Page:Looters of the Public Domain.djvu/265

 I then drove about in quest of a rendezvous and finally located one that I believed would furnish me with ample security, so I 'phoned him about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and advised him where I might be found. It was agreed that he would be there at exactly 10 o'clock that night, so I retained possession of the buggy, as I thought to drive him away immediately upon his putting in an appearance. The place selected for this meeting was at a point in the center of four vacant blocks, with streets running each way; the surrounding blocks being sparsely settled.

Promptly at 10 o'clock, my attorney put in an appearance, but as I was then several blocks away, I did not recognize him at first. As he walked up and down the street, however, I discovered that it was my man, and drove up to where he stopped. Taking him into the buggy, we took our departure for a still more sparsely settled district.

My attorney was very nervous on this occasion and kept looking over his shoulder as if expecting to be pounced on at any moment and cautioned me all the while to be careful. I assured him that there was no danger and devoted some little time in an efifort to brace him up. When he recovered his composure somewhat, he w^anted to know what I would do in event of being stopped by a policeman.

"Policeman?" said I, derisively, "why, I'd eat him up!"

"But what if several of them should appear together and summon you to halt?" he inquired.

"Eat them up, too," I answered.

I suspected at this very moment that I was being quizzed for a purpose, and did not propose to have this man report, if that was really his object, that I would be an easy mark, and that all they need to do was to come after me. I would at least have the satisfaction of putting fear into the hearts of some few of my pursuers, 'ere they had ventured to make chase, and would have them think, at least, that more or less blood would be shed before I was made to bite the dust.

"Would you really shoot to kill?" he asked me.

"Never shoot any other way," I answered, growing enthusiastic on the subject; "and what is more, I rather enjoy the sport. I go armed for that purpose and carry a regular arsenal with me all the time. Do you know," said I, "that it would take a small army to capture me at the present time?"

"You Western fellows are built differently from any men I have ever met before," ventured my attorney, nervously, and continuing he remarked: "You are all so dead in earnest that an ordinary man would stand no show against one of you."

I was half inclined to feel a bit swelled up as a result of this remark, as I could see that my man of law was sincerely in earnest himself and believed that what he was saying was true.

"How about my grip and the money?" I inquired.

"Haven't been able to do a thing," he said, "but came here tonight to warn you that the town is full of secret service men, and as it is reported you are still in the city, they are determined to land you, dead or alive."

"Do you know this to be true?" I asked.

"Yes, sir, I have it from a most reliable source and not only are they looking for vou, but have been trailing me also. They know that I have visited your former boarding house a number of times, and they have been watching me for several days past from the time that I leave home in the morning until I return in the evening. Even tonight, I had difficulty in eluding their vigilance, but managed to shake off a fellow after he had followed for several blocks.

"Even the telephone service, I am told, has been turned over to Burns' men, and I got this, too, from an authentic source. The bank, for some reason, refuses to cash the check, for the present, but I still hope to get the money for you. As for the grip, I cannot make up my mind to risk the attempt. It might work, but what if I should be intercepted and it was taken away from me?" Page 259