane, alias John Lawson, aliasJohn Larsen, a well-known "wire-tapper, " arrested some dozen timeswithin a year or two for similar offences. McPherson turned out to beChristopher Tracy, alias Charles J. Tracy, alias Charles Tompkins, aliasTopping, alias Toppin, etc. , etc. , arrested some eight or ten times for"wire-tapping. " The "trusted cashier" materialized in the form of oneWyatt, alias, Fred Williams, etc. , a "wire-tapper" and pal of "Chappie"Moran and "Larry" Summerfield. Detective Sergeants Fogarty and Mundywere at once detailed upon the case and arrested within a short timeboth Nelson and McPherson. The "trusted cashier" who had pocketedFelix's $50, 000 has never been caught. It is said that he is running afirst-class hostelry in a Western city. But that is another story. 

When acting Inspector O'Brien ordered McPherson brought into his privateroom, the latter unhesitatingly admitted that the three of them had"trimmed" Felix of his $50, 000, exactly as the latter had alleged. Hestated that Wyatt (alias Williams) was the one who had taken in themoney, that it was still in his possession, and still intact in itsoriginal form. He denied, however, any knowledge of Wyatt's whereabouts. 

The reason for this indifference became apparent when the two prisonerswere arraigned in the magistrate's court, and their counsel demandedtheir instant discharge on the ground that they had committed no crimefor which they could be prosecuted. He cited an old New York case, McCord _vs. _ The People, [2] which seemed in a general way to sustain hiscontention, and which had been followed by another and much more recentdecision. The People _vs. _ Livingston. [3] The first of these cases hadgone to the Court of Appeals, and the general doctrine had beenannunciated that where a person parts with his money for an unlawful ordishonest purpose, even though he is tricked into so doing by falsepretences, a prosecution for the crime of larceny cannot be maintained. 

[Footnote 2: 46 New York 470. ]

[Footnote 3: 47 App. Div. 283. ]

In the McCord case, the defendant had falsely pretended to thecomplainant, a man named Miller, that he was a police officer and held awarrant for his arrest. By these means he had induced Miller to give hima gold watch and a diamond ring as the price of his liberty. Theconviction in this case was reversed on the ground that Miller partedwith his property for an unlawful purpose; but there was a very strongdissenting opinion from Mr. Justice Peckham, now a member of the benchof the Supreme Court of the United States. 

In the second case, that of Livingston, the complainant had beendefrauded out of $500 by means of the "green goods" game; but thisconviction was reversed by the Appellate Division of the SecondDepartment on the authority of the McCord case. The opinion in this casewas written by Mr. Justice Cullen, now Chief Judge of the New York Courtof Appeals, who says in conclusion:

"We very much regret being compelled to reverse this conviction. Even ifthe prosecutor intended to deal in counterfeit money, that is no reasonwhy the appellant should go unwhipped of justice. We venture to suggestthat it might be Well for the Legislature to alter the rule laid down inMcCord _vs. _ People. "

Well might the judges regret being compelled to set a rogue at libertysimply because he had been ingenious enough to invent a fraud (verylikely with the assistance of a shyster lawyer) which involved theadditional turpitude of seducing another into a criminal conspiracy. Livingston was turned loose upon the community in spite of the fact thathe had swindled a man out of $500 because he had incidentally led thelatter to believe that in return he was to receive counterfeit money or"green goods, " which might be put into circulation. Yet, because someyears before, the Judges of the Court of Appeals had, in the McCordmatter, adopted the rule followed in civil cases, to wit that as thecomplaining witness was himself in fault and did not come into courtwith clean hands he could have no standing before them, the AppellateDivision in the next case felt obliged to follow them and to ruletantamount to saying that two wrongs could make a right and two knavesone honest man. It may seem a trifle unfair to put it in just this way, but when one realizes the iniquity of such a doctrine as applied tocriminal cases, it is hard to speak softly. Thus the broad and generaldoctrine seemed to be established that so long as a thief could inducehis victim to believe that it was to his advantage to enter into adishonest transaction, he might defraud him to any extent in his power. Immediately there sprang into being hordes of swindlers, who, aided byadroit shyster lawyers, invented all sorts of schemes which involvedsome sort of dishonesty upon the part of the person to be defrauded. The"wire-tappers, " of whom "Larry" Summerfield was the Napoleon, the"gold-brick" and "green-goods" men, and the "sick engineers" flocked toNew York, which, under the unwitting protection of the Court of Appeals, became a veritable Mecca for persons of their ilk. 

To readers unfamiliar with the cast of mind of professional criminals itwill be almost impossible to appreciate with what bold insouciance thesevultures now hovered over the metropolitan barnyard. Had not the Courtof Appeals itself recognized their profession? They had nothing to fear. The law was on their side. They walked the streets flaunting theirimmunity in the very face of the police. "Wire-tapping" became anindustry, a legalized industry with which the authorities mightinterfere at their peril. Indeed, there is one instance in which a"wire-tapper" successfully prosecuted his victim (after he had trimmedhim) upon a charge of grand larceny arising out of the same transaction. One crook bred another every time he made a victim, and the disease ofcrime, the most infectious of all distempers, ate its way unchecked intothe body politic. Broadway was thronged by a prosperous gentry, thearistocracy and elite of knavery, who dressed resplendently, flourishedlike the green bay-tree, and spent their (or rather their victims')money with the lavish hand of one of Dumas's gentlemen. 

But the evil did not stop there. Seeing that their brothers prospered inNew York, and neither being learned in the law nor gifted with the powerof nice discrimination between rogueries, all the other knaves in thecountry took it for granted that they had at last found the Elysianfields and came trooping here by hundreds to ply their various trades. The McCord case stood out like a cabalistic sign upon a gate-posttelling all the rascals who passed that way that the city was full ofhonest folk waiting to be turned into rogues and "trimmed. "

 "And presently we did pass a narrow lane, and at the mouth espied a written stone, telling beggars by a word like a wee pitchfork to go that way. "

The tip went abroad that the city was "good graft" for everybody, and inthe train of the "wire-tappers" thronged the "flimflammer, " "confidenceman, " "booster, " "capper" and every sort of affiliated crook, recallingCharles Reade's account in "The Cloister and the Hearth" of Gerard inLorraine among their kin of another period:

 With them and all they had, 'twas lightly come and lightly go; and when we left them my master said to me, "This is thy first lesson, but to-night we shall be at Hansburgh. Come with me to the 'rotboss' there, and I'll show thee all our folk and their lays, and especially 'the lossners, ' 'the dutzers, ' 'the schleppers, ' 'the gickisses, ' 'the schwanfelders, ' whom in England we call 'shivering Jemmies, ' 'the süntregers, ' 'the schwiegers, ' 'the joners, ' 'the sessel-degers, ' 'the gennscherers, ' in France 'marcandiers a rifodés, ' 'the veranerins, ' 'the stabulers, ' with a few foreigners like ourselves, such as 'pietres, ' 'francmitoux, ' 'polissons, ' 'malingreux, ' 'traters, ' 'rufflers, ' 'whipjacks, ' 'dommerars, ' 'glymmerars, ' 'jarkmen, ' 'patricos, ' 'swadders, ' 'autem morts, ' 'walking morts, '--" "Enow!" cried I, stopping him, "art as gleesome as the evil one a counting of his imps. I'll jot down in my tablet all these caitiffs and their accursed names: for knowledge is knowledge. But go among them alive or dead, that will I not with my good will. "

And a large part of it was due simply to the fact that seven learned menupon seven comfortable chairs in the city of Albany had said, many yearsago, that "neither the law or public policy designs the protection ofrogues in their dealings with each other, or to insure fair dealing andtruthfulness as between each other, in their dishonest practices. "

The reason that the "wire-tapping" game was supposed to come within thescope of the McCord case was this: it deluded the victim into thebelief that he was going to cheat the pool room by placing a bet upon a"sure thing. " Secondarily it involved, as the dupe supposed, the theftor disclosure of messages which were being transmitted over the lines ofa telegraph company--a misdemeanor. Hence, it was argued, the victim wasas much a thief as the proposer of the scheme, had parted with his moneyfor a dishonest purpose, did not come into court with "clean hands, " andno prosecution could be sustained, no matter whether he had been led togive up his money by means of false pretences or not. 

While "wire-tapping" differed technically from the precise fraudscommitted by McCord and Livingston, it nevertheless closely resembledthose swindlers in general character and came clearly within thedoctrine that the law was not designed to protect "rogues in theirdealings with each other. "

No genuine attempt had ever been made to prosecute one of these gentryuntil the catastrophe which deprived Felix of his $50, 000. The"wire-tappers" rolled in money. Indeed, the fraternity were so liberalwith their "rolls" that they became friendly with certain policeofficials and intimately affiliated with various politicians ofinfluence, a friend of one of whom went on Summerfield's bond, when thelatter was being prosecuted for the "sick-engineer" frauds to the extentof $30, 000. They regularly went to Europe in the summer season and couldbe seen at all the race-courses and gambling resorts of the Continent. It is amusing to chronicle in this connection that just prior toMcPherson's arrest--that is to say during the summer vacation of1904--he crossed the Atlantic on the same steamer with an assistantdistrict attorney of New York county, who failed to recognize his shipcompanion and found him an entertaining and agreeable comrade. 

The trial came on before Judge Warren W. Foster in Part 3 of the GeneralSessions on February 27th, 1906. A special panel quickly supplied ajury, which, after hearing the evidence, returned in short order averdict of guilty. As Judge Foster believed the McCord case to be stillthe law of the State, he, of his own motion, and with commendableindependence, immediately arrested judgment. The People thereuponappealed, the Court of Appeals sustained Judge Foster, and the defendantwas discharged. It is, however, satisfactory to record that theLegislature at its next session amended the penal code in such a way asto entirely deprive the wire-tappers and their kind of the erstwhileprotection which they had enjoyed under the law. 

V

The Franklin Syndicate

When Robert A. Ammon, a member of the New York bar, was convicted, aftera long trial, on the 17th of June, 1903, of receiving stolen goods, hehad, in the parlance of his class, been "due" for a long time. Thestolen property in question was the sum of thirty thousand five hundreddollars in greenbacks, part of the loot of the notorious "FranklinSyndicate, " devised and engineered by William F. Miller, who laterbecame the catspaw of his legal adviser, the subject of this history. 

Ammon stood at the bar and listened complacently to his sentence of notless than four years at hard labor in Sing Sing. A sneer curved his lipsas, after nodding curtly to his lawyer, he turned to be led away by thecourt attendant. The fortune snatched from his client had procured forhim the most adroit of counsel, the most exhaustive of trials. He knewthat nothing had been left undone to enable him to evade theconsequences of his crime, and he was cynically content. 

For years "Bob" Ammon had been a familiar figure in the Wall Streetdistrict of New York. Although the legal adviser of swindlers andconfidence men, he was a type of American whose energies, if turned in aless dubious direction, might well have brought him honorabledistinction. Tall, strong as a bull, bluff, good-natured, reckless andof iron nerve, he would have given good account of himself as an Indianfighter or frontiersman. His fine presence, his great vitality, hiscoarse humor, his confidence and bravado, had won for him many friendsof a certain kind and engendered a feeling among the public thatsomehow, although the associate and adviser of criminals, he was outsidethe law, to the circumventing of which his energies were directed. Unfortunately his experiences with the law had bred in him a contemptfor it which ultimately caused his downfall. 

"The reporters arc bothering you, are they?" he had said to Miller inhis office. "Hang them! Send them to me. I'll talk to them!"

And talk to them he did. He could talk a police inspector or a citymagistrate into a state of vacuous credulity, and needless to say he wasto his clients as a god knowing both good and evil, as well as how toeschew the one and avoid the other. Miller hated, loathed and fearedhim, yet freely entrusted his liberty, and all he had risked his libertyto gain, to this strange and powerful personality which held himenthralled by the mere exercise of a physical superiority. 

The "Franklin Syndicate" had collapsed amid the astonished outcries ofits thousands of victims, on November 24th, 1899, when, under the adviceand with the assistance of Ammon, its organizer, "520 per cent. Miller, "had fled to Canada. It was nearly four years later, in June, 1903, thatAmmon, arraigned at the bar of justice as a criminal, heard AssistantDistrict Attorney Nott call William F. Miller, convict, to the stand totestify against him. A curious contrast they presented as they faced oneanother; the emaciated youth of twenty-five, the hand of Death alreadytightly fastened upon his meagre frame, coughing, hollow-cheeked, insignificant, flat-nosed, almost repulsive, who dragged himself to thewitness chair, and the swaggering athlete who glared at him from the barsurrounded by his cordon of able counsel. As Ammon fixed his penetratinggaze upon his former client, Miller turned pale and dropped his eyes. Then the prosecutor, realizing the danger of letting the old hypnoticpower return, even for an instant, quickly stepped between them. Millerraised his eyes and smiled, and those who heard knew that this miserablecreature had been through the fire and come forth to speak true things. 

The trial of Ammon involved practically the reproving of the caseagainst Miller, for which the latter had been convicted and sentenced toten years in State's prison, whence he now issued like one from the tombto point the skeleton, incriminating finger at his betrayer. But thecase began by the convict-witness testifying that the whole business wasa miserable fraud from start to finish, carried on and guided by theadvice of the defendant. He told how he, a mere boy of twenty-one, burdened with a sick wife and baby, unfitted by training or ability forany sort of lucrative employment, a hanger-on of bucket shops and, inhis palmiest days, a speculator in tiny lots of feebly margined stocks, finding himself without means of support, conceived the alluring idea ofsoliciting funds for investment, promising enormous interest, and payingthis interest out of the principal intrusted to him. For a time hepreyed only upon his friends, claiming "inside information" of large"deals" and paying ten per cent. Per week on the money received out ofhis latest deposits. 

Surely the history of civilization is a history of credulity. Millerprospered. His earlier friend-customers who had hesitatingly taken hisreceipt for ten dollars, and thereafter had received one dollar everyMonday morning, repeated the operation and returned in ever-increasingnumbers. From having his office "in his hat, " he took an upper room in asmall two-story house at 144 Floyd Street, Brooklyn--an humble tenement, destined to be the scene of one of the most extraordinary exhibitions ofman's cupidity and foolishness in modern times. At first he had trampedround, like a pedler, delivering the dividends himself and solicitingmore, but soon he hired a boy. This was in February, 1899. Businessincreased. The golden flood began to appear in an attenuated butconstant rivulet. He hired four more employees and the whole top floorof the house. The golden rivulet became a steady stream. From a"panhandler" he rolled in ready thousands. The future opened intomagnificent auriferous distances. He began to call himself "The FranklinSyndicate, " and to advertise that "the way to wealth is as plain as theroad to the market. " He copied the real brokers and scattered circularsand "weekly letters" over the country, exciting the rural mind indistant Manitoba and Louisiana. 

There was an instantaneous response. His mail required the exclusiveattention of several clerks. The stream of gold became a rushingtorrent. Every Monday morning the Floyd Street house was crowded withdepositors who drew their interest, added to it, deposited it again, andwent upon their way rejoicing. Nobody was going to have to work anymore. The out-of-town customers received checks for their interest drawnupon "The Franklin Syndicate, " together with printed receipts for theirdeposits, all signed "William F. Miller, " by means of a rubber stamp. Nohuman hand could have signed them all without writer's cramp. Therubber stamp was Miller's official signature. Then with a mighty roarthe torrent burst into a deluge. The Floyd Street quarters were besiegedby a clamoring multitude fighting to see which of them could give up hismoney first, and there had to be a special delivery for Miller's mail. He rented the whole house and hired fifty clerks. You could deposit yourmoney almost anywhere, from the parlor to the pantry, the clothes closetor the bath-room. Fridays the public stormed the house _en masse_, sincethe money must be deposited _on that day_ to draw interest for thefollowing week. The crush was so enormous that the stoop broke down. Imagine it! In quiet Brooklyn! People struggling to get up the steps tocram their money into Miller's pockets! There he sat, behind a desk, atthe top of the stoop, solemnly taking the money thrown down before himand handing out little pink and green stamped receipts in exchange. There was no place to put the money, so it was shoved on to the floorbehind him. Friday afternoons Miller and his clerks waded through it, knee high. There was no pretense of bookkeeping. Simply in self-defenseMiller issued in October a pronunciamento that he could not in justiceto his business, consent to receive less than fifty dollars at one time. Theoretically, there was no reason why the thing should not have goneon practically forever, Miller and everybody else becoming richer andricher. So long as the golden stream swelled five times each yeareverybody would be happy. How could anybody fail to be happy who saw somuch money lying around loose everywhere?

[Illustration: One of Miller's Franklin Syndicate Receipts. ]

But the business had increased to such an extent that Miller began todistrust his own capacity to handle it. He therefore secured a partnerin the person of one Edward Schlessinger, and with him went toCharlestown, Mass. , for the purpose of opening another office, in chargeof which they placed a man named Louis Powers. History repeated itself. Powers shipped the deposits to Miller every day or two by express. Wasthere ever such a plethora of easy money?

But Schlessinger was no Miller. He decided that he must have a third ofthe profits (Heaven knows how they computed them!) and have them, moreover, each day _in cash_. Hence there was a daily accounting, partof the receipts being laid aside to pay off interest checks andinterest, and the balance divided. Schlessinger carried his off in abag; Miller took the rest, cash, money orders and checks, and depositedit in a real bank. How the money poured in may be realized from the factthat the excess of receipts over disbursements for the month endingNovember 16th was four hundred and thirty thousand dollars. 

Hitherto Miller had been the central figure. Col. Robert A. Ammon nowbecame the _deus ex machina_. Miller's advertising had become soextensive that he had been forced to retain a professional agent, oneRudolph Guenther, to supervise it, and when the newspapers began to makeunpleasant comments, Guenther took Miller to Ammon's office in theBennett Building in Nassau Street. Ammon accepted a hundred dollars fromMiller, listened to his account of the business and examined copies ofthe circulars. When he was handed one of the printed receipts he saidthey were "incriminating. " Miller must try to get them back. He advised(as many another learned counsellor has done) incorporating thebusiness, since by this means stock could be sold and exchanged for theincriminating receipts. He explained the mistakes of the "_Dean_ crowd, "but showed how he had been able to safeguard them in spite of the factthat they had foolishly insisted on holding the stock in their companythemselves instead of making their customers the stockholders. Nevertheless "you do not see any of the Dean people in jail, " boastedAmmon. From now on Miller and he were in frequent consultation, andAmmon took steps to incorporate, procuring for that purpose from Wells, Fargo & Co. A certificate of deposit for one hundred thousand dollars. Occasionally he would visit Floyd Street to see how things were going. Miller became a mere puppet; Ammon twitched the wire. 

It was now well on in November, and the press of both Boston and NewYork was filled with scathing attacks upon the Syndicate. The reportersbecame so inquisitive as to be annoying to the peaceful Miller. "Sendthe reporters over to me!" directed Ammon. 

The _Post_ (of Boston) said the whole thing was a miserable swindle. Ammon, accompanied by Miller, carrying a satchel which contained fiftythousand dollars in greenbacks, went to Boston, visited the offices ofthe _Post_, and pitched into the editor. 

"The business is all right; you must give us a fair deal!"

The pair also visited Watts, the chief of police. 

"You keep your mouth shut, " said Ammon to Miller. "I'll do all thetalking. " He showed Watts the bag of money, and demanded what he hadmeant by calling the enterprise a "green goods business. " If the thingwasn't all right, did Watts suppose that he, Col. Robert A. Ammon, wouldbe connected with it? The chief backed down, and explained that he hadjokingly referred to the color of one of the receipts--which happenedto be green. 

In spite of Ammon's confidence, however, there was an uneasy feeling inthe air, and it was decided to put an advertisement in the _Post_offering to allow any customer who so desired to withdraw his deposit, _without notice_, upon the following Saturday. This announcement did nothave precisely the anticipated effect, and Saturday saw a large crowd ofvictims eager to withdraw their money from the Boston office of theFranklin Syndicate. Powers paid the "_Pauls_, " of Boston, out of the bagbrought on by Miller containing the deposits of the "_Peters_, " ofBrooklyn. Meantime, Ammon addressed the throng, incidentallyblackguarding a _Post_ reporter before the crowd, telling them that hispaper was a "yellow paper, had never amounted to anything, and neverwould. " Some timid souls took courage and redeposited their money. Therun continued one day and cost Ammon and Miller about twenty-eightthousand dollars. Ammon took five thousand dollars cash as a fee out ofthe bag, and the pair returned to New York. But confidence had beentemporarily restored. 

The beginning of the end, however, was now in sight--at least for thekeen vision of Bob Ammon. He advised stimulating deposits and layinghands on all the money possible before the crash came. AccordinglyMiller sent a telegram (collect) to all depositors:

 We have inside information of a big transaction, to begin Saturday or Monday morning. Big profits. Remit at once so as to receive the profits. 

 WILLIAM F. MILLER, Franklin Syndicate. 

A thousand or so were returned, the depositors having refused to pay thecharges. The rest of the customers in large measure responded. But thegame was nearly up. There were scare-heads in the papers. Miller sawdetectives on every corner, and, like a rat leaving a sinking ship, Schlessinger scuttled away for the last time with a bag of money on theevening of Tuesday, November 21st, 1899. The rest of the deposits werecrammed into Miller's desk and left there over night. 

The next morning Miller returned to Floyd Street and spent that day inthe usual routine, and also on Thursday remained until about twelveo'clock noon, when he placed thirty thousand five hundred dollars inbills in a satchel and started for Ammon's office, where he foundSchlessinger--likewise with a satchel. 

"The jig's up, " announced Schlessinger. 

"Billy, I think you'll have to make a run for it, " said Ammon. "Thebest thing for you is to go to Canada. "

It still remained to secure the money, which Miller had deposited in thebanks, in such a way that the customers could not get hold of it. Ammonexplained how that could easily be done. The money should be all turnedover to him, and none of the creditors would ever see it again. He didnot deem it necessary to suggest that neither would Miller. Accordinglythe two, the lawyer and the client, went to the office of Wells, Fargo &Co. , Ammon obligingly carrying the satchel containing the thirtythousand five hundred dollars. Here Ammon deposited the contents to hisown account, as well as the certificate of deposit for one hundredthousand dollars previously mentioned, and a check for ten thousanddollars, representing the balance of Miller's loot. In addition to thishe received an order for forty thousand dollars United States Governmentbonds, which were on deposit with Wells, Fargo & Co. , and later, throughMiller's father, sixty-five thousand dollars in bonds of the New YorkCentral Railroad and the United States Government. Thus Ammon securedfrom his dupe the sum of two hundred and forty-five thousand fivehundred dollars, the actual market value of the securities bringing theamount up to two hundred and fifty thousand five hundred dollars, besides whatever sums he had been paid by Miller for legal services, which could not have been less than ten or fifteen thousand dollars. Thecharacter of the gentleman is well illustrated by the fact that laterwhen paying Mrs. Miller her miserable pittance of five dollars per week, he explained to her that "he was giving her that out of his own money, and that her husband _owed him_. "

[Illustration: Ammon's deposit slips and a receipt signed by Mrs. Ammon. ]

There still remained, however, the chance of getting a few dollars moreand Ammon advised Miller "to try to get Friday's receipts, which werethe heaviest day's business. " Acting on this suggestion, Millerreturned to Floyd Street the next morning at about half past nine, finding a great crowd of people waiting outside. About one o'clock hestarted to go home, but discovering that he was being followed by a manwhom he took to be a detective, he boarded a street car, dodged througha drug store and a Chinese laundry, finally made the elevated railroad, with his pursuer at his heels, and eventually reached the lawyer'soffice about two o'clock in the afternoon. Word was received almostimmediately over the telephone that Miller had been indicted in KingsCounty for conspiracy to defraud, and Ammon stated that the one thingfor Miller to do was to go away. Miller replied that he did not want togo unless he could take his wife and baby with him, but Ammon assuredhim that he would send them to Canada later in charge of his own wife. Under this promise Miller agreed to go, and Ammon procured a man namedEnright to take Miller to Canada, saying that "he was an ex-detectiveand could get him out of the way. " Ammon further promised to forward toMiller whatever money he might need to retain lawyers for him inMontreal. Thereupon Miller exchanged hats with some one in Ammon'soffice and started for Canada in the custody of the lawyer'srepresentative. 

How the wily colonel must have chuckled as poor Miller trotted down thestairs like a sheep leaving his fleece behind him. A golden fleeceindeed! Did ever a lawyer have such a piece of luck? Here was a littlefellow who had invented a brilliant scheme to get away with otherpeople's money and had carried it through successfully--more thansuccessfully, beyond the dreams of even the most avaricious criminal, and then, richer than Midas, had handed over the whole jolly fortune toanother for the other's asking, without even taking a scrap of paper toshow for it. More than that, he had then voluntarily extinguishedhimself. Had Ammon not chuckled he would not have been Bob Ammon. Themoney was stolen, to be sure, but Ammon's skirts were clear. There wasnothing to show that the two hundred and forty-five thousand dollars hehad received was stolen money. There was only one man--a discreditedfelon, who could hint that the money was even "tainted, " and _he_ wassafely over the border, in a foreign jurisdiction, not in the custody ofthe police, but of Ammon himself, to be kept there (as Mr. Robert C. Taylor so aptly phrased it in arguing Ammon's case on appeal) "onwaiting orders. Ammon had Miller on a string, and as soon as Ammon (forhis own sake) was compelled either to produce Miller or to run the riskof indictment, he pulled the string and brought Miller back into thejurisdiction. "

Needless to say great was the ado made over the disappearance of thepromoter of the Franklin Syndicate, and the authorities of King's Countyspeedily let it become known that justice required that some one shouldbe punished for the colossal fraud which had been perpetrated. The grandjury of the county started a general investigation. Public indignationwas stirred to the point of ebullition. In the midst of the rumpus, there came a knock on the office door of the Hon. John F. Clark, District Attorney of King's County, and Col. Robert A. Ammon announcedhimself. The two men were entire strangers to each other but this didnot prevent Ammon, with his inimitable assurance, from addressing theDistrict Attorney by his first name. 

"How are you, John?" he inquired nonchalantly, "what can I do for you?"

Mr. Clark repressed his natural inclination to kick the insolent fellowforcibly out of his office, invited him to be seated and rang for astenographer. Ammon asserted his anxiety to assist the District Attorneyby every means in his power, but denied knowing the whereabouts ofMiller, alleging that he was simply acting as his counsel. Mr. Clarkreplied that in Miller's absence the grand jury might take the viewthat Ammon himself was the principal. At this Ammon calmly assured hishost that as far as he was concerned he was ready to go before the grandjury at any time. 

"That is just what I want, " returned Mr. Clark, "the grand jury is insession. Come over. "

Ammon arose with a smile and accompanied the District Attorney towardsthe door of the grand jury room. Just outside he suddenly placed hishand to his head as if recollecting something. 

"One moment, " he exclaimed. "I forgot that I have an engagement. I willcome over to-morrow. "

"Ah!" retorted Mr. Clark, "I do not think you will be here to-morrow. "

Two weeks later Miller was safely ensconced without bail in RaymondStreet jail. 

Schlessinger, who got away with one hundred and seventy-five thousanddollars in cash, fled to Europe where he lived high, frequenting therace tracks and gaming tables until he was called to his final account ayear or two ago. The money which he took has never been traced. Millerwas tried, convicted and sent to Sing Sing. The Appellate Division ofthe Supreme Court then reversed his conviction, but later, on appeal tothe Court of Appeals, it was sustained. 

Of the enormous sums turned over to Ammon Miller received nothing savethe money necessary for his support in Montreal, for the lawyers whodefended him, and five dollars per week for his wife and child up to thetime he turned State's evidence. It is interesting to note that amongthe counsel representing Miller upon his trial was Ammon himself. Miller's wife and child were not sent to Montreal by Ammon, nor did thelatter secure bail for his client at any time during his differentperiods of incarceration. The colonel knew very well that it was achoice between himself and Miller and took no steps which mightnecessitate the election falling upon himself. 

The conviction of Miller, with his sentence to ten years in State'sprison did not, however, prevent the indictment of Ammon for receivingstolen money in New York County, although the chance that he would everhave to suffer for his crime seemed small indeed. The reader must bearin mind that up to the time of Ammon's trial Miller had never admittedhis guilt; that he was still absolutely, and apparently irrevocably, under Ammon's sinister influence, keeping in constant communication withhim and implicitly obeying his instructions while in prison; and thatMiller's wife and child were dependent upon Ammon for their daily bread. No wonder Ammon strode the streets confident that his creature wouldnever betray him. 

"Now, Billy, you don't want to be shooting off your mouth up here, " washis parting injunction to his dupe on his final visit to Sing Singbefore he became a guest there himself at the expense of the People. 

Miller followed his orders to the letter, and the stipend was increasedto the munificent sum of forty dollars per month. 

Meantime the case against Ammon languished and the District Attorney ofNew York County was at his wits' end to devise a means to procure theevidence to convict him. To do this it would be necessary to establishaffirmatively that the thirty thousand five hundred dollars received byAmmon from Miller and deposited with Wells, Fargo & Co. Was the_identical_ money stolen by Miller from the victims of the FranklinSyndicate. It was easy enough to prove that Miller stole hundreds ofthousands of dollars, that Ammon received hundreds of thousands, but youhad to prove that the same money stolen by Miller passed to the hands ofAmmon. Only one man in the world, as Ammon had foreseen, could supplythis last necessary link in the chain of evidence and he was aconvict--and mute. 

It now became the task of the District Attorney to induce Miller toconfess the truth and take the stand against Ammon. He had been inprison a considerable time and his health was such as to necessitate hisbeing transferred to the hospital ward. Several of the DistrictAttorney's assistants visited him at various times at Sing Sing in thehope of being able to persuade him to turn State's evidence, but alltheir efforts were in vain. Miller refused absolutely to say anythingthat would tend to implicate Ammon. 

At last the District Attorney himself, accompanied by Mr. Nott, wholater prosecuted Ammon, made a special trip to Sing Sing to see whatcould be done. They found Miller lying upon his prison pallet, his harshcough and blazing eyes speaking only too patently of his condition. Atfirst Mr. Nott tried to engage him in conversation while the DistrictAttorney occupied himself with other business in another part of theward, but it was easily apparent that Miller would say nothing. TheDistrict Attorney then approached the bed where Miller was lying andinquired if it were true that he declined to say anything which mighttend to incriminate Ammon. After some hesitation Miller replied that, even if he should testify against his old accomplice, there was nothingto show that he would be pardoned, and that he would not talk unless hehad actually in his hands some paper or writing which would guaranteethat if he did so he would be set free. 

The spectacle of a convicted felon haggling with an officer of the lawover the terms upon which he would consent to avail himself of anopportunity to make the only reparation still possible angered theDistrict Attorney, and, turning fiercely upon the prisoner, he arraignedhim in scathing terms, stating that he was a miserable swindler andthief, who had robbed thousands of poor people of all the money they hadin the world, that he showed himself devoid of every spark of decency orrepentance by refusing to assist the law in punishing his confederateand assisting his victims in getting back what was left of the money, and that he, the District Attorney, felt himself humiliated in havingconsented to come there to visit and talk with such a heartless anddepraved specimen of humanity. The District Attorney then turned hisback upon Miller, whose eyes filled with tears, but who made noresponse. 

A few moments later the convict asked permission to speak to theDistrict Attorney alone. With some reluctance the latter granted therequest and the others drew away. 

"Mr. District Attorney, " said the wretched man in a trembling voice, with the tears still suffusing his eyes, "I _am_ a thief; I did rob allthose poor people, and I am heartily sorry for it. I would gladly die, if by doing so I could pay them back. But I haven't a single cent of allthe money that I stole and the only thing that stands between my wifeand baby and starvation is my keeping silence. If I did what you ask, the only money they have to live on would be stopped. I can't see themstarve, glad as I would be to do what I can now to make up for the wrongI have done. "

The District Attorney's own eyes were not entirely dry as he held outhis hand to Miller. 

"Miller, " he replied, "I have done you a great injustice. I honor youfor the position you have taken. Were I in your place I should probablyact exactly as you are doing. I cannot promise you a pardon if youtestify against Ammon. I cannot even promise that your wife will receiveforty dollars a month, for the money in my charge cannot be used forsuch a purpose; all I can assure you of is that, should you decide tohelp me, a full and fair statement of all you may have done will be sentto the Governor with a request that he act favorably upon anyapplication for a pardon which you may make. The choice must be yourown. Whatever you decide to do, you have my respect and sympathy. Thinkwell over the matter. Do not decide at once; wait for a day or two, andI will return to New York and you can send me word. "

The next day Miller sent word that he had determined to tell the truthand take the stand, whatever the consequences to himself and his familymight be. He was immediately transferred to the Tombs Prison in New YorkCity, where he made a complete and full confession, not only assistingin every way in securing evidence for the prosecution of Ammon, butaiding his trustee in bankruptcy to determine the whereabouts of somesixty thousand dollars of the stolen money, which but for him wouldnever have been recovered. At the same time Ammon was re-arrested upon abench warrant, and his bail sufficiently increased to render hisappearance for trial probable. As Miller had foreseen, the monthlypayment to his wife instantly stopped. 

The usual effect produced upon a jury by the testimony of a convictaccomplice is one of distrust or open incredulity. Every word ofMiller's story, however, carried with it the impression of absolutetruth. As he proceeded, in spite of the sneers of the defence, anextraordinary wave of sympathy for the man swept over the court-room, and the jury listened with close attention to his graphic account of therise and fall of the outrageous conspiracy which had attempted to shieldits alluring offer of instant wealth behind the name of America's mostpractical philosopher, whose only receipt for the same end had beenfrugality and industry. Supported as Miller was by the corroborativetestimony of other witnesses and by the certificates of deposit whichAmmon had, with his customary bravado, made out in his own handwriting, no room was left for even the slightest doubt, not only that the moneyhad been stolen but that Ammon had received it. Indeed so plain was theproposition that the defence never for an instant contemplated thepossibility of putting Ammon upon the stand in his own behalf. It was intruth an extraordinary case, for the principal element in the proof wasmade out by the evidence of the thief himself that he was a thief. Miller had been tried and convicted of the very larceny to which he nowtestified, and, although in the eyes of the law no principle of _resadjudicata_ could apply in Ammon's case, it was a logical conclusionthat if the evidence upon the first trial was repeated, the necessaryelement of larceny would be effectually established. Hence, in point offact, Miller's testimony upon the question of whether the money had been_stolen_ was entirely unnecessary, and the efforts of the defence weredirected simply to making out Miller such a miscreant upon his owntestimony that perforce the jury could not accept his evidence when itreached the point of implicating Ammon. All their attempts in thisdirection, however, only roused increased sympathy for the witness andhostility toward their own client, and made the jury the more ready tobelieve that Ammon had been the only one in the end to profit by thetransaction. 

Briefly, the two points urged by the defence were:

(1) That Ammon was acting only as Miller's counsel, and hence wasimmune, and, (2) That there was no adequate legal evidence that the thirty thousandfive hundred dollars which Ammon had deposited, as shown by the depositslip, was the identical money stolen from the victims of the Franklinsyndicate. As bearing upon this they urged that the stolen money had infact been deposited by Miller himself, and so had lost the character ofstolen money before it was turned over to the defendant, and thatMiller's story being that of an accomplice required absolutecorroboration in every detail. 

The point that Ammon was acting only as a lawyer was quickly disposed ofby Judge Newburger. 

"Something has been said by counsel, " he remarked in his charge to thejury, "to the effect that the defendant, as a lawyer, had a perfectright to advise Miller, but I know of no rule of law that will permitcounsel to advise how a crime can be committed. "

As to the identity of the money, the Court charged that it made nodifference which person performed the physical act of placing the cashin the hands of the receiving teller of the bank, so long as it wasdeposited to Ammon's credit. 

On the question of what corroboration of Miller's story was necessary, Judge Ingraham, in the Appellate Division, expressed great doubt as towhether in the eyes of the law Miller, the thief, could be regarded asan accomplice of Ammon in receiving the stolen money at all, and statedthat even if he could be so regarded, there was more than abundantcorroboration of his testimony. 

Ammon's conviction was affirmed throughout the courts, including theCourt of Appeals, and the defendant himself is now engaged in servingout his necessarily inadequate sentence--necessarily inadequate, sinceunder the laws of the State of New York, the receiver of stolen goods, however great his moral obliquity may be, and however great the amountstolen, can only receive half the punishment which may be meted out tothe thief himself, "receiving" being punishable by only five years orless in State's prison, while grand larceny is punishable by ten years. 

Yet who was the greater criminal--the weak, ignorant, poverty-strickenclerk, or the shrewd, experienced lawyer who preyed upon his client andthrough him upon the community at large?

The confession of Miller, in the face of what the consequences of hiscourse might mean to his wife and child, was an act of moral courage. The price he had to pay is known to himself alone. But the horrors oflife in prison for the "squealer" were thoroughly familiar to him whenhe elected to do what he could to atone for his crime. In fact Ammon hadnot neglected to picture them vividly to him and to stigmatize anerstwhile client of his. 

"Everything looks good, " he wrote to Miller in Sing Sing, in reportingthe affirmance of Goslin's conviction, "especially since the _squealer_is getting his just _deserts_. "

With no certain knowledge of a future pardon Miller went back to prisoncheerfully to face all the nameless tortures inflicted upon those whohelp the State--the absolute black silence of convict excommunication, the blows and kicks inflicted without opportunity for retaliation orcomplaint, the hostility of guards and keepers, the suffering of abjectpoverty, keener in a prison house than on any other foot of earth. 

It is interesting to observe that Miller's original purpose had been tosecure money to speculate with--for he had been bitten deep by thetarantula of Wall Street, and his early experiences had led him tobelieve that he could beat the market if only he had sufficient margin. This margin he set out to secure. Then when he saw how easy it was toget money for the asking, he dropped the idea of speculation and simplybecame a banker. He did make one bona-fide attempt, but the stock wentdown, he sold out and netted a small loss. Had Miller actually_continued to speculate_ it is doubtful whether he could have beenconvicted for any crime, since it was for that purpose that the moneywas entrusted to him. He might have lost it all in the Street and gonescot free. As it was, in failing to gamble with it, he became guilty ofembezzlement. 

Ammon arrived in Sing Sing with a degree of éclat. He found numerous oldfriends and clients among the inmates. He brought a social positionwhich had its value. Money, too, is no less desirable there thanelsewhere, and Ammon had plenty of it. 

In due course, but not until he had served more than half his sentence(less commutation), Miller a broken man, received his pardon, and wentback to his wife and child. When Governor Higgins performed this act ofexecutive clemency, many honest folk in Brooklyn and elsewhere loudlyexpressed their indignation. District Attorney Jerome did not escapetheir blame. Was this contemptible thief, this meanest of all meanswindlers, who had stolen hundreds of thousands to be turned loose onthe community before he had served half his sentence? It was an outrage!A disgrace to civilization! Reader, how say you?

VI

A Study in Finance

"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. " --PROVERBS 28:20. 

The victim of moral overstrain is the central figure in many novels andcountless magazine stories. In most of them he finally repents him fullyof his sins past and returns to his former or to some equally desirableposition, to lead a new and better life. The dangers and temptations ofthe "Street" are, however, too real and terrible to be studied otherthan in actuality, and the fall of hundreds of previously honest youngmen owing to easily remedied conditions should teach its lesson, notonly to their comrades, but to their employers as well. The ball andchain, quite as often as repentance and forgiveness, ends theirexperience. 

No young man takes a position in a banking-house with the deliberateintention of becoming an embezzler. He knows precisely, as well as doesthe reader, that if he listens to the whisper of temptation he islost--and so does his employer. Yet the employer, who would hold himselfremiss if he allowed his little boy to have the run of the jam-closetand then discovered that the latter's lips bore evidence of pettylarceny, or would regard himself as almost criminally negligent if heplaced a priceless pearl necklace where an ignorant chimney-sweep mightfall under the hypnotism of its shimmer, will calmly allow a conditionof things in his own brokerage or banking office where afifteen-dollars-a-week clerk may have free access to a million dollars'worth of negotiable securities, and even encourage the latter byoccasional "sure" tips to take a flyer in the market. 

It is a deplorable fact that the officers of certain companiesoccasionally "unload" undesirable securities upon their employees, and, in order to boom or create a "movement" in a certain stock, will inducethe persons under their control to purchase it. It would be a rare casein which a clerk who valued his situation would refuse to take a fewshares in an enterprise which the head of the firm was fathering. Ofcourse, such occurrences are the exceptions, but there are plenty ofhouses not far from Wall Street where the partners know that theirclerks and messengers are "playing the market, " and exert not theslightest influence to stop them. When these men find that they andtheir customers, and not the clerks and messengers, are paying the lossaccounts of the latter, they are very much distressed, and tell theDistrict Attorney, with regret, that only by sending such wicked andtreacherous persons to State's prison can similar dishonesty beprevented. 

Not long ago the writer became acquainted with a young man who, as loanclerk in a trust company, had misappropriated a large amount ofsecurities and had pleaded guilty to the crime of grand larceny in thefirst degree. He was awaiting sentence, and in connection therewith itbecame necessary to examine into the conditions prevailing generally inthe financial district. His story is already public property, for thecase attracted wide attention in the daily press; but, inasmuch as thewriter's object is to point a moral rather than adorn a tale, theculprit's name and the name of the company with which he was connectedneed not be given. 

He is now serving a term in State's prison and is, the writer believes, sincerely repentant and determined to make a man of himself upon hisrelease. For present purposes let him be called John Smith. He was bornin New York City, in surroundings rather better than the average. Hisfamily were persons of good education and his home was a comfortable andhappy one. From childhood he received thorough religious instructionand was always a straightforward, honest and obedient boy. His father, having concluded from observation that the shortest route to success layin financial enterprise, secured a place in a broker's office for hisson after the latter's graduation from the high school. John began atthe bottom and gradually worked up to the position of assistant loanclerk in a big trust company. This took fifteen years of hard work. 

From the day that he started in filling inkwells and cleaning out tickerbaskets, he saw fortunes made and lost in a twinkling. He learned thatthe chief business of a broker is acting as go-between for persons whoare trying to sell what they do not own to others who have not the moneyto pay for what they buy. And he saw hundreds of such persons grow richon these fictitious transactions. He also saw others "wiped out, " butthey cheerfully went through bankruptcy and began again, many of themachieving wealth on their second or third attempt. He was earning fivedollars a week and getting his lunch at a "vegetarian health restaurant"for fifteen cents. The broker, for whom he ran errands, gave awaythirty-five-cent cigars to his customers and had an elaborate luncheonserved in the office daily to a dozen or more of the elect. John knewone boy of about his own age, who, having made a successful turn, beganas a trader and cleaned up a hundred thousand dollars in a rising marketthe first year. That was better than the cleaning up John was used to. But he was a sensible boy and had made up his mind to succeed in alegitimate fashion. Gradually he saved a few hundred dollars and, actingon the knowledge he had gained in his business, bought two or threeshares in a security which quickly advanced in value and almost doubledhis money. The next time as well fortune favored him, and he soon had acomfortable nest-egg--enough to warrant his feeling reasonably secure inthe event of accident or sickness. 

He had worked faithfully, had given great satisfaction to his employers, and presently had a clerical position in a prominent trust companyoffered to him. It seemed an advance. The salary was larger, even ifabsurdly small, and he gladly accepted the place. 

Shortly after this he had his first experience in real finance. Thepresident of the company sent for him--the reader will remember thatthis is a true story--and the boy entered his private office and cameinto the august presence of the magnate. This man is to-day what iscommonly known as a "power" in Wall Street. 

"My boy, " said the president, "you have been doing very well. I havenoticed the excellence of your work. I want to commend you. "

"Thank you, sir, " said John modestly, expecting to hear that his salarywas to be raised. 

"Yes, " continued the great man. "And I want you to have an interest inthe business. "

The blood rushed to John's head and face. "Thank you very much, " hegasped. 

"I have allotted you five shares in the trust company, " said thepresident. "If you take them up and carry them you will feel that youhave a real connection with the house and it will net you a handsomereturn. Have you any money?"

It so happened that at this time John's savings were invested in a fewbonds of an old and conservatively managed railroad. His heart fell. Hedidn't want to buy any bank stock. 

"No, " he answered. "My salary is small enough and I need it all. I don'tsave any money. "

"Oh, well, " said the magnate, "I will try and fix it up for you. I willarrange for a loan with the ---- Bank on the stock. Remember, I'm doingthis to help you. That is all. You may go back to your books. "

Next day John was informed that he had bought five shares of ---- TrustCompany stock in the neighborhood of three hundred, and he signed a notefor one thousand four hundred and twenty-five dollars, and indorsed thestock over to the bank from which the money had been borrowed for him. The stock almost immediately dropped over fifty points. John paid theinterest on the note out of his salary, and the dividends, as fast asthey were declared, went to extinguish the body of the loan. Some timeafterward he learned that he had bought the stock from the magnatehimself. He never received any benefit from it, for the stock was soldto cover the note, and John was obliged to make up the difference. Healso discovered that ten or fifteen other employees had been given asimilar opportunity by their generous employer at about the same time. John, in prison, says it was a scheme to keep fifty or a hundred shareswhere it could easily be controlled by the president, without risk tohimself, in case of need. Of course, he may be wrong. At any rate, hefeels bitterly now toward the big men who are at large while he is injail. 

John continued to keep up with the acquaintances formed during his yearsin the broker's office, many of whom had started little businesses oftheir own and had done well. Part of their stock-in-trade was to appearprosperous and they took John out to lunch, and told him what a finefellow he was, and gave him sure tips. But John had grown "wise. " He hadhad all the chances of that sort he wanted, and from a bigger man thanany of them. He ate their lunches and invited them in return. Then heeconomized for a day or two to even up. He was not prosperous himself, but he did not accept favors without repaying them. 

One thing he observed and noted carefully--every man he knew who hadbegun a brokerage business and kept sober, who attended to business anddid not speculate, made money and plenty of it. He knew one young firmwhich cleared up fifteen thousand in commissions at the end of thesecond year. That looked good to him, and he knew, besides, that _he_was sober and attended to business. He made inquiries and learned thatone could start in, if one were modest in one's pretensions, for twothousand five hundred dollars. That would pay office rent and keepthings going until the commissions began to come in. He started to lookaround for some other young man who could put up the money inconsideration of John's contributing the experience. But all the men heknew had experience without money. 

Then by chance he met a young fellow of bright and agreeable personalitywhom we shall call Prescott. The latter was five or six years older thanJohn, had had a large experience in brokerage houses in another city, and had come to New York to promote the interests of a certain coppercompany. John had progressed and was now assistant loan clerk of one ofthe biggest trust companies in the city, which also happened to betransfer agent for the copper company. Thus John had constantly tohandle its certificates. Prescott said it was a wonderful thing--thatsome of the keenest men in the Street were in it, and, although it was acurb stock, strongly advised his new friend to buy all he could of it. He assured John that, although he was admittedly interested in boomingthe stock, he was confident that before long it would sell at four timesits present quotation. 

Meantime the stock, which had been listed at 2-1/4, began to go rapidlyup. Word went around the trust company that it was a great purchaseanywhere below 10, and John, as well as the other boys employed in thecompany, got together what money he could and began to buy it. Itcontinued to go up--they had unconsciously assisted it in itsascent--and they bought more. John purchased seventy-five shares--allthe way up to 8 and 9. One of his friends took eight hundred. Then itdropped out of sight. They hadn't time to get out, and John, in prison, has his yet. But he still had faith in Prescott, for he liked him andbelieved in his business capacity. 

The stock "operation" over, Prescott began to prospect for somethingnew, and suggested to John that they form a brokerage house under thelatter's name. John was to be president at "a fixed salary. " It soundedvery grand. His duties at the trust company began to seem picayune. Moreover, his loss in copper had depressed him and he wanted to recoup, if he could. But how to get the two thousand five hundred dollarsnecessary to start in business? Prescott pleaded poverty, yet talkedconstantly of the ease with which a fortune might be made if they couldonly once "get in right. " It was a period of increased dividends, ofstock-jobbing operations of enormous magnitude, of "fifty-pointmovements, " when the lucky purchaser of only a hundred shares of someinconspicuous railroad sometimes found that he could sell out next weekwith five thousand dollars' profit. The air seemed full of money. Itappeared to rain banknotes and stock certificates. 

In the "loan cage" at the trust company John handled daily millions insecurities, a great part of which were negotiable. When almost everybodywas so rich he wondered why any one remained poor. Two or three men ofhis own age gave up their jobs in other concerns and became traders, while another opened an office of his own. John was told that they hadacted on "good information, " had bought a few hundred shares of UnionPacific, and were now comfortably fixed. He would have been glad tobuy, but copper had left him without anything to buy with. 

One day Prescott took him out to lunch and confided to him that one ofthe big speculators had tipped him off to buy cotton, since there wasgoing to be a failure in the crop. It was practically a sure thing. Twothousand dollars' margin would buy enough cotton to start them inbusiness, even if the rise was only a very small one. 

"Why don't you borrow a couple of bonds?" asked Prescott. 

"Borrow from whom?" inquired John. 

"Why, from some customer of the trust company. "

"No one would lend them to me, " answered John. 

"Well, borrow them, anyhow. They would never know about it, and youcould put them back as soon as we closed the account, " suggestedPrescott. 

John was shocked, and said so. 

"You are easy, " said his comrade. "Don't you know that the trustcompanies do it themselves all the time? The presidents of the railroadsuse the holdings of their companies as collateral. Even the banks usetheir deposits for trading. Didn't old ---- dump a lot of rotten stuffon you? Why don't you get even? Let me tell you something. Fullyone-half of the men who are now successful financiers got their start byputting up as margin securities deposited with them. No one ever knewthe difference, and now they are on their feet. If you took two bondsovernight you might put them back in the morning. Every one does it. It's part of the game. "

"But suppose we lost?" asked John. 

"You can't, " said Prescott. "Cotton is sure to go up. It's throwing awaythe chance of your life. "

John said he couldn't do such a thing, but when he returned to theoffice the cashier told him that a merger had been planned between theircompany and another--a larger one. John knew what that meant wellenough--half the clerks would lose their positions. He was gettingthirty-five dollars a week, had married a young wife, and, as he hadtold the magnate, he "needed it all. " That night as he put thesecurities from the "loan cage" back in the vault the bonds burned hisfingers. They were lying around loose, no good to anybody, and only twoof them, overnight maybe, would make him independent of salaries andmergers--a free man and his own master. 

The vault was in the basement just below the loan cage. It was sometwenty feet long and ten wide. There were three tiers of boxes withdouble combination doors. In the extreme left-hand corner was the "loanbox. " Near it were two other boxes in which the securities of certaincustomers on deposit were kept. John had individual access to the loanbox and the two others--one of which contained the collateral whichsecured loans that were practically permanent. He thus had within hiscontrol negotiable bonds of over a million dollars in value. Thesecurities were in piles, strapped with rubber bands, and bore slips onwhich were written the names of the owners. Every morning John carriedup all these piles to the loan cage--except the securities on deposit. At the end of the day he carried all back himself and tossed them intothe boxes. When the interest coupons on the deposited bonds had to becut he carried these, also, upstairs. At night the vault was secured bytwo doors, one with a combination lock and the other with a time lock. It was as safe as human ingenuity could make it. By day it had only asteel-wire gate which could be opened with a key. No attendant wasstationed at the door. If John wanted to get in, all he had to do was toask the person who had the key to open it. The reason John had thecombination to these different boxes was in order to save the loan clerkthe trouble of going downstairs to get the collateral himself. 

Next day when John went out to lunch he put two bonds belonging to acustomer in his pocket. He did not intend to steal them or even toborrow them. It was done almost automatically. His will seemedsubjugated to the idea that they were to all intents and purposes _his_bonds to do as he liked with. He wanted the feeling ofbonds-in-his-pocket. As he walked along the street to the restaurant, itseemed quite natural that they should be there. They were nearly as safewith him as lying around loose in the cage or chucked into a box in thevault. Prescott joined him, full of his new idea that cotton was goingto jump overnight. 

"If you only had a couple of bonds, " he sighed. 

Then somehow John's legs and arms grew weak. He seemed to disintegrateinternally. He tried to pull himself together, but he had lost controlof his muscles. He became a dual personality. His own John heardPrescott's John say quite naturally:

"I can let you have two bonds, but mind we get them back to-morrow, oranyhow the day after. "

John's John felt the other John slip the two American Navigation 4sunder the table and Prescott's fingers close upon them. Then came aperiod of hypnotic paralysis. The flywheel of his will-power hung on adead centre. Almost instantly he became himself again. 

"Give 'em back, " he whispered hoarsely. "I didn't mean you should keepthem, " and he reached anxiously across the table. But Prescott was onhis feet, half-way toward the door. 

"Don't be a fool, Smith, " he laughed. "What's the matter with you? It'sa cinch. Go back and forget it. " He shot out of the door and down thestreet. 

John followed, dazed and trembling with horror at what he had done. Hewent back to the cage and remained the rest of the day in terror lestthe broker who owned the two bonds should pay off his loan. But at thesame time he had quickly made up his mind what he should do in thatevent. There was more than one loan secured by American Navigation 4s. He loosened a couple in one of the other piles. If the first broker camein he would take two bonds from one of these. But the broker did notcome in. 

That night John wandered the streets till nearly daylight. He sawhimself arrested, ruined, in prison. Utterly fagged next morning, hecalled up Prescott on the telephone and begged him to return the bonds. Prescott laughed at his fears and assured him that everything was allright. Cotton was sure to go up. An hour later the broker who owned thebonds came in and took up his loan, and John removed two AmericanNavigation 4s from another bundle and handed them to the loan clerk. Ofcourse, the numbers on the bonds were not the same, but few personswould notice a little thing like that, even if they kept a record of it. They had the bonds--that was the main thing. 

Once more John rushed to the 'phone, told Prescott what had occurred andbesought him for the bonds. 

"It's too late now, " growled Prescott. "Cotton has gone down. I couldonly get one back at the most. We had better stand pat and get out onthe next bulge. "

John was by this time almost hysterical. The perspiration broke out onhis forehead every now and then, and he shuddered as he counted hissecurities and entered up his figures. If cotton should go down somemore! That was the hideous possibility. They would have to put up moremargin, and then--!

Down in the vault where the depositors' bonds were kept were two pilesof Overland 4s. One contained about two hundred and the other nearly sixhundred bonds. The par value of these negotiable securities alone wasnearly eight hundred thousand dollars. Twice a year John cut the couponsoff of them. Each pile was marked with the owner's name. They were nevercalled for, and it appeared that these customers intended to keep themthere permanently. John, realizing that the chances of detection weresmaller, removed two bonds from the pile of two hundred Overlands andsubstituted them with Prescott for the two Navigation 4s. 

Then cotton went down with a slump. Prescott did not wait even totelephone. He came himself to the trust company and told John that theyneeded two more bonds for additional margin to protect their loan. Buthe said it was merely temporary, and that they had better even up bybuying some more cotton. John went down into the vault and came backwith four more Overland 4s bonds under his coat. He was in for it nowand might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb. He was beginning toget used to the idea of being a thief. He was, to be sure, wretchedlyunhappy, but he was experiencing the excitement of trying to dodge Fateuntil Fortune looked his way. Cotton still went down. It never occurredto him that Prescott perhaps had not bought all the cotton. Now that heis in prison he thinks maybe Prescott didn't. But he kept going downinto the vault and bringing up more bonds, and, getting reckless, boughtmore cotton--quantities of it. In a month sixty bonds were gone from thepile of two hundred. John, a nervous wreck, almost laughed, grimly, atthe joke of _his_ being short sixty bonds!

At home they thought he was getting run down. His wife--! He was sokind and thoughtful that she had never been so happy. It made herfearful that he had some fatal disease and knew he was going to die. Upat the bank John made a separate bundle of sixty bonds out of the pileof six hundred so that he could substitute them for those first taken ifthe owner called for them. It was not likely that both owners would callfor their bonds on the same day, so that he was practically safe untilone or the other had withdrawn his deposit. 

About this time the special accountants came around to make their annualinvestigation. It was apparently done in the regular and usual way. Oneexaminer stood inside the vault and another outside, surrounded by fouror five assistants. They "investigated" the loans. John brought them outin armfuls and the accountants checked them off and sent them back. WhenJohn brought out the one hundred and forty bonds left in the bundle oftwo hundred Overland 4s he placed on top of them the pile of sixty bondstaken from the other bundle of six hundred. Then he took them back, shifted over the sixty and brought out the bundle of six hundredOverland 4s made up in part of the same bonds. It was the easiest thinggoing. The experts simply counted the sixty bonds twice--and John hadthe sixty bonds (or Prescott had them) down the street. Later the samefirm of "experts" certified to the presence of three hundred thousanddollars of missing bonds, counting the _same_ bundle, not only twice, but five and six times! You see, Prescott's John had grown wise in hisgeneration. 

After that he felt reasonably secure. It did seem almost unbelievablethat such a situation could exist, but it was, nevertheless, a fact thatit did. He expected momentarily that his theft would be detected andthat he would be thrown into prison, and the fear of the actual arrest, the moment of public ignominy, the shock and agony of his wife andfamily, were what drove him sleepless into the streets, and everyevening to the theatres to try to forget what must inevitably come; butthe fact that he had "gone wrong, " that he was a thief, that he hadbetrayed his trust, had lost its edge. He now thought no more of shovinga package of bonds into his overcoat pocket than he did of taking thatgarment down from its peg behind the door. He knew from inquiry that menwho stole a few hundred dollars, and were caught, usually got as long aterm as those who stole thousands. If he stole one bond he was just aslikely to get ten years in State's prison as if he stole fifty--so hestole fifty, and when they were wiped out he stole fifty more--and, well, if the reader is interested he will learn before the end of thestory just what John _did_ steal. 

Somehow, Prescott's speculations never succeeded. Occasionally theywould make a good turn and get a few bonds back, but the next week therewould be a new fiasco, and John would have to visit the Overland 4sagain. That performance of the accountants had given him a huge contemptfor bankers and banking. He knew that if he wanted to he could grab up amillion any day and walk off with it, but he didn't want to. All hedesired now was to get back to where he was before. All the speculationwas in the hands of Prescott, and Prescott never seemed worried in theleast. He called on John almost daily for what extra bonds were neededas additional collateral, and John took his word absolutely as to theresult of the transactions. He could not do otherwise, for one word fromPrescott would have ruined him. 

Before long the pile of two hundred Overland 4s was gone. So was a largequantity of other securities, for John and Prescott had dropped cottonand gone plunging into the stock market. Here, however, they had nobetter success than before. Of course, a difficulty arose when theinterest on the Overland 4s came due. The coupons had to be cut by someone in the bank, and although John usually cut them he did not alwaysdo so. Sometimes the loan clerk himself would take a hand, and call fora particular lot of bonds. John, however, was now fertile in devices. The owner of the larger pile of six hundred bonds usually wrote to havehis coupons cut about the twenty-seventh of April. John would make up acollection of six hundred bonds of the same sort, carry them up and cutthe coupons in the loan cage. The other man generally sent in a draftfor his interest on the second or third of May. But now the bonds wereaway, scattered all over the Street. So John started a new operation toget the bonds back and straighten out the coupon tangle. He substitutedwith the brokers an equal number of bonds of other companies, theinterest upon which was not yet due. There was a large block of Electric5s and Cumberland 4s which served his purpose admirably, and thus hekept up with the game. When the coupons became due on the latter hecarried back the first. It kept him and Prescott busy most of the timejuggling securities--at least John knew _he_ was kept busy, and Prescottclaimed to be equally so. 

There were many loans of brokers and others all secured by the same sortof collateral. Most of these John appropriated. When it was necessary tocheck off the loans, John, having retained enough of the same kind ofbonds to cover the largest loan, would bring up the same bundle timeafter time with a different name upon it. If one of the customers wantedto pay off a loan and his bonds were gone he would be given some oneelse's collateral. Apparently the only thing that was necessary was tohave enough of each kind of security on hand to cover the largest loanon the books at any given time. 

Once, when the examiners were at work on the vault, John had to make upone hundred thousand dollars in Overland 4s or 5s from the differentsmall loans in the loan vault and put them in a package in the depositvault in order to make it appear that certain depositors' bonds were allthere. 

The most extraordinary performance of all was when, upon one of theannual examinations, John covered the absence of over fifty bonds in thecollateral covering a certain loan by merely shoving the balance of thesecurities into the back of the vault, so that it was not examined atall. He had taken these bonds to substitute for others in differentbrokers' offices, and it so happened that there were no similarsecurities in the building; thus the deficiency could not be covered upeven by John's expert sleight of hand. Of course, if there had beenother bonds of the same kind in another vault it would have been asimple matter to substitute them. But there were not. So John pushedthe remaining one hundred and fifty bonds into a dark corner of thevault and awaited the discovery with throbbing pulses. Yet, strange torelate, these watchdogs of finance, did not see the bonds which John hadhidden, and did not discover that anything was wrong, since, forpurposes of its own, the bank had neglected to make any record of theloan in question. It would really have been safer for John if he hadtaken the whole pile, but then he did not know that the accountants weregoing to do their business in any such crazy fashion. The whole thingcame to seem a sort of joke to John. He never took any bonds for his ownpersonal use. He gave everything to Prescott, and he rarely, if ever, saw Prescott except to hand him securities. 

One day Prescott walked right into the bank itself and John gave him onehundred and sixty-five bonds, which he stuffed under his overcoat andcarried away. Remember that this is a _fact_. 

The thing, which began in August, 1905, dragged over through thefollowing year and on into 1907. John weathered two examinations by theaccountants, the last being in October, 1906, when they certified thatthe company was absolutely "O. K. " and everything intact. On thatparticular day John had over three hundred thousand dollars in Overland4s and 5s scattered over the Street. 

In the first six months they lost one hundred thousand dollars incotton. Then they played both sides of the market in stocks and gotbadly bitten as bears in the temporary bull market in the autumn of1906, selling Union Pacific at 165, which afterward went to 190, Northern Pacific at 185, which went to 200, etc. , etc. Then they shiftedtheir position, became bulls and went long of stock just at thebeginning of the present slump. They bought Reading at 118, AmericanSmelters at 126, Pennsylvania at 130, Union at 145, and Northern Pacificat 180. At one time John had five hundred and fifty thousand dollars inbonds out of the vaults. 

The thing might have been going on still had it not been for the factthat the anticipated merger between John's company and another was putthrough and a new vault in a new building prepared to receive thesecurities. Of course, on such an occasion a complete examination wouldbe made of all the securities and there would be practically no chanceto deceive the accountants. Moreover, a part of the securities hadactually been moved when the worst slump came and they needed more. Itwas obvious that the jig was up. A few more days and John knew that thegyves would be upon his wrists. Prescott and he took an account of thestock they had lost and went into committee on ways and means. Neitherhad any desire to run away. Wall Street was the breath of life to them. Prescott said that the best thing to do was to take enough more to"stand off" the company. He cited a case in Boston, where a clerk whowas badly "in" was advised by his lawyer to take a hundred andtwenty-five thousand dollars more. Then the lawyer dickered with thebank and brought it to terms. The lawyer got twenty-five thousanddollars, the bank got the rest, and the thief was let go. Prescott saidthey ought to get away with enough more to make the bank's loss amillion. He thought _that_ would make them see what was the wise thingto do. Prescott also said he would try to get a lawyer who could bringsome pressure to bear on the officials of the company. It would be arather unpleasant situation to have brought to the attention of theState Superintendent of Banking. John agreed to get the additionalsecurities and turn them over to Prescott. Unfortunately, almosteverything had by this time been moved into the new vault, and all Johncould get was a stock certificate for fifteen hundred railroad shares, standing in his own name, and seventy-five thousand dollars in notes. These he gave to Prescott, thus increasing the amount stolen from thebank without discovery to between six and seven hundred thousanddollars. This was on the day before the actuaries were to make theirinvestigation. Knowing that his arrest was now only a question of time, John, about eleven o'clock on the following morning, left the trustcompany for the last time. He was in telephonic communication withPrescott, who, in turn, was in touch with their lawyer. Unfortunately, the president of the company had gone out of town over Sunday, so thatagain their plans went awry. 

For nearly two years John had not known an hour devoid of haunting fear. From a cheerful and contented youth he had become despondent, taciturnand nervous. He was the same affectionate husband and attentive son asbefore, and his general characteristics remained precisely the same. Hewas scrupulous to a penny in every other department of his life, andundoubtedly would have felt the same pricks of conscience had he beenguilty of any other act of dishonesty. The affair at the bank was athing apart. The embezzler of six hundred thousand dollars was not Johnat all, but a separate personality wearing John's clothes and bearinghis name. He perceived clearly the enormity of his offense, but, becausehe was the same John in every other respect, he had a feeling thatsomehow the fact that _he_ had done the thing was purely fortuitous--inother words, that the bonds had to be taken, were going to be takenanyway, and that Fate had simply elected him to take them. Surely he hadnot wanted the bonds--had had no intention of stealing half a milliondollars, and, in short, was not the kind of a man who would steal half amillion dollars. Each night he tossed, sleepless, till the light stolein through the shutters. At every corner on his way uptown he glancedover his shoulder behind him. The front doorbell never rang that hismuscles did not become rigid and his heart almost stop beating. If hewent to a theatre or upon an excursion he passed the time wondering ifthe next day he would still be a free man. In short, he paid in full inphysical misery and mental anxiety and wretchedness for the real moralobliquity of his crime. The knowledge of this maddened him for what wascoming. Yet he realized that he had stolen half a million dollars, andthat justice demanded that he should be punished for it. 

After leaving the bank John called up Prescott and learned that the planto adjust matters with the president had miscarried by reason of thelatter's absence. The two then met in a saloon, and here it was arrangedthat John should call up the loan clerk and tell him that somethingwould be found to be wrong at the bank, but that nothing had better besaid about it until the following Monday morning, when the presidentwould return. The loan clerk, however, refused to talk with him and hungup the receiver. John had nowhere to go, for he dared not return home, and spent the afternoon until six o'clock riding in street cars andsitting in saloons. At that hour he again communicated with Prescott, who said that he had secured rooms for him and his wife at a certainhotel, where they might stay until matters could be fixed up. Johnarranged to meet his wife at Forty-second Street with Prescott andconduct her to the hotel. As Fate decreed, the loan clerk came out ofthe subway at precisely the same time, saw them together and followedthem. Meantime a hurry call had been sent for the president, who hadreturned to the city. John, fully aware that the end had come, went tobed at the hotel, and, for the first time since the day he had taken thebonds two years before, slept soundly. At three the next morning therecame a knock at the door. His wife awakened him and John opened it. Ashe did so a policeman forced his way in, and the loan clerk, who stoodin the corridor just behind him, exclaimed theatrically, "Officer, thereis your man!"

John is now in prison, serving out the sentence which the court believedit necessary to inflict upon him as a warning to others. Prescott isalso serving a term at hard labor--a sentence somewhat longer thanJohn's. The trust company took up their accounts, paid the losses of theluckless pair, and, owing to a rise in prices which came too late tobenefit the latter, escaped with the comparatively trifling loss of alittle over one hundred thousand dollars. At once every banking houseand trust company upon the Street looked to its system of checks uponthe honesty of its employees, and took precautions which should havebeen taken long before. The story was a nine days' wonder. Then UnionPacific dropped twenty points more, the tide of finance closed over theheads of John and Prescott, and they were forgotten. 

Had the company, instead of putting itself at the mercy of athirty-five-dollar-a-week clerk, placed double combinations on the loanand deposit vaults, and employed two men, one to act as a check upon theother, to handle its securities, or had it merely adopted the evensimpler expedient of requiring an officer of the company to be presentwhen any securities were to be removed from the vaults, John wouldprobably not now be in jail. It would seem that it would not be adifficult or complicated matter to employ a doorkeeper, who did not haveaccess himself, to stand at the door of the vault and check off allsecurities removed therefrom or returned thereto. An officer of the bankshould personally see that the loans earned up to the cage in themorning were properly returned to the vaults at night and secured with atime lock. Such a precaution would not cost the Stockholders a tenth ofone per cent. In dividends. 

It is a trite saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound ofcure. But this is as true, in the case of financial institutions atleast, from the point of view of the employe as of the company. It is aningenious expedient to insure one's self with a "fidelity corporation"against the possible defalcations of one's servants, and doubtlesscertain risks can only be covered in some such fashion. These methodsare eminently proper so far as they go, but they, unfortunately, do notserve the public purpose of protecting the weak from undue andunnecessary temptation. Banks and trust companies are prone to rely onthe fact that most peculations are easily detected and severelypunished, but the public interest demands that all business, State, municipal and private, should be so conducted that dishonesty may notonly be punished, but prevented. 

A builder who "took a chance" on the strength of a girder would havesmall credit in his profession. A good bridge is one which will bear thestrain--not only of the pedestrian, but of the elephant. A deluge or anearthquake may occur and the bridge may tumble, but next time it isbuilt stronger and better. Thus science progresses and the publicinterest is subserved. A driver who overloads his beast is regarded as afool or a brute. Perhaps such names are too harsh for those who overloadthe moral backbone of an inexperienced subordinate. Surely the fault isnot all on one side. While there are no formulas to calculate theresiliency of human character, we may demand the same prudence on thepart of the officers of financial institutions as we do from nursemaids, lumbermen and manufacturers of explosives. Though we may have confidencein the rectitude of our fellows, we have no right to ignore thelimitations and weaknesses of mankind. It would not outrage theprinciples of justice if one who placed needless and disproportionatestrain upon the morals of another were himself regarded as an accessoryto the crime. 

VII

The "Duc de Nevers"

 "And God gives to every manThe virtue, temper, understanding, taste, That lifts him into life, and lets him fallJust in the niche he was ordained to fill. " --"The Task"--COWPER. 

One morning there lay on my desk a note finely written in pencil anddated:

 TOMBS PRISON. 

 MONSIEUR:

 Will you be so gracious as to extend to the undersigned the courtesy of a private interview in your office? I have a communication of the highest importance to make to you. 

 Respectfully, CHARLES JULIUS FRANCIS DE NEVERS. 

Across the street in the courtyard the prisoners were taking their dailyexercise. Two by two they marched slowly around the enclosure in thecentre of which a small bed of geraniums struggled bravely in mortalcombat with the dust and grime of Centre Street. Some of the prisonerswalked with heads erect and shoulders thrown back, others slouched alongwith their arms dangling and their chins resting upon their chests. Whenone of them failed to keep up with the rest, a keeper, who stood in theshade by a bit of ivy in a corner of the wall, got after him. Somehowthe note on the desk did not seem to fit any one of the gentry whom Icould see so distinctly from my window. The name, too, did not have thecustomary Tombs sound--De Nevers? _De Nevaire_--I repeated it slowly tomyself with varying accent. It seemed as though I had known the namebefore. It carried with it a suggestion of the novels of Stanley J. Weyman, of books on old towns and the châteaux and cathedrals of France. I wondered who the devil Charles Julius Francis de Nevers could be. 

Of course, if one answered all the letters one gets from the Tombs itwould keep a secretary busy most of the working hours of the day, and ifone acceded to all the various requests the prisoners make to interviewthem personally or to see their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sweethearts and wives, a prosecutor might as well run an intelligenceoffice and be done with it. But as I re-read the note I began to have asneaking feeling of curiosity to see what Charles Julius Francis deNevers looked like, so I departed from the usual rule of my office, rangfor a messenger and directed him to ascertain the full name of theprisoner from whom the note had come, the crime with which he wascharged, and the date of his incarceration, also to supply me at oncewith copies of the indictment and the complaint; then I instructed himto have De Nevers brought over as soon as he could be got into shape. 

I had almost forgotten that I was expecting a visitor when, a couple ofhours later, an undersized deputy-sheriff entered my office and reportedthat he had a prisoner in his custody for whom I had sent to the Tombs. Glancing up from my desk I saw standing behind his keeper a tall anddistinguished-looking man in fashionably cut garments, whose well shapedhead and narrow face, thin aquiline nose, and carefully trimmed pointedbeard seemed to bespeak somewhat different antecedents from those of theordinary occupant of a cell in the City Prison. I should haveinstinctively risen from my chair and offered my aristocratic lookingvisitor a chair had not the keeper unconsciously brought me to arealization of my true position by remarking:

"Say, Counsellor, I guess while you're talking to his nibs I'll step outinto the hall and take a smoke. "

"Certainly, " said I, glad to be rid of him, "I will be responsible forthe--er--prisoner. "

Then, as the keeper hesitated in putting his suggestion into execution, I reached into the upper right-hand drawer of my desk, produced two ofwhat are commonly known in the parlance of the Criminal Courts Buildingas "cigars" and handed them to him. 

"Well, " said I, after the keeper had departed closing the door behindhim and leaving the visitor standing in the middle of the office, "Ihave sent for you as you requested and shall be glad to hear anythingyou have to say. Of course any communication which you may see fit tomake to me is voluntary and, in the event for your trial for--er--anycrime with which you may be charged, may be used against you. " I had acertain feeling of embarrassment in making this customary declarationsince the whole idea of this person being a criminal was so incongruousas to put a heavy strain on one's credulity. However, I recalled that acertain distinguished Englishman of letters has declared "that there isno essential incongruity between crime and culture. " He acknowledged myremark with a slight smile of half-amused deprecation and with acourteous bow took the seat to which I motioned him. 

"I wish to thank you, " he said in excellent English marked by theslightest possible suggestion of a foreign accent, "for your exceedingcourtesy in responding so quickly to my request. I am aware, " he added, "that it is unusual for prisoners to seek interviews with the--whatshall I say--_juge d'instruction_, as we call him, but, " he added with asmile, "I think you will find that mine is an unusual affair. "

I had already begun to think so, and reaching to the upper drawer on theleft-hand side of my desk, I produced from the box reserved for judges, prominent members of the bar, borough presidents, commissioners ofdepartments and distinguished foreigners, a Havana of the variety knownin our purlieus as a "_good_ cigar, " and tendered the same to him. 

"Ah, " he said, "many thanks, _merci, non_, I do not smoke the cigar. M'sieu' perhaps has a cigarette? M'sieu' will pardon me if I say thatthis is the first act of kindness which has been accorded to me since myincarceration three weeks ago. "

Somewhere I found a box of cigarettes, one of which he removed, gracefully holding it between fingers which I noticed were singularlywhite and delicate, and lighting it with the air of a diplomat at aninternational conference. 

"You can hardly appreciate, " he ventured, "the humiliation to which I, an officer and a gentleman of France, have been subjected. "

I lighted the cigar which he had declined and with mingled feelings ofembarrassment, distrust and curiosity inquired if his name was CharlesJulius Francis de Nevers. I wish it were possible to describe theprecise look which flashed across his face as he answered my question. 

"That is my name, " he said, "or at least rather, I am Charles JuliusFrancis, and I am of Nevers. May I speak confidentially? Were my familyto be aware of my present situation they would never recover from thehumiliation and disgrace connected with it. "

"Certainly, " said I, "anything which you may tell me which you wish tobe kept confidential I will treat as such, provided, of course, thatwhat you tell me is the truth. "

"You shall hear nothing else, " he replied. Then leaning back in hischair he said simply and with great dignity, "I am by direct inheritancetoday the Duc de Nevers, my father, the last duke, having died in themonth of February, 1905. "

Any such announcement would ordinarily have filled me with amusement, but that the gentleman sitting before me should declare himself to be aduke or even a prince seemed entirely natural. 

"Indeed!" said I, unable to think of any more appropriate remark. 

"Yes, " said De Nevers, "and M'sieu' is naturally surprised that one ofmy distinguished position should be now a tenant of an American jail. But if M'sieu' will do me the honor of listening for a few moments Iwill explain my present extraordinary predicament. I am Charles JuliusFrançois, eldest son of the late Oscar Odon, Duc de Nevers, GrandCommander of the Legion of Honor, and Knight of the Garter. I was bornin Paris in the year 1860 at 148 Rue Champs Elysée; my mother, thedowager duchess, is now residing at the Château de Nevers in theProvince of Nievre in France. My sister Jeanne married Prince Henry ofAremberg, and now lives in Brussells at the Palais d'Aremberg, situatedat the corner of the Rue de Regence near the Palais de Justice. Mysister Louise, the Countess of Kilkenny, is living in Ireland. My sisterCamille married the Marquis of Londonderry and is residing in London atthe present time. My sister Evelyn married the Earl of Dudley and isliving in Dublin. I have one other sister, Marie, who is with my mother. My brother, Count André de Nevers is at present Naval Attaché at Berlin. My brother Fernand is an officer of artillery stationed in Madagascar, and my youngest brother Marcel is also an officer of artillery attachedto the 8th Regiment in Nancy. I make this statement by way ofintroduction in order that you may understand fully my situation. Duringmy childhood I had an English tutor in Paris, and when I reached the ageof ten years I was sent by my father to the College Louis le Grand whereI took the course of Science and Letters and graduated from the Lycéewith the degree of Bachelor on the 5th of August, 1877. Having passed myexamination for the Polytechnic I remained there two years, and on mygraduation received a commission as Sous-Lieutenant of Engineers, andimmediately entered the Application School at Fontainebleau, where I wasgraduated in 1881 as Lieutenant of Engineers and assigned to the FirstRegiment of Engineers at Versailles--"

De Nevers paused and exhaled the cigarette smoke. 

"M'sieu' will pardon me if I go into detail for only in that way will hebe convinced of the accuracy of what I am telling him. "

"Pray, go on, " said I. "If what you tell me is true your case isextraordinary indeed. "

"My first act of service, " continued De Nevers, "was on the 10th ofAugust when I was sent to Tonkin. I will not trouble you with thedetails of my voyage on the transport to China, but will simply statethat I was wounded in the engagement at Yung Chuang on the 7th ofNovember of the same year and had the distinction of receiving the Crossof the Legion of Honor therefor. I was immediately furloughed back toFrance, where I entered the Superior School of War and took my StaffMajor brevet. At the same time I seized the opportunity to follow thecourse of the Sorbonne and secured the additional degree of Doctor ofScience. I had received an excellent education in my youth and alwayshad a taste for study, which I have taken pains to pursue in whateverpart of the world I happened to be stationed. As a result I am able toconverse with considerable fluency in English, as perhaps you havealready observed, as well as in Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Arabic, and, to a considerable extent, in Japanese. 

"In 1883 I was sent to Berlin as Military Attaché, but was subsequentlyrecalled because I had violated the rules of international etiquette byfighting three duels with German officers. The Ambassador at this timewas Charles de Courcel. You will understand that there was no disgraceconnected with my recall, but the necessity of defending my honor wasincompatible with the rules of the service, and after fifteen months inBerlin I was remanded to Versailles with the rank of First Lieutenant, under Colonel Quinivet. Here I pursued my studies and was then orderedto the Soudan, whence, after being wounded, I was sent to Senegal. HereI acted as Governor of the City of St. Louis. As you are doubtlessaware, the climate of Senegal is exceedingly unhealthy. I fell ill witha fever and was obliged to return to France where I was assigned to theoffice of the General Staff Major in Paris. At the opening of the warwith Dahomey in 1892, I was sent in command of the Engineers of theCorps Expeditional, and on the 17th of November of that year wasseverely wounded at Dakar in Dahomey, having received a spear cutthrough the lungs. On this occasion I had the distinction of beingpromoted as Major of Engineers and was created an Officer of the Legionof Honor on the battle field. The wound in my lungs was of such aserious character that Colonel Dodds sent me back once more to France onfurlough, and President Carnot was kind enough to give me his personalcommendation for my services. 

"I was now thirty-three years old and had already attained high rank inmy profession. I had had opportunity to pursue studies in chemistry, medicine and science, and my only interest was in the service of mycountry and in qualifying myself for my future duties. My life up tothat time had been uniformly happy; I was the eldest son and belovedboth of my father and mother. My social position gave me the entrée tothe best of society wherever I happened to be. As yet, however, I hadnever been in love. At this time occurred the affair which in a measurechanged my career. The wound in my lungs was slow in healing, and at theearnest invitation of my sister, Lady Londonderry, I went to London. Atthat time she was living in Belgravia Square. It was here I met my firstwife. "

De Nevers paused. The cigarette had gone out. For the first time heseemed to lose perfect control of himself. I busied myself with somepapers until he should have regained his self possession. 

"You will understand, " he said in a few moments, "these things are notgoverned by law and statute. The woman with whom I fell in love and whowas in every respect the equal in intellectual attainments, beauty andcharm of manner of my own people, was the nursery governess in mysister's household. She returned my affection and agreed to marry me. The proposed marriage excited the utmost antipathy on the part of myfamily; my fiancée was dismissed from my sister's household, and Ireturned to Paris with the intention of endeavoring by every means in mypower to induce my father to permit me to wed the woman I loved. It isdoubtless difficult for M'sieu' to appreciate the position of a Frenchofficer. In America--Ah--America is free, one can marry the woman oneloves, but in France no officer can marry without the consent of theMinister of War and of the President of the Republic; and more than thathe cannot marry unless his intended wife possesses a dowry of at leastfifty thousand francs which must be deposited with the Minister of Warfor investment. "

"In spite of the fact that I enjoyed the confidence and friendship ofPresident Carnot the latter, at my father's request, refused mepermission to marry. There was no choice left for me but to resign mycommission, and this I did. I returned to England and was married at St. Thomas's Church, London, on the 21st of June, 1893. 

"My education as an engineer had been of the most highly technical andthorough character, and I had every reason to believe that in America Icould earn a comfortable living. My wife and I, therefore, sailed forAmerica immediately after our marriage. I first secured a position insome iron works in South Boston, and for a time lived happily. A boy, Oscar, named after my father, was born to us while we were living in thetown of Winchester near Boston. Another son was born a year later in thesame place, and still a third in Pittsburgh, where I had gone to assumethe position of general foreman of the Homestead Steel Works andassistant master mechanic of the Carnegie Steel Company. I rapidlysecured the confidence of my employers and was sent upon severaloccasions to study new processes in different parts of the country. During one of my vacations we returned to England and visited my wife'speople, who lived in Manchester; here she died on the 17th of June, 1901. "

De Nevers paused again and it was some moments before he continued. 

"After the death of my wife my father expressed himself as ready for areconciliation, but although this took place I had not the heart toremain in France. I liked America and had attained distinction in myprofession. I therefore expressed my intention of returning to continuemy career as an engineer, but at the earnest solicitation of my father, left my three children with my parents. They are now living at thechâteau of my mother at Nievre. 

"I was sent to Chicago to study a new blast furnace, and two yearslater, when Mr. Schwab organized the Russo-American Company atMariopool, South Siberia, he offered me the position of general manager, which I accepted. Here I remained until November, 1904, when all theAmerican engineers were arrested and imprisoned on the order of GeneralKozoubsky of the Russian Engineers, who at the same time shot andmurdered my assistant, Thomas D. McDonald, for refusing to allow him toremove pig iron from the storehouse without giving a receipt for it. Ambassador McCormick secured our immediate release, and we returned tothe States. M'sieu' has no idea of the power of these Russian officers. The murder of my assistant was of the most brutal character. Kozoubskycame to my office and demanded the iron, but having secured it, refusedto sign the receipt which McDonald presented to him. McDonald said: 'Youshall not remove the iron if you do not sign the receipt. ' As he spokethe words the General drew his revolver and shot him down like a dog. 

"I returned to America in January, 1905, and have since then been doingwork as a consulting engineer. Last January I visited my parents inParis at their home at 148 Champs Elysée. You have doubtless seen themansion with its two gates and black railing of decorative iron. I hadno sooner returned to America than I received a cable announcing thedeath of my father. "

De Nevers removed from his breast pocket a bundle of carefully foldedpapers from which he produced a sheet of heavy stationery with a deepborder of mourning and a large black cross at the top, of which thefollowing is a copy:

 MM. Her Grace the Duchess Dowager of Nevers; his Grace the Duke Charles J. F. Of Nevers and his children Oscar, Hilda and John; their Highnesses the Prince and Princess Henry of Aremberg; Captain the Count André of Nevers; Captain the Count Fernand of Nevers; the Earl and Countess of Kilkenny; the Marquis and Marchioness of Londonderry; the Earl and Countess of Dudley; the Countess Marie of Nevers; Lieutenant the Count Marcel of Nevers have the sorrow to announce the subite death at the family seat at Nevers (France), of His Grace Oscar Odon, Duke of Nevers, Grand Commander of the Legion of Honor, Knight of the Garter. Their husband, father, grandfather and uncle beloved. 

 Masonic burial shall take place at Nevers on Tuesday, February 21, 1905. 

 New York, February 20, 1905. 

 U. S. A. 

The announcement was carefully engraved and was of an expensivecharacter, and I read it with considerable interest. 

"Does M'sieu' care to see the photographs of my family? Here, " producinga photograph of a gentleman and lady and a group of children, "is mywife with the three children, taken in London just before she died. "

Another group, bearing the trade-mark of a Parisian photographer, exhibited a distinguished looking man surrounded by a group of manychildren of varying ages. 

"These, " said De Nevers, "are my father and my brothers and sisters. "

Then came photographs of Lady Londonderry and the Earl and Countess ofDudley. My interest in my visitor's story had for the moment completelydriven from my mind the real object of the interview, which, ostensibly, was to explain the reason for his incarceration. His straightforwardnarrative carried absolute conviction with it; that he was thelegitimate Duc de Nevers I accepted without hesitation; that he was aman of education, culture and many accomplishments, was self evident. 

"You have had an extraordinary career, " I ventured. 

"Yes, " he replied, "it has been a life of action and I may say ofsuffering. Permit me to show you the certificate of my general that whatI have told you is accurate. "

And De Nevers unfolded from his pocket a document, bearing a seal of theFrench Ministry of War, which read as follows:

 REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE

 MINISTERE DE LA GUERRE

 CABINET DU MINISTERE

 No. 195

 PARIS, _October 24, 1901. _

 _To Whom It May Concern_:

 I, George André, General of Division of Engineers, Minister of War of the French Republic, certify that the Lieutenant Colonel Charles Jules Comte François de Nevers, is connected with the French Army, since the 10th day of September, 1877, and that the following is a true copy of his record:

 Born in Paris the 10th of June, 1859. 

 Graduated, Bachelor of Sciences and of Letters, from the Lycée, Louis le Grand, the 5th of August, 1877. 

 Received first as Chief of Promotion of the National Polytechnic School of France, the 10th of September, 1877. 

 Graduated with the greatest distinction from the above school the 1st of September, 1879. 

 Entered at the Application School of Military Engineers at Fontainebleau as Second Lieutenant, Chief of Promotion the 15th of September, 1879. 

 Graduated as Lieutenant of Engineers with great distinction, the 1st of August, 1881, and sent to the First Regiment of Engineers at Versailles. 

 Sent to Tonkin the 1st day of August, 1881. 

 Wounded at Yung Chuang (Tonkin) the 7th of November, 1881. 

 Inscribed on the Golden Book of the French Army the 10th of November, 1881. 

 Made Knight of the Legion of Honor the 10th of November, 1881. 

 Wounded at Suai Sing the 4th of January, 1882. 

 Sent to Switzerland in Mission where he was graduated at the Zurich Polytechnic University as Mechanical Engineer, 1884. 

 Sent the 2nd of January, 1885, to Soudan. 

 Wounded there twice. 

 Made Captain of Engineers the 3rd of June, 1885. 

 Called back to France the 6th of September, 1885, sent in Mission in Belgium, where he was graduated as Electrical Engineer from the Montefiore University at Liege. Made officer of Academy. 

 Sent in Gabon, the 2nd of May, 1887. Wounded twice. Constructed there the Military Railroad. 

 Sent to Senegal as Commander the 6th of July, 1888, to organize administration. Wounded once. 

 Called back and sent to Germany the 7th of December, 1889. 

 Called back from Germany and assigned to the Creusot as Assistant Chief Engineer. 

 Sent to Dahomey, the 1st of January, 1891. Wounded the 19th of November, 1892, at Dahomey. Made Major of Engineers on the battle field. Made Officer of the Legion of Honor, on the battle field. 

 By special decision of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives the name of Commandant Charles Jules Comte François de Nevers is embroidered the 21st of November, on the flag of the Regiment of Engineers. 

 Called back and sent to Algeria, the 3rd of January, 1893. 

 Made Ordinance of the President Carnot, the 5th of February, 1893. 

 Sent to the Creusot the 1st of July, 1893, as director. 

 Sent to Madagascar the 2nd of April, 1894, in command of the Engineers. 

 Wounded the 12th of July, 1894, at Majungua. 

 Made Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers the 12th of July, 1894, on the battle field. 

 Proposed as Commander of the Legion of Honor on the same date. 

 Called back and sent as Ordinance Officer of the General in Chief in Command in Algeria, the 4th of March, 1896. 

 Sent to America in special mission to the Klondike the 7th of July, 1897. 

 Put on disponsibility _Hors Cadre_ on his demand the 1st of November, 1897. 

 Made Honorary Member of the National Defences. Commissioned the 28th of January, 1898. 

 Made Honorary Member of the Commission on Railroads, Canals, and Harbors, the 7th of July, 1899. 

 Made Honorary Member of the Commission on Bridges and Highways the 14th of July, 1900. 

 Made Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences, the 14th of July, 1901. 

 Made Commander of the Legion of Honor the 22nd of October, 1901. 

 I will say further that the Lieutenant Colonel Charles Jules Comte François de Nevers, is regarded as one of our best and most loyal officers, that he has the good will and best wishes of the government and of all his fellow officers, and is considered by everybody as a great worker and a thoroughly honest man. I personally will be pleased to do anything in my power to help him in any business he may undertake, and can recommend him to everybody as a responsible and trustworthy Engineer, knowing him for the last twenty-four years. 

 GEO. ANDRÉ, _Minister of War_. 

 [Seal]

The document seemed in substance merely a repetition of what De Nevershad already told me, and I handed it back to him satisfied of itscorrectness. But public business is public business, and if the Duc deNevers had anything to communicate to me in my official character it wastime for him to do so. 

"Well, Duke, " said I, not knowing very well how otherwise to addresshim, "do you desire to communicate anything to me in connection withyour present detention in the Tombs?"

"Ah, " he said with a gesture of deprecation, "I can hardly understandthat myself. Perhaps M'sieu' has the papers? Ah, yes, I see they are onhis desk. M'sieu' will observe that I am accused of the crime of--whatis it called in English? Ah, yes, perjury, but I assure M'sieu' that itis entirely a mistake. "

I picked up the indictment and found that the Grand Jury of the Countyof New York accused one Charles de Nevers of the crime of perjurycommitted as follows:

 That one William Douglas having been arrested by William W. Crawford, a member of the Police force of the City of New York, upon the charge of having violated the motor vehicle law of the State of New York [ordinance against speeding] he, the said Charles de Nevers, had then and there offered himself to go bail for the said Douglas, and did sign a certain written undertaking called a bond for the appearance of the said Douglas before the Magistrate, wherein he swore that he owned a certain house and lot situate at 122 West 117th Street, in the County of New York, which was free and clear of all incumbrances and of the value of not less than twenty thousand dollars, Whereas in truth and in fact he the said Charles de Nevers did not own the said house and lot which did not then and there stand in the name of him the said Charles de Nevers, but was the property of one Helen M. Bent, and so recorded in the Registry of Deeds. 

Which, said the grand jury, Charles de Nevers then and there well knew. And so they accused him of feloniously, knowingly, wilfully, corruptly, and falsely committing the crime of perjury against the form of thestatute in such cases made and provided, and against the peace of thePeople of the State of New York and their dignity. 

And this they did over the signature of William Travers Jerome, DistrictAttorney. 

"How did this happen?" I inquired, hardly believing my senses. "Was it afact that you made this false statement to the Police for the purpose ofsecuring bail for Mr. Douglas?"

De Nevers leaned forward and was about to answer when a messengerentered the room and stated that I was wanted in the court. 

"Another time, if M'sieu' will permit me, " said he. "I have much tothank you for. If M'sieu' will give me another hearing it shall be mypleasure to explain fully. "

I rose and summoned the keeper. De Nevers bowed and offered his hand, which I took. 

"I have much to thank you for!" he repeated. 

As I hurried out of the room I encountered the keeper outside the door. 

"Say, Counsellor, what sort of a 'con' was he throwin' into you?" heinquired with a wink. 

De Nevers was well inside my office, looking drearily out of my windowtowards the courtyard in the Tombs where his fellows were still pursuingtheir weary march. 

"What do you mean?" I asked. 

"Why, who did his nibs tell you he was?"

"The Duc de Nevers, " I replied. 

"Say, " said O'Toole, "you don't mean you swallowed that, do you? Do youknow what the feller did? Why, one afternoon when a swell guy and hisgirl were out in their gas wagon a mounted cop in the park pulls them inand takes them over to the 57th Street Court. Well, just as me friend istaking them into the house along walks this Charley Nevers wid his tallsilk hat and pearl handle cane, wid a flower in his buttonhole, and hisblack coat tails dangling around his heels, just like Boni deCastellane, and says he, 'Officer, ' says he, 'may I inquire what foryou're apprehending this gentleman and lady?' says he. With that mefriend hands him out some strong language for buttin' in, and Charley isso much shocked at the insult to himself and the lady that he steps inbefore the Sergeant and offers to go bond for Douglas, just to go thecop one better, givin' the Sergeant the same line of drip that he hasbeen handin' out to us in the Tombs, about his bein' the son of Oscar, the Duc de Nevers, and related to all the crowned heads in Europe. Thenhe ups and signs the bail bond for a house and lot that he has neverseen in his life. And here he is up agin it. An' it's a good stiff oneHis Honor will be handin' out to him to my way of thinkin', for thesehigh fallutin' foreigners has got to be put a stop to, and CharleyNevers is a good one to begin on. "

"I think you're wrong, O'Toole, " said I. "But we can tell better lateron. "

All that day my thoughts kept reverting to the Duc de Nevers. One thingwas more than certain and that was that of all the various personageswhom I had met during my journey through the world none was more fittedto be a duke than he. I was obliged to confess that during my hour'sinterview I had felt myself to be in the company of a superior being, one of different clay from that of which I was composed, a man of betterbrain, and better education, vastly more rounded and experienced, acultivated citizen of the world, who would be at home in any company nomatter how distinguished and who would rise to any emergency. As I atemy dinner at the club the name De Nevers played mistily in the recessesof my memory. _De Nevers_! Surely there was something historic about it, some flavor of the days of kings and courtiers. Smoking my cigar in thelibrary I fell into a reverie in which the Tombs, with its towers andgrated windows, figured as a gray château of old Tourraine, and CharlesJulius Francis in hunting costume as a mediaeval monseigneur with ahooded falcon on his wrist. I awoke to find directly in my line ofvision upon the shelf of the alcove in front of me the solid phalanx ofthe ten volumes of Larousse's "Grand Dictionaire Universe du XIXSiècle, " and I reached forward and pulled down the letter "N. ""Nevers"--there it was--"Capitol of the Department of Nievre. Ducalpalace built in 1475. Charles III de Gonzagne, petit-fils de CharlesII, " had sold the duchy of Nevers and his other domains in France toCardinal Mazarin "par acte du Jul. 11, 1659. " So far so good. Thecardinal had left the duchy by will to Philippe Jules François Mancini, his nephew, who had died May 8, 1707. Ah! _Julius Francis_! It was likemeeting an old friend. Philippe Jules François Mancini. Mazarin hadobtained letters confirming him in the possession of the Duchy ofNivernais and Donzois in 1720. Then he had died in 1768, leaving theduchy to Louis Jules Barbon Mancini-Mozarini. This son who was the lastDuc of Nivernais, had died in 1798! "He was the last of the name, " saidLarousse. I rubbed my eyes. It was there fast enough--"last of thename. " Something was wrong. Without getting up I rang for a copy of"Burke's Peerage. "

"Londonderry, Marquess of, married Oct. 2nd, 1875, Lady Theresa SuseyHelen, Lady of Grace of St. John of Jerusalem, eldest daughter of the19th Earl of Shrewsbury. " Dear me! "Dudley, Earl of, married September14, 1891, Rachael, Lady of Grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, youngest daughter of Charles Henry Gurney. " I closed the book and beganto think, and the more I thought the more I wondered. There reallydidn't seem particular need of going further. If the fellow was a fraud, he was a fraud, that was all. But how in Heaven's name could a man makeup a story like that! That night I dreamed once more of the ducal palaceof Nivernais, only its courtyard resembled that of the Tombs and manycouples walked in a straggling line beneath its walls. 

A day or two passed and I had heard no more of the Duc Charles Juliuswhen one afternoon a lady called at my office and sent in her name asMrs. De Nevers. She proved to be an attractive young woman a little overtwenty, dressed in black, whose face showed that she had suffered morethan a little. She explained that her husband was confined in the Tombson a charge of perjury. But that was not all--he was worse than aperjurer. He was an impostor--_a bigamist_. He had another wife livingsomewhere in England--in Manchester, she thought. Oh, it was tooterrible. He had told her that he was the Count Charles de Nevers, eldest son of the Duc de Nevers--in France, you know. And she hadbelieved him. He had had letters to everybody in Montreal, her home, andplenty of money and beautiful clothes. He had dazzled her completely. The wedding had been quite an affair and presents had come from the Dukeand Duchess of Nevers, from the Marchioness of Londonderry and from theCountess of Dudley. There were also letters from the Prince and Princessof Aremberg (in Belgium) and the Counts André and Fernand of Nevers. Ithad all been so wonderful and romantic! Then they had gone on theirwedding journey and had been ecstatically happy. In Chicago, they hadbeen received with open arms. That was before the death of theDuke--yes, her mourning was for the Duke. She smiled sadly. I think shestill more than half believed that she was a duchess--and she deservedto be if ever any girl did. Then all of a sudden their money had givenout and the Duke had been arrested for not paying their hotel bill. Perhaps I would like to see a newspaper clipping? It was dreadful! Shewas ashamed to be seen anywhere after that. She had even been obliged topawn his cross of the Legion of Honor, the Leopold Cross of Belgium, andanother beautiful decoration which he had been accustomed to wear whenthey went out to dinner. This was the clipping:

 CHICAGO SOCIETY THE DUPE OF BOGUS COUNT

 HOTEL AND SEVERAL WHILOM FRIENDS FILLED WITH REGRET--THE "COUNT" ARRESTED

 Chicago, Jan. 29. --"Count Charles Julius François de Nevers" was in the Police court to-day for defrauding the Auditorium Annex of a board bill. The Count came to the French Consul, M. Henri Meron, amply supplied with credentials. He posed as Consulting Engineer of the United States Steel Corporation. He was introduced into all the clubs, including the Alliance Française, where he was entertained and spoke on literature. 

 He was accompanied by a charming young "Countess, " and the honors showered upon them and the adulation paid by society tuft-hunters was something they will never forget. 

 They returned the entertainments. The Count borrowed several thousand dollars. 

 President Furber, of the Olympic Games, said to-day of the "Count:"

 "This man confided to me that he had invented a machine for perpetual motion, the chief difficulty of which was that it accumulated energy so fast that it could not be controlled. He asked me to invest in some of his schemes, which I refused to do. "

 The fate of the Count is still pending and he was led back to a cell. He has been a week behind the bars. The "Countess" is in tears. 

"The Countess is me, " she explained. 

"Was he sent to prison?" I asked. 

"Oh, no, " she answered. "You see they really couldn't tell whether hewas a Count or not, so they had to let him go. "

"He ought to be hung!" I cried. 

"I really think he ought, " she answered. "You see it is quiteembarrassing, because legally I have never been married at all, have I?"

"I don't know, " I answered, lying like a gentleman. "Time enough to lookthat up later. "

"I found out afterwards, " she said, apparently somewhat encouraged, "that his first wife was a nurse maid in London. "

"Yes, " said I, "he told me so himself. "

Just then there came a knock at my door and O'Toole appeared. 

"How are you, Counsellor, " he said with a grin. "You know CharleyNevers, well, av all the pious frauds! Say, Counsellor, ain't he thecute feller! What do you suppose, now? I got his record to-day. Cast yereye over it. "

I did. This is it:

 No. 98

 No. B 7721

 The Central Office, Bureau of Detectives, Police Department of the City of New York, 300 Mulberry Street. 

 Name. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . Charles François

 Alias. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Count de Nevers

 Date of Arrest. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 1903

 Place of Arrest. .. .. .. .. .. .. London, England

 Cause of Arrest. .. .. .. .. .. .. False Pretenses

 Name of Court. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Sessions

 To what Prison. .. .. .. .. .. .. . Penal Servitude

 Term of Imprisonment. .. .. .. . Eighteen months. 

 REMARKS: Fraudulently obtained motor-car in London under pretense that he was Charles Duke de Nevers, son of Oscar, Prince de Nevers. "

"So he's an ex-convict!" I exclaimed. 

"He's more than that!" cried O'Toole. "He's a bir-rd!"

I turned to Mrs. De Nevers or whoever she legally was. 

"How did he come to do such a foolish thing as to offer to go on thebail bond of a perfect stranger? What good could it do him? He was sureto be caught. "

"I don't know, " said she. "He was always doing things like that. Hewanted to seem fine and grand, I guess. We always travelled in style. Why, the afternoon he signed the bond he came home and told me how thepolice had been troubling a gentleman who had a lady with him in anautomobile and how he was able to settle the whole affair without theslightest difficulty and send them on their way. He was quite pleasedabout it. "

"But why do you suppose be did it?"

"He just thought he'd do 'em a favor, " suggested O'Toole, "and in thatway get in wid 'em an' take their money later, mebbe!"

"Who is he? Do you know?" I asked the girl. 

"I haven't the vaguest idea!" she sighed. 

A week later Charles Julius Francis stood at the bar of justiceconvicted of perjury. His degradation had wrought no change in thedignity of his bearing or the impassiveness of his general appearance, and he received the sentence of the Court without a tremor, and withshoulders thrown back and head erect as befitted a scion of a noblehouse. 

"There's just one thing for me to do with you, Charles Francis, " saidthe Judge rudely, "And that is to send you to State Prison for a term offive years at hard labor. "

Francis made no sign. 

"There is one other thing I should like to know, however, " continued HisHonor, "And that is who you really are. "

The prisoner bowed slightly. 

"I am Charles Julius Francis, " he replied quietly, "Duc de Nevers, andCommander of the Legion of Honor. "

VIII

A Finder of Missing Heirs

The professional prosecutor is continually surprised at theinsignificant amount of crime existing in comparison with theextraordinary scope of criminal opportunity. To be sure, the number ofcrimes actually detected is infinitesimal as contrasted with thosecommitted, but even so the conviction constantly grows that the world isastonishingly honest when one considers the unlikelihood that anyspecific prospective offence will be discovered. How few dishonestservants there are, for example, out of the million or so composing thatclass of persons who have an unlimited opportunity to snap up not onlyunconsidered trifles, but personal property of great value. The actualhonesty of the servants is probably greater than that of the masters--inthe final analysis. 

Men are not only "presumed to be innocent" in the eyes of the law, butare found to be so, as a matter of daily experience, so far as honestyin the ordinary affairs of life is concerned, and the fact that we relyso implicitly upon the truthfulness and integrity of our fellows is theprincipal reason why violations of this imperative social law should beseverely dealt with. If it were possible adequately to determine or dealwith any such issue mere lying should be made a crime. 

It is matter of constant wonder that shrewd business men will putthrough all sorts of deals, when thousands of dollars are at stake, relying entirely upon the word of some single person, whom they do notin fact know. John Smith is looking for a house. He finds one he likeswith an old lady, who says her name is Sarah Jones, living in it, andoffers her forty thousand dollars for her real estate. She accepts. Hislawyer searches the title and finds that Sarah Jones is the owner ofrecord. The old lady is invited to the lawyer's office, executes awarranty deed, and goes off with the forty thousand dollars. Now in agreat number of instances no one really knows whether the aged dame isSarah Jones or not; and she perhaps may be, and sometimes is, only thecaretaker's second cousin, who is looking after the house in thelatter's absence. 

There are thousands of acres of land and hundreds of millions of moneywaiting at compound interest to be claimed by unknown heirs or next ofkin. Even if the real ones cannot be found one would think that thisdefect could be easily supplied by some properly ingenious person. 

"My Uncle Bill went to sea in '45 and was never heard from again. Willyou find out if he left any money?" wrote a client to the author. Careful search failed to reveal any money. But if the money had beenfound _first_ how easy it would have been to turn up a nephew! Yet theindustry of producing properly authenticated nephews, heirs, legatees, next of kin and claimants of all sorts has never been adequatelydeveloped. There are plenty of "agents" who for a moderate fee willinform you whether or not there is a fortune waiting for you, but thereis no agency within the writer's knowledge which will supply an heir forevery fortune. From a business point of view the idea seems to havepossibilities. 

Some few years after the Civil War a Swede named Ebbe Petersen emigratedto this country to better his condition. Fortune smiled upon him and heamassed a modest bank account, which, with considerable foresight, heinvested in a large tract of unimproved land in the region known as "TheBronx, " New York City. 

In the summer of 1888 Petersen determined to take a vacation and revisitSweden, and accordingly deeded all his real estate to his wife. Justbefore starting he decided to take his wife and only child, a littlegirl of ten or twelve, with him. Accordingly they set sail from HobokenSaturday, August 11, upon the steamer _Geiser_, of the Thingvalla Line, bound for Copenhagen. At four o'clock Tuesday morning, at a point thirtymiles south of Sable Island and two hundred miles out of Halifax, the_Geiser_, in the midst of a thick fog, crashed suddenly into a sistership, the _Thingvalla_, of the same line, and sank. The _Thingvalla_ washerself badly crippled, but, after picking up thirty-one survivors, managed to limp into Halifax, from which port the rescued were broughtto New York. Only fourteen of the _Geiser's_ passengers had been savedand the Petersens were not among them. They were never heard of again, and no relatives came forward to claim their property, which, happeningto be in the direct line of the city's development, was in course oftime mapped out into streets and house lots and became exceedinglyvaluable. Gradually houses were built upon it, various people bought itfor investment, and it took on the look of other semi-developed suburbanproperty. 

In the month of December, 1905, over seventeen years after the sinkingof the _Geiser_, a lawyer named H. Huffman Browne, offered to sell "at abargain" to a young architect named Benjamin Levitan two house lotsadjacent to the southwest corner of One Hundred and Seventy-fourthStreet and Monroe Avenue, New York City. It so happened that Browne had, not long before, induced Levitan to go into another real-estate deal, inwhich the architect's suspicions had been aroused by finding that theproperty alleged by the lawyer to be "improved" was, in fact, unbuiltupon. He had lost no money in the original transaction, but hedetermined that no such mistake should occur a second time, and heaccordingly visited the property, and also had a search made of thetitle, which revealed the fact that Browne was not the record owner, ashe had stated, but that, on the contrary, the land stood in the name of"William R. Hubert. "

It should be borne in mind that both the parties to this proposedtransaction were men well known in their own professions. Browne, particularly, was a real-estate lawyer of some distinction, and aneditor of what were known as the old "New York Civil Procedure Reports. "He was a middle-aged man, careful in his dress, particular in hisspeech, modest and quiet in his demeanor, by reputation a gentleman anda scholar, and had practised at the New York bar some twenty-five years. 

But Levitan, who had seen many wolves in sheep's clothing, and hadsomething of the Sherlock Holmes in his composition, determined to seekthe advice of the District Attorney, and having done so, receivedinstructions to go ahead and consummate the purchase of the property. He, therefore, informed Browne that he had learned that the latter wasnot the owner of record, to which Browne replied that that was true, butthat the property really did belong to him in fact, being recorded inHubert's name merely as a matter of convenience (because Hubert wasunmarried), and that, moreover, he, Browne, had an unrecorded deed fromHubert to himself, which he would produce, or would introduce Hubert toLevitan and let him execute a deed direct. Levitan assented to thelatter proposition, and the fourteenth of December, 1905, was fixed asthe date for the delivery of the deeds and the payment for the property. 

At two o'clock in the afternoon of that day Browne appeared at Levitan'soffice (where a detective was already in attendance) and stated that hehad been unable to procure Mr. Hubert's personal presence, but hadreceived from him deeds, duly executed, to the property. These heoffered to Levitan. At this moment the detective stepped forward, tookpossession of the papers, and invited the lawyer to accompany him to theDistrict Attorney's office. To this Browne offered no opposition, andthe party adjourned to the Criminal Courts Building, where Mr. John W. Hart, an Assistant District Attorney, accused him of having obtainedmoney from Levitan by means of false pretences as to the ownership ofthe property, and requested from him an explanation. Browne repliedwithout hesitation that he could not understand why this charge shouldbe made against him; that he had, in fact, received the deeds from Mr. Hubert only a short time before he had delivered them to Levitan; thatMr. Hubert was in New York; that he was the owner of the property, andthat no fraud of any sort had been attempted or intended. 

Mr. Hart now examined the supposed deeds and found that the signaturesto them, as well as the signatures to a certain affidavit of title, which set forth that William R. Hubert was a person of substance, hadall been executed before a notary, Ella F. Braman, on that very day. Hetherefore sent at once for Mrs. Braman who, upon her arrival, immediately and without hesitation, positively identified the defendant, H. Huffman Browne, as the person who had executed the papers before heran hour or so before. The case on its face seemed clear enough. Brownehad apparently deliberately forged William R. Hubert's name, and it didnot even seem necessary that Mr. Hubert should be summoned as a witness, since the property was recorded in his name, and Browne himself hadstated that Hubert was then actually in New York. 

But Browne indignantly protested his innocence. It was clear, heinsisted, that Mrs. Braman was mistaken, for why, in the name ofcommon-sense, should he, a lawyer of standing, desire to forge Hubert'sname, particularly when he himself held an unrecorded deed of the sameproperty, and could have executed a good conveyance to Levitan had thelatter so desired. Such a performance would have been utterly without anobject. But the lawyer was nervous, and his description of Hubert as "awealthy mine owner from the West, who owned a great deal of property inNew York, and had an office in the Flatiron Building, " did not ringconvincingly in Mr. Hart's ears. The Assistant District Attorney calledup the janitor of the building in question on the telephone. But no suchperson had an office there. Browne, much flustered, said the janitor waseither a fool or a liar. He had been at Hubert's office that verymorning. He offered to go and find him in twenty minutes. But Mr. Hartthought that the lawyer had better make his explanation before amagistrate, and caused his arrest and commitment on a charge of forgery. Little did he suspect what an ingenious fraud was about to be unearthed. 

The days went by and Browne stayed in the Tombs, unable to raise theheavy bail demanded, but no Hubert appeared. Meantime the writer, towhom the case had been sent for trial, ordered a complete search of thetitle to the property, and in a week or so became possessed, to hisamazement, of a most extraordinary and complicated collection of facts. 

He discovered that the lot of land offered by Browne to Levitan, andstanding in Hubert's name, was originally part of the property owned byEbbe Petersen, the unfortunate Swede who, with his family, had perishedin the _Geiser_ off Cape Sable in 1888. 

The title search showed that practically all of the Petersen propertyhad been conveyed by Mary A. Petersen to a person named Ignatius F. X. O'Rourke, by a deed, which purported to have been executed on June 27, 1888, about two weeks before the Petersens sailed for Copenhagen, andwhich was signed with Mrs. Petersen's mark, but that this deed had notbeen recorded until July 3, 1899, _eleven years_ after the loss of the_Geiser_. 

The writer busied himself with finding some one who had known Mrs. Petersen, and by an odd coincidence discovered a woman living in theBronx who had been an intimate friend and playmate of the littlePetersen girl. This witness, who was but a child when the incident hadoccurred, clearly recalled the fact that Ebbe Petersen had not decidedto take his wife and daughter with him on the voyage until a few daysbefore they sailed. They had then invited her, the witness--now a Mrs. Cantwell--to go with them, but her mother had declined to allow her todo so. Mrs. Petersen, moreover, according to Mrs. Cantwell, was a womanof education, who wrote a particularly fine hand. Other papers werediscovered executed at about the same time, signed by Mrs. Petersen withher full name. It seemed inconceivable that she should have signed anydeed, much less one of so much importance, with her _mark_, and, moreover, that she should have executed any such deed at all when herhusband was on the spot to convey his own property. 

But the strangest fact of all was that the attesting witness to thisextraordinary instrument was H. Huffman Browne! It also appeared to havebeen recorded _at his instance_ eleven years after its execution. 

In the meantime, however, that is to say, between the sinking of the_Geiser_ in '88 and the recording of Mary Petersen's supposed deed in'99, another _equally mysterious_ deed to the same property had beenfiled. This document, executed and recorded in 1896, purported to conveypart of the Petersen property to a man named John J. Keilly, and wassigned by a person calling himself Charles A. Clark. By a later deed, executed and signed a few days later, John J. Keilly appeared to haveconveyed the same property to Ignatius F. X. O'Rourke, the very personto whom Mrs. Petersen had apparently executed her deed in 1888. And H. Huffman Browne was the attesting witness to both these deeds!

A glance at the following diagram will serve to clear up any confusionwhich may exist in the mind of the reader:

[Sidenote: (Not Recorded until 1899)]

1888 MARY A. PETERSEN 1896 CHARLES A. CLARK by her (X) deed conveys _same property_ conveys to to I. F. X. O'ROURKE JOHN J. KEILLY. | | 1896 JOHN J. KEILLY | conveys to | I. F. X. O'ROURKE |_________________________|

O'ROURKE thus holds land through two sources. 

Browne was the witness to both these parallel transactions! Of course itwas simple enough to see what had occurred. In 1896 a mysterious man, named Clark, without vestige of right or title, so far as the recordsshowed, had conveyed Ebbe Petersen's property to a man named Keilly, equally unsubstantial, who had passed it over to one O'Rourke. ThenBrowne had suddenly recorded Mrs. Petersen's deed giving O'Rourke thevery same property. Thus this O'Rourke, whoever he may have been, heldall the Petersen property by two chains of title, one through Clark andKeilly, and the other through Mrs. Petersen. Then he had gone ahead anddeeded it all away to various persons, through one of whom William R. Hubert had secured his title. But every deed on record which purportedto pass any fraction of the Petersen property was witnessed by H. Huffman Browne! And Browne was the attesting witness to the deed underwhich Hubert purported to hold. Thus the chain of title, at the end ofwhich Levitan found himself, ran back to Mary Petersen, with H. HuffmanBrowne peering behind the arras of every signature. 

MARY PETERSEN CLARK BROWNE, to to attesting witness. O'ROURKE KEILLY | | | KEILLY BROWNE, | to attesting witness. | O'ROURKE | | |____________________|

 O'ROURKE BROWNE, to attesting witness. WILLIAM P. COLLITON

 WILLIAM P. COLLITON to BROWNE, JOHN GARRETSON attesting witness. 

 JOHN GARRETSON to BROWNE, HERMAN BOLTE attesting witness. 

 HERMAN BOLTE to BROWNE, BENJ. FREEMAN attesting witness. 

 BENJ. FREEMAN to BROWNE, WILLIAM R. HUBERT attesting witness. 

The Assistant District Attorney rubbed his forehead and wondered who inthunder all these people were. Who, for example, to begin at thebeginning, was Charles A. Clark, and why should he be deeding away EbbePetersen's property? And who were Keilly and O'Rourke, and all therest--Colliton, Garretson, Bolte and Freeman? And who, for that matter, was Hubert?

A score of detectives were sent out to hunt up these elusive persons, but, although the directories of twenty years were searched, no CharlesA. Clark, John J. Keilly or I. F. X. O'Rourke could be discovered. Norcould any one named Colliton, Freeman or Hubert be found. The onlypersons who did appear to exist were Garretson and Bolte. 

Quite by chance the Assistant District Attorney located the former ofthese, who proved to be one of Browne's clients, and who stated that hehad taken title to the property at the lawyer's request and as a favorto him, did not remember from whom he had received it, had paid nothingfor it, received nothing for it, and had finally deeded it to HermanBolte at the direction of Browne. Herman Bolte, an ex-judge of theMunicipal Court, who had been removed for misconduct in office, admittedgrumblingly that, while at, one time he had considered purchasing theproperty in question, he had never actually done so, that the deed fromGarretson to himself had been recorded without his knowledge or hisauthority, that he had paid nothing for the property and had receivednothing for it, and had, at the instruction of Browne, conveyed it toBenjamin Freeman. Garretson apparently had never seen Bolte, and Boltehad never seen Freeman, while William R. Hubert, the person to whom therecord showed Freeman had transferred the property, remained aninvisible figure, impossible to reduce to tangibility. 

Just what Browne had attempted to do--had done--was obvious. In someway, being a real-estate lawyer, he had stumbled upon the fact that thisvaluable tract of land lay unclaimed. Accordingly, he had set about theeasiest way to reduce it to possession. To make assurance doubly surehe had forged two chains of title, one through an assumed heir and theother through the owner herself. Then he had juggled the title through adozen or so grantees, and stood ready to dispose of the property to thehighest bidder. 

There he stayed in the Tombs, demanding a trial and protesting hisinnocence, and asserting that if the District Attorney would only looklong enough he would find William R. Hubert. But an interesting questionof law had cropped up to delay matters. 

Of course, if there was anybody by the name of Hubert who actually ownedthe property, and Browne had signed his name, conveying the same, to adeed to Levitan, Browne was guilty of forgery in the first degree. Butthe evidence in the case pointed toward the conclusion that Brownehimself _was_ Hubert. If this was so, how could Browne be said to haveforged the name of Hubert, when he had a perfect legal right to take theproperty under any name he chose to assume? This was incontestable. Ifyour name be Richard Roe you may purchase land and receive title theretounder the name of John Doe, and convey it under that name withoutviolating the law. This as a general proposition is true so long as thetaking of a fictitious name is for an honest purpose and not taintedwith fraud. The Assistant District Attorney felt that the very strengthof his case created, as it were, a sort of "legal weakness, " for themore evidence he should put in against Browne, the clearer it wouldbecome that Hubert was merely Browne himself, and this would necessitateadditional proof that Browne had taken the property in the name ofHubert for purposes of fraud, which could only be established by goinginto the whole history of the property. Of course, if Browne were sofoolish as to put in the defence that Hubert really existed, the casewould be plain sailing. If, however, Browne was as astute as theDistrict Attorney believed him to be, he might boldly admit that therewas no Hubert except himself, and that in taking title to the propertyand disposing thereof under that name, he was committing no violation oflaw for which he could be prosecuted. 

The case was moved for trial on the twelfth of March, 1906, before JudgeWarren W. Foster, in Part Three of the Court of General Sessions in NewYork. The defendant was arraigned at the bar without counsel, owing tothe absence of his lawyer through sickness, and Mr. Lewis StuyvesantChanler, the later Lieutenant-Governor of the State, was assigned todefend him. At this juncture Browne arose and addressed the Court. Inthe most deferential and conciliatory manner he urged that he wasentitled to an adjournment until such time as he could produce WilliamR. Hubert as a witness; stating that, although the latter had been intown on December 14th, and had personally given him the deeds inquestion, which he had handed to Levitan, Hubert's interests in the Westhad immediately called him from the city, and that he was then inGoldfields, Nevada; that since he had been in the Tombs he, Browne, hadbeen in correspondence with a gentleman by the name of Alfred Skeels, ofthe Teller House, Central City, Colorado, from whom he had received aletter within the week to the effect that Hubert had arranged to startimmediately for New York, for the purpose of testifying as a witness forthe defence. The prosecutor thereupon demanded the production of thisletter from the alleged Skeels, and Browne was compelled to state thathe had immediately destroyed it on its receipt. The prosecutor thenargued that under those circumstances, and in view of the fact that thePeople's evidence showed conclusively that no such person as Hubertexisted, there was no reason why the trial should not proceed then andthere. The Court thereupon ruled that the case should go on. 

A jury was procured after some difficulty, and the evidence of Mr. Levitan received, showing that Browne had represented Hubert to be a manof substance, and had produced an affidavit, purported to be sworn toby Hubert, to the same effect, with deeds alleged to have been signed byhim. Mrs. Braman then swore that upon the same day Browne had himselfacknowledged these very deeds and had sworn to the affidavit before heras a notary, under the name of William R. Hubert. 

Taken with the fact that Browne had in open court stated that Hubert wasa living man, this made out a _prima facie_ case. But, of course, theDistrict Attorney was unable to determine whether or not Browne wouldtake the stand in his own behalf, or what his defence would be, and, inorder to make assurance doubly sure, offered in evidence all the deedsto the property in question, thereby establishing the fact that it wasoriginally part of the Petersen estate, and disclosing the means wherebyit had eventually been recorded in the name of Hubert. 

The prosecution then rested its case, and the burden shifted to thedefence to explain how all these deeds, attested by Browne, came to beexecuted and recorded. It was indeed a difficult, if not impossible, task which the accused lawyer undertook when he went upon the stand. Heagain positively and vehemently denied that he had signed the name ofHubert to the deed which he had offered to Levitan, and persisted inthe contention that Hubert was a real man, who sooner or later wouldturn up. He admitted knowing the Petersen family in a casual way, andsaid he had done some business for them, but stated that he had notheard of their tragic death until some years after the sinking of the_Geiser_. He had then ascertained that no one had appeared to lay claimto Mrs. Petersen's estate, and he had accordingly taken it upon himselfto adveritse for heirs. In due course Charles A. Clark had appeared andhad deeded the property to Keilly, who in turn had conveyed it toO'Rourke. Just who this mysterious O'Rourke was he could not explain, nor could he account in any satisfactory manner for the recording in1899 of the deed signed with Mary Petersen's mark. He said that it had"turned up" in O'Rourke's hands after O'Rourke had become possessed ofthe property through the action of the heirs, and that he had norecollection of ever having seen it before or having witnessed it. Inthe latter transactions, by which the property had been split up, heclaimed to have acted only as attorney for the different grantors. Hewas unable to give the address or business of O'Rourke, Clark, Keilly orFreeman, and admitted that he had never seen any of them save at his ownoffice. He was equally vague as to Hubert, whose New York residence hegave as 111 Fifth Avenue. No such person, however, had ever been knownat that address. 

[Illustration: With the exception of the upper left hand signature andthe four immediately below it of H. Huffman Browne, these are all thesignatures of imaginary persons invented by Browne to further hisschemes. The upper right-hand slip shows the signatures to the Wilsonbond, among which appears that of W. R. Hubert. ]

Browne gave his testimony in the same dry, polite and careful manner inwhich he had always been accustomed to discuss his cases and deliver hisarguments. It seemed wholly impossible to believe that thisrespectable-looking person could be a dangerous character, yet thenature of his offence and the consequences of it were apparent when theState called to the stand an old broom-maker, who had bought from Browneone of the lots belonging to the Petersen estate. Holding up threestumps where fingers should have been, he cried out, choking with tears:

"My vriends, for vifteen years I vorked at making brooms--me und myvife--from fife in the morning until six at night, und I loose minefingern trying to save enough money to puy a house that we could callour own. Then when we saved eight hundred dollars this man come to usund sold us a lot. We were very happy. Yesterday anoder man served memit a paper that we must leave our house, because we did not own theland! We must go away! Where? We haf no place to go. Our home is beingtaken from us, und that man [pointing his stumps at Browne]--that manhas stolen it from us!"

He stopped, unable to speak. The defendant's lawyer properly objected, but, with this piece of testimony ringing in their ears, it is hardlysurprising that the jury took but five minutes to convict Browne offorgery in the first degree. 

A few days later the judge sentenced him to twenty years in State'sprison. 

Then other people began to wake up. The Attorney-General guessed thatthe Petersen property had all escheated to the State, the SwedishGovernment sent a deputy to make inquiries, the Norwegian Government wassure that he was a Norwegian, and the Danish that he was a Dane. No oneknows yet who is the real owner, and there are half a dozen heirssquatting on every corner of it. Things are much worse than beforeBrowne tried to sell the ill-fated lot to Levitan, but a great manypeople who were careless before are careful now. 

It soon developed, however, that lawyer Browne's industry and ingenuityhad not been confined to the exploitation of the estate of EbbePetersen. Before the trial was well under way the City Chamberlain ofNew York notified the District Attorney that a peculiar incident hadoccurred at his office, in which not only the defendant figured, butWilliam R. Hubert, his familiar, as well. In the year 1904 a judgmenthad been entered in the Supreme Court, which adjudged that a certainGeorge Wilson was entitled to a one-sixth interest in the estate ofJane Elizabeth Barker, recently deceased. George Wilson had last beenheard of, twenty years before, as a farmhand, in Illinois, and hiswhereabouts were at this time unknown. Suddenly, however, he hadappeared. That is to say, H. Huffman Browne had appeared as hisattorney, and demanded his share of the property which had beendeposited to his credit with the City Chamberlain and amounted toseventy-five hundred dollars. The lawyer had presented a petition signedapparently by Wilson and a bond also subscribed by him, to which hadbeen appended the names of certain sureties. One of these was a WilliamR. Hubert--the same William R. Hubert who had mysteriously disappearedwhen his presence was so vital to the happiness and liberty of hiscreator. But the City Chamberlain had not been on his guard, and hadpaid over the seventy-five hundred dollars to Browne without ever havingseen the claimant or suspecting for an instant that all was not right. 

It was further discovered at the same time that Browne had made severalother attempts to secure legacies remaining uncalled for in the city'streasury. In how many cases he had been successful will probably neverbe known, but it is unlikely that his criminal career dated only fromthe filing of the forged Petersen deed in 1896. 

Browne made an heroic and picturesque fight to secure a reversal of hisconviction through all the State courts, and his briefs and argumentsare monuments to his ingenuity and knowledge of the law. He alleged thathis conviction was entirely due to a misguided enthusiasm on the part ofthe prosecutor, the present writer, whom he characterized as a"novelist" and dreamer. The whole case, he alleged, was constructed outof the latter's fanciful imagination, a cobweb of suspicion, accusationand falsehood. Some day his friend Hubert would come out of the West, into which he had so unfortunately disappeared, and release an innocentman, sentenced, practically to death, because the case had fallen intothe hands of one whose sense of the dramatic was greater than his logic. 

Perchance he will. Mayhap, when H. Huffman Browne is the oldest inmateof Sing Sing, or even sooner, some gray-haired figure will appear at theState Capitol, and knock tremblingly at the door of the Executive, asking for a pardon or a rehearing of the case, and claiming to be theonly original, genuine William R. Hubert--such a dénouement would not bebeyond the realms of possibility, but more likely the request will comein the form of a petition, duly attested and authenticated before somenotary in the West, protesting against Browne's conviction andincarceration, and bearing the flowing signature of William R. Hubert--the same signature that appears on Browne's deeds toLevitan--the same that is affixed to the bond of George Wilson, thevanished farmhand, claimant to the estate of Jane Elizabeth Barker. 

IX. 

A Murder Conspiracy[4]

William M. Rice, eighty-four years of age, died at the BerkshireApartments at 500 Madison Avenue, New York City, at about half afterseven o'clock on the evening of Sunday, September 23, 1900. He had beenill for some time, but it was expected that he would recover. On orabout the moment of his death, two elderly ladies, friends of the oldgentleman, had called at the house with cakes and wine, to see him. Theelevator man rang the bell of Mr. Rice's apartment again and again, butcould elicit no response, and the ladies, much disappointed, went away. While the bell was ringing Charles F. Jones, the confidential valet ofthe aged man, was waiting, he says, in an adjoining room until a conesaturated with chloroform, which he had placed over the face of hissleeping master, should effect his death. 

_Did_ Jones murder Rice? If so, was it, as he claims, at the instigationof Albert T. Patrick?

These two questions, now settled in the affirmative forever, so far ascriminal and civil litigation are concerned, have been the subject ofprivate study and public argument for more than seven years. 

Mr. Rice was a childless widower, living the life of a recluse, attendedonly by Jones, who was at once his secretary, valet and general servant. No other person lived in the apartment, and few visitors ever calledthere. Patrick was a New York lawyer with little practice who had nevermet Mr. Rice, was employed as counsel in litigation hostile to him, yetin whose favor a will purporting to be signed by Rice, June 30, 1900, turned up after the latter's death, by the terms of which Patrick cameinto the property, amounting to over seven million dollars, in place ofa charitable institution named in an earlier will of 1896. It is nowuniversally admitted that the alleged will of 1900 was a forgery, aswell as four checks drawn to Patrick's order (two for $25, 000 each, onefor $65, 000, and one for $135, 000, which represented practically all ofRice's bank accounts), an order giving him control of the contents ofRice's safe deposit vaults (in which were more than $2, 500, 000 insecurities), and also a general assignment by which he became the ownerof Rice's entire estate. Thus upon Rice's death Patrick had everypossible variety of document necessary to possess himself of theproperty. Jones took nothing under any of these fraudulent instruments. Hence Patrick's motive in desiring the death of Rice is the foundationstone of the case against him. But that Patrick desired and would profitby Rice's death in no way tends to establish that Rice did not die anatural death. Patrick would profit equally whether Rice died by foulmeans or natural, and the question as to whether murder was done must bedetermined from other evidence. This is only to be found in theconfession of the valet Jones and in the testimony of the medicalexperts who performed the autopsy. Jones, a self-confessed murderer, swears that upon the advice and under the direction of Patrick (thoughin the latter's absence) he killed his master by administeringchloroform. There is no direct corroborative evidence save that of theexperts. Upon Jones's testimony depended the question of Patrick'sconviction or acquittal, and of itself this was not sufficient, forbeing that of an accomplice it must, under the New York law, becorroborated. 

In the confession of Jones the State had sufficient _direct_ evidenceof the crime and of Patrick's connection with it, providing there was_other evidence tending to connect Patrick with its commission_. Thiscorroborative evidence is largely supplied by the facts which show thatfor a long time Patrick conspired with Jones to steal the bulk of Mr. Rice's estate at his death. This evidence not only shows Patrick'spossible motive for planning Mr. Rice's _murder_, but also tends tocorroborate Jones's whole story of the conspiracy. 

Rice did not know Patrick even by sight. He had heard of him only as aperson retained by another lawyer (Holt) to do "the dirty work" in anaction brought by Rice against Holt, as executor, to set aside Mrs. Rice's will, in which she assumed, under the "Community Law" of Texas, where Rice had formerly resided, to dispose of some $2, 500, 000 of Rice'sproperty. If Rice was a _resident of Texas_ she had the legal right todo this, --otherwise not. Holt employed Patrick to get evidence that Ricestill was such a resident. Rice knew of this and hated Patrick. 

Patrick's connection with the Rice litigation had begun four yearsbefore the murder, which was not planned until August, 1900, His firstvisit to Rice's apartment was made under the assumed name of Smith forthe purpose of discovering whether the valet could be corrupted intofurnishing fictitious proof of Rice's intent to reside in Texas. Heflattered Jones; told him he was underpaid and not appreciated, and, after a second visit, at which he disclosed his right name, persuadedhim to typewrite a letter on Rice's stationery addressed to Baker, Botts, Baker & Lovett (Rice's attorneys), in which he should be made tosay that he had lost hope of winning the suit against Holt, was really acitizen of Texas, and wanted to settle the litigation. Patrick said thathe could arrange for the signing of such a letter and was willing to payJones $250 for his help. Jones agreed. 

Patrick now learned that Mr. Rice was living with no companion exceptJones; that he held little communication with the outside world; thatthe valet was in his confidence and thoroughly familiar with his papers, and that the will made in 1896 disinherited natural heirs in favor of aneducational institution which he had founded in Texas. He also learnedthat while Mr. Rice was 84 years of age he was in possession of all hisfaculties, conducted his own business, and might live for years. Possessed of these facts Patrick's evil mind soon developed a conspiracywith Jones to secure the whole estate. 

Mr. Rice's pet charity was the William M. Rice Institute "for theadvance of science, art and literature, " of Texas, which he had foundedin 1891. He had donated to it more than a million and a half dollars. Bythe will of 1896 only small legacies were bequeathed to relatives, whilethe bulk of his fortune was left to the Institute. 

About a month after Patrick's first visit to the Berkshire Apartments, that is, in December, 1899, while he and Jones were examining Rice'sprivate papers, they stumbled upon the will. Patrick saw hisopportunity. By the forgery of a new will which would increase thelegacies of those mentioned in the will of 1896 and leave legacies toevery person who might have any claim upon the estate, it would be forthe interest of those persons to sustain and carry into effect theforgery. The whole scheme was based upon the belief that "every man hashis price. " He told Jones that he thought the will unjust; that he didnot think it right to leave so little to relatives, and later he broughtto Jones a rough draft of a will which could be substituted for thegenuine one. Patrick was to get half the estate, the relatives were toreceive double or three times the amount provided in the 1896 will, andwhat was left was to be given to the Rice Institute. He proposed thatJones should typewrite this will, and guaranteed to arrange for thewitnessing and signing of it, and promised that Jones should getwhatever he wanted. Jones at first objected, but was finally won over. Rewritten many times to include new ideas of the conspirators, thedocument finally reached the form of the will of June 30, 1900, in whichPatrick substituted himself for the Rice Institute and made himself oneof the executors. 

An ingenious part of the conspiracy was the decision to leave the 1896will in existence. If Patrick had destroyed it and the relatives hadsucceeded in overthrowing the will of 1900, the estate would have beenleft without testamentary disposition and the relatives would have gotmore than was provided by either will. With the will of 1896 inexistence, however, the relatives would get less if they overthrew theforgery. By retaining it, therefore, Patrick figured that the relativeswould have selfish reasons for accepting the forgery as genuine. 

The preparation of this bogus will occupied about a month, and the nextquestion was the procurement of witnesses. It was desirable to get thesame persons who witnessed the former will. These were Walter H. Wetherbee and W. F. Harmon, clerks for many years at Swenson's bankinghouse. On the assumption that Wetherbee had been injured by Rice and wastherefore hostile to him, Jones practically unfolded the scheme. Hetold Wetherbee that one of Mr. Rice's bonds had disappeared and thatRice had accused Wetherbee of stealing it. He wound up with thesuggestion, "I will get one witness and you can get another, and thething is done. " But Wetherbee indignantly declined to join in theconspiracy. 

Morris Meyers, who had been employed in Patrick's office, and David L. Short, a friend of both, were the false witnesses finally selected. 

They were clothed with the appearance of honesty and were brought intocontact with Rice by Jones at various times: Meyers as a notary public, and Short as commissioner of deeds for the State of Texas, anappointment procured for him by Patrick probably for this specificpurpose. 

The date of the forged will, June 30, 1900, was selected to correspondwith the date of three genuine papers which Rice acknowledged beforeShort on that date. 

[Illustration: Last page of the forged will of 1900, showing the forgeryof Rice's signature, and the false attestation of Short and Meyers. ]

The next step was to obviate the absurdity of Patrick's being selectedas the residuary legatee at a time when he was engaged in bitterlitigation against Rice. The best way out was for Patrick to pose as alawyer who had brought about a settlement of this expensive litigationand thus won Rice's regard. Patrick first tried to accomplish this bygetting friends to visit Rice and urge a settlement. But Rice rebuffedthem all. Accordingly, Patrick again resorted to forgery, and inAugust, 1900, manufactured an instrument of settlement, dated March 6, 1900. 

But such an agreement would not explain the paradox of a man whom Ricehated and despised and did not know by sight turning up as the principalbeneficiary under his will. It was necessary to manufacture evidence tobe used after Rice's death in support of his claim of close relations. The idea of a personal meeting with Rice had been abandoned on Jones'sadvice, and Patrick therefore caused the valet to prepare twenty-five orthirty forged letters addressed to him and purporting to come from Rice. These referred to current business matters and conveyed the impressionthat it was Rice's custom to seek the lawyer's advice. One instructedPatrick as to the terms of the will of 1900. Carbon copies were made forfiling in Rice's letter book after his death. 

To make assurance doubly sure and to secure immediate possession ofRice's securities a general assignment to Patrick of all Rice's estatewas forged, and an order giving him access to and possession of thesecurities on deposit in Rice's safety vault. 

But Patrick did not stop here. He procured from Jones three checkssigned by Mr. Rice in the regular course of business, one payable toJones for his July salary and the other two for the July and Augustsalary of an employee of Rice's in Texas named Cohn. These three checksPatrick kept as models, forwarding to Cohn two forged checks filled outby Jones upon which Rice's signature had been traced, and returning toJones a substitute check with Rice's signature traced upon it. All threechecks passed through the banks unsuspected. Traced signatures were alsosubstituted for genuine ones upon letters dictated by Rice to his Texascorrespondents. Thus Patrick secured the circulation of five copies ofRice's signature which, if occasion demanded, he could produce asstandards of comparison to correspond with his other forgeries. Theprincipal preparations were complete. But title under the will mightlong be delayed and perhaps even eventually fail. Patrick was poor andin no condition to conduct adequately a serious litigation. The momentMr. Rice died a large amount of cash would be necessary. For theprocurement of this Patrick and Jones looked to the current balance ofRice's bank account, which amounted to some two hundred and fiftythousand dollars on deposit at Swenson's private bank and at the FifthAvenue Trust Company. With this they felt reasonably secure of success. For even if the will should be set aside as fraudulent they had a secondline of defense in the general assignment of the estate and the ordersto Rice's two million five hundred thousand dollars of securities. 

While the evidence affords a motive for Patrick to desire the death ofMr. Rice, it does not of itself, up to this point, indicate theslightest intention on the part of Patrick to do away with the oldgentleman. It was therefore conceded by the prosecution that, uponJones's own testimony, the conspiracy to murder was not formed untilabout seven weeks before the event. The first evidence which points toan intent to murder is the famous "cremation letter, " dated August 3d. 

The cremation letter from Mr. Rice, authorizing Patrick to cremate hisbody, shows that Patrick intended to do away with Rice in such a waythat an autopsy must, if possible, be prevented and the evidence ofmurder destroyed. That Patrick forged such a letter was evidence thathis connection with the murder was premeditated and deliberate. Tocremate the body before an autopsy it was necessary to procure aphysician's certificate that Rice had died from natural causes. Hetherefore made preparation to secure such a certificate, and then uponthe strength of the cremation letter to give directions for theimmediate destruction of the body. 

Patrick, with the view of having at hand a physician who would beunsuspicious, and who would issue a certificate of death from naturalcauses, induced Jones to send for Dr. Curry, his own friend andphysician, on an occasion when the valet was ill. This was in March, 1900. Dr. Curry came, and Jones, acting under Patrick's advice, cautioned him not to mention the lawyer's name to Rice. In course oftime he saw Rice, gained his good opinion and became his attendingphysician. But Rice did not die, and curiously enough it was he himselfwho suggested to Jones the instrumentality of death which was finallyemployed, for he read an article dealing with the dangers of chloroformas an anaesthetic, and discussed it with the valet. This suggestion wasconveyed to Patrick, who asked Dr. Curry whether chloroform left anytraces discoverable upon an autopsy. Dr. Curry rather carelessly repliedthat it left but slight traces if administered only in the quantitieswhich would be fatal to a man with a weak heart. Patrick told Jones, soJones alleges, to procure some chloroform and this he did, sending toTexas for two bottles of two ounces each. From Dr. Curry's remarks itwas manifest that a weakened condition of the patient was an importantelement, and as Jones was taking some mercury pills (prescribed for himby Dr. Curry), the valet induced his master to take some of them. Theold gentleman was benefited, however, rather than weakened. This was_before_ the forgery of the cremation letter. It was clear that largerdoses of mercury would be necessary, and accordingly Patrick furnishedJones with pellets containing the drug in such quantities that Jones, experimenting with one of them, became ill. 

They had now the means to effect gradual death, but as mercury leavestraces discernible at an autopsy, it was decided that the body must becremated promptly. Hence the cremation letter. It was hoped that Ricemight drop off at any moment, owing to his weakened condition, and inanticipation of death Patrick discontinued his visits to the apartmentin order to establish a satisfactory alibi. Jones also frequentlyabsented himself from the apartment in the evenings after the old manhad fallen asleep. 

[Illustration: The famous letter forged by Patrick, which requests thecremation of the remains of the supposed writer, old Mr. Rice. ]

On September 16th Rice had an attack of acute indigestion, which mighthave resulted seriously had it not been for the mercurial pills whichpromptly relieved him. The reader should observe that practically all ofthis testimony comes from Jones. There is no extraneous evidence thatPatrick induced the giving of the mercury. Patrick, however, spreadfalse rumors as to Rice's general health and also as to his financialcondition and intentions, namely, that Rice was only worth sevenhundred and fifty thousand dollars, and that those who expected he wasgoing to leave his money to the Institute were doomed to disappointment. But neither his statements about Rice's condition nor his remarks as tothe disposition and extent of his property are inconsistent with a mere_hope_ that he would die and thus leave Patrick free to enjoy the fruitsof his forgeries. 

There now occurred, however, an event which may well have played a partin inducing Patrick to supplement forgery by murder. On Sunday, September 16th, the plant of the Merchants' and Planters' Oil Company ofHouston, Texas, of which Rice owned seventy-five per cent. Of thecapital stock, was destroyed by fire. The company being without funds torebuild, its directors telegraphed to Rice requesting him to advance themoney. The amount needed was two hundred and fifty thousand dollars--andif Rice consented, all the available funds on deposit in the New Yorkbanks, upon which the conspirators relied to accomplish their object, would be exhausted. Jones endeavored to dissuade the old man fromadvancing the money, but without effect, and Rice sent a letter toHouston agreeing to supply one hundred and fifty thousand dollars andmore in instalments of twenty-five thousand dollars each. This was onSeptember 18th, after he had wired to the same effect on September17th. Patrick and Jones suppressed a telegram that Rice would advancetwo hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and on September 19th the oldman received word that the first draft in conformity with his telegramof September 17th had been drawn and would arrive in New York on the22d. Jones says that on showing this to Patrick the latter announcedthat Rice must be put out of the way as soon as possible. Accordingly, on September 20th and 21st, Jones administered larger doses of mercurythan usual, which, while weakening and depressing him, failed to causehis end. Saturday, September 22d, the draft was presented at Rice'sapartment. The old man was not confined to his bed, but Jones told thebank messenger, after pretending to consult him, that Rice was too illto attend to business that day and to return on Monday. That night Jonesand Patrick met, and it was agreed (according to Jones) that Rice mustnot be allowed to survive until Monday. They still hoped that he mightdie without any further act upon their part, but Jones was informed byDr. Curry that, although the old man seemed weak and under a greatmental strain, he nevertheless thought that he would recover. This Curryalso told to Patrick, the latter calling at the doctor's house aboutfive o'clock in the afternoon. 

"You think Mr. Rice will be able to go down Monday morning?" Patrickasked. 

"You had better wait until Monday morning comes, " replied Dr. Curry. 

"Do you think he will be able to go down town next week?" persisted thelawyer. 

The doctor answered in the affirmative. 

That night Mr. Rice slept quietly until eight o'clock Sunday morning. Dr. Curry called and found him in excellent condition, having eaten ahearty breakfast. His heart was a trifle weak, but it was sound. Hisorgans were all working normally; he felt no pain. The doctor leftwithout prescribing any medicine, stating that he would not returnunless called, and expressing his opinion that the patient wouldrecover. This was about eleven o'clock, and Jones immediately hastenedto Patrick's house and reported the conversation. 

It was clear that Rice's death would not occur before Monday morning. Hemight live to pay over the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; longenough to give further testimony in the Holt litigation, and thus exposethe whole fraudulent scheme of pretended settlement and of friendlyrelations with the lawyer, and finally, perhaps, even to make a newwill. The success of the conspiracy demanded that Rice should die thatnight. Did he die naturally? Was his death caused by any further act ofthe conspirators? Did Jones kill him by means of chloroform?

Jones's story is that Patrick supplied him with some oxalic acid whichwas to be mixed with powdered ammonia and diluted in water, on thetheory that it was preferable to chloroform since it would not requireJones's presence in the room at the moment of death. Jones said that heendeavored to administer the mixture to the old man, but that he refusedto take it. Jones had already procured the chloroform from Texas, as hasbeen stated, and had turned it over to Patrick. He says that thatafternoon he procured this from Patrick, who told him how to administerit. This was a few moments after six o'clock. Rice was sleeping soundly. The colored woman who did the housework was absent for the day and therooms were deserted. He saturated a sponge with chloroform, constructeda cone out of a towel, placed the sponge in the cone, put the cone overthe sleeping man's face and ran out of the room and waited thirtyminutes for the chloroform to complete the work. Waiting in the nextroom he heard the door bell ring, and ring again, but he paid noattention to the summons. In point of fact he was never quite surehimself whether the bell was not the creation of his own overwroughtbrain. At the end of half an hour he returned to the bedroom, removedthe cone from Rice's face and saw that he was dead, then after burningthe sponge and the towel in the kitchen range he opened the windows, straightened the rooms out, called the elevator man, asked him to sendfor Dr. Curry, and telephoned to Patrick that Rice was dead. 

Jones had no sooner telephoned Patrick that Rice was dead than thelawyer hastened to Dr. Curry's, and within forty minutes appeared withhim in Rice's apartments, assuming complete charge. Summoning anundertaker and having the cremation letter at hand, he gave orders forspeedy cremation. But he now discovered the principal mistake in hiscalculations. He had omitted to investigate the length of time requiredto heat the crematory. This he now discovered to his horror to betwenty-four hours. But the body must be destroyed. The undertakersuggested that the body might be embalmed while the crematory was beingheated, and Patrick at once seized upon the suggestion and gave ordersto that effect, although the cremation letter sets forth specificallythat one of the reasons why Rice desired cremation was his horror ofbeing embalmed. The body was embalmed at the apartments that night, Dr. Curry innocently supplying the certificate of death from "old age andweak heart, " and "as immediate cause, indigestion followed bycollocratal diarrhoea with mental worry. "

Having arranged for the cremation at the earliest possible moment, Jonesand Patrick rifled the trunk in which Rice kept his papers, and stuffedthem in a satchel which Patrick bore away with him. 

The funeral was to be held early Tuesday morning and the ashes conveyedby Jones to Milwaukee, to be interred near the body of Rice's wife, while the relatives should not be notified until it should be too latefor them to reach New York. 

The next step was to secure the two hundred and fifty thousand dollarswhich Rice had on deposit. Patrick had already forged Rice's name toblank checks on Swenson and the Fifth Avenue Trust Company. Early Mondaymorning Jones, with Patrick looking over his shoulder and directing him, filled out the body of the checks, which covered all but ten thousanddollars of Rice's deposits. These consisted of one for twenty-fivethousand dollars and one for sixty-five thousand dollars on Swenson, onefor twenty-five thousand dollars and another for one hundred andthirty-five thousand dollars on the Trust Company. They were all madepayable to the order of Patrick and dated September 22d, the day beforeRice's death. One of the drafts on the Fifth Avenue Trust Company wascashed for him by a friend named Potts early Monday morning, and waspaid without suspicion. 

But now came the second error, which resulted in the exposure of theconspiracy and conviction for murder. Jones, in filling out thetwenty-five thousand dollar check on Swenson, had in his nervousnessomitted the "l" from Patrick's Christian name, so that the check read"Abert T. Patrick, " and Patrick in his excitement had failed to noticethe omission or attempt to obviate it by extra indorsement. Thistwenty-five thousand dollar Swenson check was intrusted to David L. Short for presentation to Swenson & Sons for certification. When hepresented it, Wallace, the clerk, recognized Jones's handwriting in thebody of it, and thought the signature looked unnatural. He took it to arear office, where he showed it to Wetherbee, who was the person whomJones had approached nine months before with a request that he join theconspiracy to manufacture a bogus will. Wetherbee compared the signatureon the check with genuine signatures in the bank, and returned it toShort without any intimation that he regarded it as irregular, butassigning as the reason the defect in the indorsement. Short thereuponreturned the check to Patrick, who supplied the necessary supplementaryindorsement and telephoned to Jones what had occurred, instructing himto say that the check was all right in case the Swensons shouldinquire. 

Half an hour later Short returned to Swenson's, where the check wasexamined by one of the firm. Rice's apartments were then called up, andJones said that the checks were all right. But this did not satisfy Mr. Swenson, so he instructed Wallace to call up the apartment again andinsist on talking to Mr. Rice. Jones delayed replying to Wallace and inthe afternoon called up Patrick on the telephone, inquiring what heshould say. Patrick replied that he would have to say that Rice wasdead. And in accordance with this Jones informed Swenson that Rice haddied at eight o'clock the previous evening. It was thus clear to Swensonthat although the maker of the check was dead, Patrick, a lawyer, cognizant of that fact, was seeking to secure payment upon it. For Joneshad told Swenson that he had reported Rice's death to the doctor and toRice's lawyer, Patrick. 

Patrick, accompanied by Potts, went immediately to the bank, whereSwenson informed him that the check could be paid only to theadministrator. Patrick replied that there would be no administrator;that Rice had left no property in this State, and informed Swenson thathe had an assignment by Rice to himself of all Rice's securities withSwenson. He also invited Swenson to the funeral. 

Later in the day Patrick attempted to obtain possession of Rice'ssecurities in the Safety Deposit Company and in the Fifth Avenue TrustCompany, by presenting forged instruments of transfer and the ordersheretofore referred to; but after some delay the trust companiesdeclined him access. The conspiracy had begun to go to pieces. The twomistakes and the failure to secure funds placed Patrick in a dangerousposition. 

Two o'clock on Monday afternoon, eighteen hours after the death, Jones, at Patrick's direction, began to notify the relatives that Rice had diedthe evening before, and that the funeral would take place the followingmorning. The telegrams to Baker and to Rice, Jr. , in Texas, were in thefollowing extraordinary form:

 Mr. Rice died eight o'clock last night under care of physicians. Death certificate, "old age, weak heart, delirium. " Left instructions to be interred in Milwaukee with wife. Funeral 10 A. M. To-morrow at 500 Madison Avenue. 

It is significant that care was used to convey the information that thedeath was a natural one with a physician in attendance; that the bodywas to be interred in Milwaukee, without reference to the cremation. This may well have been so that if any suspicions of foul play shouldarise, the recipients, realizing that they could not reach New York intime to arrest matters there, might hasten to Milwaukee to intercept thebody, where they could be met by Jones with the cremation letter in hispocket and his urn of ashes under his arm. 

But the telegram did arouse suspicion, and Baker and Rice immedatelywired Jones as follows:

 Please make no disposition of Rice's remains until we arrive. We leave to-night, arrive New York Thursday morning. 

Baker also instructed N. A. Meldrum, a Texan then in New York, toco-operate with Jones in preserving everything intact. 

In the meantime, however, Swenson had notified his attorneys, who inturn had informed the police and the District Attorney's office, andthat evening at about eleven o'clock James W. Gerard, accompanied by adetective, who posed as the lawyer's clerk, interviewed Patrick at hishome. Patrick informed Gerard that he had an assignment of all Rice'sproperty and also a will of Rice's of which he was executor. This wasthe first reference to the will of 1900. He also informed Gerard that hewould not receive a cent under its provision. To have explained the realterms of the will would, under the circumstances, have excited too muchsuspicion. Yet he was eager to let the Swensons know that as executorhe was in a position to control the profitable banking business thatwould arise from the settlement of the estate. In the meantime fourHeadquarters' detectives, representing themselves as lawyers, visitedthe apartments. 

Patrick hurried to 500 Madison Avenue, where he learned of Meldrum'spresence in town. Things were turning out far from the way in which hehad expected. He then hastened to his office down-town, which he reachedabout half-past one in the morning, and, alone, destroyed greatquantities of paper, attempting to dispose of them through the toiletbowl, which was so clogged that the water flowed out upon the floor, necessitating an apology to the janitor. In the silence of the nightmisgivings came upon him. He lost his nerve, and at two o'clock in themorning called up the undertaker and revoked the signed order forcremation which he had given. Leaving the office at about five in themorning he first visited Meyers, thence proceeded to his ownboarding-house, and from there went to the apartments, which he reachedat eight o'clock. Here he found the detectives who had been on guardsince early morning to forestall any attempt to remove the body. 

At the funeral itself he attempted to conciliate adverse interests andto win witnesses for his purpose. He had begun to do this the verynight that Rice had died, when he told the elevator man that he wasremembered in Rice's will. He had also informed Wetherbee that he had afive thousand dollars' legacy. At the funeral were Blynn, one of Rice'snephews, who had come on from Massachusetts, and two ladies, to each ofwhom he stated that they had legacies which would soon be availableprovided there was no contest of the will. 

[Illustration: Four forged signatures of W. M. Rice, which bisected andrearranged haphazard fit exactly, thus showing that they were made fromthe same model. This would be an utter impossibility in the case of fourgenuine signatures. ]

[Illustration: Forged assignment of vault at the New York Safe DepositCo. From Rice to Patrick. ]

The detectives now informed Patrick that he was wanted at Headquarters, and Patrick invited Potts to accompany him, informing the latter thatthe police suspected that there was something unnatural in the cause ofdeath, but that he could explain satisfactorily. As a matter of fact nosuch intimation had been made to him by the police or anyone else. AtPolice Headquarters after an interview with Inspector McClusky he waspermitted to go his way. 

Patrick returned to Rice's apartments, sent for Short and Meyers, andconferred with them there. He took this occasion to tell Maria Scott, the colored woman who worked in the apartment, that she was suspected ofhaving poisoned Rice, and that she had better say nothing about hisdeath. Jones told her that she was remembered in the will and that itwould be worth her while to stand by himself and Patrick, who would seethat she was taken care of. Meanwhile the coroner had sent the body tothe morgue for autopsy. 

The autopsy was performed on Tuesday, forty-three hours after deathoccurred, by Dr. Donlin, a coroner's physician, in the presence of Dr. Williams, also a coroner's physician, and of Professor R. A. Witthaus, an expert chemist. The two physicians testified at the trial that theorgans of the body, except the lungs, were normal in condition, save asaffected by the embalming fluid. They and Professor Witthaus agreed intheir testimony that the lungs were congested. Dr. Donlin spoke of theirbeing "congested all over"; while Dr. Williams characterized it as "anintense congestion of the lungs--coextensive with them. " Outside of thelungs they found no evidence of disease to account for death, and beyondthe congestion these showed nothing except a small patch of consolidatedtissue about the size of a twenty-five cent piece. They testified, ineffect, that nothing save the inhalation of some gaseous irritant couldhave produced such a general congestion, and that the patch of tissuereferred to was insufficient to account for the amount of congestionpresent. Dr. Donlin could not testify what the proximate cause of deathwas, but was firm in his opinion that no cause for it was observable inthe other vital organs. In this Dr. Williams concurred. He was of theopinion that chloroform would act as an irritant upon the lungs andcause precisely that general congestion observable in the case of thedeceased. Professor Witthaus testified that his analysis revealed thepresence of mercury, obtained as calomel, and while the amount was notsufficient to cause death, its presence indicated that a larger quantityhad existed in life. The embalming fluid had contained no mercury, andhe and Dr. Donlin agreed that the embalming fluid would have no effectupon the lungs beyond a tendency to bleach them. In other words, thePeople's evidence was to the effect that no cause of death wasobservable from a medical examination of the body save the congestionstated to exist in the lungs, and that this might have been caused bychloroform. 

Thursday morning Mr. Baker and F. A. Rice, the brother of the deceased, arrived in New York. Patrick showed them the cremation letter, and, inasmuch as they took a neutral position in the matter, ordered thecremation to proceed, and accordingly it took place that very day. Healso endeavored to win the confidence of Baker, but succeeded inaccomplishing little. He finally gave the latter a copy of the 1900 willand the original will of 1896. He also informed Baker that he had takena large number of papers from Rice's apartments, and turned over to hima considerable number of them. He also surrendered on Friday the twoSwenson checks. 

After considerable discussion Baker told Patrick flatly that he wouldnever consent to the probate of the 1900 will; that he was satisfiedthat the '96 will was the last will of Rice, and that he would insistupon its being probated, to which Patrick replied, that so far as he wasconcerned he did not know but that the probate of the '96 will wouldsuit him just as well as the probate of the 1900 will; that it was amatter of indifference to him, and that so far as the Rice Institute wasconcerned he was prepared to give Baker from three to five milliondollars for it, or any other sum Baker might name. These negotiationsand conferences continued until the fourth of October, Patrick yieldingstep by step, until he had divested himself of all control of thedocuments and securities. 

Meantime sufficient evidence having been secured, Patrick and Jones werearrested on a charge of forgery and held for the Grand Jury. Bail wasfixed at ten thousand dollars each, but was not forthcoming. 

On October 21st, Mr. House, Patrick's lawyer, visited Patrick and Jonesin the Tombs. Jones says that after Patrick had talked to Mr. House theformer called Jones to one corner of the room and told him that Houseinsisted on knowing definitely whether a crime had been committed anddirected Jones to tell House that a murder had been committed, but thathe (Patrick) was not concerned in it. This Jones declined to do withoutimplicating Patrick. The two prisoners then returned to House and Jonessays that he informed House that he had killed Rice by chloroform, andgave him the "same story which he told on the witness stand. " After thisJones apparently lost his nerve and told Patrick that he intended tocommit suicide. This idea Patrick encouraged, agreeing that they shouldboth do it at about the same time. 

On the 26th of October Jones made a statement to Assistant DistrictAttorney Osborne which was in large part false, and in which heendeavored to exonerate himself entirely from complicity in any of thecrimes, and in which he charged the actual administration of thechloroform to Patrick. Four days later Osborne sent for him and told himhe had lied, upon which Jones became confused, continued to persist insome of his statements, qualified others and withdrew still others. Hewas completely unnerved and that night attempted, by means of a knifewhich Patrick had supplied him, to cut his throat. The attempt was afailure, and he was removed to Bellevue Hospital, where he remaineduntil November 12th. He then finally gave the statement whichcorresponded with his testimony upon the trial and which jibed with allthe circumstances and evidence known to the District Attorney. 

Did Patrick conspire with Jones to murder Rice? What corroboration isthere of Jones's story that he killed Rice under Patrick's direction?First: What proof is there that murder was committed?

Roughly, that Jones so swore; that Rice died at the time alleged; thathe did not die from disease, but that he died from a congestion of thelungs which could have occurred only in the case of a living organism bythe administration of some such irritant as chloroform; that some one, therefore, must have killed him, and that Jones alone had theopportunity. 

Second: What proof is there that Patrick directed the murder?

Evidence of an elaborate conspiracy, as briefly heretofore set forth, which contemplated the _death_ of Rice. Of course Patrick wanted Rice todie. If Patrick was not implicated in the killing, what motive had Jonesto commit the deed? Why did Rice die at the precise psychological momentwhich would enable Patrick to prevent two hundred and fifty thousanddollars on deposit being diverted to Texas? And finally, why did Patrickprepare a forged cremation letter for the destruction of the body? Ifthe conspiracy contemplated a _natural_ death, nothing could be ofgreater value to the two parties concerned than the means of provingthat the death was _not_ unnatural. 

This, in the most abbreviated form, is the case against Patrick. Spaceforbids any reference to his elaborate and ingenious defense, which wasbased entirely on an alleged complete failure of corroboration ofJones's testimony. Starting with the premise that the word of aself-confessed murderer and thrice-perjured scoundrel was valueless asproof, he contended that there was no adequate evidence that Rice'sdeath was felonious, and that the congestion of the lungs could havebeen and was caused by the embalming fluid and was only attributed tothe chloroform after Jones had given his final version of how the murderwas accomplished. Technically the case against Patrick was not a strongone. Dramatically it was overwhelming. His own failure to testify andhis refusal to allow his lawyer, Mr. House, to relate what passedbetween them in the Tombs, remain significant, although not evidenceproper for a jury to consider. Wherever lawyers shall get together, there the Patrick case will be discussed with its strong points and itsweak ones, its technicalities and its tactics, and the ethics of theliberation of Jones, the actual murderer, now long since vanished intothe obscurity from which he came. On the one hand stands a publicconvinced of Patrick's guilt, and on the other the convicted "lifer"pointing a lean finger at the valet Jones and stubbornly repeating, "Iam innocent. "

[Footnote 4: In 1906 the Governor of New York commuted the deathsentence of Albert T. Patrick to life imprisonment, and the mostextraordinary struggle in the legal history of the State on the part ofa convicted murderer for his own life came to an end. The defendant inthe "Death House" at Sing Sing had invoked every expedient to escapepunishment, and by the use of his knowledge had even saved a fellowprisoner, "Mike" Brush, from the electric chair. ]

X

A Flight Into Texas

The flight and extradition of Charles F. Dodge unquestionably involvedone of the most extraordinary battles with justice in the history of thecriminal law. The funds at the disposal of those who were interested inprocuring the prisoner's escape were unlimited in extent and the archconspirator for whose safety Dodge was spirited away was so influentialin political and criminal circles that he was all but successful indefying the prosecutor of New York County, even supported as the latterwas by the military and judicial arm of the United States Government. For, at the time that Dodge made his escape, a whisper from Hummel wasenough to make the dry bones of many a powerful and ostensiblyrespectable official rattle and the tongue cleave to the roof of hismouth in terror. 

Who could accomplish that in which the law was powerless?--Hummel. Whocould drive to the uttermost ends of the earth persons against whom nota shadow of suspicion had previously rested?--Hummel. Who dictated tothe chiefs of police of foreign cities what they should or should not doin certain cases; and who could, at the beckoning of his little finger, summon to his dungeon-like offices in the New York Life Building, whither his firm had removed from Centre Street, the most prominent oflawyers, the most eminent of citizens?--Surely none but Hummel. And nowHummel was fighting for his own life. The only man that stood betweenhim and the iron bars of Blackwell's Island was Charles F. Dodge--theman whom he had patted on the knee in his office and called a "Mascot, "when quite in the nature of business he needed a little perjury toassist a wealthy client. 

Hummel in terror called into play every resource upon which, duringforty years of practice, his tiny tentacles had fastened. Who shall saythat while he made a show of enjoying himself nightly with hisaccustomed light-heartedness in the Tenderloin, he did not feelconfident that in the end this peril would disappear like the otherswhich had from time to time threatened him during his criminal career?But Hummel was fully aware of the tenacity of the man who had resolvedto rid New York of his malign influence. His Nemesis was following him. In his dreams, if he ever dreamed, it probably took the shape of thesquare shouldered District Attorney in the shadow of whose officebuilding the little shyster practised his profession. Had he been toldthat this Nemesis was in reality a jovial little man with a round, ruddyface and twinkling blue eyes he would have laughed as heartily as it wasin his power to laugh. Yet such was the fact. A little man who lookedless like a detective than a commercial traveller selling St. Peter'sOil or some other cheerful concoction, with manners as gentle and avoice as soft as a spring zephyr, who always took off his hat when hecame into a business office, seemingly bashful to the point ofself-effacement, was the one who snatched Charles F. Dodge from theborders of Mexico and held him in an iron grip when every influence uponwhich Hummel could call for aid, from crooked police officials, corruptjudges and a gang of cutthroats under the guise of a sheriff's posse, were fighting for his release. 

Jesse Blocher is not employed in New York County, and for businessreasons he does not wish his present address known. When he comes to NewYork he occasionally drops into the writer's office for a cigar and afriendly chat about old times. And as he sits there and talks somodestly and with such quiet humor about his adventures with the TexasRangers among the cactus-studded plains of the Lone Star State, it ishard even for one who knows the truth, to realize that this man is oneof the greatest of detectives, or rather one of the most capable, resourceful, adroit and quick-witted knights of adventure who ever setforth upon a seemingly impossible errand. 

It is unnecessary to state just how the District Attorney discovered theexistence of "Jesse, " as we knew him. It is enough to say that onSaturday morning, July 23, 1904, he was furnished with the propercredentials and given instructions to proceed at once to New Orleans, Louisiana, and "locate, " if it were humanly possible to do so, CharlesF. Dodge, under indictment for perjury, and potentially the chiefwitness against Abraham H. Hummel, on a charge of conspiracy. He wastold briefly and to the point that, in spite of the official reportsfrom the police head-quarters of both New York City and New Orleans tothe contrary, there was reason to believe that Dodge was living, although not registered, as a guest at the St. Charles Hotel in thelatter city. A partial and inaccurate description of Dodge was given himand he was warned to use extreme caution to prevent any knowledge of hismission from being made known. Once Dodge had been discovered he was tokeep him under surveillance and wire New York immediately. 

Accordingly, Jesse left the city upon the same day at 4. 45 P. M. Andarrived two days later, at 9. 15 on Monday morning, at New Orleans, wherehe went directly to the St. Charles Hotel, registered, and was assignedto room Number 547 on the fifth floor. Somewhere in the hotel Dodge wassecreted. The question was how to find him. For an hour Jesse sat in thehotel foyer and meditatively watched the visitors come and go, but sawno sign of his quarry. Then he arose, put on his hat and hunted out astationery store where for two cents he bought a bright-red envelope. Hethen visited a ticket-scalper's office, secured the owner's businesscard and wrote a note on its back to Dodge offering him cheaptransportation to any point that he might desire. Armed with this hereturned to the hotel, walked to the desk, glanced casually over anumber of telegrams exposed in a rack and, when the clerk turned hisback, placed the note, addressed to Charles F. Dodge, unobserved, uponthe counter. The office was a busy one, guests were constantlydepositing their keys and receiving their mail, and, even as Jesse stoodthere watching developments, the clerk turned round, found the note andpromptly placed it in box Number 420. The very simple scheme had worked, and quite unconsciously the clerk had indicated the number of the roomoccupied by Dodge. 

Jesse lost no time in ascending to the fourth floor, viewed room Number420, returned to the desk, told the clerk that he was dissatisfied withthe room assigned him, and requested that he be given either room Number421, 423, or 425, one of which he stated that he had occupied on aprevious visit. After some discussion the clerk allotted him room Number423, which was almost directly opposite that occupied by Dodge, and thedetective at once took up his task of watching for the fugitive toappear. 

Within the hour the door opened and Dodge and a companion, whosubsequently proved to be E. M. Bracken, alias "Bradley, " an agentemployed by Howe and Hummel, left the room, went to the elevator anddescended to the dining-room upon the second floor. Jesse watched untilthey were safely ensconced at breakfast and then returned to the fourthfloor where he tipped the chambermaid, told her that he had left his keyat the office and induced her to unlock the door of room Number 420, which she did under the supposition that Jesse was the person who hadleft the chamber in Dodge's company. The contents of the room convincedJesse that he had found Dodge, for he discovered there two grips bearingDodge's name as well as several letters on the table addressed to him. The detective returned to the hall and had a little talk with the maid. 

"The old gentleman with you has been quite sick, " she said. "How is heto-day?"

"He is some better, " answered Jesse. 

"Yes, he does look better to-day, " she added, "but he sho'ly waspowerful sick yesterday. Why, he hasn't been out of his room befo' fo'five or six days. "

This statement was corroborated by Dodge's physical appearance, for helooked haggard and worn. 

Jesse was now confident that he had found Dodge, in spite of the reportsof the New Orleans police to the contrary, and he was also reasonablysure that the fugitive was too sick to leave the hotel immediately. Hetherefore telegraphed his superiors that he had discovered Dodge andthat the latter was ill at the St. Charles Hotel. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon Jesse received a wire from New York asfollows:

 New Orleans police department claims party not there. Left for Mexico three weeks ago. Ascertain correct destination and wire at once. 

Jesse at once replied:

 No question as to identity and presence here at this time. 

He now took up the task of keeping his quarry under absolutesurveillance day and night, which duty from that moment he continued fora period of nearly ten months. 

During the remainder of the afternoon and throughout the night Dodge andBracken remained in room Number 420, and during the evening were visitedby several strangers, including a plain-clothes officer from the NewOrleans Police Head-quarters. Little Hummel, dining in Long Acre Squarein the glare of Broadway, was pressing some invisible button thattransmitted the power of his influence even to the police government ofa city two thousand miles away. 

The following day, January 26th, at about 8. 40 in the morning, Dodge andBracken descended to the lobby. Bracken departed from the hotel, leavingDodge to pay the bill at the cashier's window, and Jesse heard him ordera cab for the 11. 30 a. M. Sunset Limited on the Southern Pacific Railroadand direct that his baggage be removed from his room. Jesse did thesame. 

In the meantime Bracken returned and promptly at 11 a. M. Left for therailroad station in a cab with Dodge. Jesse followed in another. As thetwo passed through the gates the detective caught a glimpse of Dodge'sticket and saw that it had been issued by the Mexican National Railway. Retiring to the telegraph office in the station he wired New York asfollows:

 Bird flying. --Sunset Limited. Destination not known. I am with him. 

He then hastily purchased a ticket to Houston, Texas, and boarded thetrain. Dodge's companion had bidden him good-by as the engine started, and Jesse's task now became that of ferreting out Dodge's destination. After some difficulty he managed to get a glimpse of the whole of thefugitive's ticket and thus discovered that he was on his way to the Cityof Mexico, via Eagle Pass, Texas, while from the Pullman conductor helearned that Dodge had secured sleeping-car accommodation as far as SanAntonio, Texas, only. 

So far all was well. He knew Dodge but Dodge did not know him, and lateron in the afternoon he had the satisfaction of a long talk with hisquarry in the observation car where they amiably discussed togethercurrent events and argued politics with the same vehemence as if theyhad been commercial travellers thrown fortuitously into each other'scompany. Dodge, however, cleverly evaded any reference to hisdestination. 

When the train reached Morgan City, Louisiana, at 3 P. M. , which was thefirst stop, Jesse wired New York as follows:

 On Sunset Limited with friend. He has transportation to the City of Mexico, via Eagle Pass, where I am now journeying with him. Answer to Beaumont, Texas. 

Later in the afternoon he sent an additional message from Lafayette, Louisiana:

 Have seen transportation of friend and am positive of destination. 

Dodge was occupying Section 3 of the sleeping car "Capitola, " and, asbecame an invalid, retired early. 

At Beaumont Jesse failed to receive any reply to his various messages, and when the train arrived at Houston no word came from New York untilit was almost the time of departure. Waiting until practically the lastmoment Jesse hurried through the gates of the Union Station at Houstonand bought a ticket to San Antonio. As he was leaving the ticket windowNight Chief of Police John Howard and two officers came hurrying upinquiring anxiously for "Mr. Jesse. " The reinforcements had arrived. 

Outside on the track "The Sunset Limited" was just getting under way. The first frantic puffs were being vomited from the funnel. InsideDodge was sleeping peacefully in his berth. Jesse, accompanied by ChiefHoward, hurried up to the conductor who was about to swing on to thesteps of the sleeper, and ordered him to hold the train till thefugitive could be removed. After some argument the conductor grumblinglycomplied and Dodge was aroused from pleasant dreams of the "CreoleQuarter" to the cold reality of being dragged out of bed by a policeman. He was unceremoniously hustled out of the sleeping car into a carriageand taken to Head-quarters where he admitted his identity and remarked:

"I know what I am wanted for, but I will never return to New York. "

In his grip was found the sum of $1, 563. 15 as well as numerous lettersfrom the law firm of Howe and Hummel and a quantity of newspaperclippings relative to his case. 

Dodge pleaded with Chief Howard not to lock him up, urging that he was asick man and offering a goodly sum if he might be taken to a hotel andguarded for the remainder of the night. But what "went" in New Orleans, did not "go" in Houston, and the best that Dodge could get for himselfwas a cot in the "Ladies Detention Room" on the second floor of thejail. 

Early the following morning Jesse visited Police Head-quarters and forthe first time met George Ellis, Chief of Police of Houston, for whom hewill always have a feeling of deep gratitude for his enthusiasticcooperation and loyalty in the many stirring events that followed. Dodgenow received a telegram from New York, which was submitted to Jessebefore reaching the prisoner, to the effect that Howe and Hummel weresending on an attorney to aid the fugitive in resisting extradition, andinforming him that they had employed Messrs. Hunt and Meyers asattorneys to look out for his welfare. These last immediately jumped _inmedias res_ and on the afternoon of the same day secured a writ ofhabeas corpus from Norman J. Kitrell, District Judge of Harris County, Texas, returnable the following morning. 

The next day, January 28th, Kitrell released Dodge from custody. 

Jesse had anticipated this and immediately swore out another warrantwith the result that the prisoner was rearrested before he left thecourt room. 

Meantime the Dodge interests retained another firm of lawyers, Messrs. Andrews and Ball, who, on the following day, secured a second writ ofhabeas corpus from Judge Ashe. 

The result of the first engagement thus being a draw, counsel on bothsides agreed that this writ should not be returnable for six days. During this period District Attorney Jerome employed Messrs. BakerBotts, Parker and Garwood to represent him and secured from GovernorOdell at Albany a requisition on Governor Lanham of Texas for theextradition of the prisoner, which he entrusted to Detective SergeantHerlihy of the New York Police. Herlihy reached Houston with the paperson the evening of January 30th, and on the same train with him cameAbraham Kaffenburgh, a member of the law firm of Howe and Hummel and anephew of the latter. Likewise also came Bracken, still styling himself"E. M. Bradley, " and from now on Bracken was the inseparable companion, guide, philosopher and friend (?) of the unfortunate Dodge whosecontinued existence upon this earth had become such a menace to thelittle lawyer in New York. 

Herlihy, accompanied by Judge Garwood, proceeded direct to Austin wherethey found Dodge already represented by Messrs. Andrews and Ball who, atthe hearing before Governor Lanham, made a strong effort to induce thatexecutive to refuse to honor the requisition of the Governor of NewYork. This effort failed and Governor Lanham issued his warrant, butHerlihy had no sooner returned to Houston for the purpose of takingpossession of the prisoner than he was served with an injunctionenjoining him, together with Chief of Police Ellis, from taking Dodgeinto custody, pending a hearing upon a new habeas corpus which had beenissued by Judge Waller T. Burns of the United States District Court forthe Southern District of Texas. This new writ was returnable February9th. 

After exhaustive but futile argument by the counsel for Dodge, JudgeBurns remanded the prisoner to Herlihy's custody to be returned to theState of New York, but this decision had no sooner been rendered than anappeal was taken therefrom by Dodge's lawyers, and the prisoner releasedupon bail fixed at twenty thousand dollars. 

During this period Dodge was quartered under guard at the Rice Hotel inHouston, and the day following the argument the twenty-thousand-dollarsbail was put up in cash and Dodge released from custody. 

In the meantime, however, Jesse, knowing that no sum, however large, would deter Hummel from spiriting Dodge out of the country, had made hisarrangements to secure a new extradition warrant from the Governor ofTexas, so that if the prisoner did succeed in getting beyond theSouthern District of the Federal Court of Texas, he could be seized andconveyed to New York. 

Of course some one had to keep watch over Dodge while Jesse hurried toAustin to see the Governor, and it was decided to leave SergeantHerlihy, reinforced by a number of local detectives for that purpose. But while the watchful Jesse was away, Bracken proceeded to get busy inthe good old Howe and Hummel fashion. Lots of people that Herlihy hadnever seen before turned up and protested that he was the finest fellowthey had ever met. And as Herlihy was, in fact, a good fellow, he madethem welcome and dined and wined at their expense until he woke up inthe Menger Hotel in San Antonio and inquired where he was. 

Jesse meantime had returned from Austin to discover that Dodge with hiscompanions, Kaffenburgh and Bracken, had slipped out of Houston early inthe morning of February 11th, after disposing of Herlihy and eluding thewatchfulness of Herlihy's assistants. Hummel was leading and by teno'clock the next morning Dodge and his comrades were on board an Englishmerchantman lying in the harbor of Galveston. Later in the same day theHummel interests chartered from the Southern Pacific Railroad for thesum of three thousand dollars the sea-going tug _Hughes_, to which Dodgewas now transferred for the purpose of being conveyed to the port ofTampico in the Republic of Mexico. 

But here Hummel's wires became crossed with Jerome's, and unfortunatelyfor the little lawyer, the persons from whom the tug had been leasedturned out to be closely allied with the prosecution's interests, withthe result that the captain of the tug was instructed by his superiorsunder no consideration to put into any Mexican port, but on thecontrary, to delay his departure from the harbor of Galveston for aperiod of two days and then to proceed only as far as Brownsville, Texas, where he should compel the debarkation of the fugitive. Thecaptain, who was a good sport as well as a good officer, promptly threwhimself into the part and told Bracken and Kaffenburgh that it wasevident from the barometer that a severe storm was approaching (whichmust have had a sinister implication to these two unfortunategentlemen), and that he could not think of putting to sea. Once the"storm" had blown over, the tug started out across the blue waters ofthe Gulf of Mexico. But now Bracken and Kaffenburgh were informed forthe first time that it was impossible to consider putting into any portof the Republic of Mexico, since to do so would cause internationalcomplications and compel the revocation of the captain's license. Indesperation the Hummel interests offered the captain five thousanddollars in cash to disregard his instructions and put into Tampico, butthe worthy sea-dog was adamant. It was probably worth five thousanddollars to him to see three gentry of this pattern so much put about. 

While Dodge and his accomplices were dallying in the harbor ofGalveston, Jesse was taking advantage of his opportunity to proceed atonce by railroad to Alice, Texas, which at that time was the furthermostsouthern point reached by any railway in the direction of Brownsville. On his arrival, he at once applied to Captain John R. Hughes, commandingCompany D of the Texas Rangers, who received him with great joy andordered a detachment of the Rangers to meet the tug at Point Isabella atthe mouth of the Rio Grande River on the border of Mexico. In themeantime, Jesse started on a toilsome stage journey to Brownsville, across one hundred and seventy miles of desert, which occupied two daysand nights, and necessitated his going without sleep for that period. During the trip Jesse heard no word of English and had as his associatesonly Mexican cattlemen. Every fifteen miles a fresh relay of broncos washitched to the stage and after a few moments' rest the misery beganagain. 

Jesse had been hurrying toward Brownsville by stage while Dodge, Kaffenburgh and Bracken were landing at Point Isabella, where they werekept under close surveillance by Sergeant Tom Ross of the Rangers. Thence they took the train to Brownsville, registering at the MillerHouse under the assumed names of C. F. Dougherty, A. Koontzman and E. M. Barker, all of Oklahoma. But, although they knew it not, Sergeant Tomwas at their elbow, and had Dodge attempted to cross the border intoMexico he would instantly have been placed under arrest. 

As Brownsville was within the Southern District of the Federal Court ofTexas, Jesse decided not to arrest Dodge until he should actuallyattempt flight, and when Dodge and his companions, on the followingmorning, February 15th, entered the stage (the same upon which Jesse hadarrived) and started for Alice, Jesse and Tom Ross procured the besthorses they could find and started after them, keeping just in sight ofthe stage. Dodge's intention in making this move was to take the MexicanInternational Railway at Alice and cross over to Mexico via Laredo. 

Jesse and Ross covered the seventy-four miles from Brownsville to SantaLa Cruz Ranch by four in the afternoon, which was fairly strenuous workfor a New York detective, and here found themselves so sore andexhausted from their ride that they were glad to hire a pair of horsesand buggy with which to complete the journey to Alice. Luckily theywere able to get into telephonic communication with various ranch ownersalong the road and arrange to have fresh relays of horses supplied tothem every twenty miles, and here also Jesse called up Captain Hughes atAlice, and suggested that he substitute for the regular night clerk atthe City Hotel one of the privates of the Rangers by the name of Harrod. 

Dodge and his companions arrived in Alice on February 17th, and, asJesse had anticipated, repaired at once to the City Hotel, where, inasmuch as they were dry from the dust of their trip and depressed bylack of society, they entered at once into an enthusiastic andconfidential friendship with the man behind the counter in the hoteloffice, sublimely ignorant that they were unfolding to a member of theTexas Rangers all their most secret intentions. Harrod was just as gladto see Dodge as Dodge apparently was to see Harrod, and kindly offeredto assist the fugitive to get into Mexico in any way that the latterdesired. Dodge, for his part, took advantage of his usefulness to theextent of requesting him to purchase them railroad tickets, the planbeing to leave Alice the following morning for Monterey, Mexico. Threehours after the stage bearing Dodge and his party pulled up at the CityHotel, Tom Ross and Jesse drove in behind a pair of fagged-out broncosat two in the morning. Jesse had had no sleep of any sort and no propernourishment for five days, and had just strength enough left to draghimself up one flight of stairs and tumble into bed, from which he didnot emerge for many hours. 

In the meantime day broke and Dodge, Kaffenburgh and Bracken, havingbreakfasted, drove comfortably down to the International Railway Stationand settled themselves in the smoker, but they had no sooner given thisdirect evidence of their intention before Captain Hughes entered andplaced Dodge under arrest. The latter's surprise may be appreciated whenit is stated that from the time the three had left Houston, they had noidea that they were being followed and believed that they had completelyfoiled Jesse and his assistants. 

While Jesse had been chasing Dodge across the desert, his lawyers hadnot been idle and had secured at Austin another extradition warrant fromGovernor Lanham, who, on receiving news of the arrest, promptlyinstructed Captain Hughes by wire to assume charge of the prisoner andto deliver him into the hands of the New York officer to be conveyed toNew York. 

There now began such a legal battle as the State of Texas had neverknown. Hummel had been forced into his last ditch and was fightingdesperately for life. Through Kaffenburgh he at once applied for a newwrit of habeas corpus in Nueces County and engaged counsel at CorpusChristie to assist in fighting for the release of the prisoner. Precisely as Hummel had intended, Chief Wright of Nueces rode into Aliceand demanded the prisoner from Captain Hughes. As Hummel had _not_intended, Captain Hughes refused to surrender the prisoner and toldChief Wright to go to--well, he told him that he intended to obey hiscommander-in-chief, the Governor of Texas. 

On February 20th, Hummel, through Kaffenburgh, attempted to get anotherwrit of habeas corpus in Bee County, and promptly the Bee chief camebuzzing over and demanded Dodge, but to him Hughes replied even as hehad spoken to Wright. 

Excitement in Alice had now reached such a pitch that Judge Burns, ofthe Federal Court, in Houston, ordered United States Marshal John W. Vann, of Alice, to assume charge of the prisoner. The indomitableHughes, however, paid no more attention to the United States Marshalthan he had to the local chiefs. But the situation was so delicate andthe clash of authority might so easily have resulted in bloodshed thatit was finally agreed by all parties that the best thing to do was tohave the prisoner returned to Houston in the _joint_ custody of CaptainHughes of the Rangers and the United States Marshal. 

Jesse, through his counsel, in proper course made application toforfeit Dodge's bond and remand him to jail, but the Hummel attorneysfinally induced the Court, on the plea that to confine Dodge in jailwould be detrimental to his already badly impaired health, to permit theprisoner to go free on a greatly increased bond, neverthelessrestricting his movements to Harris County, Texas. 

While Jesse had fought a winning battle up to this point he was at theend of his resources so far as the extradition of the prisoner wasconcerned, for Dodge was now at liberty, pending the decisions upon thehabeas corpus proceedings of the United States Circuit Court of Appealsat Fort Worth, and the United States Supreme Court at Washington. Buthis orders were to _bring Dodge back to_ New York. Hence, with the aidof some new men sent him from the North, he commenced an even closersurveillance of the prisoner than ever before by both day and night. 

Meantime Kaffenburgh departed for New York, fleeing from the wrath ofJudge Burns, who had issued a summons for him for contempt of theFederal Court on the ground that he had induced Dodge to attempt to jumphis bond. In place of the blustering Kaffenburgh was sent another memberof the famous law firm of Howe and Hummel, David May, an entirelydifferent type of man. May was as mild as a day in June--as urbane asKaffenburgh had been insolent. He fluttered into Houston like a whitedove of peace with the proverbial olive branch in his mouth. From now onthe tactics employed by the representatives of Hummel were conciliatoryin the extreme. Mr. May, however, did not long remain in Houston, as itwas apparent that there was nothing to be done by either side pendingthe action of the courts, and in any event Dodge was abundantly suppliedwith local counsel. The time had now come when Hummel must have begun tofeel that the fates were against him and that a twenty-year term instate prison was a concrete possibility even for him. 

In the meantime, Dodge and Bracken had taken up their headquarters atthe Rice Hotel in the most expensive suite of rooms in the house, a newscheme for getting the prisoner beyond the reach of the New York courtsapparently having been concocted. Dodge was now indulged in everyconceivable luxury and vice. He was plunged into every sort of excess, there was no debauchery which Bracken could supply that was not his andtheir rapid method of existence was soon the talk of the county andcontinued to be so for ten long months. There is more than one way tokill a cat and more than one method of wiping out the only existingwitness against a desperate man striving to escape the consequences ofcrime. 

Dodge's daily routine was somewhat as follows: He never slept at his ownhotel, but arose in the morning between ten and eleven o'clock, when hewas at once visited by Bracken and supplied with numerous drinks in lieuof the breakfast for which he never had any desire. At noon the twowould have luncheon with more drinks. In the afternoon they would retireto the pool rooms and play the races, and, when the races were over, they would then visit the faro banks and gamble until midnight or later. Later on they would proceed to another resort on Louisiana Street whereDodge really lived. Here his day may be said to have begun and here hespent most of his money, frequently paying out as much as fifty dollarsa night for wine and invariably ending in a beastly state ofintoxication. It is quite probable that never in the history ofdebauchery has any one man ever been so indulged in excesses of everysort for the same period of time as Dodge was during the summer and fallof 1904. The fugitive never placed his foot on mother earth. If theywere going only a block, Bracken called for a cab, and the two seemed totake a special delight in making Jesse, as Jerome's representative, spend as much money in cab hire as possible. The Houston jehus neveragain experienced so profitable a time as they did during Dodge's wetseason; and the life of dissipation was continued until, from time totime, the prisoner became so weak from its effects that he was forced togo under the care of a physician. A few days of abstinence alwaysrestored his vitality and he would then start out upon another round ofpleasure. 

During this period Jesse maintained a close and vigilant personalespionage over the prisoner. For over ten months he slept less than fourhours each day, his fatigue being increased by the constant apprehensionof treachery among his own men, and the necessity of being ever on thealert to prevent some move on the part of the defense to spirit theprisoner away. During the summer attempts were repeatedly made to evadethe vigilance of Jesse and his men and several desperate dashes werefrustrated by them, including one occasion when Bracken succeeded inrushing Dodge as far as Galveston, where they were forced to abandontheir design. 

From time to time Bracken would disappear from Houston for a week or tendays, stating on his return that he had been to New York, after whichthere was invariably some new move to get the prisoner away. Time andspace prevent giving a detailed account of all the marches andcounter-marches that took place in this battle of wit against wit. 

In August, 1904, Bracken made one of his periodical visits to New York, and when he returned sought out Jesse and said: "Blocher, you might aswell be a good fellow and get yours while you can. I mean that Dodge isnot going back to New York, even if it cost a million dollars to preventit. " A few days later Bracken sent a gambler named Warner to Jesse, whooffered the latter thirty-five hundred dollars to get "lost" long enoughfor the prisoner to slip over to Mexico. Acting upon the advice of hisattorney, Jesse encouraged this attempt, under the belief that if hecould get the Hummel forces in the position of having attempted to bribehim the prisoner's bail could then be forfeited and Dodge himself takeninto custody. Hummel became wary, however, and apparently abandoned forthe time the idea of bribery. Later on Bracken again disappeared. On hisreturn a marked change was noticeable in his demeanor and Jesse observedthat he was in constant consultation with Dodge, from which thedetective drew the inference that some last desperate move was to bemade towards the escape of the prisoner. 

On one occasion Jesse saw Bracken showing Dodge a map and some drawingson paper, which so excited his suspicions that he followed the two withunremitting assiduity, and within a day or two was rewarded throughBracken's carelessness with an opportunity for going through thelatter's coat pockets in the billiard room. Here he found a complete setof plans worked out in every detail for spiriting the prisoner from SanAntonio into Mexico during the State Fair. These plans were veryelaborate, every item having been planned out from the purchase oftickets, and passing of baggage through the customs, to hotelaccommodation in the City of Mexico and Tampico, and steamship ticketsfrom Tampico to Europe. 

The plan had been to secure permission from the Court for Dodge to leaveHouston long enough ostensibly to attend the Fair at San Antonio and to"lose" him during the excitement and crowded condition of the city atthat time. 

It is, of course, needless to say that these plans were abandoned whenBracken discovered that Jesse had been forewarned. 

Almost immediately thereafter the Circuit Court of Appeals at FortWorth, Texas, decided one of the habeas corpus cases adversely to Dodgebut it still permitted him to retain his liberty pending the finaldetermination of the questions involved by the Supreme Court atWashington. 

The Hummel forces were apparently losing hope, however, for early inOctober another attempt was made to bribe Jesse. Bracken entered hisroom one evening and informed him that he could get his own price if hewould only be a good fellow, and even went so far as to exhibit aquantity of money which he stated was twenty-five thousand dollars. Theonly result of this offer was to lead Jesse to redouble his precautions, for he argued that the situation must indeed be acute when such an offercould be deemed worth while. Thereafter it was obvious that the revelryof Dodge and his companions was on the increase. Accordingly Jesse addedto his force of assistants. 

On December 2, 1904, Nathaniel Cohen, another member of the firm of Howeand Hummel, arrived at Houston, and the next day the Supreme Court atWashington decided the appeal in the habeas corpus against the prisoner, who was at once ordered by Judge Burns into the custody of United StatesMarshal William M. Hanson. 

Things looked black indeed for Dodge and blacker still for Hummel. Howthe little attorney, eating his midday lunch four thousand miles away, at Pontin's restaurant on Franklin Street, must have trembled in hispatent leather boots! His last emissary, Cohen, at once procured anassistant by the name of Brookman and with him proceeded to WhartonCounty, Texas, where they secured a new writ of habeas corpus andinduced the local sheriff, one Rich, to swear in a _posse comitatus_ ofone hundred men for the purpose of coming to Houston to take theprisoner by force of arms out of the hands of the United States Marshal. 

This was one of the most daring and desperate attempts made in recentyears to frustrate the law. Jesse believes that the real object of this_posse_ was to precipitate a fight between themselves and the Federalauthorities. It is not inconceivable that in such an event Dodge mighteither have escaped or been killed. The men composing the _posse_ wereof the most desperate character, and consisted largely of the so-called"feud factions" of Wharton County, known as "The Wood Peckers" and "TheJay Birds. " Jesse has been informed, on what he regards as reliableauthority, that this move cost the Hummel forces fifteen thousanddollars and that each member of the _posse_ received one hundred dollarsfor his contemplated services in the "rescue" of the prisoner. But civilwar, even on a small scale, cannot be indulged in without some inklingof the facts becoming known to the authorities, and prior to the receiptof the mandate of the Supreme Court, Judge Burns ordered the prisonerremoved to Galveston for safe keeping. 

Thus the long, expensive and arduous struggle came finally to an end, for Judge Burns in due course, ordered that Charles F. Dodge should beconveyed to New York in the personal custody of the United StatesMarshal and delivered by him to the New York authorities "within theborders of that State. " Such an order was, of course, exceedinglyunusual, if not almost unheard of, but it was rendered absolutelynecessary by the powerful influence and resources, as well as theunscrupulous character, of those interested in securing Dodge'sdisappearance. 

In order to thwart any plans for releasing the prisoner by violence orotherwise, and to prevent delay through the invoking of legaltechnicalities, Hansen and Jesse decided to convey Dodge to New York bywater, and on the 16th of December, the Marshal and his five deputiesboarded a Mallory Line steamer at Galveston and arrived in New York withtheir prisoner on the evening of December 23d. 

Dodge reached New York a physical wreck. How he was induced to tell thewhole truth after he had pleaded guilty to the charge against him is astory in itself. A complete reaction from his dissipation now occurredand for days his life was despaired of. Jesse, too, was, as theexpression is, "all in, " and the only persons who were still able toappreciate the delights of New York were the stalwart Marshal and hisboys, who for some time were objects of interest as they strolled alongBroadway and drank "deep and hearty" in the cafés. To the assistants inthe District Attorney's office they were heroes and were treated assuch. 

How Dodge finally testified against Hummel on the witness stand hasalready been told. As they say down-town, if Jerome had never doneanything else, he would have "made good" by locking up Abe Hummel. Noone ever believed he would do it. But Jerome never would have locked upHummel without Jesse. And, as Jesse says with a laugh, leaning back inhis chair and taking a long pull on his cigar, "I guess I would not doit again--no, I _would_ not do it again for all the money you could giveme. The wonder is that I came out of it alive. " When the reader comes tothink about it he will probably agree with him. 

XI

A Case of Circumstantial Evidence

In the town of Culiano, in the province of Salano, in Italy, there dwelta widow by the name of Torsielli, with her two sons, Vito and Antonio. The boys loved their mother devotedly and were no less fond of eachother, the height of their ambition being to earn enough money tosupport her in comfort without need of working in her old age. As itwas, she arose before light, made the fire, cooked their breakfast andlabored in and about the house all day until they returned from thefields. But she was getting old and at last became bedridden and infirm. She could no longer cook the meals, and the boys had to shift forthemselves. Moreover, instead of finding her standing at the door with asmile on her wrinkled face, welcoming them to supper on their return, the fire was always out and their mother lay on her couch, no less gladto see them, to be sure, but no longer able to amuse them or minister totheir comfort. Then the taxes were increased and hard times came. Bytwos and threes the men of the village packed their bundles, badegood-by to their friends and families, and left the town, some to seekwork in other parts of Italy, but most of them to take the big ironsteamships for America, where work was easy and money plentiful. Sadlythe boys watched their comrades depart. They would have liked to go, too, to seek their fortunes in this new land of promise, but they couldnot leave their mother. The following year some of the men who had goneaway to America returned in fine clothes and with full purses to tell ofthe wonderful country beyond the seas, where one could always earn histen _lire_ every day and do as he liked. "Viva la liberta!" they cried, pounding the tables in the café. "Come, comrades! We have plenty ofmoney. Drink to the great country of America!"

Vito and Antonio listened with envy. One evening the elder brother askedAntonio to come to walk with him. When they had gone a little way hesaid suddenly:

"Toni, I think I shall go to this America. We need more money to makeour mother comfortable. If we wait until she is dead the money will beof no use. You can stay here, and when I have made a place for you andher, you shall bring her on the ship to the new country. "

Vito was five years older than Antonio, and his word had always beenlaw to the younger brother, so although he was sick at heart at thethought of being left behind, he said nothing against the project, buttried to make it easy for Vito with their mother. The old woman couldnot bear the thought of her firstborn leaving her, and declared, withthe tears running down her face, that she should never see him again, but at last she yielded to their persuasions and gave Vito her blessing. It would be only a little while before she and Toni would join him, andthey would be happy ever after. 

Then Toni was left alone with his mother. Every day he arose at thefirst streak of dawn, prepared breakfast, cleaned the house, saw thathis mother was comfortable and then started off for the fields. A monthwent by, two months, three, a year, but no word came from Vito. Toniassured the poor old woman that they would certainly hear from him thenext week or the next, but cruel fear had taken possession of him. Something had happened to his brother! The years swept on. Their motherbecame more and more helpless. Antonio was obliged to hire a woman tocare for her as nurse for a small sum, but it was just enough to leaveonly a pittance for them to live on. Toni grew thin and haggard. Wherecould Vito be? Was he alive or dead? Next to his love for NicolettaLupero it became the great passion of his life to learn what had becomeof Vito. 

He had known Nicoletta from a child and their love had followed asnaturally as summer follows spring. It had always been "Toni" and"Nicoletta" ever since he could remember. But she was growing up, andfrom a boy he had become a man. Yet how could he marry when he couldhardly earn enough to support his mother and himself? They talked itover time and time again. If Vito would only return or good times comeit might be possible. But meantime there was nothing to do but wait. Nicoletta blossomed into womanhood. Had she not been betrothed she wouldhave been called an old maid. Neither she nor Toni took any part in thevillage merrymakings. Why should they? He was thirty and shetwenty-five. They might have married ten years ago had not the elderbrother gone away. Toni secretly feared that the time would never comewhen they would be man and wife, but he patiently labored on earning histwo _lire_, or at most two _lire_ and a half, a day. 

Then a man returned from America just for the harvest to see his family. He said that Vito was alive. He had not seen him himself, but others hadseen him and he was rich. He told of the plentifulness of gold inAmerica, where every one was comfortable and could lay up a fortune. Hehimself had saved over five thousand _lire_ in four years and owned aone-third interest in a fruit store. He was going to take his brother'sfamily back with him--all of them. They would be rich, too, in a littlewhile. A man was a fool to stay in Italy. Why did not Toni come backwith him? He would get him a place on the railroad where one of hisfriends was padrone. 

Toni discussed it all with Nicoletta, and she talked with the manherself. 

"Toni, " she said at length, "why do you not go? Here you are earningnothing. There you could save in a month enough to keep your mother incomfort for a year. You have to pay the nurse, and that takes a greatdeal. While you are here it would cause talk if I came to live in yourhome to care for your mother but if you go away I can do so withoutcomment and it will cost nothing. Perhaps you will find Vito. If not youwill soon make enough to send for both your mother and me. "

"You are a good girl, " he answered, kissing her, "but I could not shiftthe responsibility of my mother to your shoulders. Still, I will talk toFather Giuseppi about it. "

The priest thought well of the plan (he was a little excited overAmerica himself), and agreed to break the matter to the mother. 

She begged Toni piteously not to go. He was her only surviving son. Vitowas dead. Let him but wait a little while and she would not be there tostand in his way. Then the priest added his personal assurance that itwould be for the best, and the mother finally gave way. Toni was obligedto tear himself away by force from the arms of the old woman lying uponthe bed, and her feeble sobs echoed in his ears as he trudged down theroad with the scarf Nicoletta had worked about his neck, and a smallbundle of his tools and most precious possessions on his shoulder. Acouple of miles farther on came another harrowing parting with hisbetrothed, and from the top of the next rise beyond he could seeNicoletta still standing at the crossroads gazing pitifully after him. Thus many an Italian, for good or ill, has left the place of his birthfor the mysterious land of the Golden West. 

The voyage was for Antonio an unalloyed agony of seasickness andhomesickness, and when at last the great vessel steamed slowly up theNorth River, her band playing and the emigrants crowding eagerly to hersides, he had hardly spirit enough left to raise his eyes to themountains of huge buildings from whose craters the white smoke roseslowly and blew away in great wind-torn clouds. Yet he felt some of theawakening enthusiasm of his comrades, and when once his feet touchedearth again it was not long before he almost forgot his sufferings uponthe ocean in his feverish anxiety to lose no time in beginning to savethe money which should reunite him to Nicoletta and his mother. As soonas the vessel had docked a blustering Italian came among the emigrantsand tagged a few dozen of them, including Antonio, with large bluelabels, and then led them in a long, straggling line across thegangplank and marched them through the muddy streets to the railroadtrain. Here they huddled in a dirty car filled with smoke and werewhirled with frightful speed for hours through a flat and smilingcountry. The noise, the smoke and the unaccustomed motion made Antonioill again, and when the train stopped at Lambertville, New Jersey, thepadrone had difficulty in rousing him from the animal-like stupor intowhich he had fallen. 

The Italians crowded together upon the platform, gazing helplessly atone another and at the padrone, who was cursing them for a lot of stupidfools, and bidding them get upon a flat car that stood upon a siding. Antonio had to be pushed upon it by main force, but the journey thistime was short, and in half an hour he found himself upon an embankmentwhere hundreds of Italians were laboring with pick and shovel in thebroiling sun. Here he also was given a pick and told to go to work. 

Toni soon became accustomed to his new surroundings. Every night he andthe rest were carried to Lambertville on flat cars and in the morningswere brought back to the embankment. The work was no harder than that towhich he had been used, and he soon became himself again. Moreover, hefound many of his old friends from Culiano working there. In theevenings they walked through the streets of the town or sat under thetrees playing _mora_ and _tocco_. His letters home were quiteenthusiastic regarding the pleasant character of the life. To be sure hecould not write himself, but his old friend Antonio Strollo, who hadlived at Valva, only a mile from Culiano, acted as his amanuensis. Hewas very fond of Strollo, who was a dashing fellow, very merry and quitethe beau of the colony, in his wonderful red socks and neckties of manycolors. Strollo could read and write, and, besides, he knew Antonio'smother and Nicoletta, and when Toni found himself unable to express histhoughts Strollo helped him out. When the answers came he read them toToni and joined in the latter's pleasure. Toni himself soon became afavorite in Lambertville, for he was simple and gentle, and full ofgood-will for everybody. He was very good-looking, too, with hishandsome Roman profile, snapping black eyes and black curly locks. Yethe was sad always, especially so as since his arrival in America he hadmade no progress toward finding Vito. From time to time he met otherItalians who had been working elsewhere, who thought they had seen himor some one that looked like him. But inquiry always elicited the factthat their desire to give him encouragement was greater than theaccuracy of their memories. Of course Antonio Strollo, who had becomeToni's inseparable friend, shared all his eagerness to find Vito. Infact, Toni had no thought that he did not confide to his friend, and itwas really the latter who composed the love letters to Nicoletta and theaffectionate epistles to the mother. 

Every month Toni divided what he earned into three parts. One of them hedeposited in the savings-bank, another he invested in a money orderwhich was sent by Strollo to Nicoletta for the mother, and the last hekept for himself. It was astounding how fast one really could make moneyif one was industrious. Forty dollars a month, sometimes! That madenearly seventy _lire_ to send to Nicoletta. His bank account grewsteadily, and he often saved something out of the money he allowedhimself to live upon. 

Antonio Strollo, on the other hand, was lazy and spent all his wages on_chianti_, neckties, waistcoats, and gambling. Sometimes he would donothing for a whole month but loiter around the streets smoking cigarsand ogling the village girls. These last were afraid of him and calledhim "The Dare Devil. "

Toni worked on the embankment for three years, sending his money with aletter to Nicoletta every month. The mother still lived and Nicolettawas giving up her own life to take care of her, but the old woman wasvery feeble and no longer had any hope of seeing either of her sonsagain. Moreover, she was now so bedridden that it was useless to thinkof trying to move her, even if Toni had plenty of money. No, as soon ashe was satisfied that Vito could not be found and had saved enough moneyhe must return. How she begged him to return! As Strollo read him thegirl's letters Toni wept bitter tears and Strollo wept likewise insympathy. But no word came of Vito. 

Toni, anxious about his mother, despairing of ever finding his brother, pining for Nicoletta and with three hundred dollars lying in thesavings-bank, decided to return to Italy. But if only he could find Vitofirst! Then Antonio Strollo had an idea. Why not advertise, hesuggested. He wondered that they had never thought of it before. Theywould put a notice in _Il Progresso_, the Italian paper in New York, andsee what would come of it. Toni agreed that the idea was good, soStrollo wrote the notice offering a reward for news of Vito. 

Two months passed, once more Toni gave up hope, and then, O-never-to-be-forgotten day! a letter came from the post-office fromVito! Toni threw his arms about Strollo and kissed him for joy. Vito wasfound at last! The letter, dated Yonkers, New York, told how Vito had bychance heard of Toni's notice and learned that he was in America. Hehimself, he said, had prospered and was a padrone, employing manyworkmen on the water-works. He begged Toni for news of their mother. Heconfessed himself an ungrateful son never to have written, but he hadmarried and had had children, and he had assumed that she was beingcared for by his brother. Toni must forgive him and come to him at once. 

"O Dio!" cried Toni, the tears in his eyes. "Forgive him? Of course Iwill forgive him! Come, Antonio, let us write my dear brother a letterwithout delay and tell him that our mother is still alive. How should Ilike to see his wife and babies!"

So they prepared a long letter which Strollo took to the post-officehimself and mailed. Toni went back to work with joy in his heart andwhistled and sang all day long, and, of course, he wrote all about it toNicoletta. He was only waiting for his month to be up before starting. Then he would go to Yonkers, make Vito a little visit, and return hometo Italy. It would be easy enough, after that, for Vito would send themmoney, if necessary, to live upon. 

Several letters passed between the brothers, and at the end of the monthToni drew out his money from the bank, received his wages in full, andprepared to leave Lambertville. Meantime a letter had come fromNicoletta telling of his mother's joy at learning that Vito was stillalive. 

As Toni had doubts as to his ability to find his way to Yonkers, Strollokindly offered to accompany him. Toni had made many friends during histhree-years' stay in Lambertville, and he promised to write to them andtell them about Vito and his family, so it was agreed that the lettershould be sent to Sabbatto Gizzi, in whose house he had lived, and thatGizzi should read it to the others. The address was written carefully ona piece of paper and given to Toni. 

So early in the morning of August 16th, 1903, Toni and Strollo took thetrain for New York. It was a hot day, and once again the motion andspeed made Toni feel ill, but the thought of seeing Vito buoyed him up, and by the time they had crossed the ferry and had actually reached NewYork he was very hungry. In his excitement he had forgotten to eat anybreakfast and was now beginning to feel faint. But Strollo said it was along way to Yonkers and that they must not stop. For many hours theytrudged the streets without getting anywhere and then Strollo said itwas time to take the cars. Toni was very tired, and he had to climb manyflights of stairs to the train. It carried them a long distance, pastmiles of tenement houses and vacant lots, and at last into a sort ofcountry. Strollo said they should get out. It was very hot and Toni wasweak from weariness and lack of food, but his heart was light and hefollowed Strollo steadily down the wilting road. After going about amile they crossed some fields near where people were playing a game athitting little balls with sticks. It was astonishing how far they couldstrike the balls--entirely out of sight. 

"Is this Yonkers?" asked Toni. 

"It is near here, " answered Strollo. "We are going by a short way. "

They entered some thick woods and came out upon another field. Toni wasnow so faint that he begged his friend to stop. 

"Can we not get some food?" he inquired; "I can hardly walk. "

"There is a man in that field, " said Strollo. "Go and ask him. "

So Toni plodded over to the man who was digging mushrooms and asked himin broken English where they could get something to eat. The man toldhim that it was a long way. They would have to take the trolley toYonkers. There was a restaurant there called the "Promised Land, " whereone could get Italian dishes. He seemed to take a kindly interest inToni and in Strollo, who had remained some distance behind, and Tonigave him a cigar--a "Cremo"--the last one he had. Then Strollo led theway back into the woods. 

It was almost sunset, and the long, low beams slanting through the treetrunks made it hard to see. They went deeper and deeper into the woods. Presently Strollo, who was leading the way, stopped and said:

"We are going in the wrong direction. We must turn around and go back. "

Toni turned. As he did so Strollo drew a long knife and plunged it againand again through Toni's body. 

 * * * * *

Strollo spent that night, under an assumed name, at the Mills Hotel inBleecker Street. He had stabbed himself accidentally in the knee andalso in the left hand in the fury of his attack, and when he arose inthe morning the sheets were covered with blood. There was also blood onhis shoes, which had been new, but he took his knife and scraped it off. He had experienced a strange sort of terrified exaltation the nightbefore, and in the early light as he crept downstairs and out of thehotel he could not have told whether he were more glad or afraid. For hehad three hundred dollars in his pocket, more than he had ever seen atany one time before--as much as a man could save in two whole years. Hewould be a king now for a long time. He need not work. He could eat, drink and play cards and read some books he had heard about. As forfinding him out--never! The police would not even know who Torsielliwas, to say nothing of who had killed him, for he had removed, as hethought, everything in Toni's pockets. There would be a dead man in themorgue, that was all. He could go back to Lambertville and say that hehad left Toni with his brother, at Yonkers, and that would be the end ofit. First, though, he would buy some new clothes. 

It was very early and the shops were hardly open, but he found one placewhere he could buy a suit, another some underclothes, and a third a pairof shoes. The shoemaker, who was a thrifty man, asked Strollo what wasthe matter with the shoes he had on, so Strollo craftily said they hurthis feet. Then he ate a hearty breakfast, and bought a better cigar thanhe had ever smoked before. There was a bookstore near by and hepurchased some books--"Alto Amore" and "Sua Maestá e Sua Moneta" ("TheHeight of Love" and "His Majesty and His Money"). He would read them onthe train. He felt warm and comfortable now and not afraid at all. Byand by he went back on the train to Lambertville and smoked and read allthe way, contented as the tiger is contented which has tracked down andslain a water-buffalo. 

The same afternoon about sunset, in a lonely part of Van Cortlandt Park, the mushroom digger stumbled over Torsielli's body lying face downwardamong the leaves. He recognized it as that of the man who had asked theway to something to eat and given him a cigar. He ran from the sightand, pallid with fear, notified the nearest police officer. Then thingstook the usual course. The body was removed to the morgue, an autopsywas performed, and "Headquarters" took charge of the case. As thedeceased was an Italian, Detective Sergeant Petrosini was called in. Torsielli's pockets were empty save for the band of a "Cremo" cigar inone waistcoat pocket and a tiny slip of paper in another, on which waspenciled "Sabbatto Gizzi, P. O. Box 239, Lambertville, New Jersey. "Whether this last was the name of the deceased, the murderer, or someone else, no one knew. Headquarters said it was a blind case, butPetrosini shrugged his shoulders and bought a ticket to Lambertville. 

Here he found Sabbatto Gizzi, who expressed genuine horror at learningof Toni's death and readily accompanied Petrosini to New York, where heidentified the body as indeed that of Torsielli. He told Petrosini thatToni had left Lambertville in the company of Strollo on Thursday, August16th. This was Saturday, August 18th, and less than thirty-six hoursafter the murder. Strollo, reading "Alto Amore, " and drinking in thesaloon, suspected nothing. New York was seventy miles away--too far forany harm to come. But Monday morning, walking lazily down the streetnear the railroad station, Strollo found himself suddenly confronted bya heavily-built man with a round, moon-shaped face thickly covered withpockmarks. Strollo did not like the way the latter's gimlet-like eyeslooked him over. There was no time to turn and fly, and, besides, Strollo had no fear. They might come and ask him questions, and he mighteven admit almost all--_almost_ all, and they could do nothing, for noone had seen what he had done to Toni in the wood. So Strollo returnedPetrosini's gaze unflinchingly. 

"Are you Antonio Strollo?" asked the detective, coming close to themurderer. 

"Yes, certainly, I am Antonio Strollo, " replied the latter. 

"Do you know Antonio Torsielli?" continued Petrosini. 

"To be sure, " answered Strollo. "I knew him well, " he added almostinsolently. 

"Why did you accompany him to New York?" inquired Petrosini sharply. Strollo paled. He had not known that the police were aware of the fact. 

"I had errands in the city. I needed clothes, " said Strollo. 

"He has been murdered, " said Petrosini quietly. "Will you come to NewYork to identify the body?"

Strollo hesitated. 

"Why--yes--certainly. I will go to New York. " Then he added, thinkingthat his words seemed insufficient, "I am sorry if Torsielli has beenmurdered, for he was a friend of mine. "

There was a wait of several hours before the train started for New Yorkand Strollo utilized it by giving Petrosini a detailed account of histrip with Torsielli. He took his time about it and thought eachstatement over very carefully before he made it, for he was a cleverfellow, this Strollo. He even went into the family history of Torsielliand explained about the correspondence with the long-lost brother, inwhich he acted as amanuensis, for he had come to the conclusion that inthe long run honesty (up to a certain point) would prove the bestpolicy. Thus he told the detective many things which the latter did notknow or even suspect. Strollo's account of what had happened was brieflyas follows:

He and Toni had reached New York about twelve o'clock and had spent anhour or so in the neighborhood of Mott Street looking at the parade of"San Rocco. " Then they had started for Yonkers and gone as far as theterminal of the Second Avenue El. It was about five o'clock in theafternoon. They had got out and started to walk. As they proceeded theysuddenly had seen a man standing under a tree and Torsielli had said toStrollo:

"That man standing under that tree looks like my brother. "

Strollo had replied:

"You know I am not acquainted with your brother. "

As they reached the tree the stranger had stepped forward and said toTorsielli:

"Who are you?"

"Who? Me? My name is Antonio Torsielli, " had been the reply. "Who areyou?"

"I am Vito Torsielli, " had answered the stranger. Then the two hadrushed into each other's arms. 

"And what did _you_ do?" inquired Petrosini, as Strollo naïvelyconcluded this extraordinary story. 

"Me?" answered Strollo innocently. "Why, there was nothing for me to do, so I went back to New York. "

Petrosini said nothing, but bided his time. He had now several importantbits of evidence. By Strollo's own account he had been with the deceasedin the general locality of the murder shortly before it occurred; he hadgiven no adequate explanation of why he was in New York at all; and hewas now fabricating a preposterous falsehood to show that he had lefthis victim before the homicide was committed. On the train Petrosinibegan to tie up some of the loose ends. He noticed the wound onStrollo's hand and asked where it had been obtained. The suspect repliedthat he had received it at the hands of a drunken man in Mott Street. Heeven admitted having stayed at the Mills Hotel the same evening under anassumed name, and gave as an excuse that his own name was difficult foran American to pronounce and write. Later, this information led to thefinding of the bloody bedclothes. He denied, however, having changed hisclothes or purchased new ones, and this the detective was obliged toferret out for himself, which he did by visiting or causing to bevisited almost every Italian shop upon the East Side. Thus the incidentof the shoes was brought to light. 

Strollo was at once taken to the morgue on reaching the city, and herefor the first time his nerve failed him, for he could not bring himselfto inspect the ghastly body of his victim. 

"Look, " cried Petrosini; "is that the man?"

"Yes, yes, " answered the murderer, trembling like a leaf. "That is he. "

"You are not looking at him, " said the detective. "Why don't you look athim. Look at the body. "

"I _am_ looking at him, " replied Strollo, averting his eyes. "That ishe--my friend--Antonio Torsielli. "

The prisoner was now taken to Police Headquarters and searched. Here aletter was found in his hip pocket in his own handwriting purporting tobe from Antonio Torsielli to his brother Vito at Yonkers, but enclosed_in an envelope addressed to Antonio at Lambertville_. 

This envelope bore a red two-cent stamp and was inscribed:

 ANTONIO TORSIELLI, BOX 470, Lambertville, New Jersey. 

The letter as later translated in court by the interpreter read asfollows:

 LAMBERTVILLE, _July 30, 1905. _

 _My dear Brother_:

 Upon receipt of your news I feel very happy to feel you are well, and the same I can assure you from me. Dear Brother, you cannot believe the joy I feel after such a long time to know where you are. I have been looking for you for two years, and never had any news from you. I could not, as you wrote to me to, come to you, because I had no money, and then I didn't know where to go because I have been always in the country. Know that what little money I have I sent it to mother, because if I don't help her nobody will, as you never write to her. I believe not to abandon her, because she is our mother, and we don't want her cursed. So then, if you like to see me, you come and take me. You spoke to me about work thither, but I don't understand about that work which you say, and then what will I do because here I have work, therefore, if you think I can come and work with you let me know because I have the address. But if you want to do better you come and take me. _Dear Brother_, I remind you about our mother, because I don't earn enough money, which she is your mother also. DEAR BROTHER, I hope you did not forget our mother. Dear Brother, let me know the names of your children, and I kiss them. Many regards to your wife and Aunt. I beg you to write to me. Dear regards, your brother, Antonio Torsielli. When you answer send the answer to the address below, Antonio Strollo. 

Strollo made no attempt to explain the possession of this letter, which, if sent at all would naturally have come into the possession of theaddressee. 

"And what was Vito's address at Yonkers?" inquired Petrosini. 

"1570 Yonkers, " answered Strollo. 

"Is that the street number of a house or a post-office number?" askedthe detective. 

"Neither, " said Strollo. "Just 1570 Yonkers. "

Thus the infamy of this villain was made manifest. He had invented outof his own brain the existence of Vito Torsielli in Yonkers, and hadhimself written the letters to Antonio which purported to come from him. He had used the simple fellow's love for his long-lost brother as themeans to lure him to his destruction, and brutally murdered him for thesake of the few dollars which his innocent victim had worked so hard toearn to reunite him to his mother and his betrothed. 

The wounds in Strollo's hand and knee were found to correspond in shapeand character with the thirty-six wounds in Torsielli's body, and themushroom digger unhesitatingly identified him as the man in the companyof the deceased upon the afternoon of the murder. 

It almost seemed like the finger of Providence indicating the assassinwhen the last necessary piece of evidence in this extraordinary case wasdiscovered. Petrosini had hurried to Lambertville immediately upon thediscovery of the letter and visited the post-office. 

A young lady named Miss Olive Phillips had been employed there as aclerk for twelve years, and had lately had charge of what are known asthe "call boxes"--that is to say, of boxes to which no keys are issued, but for the contents of which the lessees have to ask at the deliverywindow. These are very inexpensive and in use generally by the Italianpopulation of Lambertville, who are accustomed to rent them incommon--one box to three or four families. She had noticed Strollo whenhe had come for his mail on account of his flashy dress and debonairdemeanor. Strollo's box, she said, was No. 420. Petrosini showed her theenvelope of the letter found in Strollo's pocket. The stamp indicatedthat it had been cancelled at _Lambertville_ on July 26. When she sawthe envelope she called Petrosini's attention to the fact that the stampwas a two-cent red stamp, and said, to his surprise, that she was ableto identify the letter on that account as one _mailed_ by _Strollo_ onJuly 26. As there is no local delivery in the town, she explained, "dropletters, " or letters mailed by residents to other residents, may befranked for one cent. Now, in the first place, no Italian inLambertville, except Strollo, so far as Miss Phillips could remember, had ever mailed a letter to another Italian in the same town. A frugalItalian, moreover, if he had done so, would have put on only therequired amount of postage. On the 26th of July, Strollo had come to thepost-office and pushed this identical letter through the window, at thesame time handing her two cents and asking her to put on a red stamp forhim. She had been surprised at this, and had at first thought of callinghis attention to the fact that only a one-cent stamp was necessary, butshe had refrained and put on the stamp. At the same time she had noticedthat it was addressed to "Antonio Torsielli, Lambertville, New Jersey. "Strollo had then taken the letter and slipped it into the "drop" and shehad cancelled the stamp, taking the opportunity to examine the letter asecond time. A stranger coincidence could hardly be imagined, and thisobserving young lady from the country was thus able to supply the mostimportant link in the chain against the murderer, and to demonstrateconclusively that the wretch had himself been mailing in Lambertvillethe letters purporting to come from the fictitious brother in Yonkers. 

Strollo was now placed in the House of Detention as a "witness, " acourse frequently pursued when it is desirable to prevent a suspect fromknowing that he is accused. 

The case against him was practically complete, for it did not seemhumanly possible, that any jury would hesitate to convict him upon theevidence, but juries are loath to find any one guilty of murder in thefirst degree upon purely circumstantial evidence, and this was the firstpurely circumstantial case in a long time. Inspector Price, therefore, conceived the idea of trapping Strollo into a confession by placing adetective in confinement with him under the guise of being afellow-prisoner. It was, of course, patent that Strollo was but a childmentally, but he was shrewd and sly, and if he denied his guilt, therewas still a chance of his escape. Accordingly, a detective named Repettowas assigned to the disagreeable task of taking the part of an accusedcriminal. He was detailed to the House of Detention and remained therefor five days, from September 8 to September 13. Here Repetto becameacquainted with Strollo and the other prisoners, giving his name asSilvio del Sordo and his address as 272 Bowery. He played cards withthem, read the papers aloud and made himself generally agreeable. Duringthis period he frequently saw the defendant write and familiarizedhimself with his chirography. 

The scheme worked and Repetto afterward received five letters fromStrollo, sent after the latter had been removed from the House ofDetention to the Tombs and indicted for the murder of Torsielli. Thefirst, dated September 22d, was merely to inform his supposed friendSilvio of the change in his residence and to inquire the whereabouts ofanother prisoner named Philip. The second would be pathetic were it notwritten by the defendant in the case. It carries with it the flavor ofthe Calabrian hills. 

 NEW YORK, _October 17, 1905. _

 SIR SILVIO:

 I write and believe not to sicken you with my words, but it is enough that you are well in health. I take the liberty again not having any one else but you, and I believe to find a brother in you, not a friend. I ask you nothing, only if you have time to come and see me as soon as possible. I ask you this as a favor because I know and believe to find a true friend, as I want to ask you a certain thing at the cost of my life. I will not say any more. Bring me five cents of paper and envelopes to write letters and when you come I will give you the money. Nothing else. I am yours ever. Servant and

 Perfect friend, A STROLLO. 

The third letter from the perfect friend to his equally perfect friendis an extraordinary combination of ingenuity and ignorance. It containsthe only suggestion of a defence--that of an alibi. 

 NEW YORK, _October 30, 1905. _

 ESTEEMED FRIEND:

 With retard I answer in receiving yours. I was very, very glad. I believe all you told me and I am grateful, and hope you will not betray me, because you know it will cost the life of a poor unfortunate, so do as you told me, keep things to ourselves, if you wish to help me you will do me a great service, and if God helps me, you can dispose of my life. 

 So I will have you called unexpected, saying that I did not know if you remembered. So if you are called the first thing you must do is to make believe to look at me, and then you say you remember of having seen me looking at the pictures in front of place where you work, and you asked me if I wanted my pictures taken and I said no. If they ask at what time say 5:20 or 5:30 P. M. , and that you spoke with me for quite awhile. If they ask how was he dressed? The coat was black, the shoes russet the Trousers with white stripes which is the one I am now wearing; what tie, I don't remember, I only know he was well dressed, the hat was brown, if they ask did he have a mark on his hand? Say no, he had a ring with a black stone, how many times did you see him, say that after your work you were going around Mott Street and you saw me again and how it was eight o'clock or past eight and you saw me with a handkerchief around my hand, and you said to me, why I had my hand so. And he answered that some one struck him, I asked if it hurt much, he said he did not feel it, did both of you go to drink. No. Where else did Strollo go, Strollo said he was going at the Bleecker Street Hotel to sleep, did you see him again. No. Nothing else, if you want to help me reflect well, but you don't need any more words from me say just what I have said and I hope, with faith of a brother not a friend, I am ever your Friend, A. STROLLO. 

It may, and probably will, appear to the reader that a clearer case ofguilt could hardly be established, but the action of juries is alwaysproblematical, and this was a case composed entirely of circumstantialevidence. The jury would be obliged to find that no reasonablehypothesis consistent with the innocence of the accused could beformulated upon the evidence. Thus, even in the face of the facts provenagainst him, some "freak" juryman might still have said, "But, afterall, how do you _know_ that Strollo killed him? Some _other_ fellowmight have done it. " Even the "faking" of a defence does not prove thedefendant guilty, but merely that he fears conviction, and is ready toresort to feigned testimony to secure his freedom. Many innocent menconvict themselves in precisely this way. 

Accordingly it was by no means with confidence that the People went totrial, but throughout this remarkable case it seemed as if it must havebeen preordained that Strollo should not escape punishment for histreacherous crime. No defence was possible, not even the partiallyprepared alibi was attempted, and the only thing that savored of adefence was the introduction of a letter alleged to have been receivedby the defendant while in the House of Detention, and which, if genuine, would have apparently established that the crime had been perpetrated bythe "Black Hand. "

The offering of this letter was a curious and fatal blunder, for it waslater proven by the People to be in Strollo's own handwriting. It washis last despairing effort to escape the consequences of his crime. Headed with a cross drawn in blood it ran as follows:

 I swear upon this cross, which is the blood of my veins, Strollo is innocent. I swear upon the cross the revengeful Black Hand could save me. New York, Oct. 12, 1905. Sir Strollo, knowing you only by name, eight days after that I leave this letter will be sent to you. I leave at seven o'clock with the Steamer Britain the Harbor. Therefore I leave betraying my oath that I have held for the last three years belonging to the Black Hand. I will leave three letters, one to you, one to the Police Officer Capri, and the other to the law, 300 Mulberry Street. All what I am saying I have sworn to before God. Therefore your innocence will be given you, first by God and then by the law, capturing the true murders. I am sure that they already captured the murderer of Torsielli. Who lured you to come to New York was Giuseppi Rosa, who knew you for nearly two years, and who comes from Lambertville, came among us and played you a trick. He is a Calabrise and has a mighty grudge. He and four others are averse to them. Announce the name of the man who stabbed you with the knife was Antonio Villa. He had to kill _you_, but _you_ was fortunate. He is in jail for the present time and I don't know for how long, but I know that he was arrested. Nothing else to say. I have done my duty in giving you all the information. 407 2nd St. , Jersey. 

[Illustration: First page of the "Black Hand" letter written by Strollo, and put in evidence at his trial, placing the murder of Torsielli uponmembers of that imaginary secret organization. This letter convictedhim. ]

It is clear from the letter that Strollo had formed a vague plan for hisdefence, which should, in part, consist of the claim that he, as wellas Torsielli, had been marked for death by the Black Hand, and thatwhile both had been induced to come to New York, the plans of theassassins had in his case miscarried. 

The reader has already observed that purely for the purpose of securinghis continued interest in the present narrative the writer has, as itwere, told his story backward, reserving as long as possible the factthat the finding of the beloved Vito was a pure fiction invented by themurderer. At the trial, however, the jury listened breathlessly whilebit by bit the whole pathetic story was painted before them, like amosaic picture. They heard first the story of the mushroom digger, thereof the expedition of Petrosini to Lambertville, of the identification ofTorsielli's body, of the elaborate fabrications of Strollo, and in duecourse, of the tell-tale letter in the murderer's pocket. Gradually thetrue character of the defendant's crime came over them and they turnedfrom him in aversion. The natural climax in the evidence was MissPhillip's extraordinary identification of the defendant sitting at thebar as the man who had mailed upon the 26th of July, at the Lambertvillepost-office, the envelope purporting to come from Yonkers and containingthe forged letter from the imaginary Vito. 

Strollo remained almost to the last confident that he could never beconvicted, but when his own letters in prison were introduced inevidence he turned ashen pale and stared fixedly at the judge. The jurydeliberated but fifteen minutes, their functions consisting of but asingle ballot, followed by a prayer for the wretched murderer's soul. Then they filed slowly back and, in the waning light of the summerafternoon just one year after the murder, and at the precise hour atwhich Strollo had killed his victim, pronounced him guilty of murder inthe first degree. In due course his conviction was sustained by theCourt of Appeals, and on March 11th, 1908, he paid the penalty for hiscrime in the electricchair.