Page:Looters of the Public Domain.djvu/284

 instead of walking direct to the park, which was only a block away from my room, I decided to take a circuitous route to a point where the car would stop, on which I expected Marie would arrive, it being my intention to walk hack to the park with her.

The route in question took me along a street immediately west of the main street, and past the police station. This, however, I knew nothing about at the time, so went by the City Hall, on the opposite side of the street, as unconcernedly as though I were on one of the back streets of the city and wholly oblivious of impending danger.

I had just looked at my watch, which indicated that the time set for appointment with Marie was drawing near. As I expected she w(juld be prom])t to the moment, as was her custom, I was debating with myself as to what I should say to her. If I found it possible to arrange a meeting with Mr. Heney through the efforts of my wife. I preferred to do so, but should this fail, 1 should be glad enough to enlist Marie's services to that end. She would want to know, of course, all about my plans for the future as soon as we met, so I concluded, instead of hailing her upon alighting from the car, to take a position where I would not be observed and to permit her to walk to the park alone, following close behind, and after meeting, to excuse myself for a few moments, when I could go to the telephone office again and inquire of my wife if she had succeeded in making an appointment with Mr. Heney.

If 1 learned that this had been accomplished, it was my intention to reserve myself in the matter of unfolding my plans to Marie. If, on the other hand, my wife had failed to reach Mr. Heney, I thought it would be well enough to tell Marie everything and enlist her services. Even at that. I figured that Marie could be pulled off at any time, should I learn, in the meantime, that Mrs. Puter had gotten into communication with Mr. Heney and satisfactory arrangements had been made for a meeting.

Thus absorbed in thought. I walked along until I had reached the corner of the street just one block north of the City Hall. I had observed a man crossing the street and knew that we would meet, but paid no thought to the matter, as he was apparently unconcerned as to my presence. As I was about to turn the corner, the man grappled me by the arm and exclaimed:

"We want you!"

At the same moment, as I attempted to wrench myself from his grasp, two other men, who had evidently been concealed in the immediate vicinity, seized me from behind.

I was determined from the first to put up a fight for freedom and to keep it up until all possible hope had vanished. Having noted that not one of the three men who had seized me was physically my equal, my first thought was to free one hand and use it with such effect as would enable me to become totally freed from their grasp, as it would require but a second to unbutton my overcoat and reach my gun. I soon discovered, however, that the combined strength of the three men, as pitted against that of my own, was more than I could successfully cope with, and more especially because of my being encumbered by a heavy overcoat, which was buttoned and reached almost to my shoe tops. Even against these long odds, I continued to give battle as best I could, and it was waxing warm and fierce when Chief of Police John Conrad appeared on the scene and took a hand.

I continued to struggle as they headed me toward the station and one of my captors—who had first laid hands on me at the corner—evidently thinking that I might yet escape, suggested to the Chief that he use his club and lay me out. excitedly exclaiming:

"Hit him over the head, Chief—let him have it—knock him out!"

But the Chief did not strike me, for while it is true that he raised his club in a threatening manner, it is also a fact that whatever his thoughts may have been, he refrained from making use of the uplifted club, as the weak-kneed sleuth had advised. Page 278