BETRAYAL AND ARREST
The Saturday preceding the Sunday of my arrest was one of rain. I was
reading in my room when a knock sounded at my door; I opened it and
found one of my acquaintances of the underworld standing there. He
also was “working the rattlers,” but on a much smaller scale than I. I
invited him inside, and in the course of our conversation he mentioned
the fact that he had a gross of Stetson hats which he was anxious for
me to dispose of for him. The proceeds of the sale he told me were to
go to procure a “mouthpiece” (a lawyer), to secure the release of his
pal by habeas corpus proceedings. I told him I thought I could do as
he desired, and asked him the whereabouts of the hats. It seems that
they were at that time hidden out in the woods on the outskirts of
the city. The stuff was too much for him to handle at once, so he came
to me. Our reputation in the underworld was such at that time that I
frequently performed the same services for other gangs.
One day, several weeks before this incident of the hats occurred,
a young fellow whom I knew kept a “fence,” but with whom I had
never dealt, performed a service worth while for me and asked me to
remember him when anything “good” came off. On numerous occasions, in
appreciation of his act, I had sent him gifts of various things, such
as cloth for suits, socks, and a general run of men’s furnishings and
the like. He continued to remind me of my promise to let him get in on
a “good thing.” I thought of him the first thing when the question of
the disposal of the hats was brought up, and in a minute or so I had
him on the phone. I told him that there were about a gross of the hats
and asked fifty cents per hat for them. He was pleased immensely and we
struck a bargain right off. So eager was he for them that he offered
to furnish the horse and wagon to carry the stuff off.
About 2 P. M. that day three of us in the wagon went to the place where
the hats were hidden. He was delighted with his find, immediately paid
me the money, and drove off with his hats. Forty minutes after leaving
us he drove up to the police headquarters--wagon, hats, and himself.
Unknown to us, the police had used him as a stool, threatening him with
some minor act of his. I think it is Burns who says something to the
effect that the best laid plans of men oft go astray. We had guarded
ourselves against foes from without, but had neglected to watch those
from within our own ranks.
Immediately upon our arrest the police of the different railroads
became active. Every theft ever committed from these same roads was
laid at our door. Goods were found in several warehouses which upon
examination were found to have been stolen in transit. The woods were
searched thoroughly and several caches of goods found. Fences whom
I had never heard of, let alone dealt with, hurried to identify
us. A guilty conscience anticipates disaster long before its actual
consummation. The fences caught with the goods from other parties saw a
chance to square themselves by identifying us as the culprits. The fact
that we were innocent of that particular act made no difference with
them. The doors of the prison were opened, ready to swing shut on their
backs. The police offered to square their case if they appeared against
us. They, of course, appeared.
The case of the police against us was not as absolute as they and
we thought. A few weeks after our arrest the fence from whom the
information came, becoming alarmed by rumors that friends of ours were
out to “get” (kill or injure) him, skipped the State and left the
prosecuting attorney in a quandary. Without the evidence of the fence a
successful prosecution against us was impossible. The evidence in other
cases soon proved to be the testimony of the fence against ours. After
lying in jail for eight months, with the consent of the railroads, and
on our promise to return certain goods in our possession, they agreed
to free us. We consented and once again walked the street as free men.
After passing through this experience, we decided that any future work
in this line would be extra hazardous and the gang dispersed.