Page:Memoirs of the United States Secret Service.djvu/64

 in company with his friend and pal, Fred Biebusch, another famous western "coney-man;" and in all the minutiæ of the art of engraving, die-cutting, or printing bogus plates, Pete was a leader—universally acknowledged. But, despite the notoriety he gained, long years elapsed during the period he enjoyed immunity from arrest, and immense amounts of money were lavished towards effecting the suppression of his secreted operating establishment, and the capture of this dangerous manufacturer of bogus money,—but without results.

At length, Col. Whitley having been appointed Chief of the Division, went systematically and energetically to work, and followed the trail of this dangerous man—enjoining it upon his subordinates that Pete McCartney must be overhauled, and that his extensive and infamous traffic in the manufacture and circulation of "coney" must be stopped. It was not an easy task, but his men went to work under his instructions with a will, and the result will shortly appear.

McCartney had already been arrested several times, and had been temporarily held by the local western police; but he contrived to escape from confinement, and had never yet given the authorities the opportunity to arraign him. He persistently broke jail, bought his way out of jeopardy, and in one way or another managed to keep at liberty (with but slight interruption) for over twenty-five years—during which term he engraved, printed and put into circulation tens of thousands of dollars in value of bogus notes and coins.

In 1866, he was arrested at St. Louis. He chanced on this occasion to have in his possession some eight thousand dollars in good money; and, as he himself asserts, "escaped as easy as falling off a log!" He affirms that he