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CHARLES LEGATE--A FORGER--STUDYING HIM UP--FIFTY THOUSAND
DOLLARS, HIS "PRIZE"--DESCRIPTION OF LEGATE--NO TWO PERSONS
EVER AGREE IN DESCRIBING ANOTHER--A MARK HIT UPON--START FOR
ST. LOUIS--MUSINGS--CURIOUS INCIDENTS OF MY JOURNEY--A
GENEALOGICAL "DODGE"--ON LEGATE'S TRACK AT LAST--ST. LOUIS
REACHED--OF MY STAY THERE--LEAVE FOR NEW ORLEANS PER STEAMER--A
GENIAL CROWD OF MEN AND WOMEN ON BOARD--CHARACTERISTICS OF A
MISSISSIPPI "VOYAGE"--NAPOLEON, ARKANSAS--SOME "CHARACTERS"
COME ON BOARD THERE--A GAMBLING SCENE ON BOARD--ONE JACOBS
TAKES A PART--A PRIVATE CONFERENCE WITH JACOB'S NEGRO
SERVANT--A TERRIFIC FIGHT ON BOARD AMONG THE GAMBLERS--JACOBS
SET UPON, AND MAKES A BRAVE DEFENCE--HOW I DISCOVERED "JACOBS"
TO BE PROBABLY LEGATE, IN THE MELEE--HE IS BADLY BRUISED--HIS
LIFE DESPAIRED OF--WE ARRIVE IN NEW ORLEANS--JACOBS'
IDENTIFICATION AS LEGATE--LEGATE PROVES TO BE VERY RICH--A
CURIOUS VISIT TO AN ITALIAN ARTIST'S STUDIO--A NOVEL MEDICINE
ADMINISTERED TO SIGNORE CANCEMI, THE SICK ARTIST--HE GETS WELL
AT ONCE.
Early in my detective life, when I was more ready than now to accept
business which might lead me far from home, I was commissioned by a New
York mercantile house to go to St. Louis first, and "anywhere else
thereafter on the two continents" (as the senior member of the house
_fervently_ defined my latitude) where my thread might lead, to work up
a subtle case of forgery to the amount of about fifty thousand dollars,
out of which the house had been defrauded by one Charles Legate, a
Canadian by birth, but combining in himself all the craft of an
Italian, with the address of the politest Frenchman, and the bold
perseverance and self-complacency of a London "speculator." The task
before me was a difficult one, and at that time more than now I craved
"desperate jobs," entering into them with an enthusiasm proportioned to
the trials and dangers they involved.
After a thorough study in every particular of the correspondence
between Legate and the house, which covered a long period of time, and
in which was disclosed to me, as I thought, a pretty clear
understanding of the man in all his various moods and systems of
fraudulent pursuit, and having gathered from the members of the house
every particular in regard to the personal appearance of Legate, of
which they could possess me, I started on my mission. The house had
been unable for some time to get any word from Legate, or any tidings
of his recent whereabouts from others; so we felt certain that I should
not find him at St. Louis, the point from which they had last heard
from him, and where they had evidence he had for some weeks resided; so
I was even unusually particular in my inquiries of the firm as to
Legate's mode of dress, the peculiarities of his manner, and all
possible personal indices. Legate was one of those men whom it is
difficult to describe, being of medium height, having black eyes and
black hair, a nose neither large nor small, mouth of medium size, teeth
the same, nothing peculiar about his cast, and his complexion sometimes
quite light, at others "reddish." There's nothing more difficult to
determine by inquiry from others than a man's complexion, no two
persons seeing it alike. He dressed neither gaudily nor carelessly, and
though my informants all agreed that he was a man of consummate
address, yet none of them could by imitation give me any definite
representation of his manner.
Almost in despair of learning anything at all definite about his
personnel, which might enable me to identify Legate, I finally said,
"Gentlemen, almost everybody is in some way deformed or
ill-formed--nose a little to one side--one foot larger than the other,
leading to a habit of standing on it more firmly than on the other--one
shoulder higher than the other--an arm a little out of shape--hand
stiff--fingers gone, or something of the sort."
"See here," exclaimed Mr. Harris, a junior member of the firm,
interrupting me, and resting his face pensively for a half minute on
his hand, the elbow of which was pressed upon the table at which we
sat. "Ah, yes; I have it. You've hit the nail on the head. I remember
noticing once, when Legate dined with me at Delmonico's, that the end,
or about half, of his little finger of the left hand was gone. He
doesn't show it much. I remember I looked a second time before I fully
assured myself that what I first thought I discovered was so. He is as
adroit about concealing that, as he is in his general proceedings." I
felt great relief to learn so much, and bidding my employers good day,
found myself, as speedily as I well could, on the way to St. Louis,
taking my course up the river, and on viâ the New York Central
Railroad. I suppose that it is the fact with every business man when
travelling in the pursuit of his occupation, either as a merchant going
to the big cities to buy goods, the speculator hunting out a good
investment somewhere in real estate,--no matter what the business,--to
be more or less occupied in thought regarding it. But no man has half
or a tenth part so much occasion for constant weariness about his
business as has the detective officer, whether he be in pursuit of an
escaped villain, working up a civil case, searching for testimony in a
given cause, or what not; for however deep his theories, or well laid
his plans, some accident or incident, apparently trifling in itself,
may occur to give him in a moment more light than he might otherwise
obtain in a month's searching and study--a fact which is ever uppermost
in my mind when in the pursuit of my calling, and I endeavor to turn
everything possible to account. It so happened, that when along about
Syracuse on the cars, I overheard some men, who were evidently enjoying
each other's society greatly in the narration of stories and
experiences, saying something about "home" and St. Louis; and I fancied
they were, as proved to be the case, residents of that city; and I
became consequently quite interested in them, hoping that something
would occur on their way to allow me, without obtrusion, to make their
acquaintance; for they were both men who apparently know "what is going
on around them," and very possibly might know Legate, or something
about him, which might serve me. Indeed, I half fancied that one of
them might be Legate himself; for he would answer the description given
me of that person as well as anybody I should be apt to find in a day's
travel; and I was more than half confirmed in my suspicions, as you can
readily surmise, when I discovered that the traveller was lacking the
little finger, or nearly all of it, on the left hand! Of course, thus
aroused, I became very watchful, and devised various plans of getting
into the acquaintance of the gentlemen as soon as might be. But the
cars rolled on and on, and no chance occurred to place myself in their
immediate presence, although I walked up and down the aisle of the
cars, occasionally lingering by this or that seat, and passing a word
with the occupants; but somehow I could not get at the men in question
in this or any other like way; but I kept myself as much as possible
within hearing of their ludicrous, comical, or exciting stories, over
which, at times, they laughed immoderately.
Eventually, as the cars were starting on from a station at which we
stopped for a moment, there came on board a fine, brusque, jolly, but
courtly-looking man, of that class who bear about them the unmistakable
evidences of good breeding, frankness, and honor, and whose associates
are never less than respectable people, and who, as he brushed down the
aisle of the car in search of a seat, accosted the man upon whom in
particular I had my eye,--
"Ah, Mr. Hendricks! I am very glad to meet you," extending his hand and
giving him a cordial grasp and "shake" which assured me that the man
Hendricks was a very different character from the Mr. Legate in search
of whom I was making my journey; and so my "air castles," founded upon
suspicion, came to the ground. I know not why, but I really felt a
relief to find that it was not Legate, after all, notwithstanding it
would have been a happy circumstance for me, had Mr. Hendricks really
been he.
But I listened still to the St. Lousians' story-telling, which grew
more and more loud as we moved on, in consequence, I suppose, of their
occasional attention to a little flask of wine which each gentleman
carried; but they did not become boisterous. Mr. Hendricks was
narrating to his friend,--whose name by this time I had discovered to
be Phelps,--what was evidently an intensely interesting story to the
latter, when he, striking his hand very heavily upon his leg,
exclaimed, "That Legate was one of the most accomplished villains--no
softer word will do--that I ever heard of."
"Ah, ha!" I thought to myself, "now I am in the right company to get a
clew to the fellow. But stop; he said "was," not _is_. I wonder if
Legate is dead: perhaps he is; and I became quite fearful that he might
be, and so my mission prove entirely fruitless. But I could see no
chance to break in upon their conversation, here, or make their
acquaintance. "_That_ Legate," too, might also be another than the
Charles Legate, whom I was seeking. What shall I do? and I pondered
over the matter. Finally I made the bold resolution to interrupt the
gentlemen at the first half-favorable opportunity, my seat being one
back of theirs, on the other side of the car, and so near that I might
do so quite readily. While talking of this man Legate, their
conversation was, in the main, more subdued, and as if half
confidential, than upon other topics, which made it the more difficult
for me to interpolate a query, for I had by this time resolved upon my
plan.
Presently I heard Mr. Hendricks say, "The last I heard of him, he'd
gone to Mexico." I fancied this must relate to Legate, and began to
think that my journey might indeed extend "over the two continents,"
according to my conditional orders on starting. Presently I heard the
name Legate, and as Messrs. Hendricks and Phelps were at this time in
the height of their jolly humor, I fancied they wouldn't mind the
obtrusion. I stepped from my seat to theirs, and said, "Gentlemen,
you'll pardon me, but I am somewhat interested in the genealogy of the
Legate family both at the west and east; and just hearing you speak the
name Legate, it occurred to me that perhaps I could get a new name to
add to my list. Is it a gentleman of the western branch of whom you
were speaking?"
"O, no, sir," replied Mr. Hendricks; "the man we were speaking of
doesn't belong to the United States at all. He was (and is, if alive) a
Canadian, who lived for a while at St. Louis. Are you a Legate, sir, or
a relative of the family? allow me to ask."
"No, sir; simply a general genealogist. You know all men have their
weaknesses: genealogical studies are among mine."
"I asked," said he, "because, if your name was Legate, you might have
been offended, if I had told you that the Legate we were talking about
wouldn't add any grace to your family list."
"Ah, ha! then I infer that he might have been at least a man of bad
habits--perhaps a dishonest one."
"Well, the public opinion in St. Louis is, that this man Legate wasn't
very honest, however good his general habits may have been."
"I am sorry," said I, "that any member of the Legate family anywhere
should bring disgrace upon the name; but we can't always help these
things--a pretty good family generally throughout the country, I find.
Permit me to ask, what was this Legate's first name? perhaps I have
heard of him before."
"Charles," said Mr. Hendricks; "or familiarly, among his old
acquaintances, 'Charley Black Eyes Legate,' to distinguish him from a
blue-eyed gentleman by the same name. His French friends, too,--there
are a great many French-speaking people in St. Louis,--called him
'Charley _Noir_' (Black--short for black eyes.)"
Having learned so much, I was not anxious to press my inquiries, at
that time, beyond simply asking if he was still residing in St. Louis,
and was assured that he had departed--nobody knew to what point--nine
months before. I managed, before we arrived in St. Louis, to make the
further acquaintance of these gentlemen, without letting them at all
into my business; indeed, so cordial had they become as to insist on
calling on me the next day after my arrival at the Planter's Hotel, and
giving me a long ride about the city.
During the ride I referred to Legate, and learned from them that he was
a swindler and a gambler; that for a while he moved in the best society
in St. Louis, and was thought a "pink of a man," possessing good
manners, and being an unusually interesting colloquist and
story-teller. He was considerable of a "romancer among the ladies,"
said Hendricks.
"Better say necromancer; that would be nearer the truth," suggested Mr.
Phelps.
"O," said I, "a man given, in short, to wine, women, and cards, you
mean?"
"Yes, exactly; but a man might be all that, and not be a Legate,"
responded Hendricks. "The fact is, sir, this Legate is a most
unscrupulous villain--a man who would hesitate at nothing. If I am
rightly informed, he made a murderous assault in New Orleans once upon
an old friend who happened to cross him in some way. It was in that
encounter, Phelps, that he lost his finger, I've heard."
I could no longer have any doubt that I was on the right track, and I
felt that there could be no danger in confiding my special business in
St. Louis to these men, who might be able to give me great assistance,
possibly. So I told them that I was hunting this same Charles Legate,
of the frauds he had perpetrated upon the New York house, and that I
wished to find him within a given time in order to secure a certain
amount of property in Canada, which, after a certain period, would be
so disposed of as to be of no avail to my employers, and that I was
willing to give any reasonable amount for information which might
enable me to reach him.
My friends told me that they thought my case an almost hopeless one,
that Legate's sagacity could outwit the very d----l, and that he was
the most uncertain man to "track" in the world; but they would do all
in their power to find out who were his principal associates, during
the last of his stay in St. Louis, the time, as near as might be
determined, when he left, and what course he took. They had heard that
he had gone to Mexico; but that was probably only a "blinder."
I staid in St. Louis five days, prosecuting my inquiries; but all I
could learn of any import was, that the last which was known of Legate
in St. Louis, he was constantly with a certain pack of gamblers, of
rather a desperate order, and that, with his quick temper, it was
possible that he had got into a fight (as some had suspected), and been
made way with--possibly thrown into the Mississippi. This was not
decidedly encouraging, and I was on the point of writing back to my
employers that it was useless to search for Legate longer at that time;
that they would have to trust to some future accident to reveal him, if
still alive, indeed. But having another affair on hand at the same
time, which necessarily called me to New Orleans before returning to
New York, I thought better of the matter, and merely wrote to my New
York friends, that having gotten all possible clew to Legate in St.
Louis, I should take boat next day for New Orleans, from which point
they would hear from me duly.
The next afternoon I took the steamer "Continental," after having made
all arrangements with my new friends in St. Louis to apprise me if ever
Legate "turned up" in that city; and down the mighty Mississippi the
proud boat bore me and a large number of the most cheerful, genial, and
hearty men and women I ever travelled with. There's a certain frankness
and generosity about the western and southern people which captivated
me, when I first went among them, at once; but though I had often been
in the west, I had never encountered a finer class of travellers than
departed with me that day from St. Louis, on board the well-tried
steamer Continental.
Nothing special, save the usual jollity, mirth, good living, copious
drinking, and lively card-playing, which characterized a "voyage down
the Mississippi," especially in those days, occurred, and being not
over well, I kept my berth considerably--until our arrival at Napoleon,
Arkansas, where we stopped to "wood up" and take on passengers,
accessions of whom we had had all along our course, at every
stopping-place. At Napoleon quite a concourse came on, mainly of not
well-to-do people, mostly migrating to Texas in order to better their
worldly condition, as they thought. Poor fellows! I fear many of them
found themselves doomed to disappointment. But to my story. Among the
on-comers at Napoleon were three men of marked individualities. They
came aboard separately. One of them was quite large and comely, neatly
dressed, in the style then prevailing at the North; nothing about him
but certain provincialisms of speech to indicate that he might not be a
northern man. The other two wore long hair, and beards, and slouched
hats, and had the air of well-to-do planters of middle age. One of them
was accompanied by a negro, the most obsequious of all his race, and
who, whenever ordered by his master to do anything, always took great
care to indicate his willingness to obey by saying, very obsequiously,
"Yes, Massa Colonel," or "Yes, Massa Jacobs;" by which fact I of course
learned what the negro supposed, at least, his master's name to be, but
there was something about this man's appearance which excited my
suspicion, at first, that he might not be a planter, after all.
It was near nightfall when we departed from Napoleon and it was not
long after the cabin was lighted up that the usual card-playing was
resumed; and these three men crowded, with others, round the tables, to
look on at first, and of course to take part when occasion might offer.
Jacobs was particularly observant of the games as they proceeded.
Although I saw that he had peculiar talents for the gaming-table, I
wondered why he lingered so long before taking a hand. But he was
biding his time. The bar, of course, was pretty well patronized, and
the finest looking of the three men in question grew apparently more
and more mellow. The stakes at this time were not large, but the
players were waxing more and more earnest, when this man--assuming to
be slightly intoxicated--exclaimed, "Gentlemen, I say, I say--do you
hear me?--that this fun is rather slow. Is there anybody here that
wants to play for something worth while? See here," said he,
"strangers, please let me draw up my seat," pushing his chair up
between those of two players; "see here; there's a cool two thousand,
that I want to double or lose to-night," and poured from a red bag a
heap of gold, over a portion of which he clapped his large hand. "I am
in for it. Is there anybody that wants to make this money?"
"Well, stranger," said Jacobs, "when these players can give us room,
I'm your man; that is, till my pile's gone. 'Tain't so big as yours,
and it ought to go for a new nigger down to Orleans. I must have
another hand; but your challenge is rather provoking, I must confess,
and I don't care if I try you."
The players, moved by that curiosity which such a proceeding between
"strangers" would be apt to excite, politely made room for the
combatants, and in their turn became lookers on. The large man played
well, but he was (apparently) intoxicated, and now and then "bungled,"
giving the game into Jacobs' hands at times. My curiosity about Jacobs
was, I know not really why, constantly increasing, and when the third
of that trio had entered the lists with a partner, I managed to slip
out down to the lower deck, where Jacobs had ordered his servant, and
fall into conversation with him.
"Are you Mr. Jacobs' nigger?"
"Yes, massa; I'se Massa Jacobs' body sarvant."
"Your master's a jolly fellow--isn't he? He's a planter, I suppose--has
a great number of "hands"--hasn't he?"
"No, Massa Jacobs don't plant. He's a banker, or a specumater, as they
call um up there."
"Up where?"
"Little Rock--we lives about five miles wess of Little Rock."
"O, then he don't plant. What do those speculators do? I never heard of
them before."
"O, massa, you's quare--ain't you? You never knows about the
specumaters? That's quare."
"But tell me what they do;" and the darky, turning up the whites of his
eyes in a most inimitable manner, and cocking his head to one side,
while he put his big hands into the attitude of one about to shuffle
cards, went through the motions of dealing off cards with a celerity
that indicated that he, too, might be a "specumater," as he doubtless
was, among the darkies, having taken lessons in his master's office.
When he had finished this exhibition, he whirled about on his heel in
true negro style, and with great glee shuffled a half dozen steps, and
ended with an air of triumph, which indicated to me that he thought his
master a great man. The slaves used, despite all they might suffer from
a cruel master, to take great pride in him if he excelled in anything,
or was a noted man.
"Your master's a great speculator, then? I reckon I had not better try
him, eh?"
"Tell troof, massa, I reckon dare's nobody on dis heah boat that can
beat massa;" and he looked very serious, and spoke low, as if kindly
warning me.
I had learned enough, and proceeded to the cabin, and watched the play.
For a while Jacobs played with the large "stranger," sometimes losing a
little, sometimes winning more, and at last gave up the play, having
won quite a sum.
Noting Jacobs' success, and the "stranger," too, having ordered on
sundry glasses of liquor during the play, and having become apparently
more heedless, others anxiously sought his place. A party of four was
made up, and the large "stranger" and the third one formed two as
partners. Jacobs posted himself where he could signal to the large
"stranger," who, with his partner, went on now winning great successes.
Frequent charges of "cheating" were indulged in by the losers, and
Jacobs was appealed to to decide the points in issue, which he always
did favorably for the large "stranger." But as the losses grew heavier,
the suffering parties became incensed, and charged Jacobs as coöperator
with the large "stranger" and his partner; and finally some one on
board declared that he knew Jacobs and the large "stranger" to be
chums; that they travelled together up and down the river, swindling
everybody they could "rope in" to play. This, being whispered about at
first, became finally talked aloud; and then commenced fearful
criminations and recriminations among the parties. Pistols and knives
were freely brandished, and a grand melee seemed on the point of
breaking out; and it did break at last, fearfully. All the while my eye
was upon Jacobs. I could not, for some reason, avert it. Somehow he
seemed to me to wonderfully resemble the description I had had of
Legate; but there was this difficulty in the way of my suspicions.
Jacobs wore upon the little finger of his left hand a large seal-ring,
and there was unmistakably a full-formed finger, which articulated at
the joints properly, and I must be mistaken. During the earlier part of
the disturbance, which the officers of the boat tried in vain to quell,
the big "stranger" had been the chief centre of abuse and attack; but
suddenly some one exclaimed, "That black-muzzled wretch is worse than
the big one," and the whole party of sufferers turned instantly upon
him. Jacobs was a brave fellow, and with cocked revolver in hand
breasted the whole, and swore he would kill the first man who laid
hands on him, standing then on one side of the cabin with his back to
the door of a state-room. Suddenly a passenger, who had retired for the
night, opened the door behind him, and Jacobs, being stiffly braced
against it, "lurched" for an instant, when an agile, wiry fellow of the
angry crowd suddenly jumped forward and grasped his revolver, turning
its muzzle upwards, when off went the pistol--the first shot, which was
a signal for a desperate conflict, in which Jacobs struggled hard for
the possession of his revolver, but was overpowered, and most severely
beaten, so much so, that he had finally to be carried to his berth; and
I followed the crowd that bore him there. He was speechless and nearly
dead, I thought, and they laid him in his bunk. I noticed that the ring
had gone from his finger, and with it, lo! the end of the finger also,
leaving only the first joint and part of the second. I examined the
stump, and saw that it was old. No further doubt rested on my mind that
Jacobs and Legate were one and the same, and I immediately called the
attention of the passengers to the loss of the ring and the finger, and
caused search to be made for the same, which we found evidently
unharmed, having somehow fallen into the state-room, the opening of the
door of which first threw Jacobs off from his balance. I took charge of
the finger, which was made of hardened wax, as my trophy, and some one,
I knew not who, took the ring.
[Illustration: THE WAX FINGER DISCOVERED.]
The big "stranger," who was badly bruised too, was not so much wounded
that he could not be about next day, but kept aloof from poor Jacobs,
probably because he had protested utter unacquaintance with him, and
the next night, with the third "stranger," got off the boat, it was
supposed, at the point where the boat stopped to wood, for the next day
they were nowhere to be found on the boat; but poor Jacobs was so
severely handled that his life was despaired of by a doctor on board,
and we took him along to New Orleans. Meanwhile I had made my
suspicions and business known to the captain of the boat, and we took
means for Jacobs' detention on board after the rest of the passengers
should leave. But, poor fellow! there was hardly need in his case for
so much caution or prevision, for when we arrived in the city, Jacobs
could not have left the boat had he tried, so weak and sick was he. I
left him on board, and hastened to the office of a friend of mine, once
a detective in New York, and told him the story, asking his counsel how
best to proceed.
"Why," said he, "this is a strange affair; but I think I can put you in
the way at once of identifying this Jacobs as the very Legate whom you
are after. Indeed, rest assured that he _is_ your man, without doubt."
Going to his drawer, he produced and showed to me an advertisement of a
year before, offering a reward of two thousand dollars for the arrest
of one "Charles Legate, alias Charles L. Montford," giving a
description of his person, but pointing especially to the fact that he
was wanting a portion of the little finger of the left hand. "You see,"
said my friend, "that _we_ have an interest in the fellow as well as
you. If he is our man, we are all 'hunky-dory,'" said he, "for he is
very rich, as we have found out--know where his money is."
"Rich?" asked I. "Why, then, does he continue to lead the life he does?"
"Why? Why, indeed, such a question from an old detective like you
astonishes me: it wouldn't, though, if a woman, or a fool, asked it,"
said he, giving me a curious wink. "Don't you know yet that the
Mississippi is infested with old gamblers rich as Jews, and who can't
give up their pious trade to save their lives? Come along." And he took
me down St. Louis Street a ways, and stepped into a side street, and
standing before a door a moment, said, "Give me the finger, and follow
me." We mounted a couple of flights of dirty stairs, and my friend
opened a door into a sort of anatomical museum of old gypsum and wax
casts, and all sorts of small sculptural devices.
"Mr. Cancemi at home?" asked my friend of a weird-looking lad, whose
hands were besmeared with the plaster he was working. "Si signore,"
(yes, sir), was the reply; "but my fader is much sick, questo giorno"
(to-day).
"But I must see him a moment. Won't you go ask him to come down?"
The family, it seemed, occupied rooms in the loft above. The boy
hurried off, and presently the father came down with him, almost too
feeble to walk.
"Cancemi," said my friend, "you are sick; but I've brought you some
medicine that will cheer you up at once."
"Ah, Dio," exclaimed the old Italian, "I vish it be so. I am much
ammalato (sick). What have you brought?--Tell quick."
"See here!" said my friend; "did you ever see that before?" producing
the finger. The old Italian seemed a new man as his eyes dilated at the
sight with wonder, and he went into raptures over the matter, the
reason for which I could not understand, and in his broken English
muttered a thousand exclamations of surprise and joy. Of course he
identified the finger as the one he had made for the "villain-scoundrel
Legate." Legate, I found, had never paid the Italian for his skillful
handiwork, and he had been promised a portion of the reward, if my
friend should succeed in earning it--hence his joy.
We left the old Italian soon, and proceeded to the boat, where we
confronted Jacobs, and made him acknowledge his identity with Legate.
My business was made known to him. He lay on the boat for two days,
until her return trip, when we had him carefully taken to a private
hospital, where he could, beyond possibility of escape, be confined,
and awaited his slow recovery under the best medical and other
attendance we could procure. I telegraphed to my parties in New York,
one of whom came on directly, reaching New Orleans within ten days from
that time; and before two weeks had passed from the time of his
arrival, we had settled matters with the now penitent, because caged,
Legate; and the New Orleans parties who had offered the reward were now
called in by my detective friend, and settled their affairs with him by
accepting a mortgage he held for twenty-five thousand dollars on a
sugar plantation in the Opelousas country, paying the reward to my
friend, and losing nothing in the result.
Only for the advertisement in the New Orleans paper, probably Legate
would never have thought to procure a false finger; but for which I
should never have been able to satisfy myself that Jacobs, in his
bruised and battered state, was the identical Legate, and might have
left him without further investigation on the boat.
The old Italian recovered his health speedily in his joy over Legate's
capture, and was not forgotten by my friend, who, by the way, but for
this old artist, would of course have never known of Legate's attempt
at disguising the only peculiar mark about him, and would not,
therefore, have been so sure of his identity when I told him my story.
"Straws show which way the wind blows," and "fingers," though they be
inanimate and waxen, may "point," you see, unmistakably to a villain.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOTTERY TICKET, No. 1710.
--------------
A DIGNIFIED REAL-ESTATE HOLDER, VERY WEALTHY, LOSES SEVEN
THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE DOLLARS--OUR FIRST COUNCIL
AT THE HOWARD HOUSE--VISIT TO HIS HOUSE TO EXAMINE HIS SAFE AND
SERVANTS--A LOTTERY TICKET, NO. 1710, FOUND IN THE SAFE--HOW
CAME THIS MYSTERIOUS PAPER THERE?--CONCLUSIONS THEREON--VISIT
TO BALTIMORE, AND PLANS LAID IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LOTTERY
AGENT TO CATCH THE THIEF--THE TICKET "DRAWS"--THE NEW YORK
AGENCY "MANAGED"--TRAP TO IDENTIFY THE THIEF--THE SECURITY AND
"SOLITUDE" OF A GREAT CITY--A NEW YORK BANKER--MR. LATIMER
VISITS A GAMBLING-HOUSE IN DISGUISE.--IDENTIFIES THE SUSPECTED
YOUNG MAN--THE AGENT AT BALTIMORE WAXES GLEEFUL--HIS PLAN OF
OPERATIONS OVERRULED--MEETING OF "INTERESTED PARTIES" AT THE
OFFICE IN BALTIMORE--A LITTLE GAME PLAYED UPON THE NEW YORK
AGENT--MR. WORDEN, THE THIEF, IDENTIFIES THE TICKET, AND FALLS
INTO THE TRAP OF A PRE-ARRANGED "DRAFT"--DISCLOSES SOME OF THE
IDENTICAL MONEY STOLEN--WE ARREST HIM--EXCITING SCRAMBLE--THE
MONEY RECOVERED--WORDEN'S AFTER LIFE.
"Your name is ----, I believe, sir?" asked a tall, gray-haired
gentleman of me one evening, as I was stepping out of the Carleton
House, a hotel then on the corner of Broadway and Leonard Street.
"Yes, that's my name," offering my hand to receive the already extended
hand of the gentleman.
"I have sought you," said he, "at the suggestion of my friend and
lawyer, James T. Brady; who tells me that you are able, if anybody is,
to help me in my loss."
"You've had a loss? Well, sir, you wish to tell me about it. Shall we
go in here, or where shall we go to talk it over."
"Can we not walk up Broadway, and I tell you during our walk?"
"Probably that would not be the best way," I replied, "for it is
doubtless as a detective that you need me, and we might meet somebody
who knows me as such, and who might be the very last person whom I
should like to have see us together," I replied.
"You are right, sir," said he, smiling. "Your caution shows me that you
understand your business; but it is too late to go far up town to my
house.--I have it. I'll call at the Howard House, take a private room,
and you follow, in half an hour, say, and finding this name on the
register with my room, come up. Here's my card. Come directly to the
room, and say nothing."
"That's a good plan, sir. I will be there;" and he left, and I, having
finished my business at the Carleton, wandered slowly up Broadway to
kill time, wondering what such a stately, dignified, cool-headed sort
of a looking man as he--a real estate holder to large amount, a man
whom everybody knew by reputation as one of the most quiet in the
city--could have for me to do. I suspected forgery, arson, or some
attempt at it, and a dozen other things. But I drove them all out of
mind in a few minutes, for it is never well for a detective to indulge
in anticipations in such a juncture of affairs; and meeting just then
an old friend, beguiled a few minutes with him along Broadway, and
finally taking out my watch, saw I had only ample time to get to the
Howard at the time appointed, and so "suddenly recollected" an
appointment, excused myself to my friend, sought the Howard and the
gentleman there, whom I readily found in waiting for me.
"You are here on the moment," said he, as he closed and locked the door
on my entry. "Take this seat, if you please, and I'll try to be short
with my story."
"Go on, sir," said I; "but please don't be in too much haste. I have
plenty of time; but tell me all your story as you would, and probably
did, to Mr. Brady."
"Well, sir, day before yesterday morning I missed from my safe, at my
house, seven thousand two hundred and fifty-five dollars, which I
placed there the night before, having received most of it that day, at
an hour too late to make deposit of it in bank;" and here he paused.
"Well, sir," said I, "who took it? That's the question, I presume,
which you wish to solve."
"Yes, that, of course, is the point; but I can't fix my suspicions upon
anybody."
"You say that most of this money was received after banking hours.
Suppose you tell me next where and of whom you received it, and in what
amounts, for I infer that you did not receive it in a lump."
"No; I collected it partly from rentals due, and some came to me from
the country,--notes due,--and some from the sale of a cargo of pressed
hay over at Jersey City, and I did not get around in time to put it in
bank, such as I had, before closing hours," looking at memoranda.
"Well, I am glad you have memoranda of the amounts. Now tell me where
you received these, each one;" and he went on to tell me, in detail,
where, and who was near by, if anybody, in each case where a tenant or
other debtor paid him money. I listened intently, and could get at
nothing worthy of note till he came to the hay transaction at Jersey
City. It appeared that there were several persons standing about at the
time of the payment of the money to my client (call him Latimer, for
further convenience), mostly working-men, some dealers, loafers, and
two or three well-dressed, but rather dashily-dressed, young men. Mr.
Latimer had been obliged to take out considerable money from his own
purse, in order the better to arrange it to put in the amount then
received; and feeling that he had quite an amount of money, even at
that time, and he added some before he reached home, put his purse in
his inner vest pocket, thinking of nothing worse than possibly
encountering pickpockets, or losing his money by accident on the way.
In his vest pocket he thought it secure, and secure it was to take
home, but not secure for keeping.
The result of our conference was that evening, that I should be obliged
to go with Mr. Latimer to his home the next morning, when he would call
at my office for me. I could not go that night, and perhaps it was as
well; for I had a business appointment which led me, not an hour after
parting with Mr. Latimer, into certain haunts where I fancied,--it was
mere imagination, if it were not instinctive perception, in which I do
not much believe, although many mysterious things have occurred in my
life which seemed to be governed or directed by some subtle law, which
the human brain is not yet strong enough to discover,--where I fancied,
I say, that I saw some of the money which Mr. Latimer had lost,
displayed, and distributed in dissipation. In short, I imagined that I
had stumbled upon the thief, and had I known the character of the
bills, which Mr. Latimer, however, could not tell me much about, I
might have seized my man then and there.
But the next morning I visited Mr. Latimer's house in an up-town
street, which was not then, as now, compactly builded; at least, in the
portion of it where he dwelt. I examined everything about the premises,
concluded where a thief might have gotten into the house without much
trouble, and finally commenced questioning Mr. Latimer about his
family, the servants, etc. None of Mr. L.'s family, except his wife,
were at home. Two boys, or young men, were at school, rather at college
one of them, and both far away, and the daughters were at the female
seminary in Cazenovia. As to the servants, in whose honesty Mr. Latimer
had the utmost confidence, I had them called into my presence, and
questioned them about the condition of the house on the night of the
robbery. One of them heard some slight noise, at some time between
twelve o'clock and four in the morning; was not definite. The others
slept soundly; heard nothing. They did not seem to me likely to be
connected with anybody, or to have lovers who would be apt to be of the
class who might have robbed the safe. Besides, nobody, not even Mrs.
Latimer, knew that Mr. L. had deposited any amount of money in his safe
that night. He was of the order of men who attend strictly to "their
own business," too strictly, sometimes, when evidence is wanted
especially. His bedroom adjoined the room in which the safe stood, and
was so situated in regard to a pair of "back stairs," that if the
robber had come in from the back (on the theory of his possible
complicity with the servants), he could have hardly gotten into the
room without disturbing Mr. and Mrs. Latimer, unless on that night,
which was probably the case, they slept with unusual soundness. I
concluded that the robber must be an expert one, and somehow I
constantly referred in mind to the fellow whom I have alluded to before
as having been seen liberally dispensing money. He seemed to me
competent for the business; but there was one thing which I left to the
last, which arose in my mind at first on my interview with Mr. Latimer
at the Howard; but I said nothing of it then, for I had learned that
the best way is to approach the most serious troubles softly; as often
the "course of things," as they take shape in an interview, will better
point out how this or that mystery occurred than all the attempted
solutions which one might, _a priori_, project for a week, and that one
thing which perplexed me was, How did the robber unlock that safe? He
must either have been familiar with the house and the safe, and perhaps
had a key to it, or he must have carried about him, probably, several
safe keys, one of which happened to fit (and the key to this safe was a
small one, fifty of the like size of which would not much trouble a
burglar to carry), or he must have gotten possession of Mr. Latimer's
key. But his key was in his vest pocket, and his clothes were on a
chair at the head of his bed, he said, on my inquiring,--there's where
he left them, and there was where he found them in the morning,--and he
was sure he locked his safe securely after putting the money in. I
finally, as the concluding portion of my examination, asked Mr. Latimer
to let me see the inside of his safe, and to show me where he deposited
the money. He unlocked and opened the safe,--a simple lock concern,
proof really against nothing but fire, perhaps; for although it was
supposed that the keyhole was so small, and the safe so constructed,
that burglars could not get sufficient powder into it to blow it up,
yet it would not have stood a minute against the skill and power of
professional burglars; but to open it, as they would have done, would
have necessitated noise enough to have awakened Mr. Latimer, especially
as the bedroom door was open. Mr. Latimer had put the money into a
little drawer in the safe, and turned the key of that, which key,
however, remained in the drawer lock. But the drawer was tight, and we
tried a dozen times to pull it out without making a creaking noise,
without avail; so I concluded that, on the whole, Mr. Latimer and his
wife _had_ slept that night pretty soundly.
We were about closing the safe again,--I having made due examination,
and asked all necessary questions,--when Mr. Latimer, thinking to
arrange a half dozen or so papers which had been thrown loosely upon
the bottom of the safe, took them up in one grasp of the hand, and
commenced to put them in file, when out of his hand dropped a little
white card with figures on it, which arrested his attention. He picked
it up, looked at it with astonishment, and said, "That's a curious
thing to be here," handing it to me. "You will perhaps think me a
sporting man, a devotee of the Goddess of Luck; but I don't know who
put that here." "Who has access to your safe besides yourself?" "My
wife; she has a key." "O," said I, "perhaps she's put it here then."
"Not she," said he. "She'd turn pale with horror if she had found that
here, in fear that I might be trifling with lotteries. A brother of
hers spent a good-sized fortune in lottery tickets, and died of
disappointment and chagrin over his course. Not she!" "Yes, I know,"
said I; "still she may have put it there, if not for herself, for one
of the servants, perhaps; for you know many servants have a mania for
'trying their luck.'" So Mrs. Latimer was called, and asked about the
lottery ticket. There was no mistaking her seriousness when she said
that if one of the servants had asked her to lock up the ticket for
safety, she would have taken it and torn it to pieces before her eyes.
I was satisfied. But how came the ticket there. "No. 1710, Great Havana
Consolidated Lottery," to be drawn on such a day, through the house of
Henry Colton & Co., Baltimore. This is as near as the notes of my diary
of those days, much worn, permit me to recount the words and figures of
the ticket as I took them down in pencil. I studied the ticket, and saw
from a note at the bottom that some days would elapse before the
drawing was to come off. It was a fresh ticket then, evidently. But how
did it get there? Mr. and Mrs. Latimer knew nothing about it--that was
clear. It had not been there long--that was equally clear. I questioned
Mr. Latimer about the condition of the loose papers in the bottom of
the safe. It appeared he did not observe much order in them, so I could
learn nothing by that query. Finally, I concluded that perhaps in
pulling out the drawer the robber experienced considerable trouble, and
that if he had the ticket in his vest pocket at the time, in bending
over, and exerting some force to pull out the drawer, he might have
dropped it on the floor, and perhaps his curiosity led him to pull out
the papers too, some of which fell from his hand, and he picked them
up, the ticket along with them. I settled upon this, and there was a
clew to the robber, if nothing more. But how did he unlock the safe?
This question remained unanswered. Perhaps with a false key, as I have
before suggested; but this lock was one supposed to need a special key,
none other exactly like it in the whole world. After we had finished
our examination, Mr. Latimer closed the safe door, gave a turn to the
knob, and jerked out the key. I do not know what led me to think of it,
but I asked, "Have you locked it?" "Yes," said he, "that's all you have
to do to lock one of these safes," at the same time taking hold of the
knob, and pulling it, to show me how securely and simply it was
fastened; when, lo, open came the door! Mr. Latimer was confounded, and
I confess I was greatly surprised. It might have been that the robber
that night found as easy access to the drawer as Mr. Latimer then. We
examined the working of the lock as well as we could, and found that
something must be deranged, for although it would, on turning the knob,
give a "thud," as if the bolts were driven home, it did not always put
them in place. Mr. Latimer had his safe repaired after that, and found
some "slide" in the lock-work a little out of place.
But I had gotten the ticket, and I told Mr. Latimer that we must work
out the problem with that, or fail; and I sent Mr. Latimer about to his
debtors, who had paid him the stolen money, to see if any of them could
remember the denominations of the bills, and by what banks issued,
which they had given him. He found something in his search which seemed
likely to serve me. I gave Mr. Latimer my theory of the case, and
pointed out to him the course I should pursue, and we concluded that a
week would probably bring us to the determination to try longer, or
would put us on the clear track of the robber or robbers, for there
might have been more than one. Mr. Latimer authorized me, in case I saw
fit, to offer a reward of five hundred or a thousand dollars for the
robbers, or double these sums for the robbers and the money.
My first step was to go to Baltimore, where I learned that the ticket
was genuine, but I could not learn the name of the person to whom it
was issued. I had obtained it, I represented, of a man who never bought
tickets, and was curious to know of whom he got it: but it was of no
use to inquire. They kept faith with their customers. I could have
inquired, with perhaps more success, of the agent in New York, but I
dared not venture to see him. Some special friend of his might have
bought that number,--"1710,"--and he would tell him of the inquiry, and
the robber might suspect that he had lost it on Mr. Latimer's premises.
The New York agent had fortunately made his report to the "general
office" in Baltimore a day or two before. I left the lottery office,
baffled for a moment, but I soon laid a plan. If this ticket wins,--and
I shall know by the drawn numbers as published in the papers
immediately after the drawing,--then I will "lay in" with the ticket
agent, with the bribe or "reward" of five hundred or a thousand
dollars, to help me detect the robber; and if the ticket fails to win,
I will make the ticket agent my confidant, and have him despatch a note
to the person to whom this ticket was sold, saying that "1710" has
drawn a prize, to be paid on presentation of the ticket; and in this
way get the man into my clutches. So thinking to myself, I concluded to
stop in Baltimore till after the drawing, which occurred three days
from that time.
As fortune had it, the ticket--"1710"--was lucky, and drew a prize of
three thousand dollars. I went to the agent, and putting him under the
seal of secrecy, with the prospect of five hundred dollars, and one
half of the money drawn by the ticket besides, we arranged to catch the
robber, if possible. The New York agency would claim the privilege of
paying the three thousand dollars itself, for this would help to give
it the reputation of selling lucky numbers, and increase its sales, and
consequently its profits. Of course the New York agency was alive to
its interests; but where was the ticket? The man to whom it was sold
was expected to present it at once at the New York agency; but it
didn't come, and he was advised of its having drawn a prize. But it was
lost, he said; and the New York agency, desirous of making capital for
itself, ordered the payment of the prize money through it, advised with
the home office. It was finally concluded that the buyer might make
affidavit, before a notary public, of the fact that he purchased the
ticket No. 1710; that he had not transferred it to anybody else; that
he had lost it, and when. And it was suggested that, as possibly the
ticket might yet be presented by somebody who might have found it, it
would be well for the buyer to state whether he had given it any
private mark--his initials, or something else,--which is often done.
This was done to excite the robber's memory about it, and drew forth
from him a statement that he had not marked the ticket, but remembered
that it was "clipped" in a certain way, cutting into the terminal
letter of a line across the end; which was just what we wanted, as it
identified him, beyond a doubt, as the real purchaser. He swore he had
not transferred the ticket, but had lost it somewhere, as he alleged
that he believed, on such a day (which chanced to be the very day on
the night of which the robbery occurred), somewhere between the corner
of Fulton Street and Broadway (where was located then a day
gambling-saloon) and Union Square. This was indefinite enough for his
conscience, I presume. Of course a name was signed to the affidavit,
but how could we know that it was correct? Together with this came the
agent's affidavit that he sold to such a person the ticket. We arranged
that payment should be made to the affiant if the ticket was not
presented by somebody else within a month; and if it were presented
before that time, he should be informed, and the proper steps taken to
secure him his money. This was communicated to the New York agency, and
I left for New York to find out who was this "Charles F. Worden," the
purported purchaser of the ticket; and the Baltimore agent came on to
see the New York agent, and adroitly draw out of him a personal
description of this "Worden," for we suspected that the agent and he
were special friends. The Baltimore agent had no difficulty in
executing his part of the work, and indeed effected an interview with
Worden, whom, with the New York agent, he treated to a superb supper at
the Astor House. When he came to give me a detailed account of the
fellow's personal appearance, I recognized him, especially by a curious
bald spot on the left side of the head, and which he took some pains to
cover by pulling his long hair over it,--which, however, did not
incline to stay there,--as the young man whom I had seen in the
gambling saloon on the night that Mr. Latimer first consulted me at the
Howard.
I now felt quite sure of my game; but was confident enough that I
should find that the young man bore some other name than "Worden."
Suffice it that it was the work of a couple of days only before I had
my man in tow, knew all about him, his antecedents, etc. His family was
good. He had been prepared for college, at the Columbia College Grammar
School; was a young man of fair average capacity, but by his
dissipations managed to make himself an eyesore to his family. His
father, who was a well-to-do, if not rich merchant, doing business in
Maiden Lane, had, in order to "reform" him, "given him up," and ordered
him to shirk for himself, something like a year before this. He went
into a grocery store, being unable to get work elsewhere, and had done
very well for three or four months; but there was a private room in the
back of the store where liquor was sold by the glass--one of those
places which are now known by the felicitous name, "Sample Rooms," the
disgusting frequency of which all over New York, and in many other
cities, is so remarkable; places which are really worse than the open
bars of hotels, or the regular "gin mills" (if I may be permitted to
use the vulgar phrase), because in these sly, half-private places is it
that most young men learn to drink, and here it is, too, where many a
man, too respectable to be seen frequenting the open liquor stores of
his vicinity, steals in and guzzles his potations, on the sure road to
a drunkard's fate--failure in business, ruined constitution, and final
poverty and disgrace. Here the young man, "Worden," as he now called
himself, had fallen in with genial company, who came to his employers
to "buy groceries," and to drink, and among them had made the
acquaintance, in particular, of a down-town "banker," who boarded in
the vicinity of the grocery, which was on the corner of Bleecker Street
and ----. This banker was a fascinating fellow, and young Worden soon
fell in love with him. By and by he found out what sort of a "banker"
was his new-made friend--the same who kept the day gambling-rooms on
the corner of Fulton and Broadway. It is astonishing how little one may
know of the business of his neighbors whom he meets every day in New
York, unless he takes special pains to find out. The "solitude of a
great city" is no mere Byronic fancy. One could hardly be more solitary
in the dense woods than a man may be in the midst of the throngs of men
and women he may meet in New York. He sees them--that is all. His heart
is closed to them, and theirs to him, as much as if they were in China,
and he the "lone man" on some island of the West Indies. So that
"banker" passed for a rich, active, business man, in the vicinity of
Bleecker Street and ----, within less than a mile, perhaps, of this
nefarious den. Young Worden was easily led on till he got to neglecting
his business when sent out on errands, or down town to the wholesale
grocers; and finally the grocer discharged him for neglect of business;
and how he had lived since then was a mystery to his old companions,
who found him afterwards always better dressed. The secrets of his
history, from the time of his discharge up to the time of the robbery,
as I finally learned them, would form an interesting chapter by
themselves, but are out of place here. An incident in his career,
however, may yet find place in these papers, because it was interlinked
with an extraordinary case which at another time I worked up, and of
which I have made note, in order, if my space permit, to recite it in
this work. It must suffice now, that despair, resulting from the loss
of money at the gambling-table, and which he was not for some days able
to win back, though he hazarded his last dollar, drove the young man to
commit a small robbery, or theft, from the purse of one of his
fellow-boarders, when the latter was asleep one night. The full success
of this hardened him, and led him on. If detection could always follow
the first offence, the number of criminals would be far less. But few
will "persevere" beyond a detection, if it comes early enough in their
career.
I had made sure of my man. But he was not caught yet, by any means;
besides, the Baltimore agent and I had something further to do
together. Upon him depended much. I had the ticket in my possession,
and the young man had sworn to it--identified it in his affidavit, to
be sure; but he would insist that he lost it, and that somebody who
found it must have robbed the safe, if we should pounce upon him now.
So I went to Mr. Latimer, and managed to take him, in proper disguise,
to a gambling saloon, which this young man frequented, and he thought
he recognized him as one of the persons standing near him on the day
the money for the hay was paid him in Jersey City; and before we left
the saloon,--staid half an hour perhaps,--Mr. Latimer was quite willing
to swear to the young man's identity as one of those present at the hay
transaction. But this would not be enough to convict the young man,
unless we could find some of the stolen money upon him, or among his
effects, which I felt sure we should do, for I saw that he was gambling
those days sparely, like one who means to win, and keep what he wins. I
reasoned that the robbery had given him a snug little capital; that he
felt his importance as a "financial man," and that perhaps he was
resolving to gamble but little more, give up his old associates, and
with what he had, and what he would obtain from the lottery, go into
business, and perhaps win his way back into his father's favor. And I
reasoned rightly, as a subsequent confession of the young man proved.
In his investigations among the creditors who had paid him the sum
stolen, Mr. Latimer had found out a fact on which I was relying for aid
in the course of the work, as I have intimated before; and renting on
that becoming important in the line of evidence, I repaired to
Baltimore, and told the general agent that I thought it time now to
draw matters to a close. We arranged our plans. The New York agent was
informed that the ticket had been presented at the general office, and
the prize demanded; that it would be necessary for the young man and
himself to come on to Baltimore to meet the presenter of the ticket,
and that he was to call again in three days. The general agent was in
great glee over the matter; for I had arranged with him that he should
have the whole of the three thousand dollar prize as his own, if he
would not demand the five hundred dollars reward of me, in case the
matter worked out rightly, and we managed to get back a good share of
the money stolen from the young man. He was for attacking the young man
at once, as soon as we could get him into the private office, and
charging him with the robbery of Mr. Latimer's safe; overwhelming him
with the history of his being that day in Jersey City, and showing him
the trap we had set to get him to identify the ticket so minutely,
etc.; but I feared that the young man might not be so easily taken
aback, and we agreed to wait for something else which might, in the
negotiation, turn up. I had not informed the agent yet of what Mr.
Latimer had discovered in his investigations about the kind of money
paid him, but had arranged with the agent that if things came to the
proper point he should offer to pay the young man by a draft on New
York, and should say to him, that if it would be convenient he would
rather make the draft for three thousand and five hundred dollars, and
let the young man pay him five hundred dollars, as that amount would
draw out all his deposit, and close account with the bank in question,
he having determined to do his business with another bank. So much I
had asked which he said he would do; and duly the young man and the
agent came on. We had a private conference; I being disguised, with
spectacles and all, as the legal counsellor of the lottery men. The
agent from New York was present. I had asked the young man many
questions about the ticket, heard the New York agent's story, and given
my advice to the Baltimore man to pay it to him, but to send for the
"other man" who held the ticket, and who was said to be waiting the
result of things. So the New York agent was politely asked to take a
note to a man quite a distance off from the lottery office, and whom
the agent had informed that he might receive a note that day, and
instructed what to do in such case. The man was a store-keeper; was
very polite to the New York agent; bade him be seated in the
counting-room, and he would send his boy out to bring in the man
indicated in the note. The New York agent was told to be sure to get
the man, wait till he could bring him along with him, "if it takes
three hours," said the Baltimore agent, as the New York man went off.
"Yes, yes; depend on my doing the business right," responded the New
York agent, as he went off on his tomfool's errand.
Papers were given the young man to read, and we chatted together a
little; the lottery agent having gone to work at his business desk in
the next room. A half hour passed, and then--"This is dull business. I
must go to my office, and come back if needed," said I to the lottery
agent, as I opened the door into his room. "When shall I return?"
"Stay; he'll be back soon." "No," said I; "I'll go, and return." "Well,
please don't be long away,"--and he gave me a significant look, which
the young man, of course, did not see. I went off, and returning in
about a quarter of an hour, called the agent into the private room, and
said, "See here! a new phase in affairs. I found that man waiting at my
office to consult me about the ticket. He said he knew I was your
attorney, and would advise him what was best; he didn't want any fuss
about it. This was after I told him I was quite sure that the ticket
was the property of young Mr. Worden here; and the matter is left
entirely with me. See! I have the ticket here; do you recognize it?"
asked I of Worden, presenting it to him. He started up, looked at it,
and with a face full of joy, exclaimed, "The very same: don't you
remember how I described this slip here in my affidavit?" "Well, Mr.
Worden, as the matter is left with me, I have no doubt the ticket is
yours; and of course the agent will pay you the prize." "Yes, of
course," said the agent; "stay here, since you are here, and I'll make
the due entries, etc., get the money, and be back." He closed the door
behind him; and as it was a late hour, drawing near closing time, told
the clerks he'd give them a part of a holiday; and bade them to be on
hand early next morning. "A good deal of work to do to-morrow, you
know," said he, as he smilingly bowed them out.
Presently, after a delay, however, which I was fearful would excite the
young man's curiosity, if nothing more, the agent came into the room,
and told Worden that he found it would be inconvenient to pay the three
thousand dollars that afternoon in money, and then proposed to him to
take the draft on New York, of which I have before spoken. Worden
compliantly fell in with the suggestion; said he would cash the draft
for the balance. He was anxious, he said, to get on to New York as soon
as might be; and, "by the way," said he, "where's my friend, Mr.
----?"--(the New York agent.) "Ah," replied the Baltimore agent, "he's
waiting at the place to which I sent him for the man." "Well," turning
to his watch, "there'll be time to send for him before the next train
north, after we have settled the matter." He went to his desk, drew the
check, came in and handed it to Worden, who, laying it on the table,
proceeded to take out his wallet, which I noticed was heavily loaded.
He selected five one hundred dollar bills and handed them to the agent,
who stepped into the next room, as if to deposit them in his safe,
saying, "I'll be back in a moment, Mr. Worden. Step in here,
'Counsellor,'" said he to me, "and tell me how I am to make this
entry"--for the want of something better to say. I followed, and he
showed me the notes. We "had" the young man! Four of the notes bore on
their back, in writing, the business card of one of the men who had
paid Mr. Latimer money on that day; the notes were of the Bank of
America, such as he had told Mr. Latimer he had drawn that day from
bank, and he had indorsed his card on them not an hour before he paid
him. His account was new with that bank. He had no other than _six_ of
those one hundred dollar notes, so I saw our game was sure, and I said
instantly, "Go in and ask Worden if he can't give you two fifties, or
five twenties for this note," taking up the one not bearing the
business card. He did so, and I followed, and instantly that Worden
drew his purse to accommodate him, I suddenly knocked the purse from
his hand, and caught Worden by the throat--"No noise, you villain! You
are caught! You are the scoundrel who robbed Mr. Latimer's safe. I've
traced you, and you are splendidly trapped!" I exclaimed.
[Illustration: SEIZURE OF YOUNG WORDEN IN BALTIMORE.]
He made some exertions to get from my grasp, but I held him firmly;
waited a moment or two that the first flush of excitement might pass
from him, and led him to a chair; gave him his history in brief; and in
a short manner showed him how he was caught. Meanwhile the agent, at my
request, was searching and counting the money in the purse which he
picked up as I knocked it out of Worden's hands. "Here's another one
hundred dollar bill with Bordell's card on it," said he. (The card was
"Rufus Bordell, Optician, and Mathematical Instrument Maker, 173
Bowery, N. Y.," as my notes read. It was not an unusual thing in those
days, though I always thought it a foolish one, for men to indorse all
the new bills that came into their possession with their business
addresses, as a mode of advertisement. Poor Mr. Bordell! He was an
Englishman, and was making a trip to England to visit his relatives on
board the ill-fated Pacific steamer in her last trip out, which went to
sea, and was never heard of after.) Well, Worden saw that he was
caught, and there was no escape for him. We found he had over three
thousand dollars in money with him, and he agreed to go to New York
with us and get what remained of the rest, which he said was all he had
taken except six or eight hundred dollars, and he thought he could
manage to raise that amount too, if I would not prosecute him. The
vision of State Prison was too much for his nerves. He wanted to go
unmanacled; and so I insisted on the agent's accompanying me to help
watch him. However, he could never have got away from me alone, for I
should have felled him at once to the ground had he tried, and I was
sure he had not been in the business long enough, or done enough at it,
to have "pals" to assist him. In fact, he said he never had any
comrades in crime.
The agent arranged his affairs; sent word to the New York agent that he
was suddenly called to New York, and would see him there the next day,
and we left Baltimore for New York by the next train. The young man
kept his promise to us; not only got the money left out of his robbery,
but raised of a "friend," whom we all visited, seven hundred and ten
dollars, which we found was the deficit; gave up the lottery ticket to
the agent (who had the honor, however, to pay him back the sum he paid
for the ticket), and we let him go.
I hardly know whether I ought to state what I am about to or not; but
it may encourage some reader of this who may be inclined to a life like
that which young "Worden" was then leading, to reform. "Worden" saw the
situation of things, thanked us for our kindness, and begged me to
never mention his real name. (I had not communicated it to the agent or
to Mr. Latimer, and have never since told it to either or to anybody).
He promised to reform at once, and go to work, however humble the
situation. He did so, and in two or three years won his way back into
his father's smiles, conducted business in New York for a while after
that, and is now a prominent and wealthy man of Chicago. I met him not
over ten months ago from this writing, and enjoyed his hospitality.
"You saved me," said he. And that was all that was said between us
about the robbery.
The Baltimore agent drew the prize for No. 1710, and it was none of the
Lottery Company's business that he pocketed it.
When I carried the money back to Mr. Latimer, he was astonished, and
insisted that I take the reward of one thousand dollars, which, as he
was rich, I did accept. I never told him _how_ we let the fellow
escape, but satisfied him on that point.
"But," said he, "you haven't told me what you learned about how he got
into the safe."
"No, for the scamp was in as much doubt about it as we; he thought that
the lock turned easily, if it turned at all. He pulled, and the door
came open, and afterwards, on looking at the key he tried it with,
thought it curious that it could have raised the spring. Probably the
safe was not locked."
"But how did he get in, and do it so secretly, my wife and I lying
right there?" pointing to the adjoining bedroom.
"O, he says you were both snoring away so that nobody in the house
could have heard him if he'd made ten times the noise he did."
"I--do--not--believe--it," said Mr. Latimer, with an emphatic drawl,
and more seriousness of face than I had seen him exhibit over his loss
even. "I never caught her snoring in my life. She says I snore
sometimes. I'll call her, and tell her the story."
Mrs. Latimer came in; the snoring matter was settled in a joke, and I
was made to stay and take a private supper with them, which, in due
time, was served in superb order; and I left that house to go home at
last with a firm friend in Mr. Latimer, who has never failed to send me
business, when he could command it, from that day.
He is ignorant of the young robber's real name to this day; and,
indeed, said he did not care to know it; when, four years after the
occurrence, as he was one day badgering me to satisfy his curiosity on
that point, I told him the man had reformed, and was made a good
citizen of, indirectly through the facts that the safe was probably
unlocked that night, and that he and his wife snored so loudly.
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