Page:06-24-1920 -The Story of the Jones County Calf Case.pdf/11

 tracked him, or tracked all the Smiths by the name of John, and they were all named John, he tracked him high and low over this State and other states, he never could find the John that was Clem Lane's son-in-law, or the man from whom he bought the four dark colored calves.

Now, this Iowa Branch of the North Missouri United Horse Thief Association saw a chance to put something into their machine that was brand new. They had never tried it. All Bob's neighbors substantially were members of this anti-horse thief association. Bob was not. So they went to Foreman (the man that lost the calves and found them in Greene County) and they suggested to Foreman that he must join their North Missouri Anti-Horse Thief Association, the Iowa branch of it, and help prosecute his neighbor, Bob Johnson; and Foreman joined.

Then they wrote to Potter (the man that had the four light colored calves)—Foreman's were light colored, all of them—they wrote to Potter and they told him that he better had come back to Jones County and become a member of that select organization, and Potter was awfully slow in coming back. Finally, they wrote to him that if he didn't come back they would prosecute him (Potter) for stealing Foreman's calves, and under the encouraging suction of that threat, Potter came back, joined the organization, and they went before the grand jury and had Bob indicted.

Up to this time Bob had believed that he had handled the Foreman calves and had given his note, as I have told you, for them. After he was indicted he heard that the Foreman calves that Foreman found in Greene County in Potter's herd were light colored calves. So Bob and his brother, Newt, who was with him when he bought the dark colored calves of Smith, took the train and went out the Greene County and into Potter's herd, and Bob said, "Potter, where are those four Foreman calves?" And Potter pointed them out—four light colored calves. Bob said, "Why, Potter, I never sold you any light colored calves." "Well," Potter says, "you did." And then Bob used language that,—well, it was more forcible than elegant—and jumped off his horse to whip Potter, and Newt