CHAPTER IV.
THE DETECTIVE AND THE MESSENGER.
After Mr. Damsel had left the hotel, Mr. Pinkerton sat in deep thought.He had carefully re-read Fotheringham's statement, but could findnothing that could be put out as a tracer; no little straw to tellwhich way the wind was blowing.
"Cummings, Cummings, Jim Cummings. By George, that can't be the JimCummings that used to flock with the Jesse James gang. That Cummingswas a gray-haired man, while this Cummings is young, about 26 yearsold. Besides he is a much larger than Jesse James' Jim Cummings. Thatname is evidently assumed.
"This statement says he was dressed in a good suit of clothes, and worea very flashy cravat. Furthermore, he bragged a good deal about what hewould do with the money. Also that he would write a letter to the St.Louis Globe-Democrat exonerating the messenger. Well, a man who willbrag like that, and wears flashy articles of neck-wear, is just the manthat will talk too much, or make some bad break. If he writes thatletter, he's a goner. There will be something in it that will give me ahold. The paper, the ink, the hand-writing, the place and time it wasmailed--something that will give him away."
"I must see this messenger, and I must see him here; alone. He may beable to give me a little glimmer of light."
To think with "Billy" Pinkerton was to act.
He pressed the annunciator button, and sitting down, wrote a short noteto Mr. Damsel, requesting him to bring Fotheringham with him to hisroom.
The bell-boy who answered the call bore the note away with him, and ina short time, Mr. Pinkerton, looking out of his window, saw Mr. Damselin his buggy drive up to the hotel accompanied by a young man, whom Mr.Pinkerton recognized from the description given him, as the unfortunateFotheringham, who had evidently, as yet, not been arrested.
It took but a few moments for Mr. Damsel to reach Room 84, and afterintroducing Fotheringham to the detective, left him there.
Fotheringham wore a worried and hunted look. The black rings under hiseyes told of loss of sleep, and his whole demeanor was that of adiscouraged person. Still he bore the keen scrutiny of the detectivewithout flinching, and looking him squarely in the eye, said:
"Mr. Pinkerton, don't ask me to repeat my story again. I have told ittime after time. I have been cross-questioned, and turned and twisteduntil I almost believe I committed the robbery myself, tied my ownhands and feet, put the gag in my own mouth, and hid the money someplace."
Mr. Pinkerton did not answer him, but gazing at him with those sharp,far-seeing eyes, which had ferreted out so many crimes, and had made somany criminals tremble, took in every detail of Fotheringham'sfeatures, as if reading his very soul. Fotheringham leaned back, closedhis eyes wearily, as if it were a matter of the smallest consequencewhat might occur, and remained in that position until Mr. Pinkertonspoke.
"Mr. Fotheringham, I don't believe you had anything to do with therobbery, except being robbed."
"Thank God for those words, Mr. Pinkerton," exclaimed the messenger inbroken tones, the tears welling to his eyes. "That's the first bit ofcomfort I've had since the dastardly villain first knocked me down."
"Can you not give me some peculiarity which you noticed about thisCummings? How did he talk?"
"Slowly, with a very pleasant voice."
"Did he have any marks about him--any scars?"
Fotheringham sat in deep thought for a while.
"He had a triangular gold filling on one of his front teeth, and he hada way of hanging his head a little to one side, as if he were deaf, butI did not see any scars, excepting a bit of court-plaster on one of thefingers of his right hand."
"Was he disguised at all?"
"Not a bit, at least I could see no disguise on him."
"How did he walk?"
"Very erect, and, yes, I noticed he limped a little, as if he had asore foot."
"I see by this report," taking up the papers Mr. Damsel had left, "thatyou have given a very close and full description of his appearance, butthat amounts to little. Disguises are easy, and the mere changing ofclothing will effect a great difference."
"I am positive, from his features, that he was a hard drinker. He hadbeen drinking before he came to the car, as I smelled it on his breath."
"Well, Mr. Fotheringham, I will not detain you any longer. If you areinnocent, you know you have nothing to fear."
"Except the disgrace of being arrested."
"Possibly," said Mr. Pinkerton, shortly, and bowing his visitor out, hepondered long and deeply over the case; but he felt he was groping inthe dark, for the robber had apparently left no trace behind him. Hehad appeared on the scene, done his work, and the dark shadows of thenight had swallowed him up, and Mr. Pinkerton, for the time, wascompletely baffled.
"If he would only write that letter," he muttered, "and I believe hewill--"
A tap at the door followed these words, and two men entered--bothPinkerton detectives.
One of them carried a bundle in his arms.
As Mr. Pinkerton caught sight of it, his face lightened up.
"Ah! You did get it?"
"Yes; found them in a ditch the other side of Kirkwood."
Mr. Pinkerton laughed, and taking the bundle, said:
"Mr. Damsel said they could not be found; but I knew you, Chip. It wasa good move on your part to go after these clothes without waiting fororders. You are starting in well, my boy, and if you have the making ofa detective in you, this case will bring it out."
Chip blushed. Such words of praise from his superior were worth workingfor. The youngest man on the force, he had his spurs to win, and theapprobation of his chief was reward enough.
The bundle was untied, and disclosed a shirt, a pair of drawers, socksand a dirty handkerchief. As the clothing fell on the floor, the odorof some sort of liniment filled the room, and on the leg of thedrawers, below the knee, a stain was seen. Examining it more closely, alittle clotted blood was seen. The stain extended half way around theleg, and showed that the cut or bruise was quite an extensive one.
"No wonder he limped," said Mr. Pinkerton, as he dropped the drawersand picked up the handkerchief.
The handkerchief, a common linen one, had evidently been used as abandage, for it was stained with the liniment, and covered with bloodclots. In one corner had been written a name, but the only letters nowreadable were "W--r--k."
This was placed on the table and the shirt carefully examined.
Nothing, not even the maker's name, could be seen. It was a cheapshirt, such as could be bought at any store which labels everythingbelonging to a man as "Gents' Furnishing." The socks were common, andlike thousands of similar socks.
"Not much of a find, Chip--the letters on the handkerchief can be foundin a hundred different names--a sore knee is covered by a pair oftrousers, and one out of every ten men you meet, limps."
The other detective, who had all this time been silent, now laid someAdams Express letter-heads on the table. On these were written "J. B.Barrett," in all forms of chirography--several sheets were covered withthe name.
"Where did you get these?"
"Out of Fotheringham's trunk, in his room."
"By Jove, what a consummate actor that man is. Do you know, boys, up tothis minute, I firmly believed that messenger was innocent--I have beensold like an ordinary fool," and Mr. Pinkerton looked at the tell-talepapers admiringly, for, although he felt a trifle chagrined at beingtaken in so nicely, he could not but pay tribute to the man who did it,for the man that could get the better of "Billy" Pinkerton, must be oneof extraordinary ability.
"If you please," said Chip, "I do not see that the mere finding of thispaper in Fotheringham's trunk should fasten suspicion on him. If he wasshrewd enough to capture the money, he would certainly not leave suchdamaging evidence as this paper would be. It seems to me that it wouldbe a very plausible theory to advance, that the real robbers placedthis in his trunk to direct suspicion against him. In fact, it was thefirst thing to be seen when the lid was lifted, for I was with Barneywhen he s
earched the room."
Barney said nothing to his companion's remarks, but nodded his head toshow that he acquiesced.
Mr. Pinkerton listened carefully, and merely saying, "we'll look atthis later," gave a very careful and complete description of Cummings,which he directed Chip and Barney to take to the St. Louis branch ofthis firm, and from there send it through all the divisions andsub-divisions of this vast detective cob-web.
After issuing further and more orders relating to the case in hand, heput on his hat, and descended to the hotel office, followed by his twosubordinates.
After the exciting episode in the express car had been brought to aclose by Jim Cummings leaping from the car, the train moved on, andleft him alone, the possessor of nearly $100,000. The game had been adesperate one, and well played, and nervy and cool as he was, thedesperado was forced to seat himself on a pile of railroad ties, untilhe could regain possession of himself, for he trembled in every limb,and shook as with a chill. He pulled himself together, however, andpicking up his valise, with its valuable contents, turned toward theriver.
He stepped from tie to tie, feeling his way in the darkness, everysense on the alert, and straining his eyes to catch a glimpse of somelandmark. He had walked nearly a mile when, from behind a pile of brushheaped up near the track, a man stepped forth. The double click of arevolver was heard, and in an imperative tone, the unknown man calledout:
"Halt! Put your hands above your head. I've got the drop on you!"
Startled as he was by the sudden appearance of the man, and hardlyrecovered from his hard fight with the messenger, Cummings was toobrave and too daring to yield so tamely. Dropping his valise, he sprangupon the audacious stranger so suddenly that he was taken completely bysurprise. The sharp report of the revolver rang out upon the quietnight, and the two men, Cummings uppermost, fell upon the grading ofthe road. The men were very evenly matched, and the fortunes of warwavered from one to the other. The hoarse breathing, the mutteredcurses, and savage blows told that a desperate conflict was takingplace. Clasped in each other's embrace, the men lay, side by side,neither able to gain the mastery. Far around the curve the rumbling ofan approaching freight train was heard. Nearer and nearer it came, andstill the men fought on. With a grip of iron Cummings held thestranger's throat to the rail, and with arms of steel clasped aroundCummings, his assailant pressed him to the ground.
It was an even thing, a fair field and no favor, when the sudden flashof the headlight of the approaching engine, as it shot around thecurve, caused both men to lose their hold and spring from the track.The strong, clear light flooded both with its brilliancy, and in thatinstant mutual recognition took place.
"Wittrock!"
"Moriarity!"
The train swept by, and the darkness again settled around the latecombatants.
Cummings was the first to speak.
"How the devil did you get here, Dan?"
"Just what I was going to ask you, Fred."
"Then you didn't get my letter?"
"What letter."
"I wrote you from Chicago, to be on hand at the 'plant' to-night."
"Did you send it to Leavenworth?"
"Yes."
"I am on my way there now. Got busted in St. Louis, couldn't make araise, and I commenced to count ties for Leavenworth."
"Yes, then you took me for some jay, and tried to hold me up. It'slucky I met you, I need you."
"Any money in it?"
"Slathers of it."
"What's your lay?"
Cummings hesitated a minute before replying, and then said:
"Dan! you went back on me once, I don't know that I can trust you, youare too--"
"Trust me! You give Dan Moriarity a chance to cover some tin, and he'syours, body and soul."
"What's your price to help me, and keep your mouth shut?"
"$2,000."
"It's a go," and Cummings held out his hand.
The compact was thus sealed, and lighting a match, Cummings commencedto look for his valise.
It had, fortunately, fallen outside the rails, and picking it up,Cummings led the way, followed by the somewhat surprised and still morecurious Moriarity.
At this point on the Missouri river, the bluffs rise abruptly from thebanks. The railroad, winding around the curves, was literally hewn fromthe solid rock. Deep gullies and ravines, starting from the water,Intersected all portions of the country, and the thick underbrush madethis place a safe and secure hiding-place for fugitives from justice,river pirates and moonshiners.
Cummings, at a point where one of these gullies branched off from therailroad, turned into it, and with confident steps, followed closely byMoriarity, scaled the rocky precipice. Half way up the toilsome ascent,he halted, and placing his fingers in his mouth, gave three shrillwhistles. Two short, and one long drawn sounds.
It was immediately answered; and in an instant, a flaming torch spranginto view, and almost as quickly was extinguished.
A short climb, and turning sharply to the right, Cummings againstopped. The signal, repeated softly, was answered by a voice asking:
"Who comes there?"
To which Cummings replied:
"It is I, be not afraid," at the same time poking Moriarity in theribs, and chuckling:
"I haven't forgotten my Bible yet, eh, Dan?"
A blanket was lifted to one side, and disclosed to view the entrance toa natural cave, into the wall of which was stuck a naming, pitch-pineknot. Entering, the blanket was dropped, and preceded by a man, whosefeatures the fitful glare of the torch failed to reveal, the twoadventurers were ushered into the main portion of the cavern.
In one corner the copper kettle and coiled worm of a whisky still toldit was the abode of an illicit distiller, or a "moonshiner."
A large fire cast a ruddy glow over the cave, and blankets and cookingutensils were scattered about. As the guide stepped into the light, heturned around, his eyes first falling on the well-stuffed valise andthen upon Cummings' face, which wore such an expression of success andsatisfaction that he exclaimed, as he held out his hand:
"By the ghost of Jesse James, you did it, old man."
"This looks like it, don't it?" said the successful express-car robber,holding his valise to the light. "Don't you know this man, Haight?"
"Damme, if it isn't Dan Moriarity."
"The same old penny--Haight," and Moriarity clasped his hand.
Haight, as host, did the honors. An empty flour barrel, covered by asquare board, made an acceptable table. Small whisky barrels did dutyas chairs, and a substantial repast of boiled fish, partridges and graysquirrels, supplemented with steaming glasses of hot toddy, satisfiedthe inner man, and, for a time, caused them to forget the excitingtrain of events through which they had just passed.
After their hunger had been appeased pipes were lit, and the fragrantglass of spirits, filled to the brim, were placed conveniently andseductively near at hand.
Cummings then related, in detail, his night's exploit and ended byopening the valise and taking out the packages of currency which itcontained. It was a strange picture to gaze upon. The fire-lit cave,shrouded outside with mystery and darkness, but its heart alive withlight and warmth; the rude appliances and paraphernalia for distillingthe contraband "mountain dew"; the floor strewn with blankets,cooking-tins, a rifle or two, and provisions, while, bathed in the warmglow of the cheerful fire, secure from pursuit and comfortably housedfrom the weather, the three men, with greedy eyes, drank in theenchanting vision of luxurious wealth, which lay, bound in its neatwrappers, upon the floor of the cave.
Not one of these men could be classed with professional criminals,Moriarity, perhaps, had several times done some "fine work," but wasunknown in the strata of crime, and was never seen in the society of"experts."
His attack upon Cummings could be called his debut, just as Cummings'late success could be looked on as his first definite step within theportals of outlawry and crime. Haight, as an accessory to the robbery,had hardly
taken his first plunge. Some time before this these samemen, with others, had planned an extensive robbery on the same line,but Moriarity weakened at the last moment and the whole thing fellthrough. It was this incident which caused Cummings to doubt histrustworthiness. Still Moriarity had a certain amount of bull courage,of which Cummings was aware, and if his palm was but crossed by thealmighty dollar he would be a valuable ally. For this reason Cummingshad taken him again into his confidence.
For some moments the three men sat silently puffing their pipes andpicturing the delight of spending their ill-gotten booty, whenCummings, rising from his seat, placed the money on the table and cutthe strings which bound it together.
A hasty count revealed $53,000 in currency and about $40,000 in bonds,mortgage deeds, and other unconvertible valuables.
He had evidently fully considered his plans, and without any previousbeating around the bush, proceeded to execute them.
Opening a package of smaller bills he divided it into three parts,giving Haight and Moriarity each a share. The remainder of the plunderhe again divided into three portions, and taking the larger one forhimself, proceeded to wrap it and tie it securely; his companions,taking their cue from him, doing likewise.
"Boys," he then said, "as soon as the robbery is discovered the companywill turn hell itself upside down to find it. Pinkerton will be on ourtrail in forty-eight hours. The first thing they will do will be tosuspect the messenger. He will be arrested, and while they aremonkeying with him we must get out of the way. I told the poor devil Iwould write a letter to some paper, I think I said the Globe-Democrat,which would clear him, but we must make ourselves safe first.
"Dan, you must get to Leavenworth, find Cook, and have him plant whatyou have. Haight will go to Chicago and know what to do, whileI--well--I am going south for my health."
Stopping abruptly he drew his revolver, and stepping up to Moriarity,placed the cold muzzle to his temple. His eyes, cold as steel and sharpas an arrow, were fastened upon Dan's very heart, and speaking withterrible earnestness, he said:
"Dan Moriarity, if ever you break faith with me, I'll kill you like acur, so help me God!"
Moriarity stood the ordeal without flinching, and holding his righthand above his head, took a solemn oath never to betray, by word ordeed, the trust which had been placed in him.
Without another word each man carefully placed his particular chargesecurely about his person. Every scrap of paper was gathered up, and,after extinguishing the fire, the three men left the cave, and in thedawn of the early morning descended to the railroad track.
Hands were shaken, the last words of advice given, and Cummings plungedinto the labyrinth of gullies and underbrush, leaving his companionseach to pursue his own way, Moriarity going west, while Haight, goingeast, sprang the fence, and entering a thick patch of bushes, broughtout a horse, saddled and bridled. Mounting this he struck into a quickcanter across the country toward St. Louis.