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[pg 75] 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[pg 76] 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[pg 77] 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[pg 78] 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.
