'40
NOTHER mflUcarrler's been
frozen to death, boys."
"Yes? That's bad luck! "Why.
St -was only three weeks ago that Ben
Downing lost his toes."
This Is the kind of talk tho traveler
T the time Herbert Ronshaw, Esq., i
announced himself a candidate for
the office of Mayor of Cornville
there were three bad men in the munici
pality who traveled and transacted busi
ness under the names of "Frltzie"
'Gannes, "Soapy" Wadlow and "Frenchy"
rliatane. In the class beneath Ruderick
i McKIowd they were the greatest and most
envied Under World celebrities living in
ithe community. "Frltzie" was a gamester
Xrom London, "Scapy" was a "tool", from
"Frisco, and "Frenchy" was a "stall"
.'from Quebec
These three bad men detested "posse."
;In tho event of Renshaw's election as
.Mayor tho three believed that Cornvillo
would assume a pose of rectitude -which
'would hurt their business. Therefore,
whea Renshaw's nomination was an
nounced they took counsel with them
eelves and with Ruderick for the defeat
jof Renshaw. Ruderick did not give ad
vlce unless ho felt like It, and for the
tinost part he did not feel like it. He
(looked upon "chewing the rag" as a van
I Ity, useless before a man has done his job
'.and ruinous afterward. Ho was by tem
perament a "single-handed" specialist:
jwhat ho had to do professionally he liked
to do alone, and no questions asked and
i no tales told. There were times, however,
Jwhon Ruderick saw points for his own
hand In general discussion, and "Frltzie,"
i "Soapy" and "Frenchy" dropped in upon
j-hlm at a time when he was meditating the
Great Idea. "Frltzie" was the spokesman,
;and he gavo Ruderick conclusive argu
irnents why Herbert Renshaw, Esq., should
not be elected Mayor of Cornville.
"If he's elected." "Frltzie" explained,
"we'll all have to mooch, and the guns
that ain't known here '11 come to town
an' rip It open an' get all the plunder.
That happens every time a Reform Ad
ministration trjes to run the police of a
town, an' I tell you straight, Ruderick,
I'm gettln sick of it. I've got' my stake
in Barwood, an I think we ought to elect
him. Who you goin' to work for, Rud
erick? Barwood or Renshaw?"
Tho Great Idea has already found lodg
ment la Ruderlck's mind previous to the
visit of the trio. Had they called in on
him a few days earlier they would in all
probability have found him amenable to
their suggestions, but they postponed their
visit too long. At the time of their call
on him he had decided to throw his in
fluence on the side of the reformers.
"There's Reform Administration, an'
there's Reform Administrations," he re
marked in reply to "Fritzie's" query.
"You say Barwood's crooked, an' that's
Just what I got agin him. He's too damn
crooked. He's squeezed us blokes right an
left an' put the dough in his own pocket.
He won't live an let live, that Barwood
won't. That kind o' bloke I like to do,
an I'm goln to do him this election. He's
the meanest grafter In this burg, an' you
ltnow it an' I know It What you blokes
don't know is that Renshaw push is
iroln to bo easy to work. I got a hcad-
hears In the trappers' huts and "rest
houses" on the frozen Yukon River and
the Behring coast up to Nome. Along
2000 miles of this rugged, ice-bound region
the United States Government has estab
lished the loneliest and most dangerous
pleco on me. I have. Renshaw an his
gang don't know you an' me, from any
other four stiffs in town. He'll change
the whole force, thinkin' they're all
crooked, and them that's turned out'll
keep us under cover out o spite. Things
are bound to go that way, an' then- we
get our graft In an there ain't no Bar
wood around to squeeze- tho profits out
of us. SeeT!'
Wadlow, Gannes nnd Latane were simple-minded
men who went about - their
business with a Homeric directness. They
neither read the public prints which fav
ored the candidacy of Herbert Renshaw
nor urged among their acquaintances such
reasons as they themselves had thought
of why it was to the interest of the
Under World that Mayor Barwood should
not be re-elected. They simply got them
selves constituted the official guardians
of the ballot box and judges of the elec
tion in a single ward. They had been
Judges of election the first time Mayor
Barwood had been a candidate for the
office he held, and had found the control
of the Nineteenth Ward sufficient.
The election day came and went. Tho
judges of election sat about the stove in
the polling booth behind locked doors and
smoked- Henry Clay p'erfectos and drank
whisky and club soda, and received re
ports from time to time. They sat a
long time. They made no effort to count
the votes; they took turns sleeping, the
sentinels keeping themselves and" ea'ch
other awake at an endless game of 25-
cent ante, 510 limit. There was a dispute
in the Thirteenth Ward, which lasted all
tho night-following the close of the poljs
and tho next day and- the night after
that. There was understood to be a dis
pute In the Nineteenth Ward also in re
gard to the admissibility of certain votes.
At 7 o'plock on the second morning of tho
25-cent ante a message arrived that tho
dispute in the Thirteenth was settled.
Barwood needed a majority of 500 in tho
Nineteenth to elect him, and as the count
stood he had a majority of but 200 odd.
The faces of - the four men about the card
table .were gray and sticky with fatigue,
but a glance of understanding passed
round as each man turned his hand for
ward to make his last bet.
"There's nothin like an honest count,
blokes, is there?" remarked Ruderick,
with a yawn.
When Mayor Ttenshay came into his
kingdom he governed it so as to save his
own soul. He had sworn to execute tho
law, and it was no part of his reading of
the rules of duty that a man should get
himself damned out of a consideration for
other people. Mayor Renshaw closed the
dance halls. He closed the gambling hells
also, which is to say he scattered gamb
ling broadcast throughout the town.
Before his accession to office there had
been a lllmted number of more or less
recognized and responsible spots in the
town where a man who was determined
to lose money might do so without great
risk of violence or fraud; after his acces
sion to office a man never knew whether
THE- GREAT IDEA
THE StmDAY OREGOjStIAN, PORTLAjm
mail route in the -world. The mailcar
rlers travel on foot'over 1G00 miles of this
route, and one stretch of nearly S00 miles
through a desolate, uninhabited country
has to be covered by a single postman.
Prospectors hunting for gold in the wild
he was "up against" mithematlcs or,
against the game which is called the
"sure thing"; therefore, since the charm
of adventure was a new and strange one
in Cornville every one who gambled at
all gambled more and oftener In Mayor
Renshaw's reign tnan before. Drinking
places he did not close, because he could
not, though he limited them strictly to
the terms of their licenses; wherefore
willful men drank by the bottle after
hours instead of by the glass. But his
great achievement was the creation of
a police force that did not know how to
wink.
The inability of Edwin Cowles, Esq., to
wink, glorified all his remaining Inabilities
in Mayor Renshaw's eyes, who begged
him to sacrifice himself on the altar of
chic duty by accepting an appointment
as Chief of Police. Mayor Renshaw said
that neither he nor his subordinates should
take tithes from the harvest of sin and
ehame, and Edwin Cowles sacrificed him
self. Both played their destined part In
the realization of the Great Idea.
' Then was the City of Cornville delivered
into the hands of the three bad .men, who
opened It as their oyster, and 'that wag
their destined part in the realization of
the Great Idea. "Frltzie" Gannes, with
his "sure-thing" enterprises, reaped a har
vest which he bad never supposed Corn
ville could produce. He learned that . a
town Is never so gullible as when rerorm
attempts, to tell It. that it "shan't."
"Soapy" Wadlow and "Frenchy" Latane
made similar agreeable discoveries. The
new police force could no more tell when
a pocked was being picked; they couldn't
even tell when one had been picked, un
less they found the "weeded leather" on
the ground, and "Soapy" and "Frenchy"
dipped deep with impunity. It is also to
be remarked that they were not called on
to pay a percentage of their winnings- to
the "wise." Indeed, the three we're so
pleased with their success that they de
termined to combine interests, and make
a "run" on Richard -Englar's bank. It
was decided that the easiest way to
achieve the "run" was to approach the
building through a subterranean passage,
and the three started to dig a tunnel.
When affairs were in this posture and
the tunnel nearly complete, Ruderick Mc
lOowd stepped one day off a train which
had brought him out of the beyond. The
Great Idea had taken him away from
Cornville soon after Herbert Renshaw
was elected Mayor, and It was the Great
Idea that brought him back. He went
straight from the train to the 'Front Of
fice. T should like to see the Chief," he said.
The Chief granted the desired Interview.
"Mr. Cowles." Ruderick began. "I have
) been given to understand that you are
looking for a new man for your detec
tive fore?. I have had considerable ex
perience in the detective business, and I
should like to.be your new man. if you're
satisfied with my credentials. Do you care
to look at them?"
The Reform Administration "allowed""
est parts of the Tukon Territory get their
letters from home at a terrible cost of
human life and suffering.
The Yukon mailcarrler must travel with
his dog sledge along a river piled up
with blocks of Ice like the boulders on a
hillside. He does not have a level sur
face on which to skim along like a skater.
His dogs and he must make their way
over masses of Jagged ice, and struggle
through deep snowdrifts which threaten
to blot them out from human sight and'
memory-
The Mnllman'H Dnlly Peril.
Every morning, when he starts out, the
mailcarrler literally takes, his life in his
hand. Running behind his sled, he cross
es a spot where the ice is thin, and down
he goes. He manages to get out, per
haps, but the thermometer is probably
down In the sixties below zero. His wet
clothes Immediately freeze. He may get
off with a loss of a few toes by freezing:
or he is not heard of until the ice goes
out and the river gives up Its dead.
When the mailcarrler arises In the morn
ing, after sleeping at the "rest-house,"
he finds that -every one of his joints Is
stiffened by his violent exertions and
long exposure to the intense cold. Prob
ably no trail is to be seen. There has
been a snow storm during the njght, or a
wind storm which has drifted the snow.
The Yukon la several miles wide In places,
and on these occasions the surface Is so
broken by hillocks of Ice and snowdrifts
that its winding course cannot be dis
tinguished, from the Jand. The carrier
has to don his snowshoes and break a
new trail for the dogs- over the trackless
waste.
Theodore Blum, a veteran at the busi
ness, started to do this one morning. It
was on the Yukon flats, just Inside the
Arctic circle, where the river Is "nearly
15 miles wide. He carried a long fir pole
j wltn him, his 'dog team following him.
aiiu nc icii. iuv iwc (, i j
threw down the pole and rested his weight
on it. But even though his weight was
thus cunning distributed. It did not al
ways save him from a ducking. He
broke through no fewer than six times in
his endeavor to cross the river, and nar
rowly escaped being frozen before he
could reach one of the shelters.
A 'StroRRle With Dentil.
Ben Downing, the most famous of the
mallcarrlers, a magnificent specimen of
the pioneer, whose big frame has been
touchened fighting Indians in Arizona and
in the Dakotas. narrowly escaped death
that it would like to see Ruderlck's cre
dentials; "I see that you are certified to as be
ing a very 'wise' man," remarked Mr.
Cowles, after a hasty perusal of Ruder
lck's papers. "I suppose that word 'wise
is merely a technical term In police par
lance." "That's what it is. Mr. Cowles." "
"You have some acquaintance, have you,
with the criminal classes? We very much
need a man who understands the ways
of thieves."
"Of course, I don't set myself up as any
thing extraordinary, Mr. Cowles, but
you've got my record In those papers. I
certainly ought to know something about
the criminal classes."
"Well, Mr. McKIowd, I'll take your
name Into consideration and notify the au
thorities that you have made application
for the position. I will send you their
decision tomorrow. Good afternoon, sir."
"Good afternoon.. Mr. Cowles."
Three days later there was astonish
ment, bewilderment and profanity in the
Under World. Ruderick McKIowd had
been appointed chief of detectives in the
town of Cornville, and the Under Wortd
wandered what the appointment meant.
Rudericjt McKIowd's office was besieged
by guns, who desired to know what was
what and what was "doing." Among the
besiegers were three who had come by
special summons". The three bad nen
were invited into Ruderlck's private of
fice, where, by judicious questioning, they
were made to declare that they had noth
ing whatever "on" and had not done any
business in the town since the reform
administration went Into power, and that
they-had been "ditched" by Ruderick s
idea, and were sick of the place and ready
to quit.
To all of this Ruderick listened with
politeness. When they had finished his
reply was exemplary and significant.
"Blokes," he said, "I ain't much on
chewln' the rag, but I'm more'n a little
glad o' what you've told me, n' that
you're sick o the town. I'm particular
glad you're not mixed up In- that tunnel
business under Englar's bank. The fellers
that's done that has got to choke it off,
see? I can't stand for it. Anythin else
't's been dono 'fore I gol here ain't any o'
my business. For yourselves, my tip as
an old pal, since you're sick o this
town. Is to get shet of it by the next
rattler. I guess you've made your pile
here, anyhow, an it's time t you get your
graft In elsewhere. If you sprint you can
cath that 7:30 this evenln'. It ud give
me a pain to see you here after S o'clock
tonight. So long, blokes. Take care o
yourselves."
One evening six days and a fraction, to
be accurate, after Ruderlck's historic
warning to the three bad men Judge Bar
wood was summoned from his bed by an
importunate visitor, who made . himself
agreeable by opening his business with
Xhe. tender of a retaining fee. The fee
was a bundle of fifty-dollar notes: the
! man was, in appearance, perhaps 60 years'
JUjSE 21, 1903.
A MalU Staff oinittSaeYAWPg'goTiii,?b
at the close of last , season. It was
Spring time, and the ' sun for an hour I
before and afternoon softened the snow
and made travel difficult, so most of his
traveling was done in the night. He left
his station at 1 o'clock In the morning,
putting laced moccasins on the feet of his
dogs to prevent the sharp ice crystals
from cutting them. He had made 20
miles and was going along at a clipping
pace, his hands on the bars of the sled,
when he heard the Ice crack under his
dogs. He halted them with a word and
planted his feet rigidly to break the mo
mentum of the sled. This sudden throw
ing of his weight In one, place broke the
Ice, and down he went.
The sagacity which comes to tno aogs
from dally going through such experiences
enabled them to drag him onto the solid
Ice. and away they went again, faster
than before, because Ben had his feet wet
and knew they were freezing. A few
miles more and he knew they had already
frozen. Then they began to bleed, and
for ten miles the blood spurtea out ol me
lace holes of his moccasins with every
step, and left a red trail on the frozen
snow.
At inth h TMphed one of hl3 lonely
stations. The first thing he did was to
otrin ntr Mc Trot fiothpsr then he wranoed
a blanket around his naked body and In a
temperature of 62 degrees noiow zero
hunted Up wood and made a fire. The
following night he traveled nearly fifty
miles until he reached Dawson City. Hw
handed over his mall, went limping about
his vmsinpss as if nothlntr had happened.
and then went home and had a fever. He
was in the hospital for two months, and
had to have his toes amputated. Yet he is
still In the same business, ana reauy en
joys Its hazards.
George Little, one of Downlng's car
riers, was traveling through slush Ice
ond ont hnrUv refit H flushed nn to
reach the "bunkhouse," but ";ht overtook
him. After collecting wood along the
river bank and making a fire, he found
that tvM1 ho warmpii one side, he was
chilling on the other, the thermometer reg
istering 64 degrees below zero. So he
spent the night climbing up and down the
hill to ke"ep his blood In circulation.
Men wlio Vanish Forever.
These are mild Incidents of the every
day hazards of the trail, told by sur
vivors. In this adventurous life the old
saying that "the dead tell no tales" is as
true as it was in the days of piracy
on the high seas. The number really
lost on the trails of this grim region
since the carrying of the mails would
make a long and grewsome list.. Dogs,
sled and man disappear. It is impos
of age. powerful, deformed, inordinately
slouch-hatted, great-coated, long-haired
and whiskered.
"Tlje bills, to the best of my belief, are
gen-u-ine; your beard, to the best of my
belief, Is not," said the lawyer.
"I do not offer you the beard as a re
tainer I offer you the bills."
"And the voice in which you offer them
Is so far from being your own that you
make, me doubt whether the bills, how
ever gen-u-ine. are gen-u-inely yours."
"You seem to be a person of some pen
etration." said the visitor.
"If you had not thought so before you
came you would not be here," said the
lawyer;
"So long as you do not know my real
beard and real voice I don't care how well
you know my false beard and false voice.
As for the money, you may take it or
leave It."
"And. that's soon said," replied the law
yer, laying the bills on the talSle between
him and his client with a gesture that
neither tdok them nor left them. "Try a
seat," he said, standing before an open
fire. "Take oft your coat and hat and,
make yourself at home."
Judge Barwood had a good gray eye
with a twinkle in it and the accent of his
invitation was jocular.
"I am much more comfortable with
them on; the room Is cold," said the
visitor.
The thermometer on the Jam of the door
registered in the full gaslight 73 degrees!
"Just so," said Barwood appreciatively,
"and now about the business."
"The business Is the height of simplicity.
I have stolen $50,000. For personal reasons
I object to any one's attempting to pursue,
me and to take away the money."
The visitor also had a good gray eye.
"And that's a. Very natural objection,
too," said the man of law. "The plainest
way to avoid" It is to send the money
back."
"If I. had been looking for the plainest
way I should not have had to come to
your honor for advice."
The two pairs of good, gray eyes looked
Into one 'another with appreciation.
"This," said the Judge. ' "looks like a
fishy business. And' what is very much
to the point In anaffalr-of this magni
tude, that bundle of notes on the table,
is too small to be looked at without dis
comfort." "That bundle of notes Is not a small fee
for listening to me tell you that I have
stolen 550,000. That Is all I have asked
for it. When you have told me how to
keep the 550.000 the bundle on the table
will be bigger."
"It would have to be a great deal big
ger." "Would It set a limit to-its bigness If
the man' out of whom the 550,000 comes
has done you dirt?"
There were not a great many men in
Cornville from whom ,550,000 could be' lift
ed. Barwood's face took on a look of in
tense Interest.
"Not EnslarT'. , .. . - . . .
"Englar.''
sible, in these vast solitudes, to say what
becomes of them.
Two Tnailearrlers- on the-, short run xo
Atlln did not arrive last "Winter, and a
search party was sent out. They found
the tracks of the sled leading to what
had been a hole in the Ice. That was
all. In tho same district, the frozen body
of a mailcarrler was found and Identified
by his watch. He had been lost tnree
years previously.
Harry Frayne, a malicarner irom
ViiHw! tn "Eairle started out last January
with the expectation of meeting tne car
rier on the next stage, ne iouna uie
dogs and the sled. The carrier, Tuffln,
had abandoned them when the dogs were
exhausted and had started oft with the
Idea of carrying the mail on his back for
the rest of the distance. Some Indians
found hl3 frozen body six miles from the
summit of Mentasa Pass. He had plod
ded with the mall until he fell in the
snow, frozen to death.
From the lower end of this lonely trail
2000 miles to Nome there Is often in the
local newspapers brief mention of the
disappearance of a mailcarrler, and peo
ple, appreciating the risks they run, are
entirely unmoved. It is an episode of
dally life, exciting no more comment than
a runaway horse does In a big city.
Heroic Servants of Civilization.
These mallcarrlers. In their humble way,
are doing more than anybody else to
spread civilization to the uttermost ends
of the earth. The United States has be
haved liberally to Alaska in the matter
of malls. Mail matter in some parts
of this vast territory pays the Govern
ment about SO cents a pound for transpor
tation, ana costs aljout 54 per pound to
carry to Its destination after it reaches
the seaboard of the territory. Costly as
this policy Is. It places the lonely .pros
pector In touch with cHvlllzatlon and tends
to keep him civilized In a larger degree
than any other agency could.
-Rut tho rost to the mailcarrler Is often
times life Itself. It is strange that men
can be found to undertake a task full of
such extraordinary and terrible risks.
There Is never any difficulty, however.
The adventurous life appeals to men of
grit and spirit; they say that they prefer
It, with all its perils, to a humdrum occu
pation. A Hard Iilfc.
Leaving all danger and adventure out
of consideration, it is still a rough, hard
life. Do not Imagine the carrier reclin
Inc at his ease, covered with warm robes.
while the dogs lope along over a smooth
surface. He has to guide the sled from
one side of the river to the other to
By JOSIAH FLINT AND FRANCIS "WALTON
Barwood's face broadened Into a grim
smile.
"You are quite resolved not to be ad
vised to put the money back?"
"Quite."
"It is really my duty to urge the point."
"You havo urged It."
Barwood, with a grim smile still lin
gering on his face, strode for a time up
and down the room. He came at last to
a halt in his former station before the
fire.
"Could you steal any more?" he asked
gravely.
"How much more, for example?"
"Well, say a second 550,000. You could
hardly make a deal with less."
"I have stolen a second 550,000," said the
visitor, drawing a considerable parcel
from under his cloak and laying it on
the table. "I calculated myself that it
would take just about a second fifty to
protect the first."
"You seem to be a client of great fore
thought," said the lawyer:
"It needs a client of great forethought
to employ an attorney of great penetra
tion," said the visitor.
"It is only left to settle where and when
I am to let you know what. I have done.
I suppose you can trust yourself not to
get caught," said Barwood. '
This was unkind; the Powers That Rule
were become a joke in Cornville, and
Renshaw, who had been Barwood's rival,
was the point of the Joke.
"I can trust myself a good deal better
not to get caught- If I don't trust any
one else with my address. When I want
to know what you have done I will come
and ask you. Good night. Mr. Attorney."
"Good -night, Mr. Scamp."
The two men parted with mutual respect
and good-will.,
Barwood had made it a point of con
science In the conduct of his life, when he
Tiad a 'thing to do which was agreeable
to himself and disagreeable to some one
ese, never to procrastinate. There was,
besides, another reason in- the present
case for dispatch. It did not enter Into his
views for his client that Richard Englar
should not have a chance to keep his Ios3
unknown.
"Mr. Englar." he said, with the regret
which a man throws into bis voice when
he -speaks of the misfortune of a personal
enemy. "I am Informed that you have just
been robbed ot a hundred thousand. A
man so bundled up that i could name
nothing of him visited me at my house
just now and told me so; he added that
you could not find him, and that If you
did find him the money would be either
dissipated or spent in conducting his de
fense. If you guarantee to make no ef
fort to find him and to keep the affair
out of the hands of the state, he offers
you 525,000; 525,000 to take or leave. I
don't know whether this offer is real
either, nor how he expects you to get
the money; certainly he gave me no name
or. address. He told me nothing but what
I state and then he took his. leave. I
nrTn nn o f trtmn t" n T n t hnfa nn htm
Ilt didn't want to. deprive you of your
chanes to recover ?2,G$0, nor our n-ew
miss the heaped up Ice. tho soft places
and the snowbanks. "Where the trail la
good, he grasps the long handles at the
rear and at a continuous jog trot guides
the sled along. In fairly smooth places
he jumps on a narrow board, resting a
good part of his weight on the handle
bars. In a temperature of GO deg. below zero,
which is common, he has to keep warm.
ana yet ne must uuu vcit,
moisture will lmmeaiateiy ireezc. iusiwu
of warm robes, he has a parka (a smock
frock with no opening except at the neck)
which, is made of ticking. This is light
and keeps out the wind.
TUo wntflst rnro Is as to 'his fOOtWCar.
TTa has turn or three TairS Of WOOleC
socks and over them a pair of moccasins
made of deer hide, anouia inese gut si
his feet freeze, ana ne is mue Dener
than a dead man.
After he has made his distance for tne
-t i t,.c at o lnnolc rahln under
uay iitr ain, v.. j
some feet of snow. He has to put on
his snowshoes to oreaK a trau io n iur
the dogs. The cabin contains a rusiy
stove and some provisions for himself
and the dogs. He has to chop wood
after his day's work, ana must first cook
tho etinnpr for his doers. Then he cooks
and eats his lonely meal and lies down
in his clothes to sleep. Tnere is no mi-
I1 T o .nnntrt- tehoro, fliol Is SCarCB
1UIUIC A" - v-w .... ...r , . . - , i
the temptation to chop It up for stove f
Only men of Iron frame can stand the
hardships of such a- life. The others are
"weeded out" after two or three trips.
WESTON COYNEY.
(Copyright.)
Tlie Closed Door.
I never crossed your threshold with a grief l
But that I went without It; never came
Heart-hungry but you fed me, eased tha
blame.
And gave the sorrow solace and relief.
I never left you but I took., away
The love that drew me to your side again
Through that wide door that never couli
remain
Quite closed between us for a little flay.
Oh, Friend, who gave and comforted, who
knew
Sq over-well the want of heart and mind?
"Where may I turn for solace now, or kln-I
Belief from this unceasing los3 ot you?
Be it for fault, for folly, or for sin.
Ob, terrible my penance, and most sore
To face the tragedy of that closed door
"Whereby I pass and may not enter In.
THEODOSIA GARRISON.
police force of its chance of distinguish
ing itsejf."
There is. singularly, little more to tell.
Englar and his board of directors had a
meeting before daylight that morning, as
certained the truth and moved motions
and passed resolutions. They resolved to
get the thief if they could; they resolved
that they could not afford to let 525,000
slip through their fingers; they resolved
for the present to keep the loss concealed
from the public press and from the state.
They consulted with Judge Barwood and
instructed him to notify hla client, if his
client should again enter Into communi
cation with him, that they had taken hl3
offer under advisement; secretly they em
ployed one Ruderick McKIowd to find out
what he could about the robbery. Judge
Barwood's client did not at this time again
enter into communication with him, and
Ruderick found only that the tunnel, by
means of which the bank had been en
tered, had been made by one Gannes.
with the assistance of two companions,
named Wadlow and Latane, respectively:
but he soon obtained word that they were
In Philadelphia, actually in detention at
the time the bank was broken Into. Of
their whereabouts since their release
nothing could be learned.
Englar said that Ruderick was as big
an ass as the rest of the Front Office,
and must have turned "fly con." because
ho xnuIH nnt makft a llvlncr as a thief. II
The directors of the bank once more con
sulted with Judge Barwood and Instructed
him to notify his client, if his client should
again enter into communication with him.
that they accepted his offer. Some days
afterward they bound themselves, their
neira ana assigns in a manner unu iuiiu ji
which uarwooQ tnpugnt worm jzo.wu io
himself 'and his night visitor, and in re
turn for the document he paid that sum.
Two" nights later he was going homa
from his office In the dusk when a quaver
ing voice demanded an alms. The speaker
was a patched and battered figure; a de
crepit old .man, wild-eyed and wild-haired.
"It's only a drink I want," repeated the
beggar, as he shuffled along at Barwood's
side. "You see 't I'm no liar I don't
want nothin to eat. I want a drink. It
only costs a dime, boss."
They had reached a stretch of fleli
through which Barwood was wont to
make a short cut to his home, and as he
left the sidewalk and turned into the fleli
path the beggar suddenly straightened
himself, dropped the whine in his voice
and, tapping Barwood familiarly on the
shoulder, said: "I say, Mr. Attorney,
ho.. m. th-it nrrosmnnl that vou made
for me with Englar." J
A fortnight later KudencK was ois
charged from the Cornvilie force for
drunkenness and incompetence. The ex
pectations he had raised when 'Thief
Cowles engaged him he had not fulfilled.
. . . . i.. I.J -..tt. r
upon nis aiscnarKe ue juu a. .i
Chicago, where he kept a safe deposit A
vault, in which he placed, among other (
things, the agreementv which Judge ajar
wood had obtained for his unknown cli
ent. This was the finishing touch in th
realization of th Great Ida,