iiiii'f
 
 ^>L-.— »-c^^::r:> t-<l- 
 
 7 
 
 
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 Prom V'all street to Llev/gate, 
 via the Pr impose '.ay. 
 
 by 
 
 George Bidv/ell 
 
 1895.
 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 
 One day in Newgate, by some extraordinary chance, I 
 found a pin, and up in the darkest corner of the cell wall I 
 scratched on the paint: 
 
 "Lei tlie stricken deer go weep, 
 
 And tlie hart ungalled play, 
 For son"": must watch, while some must sleep. 
 
 Thus runs the world away." 
 
 These lines were there through all the agony of my incar- 
 ceration and trial, but when the thunderbolt fell and I was 
 walking- back to that little room with the doom of "life" 
 pronounced upon me, what thought do you suppose came 
 rushing into my mind? There was I, walking through 
 the underground stone corridor leading from the Old 
 Bailey Court room to my cell, doomed to life-long impris- 
 onment, and the uppermost thought in my mind was of the 
 lines I had scratched on that wall. I said to myself, they 
 are too gloomy and depressing, that it was a cowardly 
 thought and message to leave behind me for some other 
 imfortunate inmate, and I resolved, if it escaped the Philis- 
 tines' paint pot, to leave a message of hope or high resolve. 
 When the next morning came, Thursday it was, and the 
 first of sentence, I scratched these lines: 
 
 "In the reproof of chance 
 Lies the true proof of men." 
 
 An hour after I was insane. My mind became a blank, 
 and I knew and remembered no more until the followine 
 Sunday, when I awoke like one out of a trance and found 
 myself in a convici uniform in a cell, and there, with that 
 brick arch over m.y head and the stone floor under my feet, 
 for twenty years I lived and moved and had my being. 
 
 (iii) 
 
 (<^..1_*J«J'«7«-'
 
 NEW YORK HERALD EDITORIAL. 
 
 "IT an American dramatist or novelist had tatfen for the 
 groundwork of a play or work of fiction the story of the 
 Bidwell family, to-day related on another page of the Her- 
 ald, all European critics would have told him that the story 
 was too 'American,' too vast in its outlines, too high in its 
 colors, too merely 'big,' in fact. 
 
 "Yet there it is, all plain truth, and what remarkable 
 truth — an unprecedented forgery, $5,000,000; an unprece- 
 dented sentence (for an offense against property), life; and 
 a woman's unprecedented eflfort to have that sentence set 
 aside, finally crowned with success through the dramatic, 
 almost theatrical, rescue from death of a fellow convict by 
 the brother for whom she sought release. 
 
 "The story has its lesson. The play is not a mere spec- 
 tacle. The lesson is that in the doing and undoing of 
 wrong the Bidwell family expended enough ability and 
 energy to stock a good many reigning European families 
 for generations. 
 
 "Let the Comedie Humaine write itself, and it will out- 
 writw Balzac." 
 
 (Iv)
 
 CHAPTER HEADINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER I.— Had There Been Wisdom Here. 
 
 CHAPTER II.— 'Twas Ever Thus— Of Course It Was. 
 
 CHAPTER III.— A Licensed Pirate. 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— Fools Stumbling on Fortune. 
 
 CHAPTER v.— When Boss Tweed Was New York's Owner and 
 Jim Fisk Proprietor of Our Judges. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. — Cheated Visions and Vanished Hopes. 
 
 CHAPTER VII.— Gilded Sirs Who Are Not Wise. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII.— The Merry Summer Over and No Harvest 
 Stored. 
 
 CHAPTER IX.— We Have Another Job for You. 
 
 CHAPTER X.— A Nineteenth Century Prodigal. 
 
 CHAPTER XI.— "Crack the Lawyer's Voice that He May Never 
 More False Titles Plead nor Sound His Quillets 
 Shrilly." 
 
 CHAPTER XII.— Restez Ici, Mes Enfants. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII.— We Talk of the Stars and Do the Other 
 Thing. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV.— I Play the Silver King. 
 
 CHAPTER XV.— Piratical Cruise in Tropical Seas. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI.— "Show Me Your Letters of Credit." 
 
 CHAPTER XVII.— Once More We Sail the Seas Over. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII.— Little Fishes Wriggling Through Green 
 Waves. 
 
 (V) 
 
 215999
 
 vi CHAPTER HEADINGS 
 
 CHAPTER XIX.— With No Regrets, with No Torturing Remorse. 
 
 CHAPTER XX.— Details Necessary, if Tedious. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI.— The Egyptians Pass Over the Red Sea and the 
 Hebrews Are Drowned Therein. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII.— Accepted, Lionel Rothschild. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII.— Showers of Gold Fall on Us. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV.— Points for Justice to Pick Up. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV.— The Irony of Fate. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI.— "Excuse Me, Sir, for Questioning You." 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII.— The Flowers of the Primrose "Way Are Sweet. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII.— Fear Says No to Happiness. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX.— I See the Pryenees Sink in the Sea. Then Sail 
 O'er Green Neptune's Back. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX.— Happiness and I Shake Hands for a Time. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI.— The Philistines Be Upon Thee, Samson. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII.— Nightly in My Dungeon the Magician Mem- 
 ory Would Unroll That Scene. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII.— Sharks, Salt Water Ones, and Other Things. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV.— One Lovely May Morn Into Plymouth 
 Harbor We Sail. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV.— Running the Gauntlet. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI.— "Nothing Left us but a Grave, that Small 
 Model of the Barren Earth," with Dishonor for 
 an Epitaph. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII.— Henceforth a Light Was to Stream 
 Through the Fluted Glass of My Window. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII.— What, These Tedious Details Again! 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX.— The Days o' Summer Merrily Spent in the 
 Landi of the Heather. 
 
 CHAPTER XL.— "We Will Ferry Tou Over the Jordan That 
 Rolls Between." 
 
 CHAPTER XLI.— Well, My Man, What Are Tou Going to Do? 
 I Want to Go to America. 
 Tut, Tut, Man, You Want to Go to Sea! 
 Yes, Sir, I Want to Go to Sea.
 
 CHAPTER HEADINGS. vll 
 
 CHAPTER XLII.— Many a More Dangerous Man Thau He Writes 
 Alderman After His Name. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII.— A Battered Hullc Stranded on a Siiore to 
 Wliicli No Tide Returns. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV.— I Find the Fenians with Me in the Toils. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV.— In Mood as Lonely, in Plight as Desperate as 
 His. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI.— If Pain Is Not an Evil, It Certainly Is a Good 
 Imitation. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII.— His Row Becomes Filled with Very Sharp 
 Stones Indeed. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII.— He Telegraphed the News to My Warder, 
 and Bartin Went on His Way Rejoicing. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX.— I Fluster the Great Jupiter of My Little 
 World. 
 
 CHAPTER L.— It Was Night. Silence and Gloom Had Settled 
 Down on the Prison. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 CHAPTER LI.— Tlie Philosophy of Crime. 
 CHAPTER LII. — Safeguards Against Forgery and Forgers. 
 CHAPTER LIII.— Narrative, by Edwin Noyes. 
 
 CHAPTER LIV.— " Help Me to Bear My Doom and Patient Wait." 
 CHAPTER LV.— Ticket of Leave.
 
 irwAN J 6A0C PrvftiJrn) 
 
 • IkW ItSYVtOnOS. Vt(f Prti.tftnt 
 
 RICHARD J.STRLtT. Ci&Mfr 
 
 ^^i^^»^£i/^^k/.^j!<P^a(P<^^. 
 
 HOLMES HOGE, Assijtani CjjIu«i 
 
 la^{p/ia. 
 
 // 
 
 Y?/u^rZ^^X-J 
 
 
 v^^s^ 
 
 
 
 ;^^ 
 
 ^/ 
 
 ^iky<^ 
 
 "^ yU-yLjLjn^ Oy^'—Z' ^^r~r-^ ^^tr^-C^ /iC ^^oz^ <o-x^
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 A NEW YORK HERALD EDITORIAL., 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 A Message of Hope Scratched on the Wall— Nil Desperandum. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Brooklyn Public Schools in the Sixties— Old No. 13— Parents Suited 
 to the Golden Age— A Curious Preparation for the Battle of 
 Life— Knew that Brutus Slew Caesar— George the Third Was a 
 Bad Fellow Who Got a Tea Kettle Thrown at His Head in 
 Boston Harbor — My Model Home Library — An Innocent Leaves 
 Home 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 In a Broker's Office — A Nice Old Gentleman — Situation in Wall 
 Street — An Up-to-Date Young Man — Visions of Wealth — Spec- 
 ulations — Wall Street in the Sixties — The Hon. John Morrissey, 
 ex-Pugilist — His Famous Gambling House — I Try a Game of 
 Faro — Midnight Banquets — I Have Entered the Primrose 
 Way. ... 24 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Pleasure Before Business — Result of That Method — On Financial 
 Rocks — James, Otherwise "Jimmy," Irving — He Was a Model 
 Chief of Detectives — Police Headquarters, 300 Mulberry Street, 
 in the Early Seventies — He Takes Me for a Drive out Harlem 
 Lane — A Trio of Detectives — They Make a Startling Proposition 
 —A $10,000 Temptation— Mental Conflicts— I Dare Not Be Poor 
 
 — C'est le Premier Pas Qui Coute 28 
 
 (ix)
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 History of the Famous Lord Bond Steal— "On the Office"— G'hree 
 Sneaks Stumble on a Fortune— A .$1, 250, (KM) Tin Box— Dazed 
 Crooks — What to Do with Their White Elephant — Excitement 
 at Police Headquarters — Bullard et al. — A Violin Virtuoso — 
 Superintendent of Police Kelso Presents a if.WO Silver Punch 
 Bowl to the Daughter of Boss Tweed — Paid For with Stolen 
 Cash 30 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Police Protectors— New York Gangs— Irving- & Co. Give Me $80,000 
 Lord Bonds to Sell Abroad — A Midnight Farewell — Alone on 
 the Sea — When Jim Fisk Owned Our Judges — Chief Irving 
 Plans a Famous Bank Robbery — His Three Burglar Confed- 
 erates. 48 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Bank Looted — Irving Notified by Bank Officials — His Feigned 
 
 Surorise — Hunts the Burglars, but Divides the Plunder at His 
 
 Own House — Count Shinburne and His Palace on the Rhine — 
 
 Twenty Tears Later 58 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 1 Arrive in Paris — Field of Waterloo — Meet the Antwerp Chief of 
 Police — He Is on Trail — A Dutch Van Tromp and the Countess 
 Winzerode — His Dream of Bliss and Tragic Death — My Negotia- 
 tions in Frankfurt-on-the-Main, ...... 65 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Marpurgo & Weisweiler, Bankers — Francoise Blanc, the Gambler 
 King — His Casinos at Monte Carlo, Homburg and Wiesbaden — 
 I Meet Van Tromp's Countess — Outlived Her Beauty — Now a 
 Hanger-on at the Rouge et Noir Tables — Takes My Advice — 
 Marries a Rich Burgher — Becomes a Good Stepmother — Her 
 Pious End and Epitaph, 73 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 I Sell the $80,000 Bonds— Reach London Safely— Drifting— Success 
 in Crime a Failure — A Desolate Woman — Beautiful Barmaid 
 Show — Westminster Abbey — Good Resolutions — Sail Home — 
 Irvine: at the Wharf— Meet at Taylor's Hotel— The Total: "I 
 Have Another Job for You" — A Fool's Game, . . 84 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Edwin James, Q. C, and a Possible Lord Chancellor of England — 
 His Extravagance — On the Border Land of Crime — He Over- 
 steps — Disbarred — Comes to New York — Richard O'Gorman's 
 Great Heart— The Brea Will Case— A Dark Plot— .$20,000 out of 
 Wall Street— Jay Cooke & Co. Narrowly Escape Loss of $240,000 
 — Chief Irving In the Plot — Detective George Elder Not in Our 
 Ring— Accidentally He Appears and Thwarts Our Plans, 94
 
 CONTENTS. B.1 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Eastward Ho! — The James and Brea Exit — Ezra, the Shrewd Law- 
 yer — Three Unhappy Daughters — He Marries One — Detects 
 Forged Will — Flight of Brea to Montana — A Sunrise Surprise 
 at Butte City — James Returns to London — Fills a Pauper's 
 Grave Instead of a Lord Chancellor's 114 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Bordeaux. Marseilles and Lyons "Donate" $50,000 — A Bad Quarter 
 of an Hour — Eggs and Peasant Women — "Sweets to the Sweet" 
 — A Mysterious Stranger Disappears Among the Tombs, 123 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 A Starry Talk — Contrast Between Mac's Philosophy and His Er- 
 rand — A Financial Trip Through Germany — From Leipsic Fair 
 to London — Return Loaded with Thalers, . . . 132 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 A Drive to Hampton Court— Send $10,000 Police Tribute to New 
 York — Discussing the Bank of England in the Throne Room 
 at Windsor Castle — Believe It to Be a Fossil Institution — 
 Greene, the Tailor — Introduces Me to Bank — No References 
 Required — Joy That Ends in Sorrow, .... 142 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Voyage to Rio Janeiro — The Lady of the Lucitania — A Swedish 
 Colonel's Party of English Engineers — A Bibulous Chaplain — 
 Modern Buccaneers — Scenes at Bordeaux — Crossing the Line — 
 Father Neptune's Visit — Fun at Sea — Arrival in Rio — Maua & 
 
 Co.— Our Plans, 154 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 Fifty Thousand Dollars on Bogus Letters of Credit — Visit to a 
 Coffee Plantation — Slaves Dining — Dangerous Errors in Letters 
 of Credit — A Nervous Day — An Eagle-Eyed Hebrew — "Show 
 Me Your Letter of Credit" — Mac in a Corner — A Bold Coup — 
 Strategy— Can We Get Out of Brazil? . . . . 160 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Brazilian Law — Visit Police Headquarters — A Douceur to the Chief 
 — In a Tight Spot — A "Doctored" Passport — A Detective on 
 Trail, Who Ingratiates Himself into Mac's Confidence — Ma- 
 noeuvres — The Detective on a "Wild Goose Chase" — Safely on 
 Board — A Distinguished Party in a Rowboat — A Stern Chase — 
 
 Off at Last 173 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Rio to Buenos Ayres — Return and Meet Mac in Paris — Determine 
 to Abandon a Dangerous Business — Vienna — Watching the 
 Game — Must Have More ^oney — Good Resolutions Vanish^ 
 Return to London — Determine to Assault the Bank of England 
 —Deposit $07.000 ISG
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Bank of England Requires No References— Letter from Paris— 
 A Gilded American Young Man— Duped into Marriage with a 
 Parisienne Arondaine- A Ghost at Monte Carlo— In a Green- 
 wood Mausoleum— Earthly Happiness and the World to 
 Come 193 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A Council of War— Description of Bills of Exchange — Frederick 
 
 Albert Warren, the Great American Railway Contractor— 
 
 The Great Bank Proves Fallible— Discounts Bogus Bills of Ex- 
 
 chanee 200 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Draw Fabulous Sums — Bags of Sovereigns by the Cab Load — In a 
 French Railway Wreck — Baron Alfonso de Rothschild, Head 
 of the Paris House— A Famous £6,000 Draft, . . 206 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Last Call at the Bank of England — Noyes Arrives in London — An 
 Artful Plot — Introduce Noyes — Plan Now Complete — Our Wise 
 Forefathers — No Change in a Century — Our Paper Is Dis- 
 counted — Prepare for Flight — Thou Shalt Not, . , 214 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 Fifty Thousand Dollars a Day — The Golden Shower Continues to 
 Fall — Operations Shrouded in Midnight Darkness — No Possi- 
 bility of Discovery — Finish and Begin Again — Amazing Over- 
 sieht — Pitcher Goes Once Too Often — Noyes Arrested — Un- 
 Daralleled Excitement on the Stock Exchange, . . 224 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Consternation — A Mob of Bankers — The Financial World Shaken — 
 Noyes Taken to Newgate — Mac Cables Irving — His Flight to 
 France — Sails from Havre on Board Thuringia — Arrested at 
 Quarantine — The Pinkertons on Trail, .... 236 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Hunted Through Ireland — .?2,500 Reward for My Capture — Detec- 
 tives "Spot" Me at the Cork Railway Station— Obliged to 
 Abandon Taking Pas.sage by the Ill-Fated Atlantic — A Game 
 of "Hare and Hounds" — Eluding a Detective "Trap" — English 
 Misrule in Ireland — Am Taken for a Priest — A Typographical 
 Thundorbolt at Lismorc — An Early Morning Walk — A Ride on 
 an Irish Jaunting Car — "On the Road to Clonmel" — Shelter in 
 a "Shebeen"— How Thirsty Souls Get the "Craythur" in Ire- 
 land—A Good Old Irish Lady— Pursuit and Refuge in a Ruined 
 Cottage at Cahir 248
 
 CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 An Unceremonious Call — "I am a Fenian Leader" — A "Story" Told 
 in the Dark — Maloy Helps My Escape on an Irish Jaunting 
 Car — Eggs — A Policeman Anxious to Obtain the Five Hundred 
 Pounds Reward — Dublin Again — A Jewess' Blessing — I Turn 
 Russian, and Later Become a Frenchman — Belfast Detectives 
 — Escape into Scotland — The Other Side of the Story — A Bow 
 Street Detective's Adventures While Hunting Me Through Ire- 
 land — Cross-Questioning My Jaunting-Car Driver — "A Cold 
 Water Cure" — Hot on the Trail — Not in the Fort— A Fruitless 
 Hunt — Manv Innocents Arrested — Maloy Becomes a "Know- 
 Nothiner." 201 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A Marriage at the American Embassy in Paris — Anxious Moments 
 at Versailles — Off for Spain — Crossing the Pyrenees — Gunshots 
 — Train off the Track — Captured by Carlist Bandits — Released 
 — Through the Pass on Ox Carts — A Mountain Blizzard — Camp 
 in a Snowstorm — Mutiny — A Morning Dream, . . 275 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIIL 
 
 A Carlist Officer — A Picturesque Caravan — Arrival at, Burgos — 
 Startling Telegrams — Revolution at Madrid — The Railway 
 Seized — My Party in a Trap — Madrid Cathedral and a Bull 
 Fight — A Special Train Proves a Slow Train — No News Good 
 News 292 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Arrival in Santander — Gloomy Forebodings — Sail for Cuba — Watch 
 the Pyrenees Sink in the Sea — Two Sisters of Charity, Inno- 
 cents on a Voyage — Circus at St. Thomas — Sunset Gun in Ha- 
 vana—Thirty Seconds Change My Destiny, . . . 301 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Slavery in Cuba — Life in Havana — The Million-Pound Forgery 
 Discovered — My Opinion Asked — Trip to the Isle of Pines — The 
 Cuban Rebels — A Battle Field — A Slave Cook — The Missionary 
 and the Cannibal — Going into the Interior, . . . 312 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 On the Caribbean — A Motley Cargo — Turning Turtles and Shark 
 Fishing — A Dinner Party in Havana Proves a Surprise Party — 
 Cant. John Curtin of flie Pinkertons Appears on the Scene — 
 Consternation Among the Diners — Offer the Captain $50,000 for 
 Ten Minutes' Start — No — I Shoot Him — Struggle and Capture — 
 In the Arsenal. 327
 
 xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIT. 
 Friendly Soanish Officials— Plots to Escape— Leap for Liberty- 
 Escape out of Havana— Travel the Beach Nights— Refuge in 
 the Jungle Days— Construct a Raft— Food and Water Gone, 
 but Pluck at the Fore— I Will Join the Rebels and Win Mili- 
 tary Laurels— Man Proposes, but .... 338 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 Creeping Across a Bridge— Sentries Discover Me — They Challenge: 
 "Quien Va?"— They Fire— Flight and Escape on the Raft— A 
 Tropical Night Swim— Sharks Everywhere — Knife Between My 
 Teeth— Regain the Shore— Nearing the Rebel Camp— The Black 
 Soldiers Surprise and Capture Me— I Strike the Captain— He 
 Dashes at Me with a Bayonet— Stopped by a Woman— Despera- 
 tion 355 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 Back in Havana— Curtin's Story— Extradited— Spain Delivers Me 
 to England— Pinkertons Escort Me on Board Steamer— Ar- 
 rival at Plymouth— Newgate at Last— When Time is Old and 
 Hath Forgotten Himself 372 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Life in Newgate — Legal Sharks — A Pattern Solicitor — A Lame De- 
 fense — Before Lord Mayor Waterlow — Trial at the Old Bailey 
 — Thronging Crowds — Days of Mental Torture — Jury Retires— 
 
 Suspense— Guilty 383 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 A Modern Jeffreys— Penal Servitude for Life — End of the Primrose 
 Way — A Resolve — Will Fortune Ever Smile Again? — Newgate to 
 Chatham Prison— A Cocky Little Major — Tou Were Sent Here 
 to Work— In the Mud— Night and Silence. . . . 387 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 Events of the First Day— Hopeless Outlook — Lack of Mental and 
 Physical Food — A Shakespeare Won and Hope Dawns — In the 
 Infirmary— Effects of Prolonged Imprisonment. . . 401 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 Prison Management — Warders Under Military Discipline — Their 
 Long Hours and Small Pay — Their Character and Antecedents 
 — English Prison System Not Reformatory — Turns Out Mur- 
 derers — Prison Pets — Rats, Mice and Beetles. . . 404 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 A Genius— Strange Story of Arthur Heep— Unwise Parents- 
 Driven from Home — Temptation and Fall — In a Lunatic Asy- 
 lum—Escapes Naked in a Storm— Clothes Secured from a Scare- 
 crow— Rearrested— Serves Five Years — To America and Return 
 —Again Behind the Bars 417
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 English Prisons Schools for Crime — Two Prison Aid Societies — 
 United States Laws Evaded — Snug Berths for Reverend Barna- 
 cles — Contributions Go for Salaries — No Benefit to ex-Prisoners 
 —How Discharged Prisoners Are Hustled to the United 
 States 426 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 Rev. Mr. Whiteley — How to Stop Influx of Foreign Criminals — 
 Foster an Example — Whiteley, Secretary of Aid Society, Sends 
 Foster to Sea — His Arrival in Chicago — Meets an Old Prison 
 Chum — Turns Detective — Chicago Justices — Foster's Story — 
 Human Tigers— A Plot and $20,000— A Letter and Diamond Pin 
 — In the Toils Again 430 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 A Gettysburg Veteran — In the Wethersfield, Ct., State Prison— 
 — Makes and Conceals a Set of Burglar's Tools — Liberated^ 
 Returns and Burglarizes the Prison — Boat Load of Plunder — 
 Captured — Sixteen Years More in Prison — Then Goes to Eng- 
 land — Gets Twenty Years — Joins Me at Chatham. . . 436 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 The Fenians at Chatham — Dr. Gallagher — McCarty, O'Brien and 
 Others — "We Become Friends — Excavating the Chatham Ship 
 Basin — Starvation and Despair — Self-Mutilation of an Arm or 
 Leg to Reach the Hospital — Release and Death of McCarty — 
 Gallagher Breaks Down — Speedy Release or Death for Him. 443 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 Fenian Prisoners in English Prisons — McCarthy, O'Brien — A Plan 
 Miscarried — In the Toils — Severe Punishments — Curtin, Daly, 
 Egan— Poor Dr. Gallagher 447 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 A Dictionary and Life of the Prophet Jeremiah vs. a Shakespeare 
 — Prison Hospital Proves a Paradise — Nature's Compensations 
 — Reality Not So Terrible as Imagined — Human Nature Un- 
 changeable. . 453 
 
 CHAPTER XLVL 
 Public Opinion Within Says the Same as Outside— A Sensible Fel- 
 low — Pluck Wins — Roses Scarce, Thorns Plenty — Woe to Mu- 
 tineers for "More Bread" — Sentiment Banished — Resistance 
 Crushed— English Judges Are Autocrats— No Appeal. . 459 
 
 CHAPTER XL VII. 
 
 Hard Lines— A Boaster — A Veneered Flunkey — Billy Treacle's Aunt 
 
 Dies Again— Frederic Barton and His Vain Petitions— I Give 
 
 Him a Pointer— His Inherited Fortune Fake— Surreptitious Mail 
 
 Route— Warders as Letter Carriers. .. . .. .. 403
 
 xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 Sixteen-Thousand-Acre Tea Plantation in India and Sixty Thou- 
 SHJid Pounds Imaginary Inheritance— Barton Becomes a Great 
 Man— The Plot Thickens— Letters from London— Smith Dis- 
 charged—Petition for Barton— Smith Presents It at Home Of- 
 fice— Home Secretary Swallows the Bait— Barton's Triumphant 
 Release — His Imaginary Fortune Does Not Materialize. 46() 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 Tantalizing the Home Secretary— Refused a Letter Sheet— Petition 
 the Home Office for One — Sarcasm About Barton's Release on 
 My Sub-Rosa Petition— Good Conduct Fails— Feigned Wealth 
 Wins Freedom for Barton — Apropos Quotation from Goethe — 
 Sir Vernon Harcourt and His Opinion — I Tread Dangerous 
 Ground. 471 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 Niblo Clark— The Mysterious Three R's — His Characteristic Verses 
 — My Tenth Anniversary at Chatham — All Efforts Fail and 
 Fifteen Years Gone Forever — Despairing When Good News 
 Comes— My Sister in England— George Freed— Hope Returns 
 and Abides— George Gets James G. Blaine, J. Russell and 
 Others to Intercede — Fresh Failures — Home Secretary Mat- 
 thews Won't— George and My Sister Will— Which Will Wear 
 the Other Out— George and Sister Win— Night and Gloom in 
 My Cell— These Walls Have Frowned on Me for Twenty Years 
 —Warder's Tramps »n Stone Corridor Arouse Me— Door Opens 
 —'You Are Fioe"— First Sight of Stars in Twenty Year=;— L 
 Shcut, 'Twas Like a Prayer: "God Is Good." 478 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 The Philosophy of Crime — All Prisoners Innocent in Their Own 
 Opinion — A Forger's Argument — A Model Tramp — A Burglar 
 Theologian — Other Remarkable Characters. . . . 482 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 Safeguards Against Forgery and Forgers — Curious Financial Opera- 
 tions 40!) 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 A Chapter by Edwin Xoyes — Reminiscences. .... .513 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 Verses Composed in Cell — Yankee Doodle and the British Lion — 
 The Captive's Prayer — The Prisoner's Dream — Ex-Convict's So- 
 liloquy on London Bridge. 523 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 Tickets of Leave Ls-iueJ to Sir Roger Ticliborne. . . . 533
 
 *^; 
 
 •I RESOLVED TO LEAVE A MESSAGE OF HOPE AND HIGH 
 RESOLVE."— Spf PfoloRue.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HAD THERE BEEN WISDOM THERE? 
 
 We lived in Scmth Brooklyn, near to old No. 13, the De- 
 gr.iw Street Public School. To that I was sent, and there 
 got all the education I was ever fated to have at any school, 
 except the school of life and experience. 
 
 I attended for some years, and even now I cannot recall 
 without a smile tlie absurd incompetency of every one con- 
 nected with tke institution and their utter ignorance of the 
 art of imparling knowledge to children. 
 
 At home I had picked up that grand art of reading, and 
 went to school to learn the other two R's, with any trifle 
 that I might come across floating around promiscuously. 
 
 I certainly hope our much-lauded public schools 
 are conducted on better lines now than then; if ..ot, 
 they are frauds from the foundation. The instruc- 
 tion in No. 13 was so lax and radically bad that the 
 whole governing body and the principal ought to have 
 been sent to the penitentiary on the charge of false pretense 
 tor drawing their salaries and giving nothing in return. 
 And yet I remember when examination day came, instead 
 of the committee investigating the progress of the pupils, 
 ii usually turned into a mere hallelujah chorus upon our 
 "grand public schco! system." 
 
 Here is a remarkable fact: I seldom missed a promotion 
 
 and passed from grade to grade until within two years I 
 
 found myself in Junior "A," the next to the highest class in 
 2 (19)
 
 20 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 the school, just as ignorant as my classmates, and that is 
 saying much. 
 
 It was all very pitiful. My blood boils even now when I 
 think of the traitors chosen and paid to see me fully 
 equipped and armed to begin the battle of life who left me 
 with phantom weapons which would shiver into fragments 
 at the first shock of conflict. 
 
 I left Junior A of old Xo. 13, with its algebra, logic, phi- 
 losophy (heaven save the word!) and advanced grammar, 
 imai)le to write a grammatical sentence. I had been taught 
 spelling out of an expositor — a sort of pocket dictionary 
 containing aVKmt fifteen hundred words. Most of these, 
 with their definitions, parrotlike, I had learned to spell, but 
 never once in all my school experience had I been taught 
 the derivation of a single word. Indeed, I took it for granted 
 that in the good old days Adam had invented the words 
 nmch as he named the animals, and, of course, supposed 
 that hf spoke good English. The knowledge of history I 
 gained at No. 13 was strictly limited and exceedingly primi- 
 tive. I knew the Jews in the old days were a bad lot. That 
 Brutus had slain Caesar. That the Mayflower had landed 
 our fathers on Plymouth Rock. That wicked George III. 
 \\-as a tyrant, and that the boys in Boston had thrown a tea- 
 kettle at his head. I knew all about our George and the 
 cherry tree, and there my historical knowledge ended. 
 
 So here I was launched out in the world a model scholar! 
 Stamped as i.-roficieiit in grammar, history, logic, philoso- 
 phy and arithmetic, but yet in useful knowledge a barbarian, 
 unable to spell or even write a grammatical letter and un- 
 versed in the ways of the world — a world, too, where I 
 would he cast entirely upon my own resources. 
 
 My home life was happy. 'My father had lost his grip on 
 the work!, but his faith in the Unseen remained. My 
 mother, caring little for this life, lived in and for the spir- 
 itual. To her heaven was a place as nmch as the country
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 21 
 
 villa"-c where she was born. She was never tired of talk- 
 ing to lis children about its golden streets and the rest there 
 after the toils and pains of life. But, boylike, we discounted 
 all she said, and felt we wanted some of this world before 
 we knocked at the gates of the next. 
 
 We loved c<ur mother, but her soul was too gentle to 
 keep in restraint hot, fiery youths like my brothers and my- 
 self. On the whole we were good boys, and I suppose 
 caused her no more pain than the average youngsters. 
 Perhaps the kcNUOtc of her character can best be found in 
 the following incident, if that which was of daily occurrence 
 could be called an incident: 
 
 Every night of my life in those days she would come to 
 my bed to pray over me, ever saying, as she kissed me or 
 clasped my hand: "My son, remember if you were to pass 
 your whole life here in poverty and hardship it would not 
 much matter so long as you attain to the H'eavenly Rest." 
 This teaching would have been well had she only taught 
 me some worldl}- wisdom with it, but that all-ejssential 
 knowledge was kept from me, I being left to learn the 
 ways of man in that terrible school of experience. The 
 consequence being that when after some months I was 
 launched out in life I was a ripe and apt victim to be caught 
 in the world's huge snare. In fact, had my parents de- 
 signed me to become a traveler in the Primrose Way they 
 could not have educated me to better purpose. 
 
 Save when in the school I had never been permitted to 
 associate v.ii^h. other boys, but was kept in the house, and up 
 to my sixteenth year hardly dreamed there was evil in the 
 world. I was told nuich about the "wicked," but thought 
 that meant those who smoked tobacco or drank whisky. 
 I hardly thought any women came under that categon% but 
 if any, then it nuist mean those who came around selling 
 apples and oranges. The reader will see that when once 
 away from the shelter of home, in threading the world's
 
 22 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 devious ways, I would be crossing the roaring torrent "on 
 the perilous fuoting of a spear," all but certain to fall into 
 the flood beneath. 
 
 During" my last year at school and for a long time after 
 leaving it, my father and mother were never tired of talking 
 about my good education. Possiblv they were not very 
 good judges, but I am confident that they, after all, did 
 not realize the importance of a boy being well equipped 
 in that regard. Their thoughts and minds were so bent 
 on the other world, and things unseen bulked so hugely 
 on their mental vision, that there was small space left for 
 things of this earth. They, good, simple souls, were made 
 for and ought to have lived in the Golden Age, when all 
 men were brave and all women true, where neighborly eyes 
 reflected the love and faith within; but in our utilitarian 
 days they were sadly out of place, and little wonder if they 
 had lost their way in this world. 
 
 In their intense longing for the life beyond the grave, 
 their passionate desire to walk the streets of gold, they, by 
 their actions, seemed to forget that we were on this earth, 
 and that we were here with many sharp reminders of the 
 fact. 
 
 The same guilelessness was manifested in their choice 
 of our home reading. The books I was allowed access to 
 in the house were "The Life of King David," 'The His- 
 tory of Jerusalem/' "Baxter's Saints' Rest," "The Immor- 
 tal Dreamer's Pilgrim" and Fox's "Book of Martyrs." His 
 first martyr is Stephen, and such was my gross ignorance 
 of histon,' that I always supposed Stephen had been mar- 
 tyred by the Church of Rome. Here was mental food for a 
 l>oy who had his own way to make in the world. 
 
 Craving other mental food than "The Life of David," I 
 used to club pennies with a chum and buy that delectable 
 sheet, "Ned Buntline's Own," then in fear and trembling 
 would creep to an upper room and read "The Haunted
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT, 23 
 
 House" or "The Ghost of Castle Ivy" until my hair stood 
 on end in a sort of ecstatic horror; or the stirring adven- 
 tures of "Jack the Rover" or "Pirate Chief" until my brain 
 took fire and a mighty impulse stirred every fibre impelling 
 me to fijllow in their footsteps. 
 
 I had remained idly at home for some six months after 
 my release from school, when one night my father re- 
 turned from New York and said: "My son, I have found a 
 situation for you." That was delightful news, and when T 
 went to bed that night I was too excited to sleep. 
 
 The future was full of color, red and purple, of course. 
 Happily for m.e the future in all its black misery was hid- 
 den behind those gilded clouds. 
 
 So now at sixteen I was about to sail out of harbor, and 
 how ecjuipped! 
 
 Absolutely without education, void of worldly wisdom, 
 and ill iv.y lioyish brain dividing the world into two sec- 
 tions. Ill one was King David slaying the Phillistines or 
 dancing before the Ark. In the other was Jack the Rover 
 and the Pirate Chief. How easy to guess the rest! Yet I 
 was not a bad bo^- — far from it. I only needed wise guid- 
 ance and good companionship, and as the ignorance and 
 crudity of my character dropped ofi, the innate virtue — mine 
 by lawful heritage — would have been developed. But 
 pitchforked into the wild whirl of Wall street and its fast 
 set of gilded youth, the gates of the Primrose Way to de- 
 struction were held wide open to my eager feet.
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 " 'TWAS EVER THUS." OF COURSE IT WAS. 
 
 The situation my father had obtained for me was with a 
 sugar bioker by the name of W'aterbur}-. He was a part- 
 ner in a larg^e refiner}-, his office being in South Water 
 street. He war a nice, conser\-ative old man, and let things 
 run on easily. His chief clerk, ]Mr. Ambler, was ever>' inch a 
 gentleman, who, qoiickly perceiving what an ignoramus I 
 was, out of the goodness of his heart resolved to teach me 
 something. 
 
 There were two sharp young men in our office. They 
 liked UiC well enough, but used to guy me unmercifully for 
 my siniplicit)- and clumsiness. One of them, Harrv- by 
 name, was something of a scapegrace, and soon acquired 
 quite a power over me. I stood in much fear of his ridi- 
 cule, and frequently did things for which my conscience re- 
 proached me, rather than stand the fire of his raillery. The 
 greatest liarm he did me was in firing my imagination with 
 stories of Wall street, of the fortunes that were and could 
 be made in the gold room or on 'Change. He made tol- 
 erably clear the modus operandi of speculators, and I se- 
 cretly resolved that some day I, too, would trj^ my fortune. 
 
 My friend Mr. Ambler's health was bad, and frequent 
 attacks of illness caused him to be away from the office 
 for weeks at a time, and that meant much loss to me. When 
 I had been there about a year, he resigned his position and 
 \vent as manager for a factor)^ in Xew Haven. But before 
 C24J
 
 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE. 25 
 
 leaving he interested himself so far in my welfare as to se- 
 cure me a position with a firm of brokers in New street, at a 
 salary of $io a week. My employers were good fellows, 
 lovers of pleasure and men of the world, not scrupling to 
 talk freely with me of their various adventures out of busi- 
 ness hours. I had lost much of my awkwardness and 
 gauche manners, and under the $io a week arrangement be- 
 gan to dress fairly well. My employers did a brokerage 
 business and speculated as well on their own account. My 
 duties were decidedly light and pleasant, and brought me 
 into contact with some of the sharpest as well as the most 
 famous men in the street. Among them was a brilliant 
 young man of my own age, who took a great fancy to me, 
 and frequently proposed that we should start for ourselves. 
 Being doubtful of my powers, I shrank from risking my 
 scanty funds in any speculative venture. Much to my 
 mother's concern, I had begun attending the theatre, and 
 one night, on my friend Ed Weed's invitation, I went with 
 him to Niblo's. After the performance we went to supper 
 at Delmonico's, and 1 was perfectly fascinated by the com- 
 pany and surroundings, going home long past midnight a 
 different man than I had last left it. 
 
 The next day Ed came to the office and invited me to 
 lunch, where, after making some disparaging remarks 
 about the country cut of my garments, he offered to intro- 
 duce me to his tailor, who was never in a hurry for his 
 money. After business that day we walked uptown to- 
 gether, and, prompted by Ed, T ordered $150 worth of gar- 
 ments, then went to his outfitter and ordered nearly an 
 equal amount in shirts, ties, gloves, etc. 
 
 One amusing resjult was that when, a few days later, I 
 walked down to our ofBce, comme il faut in garb, my em- 
 ployers raised m\ salary to $30 a week, but this left me 
 poorer than when I had husbanded my poor little $10. ' 
 Soon after, piloted by Ed, I ventured $50 on a margin in
 
 26 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 gold. Unlrckil}, I won, invested again and again, and 
 within fourteen days was $284 ahead. I paid my tailor and 
 outfitter's bill, bought a $100 watch on credit, and gave a 
 wine supper on borrowed money. Soon after this I went 
 to board at the old St. Nicholas, the then fashionable hotel. 
 From that time I began to drift more and more away from 
 home influences. 
 
 Soon after the wine supper episode I threw up my posi- 
 tion, and Ed and I started on our own account under the 
 name of E. Weed & Co. My partner's parents were 
 wealthy, and his father had been well knowni in the street, 
 which fact gave us standing. 
 
 The years I speak of were fortunate ones for Wall street, 
 stocks c^f every kind on the boom, the general wealth of the 
 country massing up by leaps and bounds, and every kind of 
 speculative enterprise being launched. Our firm history 
 was the usual one of broker "irms in that tumultuous arena 
 — the Wall street of those days — commissions in plenty, a 
 large income, but one's bank account never growling, for 
 what was made by day in the wild excitement of shifting 
 values was thrown away amid wilder scenes at night. 
 Those, too, v/ere, indeed, the flush times for the profes- 
 sional gambler; for men were not content unless they 
 burned the candle at both ends. Day faro banks were 
 open everywhere around the Exchange, and enormous sums 
 were nightly staked in the uptown games. These were 
 cvervwhere — all protected, and the proprietors invested their 
 money for rent, fixtures, etc., with as much confidence, and 
 and kept their doors open as freely, as if embarked in a le- 
 gitimate speculation. Hundreds who spent the business 
 hours of the dav in the mad excitement of the Exchange 
 flocked around the green cloth at night, devoting the same 
 intensity of thought and brain to the turning of a card 
 which earlier in the day they had given to the market re- 
 ports of the world. Small wonder that death cut such wide
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 27 
 
 swaths in the army of brokers. Statistics show that it was 
 more fatal to belong to that army than to an army in the 
 field. 
 
 Ed loved to have me with him, and I used to accompany 
 him to a game, then quite famous, run by John Morrissey, 
 who later bccam.e a member of Congress. At this time I 
 never ventured a single bet, and did not like to visit the 
 place. But Ed would beg me to go, and always promised 
 faithfully not to lemain more than twenty minutes. Of 
 course, his twenty minutes would lengthen into hours. Fre- 
 quently I would take a chair into a corner and go to sleep 
 until he left the game, that being almost any hour between 
 midnight and morning. As usual, in such places, an ele- 
 gant supper was served free at midnight. The proprietor 
 was always rather attentive to me, and, to give him the 
 credit due, seemed anxious that I should not play. At sup- 
 per he always reserved the chair next to himself for me. 
 One night while standing beside the roulette wheel, no one 
 wa- playing, and the dealer was idly whirling the ball, a sud- 
 den impulse seized me, and the ball then rolling, I pulled a 
 $20 bill from my pocket and threw it down on the red re- 
 marking, "I'll lose that to pay for my suppers." Unhap- 
 pily I won, and, laughing, turned to the dealer and said: 
 "Here, gi^•e me my money. I am done," and a moment 
 later went out with my friend, fully determined never more 
 to gamble. But, being in there the next night, I, of course, 
 ventured again. Again I was so unfortunate as to win, and 
 within a short time staked and lost or won nightly. But 
 sc mething worse than gambling was ahead of me, just at the 
 very door.
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 A LICENSED PIRATE. 
 
 We had latterly somewhat neglected business — our real 
 business being at night, when we made the pursuit of pleas- 
 ure hard work. Soon the finances of our firm not only ran 
 low, but were on three several occasions exhausted, so that 
 we not only had recourse to borrowing, but were barely 
 saved from bankruptcy by liberal donations from Ed's pa- 
 rents. His father was a fine, jolly old gentleman, and took 
 it quite a matter of course that it was his duty to help us off 
 the rocks when we ran on them. My partner took every- 
 thing easy, but I, having no indulgent parent behind me 
 ever ready to draw a check, began to be uneasy over the 
 financial situation. Strangely enough, however, it never oc- 
 curred to me tc cut down my personal expenses, and I con- 
 tinued living at the same extravagant rate as when money 
 was plenty — dming and wining and being dined and wined. 
 Just here an important character, one destined to have an 
 influence for evil on my future life, came upon the scene, 
 and I will halt for a moment in my narrative to give some 
 account of him. 
 
 This man was James Irving, popularly known as Jimmy 
 Irving, chief of the New York Detective Force, and a bad- 
 htr»rtcd, worthless scamp he was. I was with several friends 
 in the Fifth Avenue Hotel one cold January night when he 
 came in, and one of our party, knowing him, introduced us. 
 He was a man of medium height, rather heavy set, blond 
 (28j
 
 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE. 20 
 
 mustache, pleasant e3-es, but with a weak mouth and chin, 
 and a flushed face, telling a tale of dissipation. It was when 
 Boss Tweed ruled supreme in New York and the whole ad- 
 ministration was honeycombed with corruption. Except 
 under similar political conditions could such a man attain 
 to so responsible an ofifice in a great city as that of chief 
 of the detective force — a position which at that time in- 
 vested him with all but autocratic power. An old rounder 
 and barroom loafer, without one attribute of true manliness 
 and not possessed of any quality which would point him out 
 as a fit man for the place. Nevertheless, when the position 
 became vacant his political pull caused his selection. From 
 being a mere detective on the staff he became chief. And 
 truly this meant something in those days. The great civil 
 war had but lately ended, and the country was still reeling 
 from, the mighty conflict. The flush times, resultant from 
 the enormous money issue of the Government, kept every- 
 thing booming. The foundations of society were shaken 
 and vice nc longer hid itself in the dark caves and dens of 
 the great city. The Tenderloin, with its multifarious and 
 widcreachmg influence for evil, was then created, and the 
 police of the city reaped a royal revenue from its thousand 
 dens of vice for their protection. To be captain of the Ten- 
 derloin precinct meant an extra weekly income of $i,ooo 
 at least. He had the lion's share; about an equal amount 
 went to Headquarters, to be divided between the Chief of 
 Police and the gang, Ii-ving being one of the half dozen 
 who had pull enough to get in the ring. The Tenderloin 
 lieutenant, roundsman and sergeant came in for about $ioo, 
 $50 and $25 a week, while the common patrolman got what 
 blackmail he could on his own account from the unhappy 
 women of the street. These were considered lawful game, 
 and vvoe betide the poor unfortunate who refused to pay 
 the tax. Too well she found it meant a violent arrest, ac- 
 companied with brutal treatment, a night in a filthy cell,
 
 30 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 and then to be dragged before the magistrate, who was 
 some ward heeler, hand in glove with the police. The 
 form of a trial and a speedy "six months on the island" 
 from the lips of the judge followed. 
 
 From Spring street to Tenth, Broadway was full of night 
 games — faro — each and all paying large sums for protec- 
 tion. This money, however, did not all go to Police Head- 
 (juarters, tliere being a host of parasites aside from the po- 
 lice. The slioulder-hitter politicians, each with his pull, 
 and each having a claim to his percentage. Most of the 
 Broadway games were known as square games, but then 
 there was the host of skin games in the Boweiy, Chatham 
 square. Houston, Prince and other streets. The Eighth 
 Wnvfl and all Broadway were considered the lawful happy 
 hunting grounds for Headquarters detectives, and this by 
 long prescription. Outside of that they had no claim save 
 only to a percentage from the Tenderloin. But the pro- 
 tection money paid by the swindling games around Chat- 
 ham square, Bayard street, and the whole length of the Bow- 
 ery, by a sort of sacred prescription, belonged to the cap- 
 tains of those precincts, save only that part absorbed by the 
 politicians of the district who had a pull. These usually 
 were the Aldermen and Councilmen with their henchmen. 
 
 But to return to my friend, Capt. Jim Irving, who, be- 
 fore our party separated, had opened three bottles of wine. 
 Before leaving I had asked him to call on me at the St. 
 Nicholas. The next day he came and invited me to take 
 a drive with him to Fordham tlic following Sunday. On 
 .Sunday he appeared behind a fast trotting horse, and in 
 every respect an elegant turnout. During our drive he 
 casually remarked that he had paid a thousand dollars for 
 the rig, and as his pay was some two thousand dollars per 
 annum I easily figured that his rig and diamond pin had cost 
 him about a year's salary. It was a lovely morning, not 
 cold, but bracing, just the day for a ride. We started for
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 31 
 
 Fordham, but changed our minds and drove to the High 
 Bridge, through Harlem lane, and well out into Westches- 
 ter County. Returning, we stopped at O'Brien's Hotel 
 for dinner. We fared sumptuously the whole day through, 
 <;ur dinner being particularly fine, my companion paying 
 for everything, and really it was all highly enjoyable. He 
 had a vast fund of anecdote, and many strange stories of 
 city life and adventure, which naturally would be expected 
 from one in his position. Many of those we passed or met 
 during' the day were personally known to him, and some, 
 both wom.en as well as men, who were then clothed in pur- 
 ple and fine linen, had histories, and many had at some pe- 
 riod of their lives looked on life from the seamy side, having 
 passed through strange vicissitudes. 
 
 Soon after dark we returned to my hotel, and after dinner, 
 lighting our cigars, we started for Police Headquarters. 
 There he attended to some routine business, having intro- 
 duced me to two of his chief detectives. ]\Ianv who read 
 this will recognize the men, but in this narrative they will 
 be known as Stanley and White. I will not further describe 
 them now; as they will appear in the story from time to 
 time, the reader will be able to judge what manner of men 
 they were. 
 
 For tiie next eight weeks my life went on much the same 
 as usual. In our business we made some money, but by 
 one unfortunate investment lost our entire capital, and 
 what proved worse for me, my partner's health began to fail. 
 Dissipation, late and heavy dinners and irregular hours 
 began to break a not over-strong constitution; con- 
 sequently one Saturday he abruptly announced his inten- 
 tion of withdrawing from the partnership to take a trip to 
 Europe. There was nothing to divide save the furniture 
 in our office, which he presented to me. The following 
 Wednesday he sailed with two members of his family. I 
 saw him ofr, bidding him what proved to be a last fare-
 
 32 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 well. I left the wharf feeling vety lonely and miserable. 
 It may be well to remark here that he died a year later in 
 Italy, one more victim of a fast life, while I was spared, but 
 took no warning from his fate. In truth, I was in the Prim- 
 rose ^^'a^^ which is ever found a most tormenting and un- 
 happy thoroughfare. 
 
 How I grieved all through the twenty years of captivity 
 that I had not had the moral courage to start afresh upon a 
 basis of truth, sobriety and honorable endeavor. 
 
 Instead of cutting down my expenses, I rather became 
 more extiavagant, fearing my companions would suspect 
 I was pressed for money. How much more manly had I 
 called them together and told them we must part company. 
 
 Meeting Ir\'ing from time to time, he was most flatter- 
 ing in his attentions, while I was young enough and silly 
 enough to be pleased with his notice. One evening about 
 this time 1 met him while coming out of Wallack's Theatre. 
 Shaking hands warmly, he invited me to supper at what 
 was then known as upper Delmonico's. After supper, 
 walking to the St. Denis Hotel at Broadway and nth street, 
 we found Detectives Stanley and White. Here wine was 
 ordered, and long after midnight we parted, they first hav- 
 ing exacted a promise to dine with them the following night 
 at Delmonico's, at the same time stating that they wished 
 to make me a business proposition. 
 
 The next evening White came in and said we would dine 
 at a restaurant at Sixth avenue and 31st street, instead of at 
 Delm(»nico's; then he left me, upon my promise to be on 
 hand. 
 
 At eleven I arrived, and entering the restaurant was at 
 once recognized by a waiter, evidently on the lookout, and 
 ushered into a private room upstairs. Only White had 
 arrived, but soon Irving and Stanley came, and supper was 
 ordered. With such gentry as these wine is always in order. 
 Then they became confidential, and the conversation turned
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 3.". 
 
 to the subject of making' money. Very skillfully they ex- 
 tracted the confession that I had none. When excited by 
 the talk and the wine I cried out, "By heaven, I want mon- 
 ey!" Stanle} grasped my hand and said: "Of course you 
 do; a man's a fool without it." Irving interjected: "Arc 
 you game to do us a favor and make ten thousand for 
 yourself?" "But how?" I gasped. "Go to Europe and ne- 
 gotiate some stolen bonds we have, will you?" 
 
 For $10,000 to become accessory to a crime! 
 
 It was an appalling proposition, and I shrank from it 
 with an aversion I could not conceal any more than he and 
 his confederates could conceal their chagrin over the way I 
 took it, and over the fact that their secret had been im- 
 parted to another. More wine was ordered, and before we 
 parted I had promised not only secrecy, but, worse still, I 
 had also promised to consider the proposition and give my 
 answer the following night. 
 
 As my evil genus would have it, that very morning I had 
 a visit in my ofBce from the agent of my landlord, request- 
 ing arrears of rent, and from a tradesman whom I was ow- 
 ing, demanding' immediate payment of an overdue bill. 
 
 Pressed for money as I wa'X the $10,000 seemed a large 
 sum and ofTered an easy way out of my difficulties. I shall 
 never forget that day nor how its slow minutes dragg^ed 
 during the mental struggle. Time after time I fnid : "What 
 could I not do with $10,000?" How vast the possibilities 
 before me with that sum at my command! Then, after all, 
 had not the owner of these bonds lost them forever, and why 
 should not I have a share instead of letting these villain de- 
 tectives keep all? And through all I kept saying to my- 
 self: "This, of course, is only speculation. I will never do 
 this thing." 
 
 At last the stars came out, and I started for a long walk 
 alone up Broadway to Fifth avenue and into the Park. Since 
 that Park was formed few men have ever passed its walks
 
 34 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 in whose bosoms raged such a tumult as in mine. I was 
 young, in love with pleasure, and poverty seemed a fearful 
 thing. I kept saying: "I cannot do this thing!" and then I 
 would add: "How am I to keep up appearances, and how- 
 am I to pay my debts?" Unhappily, I had taken an enemy 
 into the citadel. In the misery of the struggle I drank 
 heavily. 
 
 In my excitement I exaggerated my poverty until it 
 seemed iuipersonated and assumed the guise of an enemy 
 threatening to enslave me. From 8 o'clock to ii I paced 
 that mall, and then left it to keep my appointment with Irv- 
 ing & Cc, with one thought surging through my brain, and 
 that was that I dared not be poor, the result being that be- 
 fore we parted, to their renewed question : "Will you do this 
 for us?" "Of course I will!" I cried, and my feet had slipped 
 a good tjiany steps further down the Primrose Way to 
 death.
 
 CHArTER IV. 
 
 FOOLS STUMBLING ON FORTUNES. 
 
 The present generation has become tolerably familiar 
 with defalcations and robberies involving enormous sums. 
 Previous to 1861 they were comparatively unknown, the 
 reason being that the currency of the country was strictly 
 limited. There were absolutely no Government bonds or 
 currency, while the few bonds issued by corporations were 
 not usually made payable to bearer, and, therefore, were 
 not negotiable, and were of no use to the robber. But in 
 1861, to meet the expenses of the u'ar, the State banks were 
 taxed out of existence and our present national currency 
 system came into being. In addition to the enormous issue 
 of greenbacks, bonds payable to bearer, amounting to hun- 
 dreds of millions, were issued by the general Government, 
 by the individual States, counties, towns and cities, all be- 
 coming popular investments. Patriotism, and profit as 
 well, led banks, corporations and individuals all over the 
 world to invest surplus funds in bonds, those of the 
 Government being most popular of all. The various issues 
 authorized by act of Congress were known as '"seven-thir- 
 ties," "ten-forties," "five-twenties," etc., these terms denoting 
 cither the rate of interest or the period of years, dating 
 from the first issue, wherein it was optional with the Gov- 
 ernment to redeem them. Everywhere, at home, in the 
 theatres and public resorts not less than on the Exchange, 
 were heard animated discussions about "seven-thirties" and 
 3 (37) 
 
 21^999
 
 3S FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 "ten-forties." The business of the express companies of 
 the United States took a new phase, and for the first time 
 in their history thev becran to be the carriers of vast sums 
 from city to city. 
 
 Then it was that those gentlemen who work without tlie 
 pale of the law discovered new prospects of wealth, and 
 realized that even to crack a safe or vault of a private firm 
 would be rewarded by a find of bonds that might amply re- 
 pay all risks of robbery imder police protection, while to 
 execute a successful raid on a car or even an express deliv- 
 ery wagon on the street would mean wealth. To burglarize 
 the vaults of a bank meant, if midetected, anything from 
 opening a n;agnificent bar or hotel in Xew York to a steam 
 yacht and Winter cruises in the tropics and Summer nights 
 on the Mediterranean. 
 
 The first coup in this line, which at once became famous, 
 was startling in its ease and magnitude. It was known, and 
 still is, as "The Lord Bond Robbery." Lord was a very 
 wealthy nian, who had inherited his millions. His office 
 was in Broad street, where he managed his estates. He had 
 invested $1,200,000 in seven-thirty bonds, all payable to bear- 
 er. For the thief, if he had any knowledge of finance, and 
 knew hov/ to negotiate them, such a sum as this in bonds 
 was better than the same amount in gold, it being more 
 portable. One million two hundred thousand dollars in 
 gold would weigh upward of a ton, and would be difficult to 
 handle, but that sum in bonds would hardly fill a carpet- 
 sack. In our day, with safety deposit vaults everywhere, 
 it seems strange that any sane man would keep so vast a 
 sum in an old-fashioned vault in his private office, but Lord 
 did so. His ofifice was a very quiet one, with but few vis- 
 itors, there being no business transacted in it but that of 
 his estate. 
 
 At this time there were three or four gangs in Xew Yprk, 
 all well known and friendly with the police — that is, some or
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 39 
 
 all were more or less under "protection," and had pulls at 
 Police Headquarters. But the pull could not be depended 
 upon at all times, particularly if the robbery made a noise 
 and tlie press took it up. Then there would be violent 
 kicks at Headquarters, and a general all-around scramble 
 to get the thieves, and so far as safe, stick to more or less 
 of the plunder. The gang that got Mr. Lord's bonds was 
 what in police and thieves' slang was known as "On the 
 Office," so named because they went around visiting offices 
 in the business part of the city, one of the gang going in 
 on pretense of making some inquiry and so engaging the 
 attention of one of the clerks. Then the second member 
 would come in and endeavor to attract the attention of any 
 remaining clerks, while the third would try to get in without 
 attracting attention, and, if unnoticed by those now busy 
 talking, would slip around behind the counter to the money 
 drawer or vault and carry off any cash box or package vis- 
 ible which appeared to be of value. This gang consisted 
 of tliree men, Hod Ennis, Charley Rose and a man by the 
 name of Bullard, aftenvard made notorious by engineering 
 the Boylston Bank robbery in Boston. 
 
 In the absence of Lord the office was under charge of 
 two men, old-fashioned fellows, who had grown gray in the 
 service of the Lord estate. The bonds were all in a tin box 
 something larger than a soap box. The interest on the 
 bonds being due, the box had been taken out in order to 
 cut off the coupons, and was left in the door of the open 
 vault. None of these circumstances w-as known to these 
 men; in fact, while "looking for chances," they stumbled on 
 the prize. The night previous they had spent at a well- 
 known faro game and had lost their last dollar. At 9 
 o'clock in the morning they met at a saloon on Prince 
 street, where none but crooks consorted, and, borrowing a 
 dollar from the barkeeper, they took a South Ferry stage 
 and started downtown on one of many similar piratical ex-
 
 40 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 pcditioiis. Of course, each paid his own fare, as from the 
 moment of starting until their return they appeared to be 
 strangers. Ahghting at the ferry, they started up Front 
 street, Rose in lead, he being pilot-fish. From Front they 
 turned into Broad, and up Broad to No. 22, where there 
 were a number of offices. Rose mounted the staircase, it 
 now being five minutes to 10, Bullard coming close be- 
 hind. Rose entered the first office to the left at the head of 
 the stairs, which was Lord's, and at once inquired by name 
 for a member of a well-known firm located a few doors 
 down across the street. Lord was away. The clerk, in his 
 desire to serve the gentleman, went to the front windows 
 to point out the location of the firm. Bullard, who had 
 lingered in the hall, entered, leaving the office door open 
 behind him, and at once engaged the attention of the re- 
 maining clerk with a letter. Funis, seeing the coast cleai, 
 slipped in, went softly to the vault, and perceiving the tin 
 box, seized and carried it out, unseen by all save his com- 
 panions. They, seeing him safely off, found a quick pre- 
 text to follow without any suspicion arising in the minds of 
 the clerks. As a matter of fact, they did not miss the box 
 for nearly an hour. 
 
 Ennis carried it to Peck Slip, closely followed by his 
 chums, and there the three boarded a Second avenue car, 
 all unsuspecting as to what a prize they had. At the comer 
 oi the Bowery and Bayard street they got out and entered 
 that old red brick hotel on the corner — I forget the name. 
 They were acquainted and occasionally rendezvoused there, 
 hiring and paying for the room. They speedily opened the 
 box, and were amazed to find it packed full of bonds — five 
 hundreds, thousands, five-thousands, all payable to bearer. 
 The very magnitude of their plunder terrified them, and, 
 knowing as much as I do about such men, I am free to af 
 firm that if a buyer of stolen property had appeared on the 
 scene and said: "Here, Til give you $10,000 apiece," they
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 41 
 
 would have closed the deal at once and turned over the 
 bonds, glad to get them off their hands. What they did 
 was this: Rose went out and bought a second-hand carpet 
 bag and put the bonds into it, save sixty five-hundreds, 
 which they divided, and Bullard resolved to leave the bag 
 with a friend of his. This friend, strangely enough, was the 
 widow of a policeman and sister of two others. But she 
 knew nothing of Bullard's character, believing him to be a 
 workingman. Ennis and Rose were two ignorant fellows, 
 without the remotest idea of how to negotiate bonds, but 
 Bullard had, and, realizing how important it was to get 
 some cash before the thing was noised around, he started 
 out to sell some, agreeing to meet Rose and Ennis at No. 
 ICG Third avenue, a large beer saloon then, as now. 
 
 Going to different brokers' offices, he disposed of ten 
 for $5,000 without any difficulty, and stopped at that. He 
 met his two friends and divided the $5,000 with them. Then, 
 as a natural consequence with that class of men, all got 
 drunk, and before the next morning had spent, loaned or 
 gambled away every dollar of the $5,000. 
 
 I remember perfectly the tremendous sensation created 
 when a rumor of the robbery spread in Wall street and over 
 the city, and what mystified and intensified the matter was 
 the fact that no complaint had been made to the police. 
 When Mr. Lord was interviewed by them and by reporters 
 he would not admit that he had been robbed, and said if he 
 had been he would prefer to lose the money rather than have 
 a fuss made about the affair. 
 
 This was really the first of many great bond robber- 
 ies, and it struck the popular fancy; but if it stirred Wall 
 street greatly, who shall describe the frenzy of excitement 
 that broke out at 300 Mulberry street — Police Headquar- 
 ters — when the first vague rumors of a gigantic robbery 
 were fully confirmed, and it became known that Hod Ennis 
 and his gang had a million and more of plunder?
 
 42 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 All rings and pulls and gangs were smashed, combined 
 and recombined again, while each and all were in an agony 
 of fear lest the booty should be returned to the owner — 
 minus a percentage divided between the gang and the ring, 
 or sold to some clever fence, who would plant them away 
 safely and sell them in Europe from time to time, keeping 
 all for himself and they to have no share. What visions 
 of diamond pins, of eight or twelve carats, all Brazilian 
 stones; of swift, high-stepping horses; of the heaven of Har- 
 lem lane on Sunday afternoons, with a bottle or two under 
 the vest, haunted the sleep of all the detective force. I say 
 the police knew Hod Ennis and his gang had stolen the 
 bonds, for in those days there was not a gang of confidence 
 men, card sharpers, bank burglars, counterfeiters or forgers 
 traveling the country but that the gang and every member 
 of it was veil known to the Police Department of each of 
 our large cities. Whenever a job was done a score of de- 
 tectives all over the country could say such and such a 
 gang did the job, and they were almost always right. 
 
 Whether there was "something in" for the force to ar- 
 rest and convict or not, as a matter of fact the thieves were 
 sooner or later hocus-pocussed out of their share, either by 
 the police, by some untrustworthy fence, or by some lawyer 
 who was pitched upon to work back the securities on a per- 
 centage. In case the thief succeeded in saving part of the 
 proceeds he immediately lost it at faro or in revelry, and 
 then risked his liberty for more. 
 
 I know two men who to-day walk the streets of New 
 York, the types of conservative respectability, members of 
 many fashionable clubs, who, in the sixties, were known 
 as fences, and were always ready to invest cash for stolen 
 bonds. Both of these men compromised with their con- 
 science by beating down the price and giving the thieves 
 but a moiety of their value. Both of them have their fads; 
 one is a connoisseur in violins, the other has a penchant
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 43 
 
 for orchids, and has much local fame for tlie rarities in his 
 collection. 
 
 Before midnight of the day of the robbery it became 
 known to the force and many of the hangers-on of the gam- 
 bling saloons and barrooms of the Eighth Ward that Hod 
 Ennis and his gang had money, and it was surmised that 
 it must be from the Lord business. In the mean time Dul- 
 lard took the bag of bonds up to Norwalk, Ct., and placed 
 them for safe-keeping with a trusty friend, first taking out 
 one hundred bonds of five hundred each and fifty of one 
 thousand each, and, returning to the city, divided them with 
 his comrades. During his absence the photographs of the 
 three men had been shown at Police Headquarters to the 
 two clerks, but they were unable to identify them. 
 
 Within the next few days the $100,000 in bonds were 
 completely dissipated; some were sold to buyers of stolen 
 goods for a percentage of the value, some were lost at the 
 gambling games — mostly at Morrissey's, or at Mike Mur- 
 ray's on Broadway, near Spring street, and probably some 
 went Mulberry street way. Matters were thickening, and, 
 fearing arrest, Ennis fied to Canada, Bullard to Europe 
 and Rose went West to California. Eventually Ennis was 
 convicted of a crime committed some time before. He 
 was sentenced to a long imprisonment, and came out an 
 old, broken-down m^an, without a dollar and without a 
 friend. Rose was sentenced to five years for another crime, 
 and then disappeared. Bullard settled down in Paris. He 
 afterward returned and planned the Boylston Bank affair in 
 Boston. With his share of the plunder he went back to 
 Paris and opened an American bar at the Grand Hotel and 
 flourished for some years; but, wanting money, he commit- 
 ted a robbery in Belgium, was arrested^ and is now serving 
 a long sentence for the same; no doubt, if he survives, he 
 will emerge friendless, penniless, a stranger in a strange 
 world.
 
 44 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 If I were inclined to indulge in reminiscences, what a 
 catalogue cculd be given of men who had, like myself, drift- 
 ed into the Primrose Way, and all, or nearly all, have paid 
 a terrible penalty for their wrong-doing — none more terri- 
 ble than myself. As for our violin virtuoso, he seems to 
 have conquered fate. So, too, with the connoisseur in or- 
 chids; but let us wait until the end before we say all is well 
 with them. 
 
 Some time later on, meeting one of these detectives, now 
 dead, who then ranked as the best in New York, in the con- 
 fidence of the bankers, he said: "I am getting old and am 
 now working for reputation, and consquently am not tak- 
 ing any more percentages. Of course, I don't molest any 
 of my old friends, but those who are not under protection I 
 run in and send them up the river (Sing Sing) as fast as I 
 get them to rights." 
 
 This need not be considered a condemnation of all detec- 
 tives, for there were, even in my time, a few honest ones of 
 the Pinkerton and John Curtin class — the latter being now 
 one of San Francisco's most reliable, who, by unusually 
 considerate judgment, has made honorable citizens of a very 
 large number of clerks whom he had been called upon to 
 detect and arrest. This he accomplished by extracting a 
 confession in writing, filing it among his secret papers, then 
 saying to the trembling clerk: "I shall have you reinstated 
 in your position, but if you go wrong again this confession 
 will be made public." 
 
 The following incident will further enlighten the reader as 
 to the way things were done in those good old days: 
 
 When Boss Tweed was in the full zenith of his power and 
 glory and of the wealth so easily acquired by certain methods, 
 his daughter was married. All of the then chiefs and district 
 officers of Tammany, city officials, judges and heads of de- 
 partments vied with each other in the presentation of wed- 
 ding gifts, among which was a check for ^100,000 from the
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 45 
 
 father. Seldom has any bride received a more magnificent 
 tribute, for, coming from such sources, they were nothing 
 less than a tribute. Especially was this the case with one 
 much-admired gift which was contributed by us just after 
 an illicit operation of $40,000 in Wall street, $4,000 of vvhich 
 was paid to Irving. 
 
 In the colunm list of wedding gifts in the next morning's 
 papers was: "One solid silver punch bowl, value $500, pre- 
 sented by Superintendent Kelso." Shortly al'ter paying 
 Irving the $4,000 percentage w^e met him one evening at 
 the St. Cloud Hotel. Mentioning the approaching Tweed 
 marriage, he suggested that it would be the thing, and make 
 us more solid with the Superintendent of Police, for us to 
 make a fine present to "the old man," one that he could use 
 as a gift to the bride. As $500 was not much to our party 
 in those days, we assented, and handed over that amount. 
 
 Tiffany's was then located down Broadway, and among 
 other things on exhibition in the window was a large, haml- 
 some silver punch bowl. This was purchased with our 
 money, which was known to have been obtained by forgery, 
 and presented to Superintendent Kelso. A few days later 
 the bowl reappeared in the window of Tiffany's thus in- 
 scribed: 
 
 : TO CATHERINE TWEED. ': 
 
 • • 
 
 : Presented by : 
 
 • • 
 
 : JAMES KELSO, ': 
 
 • • 
 
 r? Superintendent of Police. : 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 : "May loyalty and love know no end." :
 
 CHArXER V. 
 
 WHEN BOSS TWEED WAS NEW YORK'S OWNER AND 
 JIM FISK, PROPRIETOR OP OUR JUDGES. 
 
 What a look of relief and triumph swept over the faces 
 of Ir\'ing, Stanley and White when I gave my consent to 
 their proposal to take the stolen bonds to Europe and ne- 
 gotiate them there. We understood each other now, and 
 casting aside all reserve, their tongues wagged freely, and 
 they eagerly told me how confident they were of my ability 
 to dispose of the bonds successfully, and also of my 
 good faith; and, furthermore, told me I was the only man 
 they would have trusted. Of course, they had no securit>' 
 save my wcrd, for under the circumstances they could 
 hardly ask me for a receipt, and even had I given one it 
 would have been valueless had I chosen to retain the pro- 
 ceeds of the bonds. Thus, becoming the important mem- 
 ber of the firm, I told them to produce the securities and I 
 would sail immediately. It was finally settled that I should 
 go by the steamer Russia of the Cunard line, which was 
 down for sailing at 7 a. m. Wednesday, and they were to de- 
 liver the bonds to me on Tuesday night. Upon my de- 
 manding cash to pay expenses, their faces fell, but quickly 
 brightened when I told them to give me a thousand-dollar 
 bond and I would borrow that amount from a friend, us- 
 ing it for security. There was no danger of the number of 
 the bond being inspecterl, and, of course, I would pay the 
 note upon my return and receive the bond again. 
 (4G)
 
 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE. 47 
 
 They told me many amusing lies as to how the securities 
 came into their possession, and as to who were the rightful 
 owners. The truth was, as I afterward learned, they were 
 a part of the stolen Lord bonds. 
 
 Bonds issued by our Government and held in Europe, 
 chiefly in Holland and Germany, were so enormous in vol- 
 ume and passed so freely from hand to hand, that it was 
 easy for a well-dressed, business-appearing man to sell anv 
 quantity, even if stolen, as by law the innocent holder could 
 not be deprived of them. One great advantage a dishonest 
 man had at that date in Europe, especially an American, was 
 that if he dressed well they considered he must be a gentle- 
 man, and if he had money that was a proof of respectability 
 — one they never thought of questioning, nor how he came 
 by it; then, again, it was an article of their creed that all 
 Americans are rich. 
 
 The next morning (Tuesday), Irving met me near the 
 Exchange, and, with some trepidation, drew from an inner 
 pocket an envelope containing the thousand-dollar bond. 
 Without waiting to examine it, I walked off, saying: "I'll 
 be back in ten minutes." He was evidently alarmed, and. 
 like all rogues, suspicious of every one. He probably had 
 some wild idea that I was laying a trap for him. In his ig- 
 norance of money methods he thought it would be a long, 
 perhaps difficult, negotiation to borrow money on the bond, 
 but, of course, I made short work of it; and "Jimmy" was 
 more than delighted when within the ten minutes I walked 
 in with ten one hundreds in my hand. A trifle like this 
 made a great impression upon Irving, and from that time 
 on I had his entire confidence. Tuesday evening I said 
 good-bye to my mother, merely remarking in explanation 
 of my journey that I had a commission given me to exe- 
 cute in Europe. 
 
 Leaving her, I went to our rendezvous, near Broad- 
 way and Astor place, where I found Irving, who handed me
 
 48 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 over his "boodle" (as he termed it), remarking- confidentially 
 tliat I was to give him on my return his share into his own 
 hands; and, singularly enough, each of the others did pre- 
 cisely the same thing. About ii o'clock the other two 
 came in, and after some parley White handed over his 
 bonds, and Stanley informed me he would give me his on 
 board before the steamer sailed the next morning. I had 
 already paid my bill and sent my baggage over to Jersey 
 City, so about midnight I set out, they accompanying me as 
 far as the ferry, and there, after shaking hands a half dozen 
 times, we said good-bye. Having bought my ticket and 
 engaged my cabin, I went direct to the steamer and went 
 to bed. In the morning Stanley appeared and gave me his 
 bonds. Ten minutes later the hcTwsers were cast off and 
 we were steaming down the bay. Two hours laler Fire 
 Island sank beneath the horizon, antl we were alone on the 
 sea. 
 
 Alone on the sea! and a fitting place to tell the story of 
 a famous New York bank robbery. 
 
 In the good old days when Bill Tweed was New York's 
 owner, when Jim Fisk was the proprietor of our judges 
 and Kelso sat in Mulberry street, the king of those good 
 men, the police, who defend our lives and property, this 
 city became a spectacle to gods and men such as we thought 
 then could never be equaled. We thought so then, but we 
 were not endowed with second sight, nor with the gift of 
 prophecy, or we might, perhaps, have reserved our judg- 
 ment. Still, our masters were a unicjue collection, and if 
 they have been equaled or surpassed since, they held with 
 easy grasp the pre-eminence among all American rulers 
 who had shone and flourished up to the time when those 
 great men gave us new ideas upon the science of govern- 
 ment. The average and quiet citizen, shocked as he might 
 be and grumble as he did at the impudent plundering by 
 our masters, their contempt of public opinion and the cyni-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 49 
 
 cal display of their luxury, would doubtless have confined 
 himself to grumbling and to calling for slow-arriving thun- 
 derbolts to crush the oppressors who were despoiling him 
 had he felt certain that the plunder would be confined to 
 them, that his property would be safe, at least, from the at- 
 tacks of those insignificant, despicable but eminently dan- 
 gerous plunderers who became known to the police as com- 
 mon criminals. This, however, was not so. After being 
 flayed by iniquitous taxes, which he knew were des- 
 tined to add to the stores of Tweed, Connolly & Company, 
 he had every day abundant proof that what the big rascals 
 left him, the little ones would soon try, by burglary or rob- 
 bery, to ravish from him, and that they would do it with 
 perfect immunity, unterrified either by the fear of present 
 arrest or of later punishment. The Mulberry street office 
 was divided into three or four little pools, each with its cli- 
 entele of dependents, all of whom faithfully and immedi- 
 ately reported to their patrons the result of any little job 
 they had been engaged in, handing over to the representa- 
 tive of the pool the 20 per cent, of the result, which was Head- 
 quarters' established commission. This was the ordinary 
 rate when gentlemen skilled in transferring other people's 
 watches and portemonnaies from the pockets of their own- 
 ers to their own, or when others who had devoted their tal- 
 ents to demonstrating practically the enormous power of 
 th-e jimmy and wedge originated and carried out by them- 
 selves the operations peculiar to those claseses of industries. 
 It sometimes happened that special cases offered, for 
 which special terms were arranged. Such cases stood 
 by themselves. They were confided only to the ac- 
 knowledged heads of the profession. Standing outside of 
 all recognized rules, they were treated apart. Headquar- 
 ters men were always sent to the seat of operations to prevent 
 interference, and, in case of need, to protect their partners. 
 Many a mysterious robbery was perpetrated to which no clue
 
 50 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 \\as ever fmuid; many an anxious search was undertaken 
 by the bloodhounds of the law to find the robbers, that they 
 might crack a bottle together and rejoice over the success 
 of their operations, and sometimes they were joined by men 
 the mention of whose names in such company would have 
 excited incredulous and unbounded amazement. 
 
 The gigantic heavings of the war were struggling to rest, 
 but the men whose minds were unhinged and thrown off 
 their balance by the possession of large sums flowing from 
 transactions, a little irregular, perhaps, but w^iich the,neces- 
 sities of Government permitted, were endeavoring, by any 
 means, to open up new fountains of wealth in place of those 
 which the close of the war had exhausted. 
 
 One of the resources presenting itself most naturally to 
 men in a position to profit by it was speculating with other 
 people's money, and very naturally the result of such specu- 
 ation was disastrous in the highest degree. When detec- 
 tion became inevitable the defaulter generally fled, hoping 
 to find in a foreign land safety from the stroke of justice 
 and a shelter from the reproaches of his victims. 
 
 Occasionally, one more resolute, dreading flight as much 
 as detection, flung himself into schemes which, if they failed, 
 meant the most hideous and utter ruin, but which, if ihey 
 succeeded, rendered discovery impossible, and made his po- 
 sition more solid than ever before. One day, late in the six- 
 ties, in the parlor of a bank in Greenwich street, a gentle- 
 man was anxiously scanning the books of the establishment. 
 He alone in all the institution knew of a secret which would 
 horrify his brother officials and carry desolation to scores of 
 homes, the first to suffer being his own. Perhaps had it 
 been possible to exempt this one home, the misery of the 
 others would not have greatly affected him. But suffer- 
 ing must be kept from his own house, and all and any 
 means to banish it would be and must be good. 
 
 The gentleman in whose mind these thoughts were pass-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSK WAY. 51 
 
 ing was the president of the bank, who knew himself to be 
 a defaulter to an enormous amount, and who was now anx- 
 iously reflecting upon the means to cover up his robberies. 
 Fortunately for him he was acquainted with the one man who 
 more than any other in all America was able to help him. 
 This was Capt. Irving. The president was a man of 
 nerve. He knew, as everybody else knew, the relations 
 in which the police stood to the the thieves, and he felt 
 that if he could arrange to have his own bank robbed, 
 his difficulties would vanish, and his share in the defal- 
 cations be covered up. 
 
 Little time was left to him before the inevitable discov- 
 ery, but the prompt and skillful use he made of it to extri- 
 cate himself from the fearful danger of his position makes 
 one almost regret that a man of such resolution and such 
 opportunities should prove to the world that high qualities 
 may exist when the moral sense is entirely wanting. Irving 
 was quickly tak^n into his confidence, the posilion explained, 
 the proposition to rob the bank broached, all possible co- 
 operation in the way of leaving safes unlocked and doors 
 open, or what, of course, amounts to the same thing, of fur- 
 nishing keys and informatit5n to open everything, promised, 
 and then Irving was asked if he could find men to carry the 
 job into execution. New York in those days was well sup- 
 plied with such artists, but the right men to carry out so 
 momentous an operation had to be sought. The difficulty, 
 however, was not great, and Irving promptly assured the 
 honorable president that he might confidently count on the 
 right men at the right time. 
 
 Among the professionals who twenty-three or four years 
 ago were considered "valuable" men at Police Headquarters 
 were ]Mike Hurley, Patsey Conroy and Max Shinburn. 
 These were the men whom Irving instantly determined to 
 employ, and whom he forthwith set about to find. That not 
 being a matter of any difBculty, the same night the three
 
 oJ FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 men met Irving at his own house, and were dcHghted over 
 the revelation he made to them. 
 
 One would like to know with what sentiment a man oc- 
 cupying an honorable and responsible position, a Sunday- 
 school superintendent, the head of a great financial institu- 
 tion, well known in the money world and respected in so- 
 ciety, slunk to a midnight meeting with burglars. 
 
 Did no feeling of shame crimson his face, no sinking of 
 disgust oppress his heart, as he slipped into a house, where, 
 although he kept aloof from actual contact with the ruffians, 
 the details of an enormous crime of which he was the author 
 were debated and settled? 
 
 Prudential reasons doubtless kept him from forming a 
 personal acquaintance with his agents. The risk of expos- 
 ing himself to future blackmail must not be incurred, and 
 one may well believe that he shrank from clasping the hands 
 of these men, who were eagerly awaiting him. Whatever 
 were his feelings, his desperate position suffered no halting. 
 The storm was ready to break at any moment. In an in- 
 stant he might be a wretched fugitive, with terror before him 
 and infamy howling behind. But one way led out of this 
 labyrinth. He had resolutely planted his feet in that way, 
 determined to tread it to the end. He did tread it to the 
 end, and he came out victorious. 
 
 If the suspicions of any aftenvard pointed toward him, 
 no syllable of the suspicions was breathed. Who dared 
 suspect that an honorable citizen had ever, in the dead of 
 night, crept like a robber to a meeting of outlaws, to con- 
 coct the details of an outrageous breach of trust, of a crime 
 which — none knew it better than he — would carry life-long 
 misery and suffering to the families of nearly every man who 
 trusted him? 
 
 'The evil that men do lives after them," but where does 
 the responsibility of its author end? Who will ever say what 
 crimes may spring from the one act of wrongdoing, crimes
 
 Jl : .\ $-^u lUI.L. 1 THKEW IT DOWX."— P;i}?.- 27.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 55 
 
 coniiiiittcd, it may be, by persons who were directly led into 
 them by the consequences of an act the perpetrator of which 
 had never heard of those affected by it? How far docs the 
 responsibility of the wrongdoer extend? What weight of 
 horror is he accumulating on his head? . 
 
 Such questions may perhaps occur afterward, wheij the 
 pleasure has been tasted and is gone, and nothing remains of 
 the detected crime but the ruin it has wrought ; but in the ex- 
 citement of laying the plot, in the glamour which the hope 
 of success casts over the schemer, they probably never in- 
 trude, conscience is smothered, and he is left to carry out 
 his schemes to the end. 
 
 Doubtless no such thoughts disturbed the president, as he 
 waited that night while Irving acted as go-between, carrying 
 messages from him to the agents and from the agents back 
 again to him. At last the arrangements were made. Dupli- 
 cate keys of the safe jvere to be provided, and a way, to be 
 presently explained, was to be left open to each of them. 
 Whatever the robbers found in the safes was to be theirs, 
 and the task of getting it was to be of the easiest. This, of 
 course, was highly satisfactory to the thieves, but something 
 more must be prepared for the stockholders and the' public. 
 Bank safes are not so easily emptied; there must be the ap- 
 pearance, at least, of great efifort to effect the robbery, and 
 marks of the effort must be left behind. 
 
 It was, therefore, settled that powerful tools were to be 
 provided, tools able to tear open any strong-box in the world. 
 Such articles are expensive, and the bvirglars had no money 
 to procure them. No man who knows those people will be 
 surprised at this, for, however much money they may ob- 
 tain, they never have anything. It melts out of their hands, 
 and they would be themselves embarrassed to say what be- 
 comes of it. 
 
 The president's first necessity, therefore, was to pay out 
 about a thousand dollars for the jimmies, wedges and all the 
 4
 
 5G 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 paraphernalia of the burglars' industry. This he did. Irving 
 took charge of the money, and he had far too great an inter- 
 est in the scheme to suffer the cash to be squandered. The 
 agreement was that on the following day Conroy should pre- 
 sent himself at the bank to hire a vacant basement, the roof 
 of which formed the floor of the room where the safes were 
 lodged. The president undertook to smooth any difficulties 
 in the way of requiring references, and promised that he 
 should be accepted as a tenant. 
 
 This agreement was' punctually carried out. Conroy 
 made his application, the basement was granted to him, tlie 
 rent paid in advance for the edification of the clerks, and he 
 at once entered in possession. Hurley and Shinburne 
 joined him, and the following Saturday they removed so 
 much of the ceiling that but a few minutes' work was re- 
 quired to complete a hole •which should serve as a doorway 
 to the \aults above when the bank closed in the evening.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CHEATED VISIONS AND VANISHED HOPES. 
 
 Saturday night was the time chosen to get into the bank, 
 and the phmderers were to remain there until Sunday. The 
 members of Irving's ring were to keep watch to prevent any 
 officious interference from passers-by or from ward police- 
 men. Carriages were to be in waiting at some convenient 
 place on Sunday morning, and when the men inside received 
 a signal from their police accomplices on the outside, they 
 were to leave the bank, abandoning their tools, and carry- 
 ing away nothing but the money and the securities they had 
 stolen. So far, the way was plain; the keys had long before 
 been prepared, tested and found to work properly; full in- 
 structions were given as to the way to use them, but the way 
 inside was not yet open. 
 
 A night watchman was employed on the premises, and he, 
 of course, was to be got rid of. Little ceremony was to be 
 used in treating him. He was to be seized, overcome by any 
 means, bound, gagged and rendered helpless until Monday, 
 and the fact that he always passed Sunday in the bank, pre- 
 vented any remark at home upon his continued absence. 
 The details of the plot were thus satisfactorily settled, and at 
 a late hour the conspirators separated. 
 
 In the early morning of that day the three burglars were 
 standing in the cellar to which they had lowered their booty, 
 waiting for the signal to come out. At last it was given, 
 when the precious trio slipped out, carrying their precious 
 
 (57)
 
 58 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 bags. A covered carriage \\-as posted in an adjoining street, 
 into which the whole party entered, flurried and excited, and 
 rapidly drove to Irving's residence. There the contents of 
 the bags were carefully examined. The actual cash was 
 easily disposed of, but what was to be done with the bonds? 
 
 The arrangement finally agreed upon, to be detailed pres- 
 ently, shows that if there be circumstances in which a little 
 learning is a dangerous thing, one of them is not just after 
 the perpetration of a gigantic burglary. 
 
 The Monday following its execution confusion and amaze- 
 ment reigned in the bank. The clerks on their arrival were 
 astounded to find the safe doors wide open, torn and smashed 
 by the tools which lay scattered over the floor, and the night 
 watchman, gagged and bound, was discovered, nearly dead, 
 in a neighboring room. One of the clerks jumped into a 
 cab and rushed to Police Headquarters in Mulberry street 
 to report the robbery. Irving was sitting in his office, busy 
 w'ith the night reports, when the messenger was introduced 
 to tell of the bank's calamity. 
 
 The excellent chief listened with breathless attention, and 
 was naturally horror-struck at the peq:)etration of such a 
 crime. Calling a couple of his trusted sleuths, he hastily 
 CDUununicatcd the surprising news, and the three hurried 
 with the clerk back to Greenwich street. Arrived there they 
 minutely examined the premises, and gave it as their opin- 
 ion, judging from the style of the work and from the tools 
 which lay around, that the burglary had been committed by 
 a well-known burglar named Harry Penrose, and that the 
 night watchman, whom they immediately placed under ar- 
 rest, nnist have been his accomplice. 
 
 The president had sent word to the bank that he was un- 
 well, and would not be able to attend to business that day, 
 but the terrible news was immediately telegraphed to him, 
 and, in spite of his illness, he hurried to town. It is impos- 
 sible to describe his astonishment and distress at the sight
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 59 
 
 which met his eyes. In the presence of the clerks he held 
 anxious consultations with the detectives, who assured him 
 that they had already taken the first steps to unravel the mys- 
 tery, and that every possible effort would be made to discover 
 the criminals. In the privacy of his own ofifice he explained 
 to the reporters that he had left in the bank four hundred 
 thousand dollars in cash and bonds, every farthing of which 
 had disappeared. 
 
 As soon as the news was published the excitement among 
 the depositors and the stockholders of the bank was, of 
 course, immense. A run set in, which the directors by the 
 help of friends and of their own private resources were able 
 to meet, but the Wall street appreciation of the calamity was 
 shown in the drop in value of the bank's stock from 130 
 to 40. 
 
 I repeat, a little learning is a dangerous thing. Much 
 knowledge is not to be looked for among men who engage 
 in such crimes, but one would fancy that the ever^'day expe- 
 rience of Irving and his people would have given them some 
 idea of financial business. The fact is, they were, if possible, 
 more ignorant than their felonious partners. The financial 
 ideas of the latter scarcely went further than "making cheap 
 pennyworths of their plunder, giving to courtesans and liv- 
 ing like lords till all be gone," so that negotiating the sale of 
 bonds was a mystery far too high for them — something 
 which they could never hope to attain to. But the company 
 included one man who was a rare exception to the ordinary- 
 rule of such society. This was Max Shinbume, a German, 
 a man of considerable education, who, in some inexplicable 
 way, Iiad fallen so far from honor and respectability that 
 when he saw a thief he "consented unto him." 
 
 How is it that such men are often found in the ranks of 
 professional criminals? They would probably have difficulty 
 to explain it themselves. A want of savoir faire, the fact 
 that they have never been taught to make a practical use of
 
 GO FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 their acquirements, the pressure of temptation at a critical 
 moment, the absence, possibly, from harm, leading to the 
 hope of immunity — all, perhaps, enter into the explanation of 
 the secret promptings which have led to the first false step, 
 to the first planting of the feet in the path which leads to de- 
 struction. Once the step is taken, to retrace it seems impos- 
 sible. The line which society draws, and which it proclaims 
 no man shall overstep without punishment, may be ap- 
 proached very closely, but once on the wrong side, once the 
 fateful step is taken, the act is irretrievable; to attempt to re- 
 trace it is to attempt to undo the past; it is all but impos- 
 sible. 
 
 Thus probably it is that the fall of an educated man is more 
 hopeless than that of one who knows no better. A carpenter 
 or a blacksmith who has got himself in a tangle has only to 
 move to another town, and if he shakes of¥ perverted 
 thoughts and perverted influences, he is not much worse oflf 
 than before. He has kept his trade, and his trade will keep 
 him. 
 
 Nobody is going to inquire about a workman who can 
 do his work. The employer requires nothing more than that 
 the work be done, and if it be done he neither thinks nor 
 cares anything more about either it or the worker. 
 
 With the educated man the case is different. The senti- 
 ments of the class he belongs to are less yielding, the fineness 
 of his own feelings has been too deeply wounded, and when 
 he lias stabbed his reputation, he is apt, foolishly, of course, 
 to fling the rest of his respectability after it. 
 
 Witli (jualitics and advantages which might have fitted 
 him for a useful and hon(jrablc position in life, Shinburne 
 was at less than 30 years of age the companion of outcasts. 
 I'ut whatever his moral faihngs, his knowledge remained, 
 and it was for him, at least, to be valuable. 
 
 To get rid of the bonds in America was impossiljle, ex- 
 cept by sacrificing them to a stolen goods receiver, who
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. Gl 
 
 would have given but a small percentage of their value. 
 
 A steamer was to sail for Europe that day, and it was 
 agreed that Shinburne should go by her, with one of the 
 other robbers as company, sell the bonds before the news of 
 the robbery could get across the ocean, then return and 
 fairly divide the proceeds. 
 
 This was the arrangement, but Shinburne had already be- 
 ofiui to have other dreams and other ambitions. He saw a 
 chance to restore himself, or, at least, to snatch at a position 
 which would give him weight to crush down sinister reports 
 or envious whisperings, and he determined forthwith to seize 
 it. What the bank president had done to save himself from 
 infamy, Shinburne would do to recover himself from in- 
 famy. It can be, therefore, easily understood that he ac- 
 cepted without hesitation the other's proposal. 
 
 The steamer did not sail until noon. There was, there- 
 fore, plenty of time to make preparations^ and, besides, he had 
 a little private business to attend to. Leaving the securities 
 in Irving's charge, with a promise to meet the party at ii, 
 he took his share of the cash and departed. 
 
 Some time before this, with a skill and forethought rarely 
 to be found in the class he then belonged to, he had bought 
 some building lots near the park. Fortunate, indeed, the 
 speculation eventually proved to be. In the mean time, plac- 
 ing his lots in the hands of a responsible agent, and taking 
 drafts on Europe for his money, he rapidly made the little 
 preparation he needed, and at ii joined his party, there to 
 receive nearly $200,000 in bonds, and to set out with Mike 
 Hurley for the steamer. 
 
 After hurried parting injunctions from the Headquarters 
 men, the two travelers, accompanied by Conroy, to see them 
 of¥, were rapidly driven to the steamer. Punctually to the 
 hour the hawsers were cast off, and with barely time to say 
 good-bye the cronies parted. A moment after the screw be- 
 gan to turn, and the Cunardcr's bow pointed toward England.
 
 G2 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Arrived in Liverpool, the pair proceeded at once to Lon- 
 don. Hurley, who was as ignorant of foreign travel as of 
 ever}'thing else, was easily tricked by some tale of no even- 
 ing trains for the Continent. Shinburne plied him well with 
 li(luor, taking care to mix the bottles, and when he had got 
 him helplessly dnmk he took the bonds and with his little 
 '^^iSff^toC slipped quietly off to the Continent, never to see 
 his dupe or his New York friends again. 
 
 He went to Germany, called himself "Count" Shinburne, 
 bought an estate and began to exercise large hospitality to- 
 ward his neighbors. 
 
 No man on all the length of the Rhine was so popular as 
 lie. No man's house and table, horses and gardens were so 
 praised as his. In the eyes of the beggar nobles of the Fa- 
 therland the man who could give such dinners and in such 
 succession, must belong to the choice members of the human 
 race. Day by day Max's position grew more solid. No 
 breath \vas ever whispered against him, and with a little pru- 
 dence he might have kept up his state and died in the odor 
 of sanctity. But the taste of grandeur was too sweet, the 
 incense of his little world's flatter^' too precious to run the 
 smallest risk of losing it. His display exceeded his means, 
 but f(jr nothing in the world would he have curtailed it. 
 
 Matters were in this way until he awoke one day to find his 
 account overdrawn on his bankers. Then it was that he 
 began to remember his operation in Greenwich street, and he 
 seems to have thought that if he succeeded in New York, 
 surely nothing could stand in his way in some sleepy town 
 in Europe. 
 
 He went to Brussels prospecting, and soon pitched upon 
 an establishment which he thought likely to reward his in- 
 dustry. T'.ut the result showed that to walk into a bank 
 when the way was left open, with the authorities anxious to 
 see him there, and to force his way in when the entrance was 
 jealously barred with the guarflians determined, he should
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. G3 
 
 stay out, were two very different things. He made the at- 
 tempt, was arrested and sentenced to sixteen years' impris- 
 onment. His German friends heard of his mishap, and his 
 glory faded hke the early dew. 
 
 Naturally, every ope thought that the count's career had 
 closed, that the star of his fate had declined, that the bars of 
 his prison house were about him forever. They were 
 greatly mistaken. After some twelve or thirteen years he 
 succeeded in getting a pardon and managed to make his 
 way to America. His first visit was to the agents m whose 
 hands he had left the management of his park lots. He went 
 into their of^ce, not knowing whether or not he was a pau- 
 per. He came out knowing himself to be nearly a million- 
 aire. 
 
 During the almost twenty years of his absence his lots 
 had increased enormously in value. Once more he was a 
 rich man, once more he might emerge from his eclipse and 
 become a power of a certain kind in the class of society he 
 could get access to, but his experience had taught him some- 
 thing. His advancing years had left him but little desire 
 for display. He came back to a world which knew him not ; 
 and fev.f of those who notice a benevolent-looking old 
 gentleman, who often passes an afternoon in upper 
 Broadway, suspect that under an assumed name he hides 
 the identity of Max Shinbume, the bank burglar. 
 
 When Hurley awoke from his drunken fit in London and 
 recognized that his partner had both robbed and deserted 
 him, he felt that his mission was over, and that nothing re- 
 mained, but to return at once to America. Loud and long 
 and wrathful were the complaints over Shinburne's treach- 
 ery. Whatever he did to others, all felt that his dealings 
 with them ought to have been "on the square," but there 
 was no help for it. He had disappeared, and faint, indeed. 
 was the chance that they would ever see him again. Tlie suc- 
 cess of the crime, so far as they were concerned, had, after
 
 64 
 
 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 all, been a failure. Vanished hopes and cheated visions were 
 their share, instead of the wealth they had anticipated, and in 
 -their devouring rage they tried to console themselves with 
 the thought of what they would do to him if they ever met 
 Shinbume. 
 
 The only man who had any real success from the scheme 
 was the president. Exposure had become impossible. He 
 had taken good care not to leave too much in the safes for 
 his accomplices, and he was henceforth a wealthy man. The 
 bank, desperately shaken by the robbery, fell so greatly in 
 the esteem of the public that not long after it failed. The 
 president gave up banking, and began to speculate in real es- 
 tate. He increased in riches and prospered in the world. 
 He called his lands after his own name. He thought his 
 house would continue forever, and men praised him, be- 
 cause he did well to himself. He settled his children com- 
 fortably in life, and when; he died, not so very long ago, 
 all felt that the world was better because he had lived in it, 
 and that, although their loss when he was taken was heavy, 
 it was, nevertheless, his great gain.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GILDED SIRS WHO ARE NOT WISE. 
 
 After a pleasant voyage the Russia arrived, and one May 
 morning I walked into the Northwestern Railway station in 
 Liverpool to take the train for London. The bonds were 
 in a little handbag, and I was free to look around. Every- 
 thing was novel and strange, and all things told me I was in 
 a foreign land. I had, like most young people, a particularly 
 good opinion of myself and something of an idea as to my 
 own importance. 
 
 We arrived in London amid a drizzling rain, and I was 
 much impressed with the mighty roar of the tralific in the 
 streets. We drove to Langham place, where I had a regu- 
 lar English tea, and liked it immensely, too. The next night 
 I left V^ictoria Station for Dover, and crossing the Channel 
 to Ostend, went through to Brussels and stopped there, hav- 
 ing wanted, ever since boyhood, to visit the field of Water- 
 loo. I looked through the city that day, visiting the famous 
 City Hall and one of the art galleries. Retiring early I arose 
 early and drove out to the plain immortalized by the giant 
 struggle of those valiant hosts, but did not purchase any of 
 the relics which were freely offered. These have been sold 
 by shiploads to two generations of visitors. Returning to 
 Brussels, I paid my bill at the Hotel de Paris, and was amused 
 over the inventiveness of the proprietor in making charges 
 — towels, candles, soap, attendance, paper, enveloi)es, being 
 among them. 
 
 (G5)
 
 56 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Going to the station I bought my ticket for Frankfort — 
 that old town I was destined to see so much of during the 
 next few years. On my journey I would pass through Co- 
 logne, and from there the railway skirts the bank of the 
 Rhine. This being my first visit to Europe, I was intensely 
 curious to see everything, especially the Cathedral at Co- 
 logne, and was eager to linger a few days along the banks of 
 the Rhine. But t was more eager to complete the bond ne- 
 gotiations, and wisely resolved to go direct to Frankfort, 
 sell the bonds, then, with the money in my pocket and all 
 anxiety over, I would he in a state of mind to enjoy a short 
 holiday. 
 
 I traveled through Belgium and some parts of Germany 
 by daylight, and was, as most Americans are who travel on 
 the Continent, shocked to see the employment of 
 women. Soon after leaving Brussels I saw the, to me, novel 
 sight of a number of women shoveling coal, handling the 
 shovel like men. In other places I saw them laboring in the 
 brick yards, digging and wheeling clay, and everywhere they 
 were to be seen working at men's work in the fields. 
 
 A traveler in my compartment proved a most entertain- 
 ing companion. He described himself to me as one who 
 "went about pottering over a lot of antiquities and fooling 
 around generally." 
 
 But my friend, the pottering old antiquary, gave me some- 
 thing of a surprise. At Chalours all of our fellow travelers 
 in the compartment left us. Two of them were voluble 
 French women, and they kept it up with amazing energy 
 for the six hours from Brussels to Chalours. At every un- 
 usual swaying of the car there would be a volley of "Mon 
 Dicus!" and ear-piercing exclamations, and it was certainly 
 a relief when they left. 
 
 Bringing out a box of cigars, and my companion produc- 
 ing a flask of wine, we soon became confidential. Presently, 
 to my great amusement, my Old Anti(]uary, warmed by the
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 67 
 
 wine, confided to me that he was a detective police officer 
 and chief of the secret service at Antwerp, that he was then 
 working on a famous case, and had been shadowing one of 
 the laches who had journeyed with us from Brussels. Before 
 leaving Brussels, he had discovered his quarry was to quit 
 the train, and as he had to go on to Mayence, he had turned 
 the business over to a confederate. 
 
 I was young, and no doubt he thought me innocent; cer- 
 tainly he did not withhold his confidence. This is the case 
 he was investigating: 
 
 There was a wealthy gentleman by the name of Van Tromp 
 living in Antwerp, a widower, 70 years of age, the father of 
 a grown-up family, and many times a grandfather. It had 
 been his custom to go to Baden-Baden every Summer, 
 spending money freely both in pleasure and in the famous 
 gambling resorts there. The last time he had met a woman, 
 the Countess Winzerode, one of the many adventuresses to 
 be found there, and speedily became infatuated. This YsLti 
 Tromp was a descendant of old Admiral \^an Tromp, who, 
 in the mighty life-and-death struggle between Holland and 
 Spain, and in the two wars with England, the first when 
 Cromwell ruled, the second when the Second Charles was on 
 the throne, held up the fame and glory of Holland. In one 
 case he swept the proud navies of Spain from the seas and 
 carried the Dutch flag around the world. In the other, he 
 was only vanquished after stubborn sea-iights lasting for 
 days, and only ended then because the stout admiral lay on 
 his deck with an English bullet in his heart. This Van 
 Tromp was the heir of the fame and the wealth of all the Van 
 Tromps, and both had gone on accumulating for 300 years. 
 The self-styled Countess knew all this, and, as the sequel 
 shows, knew her man. She was 40, had been beautiful, was 
 still comely, with good figure, fair-haired, but with steel-blue 
 eyes. She spoke many languages and had dwelt in every 
 land from Petersburg to Paris. It is needless to tell how
 
 68 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 they first met or of the intimacy that sprang up between 
 them, but I will merely say in passing that within five days 
 of their first iTieoting he had given her a magnificent dia- 
 mond bracelet, which had been in his family more than a 
 ccntun*-. 1 his alarmed his two daughters, who were terrified 
 at the mere suspicion that their father was in earnest, and 
 might possibly present them with a stepmother, above all, a 
 comparatively young stepmother, and, so far as physique 
 went, a magnificent animal, with promise of a long life — so 
 long that her rights of dower would make a cut in the Van 
 Tromp estates and treasures, which might well cause the old 
 Admiral to rouse himself from his three-centur\' sleep in 
 Dordrecht Church and once more walk these glimpses of 
 the moon in protest of the sacrilege. Then the scandal of a 
 Countess-adventuress becoming a Van Tromp — head of that 
 family, too! They knew of his penchant for the Countess. 
 and cared nothing for it, until, with a feeling akin to horror 
 they observed at the dress ball one night the Countess airiii^ 
 the historic bracelet. It would require a volume to relate 
 the scenes that followed in the Van Tromp domicile on this 
 paralyzing discovery; l)ut prayers, tears and histrionic 
 touches were all met by the stolid reply of Van Tromp: "I 
 please myself." 
 
 As a last resort the daughters appealed to the Countess, 
 offering all their ready cash and a pension if she would only 
 disai)pear. Hut visions of the \'an Tromp diamonds and 
 of the \'an Tromp bank account were in her head and she 
 was deaf to every appeal . In fact, she despised these heavy, 
 matter-rjf-fact Dutch ladies, and rather gloried to think that 
 she would soon be the female head of the Van Tromp house 
 and stepmother to these two highly respectable dames, who 
 would i^erffjrce have to live in her shadow. But then, of 
 course, the Countess was a woman, and it is to be feared 
 that even good women love to triumph over others. She, 
 of course, could have no love for this portly old gentleman
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 69 
 
 of seventy. But it is pitiful to think he was madly infatu- 
 ated. The poor old man, in spite of his unromantic appear- 
 ance, had warm blood in his veins and plenty of romance in 
 his heart. At last, in spite of gossip and opposition, thev 
 were married, and then, instead of settling down, as the 
 happy groom had hoped, to a life of wedded bliss in one of 
 his country houses at Dordrecht, Lady Van Tromp insisted 
 on spending her honeymoon in Paris. There they went, 
 and the very day of their arrival the bride resumed a liaison 
 with a beggarly count, who, not being an actual criminal, yet 
 was written black enough in the books of the Paris police, 
 and for whom the Countess had as warm an admiration as 
 one of her cold, calculating nature was capable of feeling. 
 
 Van Tromp speedily found his dream of bliss blown to 
 the winds, but he was not so blind as not to see that his wife 
 not only did not love him, but was false to him as well. 
 Poor old Van Tromp felt he had made his last throw for 
 happiness, and hoping against hope, dreamed she in time 
 would learn to appreciate his devotion and would love him, 
 and so tried to persuade himself of her truth. The first an- 
 niversar}' of the marriage found them at Baden-Baden, and 
 there the unhappy husband, thinking to give his wife a pleas- 
 ant surprise, entered her chamber at an unusual hour bear- 
 ing a diamond necklace for a present, and found her in a po- 
 sition which could no longer leave any doubt as to her faith- 
 lessness. Seizing a chair he felled her companion, who 
 never stirred again ; but the shock was too great for the hus- 
 band, who himself fell to the floor and instantly expired — 
 the doctors said of heart disease, and I think they were 
 right. This event was only a few weeks old. The will had 
 been read, and it was found that he had literally left every- 
 thing "to my wife, Elizabeth." 
 
 Here my friend, the chief of police and a distant relative 
 of Van Tromp, came to the front, determined quietly on his 
 own account to investigate Lady Van Tromp. He found this
 
 70 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 last was at least her third venture on the stormy sea of matri- 
 mony. He had a fancy that some one of her husbands might 
 still be living- and undiscovered. If this could be proved, 
 then her marriage to \'an Tromp was no marriage, and the 
 ducats, dollars and diamonds bequeathed by Van Tromp to 
 "my wife, Elizabeth," would instantly melt into air — into very 
 thin air, so far as the Countess w^as concerned; provided, of 
 course, they had not actually passed into her clutches. In 
 fact, they were legally hers, for the will had been admitted 
 to probate. Those of the family objecting could offer no 
 valid opposition, and she had been put in possession, but, by 
 a strange neglect on her part, left everything intact, save a 
 deposit of 300,000 gulden in the Bank of Amsterdam, which 
 she secured and set out for Naples with a new lover. 
 
 The detective — whom I will call Amstel — discovered that 
 she had first been married when only 15 years old to a 
 young Swiss in Geneva, who soon left her and fled to Amer- 
 ica. He had subsequently returned to Europe, but Amstel 
 was unable to discover his whereabouts or if he w^s 
 living. He suspected that the Swiss w^as not only alive but 
 in communication with the Countess, and that she, in fact, 
 might be his legal wife. He had followed the Countess from 
 Naples to Paris. There she left her lover and was now on her 
 way to Nuremberg, as Amstel believed, to meet her first hus- 
 band, but she had arranged to remain a few days with some 
 oUl friends of hers. Every movement she made there would 
 be watched, while Amstel, going on to Cologne to look up 
 some clues, intended to wait there until informed that she 
 had departed, and when the train arrived at Cologne he pro- 
 posed to enter it and follow my lady on, hoping to witness 
 a meeting between her and the much hoped-for husband. 
 Happily we had arrived at Cologne at this point in the story, 
 and as Amstel was to remain here we had to say good-bye; 
 but for the whole twenty minutes of my stay we walked up 
 and down the platform talking eagerly of the case. I had be-
 
 •BY in-.AVi;.\. 1 WA.N'i' -Mu.\i:\.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 
 
 73 
 
 come much interested, so deeply, indeed, that had I had lei- 
 sure I certainly should have turned amateur detective and 
 joined Amstel. 
 
 The train started, and, promising to write me in Nev^ York 
 the outcome of the case, v^e shook hands warmly and parted. 
 He wrote me twice, and the following' year I returned to 
 Europe and met Amstel at Brussels. We had a very delight- 
 ful time together, during which he told me the sequel of the 
 Van Tronip episode. Instead of one, the Countess had two 
 husbands living; but the Van Tromps preferred to buy off 
 the woman at a good round sum rather than have a public 
 scandal. 
 
 Amstel interviewed the Countess, and gave her the choice 
 between arrest and a full release of all claims on the Van 
 Tromp property for the sum of 100,000 gulden. She made 
 a hard fight, but at last gave in gracefully. But my chapter 
 has grown too long already, and I will close it with the re- 
 mark that I myself met the lady at Wiesbaden in 1871, and 
 became acquainted with the brilliant adventuress. She will 
 appear again in the sequel. 
 
 5
 
 CHAPTER YIU. 
 
 THE ArERRT SUMMER OVER AND NO HARVEST STORED. 
 
 From Cologne to Frankfort is about 140 miles, and swiftly 
 our train sped along up the Rhine — the lovely stream about 
 which poets have ra\'ed for twenty generations. What classic 
 ground! What scenes have its waters reflected, its moun- 
 tains looked upon! In the old days its rolling floods made 
 a deep impression on the stout Roman heart. More than 
 one army, carrying with it the hearts of the Roman world, 
 had crossed that river and plunged into the unknown for- 
 ests beyond, only to go down in the shock of conflict with 
 the brave but barbarian foe, leaving not one solitary survivor 
 to carry back tidings to Rome of the fate of her army. And 
 down through all the linked centuries the history of the 
 Rhine has been the history of giant armies marching against 
 each other, and of brothers slaughtering brothers. To-day 
 the plains of Germany and France bear a million of armed 
 men, ranged face to face, with only the Rhine between, eager- 
 ly awaiting the signal to pour a deadly rain on each other. 
 And ff>r what? 
 
 The last face that I saw at the Cologne station was that of 
 Amstel, lit up with smiles as he waved his hand in adieu. 
 Sitting cozily in the corner of the carriage, eager to see all 
 that was to be seen, I found, as all tourists do, much to charm 
 and delight. But my thoughts were on the bonds I had to 
 sell, and I was glad enough when at 5 o'clock our train drew 
 into the dcpr.t at Frankfort.
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 75 
 
 Alighting I took a cab and drove to the Hotel Landsberg, 
 and, although tired, the scenes and surroundings were too 
 novel for me to think of sleep. So I dined and went out to 
 view the city, but as I will have occasion to refer to the place 
 again, I will leave any description of it until another chap- 
 ter. 
 
 In London there was an American banking house that 
 has since failed, but which at this time was doing a large bus- 
 iness in the way of issuing letters of credit. The firm was 
 patronized chiefly by Americans. It issued credits, or letters 
 of credit, without inquir}^_j to any one applying for them. 
 While in London I called at their office, 449 Strand, and pay- 
 ing $750 was given a credit for £150, which I took under 
 an assumed name. I wanted this letter to serve as an intro- 
 duction to some of the bankers at Frankfort, and to open 
 the w'ay for the negotiation of the bonds. The Frankfort 
 correspondents of the London firm were Kraut, Lautner & 
 Co., on the Gallowsgasse. The next morning I repaired to 
 the office of this firm, and producing my letter was very cor- 
 dially received, and invited to make my headquarters in their 
 office during my stay at Frankfort, which for the next day or 
 two I did. However, I called on several other bankers, also 
 feeling the way, and finally selected the firm of ]\Iurpurgo & 
 Wiesweller, bankers widely known and of enormous wealth. 
 I had several talks with Murpurgo, and told him I was ar- 
 ranging to purchase a number of copper mines in Austria, 
 and if the deal was closed I should sell a large block of 
 American bonds and use the cash I realized to pay for the 
 purchase of the mines. I suppose he thought to make a 
 good thing out of it, and was eager to purchase. 
 
 My reader will recall that payment upon all United States 
 bonds payable to bearer, as mine were, could not be stopped, 
 and so far as the innocent holder was concerned he was per- 
 fectly secure. But the custom among bankers was, when- 
 ever any bonds were lost by theft or fraud, to send out cir-
 
 76 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 culars containing the numbers, asking that the parties, of- 
 fering tlicm might be questioned and held. But as Ameri- 
 can bonds were sold in millions all over the Continent, and 
 were passing freely from hand to hand, as a matter of fact, 
 little or no attention was paid to such circulars, but, of course, 
 had strangers of disreputable appearance offered bonds in 
 large sums, the lists might have been scrutinized and awk- 
 ward questions asked. Therefore I felt a trifle nervous, and 
 determined to run no chance of losing my bonds — ^at least 
 not all of them. So I resolved to go to Wiesbaden, some 
 fifteen miles away, stop at some hotel under a different name, 
 leave the bonds there, and take the morning train for Frank- 
 fort, conduct my negotiations, and return to Wiesbaden 
 every evening. It was at this time easy to lose one's iden- 
 tity in Wiesbaden, for the town then w'as, along with Baden- 
 Baden, the ]\Ionte Carlo of the Continent, and adventurers, 
 men and women, from all over Europe flocked there in thou- 
 sands to chance their fortune in the gambling halls. Al- 
 though a little in advance of this portion of my history, 1 
 will here relate an adventure of mine there, some years after 
 the period of which I am speaking. 
 
 I will, however, preface my narrative with a brief account 
 of the history of the place. The city of Wiesbaden, previous 
 to the Franco-German war of 1870, was the chief town of 
 one of those petty principalities which were plentifully 
 sprinkled over the face of Europe. Since the old Roman 
 days the town had been famous for its hot springs, and con- 
 sequently for its hot baths, and a good many people — during 
 the Winter particularly — resorted there to bathe and to drink 
 the waters. As a matter of course, the townspeople, as the 
 custom of such places is, have recorded many a marvelous 
 cure, ranging all the way from headache to hydrophobia. 
 But still the town was of little importance save locally. The 
 petty ruler, with a title longer than his income, lived in the 
 pretentious castle, beguiling the time by smoking cheap
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 77 
 
 cigars or ordering on banquets whose piece de resistance 
 consisted of Gebratene Gans und Kartoffeln, the unlucky 
 bird being tribute in kind from the farmyard of some peas- 
 ant subject Hving in a miserable hut on black bread. 
 
 But a change was impending. A mighty wizard had vis- 
 ited the place, with an eye quick to see the possibilities of 
 the situation, with a brain to plan and a hand to execute. 
 His name was Francois Blanc, the head of the great gam- 
 bling establishment at Homburg. Vast as were his am- 
 bition and achievements, he was a man of the simplest tastes. 
 
 To see him — as I often have — in his seedy coat, his old- 
 fashioned spectacles on the tip of his nose, one would have 
 taken him for a country advocate whose wildest dreams 
 were of a practice of two thousand thalers a year, with an 
 old gig and wheezy mare to haul him around the country 
 side from client to client. Before his Wiesbaden days he had 
 been the guiding spirit in the direction of the splendid gam- 
 bling halls, the Casino at Homburg. Blanc was impervious 
 to flattery; a hard-headed, silent man, a man without enthu- 
 siasm and without weaknesses, who kept a lavish table and 
 ate sparingly himself, who had a wine cellar rivaling that of 
 the Autocrat of All the Russias and yet contented himself 
 with sipping a harmless mineral water; who kept and di- 
 rected a huge gambling machine — a mighty conglomera- 
 tion of gorgeously decorated halls, wine parlors and music 
 rooms, crammed day and night by giddy and excited throngs, 
 but himself never indulging in anything more exciting than 
 an after-dinner game of dominoes or a quiet drive with his 
 wife through the country lanes. 
 
 Thus this Francois Blanc, with perfect equanimity, watched 
 the thousand thousands of butterflies and moths of society 
 scorch their wings in the terrific flame that glowed in his 
 Casino, while he looked on, a cynical observer, despising the 
 fools enraptured with roulette and fascinated with rouge- 
 et-noir.
 
 78 t'KOM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 But one thing he was not afraid of, and that was spending 
 money. To compass his business ends he laid it out lavishly, 
 and in the end he drew all Europe to Wiesbaden. Still 
 broader and still deeper he laid the foundations of the for- 
 tune that ultimately grew to colossal proportions. But he 
 did not make Wiesbaden famous without keen opposition. 
 He made the fortune? of the beggarly Prince Karl and the 
 whole hungry crowd of royal highnesses in spite of them- 
 selves. At every fresh opposition he simply opened his 
 purse and a golden shower fell on them. 
 
 It required a hard head to withstand the attacks made on 
 him when it became known that he had bought up both 
 prince and municipality, and proposed to make Wiesbaden 
 par excellence the gambling city of the Continent. But, de- 
 spite of all, he pushed on his plans to wonderful success. A 
 great park was laid out and stately buildings arose, all dedi- 
 cated to the goddess of chance. Slim was the chance the vo- 
 taries of the game had in his gorgeous halls. He threw out 
 his money in millions, but he knew the weak, foolish heart of 
 man, the egotism of each and every one of us, that leads us to 
 ignore for ourselves the immutable law of numbers. So he 
 counted upon his returns, and never counted in vain. 
 
 As I say, he had a hard head to withstand the attacks made 
 upon him. Every day the post brought hundreds of letters 
 containing propositions of threats from people who had lost 
 their money and demanded its return with fierce threats, 
 pitiful supplications and warnings of intended suicide, place, 
 date and hour carefully specified, so there could be no mis- 
 take, and more than one attempt was made upon his life. 
 But the equanimity of Francois Blanc was equal to all ad- 
 ventures. Threats, prayers, temptations, left him untouched. 
 This man of ice, self-possessed, cold, indifferent to the ruin 
 of the thousands of victims of his will, had a fad or fancy. 
 It was for raising red and white roses, and while the mad 
 throngs were fluttering in frenzy around the tables in his
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 79 
 
 halls at Honiburg, Wiesbaden and Monte Carlo, he, hoe or 
 trowel in hand, would be training and transplanting his roses, 
 solicitous over an opening bud or deploring the ravages of 
 an insect; or, again, refusing all invitations, would sit down 
 with his wife to a dinner of boiled turnips and bacon, washed 
 down with a glass of Vichy water and milk. This was the 
 town and these the scenes constantly occurring there. 
 
 Now for my adventure. In 1870, just before the vvar 
 cloud burst, covering all that part of the world, I was stop- 
 ping for some weeks at the Hotel Nassau. It stands in the 
 main street, opposite the park gate leading to the Casino. 
 All the world went to Wiesbaden to be amused. However 
 fashionable frivolity and vice may be elsewhere, here it was 
 strictly de rigueur, and to pretend to decency and sobriety 
 would be to stamp one's self a heathen and barbarian, all un- 
 versed in the glorious flower-wreathed Primrose Way of our 
 orb. 
 
 The daily routine for the throng began with cofTee in bed 
 at 8 a. m., then dressing gowms were donned, and the bath in 
 underground floors of the hotel were sought and a bath had 
 in the hot mineral waters, which were conducted to all the 
 hotels direct from the hot springs of the town. Half an 
 hour in the bath, then a light breakfast, preparator}^ to sally- 
 ing out for an hour on the Spaziergang around the Quellen 
 to drink the water, listen to the band, see and be seen, but, 
 above all, to gossip and tell lies. At 11 a. m. the gambling 
 began in the Casino, and with a rush the seats around the 
 tables would be filled. Then speedily there would be rows 
 behind rows of eager players or spectators, and what a sight 
 it all was to the cool-headed observer. 
 
 With what keen interest all watched the result of the first 
 turn of the card at the card tables and the color of the first hit 
 at roulette. For all gamblers are superstitious, and are de- 
 vout believers in omens. Those whose luck or pocketbooks 
 held out gambled steadily on, or, if luck turned against them,
 
 80 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 would leave the tal)lc, go to do some fantastic thing to 
 change their luck and then return. At 2 p. m. the band (a 
 very fine one) played in the Musik Saal, and most of the 
 idlers and morning players gathered there to listen to the 
 music and to drink and dine. Here in this hall the intrigues 
 begun on the promenade or in the gambling-rooms were 
 helped along by the ample opportunities of meeting, with 
 the passions stimulated by the music and the wine. At 4 
 o'clock many took an afternoon nap. Then came the chief 
 event of the day, the ponderous table d'hote. At 9 p. m. 
 every one flocked to the Casino, and the game went merrily 
 on until midnight. Then to bed, each and all with more or 
 less Rudesheimer or Hochheimer stowed away. 
 
 At the time of which I speak many were my idle days, in 
 which I was free to seek pleasure. I used to find much en- 
 joyment in frequenting the Casino to watch the people and 
 to play the role of "looker-on in Vienna," which, by the way, 
 is a star role and therefore rather agreeable. One evening 
 while watching the rouge-et-noir I noticd a lady just in front 
 of me, magnificently dressed in all, save that there was an 
 entire absence of jewelry. She was literally dressed to kill, 
 and, although near 50, yet to the casual observer she seemed 
 no more than 40, or even less. She was a well-preserved 
 woman of the world, and was known as the Countess de Win- 
 zerole. This was the adventuress who had married Van 
 Tromp some two years before. What a career had been that 
 of this woman! 
 
 She had been mistress from first to last of a dozen men, 
 intblemen, diplomats, soldiers, but being an inveterate gam- 
 bler, one after another saw, with dismay, the cash, estates, 
 diamonds, carriages, costly furs and laces he showered upon 
 her all go whirling into the ever-open maw of the Casino, or 
 in the drawing-room games of the bon-ton in Paris or Pe- 
 tersburg. One brave youth, an officer in tlic Prussian 
 Guards, had, in his infatuation for the Countess, and impreg-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY, 81 
 
 nable, as he thought, against bankruptcy by reason of his 
 great fortune, tried to satisfy her cravings for splendor of 
 entourage and her infatuation for gambHng. The result 
 was that one day the crack of a pistol-shot was heard in the 
 Countess' chamber, and the servants rushing in found the 
 young bankrupt dead, lying across the bed, with a bullet 
 through the heart. The next day a horde of clamorous cred- 
 itors besieged the house, where the Countess calmly told 
 them she had sent for her bankers and on the morrow they 
 would be paid. Thst night his comrades buried their dead 
 friend with military honors. At midnight the cortege 
 passed the hotel, and all eyes watched the lovely Countess 
 robed in white as she appeared, her bosom heaving with 
 emotion, while she waved a farewell to her dead lover. Ten 
 minutes later she fled through the back door and over the 
 garden wall, falling into the arms of another lover waiting 
 there. He himself did not go the way of the last, but half 
 of his fortune did; so one morning, leaving a polite note of 
 farewell, he, taking for companion the dressing maid of his 
 mistress, embarked for America. 
 
 At the time I met her the Countess' reputation was too 
 well known and her beauty too much fallen of? for her to 
 make any more grand catches. A local banker at Wiesbaden 
 became very friendly. However, the friendship lost all its 
 warmth when the banker's stout wife one dav caught them 
 together, and having already provided herself with a whip in 
 anticipation, visited them both with a jealous woman's rage 
 and a sound thrashing. 
 
 Now, the Countess spent her time around the tables, fol- 
 lowing the winners and getting douceurs from them. These 
 were by no means small — most of them being gifts pure and 
 simple, given from mere goodness of heart or sheer prodigal- 
 ity for there were too many gay and beautiful women flock- 
 ing around ready to smile on winners in the game for the 
 C(?untesf now to make even a temporary concjuest. How-
 
 82 FROM WALL STREET l^O NEWGATE 
 
 ever, at this period she lived well — even extravagantly — but, 
 of course, saved nothing. As related, I first met the Countess 
 here at tiie table where the game was going on. She had 
 just staked and lost her last gulden. She was betting on the 
 black, and four times in succession the red had won. She 
 turned, and looking in my face, implored me to bet a double 
 Frederick on the red. I instantly placed the money on the 
 red and won. She begged me to transfer the stake to the 
 black. I did so, and black won. Placing her hand on the 
 stake, she said: "Sir, leave it; black will win again." Sure 
 enough, it did. She seized the cash, $80, and handing me 
 a double Frederick, said in her most bewitching manner: 
 "Oh, sir; be generous and let me keep this!" I said: "Cer- 
 tainly, madame." She promptly staked it, and in two turns 
 of the cards it was gone. 
 
 We met several times the next few days, but merely bowed 
 without speaking. 
 
 One afternoon, entering the Alusik Saal, I took a small 
 table, and, ordering a bottle of wine, sat down to listen to the 
 music and watch the throng. The Countess came in, and 
 seeing me alone, came straight to me, shook hands warmly 
 and sat down. I, of course, invited her to have a glass of 
 wine. We soon finished that bottle and ordered another. We 
 had what was to me a most amusing talk. She was a character 
 — had been everywhere and spoke all the modern languages. 
 She assured me that I was a very charming gentleman. In 
 paying my bill I incautiously displayed a gold piece or two, 
 and, seeing she was going to ask me to give her one, I saved 
 her the trouble by placing one in her hand. In time we be- 
 came quite good friends. Twice I paid her board bill in 
 order to rescue her wardro1)e from the clutches of her land- 
 lord, and once I saved her from the hands of an irate wash- 
 er\voman. When, after a time, I left Wiesbaden, I left her as 
 gay, as prosperous and as extravagant as ever. 
 
 1 did not see Wiesbaden again for over two years, but the
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 83 
 
 second week of January, 187J, found me there. The Prus- 
 sian Government now ruled in the town, and refused to re- 
 new the Hcense of M. Blanc. It had expired fourteen days 
 before my arrival. What a change had fallen on the town! 
 The Casino was gloomy and cold, the gay crowds had fled. 
 All the life and movement of the street and promenade was 
 forever a thing of the past. I had located there simply as a 
 precaution, disposing of large amounts of bonds in Frankfort, 
 fifteen miles away, and returning to Wiesbaden each night. 
 At this time I put up at the Hotel Victoria, near the rail- 
 road station. One Saturday, going up to Frankfort rather 
 late, my business detained me until after dark. On reach- 
 ing the station I happened to look into the third-class wait- 
 ing-room, and there I spied a figure alone that looked famil- 
 iar. I soon recognized the Countess. From her appear- 
 ance and surroundings it was plain that there was now no 
 wealthy lover at her beck and call. Because she looked so 
 unhappy I gave her a cordial greeting, which she returned 
 rather wearily. It was very cold, and I was clad in furs from 
 head to foot] besides, I was, apparently, on the full flood- 
 tide of fortune, having with me then a very large sum of 
 money, some of which she could have had for the asking. 
 
 I said: "Come, Countess; let us go together first class to 
 Wiesbaden." She replied that she lived at Bieberich, a 
 small town on the Rhine, four miles below Mayence, and 
 four miles from Wiesbaden. As thel train was starting I 
 bade her good-bye, but asked permission to call (in lier the 
 next day. She consented, giving her address as Hotel Belle- 
 vue. 
 
 The next morning was very cold, but I enjoyed that, so, 
 after a light breakfast, I started over the hills for a walk to 
 the town, arriving there soon after noon. I found the hotel, 
 a fiftn-rate one, and entering, was shown to the room of the 
 Countess. What a change for her from the past! Her 
 room was a small oue, plastered, but unpapered, and w'ith a
 
 84 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 few articles of funiiturc of the cheapest. The poor woman 
 was too evidently in a state of frightful depression, and well 
 she might be. Hers had been a butterfly existence, life all 
 one Summer holiday, no hostages given to fortune, no bond 
 taken against future wreck or change. Like the butterfly, 
 she had roamed from flower to flower, sipping the sweet only, 
 '^'•. like the cricket, had merrily piped all the Summer 
 through, thinking sunshine and bloom eternal. Even when 
 youth and beauty had fled, and lovers no longer stood ready 
 to attend and serve, she still found a good aftermath in her 
 happy harvest field on the floors of the Casino, but when the 
 Casino lights at Wiesbaden went out, then, for the Countess, 
 had the Winter indeed come. 
 
 My walk had given me something of an appetite, and it 
 now being 2 o'clock I at once proposed to have dinner. To 
 my surprise she said she had already dined, and upon my 
 remarking that it was early for dinner, she replied that it was, 
 but as she was owing quite a hotel bill she feared to give 
 any trouble lest the landlord might present his bill, and in de- 
 fault of payment she was liable to arrest and a very considera- 
 ble imprisonment. I need hardly tell my readers that they 
 do these things difl'erently in Germany than with us. I could 
 easily afford to be generous with other people's money, and 
 did not mean to see the Countess suffer for a hotel bill. 
 Kinging the bell, I told the waiter to bring me some dinner 
 and a bottle of wine. The Countess looked very uneasy 
 over my order. Of late years she had seen life from the 
 seamy side and had observed so much of the falseness and 
 cruelty of men that she had apparently lost all faith in them, 
 and no doubt thought me an adventurer, one who might 
 possibly dine and order expensive wines, leaving her to face 
 an angry landlord. While dinner was being prepared she 
 told nic she was in the greatest distress; had not even a single 
 krcutzcr to pay postage, and, worst of all, was owing for two 
 weeks' board. She had no means to fly, no place to fly to,
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 85 
 
 and if she remained incarceration awaited her. She had for 
 weeks been writing everywhere to every one she had known, 
 former lovers, distant, but long-neglected relatives. The re- 
 sult — dead silence; no response from anywhere. She at last 
 was alone, caught in the world's great snare, with no friendly 
 hand to shelter or save. It was a sight to read this woman's 
 face. There swept over it all the conflicting waves of regrets 
 over might-have-beens and the gloomy shades of despair. 
 Both proprietor and waiter appeared to set the table; it was 
 for one, but wineglasses for two were brought unsolicited. 
 They were officiously anxious to please "Your Highness," 
 as they christened me. The Countess sat looking gloomily 
 out of the window across the Rhine, while I watched her face 
 until an infinite pity for the shipwrecked soul filled my mind. 
 Dismissing the waiter I went to the window, and standing by 
 her chair I said: "Don't worry any more, Countess; I will pay 
 your bill." At the same time drawing from an inner pocket a 
 book crammed with notes, I placed seven loo-thaler notes 
 in her lap, saying: "This one is for your board bill, and the 
 other six are for your pocket money." I need not attempt 
 to picture her amazement and delight. Certainly she ap- 
 peared ver}^ grateful. We had a long conversation and I was 
 talking to her like a brother. Perhaps had she still been 
 beautiful and young my manner and language might have 
 been less brotherl3^ I told her she had danced and sung, 
 but at last the time had come for toil, and suggested she 
 should go to Brussels, which is ever thronged with tourists, 
 where her knowledge of languages and her savoir faire could 
 be made available in one of the many shops where gimcracks 
 are sold to travelers. I advised her to offer a small premium 
 for a position. This she said she would do. 
 
 In saying good-bye I. promised to see her again the next 
 night, but I found a telegram awaiting me on my arrival at 
 my hotel which called me to meet two of my companions 
 at Calais, and I was forced to leave by an early train. The
 
 86 
 
 FROM ^YALL. STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 next time I saw the Countess was at Newgate. She visited 
 me there, and was in perfect despair over my position and 
 her inabihty to serve me. For those who may care to know 
 more of her, I will say that, following my advice, she went 
 to Brussels and' obtained a position in a Tourist Exchange 
 and within a year married the proprietor, who was a Council- 
 man and a man of considerable local importance. She made 
 liiin a good wife and became a true mother to hi.; five 
 daughters. When he died he made her guardian to both of 
 them and his wealth. She became very religious, and to 
 the last was a devout member of the Roman Church. She 
 died in 1886, thirteen years after the episode at Bieberich. 
 Her ashes rest in the little graveyard of the Convent dcs 
 Soeurs de Ste. Agnes, on the Charlcroi road, two miles 
 from the city, and on her monument is engraved: 
 
 TO ELIZABETH, 
 
 The Beloved Wife, Pious and True. 
 
 She Served God and Has Gone to 
 
 Live with the Angels.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 "WE HAVE ANOTHER JOB FOR YOU." 
 
 About every second day I called on Murpurgo & Weiss- 
 weiller in Frankfort, and talked over matters, and easily saw 
 that everything would go right. All that was necessary was 
 to produce the bonds, and they would hand over the cash. 
 Here in America, though we scrutinized a man's garments, 
 the quality and fit of the same having a certain value, we 
 never take much stock in a stranger because an artist tailor 
 has decorated him, or because he has plenty of money. But 
 in the seventies, all over Europe, from the mere fact that a 
 man was an American and had the appearance, dress and 
 manner of a gentleman, they always took it for granted that 
 he must be a gentleman. 
 
 Therefore, seeing that I was taken for a capitalist, and that 
 no question would be asked, I told the firm my deal in Aus- 
 trian copper mines appeared so certain to be completed that 
 I had ordered the securities I intended to dispose of to be 
 fonvarded from London. Giving them a list, they gave me a 
 memorandum ofifer for the lot. I accepted their oflfer. The 
 next hour wos a very bad sixty minutes for me. There was 
 considerable delay, and my suspicions were fully aroused, 
 and at one time I thought they had made some discovery; 
 but, as a fact, my suspicions were wholly unfounded. 
 
 The banker and clerks were simply hurrying around, anx- 
 ious to oblige me and have the money out of the bank be- 
 fore it closed. At last the amounts were figured up and veri- 
 
 (87)
 
 SS FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 tied by myself. One of the partners hastened ofif to the bank 
 and in five niinntcs returned with a very pretty parcel of 200,- 
 000 gulden; but, in spite of the evident safety of the busi- 
 ness, I was nervous, and resolved to put a good distance 
 between nie and the town as speedily as possible. Before 5 
 o'clock I was in W'eisbadcn, and, going directly to the Casino, 
 where they kept at all times a million francs, in addition to 
 German money, and where the possession of large sums at- 
 tract no attention, I readily exchanged my money for 350 
 one-thousand-franc notes. 
 
 * * 
 
 Going to Rothschild's, I bought exchange on New York 
 for J^,ooo, and left the same night for London. Very 
 many times I journeyed over that route in after years, but 
 never with so light a heart. I was young and enthusiastic; 
 all the glamour and poetry of life hung around me, while I 
 was too inexperienced to notice whither I was drifting, or to 
 understand the powerful current upon which I had embarked. 
 In fact, I had sold myself to do the devil's work, and day by 
 day the chain would tighten, while all the time I thought I 
 could when I pleased stop short on the downward grade and 
 take the back track. ]\Iore experience would have taught 
 me that every one who forsook the path of honor not only 
 thought the same, but had a purpose to even everything up 
 some day and inake restitution. And to-day there is not a 
 criminal but who, at the start, looks forward to the time when 
 he will no longer war against society, but will go out and 
 come in at peace with all men. But when one comes to 
 think oi it, what a fool's game is that of a man who fights 
 against society! 
 
 The criminal has but two arms, very short and weak they 
 are, and of flesh, too. He has but two eyes that cannot pos- 
 sibly see around the nearest corner, while society has a mil- 
 lion arms of steel that can reach around the world, and a mil- 
 lion eyes which are never closed, that can pierce the thickest
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 91 
 
 gloom with sleepless vigilance. The poor, unhappy crimi- 
 nal, by fortunate dexterity, may escape for a little, but at last 
 society lays her iron grasp on him, and with giant force hurls 
 him into a dungeon. As for the short-lived, tempestuous 
 success that some few criminals have, is there any sweetness 
 in it? I say no; success won in honest fight is sweet, but I 
 know from my own experience that the success of crime 
 brings no sweetness, no blessing with it, but leaves the mind 
 a prey to a thousand haunting fears that make shipwreck of 
 peace. 
 
 There were no sleeping cars in all Europe then, so I sat 
 up in a compartment and really enjoyed the ride, viewing the 
 country by moonlight. At midnight we arrived at Calais, 
 and took the boat for Dover. Then the express for Lon- 
 don. Arriving at Victoria Station I took a cab to Mrs. 
 Green's, where I had breakfast a I'anglaise. 
 
 I had a little adventure that night going down the Strand, 
 At Bow street, on the corner, is the "Gaiety," a famous drink- 
 ing saloon, flooded with light inside and out, with more than 
 a half-dozen handsome barmaids. Barmaids are a great in- 
 stitution in England — that is, they have never more than one 
 man behind a bar, none at all in the railway bars. And a 
 fearful source of ruin to the girls, as they are to thousands of 
 young men — I might say tens of thousands every year. 
 These girls are chosen for their beauty and attractiveness. 
 Yearly, in London and in other large cities of England, a 
 "Beautiful Barmaid Show" is one of the stated features, and 
 is held in some public garden or monster hall. These ex- 
 hibitions are wonderfully popular, and thousands flock to 
 them. Various beauty contests are got up, and all the popu- 
 lar features of voting, etc., are in vogue. Those of the young 
 women who wan the prizes make their fortunes, for they are 
 at once engaged at high salaries for the more aristocratic 
 barrooms. Fancy what an attraction and even fascination 
 the gin palace with lovely girls behind the bar must have to 
 6
 
 92 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 the youth of a g^rcat city. Many of them strangers, busy 
 during the day, but with nothing to do at night, with the 
 choice of the street or a soiubrc room, but sure of a sweet 
 smile of welcome from a fascinating woman in the barrooms. 
 How easily and how naturally, too, does a young man be- 
 come ensnared. lUit how if he has no money? No smiles 
 and no welcome for him! And then what a temptation to 
 help himself to his master's cash! 
 
 Happy for our country that our laws forbid women enter- 
 ing that ocupation! 
 
 While standing in the brilliant light of the Gaiety, w^atch- 
 ing the thronging crowd of passers-by, w'ith its sprinkling 
 of unfortunates, I saw one poor, bedraggled creature, wan- 
 faced and hollowed-eyed, with hunger and despair imprinted 
 on every feature. Looking sharply at her she caught my 
 eye, and. crossing the street, she spoke to me. The poor 
 thing looked as if she had been dragged through all the gut- 
 ters of London. She said that herself and her baby were 
 actually starving — that her husband had been out of work 
 t'-.irteen weeks and had then deserted her, owing twelve 
 weeks' rent, and the landlady had just told her that unless 
 she paid her some rent before 9 o'clock that night she would 
 l)e turned out witli her baby into the streets. 
 
 Those of my readers who have been in London know some- 
 thing of what it would mean for this woman to be turned 
 out into the streets of that fearful Babylon. No wonder, 
 then, the poor soul was frantic with despair. In her pov- 
 erty a shilling looked as big as a cartwheel, and when I said 
 to her: "Will you promise to go direct home if I give you a 
 .sovereign?" she cried out: "Oh, sir, God forever bless you iT 
 you will!" I gave her the $5, and as she started to run I 
 caught her by the sleeve and said : "I will go home with you 
 to see if you have told me the truth." She lived close by. In 
 one of those teeming courts that run ofif from the Strand. We 
 found her baby naked on a heap of rags, in a small, dirty
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 93 
 
 ruoni, containing two broken chairs for furniture. I felt that 
 there were in the large city thousands of similar cases, but 
 this one was brought home to mc. I was young and im- 
 pressionable — more than that, I had other people's money 
 to be liberal with; so I called up the landlady, who, almost 
 dumb with surprise, received the arrears of rent, along with 
 a month in advance. Eliza, for that ^as her name, told mc 
 she could get work if she had clean clothes for herself and 
 baby, which she could buy for £2. I gave her five, and giv- 
 ing her mv address in New York, told her to find work and 
 let me knovv how she got on. She did find work in an eel-pie 
 shop in Red Lion Square, High Holborn. I saw her two 
 years later in London, and possibly may refer to her afrain 
 
 in this story. 
 
 * * * 
 
 I went down to Liverpool and embarked on the good ship 
 Java. Ten days later we sailed through the Narrows. 
 
 During my last day in London I went to Westminster Ab- 
 bey, and spent three hours in that Valhalla of the Anglo- 
 Saxon race. It made a tremendous impression upon rriy 
 mind. In no other work of human hands do the spirits of so 
 many departed heroes linger, certainly in no other does the 
 dust of so many of the great dead rest, and as I read memo- 
 rial upon memorial to departed greatness I realized that the 
 path of honor and of truth was the only one for men to tread. 
 All through the voyage the influences of the Abbey were 
 upon me; I felt I was treading on dangerous ground, and 
 resolved I would have no more of it. Would I had then re- 
 solved, when I met Irving & Co., to throw all the plunder 
 in their faces and say: "I'll have none of it, and here we 
 part!" I felt that I ought to do that, but weakly said: "I 
 need the $10,000, and I'll give the rogues their share and 
 then see them no more. I had fully made up my mind to 
 that, knowing Irving would be on the wharf, eager to meet 
 me.
 
 •H FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 In sailing through the Narrows and past Staten Island I 
 was making up my mind as to the little speech I would make. 
 We rapidly ncarcd the wharf in Jersey City, and I quickly 
 recognized Irs'ing standing on the edge of the closely packed 
 crowd, watching the steamer with a nerA^ous look on his face.' 
 A rogue suspects ever)- one, and although by this time he 
 had become pretty well satisfied as to my good faith, no 
 doubt he would be happier when he had his share of the 
 plunder safe in his pocket. I was standing close to the rail 
 between two ladies, and saw Irving before he saw me. Wav- 
 ing my handkerchief, his eye suddenly fell on me. With a 
 smile and pointing significantly to my pocket, I gave him a 
 salute. An eager look came into his face, and waving his 
 hand he cried out: "I am glad to see you!" and no doubt he 
 spoke the truth. When the gangplank was thrown ashore, 
 and I saw him making his way toward it, evidently intending 
 to board the steamer, I thought how surprised he would be 
 when I told him I would have no more of his game. He 
 sprang on board, rushed to me with a beaming face, grasped 
 my hand, and putting the other on my shoulder, led me to- 
 ward the gangway. He had not spoken yet, but as we were 
 going down the gangplank he said : "My boy, you have done 
 splendidly." and then, putting his mouth close to my ear, 
 whispered: "We have got another job for you, and it's a 
 beauty!" 
 
 I don't mean to pester my reader with a moral, or by too 
 nnich moralizing, although I am tempted to do so. There 
 is ample material for a course of sermons in that "we have 
 another job for you" coming to me just then. But, leaving 
 my reader to draw his own moral, I must go on with my 
 narrative. 
 
 Going up the wharf with Irving, I was on the point of 
 telling him I wanted no more jobs, but weakly put it off, 
 and by so doing, of course, made it more difficult. He told 
 me Stanley and White were waiting at Taylor's Hotel on
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 95 
 
 Montgomery street, a few doors u^ from the wharf. We 
 soon were there, and they gave me a warm and even enthu- 
 siastic reception. Then I began to tell some of my adven- 
 tures on the journey, to which they listened with unfeigned 
 admiration, and, opening my bag, I produced the sixteen 
 bills of exchange for $5,000 each, informing them they 
 should have their cash in ninety minutes. It was curious 
 to see these men handle the bills of exchange, passing them 
 from one to another, examining them with anxious care. 
 But where were my good resolutions, and what had become 
 of them? Why, they, under the efifect of the wine and the 
 magnetic influence of these three minds, had gone flying 
 do\vn the bay, and under a favorable gale were fast speeding 
 seaward beyond the ken of mortal eye, not to be found by 
 me again until years after, when, with the toils about me, I 
 found myself in Newgate. Then the fugitives all came back, 
 this time to stay. 
 
 My three graces who adorned the Police Department of 
 New York were full of matter of a new enterprise, which by 
 my co-operation was to make the fortunes of us all. But 
 they were too evidently anxious, too eagerly desirous to 
 handle the greenbacks my bills of exchange represented, to 
 fix their minds upon anything else. 
 
 Stanley and White went away together, but first each once 
 more told me privately that he depended upon me to put in 
 his own hands his share, showing how these rogues sus- 
 pected each other, and, indeed, were full of suspicions of 
 every one and ever}^ thing. Irving crossed the ferry with me, 
 but on the New York side dropped behind, and, although I 
 paid no more attention to him, no doubt he followed me. 
 The excitement of success and of being at home again ban- 
 ished any possible regrets or fears over the course I had en- 
 tered, and with a light heart and buoyant step I quickly made 
 my way to a friend of mine, a well-known broker in New 
 street, shook hands with him, and, telling him, very much to
 
 96 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 his suqDrise, tliat I had just returned from Europe, asked him 
 to step around the corner to the ofhce of the bankers and 
 identify nie. In a minute we were there. Indorsing the 
 drafts, I told them to make it in five-hundreds; they sent out 
 to the bank for them, and I was speedily on my way to our 
 rendezvous with i6o $500 greenbacks in a roll, and meeting 
 tiie three at the wineroom I made their eyes grow big when 
 I flashed the roll on their delighted orbs. The division was 
 speedily made, I retaining $10,000 for my share, and each 
 promptly threw out a thousand, and we shook hands all 
 around and parted. 
 
 Here were four conspirators of us, and it was comical to 
 see how anxious we all were to get away so that each could 
 stow his plunder in a safe place. For my part I went home, 
 but I shall say nothing of the meeting w4th the members of 
 my family. I told them I had made a lot of money in a spec- 
 ulation, and not knowing the inside history, or suspecting 
 anything, they rejoiced with me and were proud and happy 
 for their boy. I spent about a thousand dollars making 
 things comfortable for them, but to their grief I told them 
 that circumstances required me to take up my former quar- 
 ters at the St. Nicholas. 
 
 It would be interesting to tell of my reception among mv 
 acquaintances on Wall street and other parts of the city. Ru- 
 mor magnified mj resources, and it was reported I had 
 cleared a hundred thousand dollars in some fortunate deal. 
 It was strange to see the new-found deference all around, 
 from my former employers down to my old waiter at down- 
 town Delmonico's, where I dined; but I will pass over all 
 these matters and proceed with my history of the Primrose 
 Way. 
 
 The next few days I went about engaged in tlie to me 
 vcr)' agreeable task of paying all my debts. The largest debt 
 I was owing was one of $1,300, partly borrowed money and 
 partly a long-standmg balance due on a speculation ncgo-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 
 
 97 
 
 tiated on my account, and which did not pan out, but en- 
 tailed a loss. Then I indulged pretty freely in many little in- 
 travagances in the way of tailor bills, etc. Two friends 
 struck nie for a loan, and, strange to say, both remain un- 
 paid to this hour, along with some twenty-five years' inter- 
 est. So, within a fortnight of my landing I found my $13,- 
 000 reduced quite one-half, and as I was cherishing visions of 
 unbounded wealth, I began to feel quite poor, and anxious 
 to see some outcome to this "other job" my friends said they 
 had ready for me. It was at the very door.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A NINETEENTH CENTURY PRODIGAL.. 
 
 Let no man who may be tempted to commit a crime ever 
 fancy that if he takes the first step down hill he will stop tin- 
 til he reaches the bottom. If one of my readers flatters him- 
 self he can go one step, with no more to follow, on the down- 
 ward road, let such an one read this story to the end and then 
 forever abandon such an idea as a fancy born of inexperience. 
 For this histor)' is as a handwriting on the wall, full of warn- 
 ing to all and every one who may be tempted to take one 
 step in any other path than the path of honor. 
 
 In 1865 there lived in London a famous Queen's Counsel, 
 Edwin James. Fame and fortune were his. A born orator, 
 a talented scholar, he rapidly pushed his way from the very 
 bottom of the legal profession to all but its topmost height. 
 At 40 he found himself facile princeps of the English Bar, 
 and public opinion, that potent factor in popular government, 
 had already singled him out for the high position of Attor- 
 ney-General. That secured, only one step remained to place 
 liim in the seat of the Lord Chancellor. Truly, an imperial 
 position — one that satisfied the proud ambition of a Wolsey 
 and fitted the genius of a Thomas a Bccket. It carries with 
 it the position of keeper of the conscience of Her Majesty, 
 giving the possessor precedence in all official functions over 
 the English aristocracy, next to royalty itself. 
 
 But about this time dark whispers began to fly about 
 
 through the clubs of London. Soon it became known that 
 (08)
 
 PROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 99 
 
 Edwin James, the Lord Chancellor to be, was in the toils, and 
 it shortly transpired that, in spite of the fact that his income 
 from his profession was nearer twenty than ten thousand 
 pounds per annum, it had proved insufficient and he was 
 heavily in debt, and worse. 
 
 It would seem he was keeping up what in the polite lan- 
 guage of society are known as dual houses. A woman oi 
 brilliant beauty presided over one, and the marvelous beauty 
 of its mistress was only equaled by her extravagance. He 
 also had a fondness for associating with younger men than 
 himself, and had got into a particularly fast set of young 
 lords and army men. At his club he had lost large sums at 
 baccarat and loo, and, in an unhappy hour for himself and 
 his, he stooped from his high position and — miserable to 
 think of — committed a crime. This, in the expectation that 
 he would relieve himself from some of the more crushing 
 obligations he had heaped upon himself, either through the 
 extravagant vagaries of his imperious mistress, or by his own 
 rashness in trying his luck among a lot of titled sharpers. 
 He had among his clients one fast, even madly extravagant 
 youth, heir of an historic name and of a lordly estate. To 
 supply his extravagance "my lord" had applied to the money 
 lenders — those sharks that in London, as elsewhere, fatten 
 on such game. These gentry were eager to lend the young 
 blood money upon what are known in English law as post- 
 obits, which loans in this particular case carried the trifling 
 interest of about loo per cent, per annum. James was cog- 
 nizant of his friend's excursions among the money lenders, 
 and no doubt he thought the young spendthrift, when he 
 came into his fortune, would never know wuthin a good 
 many thousands how much he had borrowed, nor even the 
 number of post-obits he had given. 
 
 I will just explain that a post-obit is a form of note or due 
 bill given by the heir of an estate (usually of an entailed 
 estate), which matures the moment the drawer of the docu-
 
 100 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 luent enters into that estate. That is to say, the tender-heart- 
 ed son discounts his father's death to provide fuel to feed his 
 flame. So Edwin James, driven to his own destruction, 
 stooped from his imperial position into what one might call 
 ankle-depth of crime. 
 
 How little he dreamed there was a beyond — a huge, seeth- 
 mg sea of crime; an ocean whose billows are of ink, and 
 which would soon sweep him from his high place into the 
 black waters, there to be bufifeted until, honor and hope all 
 gone, he would, throwing his hands to heaven, with one 
 despairing cry, sink into its inky depths, adding one more 
 ruined life to the millions already engulfed. In that long, 
 sad catalogue of the dead there is probably not one, who, 
 when taking the first step into crime, ever thought a second 
 would follow the first. 
 
 But to come back to our gilded sir. He made out two 
 post-obits for £5,000, wrote his client's name at the bottom 
 of each, gave them to the money lenders, who, never doubt- 
 ing that the prodigal son had signed and given them to his 
 counsel, made no question, but gave James the money for 
 them at once. But James had reckoned without his host, 
 for this nineteenth century prodigal was made of keener 
 metal than he of the first. Strange to say, and utterly unex- 
 pected as it was to all who knew him and had looked upon 
 his riotous living, he kept his books straight, and knew to a 
 single guinea how much and to whom he was owing. 
 
 His discovery of the forgery was accelerated by the sud- 
 den and most unexpected death of his father, his return home 
 and stepping into his estate. 
 
 The various post-obits were presented and placed before 
 him. He instantly pronounced the two for five thousand 
 pounds each to be forgeries, and the crime was easily laid at 
 the door of the Queen's Counsel. The heir indignantly re- 
 fused to condone the offense, and, revealing the fatal secret 
 to a few, within a month it was known in every clubroom in
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 101 
 
 London. From there it p^ot into the newspapers, and they, 
 under a thinly (hsguic.cd ahas of a "distinguished member of 
 the Bar," gave more or less accurate details of the damning 
 truth. His former client eventually said he would not prose- 
 cute the forgery if the criminal left England ; if not, he would 
 innnediately go before the Grand Jury, procure an indict- 
 ment, and have this man, who liad moved a prince among 
 men, arraigned in the dock at the Old Bailey, there to plead 
 and stand trial like any common criminal. 
 
 And he fled. Of course, like all fugitives from justice 
 throughout the Old World, he looked to America for a city 
 of refuge, and here he came. Not to keep my readers too 
 long from the main narrative, it will suffice to say that soon 
 after his arrival he applied for admission to the Bar of New 
 York, but first he won to his cause the high-souled Richard 
 O'Gorman, then a leader of his profession. 
 
 It was for Edwin James a lucky stroke, for at this time 
 O'Gorman was in full possession of his magnificent pow- 
 ers. Few could resist his magic. His great heart was 
 stirred, and he took up the cause of his friend as if he had 
 been his brother. The English lawyer's reputation was 
 known to every member of the Bar of New York, and there 
 had been and still was a bitter opposition to his admission; 
 but when it became known that their eloquent leader was 
 his champion, many began to feel that after all "the poor fel- 
 low ought to be given another chance," and when at the next 
 meeting of the Bar Association O'Gorman in a set oration 
 brought all his splendid eloquence into play the cause was 
 won. 
 
 Great-hearted O'Gorman had helped this lame dog over 
 the stile, but the dog's heart was not in the right place, and, 
 as my reader will see in the sequel, he soon went lame 
 again. * * * 
 
 In the rear room of a somewhat luxurious range of offices 
 in a buildmg on Broadway, facing the City Hall, four men
 
 102 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 were engaged in discussing what was evidently an exciting 
 topic. The door of the main office bore the sign "Edwin 
 James, Counselor-at-Law and Register in Bankruptcy." He 
 was one of the four. He had failed lamentably in his efforts 
 to secure a practice. The effects of O'Gorman's eloquence 
 had in the gray light of commonplace day faded away, the 
 more so when the ideal his magic had created in the minds 
 of men was in hourly contrast with the man himself and his 
 history. His professional brethren looked upon him with 
 suspicion, and there was a general impression abroad that 
 his escapades were not over yet. 
 
 He had launched out in his office and home somewhat 
 extravagantly, and now, once again pressed by clamorous 
 creditors, he had once more drifted upon the borderlands of 
 crime, and was here with his companions planning a criminal 
 transaction in order to pay his more pressing debts. 
 
 One of these four was Brea, who, with a keen eye to busi- 
 ness, had married the discarded daughter of a wealthy but 
 not over-respectable New York family, and he had, unsus- 
 pected, pulled the wires so that James had been employed 
 as the family lawyer, and in that capacity had drawn the will 
 of the mother. She was an imperious, hot-tempered body, 
 one who, when aroused, was accustomed to use language 
 more vigorous than polite, and who not infrequently went 
 to fisticuffs with her daughters. The husband and father. 
 the creator of the fortune, was dead and the vast family prop- 
 erty, in securities, stocks and lands, was vested absolutely in 
 the mother. In the old lady's will Brea's wife, the second 
 daughter of the house (there were no sons), was down in the 
 very first paragraph for the magnificent sum of "one dollar 
 lawful currency," and her name nowhere else appeared in the 
 lengthy document. The old lady was such a termagant and 
 so implacable in her hatreds that it was a moral certainty 
 she wouUl never relent and change her purpose toward her 
 daughter. But James had also drawn up a second will of
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 103 
 
 his own and Brca's concoction, and a precious piece of vil- 
 lainy it was, in which the wife was down for legacies amount- 
 ing to $750,000. The genuine will James kept in his own 
 possession, ready to destroy the very moment word came 
 that the old lady was an immortal, while the spurious will 
 was kept in the vaults of the Safety Deposit Company, there 
 to remain until the death of the testatrix, when, of course, it 
 would in due time be produced. 
 
 Brea had been introduced to the other three men, and cul- 
 tivated their acquaintance in the belief that they would some 
 day be useful to him. He had a few days before intro- 
 duced them to James. As a matter of precaution he had 
 concealed from them all knowledge of the will. At the same 
 time he gave them a hint that there was something in the 
 wind, but that some way must be found to secure at once a 
 few thousands, enough for a year or two, until the good time 
 came when fortune was to lavish her favors on them all with a 
 liberal hand. But money must be had at once, for Brea and 
 James were in sore straits, particularly James, who had been 
 threatened with arrest, and was so far involved that he always 
 entered and left his house at night in order to escape importu- 
 nate creditors. This was James' second interview with the 
 men, and the first time he had been alone with them. He 
 saw at once that he had to do wuth able, clear-headed men, 
 took them into his confidence, and, in order to excite their 
 hopes and to bind them to him as well, he confided to them 
 the plot of the forged will, producing the genuine for their in- 
 spection. He assured them that it was a sure and speedy 
 fortune, as the lady was old and frail in health, and he also 
 promised they should share between them $100,000, pro- 
 vided they would stand by to give a hand in the somewhat 
 improbable event of the other heirs disputing the will, but 
 above all, if they would devise some means to furnish him at 
 once $10,000, or at least $5,000. Money he must have, and 
 he could no longer do without it.
 
 104 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Tlic result of our conference in James' office was that the 
 very next day an oflftce downtown was engaged under a ficti- 
 tious name, and a simple, unsuspicious fellow hired as porter 
 and messenger. After some little negotiation, we obtained 
 particulars of parties banking with the then great firm of Jay 
 Cooke »!v Company, corner of Wall and Nassau streets. 
 Briefly told, the result was that four days later a messenger 
 walked into their banking house with a check for $20,000, 
 puqiorting to be signed by another firm, who banked with 
 them. Along with the check went a letter bearing a signa- 
 ture well known to the cashier, asking him to pay the check 
 to bearer. The result of all being that five minutes thereafter 
 we w ere walking unconcernedly up Broadway, and sending a 
 message to James to meet us at Delmonico's, corner of 
 Broadway and Chambers street, we sat down awaiting his 
 arrival. He had anxiously been looking for news, and al- 
 most before we had seated ourselves he entered, eager and 
 anxious-looking; but, when he glanced at our faces, a happy 
 expression came over his own, and without a word he put 
 out his hand. After a w^arm greeting, I produced the roll, 
 and, to his delight, I handed over to James ten five hundreds. 
 On the morrow I went to the office, and, paying my messen- 
 ger a week's w^ages, besides making a small gift, told him he 
 need not come any more. 
 
 With this twenty thousand coup we fondly thought all 
 our troubles and all our unlawful acts were ended. We now 
 had a few thousands, sufficient to last until the $5,000 we had 
 invested in the will case should bring in a dividend that would 
 mean a fortune for us all. So we took things easy about 
 town, and altogether thought ourselves pretty good fellows, 
 and this world a very good sort of place to be in. 
 
 Thus the Winter passed by and the Summer was at hand. 
 Our thousands of the year before had dwindled to hundreds, 
 and the old lady whose heirs we had constituted ourselves
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 105 
 
 seenied to have renewed her youth, ami threatened to outhve 
 us all. 
 
 Besides this there had grown up .a rcpug-nance in our 
 minds to the business, and when one day my friend Mac re- 
 marked it was a scoundrelly business to rob the heirs of an 
 estate, and they women, George and I heartily acquiesced; 
 and we vowed we would take no part in the matter, and then 
 and there resolved we would throw both James and Brea 
 over, but first to use Brea and James for our own purposes. 
 Once more we found ourselves planning a coup in Wall 
 street. Talking the matter over, we three soon had a plan, 
 and, being dowered with intense energy, it promised a suc- 
 cessful termination. Audaciously enough we determined the 
 lightning should strike once more in the same place — that is, 
 to make Jay Cooke & Company again the victims. Irving 
 and his honest fellows were to co-operate by watching every- 
 thing, and, if any arrest threatened, to be on hand to make it 
 themselves; and then let the prisoner escape. Most impor- 
 tant of all, when the bankers drove up in hot haste to Police 
 Headquarters to give information, James, Honest James, 
 would be on hand to receive them, would call in his two 
 trustys to get with him full particulars of the robbery and a 
 description of the men. Then the bankers would be sent 
 away with assurances that "we know the men and will have 
 them," but at the same time warning them to keep the matter 
 a secret in order better to enable them to catch the villains. 
 
 If successful, the detectives were to receive 25 per cent, 
 between them. Our plan required James to play an impor- 
 tant part, and, although no confederacy could be fixed on 
 him, yet he would hardly escape questioning and a very con- 
 siderable degree of suspicion, so much so that it probably 
 would put an end to any lingering remnants of character he 
 had on hand or in stock. But he was tired of America, 
 and determined to go to Paris with his share of the plunder.
 
 106 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Our visits to James had always been in his private office, and 
 his clerks had never seen either of us or Brea. 
 
 Our plan was to make use of James' office in a way that 
 will appear later. As related, he was suspected by his pro- 
 fession, but the general public thought him a very great man. 
 He had appeared as (volunteer) counsel in two or three mur- 
 der cases and had delivered powerful addresses which had 
 attracted considerable notice in the papers. 
 
 One day, soon after our plan was matured, Brea went to 
 Philadelphia, and, by a mixture of audacity and finesse, pro- 
 cured from Jay Cooke himself (the parent house of the New 
 York firm of Jay Cooke & Co. was in Philadelphia) a letter 
 of introduction to the manager of the New York firm. He 
 wanted the letter ostensibly in order to consult the manager 
 about certain investments which he, as executor of an estate, 
 desired to make for his wards. 
 
 The transaction was made to appear as one of considerable 
 magnitude, in which there would be large commissions paid. 
 With the grand send-ofT of a letter from Jay Cooke to his 
 subordinate in New York, the speculation opened well — so 
 well that we at once decided what we would do with the 
 money when we got it — a case in point for the old proverb. 
 We had ascertained the name of a Newark manufacturer who 
 had recently failed in business. I will call him Newman. 
 On the morning after his return from Philadelphia, Brea pre- 
 sented himself at James' office — it being arranged that James 
 himself be out, so Brea told the clerk that his name was New- 
 man, that he had lately failed in business, and intended to 
 employ Mr. James to put him through the bankruptcy court. 
 The clerk told him to come again at 12, and he would find 
 Mr. James in. At 12 he came; the clerk introduced him. 
 James kept the clerk conveniently near, that he could hear 
 the conversation. Brea, as Newman, told James he had 
 used in his business $240,000 belonging to his wife and her 
 mother, and that in scheduling his assets he proposed to use
 
 
 •WITH HOUKoU Tin; ^ISTl'TtS SAW THK COUXTKSS 
 THE HISTORIC pRACELET.'— Page «S. 
 
 A 1 1 ; 1 .\ '
 
 VIA THE PRIMllOSE WAY, 109 
 
 enoiii^h to make those amounts gotxl, intending to conceal 
 the fact from his creditors. He determined to invest the 
 amount in bonds — so ran his story — and was going to de- 
 posit the money in the bank that very afternoon, at the same 
 time producing his letter of introduction from Jay Cooke. 
 All of this, of course, being for the eye and ear of the clerk, 
 who might be required as a witness of his employer's good 
 faith. 
 
 Brca-Newman also paid James, in presence of the clerk, 
 a retaining fee of $250, which was privately returned. James 
 banked in Jersey City, and when Newman said, "Introduce 
 me at your bank, as I want a small credit handy," James said, 
 "My bank is in Jersey City." The clerk's brother was paying 
 teller at the Chemical Bank, and, as was expected, he at once 
 spoke up, saying: "Let -me introduce Mr. Newman in the 
 Chemical Bank," so down went Newman and the clerk, and 
 in ten minutes our man had the Chemical Bank checkbook in 
 his pocket and $5,000 to his credit in the bank. The same 
 afternoon he presented his letter of introduction at Jay Cooke 
 & Co.'s, and was cordially received. He, of course, told a 
 totally different story there. In this case a relative, lately 
 deceased, had left him an estate of great value. He was, he 
 said, realizing on his real estate, and buying bonds as fast as 
 his money came in, and he wanted to invest a million in vari- 
 ous railway bonds. At present he had $240,000 on hand, 
 which he wanted to invest in Government bonds. He then 
 left for the time being, leaving a good impression, which his 
 refined manner and appearance confirmed. 
 
 So far all was well ; that is, all was well from our point of 
 view. The next two or three days Brea paid several visits to 
 the Chemical Bank, getting small checks for $500 and 
 $1,000 certified, and now had his account drawn down to 
 $1,000. The day before he had called on Jay Cooke & Co, 
 and told them he would take $240,000 in seven thirties, 
 "Bearer" bonds, and that he would call the next day and pay 
 7
 
 110 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 for thcni. At the same time he got them to give him a pro 
 forma bill for them. 
 
 The eventful day had come, and James, to get his head 
 clerk out of the way, sent him to the Admiralty Court to 
 take notes of the evidence in a case going on there. 
 
 At lo o'clock Brea sent a messenger with a note to the 
 bankers, requesting them to send the bonds to Edwin James' 
 oflice, and he would pay for them on delivery. He could 
 not come himself, as he was in consultation with the execu- 
 tors of the estate. 
 
 In the mean time a check for the full value of the bonds, 
 $240,000, had been made out. It was drawn on the Chemi- 
 cal Bank, and was, in fact, similar to those always given be- 
 tween bankers on bond transactions. 
 
 Brea had drawn his own check for $240, and had it in his 
 hatband with the $240,000 dummy check. The plan is pal- 
 pable enough. When the messenger brought the bonds 
 Brea, or Newman, was going to say : "All right, I have the 
 check here ; bring the bonds and we will go to the Chemical 
 Bank and get them to certify my check." Then when at the 
 bank he would take out both checks, letting the messenger 
 only get a glimpse of one, and that would be the small $240 
 one, which Brea would pass in through the window with a 
 request to have it certified. This would be done, and when 
 handed out, of course, Brea was to change it and hand the 
 messenger the big one of home manufacture. 
 
 It seemed impossible for the scheme to fail, and success 
 in it meant on the surface comparative wealth for us all, 
 with, perhaps, in the not distant future an entrance through 
 the McAllister-guarded portals of the Four Hundred. 
 
 But here we have a vivid instance of how easily an elab- 
 orate scheme can by the merest accident fall to pieces. 
 
 The night before the expected coup we met James for a 
 final full-dress rehearsal for the morrow, and after everything 
 was settled adjourned to the uptown Delmonico's for supper.
 
 VIA THE primrose: WAT. Ill 
 
 It SO happened that Detective George Elder was there. This 
 Elder was a bright fellow, was in a ring — but not in our ring 
 — and, of course, had his bank account, diamond pin and 
 turnout for the road. He had had some ac(iuaintance with 
 me, but the rest of the party were strangers. I did not sec 
 him at the time, but it would seem he was curious, even sus- 
 picious, from some scraps of conversation he overheard. 
 However, neither his curiosity nor suspicion would have 
 been of any consequence or concern to us had it not been 
 that, in going out, Brea left on the table with some papers 
 the memorandum or pro forma bill of the bonds given him 
 the day before by the bankers. Strangely enough, the body 
 of the bill alone was intact. The heading bearing the name 
 of the firm and purchaser had been torn off and destroyed. 
 
 Elder picked it up. and, having some vague suspicions of 
 a plot somewhere, he determined to go around among the 
 hundred or more bankers and brokers in and around Wall 
 street and investigate quietly, without making any report 
 to his superiors, his immediate superior being, of course, our 
 honest friend, the worthy chief of the detective force, who 
 was anxiously looking for his percentage of the deal. The 
 whole force was split up into cliques, each intensely jealous 
 of every other, each with its own stamping grounds, and 
 each strictly protected his own preserves. 
 
 At 9.30 the next morning Elder started around carrying 
 the fragment of the memorandum he had picked up from 
 bank to bank and from one broker to the other. He had 
 spent over an hour making inquiries, and walked into Jay 
 Cooke & Co.'s of^ce just as the messenger was leaving with 
 the bonds for James' office. Fifteen minutes more and the 
 game was ours! Elder produced the memorandum, and 
 they at once recognized it as their own. Elder asked them 
 if they knew their man and were sure it was all right. They 
 said it was perfectly right, that Mr. "Newman" had been 
 introduced by the head of the firm in Philadelphia, and was
 
 112 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 also a client of Edwin James; but then it was strange the 
 bill should be mutilated. Elder averred his belief that a 
 fraud was intended, and suggested that he and the manager 
 should accompany the messenger with the bonds. This 
 alarmed the manager, and he directed Elder and the messen- 
 ger to await his return. Seizing his hat, he started for 
 James' office to investigate. James was there, and Brea (the 
 pseudo Newman) was in the private office w^ith the two 
 checks ready, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the messen- 
 ger with the bonds. 
 
 Myself and all the other members of our party were near- 
 by, watching and awaiting developments. The manager, 
 considerably perturbed, entered the office, and James saw 
 at once the business was a failure, for he knew, of course, 
 that any suspicion as to good faith would be fatal to the suc- 
 cess of the plot. Brea, hearing the voices and supposing it 
 was the messenger with the bonds, opened the door of the 
 l)rivate office and was vexed to see the manager, who, shak- 
 ing him by the hand, told him the bonds would arrive soon, 
 at the same time saying: "I suppose you will pay currency 
 for the bonds?" To which Brea replied: "1 will go to my 
 bank with you now and get my check certified for the 
 amount and give it to you, or leave it until the messenger 
 comes with the bonds." 
 
 This offer, along with Brea's coolness, apparently dis- 
 armed all suspicions, and he said: "Oh, all right, the messen- 
 ger will go to the bank with you." He left the office, but 
 stopped in the hall for a moment, then turned and hastily re- 
 entering, said: "By the way, Mr. Newman, please draw the 
 currency from the bank, and pay the notes to the messenger 
 upon delivery of the bonds." 
 
 So the grand coup had failed, ignominiously failed, and 
 through what appeared a trivial accident.. More such "acci- 
 dents" at critical periods will appear before this history is 
 ended.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 
 
 113 
 
 The dummy check was still in our hands, and was at once 
 destroyed, so, with nothing to fear, we coolly walked up 
 Broadway to dinner, and talked of the future over a bottle of 
 wine. At last we fixed upon a definite plan. Clinking our 
 glasses, we drank to "Eastward, Ho!"
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 "CRACK THE LAWYER'S VOICE THAT HE MAT NEVER 
 MORE FALSE TITLES PLEAD, NOR SOUND 
 HIS QUILLETS SHRILLY." 
 
 The Eastward Ho was a hint of a project we had fre- 
 quently talked over as a possible speculation. Here we see 
 how men are led on step by step from bad to worse when once 
 they set out on the Primrose Way. 
 
 In returning from Europe with the $10,000 commission 
 in my pocket, I vowed never again to engage in any unlaw- 
 ful speculation. I was through! No criminal life for me! 
 Then came the day when we struck for the $20,000 and won, 
 and we were all happy in the thought that our last unlawful 
 deed was over. 
 
 Then we took the third step we had vowed never to take, 
 and had discussed the $240,000 project. We had spent 
 money on it, had laid our plans cunningly and deep, and 
 were confident of success. We had even planned how to 
 invest our thousands in an honest business, and so win the 
 esteem of all good men, and, of course, in some happy future 
 would make restitution. But that is a future which never 
 comes in the history of crime. These three wrong steps 
 had been taken only after convincing ourselves that the cir- 
 cumstances justified each separate act. 
 
 Such is the contradiction of human nature that even when 
 planning crime we not only intended to make restitution, 
 but despised all other wrongdoers and reprobated their 
 (114)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 115 
 
 crimes. Each wrongful act of ours was to be the last, and 
 it was with something- like despair that we began to realize 
 that there was no stopping place on the dangerous road we 
 were treading. 
 
 My $13,000 commission from the European trip had 
 melted away. Our share of the $20,000 got from Jay Cooke 
 & Co. was fast going. Our deep-laid plot to win $240,000 
 had miscarried, and now the necessity was upon us of en- 
 gaging in another illegitimate operation if we would con- 
 tinue in our life of ease and luxury. 
 
 For the next few days we did little but dine and plan. 
 Discussion followed discussion, and through them all we 
 clung to the general proposition that we would not do any 
 more in our particular line in America. At last we resolved 
 to go to Europe and realize the fortune that seemed to elude 
 our grasp at home. 
 
 We resolved to tell Irving in a general way that w^e were 
 going to Europe to make some money, and would pay him 
 and his two fellows their percentage. Then we could (ap- 
 parently) work with impunity; for, of course, if we commit- 
 ted a forgery in Europe and were recognized as Americans 
 — as probably we would be — the foreign police would re- 
 port the case to the New York police — that is, to Irving — and 
 we should be safe in New York. 
 
 Edwin James and Brea had dropped out of our lives for 
 good, but as my readers will be curious to know of their 
 fate in after times, I will relate it in this chapter. 
 
 The morning our scheme on Jay Cooke & Co. fell to 
 pieces, as soon as the manager left the ofBce, telling Brea he 
 was to pay cash for the bonds in place of the check, it was 
 recognized at once that the game was up, and the only thing 
 remaining was to shield James as much as possible. So Brea 
 left the office, but first instructed the clerk to tell the mes- 
 senger when he came that he had gone for the money, and 
 would call for the bonds. This was done, the messenger ar-
 
 IIG FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 rived, being accompanied by Detective Elder all the time, 
 and took the bonds back again. 
 
 At 2 o'clock James Avent down to the bankers, where he 
 was well known, and inquired for Air. Newman. Being told 
 he was not in, he said he had made an appointment to meet 
 him there. Invited into the inner office, the manager asked 
 him if he had any personal knowledge of this Air. Newman, 
 and Jaines said no further than that he had called and given 
 him a retaining fee of $250, and had engaged him as legal 
 adviser, etc. Then the manager produced a telegram he had 
 received in answer to one he had sent to the Philadelphia 
 house, inquiring about Newman, and asking if his letter of 
 introduction was genuine or not. James read the reply; it 
 said the letter was genuine, but that they knew absolutely 
 nothing about the man, and warned him to be cautious. 
 James pretended astonishment, and feigned to be very in- 
 dignant, declaring that if Mr. Newman did not put in an ap- 
 pearance within half an hour he should begin to fear a fraud 
 had been attempted. When the closing hour came at 3 
 o'clock, the manager announced to James that he should 
 give the whole matter to the press, but would keep his name 
 out of it. 
 
 So they parted with warm congratulations over their es- 
 cape, the manager pretending to believe James was an inno- 
 cent tool, but no doubt with a shrewd suspicion that he in- 
 tended to have a finger in this pie, had the pie ever been 
 baked and divided. Had the bankers been victimized they 
 would have striven with all their power to keep the fact a 
 secret and forbidden their employees to breathe a Avord about 
 it to any one. But now the case was different. All the 
 morning papers had long accounts of the transaction. They 
 were absurdly inaccurate, but all agreed as to the extreme 
 cleverness of the manager, and noticed how he had sus- 
 pected, etc., while poor Elder, who both expected and really 
 deserved all the glory, was not even mentioned in the news-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 117 
 
 paper accounts. However, his feelings were soon after so- 
 laced, as Irving informed us that Elder had stood in on a 
 deal that paid him well. 
 
 The $5,000 we gave James eased up matters for a time. 
 Practice he had none, but managed to hold on in the hope 
 of realizing on the Brea will matter, but getting deeper and 
 deeper in debt. One night, four years later, the old lady, 
 Brea's mother-in-law, had a more than usually furious out- 
 break of temper, and fell to beating the three daughters still 
 living with her. Before it was over she had attacked and 
 seriously injured the eldest, and then flew to her room in a 
 passion. Not appearing at breakfast the next morning her 
 daughter went to her room, but she was not there, and the 
 bed w^as undisturbed. Going to the room that served for 
 office and library, they found the door, as usual, locked. 
 Bursting it open the poor old maids found their mother 
 huddled in a comer of the room dead. 
 
 Truly a happy relief for the daughters. Poor girls, theirs 
 had been a hard life. Every suitor who tried to cultivate 
 their acquaintance had been driven from the door by the 
 mother, who never spent a dollar on their education, and 
 her death found them all unused to the ways of the world. 
 The result was that all became victims of fortune-hunters, 
 and the unhappy ladies only changed the tyranny of an un- 
 natural mother for the tyranny of a husband, who in each 
 case wedded for wealth alone, and all three husbands were 
 uncultured men. What an experience! Two of the three 
 still live. How sweet the rest of the grave will be to them! 
 
 The genuine will was destroyed and the "family lawyer," 
 James, immediately after the funeral, produced and read 
 "the last will and testament" of the dead woman. The four 
 sisters and a host of poor relations were present at the read- 
 ing. When Sarah, Brea's wife, heard her name read as chief 
 heir of the vast estate, she was stunned, but if she was 
 stunnefl, the rest of the family were paralyzed. Legacies
 
 118 FROM WAI-,L, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 were left to many, small in amount, save in the case of the 
 other three sisters, who were to have a certain tenement and 
 land in Ilarlem and three thousand a year for life out of the 
 estate. None of those present thought for a moment of 
 questioning either the genuineness of the will or the validity 
 of the testaments, save only a poor relation, a nephew, whose 
 name was down for $500. He was indignant with the old 
 lady and ](,>udly declared that he would not put up with it. 
 The next day he employed a briefless lawyer, one that had 
 wit and l)rass enough and who had his way to make in the 
 world, and was determined to make it. 
 
 Without waiting for the will to be probated or having 
 legal authority to do so, Brea and his wife, the very day of 
 the funeral, moved into the house and took possession. But 
 before the week was out he had persuaded the three old 
 maids that they would be happier if away from the scene of 
 their parent's death, so he had them installed in their own 
 house at Harlem, he remaining in undisturbed possession, 
 waiting only for the will to be probated in order to take pos- 
 session of upward of $200,000 in cash and bonds still in the 
 custody of the old lady's bank. He had full possession of 
 the house, and with entire confidence waited to be put in 
 legal possession of all. But little did he dream that at that 
 moment there was one poor torn sheet of foolscap in the 
 librar}-, casually thrust in a book, lying completely at his 
 mercy to destroy, if he could only have known it, which was 
 going to tear all his wealth from his grasp and drive him 
 forth a foiled plotter, to become an adventurer and ultimately 
 to perish a miserable outcast. 
 
 The executors of the will (the same in the forged will as 
 in the genuine) were two simple shopkeepers living near. 
 Kagan was the name of the nephew, and to the suq)nse of the 
 executors his attorney notified tb.em he should contest the 
 will on behalf of his client, and warned them to dispossess 
 Brea of the house until such time as the law decreed it to
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. Ill) 
 
 be his wife's property. The attorney knew the standing of 
 James in his profession, and, being capable of pretty sharp 
 practice himself, he, by some extraordinary intuition, boldly 
 asserted his belief that the will was a forgery. The three 
 sisters declared they would not contest the will, and had Brea 
 acted wisely by fixing it up to give the attorney a liberal 
 fee, and Eagan a paltry thousand dollars, it would have 
 ended there. But, feeling perfectly secure, no doubt he 
 thought an appearance of firmness would strengthen his po- 
 sition still more, and he was so rash as to denounce the at- 
 torney as a shyster and blackmailer. 
 
 The attorney's blood was up; he frightened the sisters into 
 supporting him in disputing the will, and had Brea and his 
 wife ousted from the house and the sisters reinstalled. Brea 
 then attempted negotiations with the attorney. Cautious as 
 he was, he said enough to convince the lawyer that for some 
 reason he did not want the case to come before the courts; 
 still the attorney was half inclined to join hands with Brea. 
 In the mean time Ezra (this was the name of the man of law) 
 had acquired great power over the sisters, and they all looked 
 to him both as champion and protector. He resolved to be 
 protector to one, at least, paying assiduous court to Jane, 
 the youngest. Although past 30 and without education or 
 accomplishments, she was warm-hearted and extremely senti- 
 mental, and a thrill went through her tender heart when it 
 became evident that Ezra's attention pointed at her. She 
 quickly made him a hero, and invested the thin-shanked, 
 narrow-chested, waspish attorney with a thousand tender 
 attributes, and when, after one month's acquaintance, she 
 found herself alone with him in the poky little parlor and 
 he asking her to be his wife, her woman's heart overflowed, 
 and telling him she had loved him from the first hour they 
 met she threw herself into his arms, crying she was the hap- 
 piest and most favored woman in the world. In the midst 
 of the happy lovers' talk she ran to the shelf, took down a
 
 120 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 book, and, opening it, revealed a soiled sheet of paper and 
 asked her lover what it was. His love had given him a gift, 
 indeed. His trained eye recognized it at once as a draft of 
 a new will in the handwriting of the deceased mother, and 
 dated the very night of her death. It was a rough draft, but 
 across the bottom was drawn the bold, masculine signature 
 of the old lady. There were no signatures of witnesses, but 
 Ezra was lawyer enough to know it would stand and that 
 it revoked all previous wills. Calling in the two elder sisters 
 he read the will to their amazed ears, and then and there 
 wrote out a full statement as to the circumstance under 
 which it was found. All four attached their signatures to 
 the document, and when Ezra kissed his love a tender good 
 night and went home, he hardly felt the paving stones under 
 his feet, for he had carefully tucked away in the inside pocket 
 of his vest, just over his heart, the little soiled piece of paper 
 which told him in unmistakable terms that his fortune was 
 made, and the wedding ceremony once over, that it was be- 
 yond all chance of change. 
 
 It would seem that the old lady, after her quarrel with her 
 daughters, went to the library in a rage and made the draft of 
 a new will. The chief change in it, as compared with the 
 old genuine will which the conspirators had destroyed, was 
 that it was more favorable to Jane, Ezra's wife to be. But 
 what gave Ezra the greatest satisfaction was the fact that 
 Brea's wife was down by name in the new will for one dollar 
 lawful currency. The will was promptly filed and probated. 
 Ezra gave bonds and was appointed one of the executors, 
 and he had what to him was the immense satisfaction of de- 
 nouncing Brea to his face as a forger and villain. 
 
 Before the discovery of the new will, while it was believed 
 that Mrs. Brea was an heiress and her credit good, she and 
 her husband had made use of the fact, and had incurred 
 debts to a large amount. Brea got his wife to indorse his 
 note for $10,000, and he borrowed that sum from the bankers.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 121 
 
 but as soon as the true state of the case was known, his cred- 
 itors became clamorous and had him arrested on civil suits. 
 Unable to give bonds, he was locked up in Ludlow Street 
 Jail, and there he remained six months, until, acting upon 
 Ezra's advice, the sisters agreed to pay all his debts and give 
 him and his wife $i,ooo each if they would live west of Chi- 
 cago. This they were forced to accept, and went to Mon- 
 tana. Brea opened a saloon at Butte City, but he never 
 recovered his spirits again. He became his own best cus- 
 tomer, and that, of course, meant ruin, but what, after all, 
 killed him was the knowledge that he had been for more 
 than a score of days in full possession of that old house and 
 had spent scores of hours alone in the old library, and yet 
 had not discovered and destroyed the new will lying there at 
 his mercy. 
 
 The Sheriff soon sold out his saloon, while his wife 
 eloped with his best friend. Ruined in pocket, health and 
 character, poor old Brea was left bare to every storm that 
 blew. One morning, as the sun was rising over the town, 
 surprising half a dozen belated gamblers in Ned Wright's 
 saloon as they were getting up to leave, they found lying 
 across the threshold the body of a man, ragged, emaciated, 
 forlorn. It was Brea. 
 
 As soon as James had read the will he insisted upon hav- 
 ing $5,000 from Brea at once, and he got the money. But 
 when that thunderbolt of the new will fell on the two men, 
 James sadly recognized that fortune and he would shake 
 hands no more, so far as this world is concerned, and he re- 
 solved to chance returning to London before the whole of 
 the $5,000 he had from Brea was gone. To London he 
 went; he lived a few years in extreme poverty, driven to all 
 manner of miserable shifts, and at last died. This man died 
 who ought to have been buried in Westminster Abbey, so 
 adding one more brilliant name to the long line of illustrious 
 Lord Chancellors from Thomas a Bccket and Cardinal Wol-
 
 122 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 sey down ; but he, hating his own soul, took the first step in 
 wrongdoing, and, instc?.d of resting in the mighty Abl)ey 
 and bequeathing his dust as a precious legacy to succeeding 
 generations, perished forlorn and alone, and was buried in 
 a pauper's grave.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 RESTEZ ICI, MES ENFANTS. 
 
 We all landed in Liverpool in the highest spirits, and at 
 once took the train for London, enjoying the novelty of 
 everything. 
 
 It was settled that George should pursue the venture alone 
 in France, while I should go with Mac to Germany to act as 
 his second there. To keep entirely clear myself, but at the 
 same time to watch everything, to exchange the German notes 
 he obtained and to be ready to help if any one should at- 
 tempt to detain him. 
 
 Therefore, after completing certain preparations which 
 required skill and considerable business knowledge, wc de- 
 parted to execute this new and, of course, last shufHe for 
 fortune. 
 
 We had selected Berlin, Munich, Leipsic and Frankfort 
 as the scenes of our operations in Germany. In France we 
 sought to operate in Bordeaux, Marseilles and Lyons. At 
 8 p. m. Saturday we all crossed to Calais together, where 
 George said good-bye, and, leaving us to take the train east- 
 ward to Berlin, he started west to Bordeaux. We were not 
 to meet again until after our hurried rush through the Con- 
 tinent and our return to London with the proceeds. Before 
 I give an account of Mac's adventure and my own for the 
 next three days I will here give George's narrative in his own 
 language, as related to us when we all met again in London : 
 
 After saying good-bye to you I arrived in Paris in due 
 
 (123)
 
 124 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 time, and sauntered about for two hours until the train left 
 for Bordeaux, where I arrived at 8 o'clock oMonday morning, 
 and went at once to the Hotel d'Orient, and after a bath 
 and breakfast repaired to the bankers. As soon as I pre- 
 sented my letters of introduction they received me with the 
 greatest consideration, lavishing everv attention upon mc, 
 inviting me to dinner and to a drive through the city after- 
 ward. I thanked them, and explained that I was obliged 
 to decline, as my agent w'as w^aiting for me at Bayonne, 
 where I had purchased some real estate, and, having been 
 recommended to their firm, I should feel obliged if they would 
 cash my draft for £2,000 and indorse it on my letter of 
 credit. The manager replied that it was the custom of tlie 
 French bankers to require twenty-four hours' notice before 
 drawing a check, and asked me if the next day would not 
 answer. "We shall he happy to assist you," said he, "in 
 passing the time pleasantly." This was a new custom to 
 me, but I answered instantly, expressing regret that the na- 
 ture of my business precluded delay, it being necessary- that 
 I should reach Bayonne that night. "I suppose," continued 
 I, "that your bankers will not mind your checking out a small 
 sum without the usual notice. However, if it occasions any 
 embarrassment or inconvenience, I can easily procure the 
 money elsewhere." One of the partners replied that their 
 bank would without doubt honor their check, and the matter 
 should be attended to at once. I sat down for a half hour, 
 conversing on a variety of topics. Of course, this was a most 
 trying period to me; the least show of haste or anxiety might 
 have betrayed me to those lynx-eyed, experienced men of 
 business. In the midst of our conversation an undercurrent 
 of thought kept running through my mind thus: "Who 
 knows but they have sent a dispatch to the Union Bank of 
 London, merely as a matter of business precaution, and 
 that they are delaying me to get a reply? In that case I shall 
 have a good opportunity to learn the pure French accent
 
 ■Tin; j.o^-ELV .oi'XTES.s \VAVi;it a r.\iii:\vi:LL to iif:ii 
 
 DKAD t^VER."— Paee M.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE V/AY. 127 
 
 while passing my days in the Bagnio at Toulon." At last, 
 however, the amount was paid over to me in French bank 
 notes. I deliberately counted them and took leave, lighter 
 in mind and heavier in purse by 50,000 francs. 
 
 I had arranged that I would send all the money I obtained 
 to the Queen's Hotel, London, by post at the earliest pos- 
 sible moment after receiving it, that in the event of any acci 
 dent to myself the money should be safe. 
 
 After receiving the money I inclosed it in a large envelope, 
 addressing it to the hotel in London. I also wrote on the 
 envelope: "Echantillons de papier" (i. e., samples of paper), 
 after which I threw it into the postoffice. 
 
 As I wished to reduce the risk as much as possible (the 
 train for Marseilles not leaving for three hours), I took a 
 carriage and told the driver to take me toward the next sta- 
 tion on the way to that city. After we were fairly out in 
 the country I got outside and sat with the driver, chatting 
 with him about the country we were driving through, arriv- 
 ing in the village about half an hour before the train from 
 Bordeaux was due. I dismissed my driver at a small village 
 cabaret (tavern), walked to the station, got aboard the train, 
 and early the next morning was in Marseilles. I breakfasted 
 at the Hotel d'Europe, and looked over the papers to see" if 
 the Bordeaux fraud had been discovered. As I could see no 
 indication of it, about 10 a. m. I took a carriage and went to 
 call on Messrs. Brune & Co. 
 
 On making myself known I was, as usual, received with 
 the utmost courtesy, began to talk business, and one of the 
 firm got into my carriage and rode with me to his bank to 
 effect the sale of my draft on London for the sum of £2,500. 
 Arriving at the bank I took a seat in the front office, wliile 
 \It. Brune went into the manager's room to introduce the 
 transaction; the clerks eyed me, as I thought, .suspicii^usly, 
 but doubtless only curiously, because they perceived I was a 
 foreigner. Another thing which I noticed sent a .;hiver 
 8
 
 12S FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 through me. After ^Ir. Brune had been a few minutes in 
 the manager's room, the bank porter stepped to the outer 
 door, closed and locked it. It being but 12 o'clock, I im- 
 agined the precautionary measure must be due to my pres- 
 ence. "The Bordeaux afifair is discovered and has been 
 telegraphed all over France," was my first thought; "all is 
 over with me. I am a candidate for a French prison, sure." 
 
 These and a thousand other thoughts flashed through my 
 mind during the quarter of an hour preceding Mr. Brunc's 
 reappearance with his hands full of bank notes. I could 
 hardly believe my eyes. I had suppressed all signs of the 
 internal hurricane which raged during those prolonged mo- 
 ments of suspense. 
 
 Now the revulsion of feeling was so great that I nearly 
 fainted. However, by a mental efifort, I recovered my self- 
 possession and effectually masked all inward convulsions. 
 
 Mr. Brune placed in my hands 62,000 francs, in notes of 
 the Bank of France, and we then descended to the carriage 
 and drove to my hotel, where we parted. I paid my bill, and 
 at once made preparations to start for Lyons, which was to 
 be the next and last scene of my operations in France. 
 
 As my train did not leave for three hours, I got into a 
 carriage at some distance from the hotel and was driven to- 
 ward the next station, located on the beautiful bay a few 
 miles from Alarseilles. 
 
 After driving along the shore of the bay for some miles 
 I remember we met two women, dressed in the quaint cos- 
 tume common to that part of the country, each carrying a 
 basket of eggs. I stopped the carriage and endeavored to 
 enter into conversation with the pair^ but could not under- 
 stand a word of their patois. I then took a couple of eggs, 
 handed out a silver franc piece, and drove on, leaving two 
 astonished women standing in the road, gazing alternately 
 at the piece of money and at the back of my carnage. Arriv- 
 ing at the station I found it would be an hour and a half to
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 129 
 
 train time, and driving to a hotel on the shore I ordered 
 dinner to be served in the upper room of a two-story tower 
 overlooking the bay, with Marseilles in the distance. After 
 dining I strolled along the beach, looking at f>ome queer 
 fish not found north of the Mediterranean, their colors vy- 
 ing in brilliancy with the plumasfe of tropical birds. Re- 
 turning to the station I took a ticket for Lyons, stopping 
 ofT at Aries about sunset, as I wished to see the amphitheatre 
 and other relics of the Roman occupation. 
 
 I remained in Aries till midnight, then took the train, ar- 
 riving in Lyons at 9 the next morning. Repairing to the 
 Hotel de Lyons I had breakfarst, and on looking over the 
 papers became satisfied that as yet no discovery had been 
 made. Therefore, I resolved to carry out my third and last 
 financial enterprise and then return to London with all 
 speed. 
 
 I called a carriage and drove at once to the establishment 
 of Messrs. Coudert & Co. I sat near the desk, conversing 
 with the head of the firm, and opened a dispatch I sent from 
 Aries, and, after reading, l:anded it to him, saying: "I see 
 that I shall have use for 60,000 francs, and must ask yuu to 
 cash a draft on my letter of credit for that amount." He 
 immediately stepped to the safe, took out a bundle of 1,000 
 franc notes, and counting out sixty, gave them to me. 
 
 As it was almost certain that the Bordeaux fraud would 
 soon be discovered, I determined, now that my risky work 
 was completed, to attempt an immediate escape from France 
 by way of Paris and Calais. I did not, therefore, take the 
 train direct from Lyons to Paris, but engaged a carriage and 
 drove back to a junction toward Marseilles. Here I took 
 a train which intersects further to the northward with another 
 road leading through Lyons to Paris. After going the 
 roundabout route above described, I was back at the Lyons 
 station at 9 p. m. in a train bound for Paris, where I arrived 
 without further incident.
 
 130 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 The next morning (Sunday) as I left the railway station 
 I thoufjht detectives were watching me, but, in all proba- 
 bility, it was only the imagination of a guilty conscience. I 
 was then wearing a full beard, and as a precautionary meas- 
 ure I, that morning, had all shaved off save the mustache. 
 Not daring to leave Paris on the through express, which 
 started at 3 o'clock p. m., nor to purchase a ticket to either 
 Calais or London direct, I went to the station and took the 
 noon accommodation train, which went no further toward 
 Calais than Arras, a town some thirty miles from Paris. I 
 arrived there about i p. m. 
 
 As it would be a couple of hours before the express train 
 was due, I went to a <=;ma1l hotel and ordered dinner. To 
 while away the time I took a stroll through the main street, 
 where were many mothers and nurses with children, nice 
 black-eyed French babies. As I was always a devoted lover 
 of children and other small creatures, I stepped into a shop 
 and bought a package of confectionery, which I distributed 
 among the little ones and their 3niiling nurses, receiving 
 therefor, almost invariably, the grateful exclamation, "Merci, 
 Monsieur!" I gave some to children S and 10 years old, a 
 crowd of whom soon gathered about me. Perceiving that I 
 was attracting too much attention, it was clear that I rnu.st 
 get rid of my young friends as soon as possible, or the police 
 might also be attracted, and their presence would lead to 
 unpleasant results in case the frauds liad been discovered 
 and inquiry w-as being made for an Englishman. Purchas- 
 ing a second supply of candies I hastily gave them out, and 
 with a "Restez ici, mes enfants," I passed through them and 
 continued my walk up the street. Quite a number followed 
 at a respectable distance, and I was cogitating how to double 
 on them when I came to the gateway of the town cemetery, 
 through which I hastily entered. The children remained 
 outside and watched me as I walked up the slope and dis- 
 appeared. At the rear of the cemeten' I observed an old 
 
 J 
 I
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 
 
 131 
 
 man at work in the adjoining field. I climbed upon the 
 stone wall, which instantly crumbled away, and I was landed 
 on the old Frenchman's domain without leave, amidst a pile 
 of stones. Startled by the racket, he looked up from his 
 digging, and, seeing a stranger uprising from the ruins of the 
 fence, began consigiiing him to "le diable/' with a volley of 
 vigorous French expletives delivered in peasant patois. I 
 listened to him, much amused for a moment, and then held 
 up a five-franc piece. As soon as he beheld it a wondrous 
 change came over him. He eagerly seized tlie silver and 
 straightway showed me to a lane which led almost directly to 
 the railway station. I purchased a ticket for Calais and took 
 the Sunday afternoon express, and here I am.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 WE TALK OF THE STARS AND DO THE OTHER 
 
 THING. 
 
 After we saw George off to Paris on the train Mac and I 
 walked up and down the platform outside of the station, star- 
 gazing. Mac, with his brilliant scholarship, elegant speech, 
 logical force and fiery enthusiasm, made a most fascinating 
 companion. 
 
 The study of mankind is man, the old proverb says, but 
 like many other proverbs there is a full measure of unreality 
 in it. It takes a good amount of arrogance and conceit for 
 one to fancy he is going to study and understand men. No 
 man can understand himself, and by no amount of experi- 
 ence or study will he ever come to understand that subtle 
 thing he calls his mind or understand the motives that sway 
 him. 
 
 I only wish one of those scientists who amuse themselves 
 by pretending to study and understand human minds and 
 motives could have sat in Mac's brain that night, have 
 thought his thoughts and heard his speech, while remaining 
 ignorant of our history and mission. Mac's mind Vv^as a 
 storehouse of erudition, his memory a picture gallery, whose 
 chambers were gilded and decorated with many a glowing 
 canvas. As a child he was familiar with the Bible, the Old 
 Testament particularly, and, improbable as it seems, ^vas still 
 a diligent student of Holy Writ. His mind was completely 
 saturated with Bible imagery, yet there we were with our 
 (132)
 
 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE. 133 
 
 pockets full of forged documents walking up and down that 
 platform star-gazing, while he talked with intelligent enthu- 
 siasm of those silver fiowers in the darkened sky, of stellar 
 space, how in its infinity it proved the presence of Deity. 
 That with him there was no great and no little. That a 
 thought sweeping across the God-given mind of an infant 
 was as wonderful and as much an evidence of power as the 
 millioned arch of radiant suns in the milky way. While 
 speeding through Belgium on our way to the Rhine, he con- 
 tinued until the sun shone upon the horizon. It was .some- 
 thing to stir one's enthusiasm to see his sublime faith in the 
 mighty destiny of man, and to listen to him tell of the dignity 
 and grace of every human soul and his sure faith that all 
 would be garnered in the mighty plains of heaven, and he 
 meant and felt it all; yes, meant all he said, believed all he 
 said, believed that he himself was a potent factor in the Divine 
 economy, and, furthermore, believed it behooved every man 
 to do all things, to be all things good and true, yet on this 
 Sunday morning we were fast speeding to the scene of our 
 contemplated schemes, and with light hearts looked forward 
 to a speedy return to London, fairly well laden with plunder. 
 
 We talked the whole night through, or rather Mac talked 
 and I listened, and it was a treat to be a listener, he being 
 the speaker. 
 
 A period was put to his oration by the train stopping at 
 Luxemburg, we being summoned to breakfast. 
 
 On resuming our journey we took a nap, and when we 
 awoke we found ourselves nearing the Rhine; about noon 
 we arrived at Cologne, and going to Uhlrich platz, drank a 
 bottle of Tokay in a fam.ous wine cellar there, then hurrying 
 back to the station we traveled across the sandy plain that 
 stretches from near the Prussian border to the capital. We 
 arrived soon after dark, and Mac went at once to the Hotel 
 Lion de Paris and registered. I waited across the street in 
 the shadow of the Empress Palace. Mac soon came out,
 
 1?A FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 and we went to dine in a large cafe. We enjoyed the novelty 
 of the scene, and were never tired of marveling over the all- 
 predominant militarism. Soldiers everywhere, all with good 
 lungs and loud voices. We spent the evening seeing the 
 town ; at midnight we parted to meet and breakfast together 
 at the cafe at 8. I then went to an obscure hotel and soon 
 was in the land of dreams. In the morning I awoke with an 
 anxious feeling, and found myself wishing it w-ere night. At 
 8, the appointed time, I met Mac. He may possibly have 
 felt some anxiety; if so, it was invisible. 
 
 When an honest man makes a mistake he has not only 
 sympathy, but can always pick himself up again. With a 
 rogue a mistake may easily be and almost always is fatal. 
 We feared the unseen and the unexpected. Above all, our 
 imagination magnified the danger while tormenting us with 
 needless fears. In Germany the banks open at 9 o'clock, 
 and we knew they would receive soon after 8 the letter we 
 had deposited in the mail in London. We decided that it 
 would be best for l\Iac to enter the bankers at five minutes 
 after 9. We had discovered the night before the location 
 of the firm. During breakfast Mac went carefully through 
 his pockets, taking out every scrap of paper and turning 
 everything over to me; then taking out from among the 
 others in our bag the letters of credit and introduction we 
 made our last scrutinv of them. Wc had not settled upon 
 the amount he should ask for, but agreed that it should not 
 in any case be less than 25,000 gulden ($10,000). If every- 
 thing seemed favorable then Mac w^as to use his own judg- 
 ment and demand any sum tuider 100,000 gulden ($40,000). 
 His letter of credit was for £10,000, and we did not want to 
 leave it behind. Of course, if we drew any less sum than 
 the amount the credit called for, the sum we drew would be 
 indorsed on the letter, and it would be returned to Mac and be 
 instantly destroyed. So with the documents in his pockets and 
 giving me a smile, out he went, and I followed after, keeping
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 135 
 
 him in sight, and ver)^ anxious I was. We were on Untcr den 
 Linden. Walking one square and turning to the left half a 
 block away were the bankers — Hebrew, by the way. I saw 
 Mac saunter up the steps and disappear from view. Out- 
 side of America money transactions are carried on with the 
 utmost deliberation ; to an American with exasperating slow- 
 ness; so I thought it possil)le he might remain invisible for a 
 whole half-hour, and a long half-hour it would be to me. In 
 order to have my anxiety shortened by even a half minute 
 we had arranged that when he came out if he had the money 
 he was to stroke his beard as a signal. If it was all right, 
 but delayed, he was to put his handkerchief to his face, but 
 if everything was wrong he was to clasp his hands across 
 his breast for a moment. 
 
 In that event I was to keep a lookout to see if he was fol- 
 lowed; if so, I was to give him a signal, when he would go 
 straight to his hotel — in passing through would dispose of 
 his tall hat, and put on the soft hat he had in his pocket — 
 then pass out the back entrance and hajten to a certain hat 
 shop, where I would meet him, and take a cab to a little 
 town six miles away, called Jiiterbock, where all trains going 
 south, west and east stopped. While driving out, we would 
 settle on some plan ; but this emergency did not arise. I had 
 stationed myself in a little shop across the street, and from 
 that vantage ground was watching for Mac's reappearance, 
 and just as I had settled myself for a weary watch out he 
 came, smiling and stroking his beard. A moment's glance 
 satisfied me he was not followed. I hastened after, and, 
 coming up with him as he turned the corner, he merely said 
 2,600 pounds ($13,000). It seenied too good to be true, 
 and I said : "I don't believe you." He replied : "It is all right, 
 my boy; here it is," at the same time thrusting a big package 
 containing gulden notes into my hand. We instantly sepa- 
 rated, I hastening to different but near-by brokers' offices, 
 buying for nearly the full amount French bank notes and
 
 136 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 gold. We went straight to the hatter's and bought one of 
 those broad-brimmed German student hats, which, when he 
 had placed it on his head, put on a pair of spectacles and 
 parted his flowing beard in the middle, made such a trans- 
 formation in his appearance that I myself would have passed 
 him unrecognized. In the mean time I had picked out a 
 cabdriver, a stupid-looking, conservative-appearing old fel- 
 low, and engaged hnn to drive "mich imd mcincn freund 
 nach Juterbock." So we entered the cab, an open one horse 
 affair, and started for that town. Our next objective point 
 was Munich, but as the train did not leave until noon we 
 preferred to spend the time in a pleasant drive, and at the 
 same time make assurance of our escape doubly sure. 
 Around Berlin the countr}' is flat and uninteresting. Our 
 driver was a crabbed old fellow, but we managed to extract 
 some amusement out of him. 
 
 What pleased us greatly was to see him from time to time 
 take out from under his seat a loaf of black bread and cut 
 of? a slice for himself and one for his horse, and then, seeing 
 we were in no hurry, he would get down, and, wallsing beside 
 the horse, would feed him and himself at the same time. 
 When we arrived at Juterbock we had an hour to spare, so 
 we drove to an inn, and ordering a bottle of Hochhcimer for 
 ourselves and beer and pretzels for our driver, we passed the 
 time pleasantly. In the mean time we had touched a match 
 to the letter of credit, and at train time we went by separate 
 routes to the depot. Each purchased his own ticket; to Nu- 
 remberg mine was, his to some near-by city, and at 12.30 we 
 boarded the train and were ofT for Munich and more profit 
 there on the morrow. 
 
 Late at night we arrived, and after locating the bank we 
 went to a theatre, where a variety show was going on, and 
 foimd the performances good; quite up, in fact, to similar 
 exhibitions here. When the house closed we separated for 
 the night, each going to a different hotel. Our plan was to
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 137 
 
 secure all the cash we could in Munich in time to take a train 
 that left for Leipsic a little before lo o'clock, arriving there 
 soon after i, in time to visit the Leipsic bank the same day; 
 then leaving- the city that night w^e would be in Frankfort 
 early on Wednesday. We v^ould then make all haste to es- 
 cape from Germany to the shelter of mighty London. 
 
 Tuesday morning at 7 we met at a restaurant, as agreed, 
 and soon had over again our Berlin experience; but the 
 amount we obtained here was only 12,000 gulden (£1,000), 
 Mac thinking it best to ask for a small sum, Munich not be- 
 ing much of a commercial city. In cashing his credit, al- 
 though the amount was in gulden, the bank paid him in New 
 Saxon thalers, the thaler being 70 cents. We did not like 
 the new thaler notes, and wanted to change them there, but 
 there was no time if we were to catch the 10 o'clock train. 
 I had Mac's derby hat in a box, and in three minutes he had 
 the hat and spectacles on, and, with his beard again parted, 
 the transformation was complete, and he, a perfect picture 
 of the dreamy German student, sauntered down to the depot 
 and bought his ticket for Leipsic. I followed him, carrying 
 all the cash and documents in my bag. We arrived at Leip- 
 sic soon after dinner. Times were brisk, with plenty of bustle 
 there, for the great Leipsic fair was in full blast. Here was 
 an opportuiiity missed; we ought to have had three or four 
 letters to as many banks. The place was thronged and the 
 banks were paying out and receiving money in thousands. 
 On the train I had sat apart from Mac, but in the same com- 
 partment, which was filled. Arriving at Leipsic he left the 
 train, and, walking up the street, entered a wine room, wl'.ere 
 I joined him. He scrutinized his letters carefully, and, plac- 
 ing them in his pocket, in five minutes was in the bank. 
 Seeing the bank was full of customers, instead of remaining 
 outside to watch, I entered and stood among the crowd, anx- 
 ious, of course, but letting nothing escape. 
 
 Instead of waiting or trying to transact his business with
 
 mS FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 a subordinate, ^lac demanded to see the head of the firm. 
 He was received at once, and upon the production of his 
 letters was treated with the utmost consideration. He 
 asked for 50,000 gulden ($20,000), which was given liini at 
 once. The amount for fair time at Leipsic was not large. 
 In a very short time the business was done. The money 
 being paid in gulden notes, it made a pretty big l)undle. As 
 agreed upon, he went direct to the cafe, carrying the money, 
 while I stopped at a broker's office and bought French mon- 
 ey, notes and gold, for my new Saxon thalcrs. There the 
 transformation scene was re-enacted, but we could not leave 
 town until 5 o'clock. We spent the time visiting the famous 
 fair. Leipsic overflowed with the fair. It was fair on the 
 brain with every une. This annual fair has lieen a yearly 
 feature of the old city for four centuries, and draws to it peo- 
 ple from all over the European world, even from furthest 
 Russia. Soon after 5 o'clock we were on the train, but, for 
 some reason which I now forget, we did not arrive until 10 
 o'clock the next day at Frankfort. 
 
 Frankfort, the home and still the fortress of the Roth- 
 schilds. 
 
 In Frankfort the Bourse opens at 10 a. m., and closes at 2. 
 During those hours the bankers are to be found on the Ex- 
 change only, and not at their offices. Many of the offices are 
 then deserted and fast locked. It proved to be the case with 
 the firm to which our letters were addressed, and if we were 
 to do any business in Frankfort we had of necessity to wait 
 until 2 p. m., but as it was now Wednesday and the third day 
 since our affair in licriin, the first draft drawn on London, if 
 promptly mailed, would probably have been delivered at the 
 Union Bank this morning. Of course, as soon as ihe mana- 
 ger of the foreign department found a draft for a large sum 
 drawn by a stranger and made payable to their correspond- 
 ent in BeHin, he would at once surmise that a fraud had been 
 committed and undoubtedly would send a telegram to Ger-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 139 
 
 many to that effect. The forgery once known in Berlin, the 
 rumor of it, with a thousand exaggerations, might easily 
 fly to every Bourse in Europe, and I feared that by 2 o'clock 
 the story might possibly become known on the Frankfort 
 Exchange. So far we had $43,000, the result of our two 
 days' operations, but we had from the first great hopes of 
 Frankfort, chiefly because it was the money centre of the 
 Continent, therefore the bankers were used to handling large 
 sums of money, and so long as everything was rdl right Ihey 
 would hand out any sum, however large. We really ought 
 to have taken in Frankfort first. Had we done so, wc 
 probably would have left the town with $50,000. 
 
 Soon as we arrived we went to a cafe, and, leaving Mac 
 there and all the money and papers in the bag, I hastened to 
 the bankers, hoping to find them open and ready for busi- 
 ness. In that case I should have talked business — that is. 
 about having letters of credit, etc. — and I could probably 
 have told by their actions if any rumors of our transaction 
 of the two preceding days had reached the city. Had this 
 been so the bankers would have betrayed it by their looks 
 and questions, and would have been anxious to see my cred- 
 its. Had such questions been asked, I would have simply 
 said that my letters of credit had not yet arrived from Paris. 
 This would have, of course, thrown them ofiF the track, and 
 given us time to move off. 
 
 But when I arrived I found the doors locked. I at once 
 returned to Mac and said : "We are through ; let us catch the 
 train for Cologne at once." He was anxious to wait until 
 4 o'clock and make a dash. We both knew the Germans 
 were slow, and might not think of using the telegraph, and 
 we agreed that we had more than an even chance of success; 
 but Mac said : "My boy, you are my manager, and I leave it 
 for you to decide." Then T said we were through, and that 
 he should take no more chances; so we settled it right there,
 
 140 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 in the little French-German cafe, and taking out all the letters 
 and every scrap of paper we destroyed them. 
 
 This decision, of course, brought a great relief — for the 
 strain had been greater than either of us had been willing 
 to confess to the other. So, easy in mind, we ordered lunch. 
 Of course, we would have no news of George until we met 
 in London. We had no anxiety about him; we felt certain 
 he would come out all right. \\'hile waiting for the train 
 we discussed the future, and took it for granted that he would 
 secure as much as we had done. We counted ourselves pos- 
 sessors of $90,000. Of this, fully $10,000 would go to our 
 three honest detectives in New York; we would spend about 
 another $10,000, leaving us about $23,000 each. Making 
 this calculation, we sat down, and with the cash safe in our 
 hands we began planning for the future. Did we say: "Now 
 we have a sum of money ample to start us in an honest busi- 
 ness, and, as we have promised, we will quit?" Nothing of 
 the kind; we simply ignored our many promises and resolu- 
 tions. Our ideas had grown with our success, and we felt 
 poor; so we quickly came to the conclusion that it was the 
 part of wisdom, since we were already so far in, to secure 
 $100,000 each, and then to call a halt; so there in Frankfort, 
 in the very hour of our success, we found ourselves planning 
 new schemes, and further down the Primrose Way. 
 
 Soon after the noon hour the train started, but first I took 
 Mac's tall hat to the hatter's and left it to be ironed, this, 
 of course, to get rid of it, and leave no trace behind; then, 
 returning to the cafe, we started. I fell behind and wc made 
 our way separately to the depot. Mac had absolutely noth- 
 ing about him save $2,000 in French paper and gold. I had 
 over $40,000 in notes and some gold in my bag. He bought 
 a ticket for Amsterdam, and I one for Belgium, both taking 
 us through Cologne. I saw him safe into a car, while I 
 sauntered carelessly up and down the station, swinging my 
 bag and staring at everything; as the train was about to start
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 141 
 
 I entered another carriage. The railway from Frankfort to 
 Cologne follows the river bank for the entire distance. We 
 quickly passed Bingen, Mayence, Coblenz, and about dusk 
 reached Cologne. This is an important junction, and here 
 we had to change cars, having twenty minutes to wait. Both 
 of us went direct to the cathedral. It is close to the station, 
 and there we had a few minutes' talk. Here Mac threw avvay 
 his ticket to Amsterdam and I gave him mine to Brussels. 
 We agreed to take separate cars at the station, but at the 
 first stopping place I was to join him in his compartment, 
 for we liad before us an all-night ride to Ostend (the rival 
 port to Calais), where we would embark for Dover. At the 
 depot I purchased a ticket to London via Ostend. We left 
 Cologne all right, and at the first station out I alighted and 
 joined him. 
 
 We had a pleasant all-night journey, arriving very earlv 
 the next morning at Ostend. How lovely the sea looked, 
 with the morning sun shining on its restless waves! 
 
 We got to Dover without accident, and two hours after 
 the express landed us in London, and we drove at once to 
 our appointed rendezvous, the Terminus Hotel, London 
 Bridge. We had no news of George, but that evening, 
 opening the door in response to a loud knock, he walked in, 
 receiving a boisterous welcome.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 I PLAT THE SILVER KING. 
 
 The next morning we all drove to Hampton Court, the 
 creation of Wolsey, and when tired we went to the Star and 
 Garter. There we talked over matters, and came to the cam- 
 elusion we must have a hundred thousand apiece before we 
 could afford to settle down at home. 
 
 We resolved to send ofif the "percentag-e" to Irving & Com- 
 pany, and to pay all debts we were owing at home. 
 
 Mac's heart went out to his father. He longed for a 
 reconciliation, and he determined to send him $10,000 and 
 so make good the money his father had given him to estab- 
 lish himself in New York, at the same time write the old gen- 
 tleman he had made a big strike in a cotton speculation, in 
 order to explain his having so large a sum to spare. 
 
 Our accounts were pretty well mixed up, and I hit upon 
 a novel way to settle them and give each of us an equal start. 
 My proposal was that we should pool everything. To put 
 every dollar we had in the world on the table then and there, 
 and let the firm assume all obligations, purely personal as 
 they were, save only the Irving "percentage," and pay them 
 from the general fund,, then divide the balance. This was 
 agreed to, and the queerest balance sheet ever made out was 
 soon ready. 
 
 We all had planned certain gifts and presents to friends in 
 
 America, a considerable sum in the aggregate; all the cost of 
 
 this was assumed by the firm. The main item was $10,000 
 (142)
 
 •■TIIKY F(irXI> A RODY, RAGGED. EMACTATKD. FORLOHX. 
 IT WAS BRKA."— Fairi- ll'O.
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 145 
 
 to the New York police. When the balances were finally 
 struck nearly $30,000 had disappeared from our cash capi- 
 tal, but on the whole it was a good plan. It drew us all 
 closer together, consequently increased our faith in each 
 other and at the same time prevented all chances of future dis- 
 pute. This matter settled, we determined to have a little 
 recreation by taking a tour in Italy. After studying guide 
 books and routes we resolved to take a steamer from South- 
 ampton to Naples, spend a few days there in seeing the town 
 and visiting Pompeii, etc., then north to Rome. 
 
 We had made considerable preparation for our tour, when 
 a circumstance arose that not only changed our plans, but in 
 the sequel changed our lives as well. 
 
 We had been paying another visit to Hamgton Court, and 
 in place of dining at the Star and Garter we returned by boat 
 on the Thames and dined at Cannon Street Hotel. Before 
 going to the hotel we took a stroll down Lombard street, 
 and, arriving at the intersection of streets opposite the Bank 
 of England, we came to a halt. While watching the human 
 whirlpool in that centre of throbbing life, I turned to my 
 friends, and, pointing to the Bank of England, said: "Boys, 
 you may depend upon it, there is the softest spot in the world, 
 and we could hit the bank for a million as easy as rolling ofT 
 a log." No response was made at the time, and the casual 
 remark was apparently forgotten. Well for us if it had been. 
 
 The next day we went for a drive to Windsor, and were to 
 dine at a famous old roadside inn. On arriving we, of 
 course, visited the castle, and, while viewing the decorations 
 in the stately throne room, Alac stopped us with the remark 
 that something I had said the day before had been sticking 
 in his mind- He went on to say that we wanted a hundred 
 thousand apiece in order to return home in good shape ; that 
 the Bank of England had plenty to spare, and it was well for 
 the lightning to strike where the balances were heavy. The 
 bank would never miss the money, and he firmly believed 
 9
 
 14C> FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 the whole directorate of the fossil institution was permeated 
 with the dry rot of centuries. The managers were convinced 
 that their banking system was impregnable, and, as a con- 
 sequence, it would fall an easy victim, provided, as we sus- 
 pected, the bank was really managed by hereditary ofificials. 
 
 Here was a picture, indeed. Three American adventurers, 
 two of them barely past their majority, standing in the throne 
 room of Windsor Castle, and plotting to strike a blow at the 
 money bags of the Bank of England! 
 
 The idea grew on us rapidly. After dinner we sat in the 
 twilight of that old inn and discussed the Old Lady ol 
 Threadneedle Street from a point of view from which she han 
 probably never been discussed before. I can imagine with 
 what scorn the idiotically pu fifed and bepuffed magnates of 
 the bank would have regarded us had they known of our 
 discussion. 
 
 They afterwards boasted to me, as they had boasted for a 
 century, that their system was perfect, and as a proof that it 
 was so they widely proclaimed they had not changed it in a 
 hundred years. They had proclaimed so loudly and so long 
 its absolute invulnerability that they not only believed it 
 themselves, but all the world had come to believe it as well. 
 "Safe as the bank" was a proverb everywhere underlying the 
 English tongue. 
 
 In our discussion we speedily came to the conclusion that 
 any system of finance unchanged in detail for a century, be- 
 lief in the perfection of which was an article of faith not alone 
 with the ofificials charged with its management, but with 
 the people of England at large, must, in the very nature of 
 the case, lie wide open to the attack of any man bold enough 
 to doubt its impregnability and resolute to attack. 
 
 What a figment of the imagination this boasted impregna- 
 bility of the Bank of England w^as the sequel will show. 
 And as for those masters of finance, those earthly Joves of 
 the financial world wdio sat serene above the clouds, 'the
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 147 
 
 Governor and Company of the Bank of England," they soon 
 had the whole money world shaking with laughter when they 
 stood revealed the Simple Simons they proved to be. 
 
 We wanted a hundred thousand apiece now, and had re- 
 solved to get it from the Bank of England. Such was our 
 confidence that wc never thought failure possible. Truly, if 
 there ever was a plan laid in ignorant enthusiasm this was 
 one. Here we were, absolutely without any knowledge of 
 the inner workings of the institution, strangers in London 
 being under assumed names, without business of any kind, 
 and not only unable to give any references, but unable to 
 stand any investigation. 
 
 Exactly how we were to manipulate the bank we did not 
 know. We were inclined, now we had some fifty thousand 
 dollars capital, to avoid so serious a thing as forger}', but had 
 an idea for one of us to obtain in some way an intr^iducli :n 
 to the bank and to use all the money of the party to estab- 
 lish a credit. In the mean time all were to get in the swim in 
 or around the exchange, and use the one who had the account 
 in the bank for reference for the others. If some good 
 chance ofifered to go into a straightforward business we could 
 drop forever all thoughts of breaking the law again. This 
 was the theor}^ ; in practice, we were almost certain to try on 
 the game we had of late played so successfully. 
 
 In conference it was determined an account should be 
 opened with the bank, anyway; after that was done we could 
 decide what use to put it to. 
 
 As I had not yet shown up in the previous transactions, I 
 volunteered to go to the front in this; so, telling my two 
 friends to go to the Continent — Italy, if they liked — I would 
 remain in London and manage to get the account startefl. 
 They took me at my word^ and a day or two after sailed from 
 Liverpool to Lisbon, and passed through Portugal to Spain, 
 visiting the chief cities of that countr\\ 
 
 I was left alone in London and began prospecting at once.
 
 148 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 setting all my wits at work to see how I could manage to get 
 an introduction to the bank. I had only $20,000 to start 
 the thing with, as we did not think it policy to risk our entire 
 capital in one place. My first idea was to find some solicitor 
 of standing who kept his account at the Bank of England, 
 to give him a retaining fee of £100 to act as my legal adviser, 
 telling him some fairy tales about establishing a branch firm 
 in London, and engage him, as soon as we started, to devote 
 all his time to our business at a fat salary. But there were 
 many objections to having a lawyer to introduce me, they 
 being wide awake and liable to scrutinize too closely. If one 
 should depart so far from his policy of caution as to intro- 
 duce a new client he might after the introduction easily noti- 
 fy the bank that I was a stranger to him and perhaps advise 
 them to investigate, and investigation was the one thing I 
 must avoid. Of course, one is supposed to give reference, 
 even if introduced. Although I had no acquaintance with 
 this bank's methods, yet I was confident that all those at the 
 top must be a stupid lot of red-tape sticklers, and I resolved 
 to do my business with them alone. I was pretty sure that 
 the routine of an introduction once well over, so as to give 
 me access to the officials, they could be easily satisfied and 
 made to help on the fraud, in place of being obstacles. The 
 result proved my surmise correct, for such a lot of self-suffi- 
 cient barnacles no institution in the world was ever burdened 
 with. 
 
 The dry rot of officialism permeated the bank through 
 and through; even the bank solicitors, the Messrs. Fresh- 
 fields, were merely "highly respectable," and sometimes when 
 that term is applied in England it indicates mediocrity. The 
 Freshfields managed to spend four hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars of the bank's money in our prosecution. That 
 fact alone would have ruined the reputation of any law firm 
 in America, but the ring of toadies who control that close 
 corporation called the Benchers of the Inn was loud in its
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 149 
 
 praise of this firm for the extreme ability shown in working 
 np the case for the bank. 
 
 I finally made up my mind to find some old established 
 shopkeeper who kept an account at the bank, and secure an 
 introduction through him. 
 
 I determined to carry out the plan at once. The thing was 
 first of all to find my man; so at 2 o'clock that afternoon I 
 stationed myself near the bank to watch depositors coming 
 out and then follow them. Four out of five depositors when 
 they take money to the bank come out examining their pass- 
 books. That afternoon I followed several; of these I selected 
 three ; one was an optician and electrician, an old-established 
 firm, doing a large business. Another was an East India 
 importing house. The third was Green & Son, tailors. 
 
 The next day I went to the optician and purchased an ex- 
 pensive opera glass, and had him engrave on it "To Lady 
 Mary, from Her Friend," and paid him for it with a £100 
 note; then I went to the East India firm and bought a costly 
 white silk shawl and a lap robe fit for a prince, and looked 
 at a camel's hair shawl at one hundred guineas. 
 
 I had brought from America with me a Western hat, and 
 as I had resolved to play the Silver King, I wore it when go- 
 ing around among the tradesmen. The English had, and still 
 have, absurd ideas concerning that desirable article, "The 
 American Silver King." The stage article they take for the 
 genuine, and devoutly believe that the pavements are thick 
 with them in America, all marching around with rolls of 
 thousand-dollar bills in their pockets, which they throw out to 
 bootblacks and bartenders. 
 
 Therefore, I resolved to play this role. After my purchase 
 of the shawl and robe, I drove in my brougham up to Green 
 & Son, and entered, smoking a cigar, and with my big liat 
 pulled well down over my eyes. Soon as I saw the elder 
 Green I felt I had my man. Certainly I had hit well, for 
 the firm (fathers and sons) had been depositors in the Bank
 
 150 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 of England for near a century, and had considerable wealth; 
 but, Eng-lish fashion, stuck steadily to business. This is a 
 fimi of ultra-fashionable tailors, that, like the historic Poole 
 next door, charge for their reputation more than for the fit 
 of their garments. 
 
 One of the firm and an attendant flew to wait upon me, 
 but, paying no attention to them, I started on a slow march 
 around the establishment, examining tlie array of cloths, they 
 following at my heels. I went down one side and returned 
 on the other to the door. Arriving there I halted and, point- 
 ing first at one roll of cloth and then another, said: "One 
 suit from this, three suits from that, two from that, a 
 topcoat from that, another from tliat, another suit 
 from that, one from that. Now, show me some 
 dressing gowns." The first shown was tw^enty guineas. 
 I instantly said that w^ould do. One may be cer- 
 tain the tailor and his assistant flew around, one to measure 
 and the other to write the measurements of this American 
 sheep that Providence had led astray into their shop. When 
 asked my name and address, I gave F, A. Warren, Golden 
 Cross Hotel, and then, for fear I might forget my name, 
 I made a memorandum of it and placed it in my vest pocket. 
 They bowed me out, evidently greatly impressed with my 
 taciturnity, and especially my big hat, confident also that thev 
 had hooked a fortune in a genuine American silver king. T 
 entered the brougham and drove directly to the Golden Cross 
 Hotel, Charing Cross, and there registering "F. A. Warren " 
 and securing a room I left for my hotel. This room at the 
 Golden Cross I kept for a whole year, but never slept there. 
 It was the only address the Bank of England ever had of 
 their distingui.shed customer, Mr. Frederic Albert Warren. 
 
 I did not trouble any more about the other two store peo- 
 ple, but looked about the town, amusing myself. In due 
 time I called and tried the garments on, and, when ready to 
 deliver, I left the cash with the hotel people with orders to
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 151 
 
 pay the bill, wliich was done. There the matter rested for 
 ten days, when I drove up again, and, remaining in my car- 
 riage, the head of the firm came out to me and I remarked : 
 "I must have more garments; duplicate that order," and 
 drove ofT. 
 
 A week after I called to have them tried on, and then said 
 that as I was going to Ireland for a few days' shooting with 
 Lord Clancarty, I would send down a portmanteau for the 
 garments and call for it on my way from the hotel to the sta- 
 tion. So I bought the most expensive trunk I could find 
 and sent it to the tailor. When the day came for me to call 
 I provided myself with six £500 bank notes, five £100 and 
 about fifty £5 notes to go on the bottom of the roll. Before 
 leaving my hotel I had a large trunk put on the cab, and then 
 taking inside of it all the dressing bags, rugs, silk umbrellas 
 and canes in the whole party, I drove to the tailor's, paid my 
 bill with a £500 note and had the portmanteau put on the 
 cab. I turned to go, but, halting at the door, I remarked 
 quite in a casual manner: "By the way, Mr. Green, I have 
 more money than I care to carry loose in my vest pocket to 
 Ireland; I think I will leave it with you." He replied, "Cer- 
 tainly, sir," and as I was pulling the roll out of my vest 
 pocket he said: "How much is it, sir?" "Only £4,000; it may 
 be £5,000;" to which he replied: "Oh, sir, I would be afraid 
 to take charge of so much ; let me introduce you to my bank." 
 He ran for his hat, accompanied me to the Bank of England, 
 and, calling one of the sub-managers, introduced me as an 
 American gentleman, Mr. F. A. Warren, who desired to 
 open an account. A check and a pass book were brought 
 and the signature book laid before me for my autograph, 
 and I was requested to sign my name in full, so I christened 
 myself Frederic Albert. I drove to the North Eastern sta- 
 tion and telgraphed the boys at Barcelona that the thing was 
 done and they could, if they liked, curtail their excursion 
 and return to England at once.
 
 152 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 So the first step had been taken and successfully. We 
 talked of now giving up all further idea of breaking the law, 
 and starting in London as brokers and promoters of stock 
 companies. The plan was for me to take the money of the 
 firm, £10,000, place it all in the Bank of England, and begin 
 to buy and sell stock and keep my money moving in and out 
 of the bank. Then George and Mac were to start an office 
 and launch out as promoters and refer to ]\Ir. Warren of the 
 Bank of England. This would place them on a footing at 
 once, and I would gradually drop out of the Bank u! Eng- 
 land after introducing George and Mac in their right 
 names. This was a grand plan, and had we only carried it 
 out fortune would have been ours, and honor as well, but we 
 were too impatient of any delay in securing wealth and over- 
 confident of our success and cleverness. Above all, we were 
 anxious to get home again. But I have got somewhat ahead 
 of my story. 
 
 Soon after I had a telegram from George and Mac sayingf 
 that they would arrive in time for a late dinner, and for me 
 to wait and dine with them. At the time I was living at 
 the Grosvenor Hotel, Victoria Station. We had a pleasant 
 meeting and a good dinner to celebrate it. I exhibited my 
 check book, and they were eager to know all details of my 
 interviews, not only at the bank, but with the tailor, and over 
 the wine I related with great spirit the details of the little com- 
 edy. I have to this very day a vivid recollection of the 
 shouts of laughter that arose from my companions during the 
 recital. We laughed then, but we did not laugh for the next 
 twenty years, neither did we partake of any sumptuous ban- 
 quets. In the world of crime success is failure, and perhaps 
 never had the absolute accuracy of that statement been so fully 
 confirmed as in our own lives. 
 
 That merriment of ours ended in anguish too deep for 
 words. For twenty years I never looked upon a star, nc>r 
 saw the face of a woman or of a child; that is to say, from my
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 
 
 153 
 
 early years when the heart beats fast and the blood runs 
 warmly in the veins. That fearful gap of time was filled to 
 the brim with the peltings of a pitiless storm, hungry, driven, 
 toiling like a galley slave under the Summer's burning sun, 
 or thinly clad exposed to every blizzard and all the whirling 
 storms of Winter, until my early manhood had vanished and 
 the best years of my prime were all melted away, and at last I 
 came forth from my dungeon, but with the mark of suffering 
 and desolation burned deep upon me, to face a world of 
 which I could not but be ignorant.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PIRATICAL CRUISE IN TROPICAL SEAS. 
 
 The way to the 1)ank vaults with their treasures had been 
 laid open, but there remained many matters of detail to be 
 carried out before we could enter them. There promised to 
 be a delay of several months, but we were impatient over the 
 prospect of delay of even six months in securiii^c^the fortunes 
 we wanted, and which we had come to consider essential to 
 our happiness. 
 
 Our plan to ease the bank of a million or two of her forty 
 million sterling was, roughly stated, to borrow from day to 
 day large sums upon forged securities, the bad feature of the 
 plan, from our point of view, being the fact that the bank, 
 as a matter of course, would retain these documents, which 
 could be produced at any future time to found a criminal 
 charge against us, provided justice ever had the opportunity 
 to weigh us in her balances. 
 
 Protected as we were by the police in New York, v;e felt 
 that the chance of our identity ever becoming known was 
 remote. Still, there was an element of chance we wanted to 
 eliminate entirely. In our recent raid on the bankers of 
 France and Germany we never exhausted our letter of 
 credit, but had the amount of cash we drew indorsed upon 
 it, and brought the actual forged document away and instant- 
 ly destroyed it. Had we been arrested in Europe, no doubt, 
 under the laws prevailing there, they would have made us 
 
 sufTer upon the veHjal statement of the banker; but in Amer- 
 (154)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 155 
 
 ica to convict one of forgery the document itself must be 
 produced in court. 
 
 I paid several visits to the bank, depositing and drawing 
 out various sums of money. I had talks with the sub-mana- 
 ger, and, on various pretexts to get information, I interviewed 
 bankers and money men in the city. Finally, after many con- 
 ferences, we came to the conclusion that the boasted impreg- 
 nability of the bank was imaginary, and that the vanity and 
 self-sufficiency of the officials would some day prove a snare 
 to the institution they ruled over. 
 
 The next conclusion we arrived at was that, easy as it 
 might be to defraud the bank, yet there was an infinity of de- 
 tail which would require six months of preparations to carry 
 out. Then, again, the word forgery began to look black in 
 our vocabulary. We knew John Bull was an obstinate fel- 
 low when he once got his back up, and we began to think 
 it wise to keep beyond his dull weather eye. 
 
 Finally, as the result of many debates, we resolved to aban- 
 don the Bank of England matter temporarily, possibly for- 
 ever, because it was too dangerous, and the delay would be 
 too great. Our new plan was to go to South America on a 
 buccaneering expedition. There being no cable in 1872, and 
 it took, as we ascertained, forty days to send a letter from 
 Rio de Janeiro to Europe and get a reply ; so that, if we exe- 
 cuted an operation boldly and well, we might hope for any- 
 thing. We resolved to go to South America, but to leave 
 my account stand in the bank, and if our success was as great 
 as expected, we would let the Bank of England keep the 
 million or two we wanted, and continue her century-long 
 slumber until the time came when some adventurous but 
 unscrupulous mind should accept the temptation she held 
 out to seize some of her bags of sovereigns. 
 
 Our plan was, in the main, similar to the one we had lately 
 used with so much success in Germany and France. Only 
 in this case we proposed to use the credit of the London and
 
 156 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Westminster Bank, and, therefore, obtained the documents 
 required to carry through such an operation successfully. 
 
 The steamer Lusitania of the Pacific Steam Navigation 
 Company was advertised to sail on the 12th, and we deter- 
 mined to go by her. Our plan was to go on the same 
 steamer, to be ever within supporting distance of each other, 
 and yet pretend to be strangers, or if associating together, 
 to act so as to make all observers think our acquaintance 
 merely casual. 
 
 Mac had his tickets in the name of Gregory Morrison. 
 He carried letters of introduction to Maua & Co., who had 
 branches in all the coast cities down the coast, including 
 Montevideo and Buenos Ayres on the east coast, and Lima, 
 Valparaiso and Callao on the west. 
 
 The steamers of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, 
 leaving Liverpool, touch at Bordeaux, Santander and Lisbon, 
 then are ofT 6,000 miles away to Rio, never slowing the en- 
 gines for a moment during the voyage. Two days at Rio to 
 discharge cargo and take in coal, then ofif again to Monte- 
 video, discharge cargo, and coal again, then away round the 
 Horn, and thousands of miles up the west coast, touching 
 everj-where to land mails and passengers; finally after 14,000 
 miles of sea travel they reach Callao, then take the home 
 track for Liverpool. 
 
 Modern buccaneers, indeed, were we, engaged in a nine- 
 teenth century piratical descent upon the shores of South 
 America. Instead of the burly, much-beweaponed pirate of 
 other years, we were mild-mannered, soft-spoken, courteous 
 youngsters, yet our steel pen and bottle of ink were more 
 deadly instruments or at least of surer fire and of better aim, 
 than the long toms and horse pistols of the piratical braves 
 of the seventeenth century. Our hopes of gain were high, 
 and we counted on an ample return for the trouble of our 
 adventure. I say trouble, for danger we feared none, so con- 
 fident were we of our ability to carry ofif everything with a
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. lo7 
 
 high hand, and so complete was our faith in each other that 
 we had no anxiety as to the result, but simply regarded our 
 trip as a pleasant voyage into tropic seas — a happy change 
 from the ]\larch wind and sombre skies of England to the 
 bright skies and balmy air of the tropical world in the Win- 
 ter months. 
 
 I had a balance in the bank of £2,335, and we, as a matter 
 of policy, wanted to have our capital ready at hand. The 
 bank has a rule that a depositor must never have less than 
 £300 to his credit. My friends were somewhat skeptical as 
 to whether the bank did not regard their new customer, F. 
 A. Warren, with some suspicion and as a depositor to be 
 watched. i\Iy personal relations with the bank people con- 
 vinced me everything was all right, but to convince my 
 friends I determined to give them a proof that the bank 
 would break their rule on my account. 
 
 The Alonday before we sailed for Brazil I called at the 
 bank and told the sub-manager that I was going to St. Pe- 
 tersburg and on to Southern Russia for a time to inspect 
 some work I was doing there, and I purposed to withdraw 
 my account. He begged me not to do so, said many flat- 
 tering things to me, and urged that it would be convenient 
 to have an open account in London. 
 
 "Well," I said, looking at my passbook, "I see T have 
 £2,335 to my credit. I will leave the odd £35 with you." 
 He instantly acquiesced. Had he said: "No, ^-ou must leave 
 at least £300, as our rules require," I should have said "All 
 right," and made it five hundred. I drew out the £2,300 
 at once, intending to deposit £300 before leaving London, 
 but in the haste of our preparations I neglected it, and my 
 balance at the bank stood £35 for all the weeks I was on our 
 piratical cruise to the Spanish Alain. 
 
 Storing most of our baggage in London, we took the train 
 to Liverpool, and, purchasing tickets for Rio, we went on 
 board the good ship Lusitania, but not the "good" ship, for
 
 158 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 her first trij-). this licing her second, had won for her the 
 name of lacing uiihicky, and Liverpool insurance men, no less 
 than Liverpool sailors, do not bank on an unlulcky ship — 
 their faith of ill luck following an unlucky ship has been 
 justified in thousands of instances, as it was in the case of 
 the Lusitania. But I am not going to relate the after his- 
 tory of the ship. 
 
 From the hour of our arrival in Liverpool we were out- 
 outwardly strangers, and during the voyage no one ever sus- 
 pected that we were anything else. We soon discovered we 
 had a pleasant company of fellow voyagers, and as we 
 steamed out of the Alersc}- and headed southward we settled 
 down to have a good time. Boreas was friendly, and away we 
 sped across the Bay of Biscay, rapidly neared the mouth of 
 the Garonne, on an estuary of which is situated the old city of 
 Bordeaux. Arriving there, the ship lay at anchor for some 
 hours, taking in and discharging freight, and receiving emi- 
 grants for various parts of South America. When the 
 steamer was about to leave, it was a strange and rather comi- 
 cal sight to witness the farewells and leave-takings from the 
 crowds of friends who had come to see them ofif. The cus- 
 tomary performance appeared to me so peculiar that I will de- 
 scribe it as well as I can after so many years: Two men stand- 
 ing face to face, one clasps the other round the body, the other 
 passive, then leaning back lifts the party clear off the ground 
 once, twice or thrice, probably according to the degree of re- 
 lationship or amount of affection; then the operation is re- 
 versed, the embraced becoming the embracer. In some cases 
 the ceremonial is repeated the second or third time, neither 
 kissing nor crying being the fashion there. 
 
 The next morning we were ofT the coast of Spain, watching 
 the silvery gleam from the ice-clad peaks of the Pyrenees— 
 at least those of us who were not engaged in the more dis- 
 agreeable employment of discharging their debt to Father 
 Neptune. However, by the time the ship arrived at the
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY, 159 
 
 small port of Santandcr the passengers were mostly recover- 
 ing from the mal de mer occasioned by the rough water in the 
 Bay of Biscay. While leaving this tiny landlocked harbor, 
 one of the propeller blades touched the rocky bottom, and 
 broke short ofif, but our ship continued her voyage with undi- 
 minished speed, and within three days was steaming up the 
 Tagus to Lisbon. Here the passengers who wished to avail 
 themselves of the opportunity had a few hours on shore; then 
 we were ofif for the long diagonal run across the Atlantic. 
 
 "The Lady of the Lusitania," as she was called, because 
 there was no other lady among the saloon passengers, was 
 the wife of a captain in the British army, who was going out 
 for a few months' hunting on the pampas of Buenos Ayres, 
 and, of course, accompanied by many dogs, with an assort- 
 ment of guns. There was also a chaplain in the British navy 
 who was going out to join his ship at Valparaiso. A strange 
 character was he ; a big, burly man, about 28 years of age, the 
 most inveterate champagne drinker on board, and that is say- 
 ing a good deal. Whenever he met any of the "jolly" ones 
 of the saloon passengers it was "Come, old fellow, will you 
 toss me for a bottle of fizz?" as he called his favorite wine, 
 and he had no lack of accepters. The majority in the saloon 
 consisted of a party of fifteen young Englishmen, civil en- 
 gineers, who were going under the leadership of a Swedish 
 colonel to survey, for the Brazilian Government, a railway 
 line across the southern part of Brazil, from the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific. In all there were twenty-five young men, full of 
 frolic and fun, who made things rather lively about the ship. 
 They went in for everything from which any fun could be ex- 
 tracted. At the equinoctial line they roped in the 
 "greenhocns" to look through the field glasses at the line, 
 and having fastened a hair across the field of view, of course, 
 we could all see it plainly. Father Neptune came on board 
 and those of the crew who had never crossed the Equator 
 were hunted out of their hiding places, dragged on deck,
 
 IGO FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 lathered with a whitewash brush dipped in old grease, shaved 
 with a lath-razor, and then tumbled unceremoniously back- 
 ward into a cask of water. 
 
 After a prosperous voyage of three weeks we arrived within 
 sight of the famous "Sugar Loaf," and were duly disembarked 
 at the Custom House, our baggage passed, and were off to 
 our hotels, each going to a different one, and each registering 
 the name our letters of credit and introduction bore. While 
 in Rio we went by day in the parks or cafes, and spent our 
 evenings together, having a most enjoyable time. 
 
 This was ovu' first experience of the tropics, and life under 
 the Equator proved as novel and as fascinating as it ever 
 does to the inhabitant of a cold climate. The show of tropi- 
 cal fruits in the markets was magnificent, and, although 
 strangers are warned not to partake of it, yet our health was 
 so good and our digestion so perfect that we disregarded all 
 warnings and gratified our palates without stint, with no bad 
 results following. 
 
 However, we felt after all that we were there on business; 
 we wanted plunder, iu fact, and not pleasure, in Rio. Our 
 pleasure lay in ~ arope or America, there in the good time 
 just ahead, v ■" n, as moneyed men, we returned, and, sur- 
 rounded ^v those nearest and dearest, we would enjoy life 
 to the 
 
 '^^ as the grand swell of our party, and, wanting to ex- 
 cel . in his financial successes, was eager to go to the 
 fr< Accordingly, we fixed ever^'thing so that he could 
 ev where strike the first and the heaviest blow. 
 
 ( ji course, on our twenty-two days' voyage we had ample 
 time for discussion, and before we passed the Equator hail 
 settled on our plan. First of all, it was agreed that one of the 
 party should keep his neck out of the noose, to stand by if 
 either of the others came to grief. Very much to my satisfac- 
 tion, it was again decided that I was the man to stand from 
 under.
 
 
 
 -^^^liifei*^' 
 
 
 jj- ' 
 
 ••KOVS, THAT 1.S TliH S'iFTE.ST MARK IX Till; Wi ,•].;.;,■.■ T',.k« 14-,.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 163 
 
 The firm of Maua in Rio was the most considerable in all 
 South America, and Mac's introductions were to this firm. 
 The plan was for Mac to present himself to Maua & Co., and 
 to draw within twenty-four hours, at least £ 10,000, so as to 
 make sure of our expenses, and a day or two before steamer 
 day to arrange for a very large sum, twenty or thirty thou- 
 sand pounds. As soon as that was obtained, George was to 
 go to the Bank of London and Rio de Janeiro, and secure 
 as much as he thought it safe to ask for, five or ten thousand 
 pounds. This would be paid in Brazilian paper money, 
 which I was to exchange for sovereigns. Then I was to buy 
 a ticket for myself on the steamer going south, take the gold 
 ofif and stow it away in my stateroom. At the last moment, 
 in the bustle and confusion of sailing, Mac and George were 
 to slip into my stateroom, conceal themselves and sail with 
 the steamer, and when once out of the harbor, to see the 
 purser, explain that they had arranged with a friend to pur- 
 chase tickets; but, as he had not put in an appearance, they 
 would be obliged to pay a second time. We purposed to go 
 down the east coast and up the west to Lima. Visiting the 
 cities as we went from Lima, we would go to Panama, there 
 catch the steamer to San Francisco, and after a pleasant so- 
 journ in California go overland to New York with a million. 
 
 This was our plan, but, as all the world knows, there is a 
 vast difference between making plans and carrying them into 
 successful execution. 
 10
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 "SHOW ME YOUR LETTERS OF CREDIT." 
 
 Fate, Providence, call it what you. will, seldom fails to up- 
 set wrongdoing-, making it rocky for the wrongdoer. 
 
 By an irony of fortune we carried with us that which was 
 going to balk all, or nearly all, our fine scheme. 
 
 In our letters of credit in some mysterious way the name 
 of the sub-mar.ager of the London and Westminster Bank 
 had been omitted, although this was absolutely essential to 
 the validity of the letters. There was also another error, an 
 error of such an extraordinary nature — that of spelling "en- 
 dorse" with a "c" — that it is enough to make any man con- 
 templating an unlawful act despair of success, since we could 
 be defeated by such mysterious and unforeseen accidents. 
 
 A few hours after our arrival Mac called at the bankers' and 
 was well received by the manager. 
 
 He told the manager his letters of credit ran from >t5,ooo 
 to £20,000 each, and that he should want £10,000 the next 
 day. Would they have it ready? 
 
 The next day he went to the bank, George and myself be- 
 ing posted outside. In ten minutes he reappeared with a 
 square bundle under his arm. He smiled as he passed us, 
 and, turning a corner, entered a cafe, where he joined us. His 
 bundle contained £10,000 in Brazilian bank notes. He as- 
 sured us that everything was serene at the bank, that he could 
 have £100,000 if he wanted to ask for it 
 (1G4)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 165 
 
 f had already been to the three largest money brokers and 
 arranged to buy gold. So, leaving Mac and George, I got a 
 sole leather bag we had for the purpose, and, hiring a stalwart 
 black porter, went to the brokers. I bought sovereigns for 
 the whole £io,ooo. It was ten bags with one thousand 
 pounds in each. The weight was i68 pounds. The black 
 fellow put it on his head, and followed me to my hotel, and 
 found it a pretty good load, too. So here we had one big 
 fish landed, and confidently counted on several more. 
 
 I related above how we had in some incomprehensible way 
 omitted putting on the letter of credit the sub-manager's 
 name. How could v/e have committed such a blunder? My 
 answer is that this is only another example of the unforeseen 
 "something" ever happening to defeat any anticipated bene- 
 fit from ill-gotten gains. 
 
 The next day Mac went to the bankers again, and was re- 
 quested by the manager to show the letter of credit on which 
 was indorsed the ten thousand pounds he had drawn against 
 it. Looking at the letter, the manager said : "This is singular; 
 there is only the name of Mr. Bradshaw, the manager, on this 
 letter; J. P. Shipp, the sub-manager's name, should be on the 
 credit as well." And then he went on to say that some time 
 since they had been notified by the London Bank that all 
 letters issued by them would bear two signatures. 
 
 Mac was a man of nerve, but it required all he had not to 
 betray his uneasiness. He said he really could not say how 
 the omission had occurred ; he supposed it must have been ac- 
 cidental, but he would examine his other letters as soon as he 
 v*-ent back to the hotel. 
 
 The look of chagrin and vexation on Mac's face when he 
 came out was a sight to see, and one that is as vivid in my 
 memory now as in that far-ofif day in 1872. 
 
 He went direct to the hotel, and there George and I soon 
 joined him. We sat down and looked at each other. The 
 game apparently was up, and we were a sorely disgusted
 
 1G6 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 party. We did not fall out with or reproach each other, but 
 felt we deserved a kicking. We did not ask each other any 
 questions, but I know our faces all wore a sadly puzzled look 
 as we repeated mentally, "How could we have made such an 
 oversight?" But soon another blunder — the misspelled 
 word — was to crop up, that made this one of the omitted 
 name seem as a fly to an eagle. 
 
 I\Iac and I thought the game up, and were mentally plan- 
 ning for flight. But George, being a man of extraordinary 
 courage and resource as well, declared we could and would 
 retrieve the blunder. He declared a bold step must be taken, 
 that, as the bankers had only seen the one credit^ the name of 
 Shipp, the sub-manager, must be instantly put on the others. 
 We had the genuine signature of J. P. Shipp on a draft, and 
 Mac at once sat down to write it on all the letters. It was a 
 trying ordeal for him, Mac's nerves having had a wrench. 
 He was a temperate man, but under the circumstances we 
 advised him to take a glass of brandy to steady his nerves. 
 Then placing the genuine signature before him and the forged 
 letters, he began to put in the name. The signatures were 
 not well written, but under the trying circumstances they 
 were wonderfully well done. All this had taken place within 
 half an hour after h.e had left the bank- 
 It was a tr\'ing ordeal, but Mac was quite willing to do as 
 George advised. That was that he should take several of the 
 letters and march boldly into the bank and say: "Here are my 
 letters; they are all right. Both signatures are on all my let- 
 ters but the one, and from that the second signature has been 
 in some way omitted." George's last word to Mac was: 
 "Rely upon us to extricate you from anything. Keep cool. 
 Act up to the character you have assumed. They can never 
 fathom that the names could have been written in so short a 
 time. Boldly ofTer them more exchange on London, and if 
 there is any hesitation say you will transfer your business to 
 the English Bank of Rio at once."
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 1G7 
 
 He started on his decisive errand, followed by us, in a mis- 
 erable state of anxiety. He was not long in the bank, but re- 
 turned empty-handed. Upon meeting at the designated 
 place, he informed us the manager was evidently agree- 
 ably surprised when shown the letters with both signatures, 
 and transferred the indorsement from the letter that had but 
 one signature to one with two. Once more we had matters 
 all right, and the broken place patched up again, but it be- 
 hooved us not to do so any more. But we did. 
 
 During our stay in Rio we saw much to interest us. The 
 negro was very much in evidence. Slavery was still the law 
 of the land; all the toil and burden-bearing falls to the poor 
 slave's lot. One day we all three took an early train and 
 alighted at a small hamlet on the border of a stream about 
 thirty miles from Rio, beyond the ranges of mountains that 
 hem in the city. We managed to find some saddle mules 
 and started to see the country. We rode for some miles 
 through a land covered with moundlike hills, no sooner com- 
 ing to the bottom of one than we were ascending another. 
 Tliese hills are covered with cofTee bushes filled with red 
 fruit, about the size of a cherry, each containing two kernels. 
 The coffee was being picked into large flat baskets by slaves, 
 which, when filled, they carried away on their heads to the 
 drying grounds. 
 
 The roads were bordered with orange trees loaded with 
 luscious fruit, to which we helped ourselves. After a time 
 we turned into a bridle path and rode some miles through a 
 dense forest. We emerged upon the outskirts of a coflf.e 
 plantation, w'here the slaves were just on their way to dinner, 
 and another half mile brought us to the planter's residence. 
 Thirty or forty slaves of both sexes and all ages were grouped 
 upon the grass, engaged in eating a black-looking stew out 
 of metal dishes, their fingers serving for knives, forks and 
 spoons. Seeing three horsemen ride out of the forest, they 
 stared in stupid wonder, until one more intelligent than the
 
 1G8 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Others went in search of the overseer. Presently a white man 
 appeared, and, in response to Mac's "Parlate ItaHano," came 
 the sniihng answer, 'Si, Signor," proving, as wc wagered he 
 would be, a native of beggarly, sunny Italy. 
 
 The overseer showed us over the place, and explained 
 all the processes of preparing coffee for the market. In one 
 corner of a large, unpainted building was what he called the 
 infirmary, and a comfortless looking place it was. He said 
 there was no doctor employed, and that he dealt out medi- 
 cine to the slaves himself. After being served with coffee we 
 thanked him for our entertainment and returned to Rio by an 
 evening train. 
 
 The mail steamer Ebro was advertised to leave Rio for 
 Liverpool on Wednesday of the week following the exciting 
 events narrated in the last chapter. This was the mail that 
 would carry the draft for i 10,000 on the London and West- 
 minster Bank, along with a letter from the Rio bank, stating 
 that they had cashed Mr. Gregory Morrison's draft upon the 
 letter issued by them. 
 
 Twenty-two or three days after the steamer left Rio the 
 London bank would know their correspondents in Rio had 
 been victimized, but 8,000 miles of blue water was between 
 them, with no way to bridge it but by steam; so we had at 
 least forty-four days more to gather in our harvest. I ought 
 to say, apparently forty-four more days, for by an amazing 
 blunder we were about to bring a storm upon our heads. 
 
 The steamer we purposed to load our money on and our- 
 selves, too, was the Chimborazo, advertised to arrive on Tues- 
 day and to leave for the River Plate and the west coast the 
 next day. So it was agreed that on Monday Mac should go 
 to the bank and arrange to cash his letters for twenty or thirty 
 thousand pounds, and go the next day for the money. As 
 soon as Mac came from the bank and announced that all was 
 well, another of us was to call at the Bank of London and Rio 
 and the River Plate Bank, present his letters of introduction
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 169 
 
 and ask in each bank to have the five thousand pounds or ten 
 thousand pounds ready the next day. They purposed to call 
 about 1 1 o'clock, so as to give me time to exchange the Bra- 
 zilian bank notes for sovereigns, and to buy my ticket by the 
 Chin:borazo, to secure my stateroom and to take the gold to 
 the steamer, and, above all, to get my passport vised by the 
 police. 
 
 Monday came. We expected a nervous day, not such a 
 paralyzingly nervous one as it proved to be. In fact, a nerv- 
 ous Tuesday follow^ed a nervous Monday. My reader must 
 remember that we were in the tropics, with a blazing sun look- 
 ing down on us with an intensity that made one long for 
 Greenland's icy mountains to cool us. 
 
 We went into the public park for our last consultation be- 
 fore our fortune, which never came, was to come. 
 
 Mac had in the little morocco case in his pocket two letters 
 each for £20,000. Certainly no man in the world, save him, 
 could have carried off such a game played for such high 
 stakes. Handsome in person, faultless in address, cool in 
 nerve, a master of all the languages spoken in Rio — Portu- 
 guese, Spanish, Italian and French. Above all, he had a 
 boundless confidence in himself- What an honorable future 
 might have been his but for his youthful follies! Truly he 
 could have achieved a wonderful success in any honorable 
 career. Unhappily for him, he, like thousands of our brain- 
 iest youth, had entered the Primrose Way. In our youthful 
 fire and thoughtlessness we saw only the flowers and heard 
 the siren's song, but at last the Primrose Way led us down 
 into a gloom where all the flowers withered and the gay 
 songs turned into dirges. 
 
 Looking at his watch ]\Iac jumped up, saying: "It is 10.45 
 and time to be off." So he started for the bank, we follow- 
 ing at some distance, our nerves all on the stretch. We felt 
 that our lives and fortunes were trembling in the balance. 
 The minutes dragged like hours. While watching we saw
 
 170 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 several persons enter or leave the bank, and still our friend 
 delayed his appearance. 
 
 To our suspicious minds there appeared to be strange 
 movements about the bank that boded ill for us. A thou- 
 sand suspicions born of our fears came and went through 
 our minds, until at last, unable to endure the suspense, I 
 entered the bank myself, and stood there, pretending I was 
 waiting for some one. I sharply scrutinized every one and 
 ever}'thing. Mac was somewhere out of sight in the" private 
 oflflces. The clerks were gossiping together, and that fact 
 to me was suspiciovis. Then, to my alarm, a bank clerk en- 
 tered from the street with an eagle-eyed man, a Hebrew, evi- 
 dently, of about 45 years of age. Both passed hurriedly 
 into the private oflfice, leaving me in an agony of suspense. 
 My only relief at that moment was the thought that George 
 and myself had not as yet compromised ourselves, and could, 
 in the event of Mac's arrest, manage to save him, either by 
 bribery or a rescue. 
 
 Without appearing to do so, I watched that dingy, mot- 
 tled door leading into the private office until every crack and 
 seam in it was photographed indelibly on my brain. 
 
 In the tr}'ing periods of one's life, when the heart and soul 
 are on the rack, how strangely trifling details of the objects 
 about one will be noticed and remembered. It seems some 
 cell of the brain, quite separate from the cell of feeling and 
 sensation, works calmly and steadily on, photographing the 
 material of one's suiToundings. 
 
 I can never forget a flower worn by a lady giiest at my 
 table, when, in the midst of enjoyment and surrounded by 
 friends, the hand of the law in the form of a burly detective 
 was laid on me in Cuba. In all the misery and humiliation 
 of that scene I remember the peculiar color of the wood of 
 a cigar box standing on the sideboard. Doubtless each of 
 mv readers will recall some similar phenomenon in his own 
 life.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 171 
 
 At last, unable to endure the suspense, above all, the un- 
 certainty, I went to the little door, and, opening it, looked in. 
 To my intense relief I saw Mac sitting there apparently talk- 
 ing unconcernedly with Braga, the manager, and the Hebrew. 
 As I had not attracted attention I closed the door, went out 
 in the street and gave George the pre-arranged signal that all 
 was well. Just then our partner appeared but with telltale 
 face. It was flushed with chagrin and vexaticn, and there 
 was gone from the contour of his body that indescribable 
 port that tells, better than words, of confidence and victory 
 
 We went by different routes to our rendezvous, and I will 
 leave it to the imagination of my readers to picture our state 
 of mind as we listened to his recital of woe — the tale of Pri- 
 am's Troy over again. 
 
 Mac had been cordially received by the manager, and had 
 told him he would require £20,000 the next day; would he 
 please have it ready? The manager replied that he did 
 not require any more exchange on London, but that he would 
 send out for his broker, who would sell his bills on the ex- 
 change. He (the manager) would indorse the bills of ex- 
 change and indorse the amounts on his letters of credit. Of 
 course, Mac could only acquiesce, and Mr. Braga sent a clerk 
 to his broker, Mr. Meyers, to come around. This was the 
 sharp-eyed Hebrew whom I saw enter. 
 
 The manager introduced Meyers to "Mr. Gregory Morri- 
 son," and explained that he was to sell exchange for £20,000 
 on Morrison's credit, which the bank would indorse. Mey- 
 ers said: "Please show me your letters." Putting his hand 
 into his breast pocket and pulling out the little morocco case 
 containing the two letters, he handed the case and contents 
 to Meyers, who, probably without suspicion of anything be- 
 ing wrong, unrolled both letters, and holding them in his 
 hands, ran his sharp eyes down one of them and read righ.t 
 through the body of the letter. They came to the "note," 
 which read: "All sums drawn against this credit please en^
 
 172 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 dorce on the back, and notify the London and Westminster 
 Bank at once." Here he suddenly halted, turned his hawk's 
 eye on Mac and said: "Why, sir, here's the word indorse mis- 
 spelled. Surely the clerks in the London banks know how 
 to spell!" 
 
 Here was a thunderbolt, indeed, that pierced poor Mr. 
 Gregory Morrison through and through, but he showed no 
 sign. He coolly remarked that he did not care to have his 
 bills sold on the exchange, but would go and see the people 
 of the London and Rio and River Plate Banks, as they prob- 
 ably would want exchange and would doubtless let him have 
 what money he required. Aleyers said very shaqDly, "Have 
 you letters tovthose banks?" "I have," said Mac, at the same 
 time producing two, one to each bank, and each bearing the 
 stamp of their respective banks. 
 
 That he had these letters was a happy thing, and no one 
 under forty days' time could say for a fact that they were not 
 genuine. The dramatic production of these letters lulled 
 the fast gathering suspicions, and would have called a halt 
 had they purposed any serious action, for the reason that dur- 
 ing the forty days it would take to communicate with Lon- 
 don the credits could not be proved to be forgeries. That 
 such letters existed at all was due entirely to the foresight 
 which had provided to meet just such a contingency. 
 
 We all were for a brief few seconds utterly dumfounded, 
 but quickly aroused ourselves to the necessity of instant ac- 
 tion to protect our comrade. We saw that we must at once 
 give over all thought of trying to do any more business in 
 Rio, and set all our inventions and energy at work to save 
 the £10,000 and to smuggle our companion safely out of Rio. 
 But how?
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ONOui jCTORE we sail. THE SEAS OVER. 
 
 xlere in our country we know nothing- of the annoyances 
 and huml)ug:g-ery of the passport system, but now, as in 1872, 
 every person desiring to leave Brazil must be provided with 
 a passport — if a foreii^ner, from his own Government; if a 
 native, one from the government of Brazil. When ready to 
 leave the country he must take his passport to police head- 
 quarters and get it vised, at the same time notifying the police 
 of the steamer he proposes to sail on. Leaving the passport 
 with the agent from whom he buys his ticket, the latter, after 
 ascertaining from the police that the intending passenger is 
 not wanted by the authorities, transmits the passport to the 
 purser of the steamer, who, in tura, hands it to the passenger 
 after the vessel is at sea. 
 
 It will be seen that these regulations make it difficult for 
 a suspected person to leave Brazil by the regular channels 
 of communication, and there are no back doors of escape 
 in that country. Once in any seaport town you must, if you 
 leave at all, sail out of the harbor mouth, for in the other di- 
 rection, that is, inland, one is confronted by the mighty trop- 
 ical forests, the greater portion of which has never been 
 looked upon by the eye of man ; and between all the seaports 
 the same impenetrable forest stretches. 
 
 So, straight out of the harbor between the Sugar Loaf and 
 Fort Santa Cruz Mac had to sail. How he should do so with 
 safety was the problem we h?'' to solve. In this venture it 
 
 (173)
 
 174 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 would not do to have any blunders. Without doubt the 
 steamers would be watched for him, and instant arrest and in- 
 carceration in the deadly tropical prison would be his lot if 
 discovered in the attempt to slip out of the country. 
 
 To complicate the matter here it was Monday, and no 
 steamer to sail until Wednesday, so there were forty-eight 
 hours of frightful anxiety ahead of us. 
 
 TJie Ebro, going to Europe, was in the harbor taking in 
 cargo and coal. The Chimborazo, going South, was not yet 
 signaled, and we determined at all hazards to get him off bv 
 the Ebro. We all had American passports, and by the use 
 of chemicals could alter the names and descriptions on them 
 at will. 
 
 Of course, the names in our passports were the same as we 
 had in our letters. George went to police headquarters, and 
 giving a douceur to an attendant, had the "vise" put on his 
 passport at once. Then going to the passenger agent he 
 bought a ticket to Liverpool by the Ebro, and by paying ten 
 guineas extra had a stateroom assigned to him alone. After 
 this he took a boat and went out to the steamer, carrying with 
 him two bags of oranges and stowed them away under the 
 bottom berths. 
 
 To make the escape a success it was decided prudent for 
 George as Wilson to get the agent well acquainted with his 
 face and appearance, so if the question was asked, '*Who is 
 this Wilson?" the police would see by the description it was 
 not the man they were looking for. For the next forty hours 
 George made the agent very tired. At one time he would 
 want to know if he could not get some reduction in the pas- 
 senger rate, or if the Ebro was seaworthy, or if there was any 
 danger of her engines breaking down, etc., until the agent 
 got not only to know "Air Wilson," but wished him at the 
 bottom of the sea. 
 
 When George started for the police office he left Mac and 
 nic alone in the park.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 175 
 
 It was absolutely essential that Mac should put in one more 
 appearance at the bank. It was an ordeal, but one he had to 
 undergo. He even dreaded to return to his hotel, but go he 
 must; so, just before the bank closed, he called in and casu- 
 ally informed the manager that he should start the next 
 morning for S. Romao, a town in the interior of Brazil, to 
 be absent a week. He was then to go to the Hotel d'Europe, 
 pav his bill, at the same time stating that he was to leave Rio 
 by the 4 o'clock train the next morning, for San Paulo. As 
 Mac had two trtmks and other impedimenta befitting a man 
 of his importance, it was necessary to take a carriage to the 
 station, which was nearly a mile distant. It would be unsafe 
 to go in a carriage belonging to the hotel ; therefore, he was 
 to say that a friend would call for him. As it was still two 
 hours to sunset, I suggested that after he had arranged mat- 
 ters he should saunter out, walk about the streets until dark, 
 then return to the hotel and be ready when George sliould 
 call for him at 3 o'clock the next morning. 
 
 After these' arrangements we separated, George and I fol- 
 lowing to ascertain if he was being watched or shadowed by 
 detectives. When he entered the hotel we remained in view 
 of the entrance. It was not long before he reappeared 
 and walked leisurely along the street. A few seconds after we 
 •saw another man come out, cross the street, and go in the 
 same direction. I followed him, and was soon satisfied that 
 he was keeping ]\Iac in view. This sort of double hunt was 
 kept up until dusk, when Alac returned to his hotel, uncon- 
 scious that a moment later his "shadow" entered the place 
 also. Here was a complication, indeed, though it was no 
 more than we had anticipated among the possibilities; still, 
 I had indulged in the hope that the bank would rely entirely 
 upon the passport system, and take no further steps for a day 
 or two, which was all the time required to carry out our plan. 
 Though ]\Tac had good nerve, it was already somewhat shak- 
 en, and surely the situation would have unnerved most men.
 
 176 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Therefore, fearing that the certain knowledge of immi- 
 nent danger might still further confuse him and cause 
 some false move, we determined to keep our discovery to 
 ourselves. 
 
 George next proceeded to an obscure part of the town, and 
 stopping at a small but respectable looking tavern, he en- 
 gaged a room for the next day, also a carriage, with an Eng- 
 lish-speaking driver, to be in readiness at 3 o'clock the next 
 morning. Promptly at the hour he was at the livery stable, 
 where he found the carriage ready, and was driven to the Ho- 
 tel d'Europe. Sending the driver up to the ofifice on the sec- 
 ond floor, Mac soon appeared and informed him that he had 
 promised to take to the station a man who was stopping at 
 the hotel. "He is going to S. Romao by the same train," 
 continued Mac, "and seems a good fellow, for I had a long 
 talk with him last night." Upon seeing signs of disapproval 
 in my face, he explained : "Well, you know, he said he could 
 not get a carriage at so early an hour in the morning, and I 
 thought it could do no harm to take him in, and he is wait- 
 ing upstairs." 
 
 Here I joined them, and it would be difificult for the reader 
 to imagine the effect of this suri^rising communication upon 
 our minds, for it was clear enough that this was the very 
 person who had been "shadowing" Mac the day before, and 
 had skillfully ingratiated himself into his new friend's con- 
 fidence. I could but admire his nerve in asking a contem- 
 plated victim for a ride to the station. I said to Mac: "What 
 in the world can you be thinking of? Don't you see you are 
 blocking our whole plan? Go up and tell him your carriage 
 is loaded down with luggage, and express your regrets that 
 you cannot accommodate him." 
 
 During this time the baggage was being placed in the car- 
 riage, and as soon as Mac had dismissed his "passenger," 
 who for some reason did not show himself, we started rap- 
 idly for the station. On the way I requested him to avoid
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 177 
 
 making any new friends until he should find himself well out 
 at sea. I said: 
 
 "It might be fatal to attract the attention of any one, or to 
 let any one see you leave the train. Of course, this new ac- 
 quaintance of yours is only a countryman, but it is not pos- 
 sible to foresee what disaster the least mistake or want of 
 .caution might originate. These cars are on the English sys- 
 tem, divided into compartments. You must go into the sta- 
 tion, stand near the ticket office until your new acquaintance 
 comes, then observe if he buys a first-class ; if so, you take a 
 second, and vice versa. Pay no attention to him, and let him 
 see you get into your compartment, but keep an eye on his 
 movements. In case he comes to get in where you are, de- 
 spite the different class of the tickets, tell him the compart- 
 ment is engaged. Everything depends on how you carry 
 yourself through the next twenty minutes. A single false 
 step, a word too little or too much, will surely prove fatal to 
 all, for if anything happens to you, we remain in Brazil." 
 
 In accordance with our prearranged plan, I stopped the 
 carriage opposite the station, it being still dark. Mac alight- 
 ed, went straight inside, and in a few minutes saw his "pas- 
 senger" come puffing in, nearly out of breath. Unquestion- 
 ably supposing Mac's baggage to be already on the train, he 
 purchased a ticket, and after seeing his intended victim enter 
 a compartment, got into another himself just as the train be- 
 gan to move. This was the vital moment for which Mac had 
 been waiting, and, quickly opening the door on the opposite 
 side, he stepped off on that side, hastily crossed to the other 
 platform of the dimly lighted station, and made his way un- 
 noticed into the street. While this was passing, I sat in the 
 carriage, and it was not many minutes before I had the sat- 
 isfaction of seeing Mac coming back. But for the benefit of 
 the driver we then had a dialogue somewhat as follows: 
 
 "It is too bad. Our friends have not arrived. What shall 
 we do?"
 
 ITS FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 "Well I suppose we must go back to the hotel and wait for 
 the afternoon train," I answered. 
 
 "But I have paid my bill there," said Mac, "and do not care 
 to go back." 
 
 "Then," I replied, "meet me at the station, and I will look 
 after the luggage." 
 
 In case they recovered the trail, the information obtained 
 from the driver would cause confusion and delay sufficient, 
 I hoped, to enable us to get Mac out of Rio. 
 
 I then told the coachman to drive me into the city. It was 
 not yet daylight, but after a while I saw a sort of eating house 
 and tavern combined, and had the carriage halted there. 
 Alighting, I entered and said to the person in charge! that I 
 did not wish to disturb my friends at so early an hour, and 
 would pay him for taking care of my baggage, as I wished to 
 discharge the carriage. The offer was, of course, accepted, 
 the baggage housed and the carriage dismissed. In the mean 
 time Mac was waiting for us in an appointed place not far 
 away, where I joined him, and we went to the obscure tavern 
 where the room had been engaged. George was await- 
 ing us. 
 
 So far our plan was successful. Mac was safely hidden 
 away, while his clever friend was speeding miles away on a 
 wild goose chase. There was only one train a day each way, 
 and we knew the detective could not get back to Rio until 
 late. We felt certain that when he found Mac was not 
 on the train he would think his intended victim had slipped 
 off at some way station — possibly with a view of making his 
 escape into the interior; even if he sent a dispatch to the 
 bank — an unlikely diing for a Brazilian to do — it would 
 doubtless be to the effect that his quarry had left Rio on the 
 early train that morning with him. 
 
 We passed some trying hours together. Then George 
 left to take Mac's baggage off to the steamer. He engaged 
 two stalwart porters; they stand on every corner brsily en-
 
 ■SUR1':A-,Y 'I UK I'LKUKS IN THlu liANK K.\<i\V UoW TO 
 SI'EI.I.."— PftK>» 172.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 181 
 
 gaged in plaiting straw for hats while waiting for a job. Di- 
 viding the baggage between the two he had it carried to the 
 wharf, and, taking a small boat, quickly had it stowed in the 
 hold and the small articles carried to the stateroom. Soon 
 after he joined us on shore. 
 
 It was but 10 o'clock when he came, and it was with some- 
 thing like dismay that we realized that the whole day was 
 before us. Until the day before, when Mac was in the bank, 
 I had never known how long an hour was, but this day we 
 all came to know how long a day could be. 
 
 The Ebro was anchored out in the bay. Her coal was ail 
 stowed, but strings of barges laden with sacks of cofifce were 
 alongside. She was advertised to sail sharp at noon. 
 
 I went out once or twice to the bank and police headquar- 
 ters, hanging about for a few minutes to see if there was any- 
 thing suspicious, but there was nothing, and each time I has- 
 tened back to Mac. 
 
 Our presence cheered him up, and he could not brook our 
 absence. At last the long day drew to an end and the shad- 
 ows, to our intense relief, began to darken in our little room, 
 where we were holding our watch. The tropic night closes 
 quickly in. Soon the city was slijrouded in darkness, and 
 we sallied out to the beach at the head of the bay to find re- 
 lief in movement. The time passed quicker then, and at last 
 we sat down on some wreckage there and watched the tropic 
 night as it revealed its wealth of stars, and sitting there we 
 began to philosophize, moralizing upon the destiny of 
 man and his relations to things seen and unseen, upon 
 spiritual force; most of all upon divine justice, which in the 
 end evens up all things. But like so many other philoso- 
 phers who write the style of the gods and make a pish at 
 fortune, we failed to make a personal application of our phi- 
 losophy. 
 
 Near by there was a boat stand from which we had re- 
 solved to embark for the steamer about two miles away. 
 11
 
 1S2 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 The uh^ht was lovely as a dream, and we knew that midnight 
 would finil a large number of passengers on deck, many of 
 whom woukl pass the night there. Forward was all the bus- 
 tle and confusion inseparable from receiving and stowing 
 cargo. 
 
 At 9 o'clock I left them to go and get the remainder of the 
 gold not yet on board — some four thousand pounds. The 
 street cars passed near by, and within half an hour I returned 
 with the gold in a bag swung from my shoulder by a heavy 
 strap. I also had with me a \voman's wrap and a silk shawl. 
 W'e sat for an hour longer, and then securing a boat with 
 two negro rowers, we pulled for the ship. Three or four 
 small boats were fastened to the companion ladder, and our 
 arrival attracted no attention. Two officials in uniform — 
 probably custom officers — stood at the companion way. It 
 was an anxious moment, but we slipped through the dimly 
 lighted cabins and, passages, and were soon safely in the 
 stateroom. r>i(lding both good-bye, and promising to be on 
 board again at <S in the morning, I went ashore and straight 
 to bed, and soon was dreaming of starlit seas, of tropic woods 
 and Sunnner bowers, white and sweet with May blossoms. 
 My health then, as now, was perfect, and I awoke fresh and 
 hopeful. After breakfasting on a dish of prawns and another 
 of soft-shelled crabs, I was off across the bay. Soon after 
 8 I knocked softly at the stateroom door, was admitted and 
 presented the lunch I had brought. They gave me a warm 
 greeting, but neither had slept. The room had been hot and 
 stufh', and the noise of stowing cargo had helped to banish 
 sleep. Both were unnerved somewhat, but I had just come 
 off shore confident and cheerful, and my confidence and spir- 
 its proved infectious. 
 
 I knew by sight the chief of police and those just under 
 him. I also knew Braga, the bank manager, by sight. They, 
 of course, did not know me, and I could, unsuspected, be a 
 looker-on in Vienna, Soon the passengers, their friends
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 183 
 
 and many idle visitors came off in boatloads, while I, 
 of course, scrutinized every boatload as it came up the side of 
 the ship. 
 
 At 9.30 I saw a boat coming, which, when half a mile 
 away, I recognized as containing the chief of police and sev- 
 eral of his subordinates; ten minutes after Braga and one of 
 the bank officials came, the only passengers in their boat, and 
 at once joined the police on the after deck and stood with 
 them waiting and watching the boats as they arrived. In 
 the mean time babel reigned around the ship. About three 
 score boats surrounded her, the owners selling to the passen- 
 gers everything from oranges to monkeys, snakes and par- 
 rots. 
 
 I determined to conceal from George and Mac that Braga 
 and the police were on the ship, and about every twenty min- 
 utes I would slip down and report "All's well ;" but soon after 
 10 o'clock the enemy were joined by the ticket agent from 
 shore, and I could see they were contemplating some move- 
 ment. Slipping down to the cabin, I said : "Boys, everything is 
 all right; keep perfectly cool. Braga and the police are pull- 
 ing to the ship and may search it; if so, it will take half an 
 hour to get here. I will keep everything in my eye and give 
 you ample notice." I then returned on deck and stood 
 among the officials. They conversed in Portuguese, which 
 was Greek to me; soon the agent dived below and reap- 
 peared with the manifest of the passengers, and an enormous 
 heap of passports. After some conversation they sent the 
 passports back; then, headed by the agent and purser, mani- 
 fest in hand, they began to verify the list and scrutinize the 
 passengers in the staterooms. Once more I hurried below 
 and reported. 
 
 Mac was naturally very dignified, but divesting himself of 
 coat, vest and dignity at the same time, he planted himself 
 under the berth. Very close and very hot quarters he found 
 it, and we put the bags of oranges in front, disposing of them
 
 1S4 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 SO as to make it appear as if they filled the whole space, 
 when in reality they were a mere screen. 
 
 Then we opened the door to the fullest extent. We had 
 taken oflf our coats — it being- frightfully hot — ^and with a bot- 
 tle of claret and a bowl of ice standing on the little wash- 
 stand and two glasses all in full view, we awaited the arrival 
 of our friends, the enemy. 
 
 Our door was flat against the partition, giving a full sweep 
 of the room to the eye of the passerby, and George and I 
 waited confidently for the inspection we knew was inevitable. 
 I sat on the foot of the lower berth, smoking and swinging 
 mv feet. George sat on a folding camp-stool, with his face 
 toward the door, but not obstructing' the view. Soon the 
 procession arrived, with the ticket agent in front. When he 
 saw George he at once recognized him as the Mr. Wilson 
 who had bought the ticket, and he simply said: "How do 
 you do, Mr. Wilson?" and passed on without looking in the 
 room. Braga and the police followed, casually glanced at us 
 two, and were gone. I put on my coat and followed the 
 procession, and at 11.30 they went up on the after deck, evi- 
 dently satisfied that their man was not on the ship, and con- 
 tented themselves with watching new arrivals. I flew down, 
 pave them the good news that the search was over, and poor 
 Mac, half-roastedj came from behind the bags of oranges. 
 Declaring he was roasted alive and dying of thirst, he fin- 
 ished the bottle of iced claret. 
 
 Ten minutes before 12 the bell was rung and all people 
 for shore were warned to leave. Soon we heard the pleas- 
 ant sound of the steam winch lifting the anchor, and at 
 noon precisely, to our relief, the screw began to revolve at 
 quarter speed, and the Ebro to respond by forging slowly 
 ahead. All boats fell ofif but ours and the police boat. At 
 last, after giving a good look up and down the bay, Braga 
 and the police entered the boats, and, casting off, soon were 
 left behind. Once more and for the last time I flew down
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 185 
 
 to the cabin. They saw the good news in my face; then, 
 shaking Mac's hand in hearty farewell, we ran to the upper 
 deck, down the ladder into our boat, and a moment later the 
 big ship, putting on full steam, left us astern, we ordering 
 the boatman to pull hard after the ship. Mac soon appeared 
 on the after deck, and waved his handkerchief to us in fare- 
 well. We gave him three cheers, and, excited and happy, 
 with our long anxiety over, we returned to the shore. 
 
 With ]\Iac sailing northward ho! with Wilson's passport 
 and ticket in his pocket, and all our money save two thou- 
 sand pounds in his trunk, our buccaneering expedition on 
 the Spanish Main w^as over and all but a failure when com- 
 paring the £10,000 we had captured with our magnificent 
 expectations. 
 
 Here was a gigantic and well-conceived scheme which had 
 almost collapsed through trifles, which, to an honest enter- 
 prise would have been light as air, but which to us and to 
 our plans were of crushing force, built up, as all schemes of 
 wrong doing are, on foundations of sand. 
 
 To conclude very briefly the narrative of this expedition, I 
 will here add that the day after Mac's departure, altering his 
 passport to fit George's description, we sailed on the Chim- 
 borazo south to Montevideo. Upon our arrival we, with 
 all other passengers for the town, were promptly put in quar- 
 antine for ten days in a vile little island called in irony the Isle 
 of Flowers; but the mails were fumigated and sent through, 
 as were two additional mails arriving from Europe and Rio. 
 When our quarantine was over we were permitted to enter 
 the city. We found that some advice or rumor had reached 
 there, and we feared to venture our letters of credit for 
 money. So, destroying all documents save our passports, 
 we paid a visit to Buenos Ayres, and then we embarked on a 
 French steamer for Marseilles, arriving there without any 
 particular adventure, and the next day had a happy meeting 
 W'ith Mac in Paris.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 LITTLE FISHES WRIGGLING THROUGH GREEN WAVES. 
 
 Once more together and our adventures since we sepa- 
 rated related, the question arose: What next? 
 
 We determined to abandon our dangerous business, for 
 we had capital sufficient to start in an honest career, and re- 
 solved to do so. For a long time our attention had been 
 turned to Colorado, and we had frequently talked over a 
 project of going to some growing city there, starting a bank 
 and building a wheat elevator and stockyards. Fifty thou- 
 sand dollars would start our bank, and $10,000, with some 
 credit, the elevator and yards. This sum we had, with an ad- 
 ditional $10,000 to pay our way until profit came in from our 
 investments. Here was another great and honorable scheme 
 — one easily carried out had we only gone on with it. What 
 a success we might have made, particularly so when consid- 
 ered in the light of the development of Colorado since 1872 
 and our energy and knowledge of business. 
 
 In Paris we all stopped at the Hotel Mcurice, Rue Rivoli, 
 and spent much time sightseeing. We were particularly 
 interested in viewing the battlefields around Paris — so in- 
 terested, in fact, that we read up the whole history of the 
 mighty struggle with Germany, which ended in throwing 
 France into the dust. We, like most of the world here, got 
 our ideas of the war and the battles from the current news of 
 the flay, as published in the newspapers, and we had a gen- 
 eral idea that the Frenchmen had not made much of a fight. 
 
 aso
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 187 
 
 That conclusion could only be arrived at by a superficial 
 knowledge such as had been ours. Investigation upon the 
 spot and a study of impartial authorities soon opened our 
 eyes to the fact that France only succumbed after a mighty 
 and most heroic struggle. The first few weeks of the war 
 saw her entire regular army captive, and transported pris- 
 oners across the Rhine. That army had made a brave but 
 unfortunate fight. Badly commanded, with the transport 
 and subsistence utterly demoralized, they were no match for 
 the mighty hosts that Germany poured across the Rhine. 
 Perfectly equipped, matchless in discipline since the palmy 
 days of Rome, commanded by the foremost military intellects 
 of the age, they met the French, overmatching them at every 
 point of contact; enveloping their columns with masses of 
 infantr}', or sweeping them with murderous storms of shot 
 and shell, or launching a magnificent cavalry at them, against 
 which French valor — ill directed as it was — proved futile, 
 and that splendid array of 480,000 men had to ground their 
 arms, surrender their colors, and, to their own unspeakable 
 shame and humiliation, become captive to their foes, leaving 
 their beloved France defenseless. But the loss of their 
 army, no more than their thronging foes, dismayed France. 
 The heart of the nation was stirred, and from the Rhine to 
 the Atlantic, from the Channel to the blue Mediterranean, 
 France rose as one man. They saw the entire militar}^ force 
 of Germany encamped on their soil, and in their undiscip- 
 lined valor, hurled themselves against it, and gave to their 
 astounded foes an exhibition of Titanic force and determined 
 valor whose story, when known, will become the admiration 
 of all generations of men. 
 
 It was against the decree of Heaven that France siiould 
 win in the struggle, but she fell only to rise the higher for the 
 fall. The year 1871 saw France in the dust, with tlie armies 
 of her foe encamped over more than half her soil, with rob- 
 ber-like demands for huge sums of gold ere the modern
 
 188 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Goths would march home again. To-day she stands the 
 marvel of the world. Twice the France of 1870, with thu 
 busy hum of industry through all her borders, an overflowing 
 treasury, a contented people and an army and navy which are 
 the awe of Europe. To-day the enemy that flung her to earth 
 twenty-four years ago, seeks safety from her attack in de- 
 fensive alliances with all the nations of the Continent. 
 
 We resolved to see Europe before returning to America, 
 so the next few weeks were spent in a pleasure jaunt. 
 
 In the course of it we visited Vienna, remaining there some 
 time and bringing away many and pleasant memories of that 
 music-loving old city on the Danube. Wc'finally all returned 
 to Wiesbaden together and visited the Casino, watching the 
 play and players with an interest that never flagged. Here 
 we saw such vast sums of money ever changing hands that 
 we almost insensibly began to think the thousands we had 
 were as nothing, and when divided up, the sum coming to 
 each seemed almost beggarly. 
 
 Gradually we began to speculate as to the desirability of 
 doubling our capital once or twice at least, before we threw 
 up our hands and gave up the game. I need hardly tell the 
 reader that what at first was a philosophical speculation, an 
 airy theory of a possibility, rapidly crystallized into steadfast 
 purpose and determinate resolve, and soon our brains were 
 working, and readily brought forth a new scheme. For was 
 not there the Bank of England, with uncounted millions in 
 her vaults, and was not I, as Frederick Albert Warren, a cus- 
 tomer of the bank, and as such were not the vaults of the 
 bank at our disposition? 
 
 We rated our powers high and fondly thought that, speak- 
 ing in a general way, honesty was the best policy, yet in our 
 case there was an exception to the rule. We felt and ac- 
 knowledged we were doing wrong, but since the wrong (ap- 
 parently) profitecl us, we would do wrong that good might 
 come thereby.
 
 VI V THE PRIMROSE WAY, 189 
 
 Finally we resolved to go on with our postponed assault 
 upon the money bags of the Bank of England, at the same 
 time evolving a plan that seemed to promise unbounded 
 wealth and complete immunity for us all. 
 
 So we packed our baggage, bade farewell to Wiesbaden, 
 and one early June morning in 1872 saw us all once more 
 in smoky London, resolved to rouse that Old Lady called 
 the Bank of England from her century-long slumber spent 
 in dreaming of her impregnability. 
 
 In Frankfort there are several firms, Fischer by name, all 
 bankers, and as soon as we determined to return to London, 
 Mac wrote a letter in French to the Bank of England and 
 signed it H. V. Fischer, which, of course, would leave 
 the manager to suppose his correspondent was one 
 of the Fischer bankers. In the letter he said his 
 distinguished customer, ]Mr. F. A. Warren, had writ- 
 ten him from St. Petersburg, requesting him to trans- 
 fer to his account in the Bank of England the small 
 balance remaining to his credit on his (Fischer's) books, 
 therefore he had the honor to inclose bills on London 
 for £13,500, payable to the order of the manager, said sum 
 to be placed to the credit of Mr. F. A. Warren. 
 
 I took this letter to Frankfort, and, having purchased billfi 
 of exchange on London to the amount named, inclosed them 
 and mailed the letter. A day or so after I received a letter 
 at Frankfort from the manager of the bank, acknowledging 
 the receipts of the drafts, and announcing that the proceeds 
 of the same had duly been placed to the credit of F. A. War- 
 ren. So I had over $67,000 to my credit, and had now been 
 a depositor for five months. 
 
 George took up his residence at a private house in the 
 west end of London, while Mac and I went to the Grosvenor 
 Hotel. 
 
 This hotel was one of the very few then in England which 
 were allowed by the aristocrats of London society to be w hat
 
 190 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 thev called highly respectable, that is, exclusive, and, there- 
 fore, a fit dwelling place for their dainty selves. In Dublin 
 there is one of these highly respectable hostels, the Gresham, 
 on Sackville street. This hotel was a type of all of the sort I 
 mention. I once stopped at the Gresham for a week and 
 became one of the "nobility and gentr}" that frequent these 
 hotels. The waiters all wore full-dress suits, faultless in cut 
 and fit, and the chief event in their daily existence, the 
 ser\-ing of the table d'hote, wore white kid gloves. The be- 
 wildering changes of varied colored dishes (I mean crock- 
 ery ware), was something to make one stare. Course num- 
 ber one brought on a soup dish of pale violet color, quite a 
 work of art, but its contents was a watery compound with an 
 artistic name. Course number two consisted of a unique 
 plate, light green in color, with little fishes wriggling through 
 green waves, but bearing on it a small insipid portion of a 
 genuine inhabitant of the deep; and so on, course followed 
 course, each on a different colored plate. If the dinner was 
 intended for an exhibition of crockery, each one of the seven 
 I had there was a success, but, however gratifying to the eye 
 the dinners might be, they were lamentably failures so far as 
 stomach and appetite were concerned; but when I came to 
 pay my bill I found the white kid gloves and the fancy china 
 again; they were all in it, and many more things as well. 
 The bill was more than a foot long, filled with such items as 
 soap, sixpence; one envelope, one penny; one sheet note 
 paper, one penny; bath, two shillings; extra towels and soap 
 for same, sixpence, and so on through the line. 
 
 Wc found the Grosvenor another Gresham. However, as 
 we wantccl to stop at a swell hotel, we concluded — so long as 
 wc were there — to remain ; but after a few days we found the 
 cuisine "highly respectable;" that is, for dinner one could 
 get roast — either beef or mutton. As for vegetables, wt 
 were strictly limited to turnips, cauliflowers, cabbage and
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 191 
 
 potatoes, and, for dessert, the famous apple tart of England, 
 more deadly even than our mince pie. 
 
 The proprietor of a certain popular restaurant in New 
 York has ai fad for hanging elaborately got-up Scripture 
 texts — exhc^rtations mostly — around the walls of his restau- 
 rant. Interspersed with these are advertisements of his eat- 
 ables — also exhortations — such as, "Try our buckwheat 
 cakes, lo cents;" "Try our doughnuts and coffee;" between 
 the two exhortations, a third bidding one flee from the wrath 
 to come; but the most fetching of all are two companion 
 cards. On the one is the legend, "Try our hot mince pic;" 
 on the other is displayed the apropos warning, "Prepare to 
 meet thy God." 
 
 So we resolved to sleep at the Grosvenor, but to avoid the 
 apple tart. We soon discovered a good restaurant near by, 
 where we dined, and, as I am on the subject of dining, I will 
 finish this chapter with a little narrative, the moral of which 
 I will leave my readers to find : We were now settled down in 
 London, prepared to devote all our attention to that Old 
 Lady — The B. of E. — and, in accordance with a habit of ours, 
 we began to look for some safe place^ — hotel, cafe or restau- 
 rant — where we could meet, run in at any time for consulta- 
 tion, or to write notes. Three things were requisite — near- 
 ness to the money centre of the city, a room where we could 
 be secluded from people coming and going, and a proprietor 
 clever enough not to be inquisitive, with a genius for minding 
 his own business. A man who has a genius for that thing 
 always carries it in his face, just as his opposite — the busy- 
 body — carries the traces of his restless inquisitiveness in the 
 face and manner. 
 
 That same day we discovered, in a small street leading off 
 Finsbury, a shop with a sign over the door bearing the 
 legend: "Licensed to sell spirits and caterer." It had canned 
 and potted meats, along with bottles of wine, in the window, 
 but was evidently fast going to seed. We pushed our way
 
 T.>2 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 in and found a bright, fresh-looking young Enghshman, evi- 
 dently a countryman, but intelligent and civil, much like a 
 gamekeeper. \Ve knew at once we had our place and man. 
 
 After some weeks we observed, now and then, a couple of 
 sharp-looking customers hanging about the place. 
 
 V\*e feared being watched, and began to think it time to 
 change, so suddenly ceased calling at mine host's snuggery 
 and took up new quarters in a private house not far away. 
 About two months later I happened to be near and called. 
 He received me warmly, and told me we had saved him from 
 bankruptcy. He had been a gamekeeper on a nobleman's es- 
 tate, and his wife had been a housemaid there. They mar- 
 ried against the wishes of their master, but they had five 
 hundred pounds, and, coming to London, started business 
 on that. Custom was poor, and soon they were at the end of 
 their rope, when, happily for them, we came along and spent 
 money enough in his place to set him on his feet again.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 WITH NO REGRETS, WITH NO TORTURING REMORSE. 
 
 Although I had the very respectable balance of $67,000 at 
 the bank, I had not as yet, since my arrival in London, paid 
 it a visit. This was in pursuance of our plans. So far I 
 had only done business with the supernumeraries, and none 
 of the people at the top had ever even heard of me. But we 
 determined that they should not long remain in ignorance 
 of the great American contractor, F_ A. Warren. 
 
 Three months had elapsed since our departure from Lon- 
 don on our piratical tour to the Spanish Main. In all nearly 
 five months had elapsed since Green had introduced me to 
 the Old Lady whose impregnable vaults we had now at last 
 determined to loot. That in itself was a favorable circum- 
 stance, as it would give me a chance to flourish in a grandly 
 indefinite way to the effect that I had "for some time" been 
 a customer of the bank, and none of the officials would prob 
 ably take the trouble to ascertain how very brief, in fact, my 
 acquaintance had been. 
 
 I left London by the night mail from Victoria Station for 
 Paris, tlie first of many hurried trips I took to the Continent 
 on the business we had entered upon. Truly, we worked 
 hard, spent money lavishly, brought all our power and genius 
 to work — for what? To have the lightning fall on us. 
 
 Upon my arrival I drove at once to the Hotel Bristol, 
 Place \^endome, a swell hotel, where none but the great sirs 
 o' the earth could afford to stop. 
 
 (193)
 
 1J>1 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 Here I registered as F. A. Warren, London, and at oncd 
 sent off the following letter: 
 
 P. M. Francis. Esq., Manager Bank of England, London. 
 
 Dear Sir: I am a customer of the bank, therefore I take 
 the liberty of troubling you in the hope to have the benefit 
 of your advice. 
 
 \\"ill \o\^ kindly inform me what good 4 per cent, stocks 
 are to be had in the market, also if the bank wall transact 
 tlic business for me? I remain very truly yours, 
 
 F. A. WARREN. 
 
 By return mail came a letter wherein I was advised to in- 
 vest in India 4 per cents or London Gas. I wrote an imme- 
 diate order to have the bank purchase ten thousand pounds 
 of India stock and sent my check for that amount, on his 
 own bank, payable to the order of the manager. I received 
 the stock, instantly sold it, and replaced the money to my 
 credit, and the next day sent ofT an order for ten thousand 
 pounds gas stock, and repeated the operation until I had 
 made the impression I wanted to make on the mind of the 
 manager, so that when I returned to London for my decisive 
 interview and sent in my card he w^ould at once recognize 
 the name, F. A. Warren, as the multi-millionaire American 
 who had been sending him ten thousand pound checks from 
 Paris. 
 
 All the time of my stay in France I had nothing to do but 
 enjoy myself, and I entered upon a systematic sightseeing 
 in and around Paris. There are some strange contrasts in 
 that old town. One day I made one of a coaching party to 
 I^jutainebleau, twenty-one miles from the city. Every foot 
 of the road there is classic ground, and I had assiduously 
 studied day by day the history of France. That Paris is 
 France is nearly a truth, and I had in my mind a tolerably 
 clear view of the history of the country and of Ihe men who 
 made its histor}'. I was right there on the scene of the his- 
 tory-making, and I found an intensity of interest in my ex- 
 cursions such as I had never experienced before. The driver
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 195 
 
 of the coach was an EngHshiiian by the name of Nunn. I 
 mention this here, as he eventually became my servant, and 
 will appear again in the narrative. 
 
 To the Parisian hotel proprietor and shopkeeper the Amer- 
 ican visitor is truly a providence. "Mine host" looks to him 
 for loaves and fishes, and is never deceived. The antics of 
 our rich countrymen in Paris are portentous in their amaz- 
 ing- prodigality, and I fear we are the laughing stock of the 
 shopkeepers there. 
 
 At the Cafe Riche and Tortoni's I have seen extravagances 
 in ordering expensive wines and viands by my countrymen 
 that made me regret that the fools who were being served 
 were not forced to toil for the mere necessaries of existence. 
 Certainly they were unworthy stewards of the wealth heaven 
 or the other place had bestowed on them by inheritance. I 
 remember one boy there throwing away in vice and dissipa- 
 tion the fortune his father had through years of a long life 
 spent toilsome hours in accumulating. I sat at a table near 
 him on several occasions, when, after his banquet was half 
 over, he used to reward the waiter with a five-hundred franc 
 note ($ioo), but the proprietor was ever close at hand and 
 would instantly despoil the garcon of his prize. He was 
 companioned by a member of the demi-monde, who, when 
 arrayed in male attire, as she was nightly, would cut up 
 enough monkey tricks in one night at the Valentino or Ma- 
 bille to have made the fortunes of all our comic paper artists 
 had they been on the spot to catch her antics with a kodak 
 and then lay them before an admiring public. 
 
 The fortune this boy had inherited was unfortunately too 
 vast and too well-invested by his overfond and madly fool- 
 ish father for the son to run through it entirely. A very few 
 years left him an imbecile in body and mind, to become the 
 prey of a parcel of sharks who, dressing in purple and fine 
 linen and faring sumptuously every day, held him in a state 
 of abject slavery and fear. One day, aboard his owti yacht,
 
 IIV. FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 off Naples, they married him to a notorious woman. 
 Under the giiardiariship of his wife and her villain para- 
 mour he wandered like a spectre amid the scene of his former 
 riot 
 
 For long at j\Ionte Carlo he lingered like a ghost, and at 
 last died in Florence. The American colony attended his 
 funeral in a body, while his widow, dissolved in tears, refused 
 to be comforted. Akhough many dark stories were whis- 
 pered, the Americans there forgave her all, for her grief and 
 sorrow were so overpoweringly evident that it would have 
 seemed a crime to doubt her tender love for the departed. 
 After having the body embalmed, she embarked with her 
 dead love for America, and to-day his ashes rest in that 
 mighty city of the dead. Greenwood, under a Greek cross of 
 white marble, bearing the date of birth and death. I went 
 to see it last Easter week. The grave was strewn with flow- 
 ers, and the pedestal bears this inscription : 
 
 "Too good for this world, 
 The angels bore him to heavon, 
 Leaving his heartbroken wife 
 To mourn her unspeakable loss." 
 
 Unopposed she succeeded to her husband's estate. It was 
 large then; to-day it has grown to enormous proportions. 
 .She is not, but easily might have been, one of the Four Hun- 
 dred. 
 
 At Saratoga last August I saw her sitting on the balcony 
 of the United States Hotel — fat, wrinkledj^ vulgar-looking, 
 covered with diamonds. Nemesis appears to have postponed 
 her visit to the lady. Her life from her own standpoint has 
 been a tremendous success. She has been philosopher 
 enough to appreciate what an immense factor mere eating 
 and drinking is in the sum of human enjoyment. Born with 
 a cold heart, a constitution of iron, and the digestion of an 
 ostrich, happily for her peace of mind she was absolutely 
 without imagination.
 
 
 4ii-- . . ., 
 
 
 ^r^:..... '^^^:'H-s^^?^sms^: 
 
 ^rrfrfr 
 
 irxj ■ 
 
 
 
 •NOTES WAS SUKROUXDED BY AN ANGRY CKUWD >)V 
 OFF'IflALS."— Page 23<;.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 
 
 199 
 
 To fill the sum of human happiness (from her own stand- 
 point) she only required one other thing, a good bank ac- 
 count, and that, she said, heaven had put in her way, so her 
 life has been filled full of joy, and of the only sort she cared 
 for or could appreciate. In her early years, when her 
 passions were strong, lover and paramour followed in rapid 
 succession. When her blood grew cold she found her de- 
 light in the pleasures of the table, and keeping the same cook, 
 who was an expert, for twenty years, and exercising freely, 
 1894 found her at 60 with a strong pulse, a perfect diges- 
 tion and a keen enjoyment of sport, racing in particular, and, 
 on the whole, enjoying life as well as any woman in the uni- 
 verse, \vith no regrets, no torturing remorse, but with a se- 
 rene faith that when done with this world she — never having 
 done anything very bad lucre — will have a pretty good time 
 in the world to come. 
 12
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 DETAILS NECESSARY, IP TEDIOUS. 
 
 After the events narrated in the last chapter, I returned to 
 London. I arrived early in the morning, and, meeting my 
 companions, we had a long and anxious talk over my near- 
 approaching and all-important interview with that great Sir 
 of the London world, the manager of the Bank of England. 
 Happy for us if in that interview the manager had asked for 
 the customary references, or had used ordinary business pre- 
 caution and investigated me, or, indeed, had acted as any ordi- 
 nary business man would have done under ordinary circum- 
 stances. Our own conclusions were that the fact that I was 
 already a depositor, together with the impression made by 
 the letters and my iio,ooo checks, would put the thing 
 through. Yet we, of course, felt that a thousand things 
 could arise to block our way effectually. A look, a word 
 too much, a shadow, or a smile in my face might ruin all; 
 but still, after providing so far as possible for every contin- 
 gency, after planning what was to be said or left unsaid at 
 the interview, after my companions filling me full of advice, 
 wc felt after all that everything must be left to my discretion, 
 to say and to act as I thought best under the circumstances. 
 This council of war was held in my room in the Grosvenor. 
 I had arrived from Paris at 6 o'clock. Mac and I breakfasted 
 together at 8. George joined us at 9, and we talked until 
 10, then we set out together for the bank. Arriving there, 
 they rcn)ainod outside, watching for my reappearance. En-
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 201 
 
 tering the bank, I sent in my card (F. A. Warren) by a liveried 
 flunkey, and was immediately ushered into the manager's 
 parlor. He has long since gone over to the majority, so 
 here I will not so much as name or describe him. Sufificient 
 to say, that as soon as I set eyes upon him I thought that we 
 would have no particular difficulty in carrying out our plans, 
 save only so far as details went. 
 
 The manager, who had been told that I was a railroad con- 
 tractor, expressed himself highly gratified to have me do my 
 business through the bank, and said they would do all in 
 their power to accommodate me. I told him that, of course, 
 I was financing large sums, and would require more or less 
 discounts before the year was out. Then I came away, and 
 meeting my two friends outside of the bank, in answer to 
 their eager inquiries as to what had transpired, I told them 
 that, so far as the bank officials were concerned, our way to 
 the vaults of the bank was wide open. 
 
 So ended the last scene of Act I. 
 
 The next day I went to the Continental Bank, in Lombard 
 street, and bought sight exchange on Paris for 200,000 francs, 
 paying for it by a check on the Bank of England, I was 
 given a note of identification to the Paris agent of the bank. 
 
 That night I left Victoria Station for Paris. At 10 the next 
 morning I had my money, and, going to the Place de la 
 Bourse, near the Exchange, I commissioned a broker, who 
 was a member of the Exchange, to purchase bills on London 
 for i8,ooo. I cautioned him to buy bills drawn only on well- 
 known banking houses. About 3 o'clock he had the bills 
 ready. I paid him the amount, along with his commission, 
 and, examining the paper, found that he had purchased for 
 me about what I wanted. 
 
 I will explain, for the benefit of any reader not conversant 
 with financial transactions, that if John Russell, cotton broker 
 in Savannah, ships a thousand bales of cotton to a firm in 
 Manchester, England, the firm in Manchester authorizes him
 
 •J><-2 FROM "WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 to tlraw a bill of exchange on their firm, payable at some 
 London bank at three or six months' time, for the value of 
 the cotton. We will say the price is £10,000. Russell draws 
 ten bills for £1,000 each, say payable at the Union Bank of 
 London. He gives these bills to a money broker in Savan- 
 nah, who sells them on the Exchange and gets for them what- 
 ever the rate of exchange may then be on London. The 
 president of the Georgia Central Railroad may liave ordered 
 a thousand tons of steel rail in England for his road, and to 
 pay for them he orders a broker to buy for him bills on Lon- 
 don to the amount of the cost of the rails. He purchases 
 the Russell bills, and these bills of exchange he sends in pay- 
 ment to the steel rail manufacturers in England, so, as a mat- 
 ter of fact, the president of the Georgia Central pays Russell 
 for his thousand bales of cotton, but has the bills of ex- 
 change. So, in place of £10,000 in gold being freighted 
 twice across the ocean, the ten pieces of paper cross only 
 once. These ten bills for £1,000 each, drawn on the Union 
 Bank of London at six months, in due time are presented, 
 duly accepted and paid at maturit}' b}^ the bank. 
 
 Instead of commercial notes or bills they are now known 
 as acceptances, and are just as good as a bank note. There- 
 fore, if the owner — no matter who it is — wants the money at 
 once, any bank will discount all or either for the face value 
 less the interest. In every commercial centre of the world 
 these accepted bills are being discounted by banks and mon- 
 eyed cfjrporations for enormous sums, but by no bank in the 
 world in such huge amounts as by the Bank of England. 
 Their daily discounts run into the millions. 
 
 What our plan was will be made clear later. 
 
 The evening of the day of my arrival in Paris found me on 
 the express speeding to Paris. Two hours past midnight I 
 was on the miserable little passenger steamer that plies across 
 the chopping channel, and which I suppose has seen more 
 of human misery than all the fleets that sail the Atlantic, for
 
 (203)
 
 204 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 the channel has stronger counter currents, and wind, tide 
 and currents seem ever to be in violent opposition, and here 
 
 "E'er across the main doth float 
 
 A sad and solemn swell, 
 The wild, fantastic, fitful note 
 
 Of Triton's breathing shell." 
 
 And Triton (old Neptune's t'other name) makes all passers 
 over this part of his realm pay ample tribute for "his fan- 
 tastic, fitful notes." 
 
 The Paris night express lands one at early dawn in Lon- 
 don, nearly always weak on the legs, however. I l)rcak- 
 fasted with !Mac, and after that took the bills to the various 
 banks on which they were drawn, and leaving them for theii 
 acceptance, I called again the next day and received them 
 hack, bearing across the face, the magic words: 
 
 "London, Aug. 14, 1872. 
 "Accepted for the Union Bank of London. 
 
 "E. Barclay, Manager. 
 '■J- W'ayland, Assistant Manager." 
 
 Then I hurried to the Grosvenor, and we all looked at 
 them with curiosity, for it was upon the imitation of just such 
 acceptances that our whole plan was based. I intended to 
 present this and many more batches of genuine bills for dis- 
 count at the bank until the officials should become accus- 
 tomed to discounting for me. In the mean time, as fast as 
 I got genuine acceptances and bills, we kept on making 
 imitations of them for future use, only leaving out the date 
 until such time as we should be ready to put them in for dis- 
 count. Of course, the success or failure of our whole plan 
 turned upon this point. Is it the custom of the Bank of 
 England (in 1873) to send acceptances offered for discount 
 to the acceptors for verification of signatures? 
 
 This is always done in America, and had this ver}^ requis- 
 ite precaution been used by the Bank of England our plan
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 205 
 
 would have been fruitless and we should have been a few 
 thousands out of pocket; but, if not, then we could throw 
 into the hopper enough acceptances of home manufacture 
 so that through the red tape routine of the bank millions of 
 sovereigns would be ground out into our pockets. 
 
 Taking my deposit book and the genuine bills, I went to 
 the bank and left the bills for discount. This was at once 
 done and the amount placed to my credit. I drew iio.ooo, 
 and that night found me once more one of 500 unfortu- 
 nates paymg tribute to Neptune. This time I landed at Os- 
 tend and took the train for Amsterdam. There I repeated 
 the Paris operation, securing i 10,000 in genuine bills. I 
 leturned to London, and as before left them for acceptance. 
 Then my companion manufactured a lot of imitations and 
 put them away with those previously manufactured, to be 
 all ready when the day came to use them. The genuine bills 
 were then discounted. Again and again I went to the Con- 
 tinent, repeating the operation, until at last my credit at the 
 bank was firm as a rock, and we were ready to reap our har- 
 vest. But these operations, simple as they seem, lasted over 
 a period of six months, and had been made at heavy cost. 
 Our ordinary living expenses were not less than $25 a day 
 for the three, while our extraordinary expenses were enor- 
 mous. I probably traveled 10,000 miles over the Continent 
 in my bill-buying expeditions to Paris, Amsterdam, Frank- 
 fort and Vienna. 
 
 Another source of expense was the commissions paid to 
 brokers for buying bills on the exchange. Then we had 
 many expenses purely personal, and, enormous as it seems, 
 the sum total from the day of our return from Brazil until 
 the day of our operations against the bank began to bring 
 us in cash were quite $500 a week, so that we had invested 
 $15,000 in preparation, not to speak of our hard work — and 
 it was hard work, and trying, too, for there were. a multitude 
 of details to be worked out.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE EGYTTIANS PASS OVER THE RED SEA AND THE 
 HEBREWS ARE DROWNED THEREIN. 
 
 All the details of events leading through the long Summer 
 and Autumn days of 1872 up to the hour when the golden 
 shower began to fall on us are of intense, almost dramatic, 
 interest. I will not, however, lengthen the narrative by giv- 
 ing here any further account of them, but will merely relate 
 the story of the last five days before the actual presentation 
 of our home-brewed acceptances. 
 
 The bank had been discounting for weeks comparatively 
 large sums for me. Many thousand pounds of the genuine 
 article discounted had matured and been paid, and more 
 thousands were still in the vaults, awaiting maturity, and 
 would fall due, while our home-manufactured l:)ills would be 
 laid away in the vaults, there to remain for four or five 
 months until due. Of course a full month or two months 
 before that we could pack our baggage and be on the other 
 .side of the world; I on some hacienda in Mexico, George 
 and Mac at some fashionable resort in Florida. Thev 
 soon to knock at the gates of the Four Hundred, I to spend 
 a year or two in Mexico, playing "grand senor," until, under 
 the skillful management of our friends, Irving, .Stanley an 1 
 White, at Police Headquarters in New York, the affair had 
 blown over, and they invited me to return. 
 
 But, as the sequel will show, the reality took on a different 
 complexion from the ideal. 
 (200)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 207 
 
 My credit at the bank was solid as a rock. That means I 
 had gone through the red-tape routine. It only behooved 
 us to use circumspection enough to avoid making mistakes 
 in our papers, and fortune was ours. I knew everything 
 was all right, but George, being a thorough business man 
 himself, could not comprehend that it could be quite right, 
 and he insisted upon one supreme test. Any single bill of 
 exchange is seldom drawn for more than £i,ooo, rarely 
 for £2,000, and one of £6,000 is almost unheard of. If a 
 party in Bombay wanted exchange on London for £100,000, 
 his broker wouldl probably furnish him with one hundred 
 bills for £1,000 each. But George had made up his mind 
 that as a test, and to make an impression upon the bank man- 
 ager, I should go to Paris and get a bill on London from 
 Rothschilds drawn to the order of F. A. Warren direct. 
 Could this be done it would, of course, make it appear that I 
 had intimate relations with the Rothschilds, and as a minor 
 consideration we could use the Rohschild acceptance — a 
 pretty nervy thing to do, as Sir Anthony de Rothschild, the 
 head of the London house, whose name we proposed to 
 offer, was a director of the Bank of England, and would have 
 to pass his own paper for discount — that is, paper bearing 
 his name, manufactured by ourselves. 
 
 We tried to talk George out of this_ notion, which Mac 
 and I regarded as a freak, unnecessary in the first place, and 
 impossible anyhow. But he was persistent, and I had to 
 start out and try. I expected an expense of $1,000 and a de- 
 lay of two weeks, but fortune or the devil favored us. So, 
 purchasing at the exchange broker's in London 200,000 
 francs in French paper money, once more I left Victoria 
 Station for Paris. Once more, an unwilling victim, I heard 
 the "wild, fantastic, fitful note of Triton's breathing shell." 
 At Calais I took my place in what the French call a coupe; 
 that is, the end compartment on a car, which, by paying ten 
 francs extra, you can occupy alone. It is unlike the
 
 20S FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 otlicr conipartinents in that there are no arms dividing' it 
 into seats; so one can lie full length on the cushion. 
 
 Before this night I speak of I had cherished a theory as 
 to what I should do in the event of an accident happening 
 to any train whereon I was a passenger. In such a case I 
 proposed to catch on to some object and hold on, leaving 
 niy body and limbs to swing freely. ]\Iy theory ever since 
 that night has been that T will go just wherever the breaking 
 timbers and flying furniture send me. I had fallen into a 
 sound sleep before the train started, and was aroused from 
 it to find myself hurled about the compartment much as a 
 stout boy would shake a mouse in a cage, and quite as help- 
 less. 
 
 Our train was off the track. IMy carriage was near the en- 
 gine, and the momentum of the long train forced the car in 
 the rear of mine up on end, and it appeared as if it would 
 fall over and crush me. I thought my hour had come, and 
 I cried out, "At last!" There was no fear or terror in it, 
 but merely the thought that after many months of almost 
 incessant travel, and necessarily of peril, "at last" my fate 
 had come. It had not. How good heaven would have been 
 if it had sent me to my doom then and there! 
 
 The accident had occurred at IMarquise, a small town 
 sixteen miles from Calais and four from Boulogne, the first 
 stopping place of the express. ' It was a very long train, 
 but the carriages were all empty except two. A heavy ex- 
 cursion train had left Paris, and the cars were going back 
 empty. What lessened the number of passengers was the 
 fact that it was Sunday night. The English do not travel on 
 .Sundays as a rule. So, fortunately, a great loss of life was 
 prevented. However, two were killed and half of the re- 
 maining passengers injured. i\Iy own injuries were slight 
 and consisted of trifling cuts on the face and hands from fly- 
 ing glass. But, far worse than that, T had received a nerv- 
 ous shock, which took some weeks to wear ofT, and during
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 209 
 
 the rest of my journey to Paris and return to London I was 
 as nervous as a timid woman. I stayed at Marquise until 
 noon, when the express passing at that hour made a special 
 stop to pick me up. 
 
 In our glorious and free country the killing or mangling 
 of a few persons more or less is of no particular concern to 
 any one beyond the friends of the victims, least of all to the 
 railway magnate or to his servant. But in France an acci- 
 dent which results even in the wounding of a passenger is 
 a very serious matter to the road where it occurs and to its 
 ofificials. They always hasten to take the fullest responsi- 
 bility, and if attention or the more solid matter — cash — can 
 comfort the sufferer, he will have no occasion to mourn long. 
 If one life be lost — even a servant of the road — a strict ju- 
 dicial inquiry takes place upon the scene of the accident, by 
 a high official of the State, advised by experts, not as in this 
 country, by some drunken country loafer or ward heeler, 
 who, all ignorant of the law, has been "elected" county cor- 
 oner, and one who is more anxious to procure free passes 
 on the road than he is concerned for the victim murdered 
 by the neglect or parsimony of inefficient railway officials. 
 
 The road from Paris to Calais is known as the Chemin 
 de Fer du Nord, and Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, head 
 of the Paris Rothschilds, is the president of the road. This 
 fact occurred to me wdthin a few minutes of the accident, and 
 I thought I might make use of the affair as a means to help 
 me in my business at Paris. I arrived about dark, w'ent to the 
 Grand Hotel, and to bed at once. My nerves were so shaken 
 that I was timid, even when in the elevator, but I slept well 
 and awoke at daylight feeling better. 
 
 At lo o'clock, limping badly and leaning on a cane, I en- 
 tered a carriage and drove to the Maison Rothschild, Rue 
 Lafitte. The banking house might w-ell be called a palace. 
 The various offices open upon a courtyard, while the whole 
 architecture of the building would suggest the residence of
 
 210 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 an officer of State or nobleman rather than a building de- 
 votetl to finance. But the currents which centre there are 
 potent and far-reaching, and come richly laden with tribute 
 from the four quarters of the w'orld. To win that tribute 
 slaves toil, and, toiling, die, in Brazilian diamond mines, and 
 thousands of coolies, entrapped by agents in China and In- 
 dia, enter into perfidious contracts which commit them to 
 hopeless slavery and send them to wear out their lives in 
 despairing toil amid the pungent and murderous ammonia- 
 cal fumes of the guano islands of Chili and Peru. The 
 Rothschilds, too, own the Almaden quicksilver mine and 
 others. 
 
 They control the quicksilver industries of the world, and 
 to swell their abnormal hoard, portentous in its vastness, 
 other poor wretches, condemned under form of law, are 
 doomed to days of wearing toil, and, their bones rotting from 
 quicksilver absorption, to nights of racking pains. So, too, 
 far Siberia contributes its quota of human misery that the 
 golden stream of interest on centur}--old loans may have no 
 interruption, but pour on unceasingly into the vaults of the 
 Rothschilds. 
 
 Alighting from the carriage and mounting the steps with 
 difficulty, I entered the English Department, and, seating 
 myself, awaited the manager's presence. He came, and ex- 
 pressing great concern when he learned I was a victim of 
 the Marquise disaster, asked what he could do for me. I 
 replied I wanted to see the Baron. He disappeared into a 
 range of offices, and no doubt told Baron Alphonse I was 
 some important personage, doubly important because in- 
 jured on his road. 
 
 Soon a slight, sallow man of about 43 appeared, wearing 
 an old-fashioned stovepipe hat and a shabby suit of snuff- 
 colorcd garments. The look of the attendants testified that 
 the deity was before me. Taking ofif his antiquated chapeau 
 he began a profuse apology for the accident, explaining
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 211 
 
 that accidents were most unusual events in France; that he 
 would order his own physician to attend me, that I should 
 have every attention without the slightest charge or expense 
 to myself, etc., etc., and ended by saying I was to command 
 him if he could serve me. In return I told him since he was 
 so distressed over the accident and my plight, I should say no 
 more about either, but as I was too badly shaken to complete 
 the business on which I had come to Paris I should request 
 him to instruct his subordinates to aid me in transmitting 
 the funds I had brought from London back again. He 
 called the manager and told him to accommodate me in any- 
 thing, then shaking hands and with many expressions of re- 
 gret, he withdrew. 
 
 I told the manager I wanted a three months' bill on Lon- 
 don for i6,ooo. He informed me that the house of Roth- 
 schild was not issuing time bills, but since the Baron's order 
 suspended the rule in my case, he would procure me six bills 
 for £i,ooo each. These really were just as good for our 
 purpose as one bill for i6,ooo, but I had come to Paris on 
 George's demand that I should procure one bill for this un- 
 usual amount, so perforce I had to say "No," that I wanted 
 one bill only. 
 
 The manager began to remonstrate, saying it was unusual, 
 and wanted to explain the nature of a bill of exchange, but 
 I cut him short, bidding him recall the Baron at once. The 
 thought of recalling that Jupiter to repeat an order was 
 enough to send a thrill through the entire stafif, and he in- 
 stantly said: "Oh, sir, if you wish the i6,ooo in one bill, you 
 shall have it, but it will involve some delay." So paying 
 him 150,000 francs on account, I ordered the bill sent to me 
 at 2 o'clock precisely at the Grand Hotel, and drove of¥ to 
 the Louvre, where I spent two hours in the picture galleries. 
 At 2 o'clock I was at the hotel, and an attendant came with 
 the bill, and, pointing to a signature on it, informed me it 
 was that of a Cabinet Minister, equivalent to our Secretary
 
 :ij 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 of the Treasury, certifying that the tax due the government 
 on the bill was paid. He explained the revenue stamp re- 
 quired upon a bill of exchange was on-eighth of i per cent 
 of the face of the bill, making the tax on my single bill 187 
 francs, or about ^27- ^^^^ ^^^^^ are stamped in a registering 
 machine, which presses the stamp into the paper; but there 
 were no registering machines for a stamp of so high a de- 
 nomination as 187 francs either in the branch revenue office 
 in the Rothschild bank or at the Treasury, so the Baron had 
 taken the bill to the Treasur>^ himself and got the Cabinet 
 Minister to put his autograph on it — probably the first and 
 only time in history that such a thing had been done. I 
 wanted very much indeed to keep that bill as a curiosity, but 
 then the necessity of the time was on me, and I was not then 
 a collector of curios. 
 
 I had been only eighteen hours in Paris, and by a happy 
 fluke the business was done over which I had counted upon 
 spending a good part of the month. 
 
 When I left London I was all at sea as to how I should 
 earn.' out the objects of my visit to Paris. One plan was to 
 procure an interview by strategy with the Baron Alphonse 
 and try to cajole him, but without reference, and devoid of 
 all business relations or acquaintance in Paris, it was at best 
 a questionable expedient, and I probably would have had a 
 take-down. But the accident at Marquise came and 
 smoothed the apparently insuperable difficulties in my way. 
 But I have found that something unusual does come to help 
 a man on his way to the devil when he is anxious to get 
 there, which he is pretty sure to do, if he is only diligent and 
 careful to improve his opportunities. 
 
 What diligence and strict attention to business do men 
 exhibit when they start out to wreck their own lives and 
 break the hearts of those near to them ! In a play by a mod- 
 ern writer, one scene presents Satan flying at midnight over 
 one of our cities, while the drunken son^s and joyous shouts
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 
 
 213 
 
 of some gilded revelers rise in the night. The merry songs 
 and laughter are music to the ears of Lucifer. He pauses 
 in his flight to listen, and as the songs and shouts increase 
 in volume he looks down on the revelers and with a bitter 
 sneer soliloquizes thus of them: 
 
 "Ye are my bondsmen and my thralls, 
 Your lives I fill with bitter pain." 
 
 And that sums it up pretty well ; but we must look straight 
 away from the entrance of the Primrose Way to the exit. 
 
 Well, I had successfully played my trump card on the 
 Rothschilds, and, not seeing the end, thought I had won, 
 and cleverly won; so before sitting down to dinner I went 
 to the telegraph of^ce and telegraphed to my partners: 
 
 "The Egyptians all passed over the Red Sea. But the 
 Hebrews are drowned therein." 
 
 Thinking this rather witty, I went to dinner well satis- 
 fied. An hour past midnight the moon looked from behind 
 a cloud and saw me, one of many miserables, leaning over 
 the bulwark of that wretched Dover steamer, again paying 
 tribute to Neptune.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 "ACCEPTED. LIONEL. ROTHSCHILD." 
 
 ^^'hcn George and Mac received my telegram they, know- 
 ing the difficuhies of my mission, deemed it incredible that I 
 had succeeded within a day, so when my telegram came they 
 thought I was attempting some jest. Upon my arrival in 
 London, walking into Mac's room — he being still in bed — 
 I announced that I had in my pocket Rothschild's bill for 
 £6,000, drawn on the' London house. He flatly refused to 
 believe me, but when he, and later George, saw the bill, they 
 were forced to believe. I at once took it down to St. Switli- 
 in's lane, and, leaving it for acceptance, called the next day, 
 when I found scrawled across it in thin, pale ink the mystic 
 words "Accepted. Lionel Rothschild." 
 
 The bill itself was drawn on cheap, blue paper, on the 
 same fonn as the blank bills to be had at the Paris station- 
 ers', where I had bought some. From Rothschilds' I went 
 direct to the hotel where we had our rendezvous, and the ac- 
 ceptance was so simple and easy that Mac had it copied on 
 another bill in ten minutes. The business methods of the 
 bank were so loose that there was no necessity for imitating 
 signatures, but as a precaution this was done to some extent. 
 I then proceeded to the Bank of England for my last per- 
 sonal interview with the manager. I must halt here for a 
 brief space in the narrative, in order to enlighten my reader 
 upon some new developments, also to introduce the new 
 member we at this time brought into our firm. 
 (214)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 217 
 
 There was a friend, a very old friend, of mine residing in 
 Hartford, Edwin Noyes by name. We had known each 
 other from our schoolboy days, and there was a warm friend- 
 ship between us. Our paths in life had been wide apart, 
 but we maintained a frequent correspondence and often met. 
 He knew nothing of my primrose life, but supposed, of 
 course, from the style of my living that I was the possessor 
 of a handsome income from my business, which lay, as he 
 imagined, in that mysterious precinct known as "The Street," 
 which, of course, meant Wall street, and that my business was 
 speculating in stocks. 
 
 He was a trifle older than myself, of a steady, reserved 
 nature, and a discreet and safe friend. This was the new 
 member of our firm. How he came to be so I must explain. 
 Up to this time, as the reader will have noticed, I was the 
 only one of the party known at the bank, and, of course, was 
 the only one who seemed to be taking any risk. Even in 
 the event of discovery it would apparently be necessary for 
 me only to take flight. George and Mac, not being known 
 in connection with the fraud, could remain in London until 
 such time as they chose to go home. To make matters ab- 
 solutely safe for me as well we got up this scheme. 
 
 I told the manager of the bank that I had bought an im- 
 mense plant and shops in Birmingham to manufacture rail- 
 way material, and that I should be there superintending the 
 work a good deal; therefore I might occasionally send any 
 bills I had for discount from there by mail. I had sent two 
 or three lots of the genuine bills in that way. If I could send 
 the imitation bills the same way, Mac and George could 
 carry on the business through the mail in my name and I 
 could be at the other side of the world while the actual oper- 
 ation was going on, so that, far from my ever being proved 
 guilty, there would be proof of my innocence, for how could 
 I be guilty of a crime committed in England at the very 
 
 time I was on a pleasure jaunt in the West Indies and Mex- 
 13
 
 1!18 FliOM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 ico? Thus it was arranged. Mac and George could do 
 cverA-thing" and remain in the background themselves, pro- 
 vitlcd wo had a safe man whom I could introduce at the 
 bank as my clerk or messenger, also to represent me in dif- 
 ferent places where I could introduce him as my messenger 
 before I left England. 
 
 The reader will see the extreme artfulness of the plot, but 
 in all wrongdoing there is sooner or later a slip up. Be the 
 plot ever so artful, or however safe the wrongdoing may ap- 
 pear, the unforeseen something will happen. 
 
 Of course, Mac and George not being known at the bank 
 need not care, but it might easily be serious for me. 
 
 When the explosion came, fifty people in and about the 
 bank would remember my face. But if I brought Noyes 
 on the scene to act as my clerk I need only introduce him 
 to the paying teller of the bank, and to Jay Cooke & Co., 
 the American banking house, where I proposed to buy 
 enormous quantities of United States bonds, paying for 
 them in checks on the Bank of England. Of course, the 
 bonds being all bearer bonds, would, with our knowledge 
 of finance, be as good as so much cash. 
 
 So, knowing Noyes, if he would embark in the enter- 
 prise, had plenty of nerve and could never be bribed or 
 bought into betraying us should he by any failure of our 
 plans happen to be arrested, we determined to send for him. 
 A short time before we arrived at this conclusion I had sent 
 this precautionary letter to him: 
 
 "Grosvenor Hotel, 
 "London, Nov. 8, 1872. 
 "My Dear Noyes: You will be surprised to hear from me 
 from Lf>ndon, but the fact is I have been here with George 
 and a frienfl of ours for a year, and have made a lot of money 
 from several speculations we have embarked in. In fact, 
 we have been so successful that we have determined to make 
 you a present of a thousand dollars, which find inclosed. 
 Please accept the same with our best wishes.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 219 
 
 "We may be able to give you a chance to make a few 
 thousands, if you would care to venture across the ocean. 
 Perhaps we can make use of you. If so, I will send you a 
 cable. If I do, come any way, as we will pay all your ex- 
 penses should you determine not to go in' with us on the 
 deal. Be cautious and preserve absolute secrecy when you 
 leave home as to your destination. Will explain the reason 
 for this when we meet. Keep your weather eye open for the 
 cable. It may come any hour after you have this. 
 
 "Hoping you are quite well, I remain," etc., etc. 
 
 A few days later we sent him this cable (it was afterward 
 produced in court in evidence against him): "Edwin Noyes, 
 New York. Come by Atlantic on Wednesday; wire on ar- 
 rival at Liverpool; meet at Langham." 
 
 He arrived ten days later, and at a little dinner given in his 
 honor we told him our plot. He was astounded, and for the 
 remainder of the dinner, and for the day, too, for the matter 
 of that, he acted like a man in a dream, and we three were 
 amazed that he did not instantly fall into our plan. 
 
 Here was the dramatic representation of the poisonous 
 effect of wrongdoing. We three had by degrees become 
 accustomed to look upon a fraud committed by ourselves 
 with equanimity. I say by degrees. Insensibly we had 
 been sinking deeper and deeper, until, our moral senses 
 blunted, we found excuses to our own consciences. But 
 here was my companion and friend ; he was no Puritan, but, 
 like ourselves but a few brief months before, regarded crime 
 with detestation, and now, when the men he trusted proposed 
 he should become a party to a crime, his mind revolted in 
 horror. Well for him had he yielded to the prompting of 
 his own conscience and fled from us and the fearful tempta- 
 tion of sudden wealth. At last he said he would consider 
 it. After a day or two of silence he began to question us as 
 to our mode of operation, then his mind became more and 
 more familiarized to the thought, until at last, fascinated by 
 our association, he acquiesced, saying: "I will do it. I want
 
 l.-.1> FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 money badly. The Bank of England, after all, will not miss 
 it. So I'll go in for this once." 
 
 By our direction he went to an obscure hotel in Manches- 
 ter square, and then purchased clothes more suitable for his 
 new position than the fashionable tailor-cut suit he wore 
 from Xew York. 
 
 On several occasions I had gone to Jay Cooke & Co. in 
 Lombard street and purchased bonds under the name of F. 
 A. Warren and giving checks in payment upon the Bank 
 of England. So one day I went there with Noyes and pur- 
 chased $20,000 in bonds, giving my check for them. I then 
 introduced Noyes as my clerk, directing them to deliver 
 any bonds I bought to him at any time. The next day he 
 called and they gave him the bonds which I had given my 
 check for the day before, so there was no necessity any 
 longer for me to come in person to make purchases. Noyes 
 could appear there any day, give an order for bonds, secure 
 a bill for them, and in half an hour bring a Warren check 
 for the amount of the bill, pretending, of course, that he had 
 got it from me, but really getting it from Mac, leaving the 
 check for collection and to call the next day for the bonds. 
 
 The .same day that T introduced him to Jay Cooke & Co. 
 I took him to the Bank of England at a busy time of day, 
 and while drawing £2,000, I casually introduced lnim to the 
 paying teller as my clerk, requesting the teller to pay him 
 any checks I sent. Then for the next few days I had Noyes 
 take checks to the bank and had him order tw^o or three small 
 lots of bonds from Jay Cooke & Co., so that they became 
 familiarized with seeing him come on my business. 
 
 The plan was complete at last. Everything was ready 
 to carry out our scheme in perfect safety to all, and, as re- 
 lated in the l)eginning of the chapter, I was now on my v\ray 
 to the bank for my last visit, with the Rothschild bill in my 
 hand. Many accounts were given of this famous interview 
 in tiic English press just after the discovery of the fraud and
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 221 
 
 prior to my arrest, also when the details transpired at the 
 trial. The facts were simply these: I presented myself at the 
 bank, and, sending in my card to the manager, was ushered 
 at once into his parlor. After a few remarks upon the 
 money and stock market, I produced the bill, remarking that 
 I had a curiosity to show him which had been sent me by a 
 correspondent in Paris. It was certainly a curiosity; it was 
 a thing entirely unknown in the history of the bank to have 
 a bill of exchange bearing the signature of a Cabinet Min- 
 ister certifying that the internal revenue tax had been paid 
 on it. This, along with the circumstance that the bill was 
 made payable to myself, evidently made considerable im- 
 pression on the manager and confirmed him in his good 
 opinion of his customer. The unusual features of this bill 
 of exchange led him to relate some of the inner events of the 
 bank's history, during which I asked him what precaution 
 the bank took against forgery. He told me a forgery on 
 the bank was impossible. But I asked: "Why impossible? 
 Other banks get hit sometimes, and why not the Bank of 
 England?" To that question he gave a long reply, ending 
 with the assertion that "our wise forefathers have bequeathed 
 us a system which is perfect." "Do you wish me to under- 
 stand you have not changed your system since your fore- 
 fathers' time?" I said. To which he emphatically replied: 
 "Not in the slightest particular for a hundred years." In 
 conclusion I told him I should be fully occupied looking 
 after my different business interests, but w'ould give him a 
 call if I found time. I also said I would have the bill dis- 
 counted and take the cash away with me, instead of having 
 it placed to my credit. He called an attendant, gave the 
 necessary order, and the cash was handed me. Bidding the 
 manager good-bye, I repaired to our meeting place and 
 showed the notes for the discounted bill. Even George was 
 satisfied that my credit at the bank was good for any amount 
 of discounts on any sort of paper.
 
 222 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Eventhing now was ready for my departure from Eng- 
 land. For some weeks my partners had been busy prepar- 
 ing:: for tlic completion of the operation. 
 
 The first lot of bogus bills were ready to go into the mail 
 at llirmingham as soon as I was out of the way — it having 
 been decided that I should then be out of the country. So 
 one Monday late in November I packed my baggage, and, 
 after manv warm hand sliakings, I bade my friends adieu. 
 We hail had many talks about the happy future. We had 
 planned pleasant things in the future, and spoken confidently 
 of our four-in-hands, our Summer cottages at Saratoga and 
 Newport, of our town house, fine suppers and our boxes at 
 the opera. After that I saw them for a brief hour on the 
 coast of France and once more said adieu. When we met 
 again it was in Newgate. I need hardly say that for the 
 next twenty years we had no boxes at the grand opera, no 
 four-in-hands, nor yet any fine suppers, but all that which 
 was merely external passed away, consumed in that fierce 
 flame, but all that was manly and true remained ; that is, our 
 devotion and courage and our high resolve to conquer 
 fate and live for better things. 
 
 Before leaving London we had squared up our cash ac- 
 count. It was something to make one stare to see how our 
 money had melted away. It was arranged to send in the 
 first lot of bogus bills on Thursday, giving me two full days 
 out of the country. Here I made a fatal mistake in deter- 
 mining to go to the West Indies, then on to Mexico. As 
 George had planned I should have gone at once to New 
 York, stopped at the best hotel in the city and registered in 
 my right name. By taking this course I should have been 
 safe and could have laughed at any attempt of the bank au- 
 thorities to extradite me, for the first lot of bogus bills could 
 have been held back until I had actually arrived in Ameri- 
 ca. Then there could not have been found a single particle 
 of evidence against me.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 223 
 
 I say "if I had come to New York." But there is some 
 mysterious spell over men embarked in crime that blinds 
 their eyes to the plainest dictates of common sense or pru- 
 dence. This has been proved in a thousand dramatic in- 
 stances, but never more forcibly than in our own. It would 
 seem as if clever, daring men do almost impossible thing's 
 with ease, but there is a Nemesis which blinds them to trifles, 
 fatal if overlooked, causing them to make mistakes of which 
 a schoolboy would be ashamed. 
 
 When we first got our combination together I thought 
 we had found a short cut to fortune, and never doubted of 
 our success to the very end, and amid many mishaps, that 
 either crippled or ruined our schemes and lengthened this 
 short cut to fortune, I maintained my confidence until on that 
 day down in blazing Rio, when the letter "c" in lieu of the 
 *V in indorse came to the front to crumble our "sure thing" 
 into ruin. I remember that in the stupefaction which for a 
 few minutes settled down on us, I felt we were really fight- 
 ing against fate. A fate that like the fiat of Deity says 
 "Thou shalt not," to all wrongdoing. 
 
 For some time after that "indorce" takedown a feeling 
 took possession of me that such short cuts to fortune were 
 risky, and that if success did come the success would in the 
 end prove a failure. But there is so much in companion- 
 ship and such magnetism in human association that when 
 we all three met in Paris and went in and out together^ then, 
 under the stimulus of our union, I forgot all my foi'ebodings 
 and began to think the unforeseen fatal sometiiing would 
 not happen, and that Vv'e could conquer fortune whether she 
 would or no, and by any method on which we chose to enter. 
 But, as will be seen in the sequel, when reveling in an un- 
 heard-of success, literally loaded down with wealth, Nemesis 
 appeared and by means even more simple than our error 
 in Rio stripped us of our wealth and dignity and left us 
 naked to every stomi that blew.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 SHOWERS OF GOLD PALL— AND THEN? 
 
 I shall try and condense into a single chapter the narra- 
 tive of events in London from the time of my departure 
 imtil the day, some months later, when our scheme exploded 
 and all took to flight when Noyes was arrested. 
 
 Our expenses had been so enormous that we were anxious 
 to make enough to recoup them, so it had been agreed that 
 the first batch of bogus bills should not exceed the amount 
 paid out since leaving Rio. 
 
 I left for Paris on Monday. On Wednesday, Noyes went 
 to the bank and drew out all the money to my credit, except 
 three hundred pounds. The same day he went to Birming- 
 ham and mailed lot number one of home-manufacture bills 
 representing £8,000. 
 
 The next twenty-four hours was an anxious time for my 
 friends. The bills would be delivered by the early mail on 
 Thursday, and if all went right the proceeds would be 
 placed to my credit by 12 o'clock, and the bills themselves 
 would be.stowed away in the vaults until they were due some 
 months ahead. George and Mac waited with the greatest 
 anxiety until 2 o'clock. They had ever}^thing packed for 
 instant flight, when at that hour they sallied out of Mac's 
 lorlgiiig and started for the bank to make the test. They 
 had filled out two Warren checks, one for £2,300 payable to 
 Warren, another for £4 los., payable to bearer. 
 
 Noyes went on ahead, the others following, and took his 
 stand on the steps of a hotel in a side street not far from the
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 225 
 
 bank. Keeping his eye out for a suitable appearing party 
 he finally stopped a uniformed messenger, and, telling him to 
 take the £4 los. check to the bank, bring the money to him 
 there, and he would be paid for his trouble. 
 
 Of course, as soon as the messenger had turned his back 
 Noyes bolted around the corner to a place agreed upon, 
 while ]Mac followed the messenger to the bank and saw he 
 was paid without question. He gave the prearranged signal 
 to George, who went with all haste to notify Noyes, and 
 when the messenger arrived with the cash, he found him- 
 standing on the steps as cool and unconcerned as possible. 
 Paying the messenger, all three started to the bank, Mac on 
 the way giving Noyes the £2,300 check, which he presented. 
 Nodding good day to the cashier he asked for £2,000 in gold 
 and the remainder in notes, which were handed him at once, 
 and three very happy men sat down that evening to dinner, 
 because the day's operations had conclusively proved that 
 the Bank of England methods were fallible. 
 
 The next morning Noyes went to Jay Cooke & Co. and 
 ordered $75,000 in United States bonds, giving a check for 
 them on the bank. The same afternoon he went to Birming- 
 ham and mailed another letter, this one containing £15,000 
 in bills, and later drew £2,000 in gold from the bank. On 
 Monday he went after the bonds, and the $75,000 was hand- 
 ed over to him without cjuestions. The whole operation 
 was a repetition of these tactics, but with an ever-increasing 
 volume in the amounts of the bills. On some days the mail 
 brought to the bank letters with bills for $100,000, some- 
 times for more, sometimes for less. So November and De- 
 cember passed away, and the bank continued day by day 
 and week by week laying away in its vaults the worthless 
 collateral of Mr. F. A. Warren in exchange for its gold. 
 
 But why not be satisfied and stop while it was all right? 
 That is the question of a wise man, but who ever knew any 
 man who wanted to do a thing, whether he did it or not, who
 
 •220 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 could not fiml half a hundred good reasons why he should 
 do it. But as ChristiiMis came near Mac began to long for 
 home. He had repaid his father every penny of the large 
 sum he was owing him; there had been a reconciliation by 
 mail, and each steamer that came bore many long letters 
 from parents and sisters, all speaking of their joy over the 
 happy tiu-n of events that was going to bring the absent 
 member of the flock home within its walls again. The 
 father's heart, long estranged, grew very tender toward his 
 boy, and with pride he thought his eldest had thrown ofT the 
 follies of his youth, and in manful strength was making 
 ample atonements for the thoughtlessness and the wander- 
 ings of his youth. He and they were all destined to a ter- 
 rible awakening. For soon the press of the world was to 
 teem with accounts of his son's arrest and incarceration for 
 participation in a gigantic fraud. When the blow fell it 
 came with crushing force on that home, and a shadow deep 
 as night settled down on the household; all joyousness and 
 even hope itself fled when the cable bore the news that their 
 boy had been condemned to life imprisonment in a foreign 
 dungeon. And one by one the members of that family 
 passed away from a world that held no more for them since 
 their good name had been tarnished. 
 
 In London the boys talked of spending Christmas at home, 
 but the argument to stay — and it prevailed — was that since 
 the money came in so easily and in such amounts it was a 
 pity to run away from it. Then, again, by obtaining an enor- 
 mous sum and putting it in a place of absolute security, the 
 bank would be glad to compromise the matter in considera- 
 tion of receiving a million or two back again. 
 
 So they spent a pretty merry and an exceedingly expen- 
 sive Christmas in London, but later in February they deter- 
 mined to pack up and leave. 
 
 Everything smiled upon them. The gold and bonds they 
 had, meant fortunes for all. I was away in tropic islands
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 227 
 
 leading- an idle life with my bride amid the cocoanut and 
 palm trees. Mac and George had never appeared in the 
 transaction, and as for Noyes, not a soul in all America knew 
 he was in Europe, and in all Europe only three or four peo- 
 ple had seen him, and knew him as representing- Warren. 
 
 The business was finished. All three laden with monej 
 were going to leave England, leaving the bank to slumbei 
 on for weeks until the first bills became due before there 
 could be a discovery. By that time the cash would have 
 been safely stewed, and how or where or to whom could 
 anything be traced? 
 
 So in council they had decided to be content with the 
 enormous amount they had. The last batch of bills was in 
 the mail. Only one day more and the strain on the nerves 
 would be over. That day Noyes bought bonds and drew 
 cash for more than $150,000. At 3 o'clock they sat down 
 to lunch, their last in London, and then went direct to Alac's 
 apartments in St. James' place. All the material for making 
 fraudulent bills was there, and what could be burned was to 
 be thrown into the grate, and the rest to first be filed into 
 blank nothings and then thrown into the Thames. The 
 three were there and they were happy. They had engi- 
 neered a gigantic scheme, had struck for wealth and won. 
 The short cut to fortune in defiance of fate had been trav- 
 ersed and now they set about a grateful task — that of get- 
 ting themselves and their rich argosy out of England. Alac 
 being the artist of the party, and having executed the actual 
 writing, drew the sealed box containing the unused bills up 
 to the fire and began tliTowing them in one by one. In do- 
 ing so he occasionally would throw some bill more elaborate 
 than the common run on the fioor beside his chair. He 
 had finished his task and took from the floor those he had 
 thrown there, looked at them for a moment, then crumbling 
 them together, raised his hand to throw them in the fire, but 
 as the devil always forsakes his friends at the critical mo-
 
 22S FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 incnt, he stopped, smoothed out the bills and turning to the 
 others, said: "Boys, these are perfect works of art; it is a pity 
 to destroy them." From our point of view it was, since it 
 was only necessary to drop them into the mail and they 
 would coin us thousands. Then Georg-e, said : ''Suppose we 
 send them in." The others said ''All right," and our doom 
 was sealed. 
 
 There were in the lot nineteen bills of exchange for £26,- 
 000. A date had been left off one of them! They failed 
 to note it! Poor fools, we had sold ourselves. 
 
 Was this an accident? No, it was Nemesis; it was any- 
 thin c: vou want to call it, but it was not an accident, 
 c - 
 
 So a letter was written, the bills, with memorandum, m- 
 closed, the envelope directed and stamped, and the three 
 fools went to Birmingham, mailed the letter, and then 
 laughed over their success in the fight against society, fecil- 
 itated themselves that they had discovered the undiscover- 
 able, that they had safely traversed the short cut to fortune. 
 There is no short cut by wTongdoing to fortune. Boss Tweed 
 and the long list of robber barons to the contrary! 
 
 The bills were mailed on Monday. As that fatal letter 
 slipped from their fingers into the mail-box the last act of 
 the deadly tragedy began. When it ended the curtain fell 
 upon us descending from the dock into the chill dungeons 
 of Newgate, never, so far as the sentence was concerned, to 
 emerge again. 
 
 On Tuesday morning the letter with the bills arrived at 
 the bank. Following the routine, they went to the discount 
 df[)artmcnt, were discounted and placed to my credit. As I 
 had a balance of i20,ooo, when the proceeds of the bills were 
 added to it, it brought up the wh®lc to the handsome sum 
 of £46,000. 
 
 When the bills arrived at the bank a strange thing oc- 
 curred. The fatal omission was made on an acceptance of 
 Blydcnstcin & Co., a great banking firm in London. The
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 229 
 
 discount clerk noticed the omission of the date of accept- 
 ance, but this being a mere formaUty, he thought it a clerical 
 error on the part of the bookkeeper of Blydenstein & Co. 
 He made no report of the matter, and it was discounted 
 along with the other eighteen, which were put away in the 
 vaults with the batches that had preceded it, while he laid 
 this one aside until the next day, which was Wednesday. At 
 half past ten he gave it to the bank messenger, telling him 
 when he went his regular rounds to take the bill to Blydcn- 
 stein's and request them to correct the omission. 
 
 At 2 p. m. on Tuesday Noyes went to Jay Cooke & Co. 
 and ordered $100,000 in United States bonds, and gave 
 them a check on the Bank of England for the amount. 
 He was to call for the bonds next day, of course, after the 
 check had gonei through the Clearing House and had been 
 paid. 
 
 As soon as the bank opened on Wednesday, in order to 
 test if everything was all right, Noyes sent in a messenger 
 with a small che£k, and the money was thrown out as at all 
 other times without remark. And that was a complete 
 demonstration that everything was all right. So it was then, 
 but within thirty minutes from that second the messenger 
 was going to start with the bill to Blydenstein's for cor- 
 rection. 
 
 This was 10 o'clock Wednesday. The bills had been 
 twenty-five hours in the possession of the bank, had been 
 discounted and the proceeds placed to my credit for twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
 Who with intellect less than an archangel's could have 
 divined the true combination? First of all, that men brill- 
 iant and clever, gambling with their lives, could have made 
 such an omission, damning, fatal. Second, if made, that the 
 great Bank of England, thought absolutely infallible by the 
 whole world, conserv^ative, supposedly cautious, would have 
 discounted a bill for £20,00 with the date out of the accept-
 
 230 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 aiicc, and having done so, hold the bill well on into the sec- 
 ond day, without a discover}', and that, too, when the firm 
 whose acceptance was a forgery was not lOO yards away! 
 So when at lo o'clock on Wednesday Mac saw the small 
 check paid without question to the messenger it seemed 
 he had an assurance doubly sure and a bond of fate that all 
 was well, and that the last batch of bills was packed safely 
 away for another three months in the vaults of the bank. 
 
 So Noyes went at once to Jay Cooke & Co., and as the 
 check had been paid at the bank they handed over, as in so 
 many other occasions, the $100,000 in bonds to him. 
 
 Mac and George were outside. George took the bonds 
 and gave Xoyes a i 10,000 check, and one minute from his 
 leaving Jay Cooke & Co., Noyes was at the counter of the 
 bank. The cashier counted out the $50,000 to him. He 
 walked out of the bank with a lighter heart and more buoy- 
 ant step than ever before, for was not the danger all over 
 and the long strain on the nerves at an end, the transaction 
 complete and fortune won? He was never going to the 
 bank again. 
 
 They had arranged to meet at Garraway's Cof^fee House 
 in Exchange alley. This is the Garraway's that became so 
 famous at the time of the South Sea Bubble, and its fame 
 continued dovvn to the end of the wars of Napoleon. Then 
 its glory departed as a centre of speculations, but its renown 
 as an old-fashioned chophouse remained till 1873. Every- 
 where in contemporary English literature, from Swift and 
 Addison to Goldsmith and Johnson, one meets references 
 to Garroway's. 
 
 The Dean immortalized it in his well-known lines on 
 'Change Alley: 
 
 ''There is a gulf where thousands fell, 
 Here all the bold adventurers came, 
 A narrow sound, though dec]) as hell, 
 'Change Alley is the dreadful name.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 231 
 
 "Subscribers bere by tbousands float 
 And jostle one another down. 
 Each paddhng in his leaky boat, 
 
 And here they fish for gold and drown. 
 
 "Meantime secure on Garraway's cliffs 
 A savage race by shipwreck fed, 
 Lie waiting for the foundered skiffs 
 And strip the bodies of the dead." 
 
 Dickens also makes it the scene of the writing of the fa- 
 mous chops and tomato sauce letter from Mr. Pickwick to 
 Mrs. Bardell. 
 
 One can imagine the elation of my friends as they sat 
 around that little table at Garraway's. It was only 10.35. 
 Their income that morning had been $150,000. And many 
 more such days had gone before. All danger was over, 
 wealth was won. They saw themselves back in America, 
 among the Four Hundred, possessors of a fortune, however 
 wrongfully obtained, yet obtained in a way that would leave 
 behind no ruined widows and orphans to linger out the re- 
 mainder of their blighted lives in poverty and misery. That 
 was a point which added zest to their enjoyment of the pros- 
 pect. 
 
 "I am never to go to the bank again. Come, shake hands 
 on that," said Noyes. And in their excitement and wild 
 delight they shook hands again and again. 
 
 But they would have moderated their joy had they known 
 that at the very moment the bank porter, pale and fright- 
 ened, was rushing past the room where they sat, carrying 
 the news to the bank that the two-thousand pound bill was 
 a forgery. Instantly all was confusion and excitement in the 
 bank. Telegrams were at once sent to the detective police, 
 and at that moment swarms of them were pouring out of the 
 Bow street and Scotland Yard of^ces. 
 
 That already stories of gigantic frauds, multiplied a thou- 
 sand fold by rumor, were flying everywhere that every bank
 
 232 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 in London was victimized. In ten minutes the story reached 
 the Stock Exchange and a scene of terrific excitement en- 
 sued, and, through it all, our three innocents sat on in that 
 dingy old coffee-house, serenely unconscious of the fearful 
 storm that was rising. Still they were safe. Everything 
 was confusion in the bank. The terrified official, frantic 
 with fear, could only describe a tall young man, an Ameri- 
 can, who said his name was Warren. 
 
 Had my three triumphant friends only known what was 
 up they might have sat where they were the day through 
 ami drank porter out of the pewter mugs in safety. There 
 were a hundred thousand men in London who would an- 
 swer any description the bank could have given of Noyes, 
 Mac and George had never appeared in the transaction, and 
 I, the F. A. Warren they w-ere looking for, was living quietly 
 with my young wife in a lovely isle in the tropic sea. 
 
 Surely then, these three high-toned financiers still had the 
 game in their own hands. They had nothing to fear. They 
 had wealth. There was no clue to their identity and the 
 world was before them — a world which lays her treasures 
 and pleasures at the feet of him who commands wealth. 
 
 But that mighty Something had decreed otherwise, and a 
 subtle spirit under whose power they were but purposeless 
 puppets inspired them to commit an act of folly which was 
 to liurl them from the fools' paradise wherein they were rev- 
 eling down to the pit of despair. 
 
 Upon Mac casually remarking that they had still a bal- 
 ance of $75,000 to Warren's credit, Noyes spoke up and 
 said: "Boys, that is too much money to leave John Bull; 
 suppose you make out a check for £5,000. I will run over 
 and get the cash, and it will do for pocket money." And 
 the two others, triumphant in success, became idiots and as- 
 sented. Making out a check for £5,000, Noyes started for 
 the bank, check in hand, and entering, instantly found him- 
 self with a hot and angry swarm of hornets about him.
 
 •poiisT'iNi; TO riiio <i<)i.i>, .ii-\< SAiU: i;ov.s, hki.I' •■>*, u 
 SKLVES.'"— Pap.' 244.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 
 
 235 
 
 There were twenty-five detectives in and around the bank. 
 Special messengers had sunmioned the affrighted directors. 
 The great bank parlor was packed with a host of stockhold- 
 ers and directors, who were questioning the manager and 
 clerks. And excitement rose to fever heat when, with twenty 
 hands holding him, poor Noyes was hustled in among them. 
 They rushed at him like a' pack of wolves. Had 
 that been a bank parlor in festive Arizona, they would not 
 have endured the delay incidental to procuring a rope, but 
 would have ended it and him by gunnery at short range. 
 Noyes could not be shaken; his nerve never failed. He 
 said a gent-leman had hired him as a clerk, and that was all 
 he knew. He had left him at the Stock Exchange; if they 
 would let him go, he would try and find him and bring him 
 around to the bank. J. Bull is gullible, but not so much 
 so as to swallow that yarn. 
 
 So they held tightly to him, and a committee of indig- 
 nant Britons escorted him to Newgate. 
 14
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 POINTS FOR JUSTICE TO PICK UP. 
 
 Mac and George were without, and were stricken with 
 Consternation, for a minute's observation of the gathering 
 cnnvd and the rushing into the bank of excited people con- 
 vinced them something unusual was in the wind, and they 
 knew Xoyes must be in deadly peril. Alac rushed into the 
 bank in hope to warn or to be of help. Everything there 
 was in confusion. Unobserved in the excitement, he made 
 his way into the parlor and there saw what made his heart 
 stand still — Xoyes surrounded by an angry crowd of ofificials. 
 \\'ith great presence of mind and great nerve he pushed 
 through toward Xoyes, who saw him and knew he was there 
 to help if he had a chance to bolt from his captors; but there 
 was no chance. As they were about starting for Newgate, 
 Mac slipped outside and told George what had befallen 
 Noycs, and discussed the possibility of a rescue when on 
 the way to Newgate with him. While they were waiting 
 in the entrance Noyes came out in custody. He saw and 
 recognized them. They joined in the crowd and were within 
 arm's reach of him every rod of the short distance to New- 
 pate, but the crowd was packed so tight that one couM 
 hardly move, and a rush for escape was hopeless. Arrived 
 at Newgate, Mac in his desperation was entering with the 
 escort, when George pulled him away, and as they got out 
 of the crowd they heard the newsboys crying: '"Great forg- 
 ery on the Bank of England by an American; £10,000,000 
 (230)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. ZH 
 
 obtained." That afternoon Lionel Rothschild, president of 
 the Board of Directors, called on him at Newgate, and of- 
 fered him his liberty and ii,ooo reward if he would tell all 
 he knew; but Noyes' nerve was not to be shaken. He said 
 a gentleman, an entire stranger, had hired him as a clerk 
 and messenger, and he knew nothing about Mr. Warren nor 
 his business. 
 
 All this time the $150,000 drawn that morning w^as in a 
 stout bag behind the counter at Garraway's. 
 
 Little did the barmaids dream of the treasure that was 
 in the bag at their feet. When Mac went for it, one of the 
 barmaids asked him if he had heard of the great bank rob- 
 bery. He drove to St. James' place, and soon George joined 
 him there. 
 
 Here again was enacted the scene we had in Rio ; as there, 
 so here, they looked at each other in helpless stupefaction. 
 Why had they not been satisfied? Why had they let Noyes 
 go for a paltry £5,000? Why had they not understood the 
 meaning of the evident excitement in and around the bank? 
 In Rio there was only a suspicion aroused. Here our 
 companion was a prisoner in Newgate. Scarcely an hour 
 had passed since he was free and without a fear had joined 
 in the congratulatory scene at Garraway's. Now ruin was 
 threatened. Upon cool reflection they came to two con- 
 clusions. First, that Noyes not only would never betray 
 them, but that he could be depended upon to keep so close 
 a mouth that no clue could be pumped from him; and next, 
 that he could never be convicted of the forgery. 
 
 He might, of course, be subjected to a few weeks of New- 
 gate life. That was very awkward, of course, but it would 
 come all right. 
 
 So they resolved for the present to remain in London and 
 await developments. 
 
 That nigfht the cable flashed the news of the forgery over 
 the world, dwelling particularly upon the fact that the per-
 
 ZiS FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 pctrator was an American. The next morning the London 
 press overflowed. Every prominent paper gave a leader in 
 the editorial column, and when the weeklies and monthlies 
 came out they followed suit. These editorials make now to 
 us who were on the inside amusing reading. They were 
 full of Philistine talk and amazement, and generally con- 
 ceded that Noyes was an innocent dupe, and all more or less 
 doubted if his principal, the mysterious Mr. F. A. Warren, 
 would ever come back to say so. 
 
 Day after day went by, and Mac and George hung around 
 London reading the accounts of the aflfair and of the exam- 
 ination of Noyes before the Lord Mayor. 
 
 They had communicated with him through his solicitor, 
 and he sent tliem word to leave England at once. In the 
 mean time they had been sending away the cash, and so en- 
 trenched were they in the belief that by no possible chance . 
 could their names become mixed up in the affair that in 
 ever\' instance but two they sent the money or bonds to 
 America in their right names. 
 
 In the mean time the bank very wisely sent a cable to 
 their legal agent, Clarence A. Seward, in New York, asking 
 him to set the American detective force on the alert. He 
 was a man of the world and understood cjuite well what sort 
 of men then ruled at Police Headquarters. So he sent at 
 once for Robert A. Pinkerton and gave him entire charge 
 of the American end of the line. Eventually they unearthed 
 the whole plot, secured the evidence that convicted us and 
 recovered the greater part of the money. The first step taken 
 by the private inquiry men was to have our friends, the de- 
 tectives at headquarters, led to believe that they had the case 
 entirely in their own hands and to strengthen this Pinker- 
 ton had the Bank of England agent in New York go to 
 licadquartcrs every day and pretend to consult with Irving. 
 After the continental raid, on our return to London we 
 sent Irving $3,000 in greenbacks in a registered letter, but
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 2^,9 
 
 ill order to have a hold on our three honest friends at head- 
 quarters in case of any possible treachery in the future we 
 put the money in the envelope in the presence of a magis- 
 trate and had his clerk register it and make it a part of 
 the court record. The envelope was simply addressed 
 "James Irving, Esq., 300 Mulberry street. New York," and 
 of course the officials in London supposed it a private ad- 
 dress. 
 
 When we returned from Rio we sent another $3,000, $1,- 
 
 000 each for Irving, Stanley and White, and took the same 
 precautions. 
 
 Soon after the floods of money coming to us in London 
 Mac sent $15,000 to Irving in another registered letter, with- 
 out any precautions, however. Irving & Co. did not know 
 what game we were playing, but were very happy over the 
 dividends past and to come. But when they read the cable 
 dispatches in the press about the bank forgeries, their bliss 
 was ecstatic. Each in fancy saw himself decked out in a 
 magnificent diamond pin and ring, spinning along Harlem 
 lane behind a particularly fast pair in a stylish rig. This 
 was their day vision. At night each saw himself in certain 
 resorts ordering unlimited bottles, or seeing New York 
 by gaslight at the rate of $100 a minute, and the Britishers 
 paying for it all. But the lawyers and the Pinkertons be- 
 tween them played Irving and headquarters for fools and 
 knaves. Day after day one of the lawyers visited Mulberry 
 street, and, being tutored by Pinkerton, gave deceptive points 
 to Irving, who, with his two chums, was completely hood- 
 winked and never suspected the game being played on them. 
 
 But as I have got somewhat ahead of events in London 
 
 1 will return there and very briefly narrate what was taking 
 place there. Nearly every day Noyes was brought before 
 the Lord Mayor and officially examined, but, acting under 
 advice of his lawver, he was strictly non-committal. The de- 
 tectives and officials were convinced he knew all about it,
 
 240 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 and tried by botli threats and promises to make him talk. 
 Baron Rothschild and others of the directors visited him 
 aj^ain, but our friend was deaf, dumb and blind, and they 
 wore foiled. In time two Pinkerton detectives had arrived in 
 London, and by a series of lucky hits soon began to let in 
 some light on the business. 
 
 In searching Noyes the English police had found his gar- 
 ments were made by a certain London tailor who had sev- 
 eral establishments. They brought the foremen and sales- 
 men down to see him, and none could identify him; but the 
 American detectives went over the ground again, and dis- 
 covered that the London ofHcers had missed one branch 
 store. This was the one Noyes had patronized. They re- 
 membered him as a customer who had, wlxen ordering gar- 
 ments, given the name of Bedford. This in itself was a bad 
 point against Noyes, and the New York men w^anted very 
 much to make him talk, and had they been permitted to 
 adopt the vigorous American methods they might have 
 succeetled. 
 
 A salesman remembered seeing Noyes or Bedford one 
 day walking in ]\Iayfair with a gentleman who really was 
 Mac, of whom he gave a good description, and taking the 
 clerk the detectives started out to make a house-to-house 
 investigation. Now, No. i Mayfair, the first house they 
 entered, was the residence of a famous London doctor by 
 the name of Payson Hewett, and Mac had been a patient of 
 his. But Hewett knew absolutely nothing about him save 
 only his name and the address he gave, Westminster Palace 
 Hotel. The detectives were elated, and flew to this hotel, 
 but as Mac had never been a guest they could learn nothing; 
 still they had cause for rejoicing. Here was Noyes giving 
 a fictitious name to a tailor and in company with an ele- 
 gantly dressed American, who gave a fictitious address to 
 his surgeon. And they were well satisfied tliat whenever the 
 matter was dug out it would be found that the elegantly
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 241 
 
 dressed stranger, as well as the clerk, had a hand in the bus- 
 iness. Payson Hevvett stated that Mac said he was a medi- 
 cal graduate from an American university, and said that, no 
 doubt, he spoke the truth, as he had a perfect knowledge 
 of medical subjects. 
 
 Here they were getting matters down pretty fine, and 
 cabled all the facts to America with orders to look Mac up, 
 also his friends. This information was the fruit of hard 
 work — many blind trails had been followed that ran no- 
 where. 
 
 In the mean time George and Mac had determined to re- 
 turn to America. The last thing Mac did before leaving his 
 lodgings in St. James' place was to roll up in three rolls 
 $254,000 in United States bonds and send the trunk con- 
 taining them by express to Major George Mathews, New 
 York. He wrapped them in a nightshirt belonging to me, 
 which in some way had got into his baggage. Then he 
 bought a ticket to Paris and sent his baggage over, wait- 
 ing in London a day or two longer before going himself. 
 George determined to go to Ireland, and to Ireland he 
 went, and I shall let him in a later chapter tell in his own 
 language the stirring events in Ireland and Scotland that 
 finally ended in his arrest in Edinburgh some weeks later. 
 Mac, before sending his baggage away, had intended to sail 
 from Liverpool by the Java of the Cunard line, and he 
 cabled Irving at Police Headquarters to irjeet him on the 
 arrival of the steamer. Mac went to Paris, stopping at the 
 Hotel Richmond, Rue du Helder, under his right name, 
 never for a moment thinking he could possibly come under 
 suspicion. 
 
 In the mean time the Pinkerton men continued their 
 house-to-house visitation of the fashionable lodging houses 
 to hunt out Mac. This, in huge London, was a Titanic 
 task, but they exhibited a marvelous activity in tracing out 
 clues. In a lucky moment for the Pinkertons, a subordinate
 
 242 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 inquiring at even' number in St. James' place if an Ameri- 
 can gentleman was lodging or had lodged there was in- 
 formed by one landlady that Mac had been a lodger, but 
 had left a few days before. As soon as this important report 
 arrived they flew to St. James' place and found the landlady 
 a warm friend of the man they were looking for. The de- 
 tectives were forced to tell her their business. She was in- 
 dignant that any one should so wrong Mac, and ordered 
 them out of the house. 
 
 They brought the bank solicitors and other important 
 people to see her before she would consent to be questioned; 
 when she did, her information was important indeed. She 
 had seen very little of George, but much of me, though she 
 had never heard my name, but still the detectives knew from 
 her description that the man she described was the F. A. 
 Warren they wanted, and whom to get meant fame and com- 
 parative fortune for them. 
 
 The rooms had been unoccupied since Mac left and a 
 careful search was made for clues, but nothing was found 
 until she was asked for the waste-paper basket. The bas- 
 ket proved to be a bag, and when turned out some pieces 
 of blotting paper appeared, which, held in front of a mirror, 
 of course would reflect the writing the same as on the writ- 
 ten sheet, and on holding the last of the lot to the glass they 
 were thrilled through when the Pinkertons saw reflected 
 there: 
 
 Ten Thousand Pounds Sterling. 
 
 F. A. WARREN. 
 
 which, when compared with a canceled check of mine, then 
 in tlie possession of the bank, exactly fitted it. Here was a 
 piece of evidence, which, if it could be brought home to Mac, 
 was a chain to l)ind him fast and sure. 
 
 Pinkerton and his man started at once for Paris, and going 
 to the American bankers, where most Americans register on
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 243 
 
 arrival, they found Mac's name as large as life, registered at 
 Andrews & Co.'s as stopping at the Hotel de Richmond. 
 
 Pinkerton was not long in reaching Rue du lielder, and 
 learned that Mac had left for Brest the night before. In 
 short order he was at the Paris agency of the steamship 
 company, and found that Mac had purchased a ticket to New 
 York by the Thuringia, which was due to sail that very hour 
 from Brest. He did not let the grass grow under his feet 
 between the ticket and telegraph offices, and there he tele- 
 graphed the authorities to arrest Mac, but he had a speedy- 
 reply that the Thuringia had sailed half an hour before his 
 telegram came. On second thought he quite possiljly was 
 not sorry Mac had got off to New York, as it would lengthen 
 out the bill and scatter some of the bank's money in New 
 York. 
 
 He therefore cabled to his office in New York particulars 
 as to Mac's departure, and then he turned all his attention 
 to discovering who this F. A. Warren could be. Mac had 
 cabled Irving that he was coming by the Thuringia. Pink- 
 erton, feeling that there was no secrecy required about his 
 man being on the steamer, gave the fact to the press, and 
 Ir\-ing discovered, very much to his chagrin, that all the 
 world shared with him his secret as to Mac's whereabouts, 
 and that if he w^ould save his reputation he would have to 
 be on hand, not as a friend and confederate, but in his official 
 capacity and make a genuine arrest — that is, unless he could 
 arrange to have Mac taken off the steamer in' a small boat 
 as soon as she came into the lower bay and before the police 
 boat, with its load of officials, came alongside. This Irving 
 and his two subordinates resolved to attempt, so he took into 
 his counsels a great chum of his and a well-known burglar 
 by the name of Johnny Dobbs. To him was given the job 
 of getting Mac off the steamer, but he made a serious 
 blunder. Instead of hiring and manning two boats, one to 
 relieve the other, he got only one. For a day or two they
 
 244 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 canic within hailing distance of all incoming steamers, but 
 were ashore on Staten Island, taking a rest, when bright and 
 early one morning the Thuringia slipped into the harbor. 
 There was a man in the boat with Dobbs who knew Mac, 
 and the plan was to meet the steamer, and as Mac was sure 
 to be on deck on the look-out, to shout to him to jump over- 
 board and they would pick him up and make for shore. 
 Once ashore and warned they would not have seen him 
 again. 
 
 After the Thuringia came into the harbor, Irving kept the 
 police boat waiting over an hour. Then, supposing his friend 
 was safe ashore, he boarded the ship. There were five 
 United States Marshals on the police tug, the bank lawyers 
 and some of the private inquiry ofhcials. 
 
 In'ing, accompanied by White and Stanley, jumped 
 aboard the big ship, after giving orders to the captain of the 
 tug not to let any one ofif until he gave permission. Mac 
 saw the tug and recognized his three friends, but was in no 
 way alarmed until Irving, shaking hands with him, hur- 
 riedly explained the state of affairs. Mac took them to his 
 cabin and gave them $150,000 in bonds, $10,000 in green- 
 backs, which he had bought of the brokers in London, be- 
 sides English bank notes and two or three valuable dia- 
 monds. Then taking out several bags of sovereigns he said: 
 "Now, boys, help yourselves. Load yourselves down and 
 keep them from the enemy." What a picture those fellows 
 l(jading up with that golden store of sovereigns would have 
 made! They knew the marshals and detectives they held 
 entrapped aboard the tug would be furious, and morally 
 sure that Irving & Co. had plucked their bird. Therefore 
 any appearance of pockets bulging out might lead to dis- 
 grace, so, while they hated to leave any, for their fingers 
 itched for all, yet they were forced to that cruel self-denial. 
 
 r)ne amusing piece of impudence on Irving's part oc- 
 curred wlicn looking with greedy eyes on the eight-carat
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 245 
 
 * 
 
 diamond Mac wore on his finger, he said: "My God, Mac, 
 I wish I had brought along a paste diamond. You could 
 wear the ring and give me yours in exchange." The ring 
 having been sew.i by so many he feared to chance taking it. 
 No doubt his enforced denial for long sat heavy on Jimmy's 
 soul. What a penchant all our honest detectives have for 
 gems, and where do they get them? 
 
 In the mean time a storm was raging among the rival ofifi- 
 cers, who did not relish being duped, and finally by threats 
 forced the captain to bring the tug alongside the steamer. 
 Then they rushed on board to find Irving & Co. with their 
 prisoner awaiting them. 
 
 The marshals went to the cabin and found some £4,000 
 or £5,000 in sovereigns, but when Mac was searched noth- 
 ing was found on him but $20 in greenbacks. He was 
 turned over to the United States officials and landed in Lud- 
 low Street Jail, pending an examination before the United 
 States Commissioner with a view to his extradition. 
 
 How the Pinkertons unearthed the $254,000 wrapped in 
 old clothing in Mac's trunk at the European Express Office, 
 44 Broadway, would take too much time to tell here, or how 
 circulars were sent out to the banks and trust companies 
 warning them to hold all funds deposited by any of our 
 party, or how Pinkerton and his men recovered large sums 
 in various places, must all be passed over here. Suffice it 
 to say that the fatal piece of blotting paper was produced 
 in New York along with many lesser points of evidence, and 
 after a hard legal fight Mac was finally ordered to be given 
 up to the English Government to stand his trial for com- 
 plicity in the great bank forgery. 
 
 The legal proceedings before the commissioner lasted 
 three full months. The array of counsel on both sides made 
 it a forensic contest between giants, in which all past his- 
 tory was invoked for precedents. This extradition case at- 
 tracted wide attention.
 
 2 It; FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 After United States Commissioner Gutman had finally 
 decided to surrender him to the demand of the British Gov- 
 ernment, appeal was made to the United States Cir- 
 cuit Court, Judge Woodrufif, then to the Supreme Court, 
 Judge Barrett, before whom Mac was broug-ht by writs of 
 iiabeas corpus; but the commissioner's decision was sus- 
 tained. Mac was sent to Fort Columbus for safekeeping 
 while counsel were vainly arguing on new writs of habeas 
 coqnis and certiorari, but before any conclusion could be 
 reached, he was hurried away by his custodians. He had 
 scarcely time to bid good-bye to his counsel, when with a 
 United States ofBcer he was hurried into a carriage in Cham- 
 bers street, guarded by Chief Deputy Marshal Kennedy and 
 Deputies Robinson and Crowley, and driven rapidly down 
 Broadway to the Battery, so that the large crowd who gath- 
 ered to witness his departure from the metropolis had very 
 little time to feast their eyes. 
 
 lie was transferred from the Battery to Governor's Island 
 by a tugboat and subsequently handed over by the deputy 
 marshals to the charge of Major J. P. Roy, who had him es- 
 corted to Fort Columbus. 
 
 The following morning United States Marshal Fiske, with 
 Deputies Crowley and Furvis; Mr. Peter Williams, solicitor 
 of the Bank of England ; Sergt. Edward Hancock, a London 
 detective; Deputy Marshal Colfax and others, boarded the 
 steam tug P. C. Schultze at the Battery and steamed across 
 to Governor's Island. At 10.30 o'clock Capt. J. W. Bean, 
 on post at the fort, received an order to deliver him over. 
 
 Capt. J. W. Bean then delivered him over to United States 
 Marshal Fiske's charge, with whom he descended the steps 
 from the balcony of the fort, and marched, with a deputy at 
 cither side, through tiled pathways and groved and shaded 
 avenues, to the wharf at the other end of the island, where 
 the Schultze was awaiting his arrival. A large crowd of 
 spectators, soldiers and civilians lined the wharf, lingering
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 1^17 
 
 anxiously to see him ofif. But he walked very leisurely, 
 smoked, laughed and appeared in a state of unaccountable 
 good humor. 
 
 It was nearly 1 1 o'clock when the Schultze steamed away 
 from Governor's Island wharf and whistled and rattled down 
 the Bay to await the arrival of the Minnesota, which lay at 
 anchor during the forenoon near Pier 46, North River, and 
 did not sail until some minutes after 12 o'clock. The 
 Schultze meantime waited, steaming around the lo.wer bay 
 until the ISIinnesota arrived. The steam tug neared the 
 bulky and huge vessel, and Mac was finally taken on board 
 by United States Marshal Fiske and Deputy 2^Iarshals Rob- 
 inson, Crowley and Colfax, and given into the custody of 
 the English detectives, Sergts. Webb and Hancock, who in 
 return gave the usual receipt to Marshal Fiske. 
 
 For the present, I leave Mac on the Atlantic, sailing swift- 
 ly eastward, to meet his terrible doom.
 
 CHArXER .XXV. 
 
 THE IRONY OF FATE. 
 
 In this chapter I give in his own words George's account 
 of his flight from London and his arrest. 
 
 "Without the remotest suspicion that my right name was 
 knowTi or that anything had been discovered to show my 
 connection with tlie fraud, I resolved to take the steamer 
 Atlantic of the White Star line at Queenstown for New York. 
 Knowing that all the railway stations in London were being 
 watched, and that any man buying a ticket for America 
 might have to give an account of himself, I sent a porter to 
 purchase a ticket for Dubliln via Holyhead. I intended 
 taking the 9 p. m. mail train, and, as a precaution, I waited 
 until the last moment, after the passengers were on board, 
 and the waiting-room doors shut. As the mail was being 
 transferred from the wagons to the train, I took the oppor- 
 tunitv to walk through the big gate unobserved amid the 
 rush and confusion. The car doors were all locked, but on 
 showing my ticket to a guard (conductor) he let me into a 
 compartment, no doubt supposing that I had obtained ad- 
 mission to the station from the waiting-room and had been 
 loitering about. The same was probably the case with the 
 two or three other men looking out of the waiting-room 
 window at the platform, whom I judged to be detectives. 
 The train rolled out of the station, and soon I was leaving 
 London behin<l at the rate of fifty miles an hour. After mid- 
 night we took the steamer at Holyhead and arrived at Dub- 
 (248)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 249 
 
 lin about 7 a. 111. I should not have felt so comfortable 
 throughout this night's journey had I known that the tele- 
 graph was flashing in all directions five thousand pounds 
 reward for my capture. 
 
 "A whole column regarding myself and my supposed 
 movements w^as published in the Dublin papers of that 
 morning. Not suspecting they contained 'news' regarding 
 me, I neglected purchasing one, and, remaining ignorant 
 of my imminent danger, took the train for Cork, where I 
 arrived about 4 p. m. I had two or three London papers 
 of the previous day in my hand as I left the station. I had 
 never been in Cork until then, and as I passed into the street 
 two detectives, who were watching the passengers, turned 
 and followed me. A few yards from the station one of them 
 stepped up by my side and said: 
 
 " 'Have you ever been here before?' 
 "I slightly turned my head toward him, gave a haughty 
 glance as I replied: 'Yes,' then looked straight ahead and 
 continued my slow gait, paying no further attention to him. 
 He continued walking by my side for a few steps, as if ir- 
 resolute, then dropped to the rear, rejoining his companion, 
 I did not dare to look around or make inquiry as to the lo- 
 cation of the wharf from which the tugboat started to con- 
 vey mail and passengers to the New York steamers, which 
 waited in the outer harbor. Therefore I continued my walk 
 along what appeared to be the main business street, perhaps 
 for a quarter of a mile, then turned into a druggist's and 
 called for some Spanish licorice. This was done to enable 
 me to ascertain if the detectives were still following. In a 
 moment they passed the shop gazing intently in and saw 
 me leaning carelessly against the counter with my face par- 
 tially turned to the street. As soon as I had paid for the 
 licorice I continued my walk in the same direction, but saw 
 nothing of the men, they having evidently stopped in some 
 place to let me get ahead once more. In a short time I ap-
 
 2Z>0 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 proaclK'd ail inclosure over the gate of which was a sig'ii 
 that informed me I had come by accident direct to the wharf 
 of the New York steamers. Entering I found the place 
 crowded and the tugboat ready to convey the passengers to 
 the steamer Atlantic. Before attempting to step aboard thj 
 tug I took a covert look around and saw my two detectives 
 standing back in one comer with their eyes fixed upon me, 
 all but their heads being concealed behind the crowd waiting 
 to see their friends ofif for America. Apparently unconscious 
 of their presence, I threw my papers, one by one, down 
 among the passengers; and as the deck of the boat was eight 
 or ten feet below, the detectives could not see to whom they 
 were thrown. I stood leaning on the rail a short time gaz- 
 ing at the scene, then left the wharf not even glancing in the 
 direction of the detectives. I felt that any attempt of mine 
 to embark would precipitate their movements, therefore I 
 at once abandoned all ideas of taking passage from Queens- 
 town. 
 
 "Xow mark the irony of fate! That was the last passage 
 ever made by the magnificent steamer Atlantic ! Some mag- 
 netic influence deranged her compass so that she ran twenty 
 miles out of her course, striking on the coast of Nova Scotia, 
 at Meager's Head, Prospect Harbor, broke in two, then roll- 
 ing into deep water sank in a few minutes. Out of 1,002 
 persons on board 560 perished, including most of the sa- 
 loon passengers and all the women and children. The ele- 
 gant cabins and staterooms became their tombs — and one 
 might have been mine. But not for me such favoring fate; 
 a moment's struggle ended their sufferings, while I was left 
 to undergo the pangs of a thousand deaths! 
 
 I continued my walk up a hill among the private resi- 
 dences of the city, and, hailing a cab, told the driver to take 
 me back to the station. Eager for a job, he asked to drive 
 me a mile beyond on the railway. Thinking I might elude 
 the detectives at the Queenstown station, I acceded, and he
 
 THREE OR rOUR SHOTS RANG OUT, Ol'R TRAIN WAS OFF 
 THE TRACK."— Page 2M.
 
 VIA THIO PRIMROSE WAY. 253 
 
 made his little Irish horse rush along at a pace which 
 brought us to the stopping place just before the train ar- 
 rived. 
 
 "I purchased a ticket and hastened into a carriage, where, 
 lo and behold! sat the two detectives. A few minutes 
 brought us to Cork again. I was not yet aware they were 
 in possession of my right name and the knowledge that a 
 reward of £5,000 was offered for my capture, nor that their 
 hesitation was occasioned by doubts as to my identity, which 
 the first false step on my part might remove. I did not sup- 
 pose they were looking especially for me, but for any one in 
 general whose actions and appearance might indicate that 
 he was one of the operators in the bank forgery. Under 
 this erroneous belief I crossed to the Dublin station, wliich 
 was a quarter of a mile from that of the Cork and Queens- 
 town. As I entered the waiting room I saw my two detec- 
 tives standing at the other side. 'Well,' I thought to myself, 
 'this is very strange; I left the Queenstown station ahead of 
 them and here they are again, all alive!' I walked away into 
 the most thronged streets of the business part of the city; 
 turning a corner I glanced backward and saw them following 
 at some distance in the rear. As soon as I had fairly turned the 
 corner I started at a fast walk, turning the next before they 
 came in view, and after three or four such turnings I went 
 into a small temperance hotel and took lodgings for the 
 night. There was but a single commercial traveler in the 
 sitting room — a special room set apart in every English ho- 
 tel, sacred to the 'drummer' fraternity. In the course of the 
 evening he handed me a small railway map of Ireland, which, 
 in my subsequent flight through the country, proved of in- 
 calculable service to me. 
 
 "The next morning I went out and purchased a handbag, 
 a Scotch cap and a cheap frieze ulster. My night's cogita- 
 tions had not enabled me to solve the detective problem, but 
 I felt confident that something was decidedly wrong. I then 
 15.
 
 liT.t FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 hired a covered cab, driving past the postoffice to recoin- 
 noitre, and saw one of the detectives standing in the door- 
 wav. This sight deterred me from going in to ask for a 
 letter. Dismissing my cab, I took another and drove to 
 tlie place where I had made my purchases, taking them into 
 the cab and going through a by-street which brought me 
 close to my hotel. 
 
 "From the commercial room in the second floor front I 
 looked out and marked the farthest house I could see to the 
 left on the opposite side. Stepping to the desk I wrote an 
 order directing the postmaster to deliver any letters to my 
 address to the bearer. This I gave to a cabman, instructing 
 him to drive to the postofifice and bring my mail to the house 
 I had marked, returning myself to the commercial room to 
 watch. In a few minutes I saw the cabman drive to the 
 house, and seeing no one waiting there, he turned and drove 
 slowly down the street past the hotel, holding up at arm's 
 length a letter to attract my notice — which it did to my two 
 detectives walking along a short distance behind him, on 
 the hotel side of the street, with noses elevated and eyes 
 peering evcrvwhere. 
 
 " 'Well,' I thought, 'this is getting to be hot, and it is time 
 for me to leave Cork.' I was now fully aroused to a sense 
 of my danger. No one happening to be in the commercial 
 room for the moment, I left my hat on the sofa, and wearing 
 the Scotch cap, slipped downstairs just as they w^ere past the 
 hotel, following them until I came to where the cab was wait- 
 ing with my luggage. I ordered the driver to take me to a 
 canal-boat wharf, where I dismissed him; then, with bag in 
 liaiifl, I walked across the canal bridge, stopped in a small 
 shop and hired a smaller boy to go for a jaunting car, and 
 a few minutes later I was rolling to the northward. 
 
 "On the road I threw some small coins to poor-looking 
 people, who then, as now, comprised among their numbers 
 the most honest patriots and the truest-hearted sons of Erin.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 255 
 
 "Seeing me throwing the pence to the poor folk, cabby 
 took it into his head that I must be a priest — a good cri- 
 terion of the estimation in which the benevolence of the fa- 
 thers is held by their own people. And I may here remark- 
 that all the Catholic priests I have known, occupying the post 
 of chaplain, w^ere without exception faithful and entirely de- 
 voted to the duties of their holy calling. I had no inten- 
 tion of traveling as a priest, and when I told the driver as 
 much he would not believe it, but insisted that I was really 
 a priest traveling incognito; therefore, when we stopped at 
 a small wayside tavern, about twelve miles from Cork and 
 two to Fermoy, he privately informed the mistress that I was 
 a priest who did not want the fact to become known. Ac- 
 cordingly the good woman treated me with marked attention 
 during my short stay. It was then nearly sunset, and as I 
 did not wish the cabman to get back to Cork until late at 
 night, I kept him eating and drinking until dark, when 
 I paid the bill and started him homeward, uproariously 
 rejoicing. I then started for Fermoy station, about two 
 miles distant, taking the hostler along to carrj' my bag. 
 When within half a mile of the village I let him return. While 
 passing through the village I went into a shop and pur- 
 chased a different Scotch cap, the 'Glengarry.' 
 
 "Arriving at the station, I noticed a man near the ticket 
 oflfice who appeared to be watching those who were pur- 
 chasing tickets. This made me change my plan — instead 
 of taking c ticket to Dublin, I bought one for Lismore, the 
 end of the road in the opposite direction. The exclamation, 
 'Well, are you going to stay all night?' was the first intima- 
 tion I had of our arrival at that place. I rubbed my sleepy 
 eyes, and saw with dismay that all the passengers were gone 
 and one of the porters was putting out the lights. At the 
 platform I found a cab, and by 9 p. m. I was at the Lismore 
 House. After eating supper I entered the sitting room, findin^^ 
 a single occupant whom I took to be a law}'er, and judging
 
 •S*^i FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 by his conversation and manner, in the hght of later events, 
 I do not doubt that he surmised who I was. He was read- 
 ing a newspaper, which he once or twice offered to me; but, 
 not dreaming of the interesting nature of its contents, I de- 
 cHncd to take it from him. About lo o'clock the gentlema i 
 retired, leaving his paper on the table. I carelessly picked it 
 up, and the first thing that caught my eyes was a displayed 
 heading in large type, offering ^5,000 reward for my arrest. 
 "A thunderbolt, indeed! For a few minutes I stared at 
 the paper in blank dismay. It was fortunate for my tem- 
 porary safety that there were no witnesses present. 'Well,' 
 I thought to myself, 'this is a predicament! How did they 
 obtain any clue to me? I thought we had covered up the 
 whole affair so deep in mystery that not a clue to our per- 
 sonalit}' could ever be obtained!' 
 
 "I sat for an hour alone in this Lismore Hotel, utterly 
 dumfounded, bewildered, paralyzed. I had experienced 
 some shocks, some 'take-downs,' in my time, but never one 
 to compare with this. 
 
 "Arousing myself from a state of mental stupefaction hith- 
 erto unknown, I began to realize the necessity of immediate 
 action if I wished to avoid falling into the merciless jaws of 
 the British lion. I put the paper into the fire, and retired 
 to the room allotted to me. 
 
 "Before daylight in the morning I had decided upon the 
 first step, and as the lawyer had asked me if I intended to 
 remain over Sunday, I resolved to be as far away as pos- 
 sible before he was out of bed. While it was yet dark in the 
 house, I left my bag in the bedroom and crept gently down 
 the stairs to the basement, where the porter-hostler was 
 sleeping in a box of rags. I suppose the poor wretch had not 
 long finished his multifarious duties, for I could arouse him 
 only to a state of semi-consciousness, and could get no in- 
 formation from liim. I then went up to the front door, 
 carefully turned the key and stepped out on the piazza which
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 2'u 
 
 ran alonj^: the front of the hotel. Another shock was in 
 store for me. A man posted on the other side of the street 
 was watching" the hotel! 
 
 "It was now quite light, and I sauntered carelessly up the 
 street, apparently taking no notice of the man over the way, 
 and endeavoring to show by my actions that I was out for 
 an airing before breakfast. 
 
 "As I turned the next corner and glanced back, I saw him 
 following. I noticed a place where jaunting-cars were to 
 be let, but passed on, at each turn glancing back to see my 
 follower the same distance in the rear. I now took a circuit 
 around by the hotel, but instead of going in I hastened and 
 turned the next corner beyond — he, when reaching the 
 corner near the hotel, not seeing me, doubtless thought T 
 had gone in, and planted himself in his old position. I 
 thought Lismore to be getting rather hot, and hastening to 
 the livery stable, found the hostler just getting up. He in- 
 formed me that all the horses were engaged for the day except 
 one, the fastest they had, but as this was engaged for a long 
 journey on Tuesday, they were letting him have a rest. I 
 said : 'But, my good fellow, I must have a horse, and at once, 
 with you to drive, and fhere will be a half sovereign for a 
 good Irishman, such as I see before me.' My 'blarney' be- 
 gan to do its work. Scratching his head, he finally said: 
 'Well, I will waken up my master, and you can talk with 
 him.' So he rapped at a window, and soon a night-capped 
 head appeared, and after some parley the master consented 
 to let me have his equipage. In a few minutes from the 
 time I had lost sight of my follower we were rattling out of 
 the town of Lismore at the full speed of a blooded Irish 
 horse. I had left my bag behind, taking only the Scotch 
 caps and ulster with me from the hotel. I found, by refer- 
 ence to the small map and railway guide, that Clonmel was 
 less than thirty miles distant, and connected with Dublin 
 by a branch line. When I engaged the jaunting-car I bad
 
 2r>S FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 told the owner that it was uncertain what part of the day I 
 should require it, and after we were about five miles from 
 Lismore I said to the driver: 
 
 " "You say that you are going to Clonmel on Tuesday for 
 a passenger. Well, now, as I must go there before I leave 
 this part of the country', you may as well continue in that di- 
 rection, and I can return with you on Tuesday.' 
 
 "This pleased him, and we drove on till about noon, when 
 we stopped at a country grocery about five miles from Clon- 
 mel. As we drove up to the door, the words of an old Irish 
 song went jingling through my brain: 
 
 " 'At the sign of the bell, 
 On the road to Clonmel, 
 Pat Flagherty kept a neat shebeen.' 
 
 "The rain poured down in torrents. I gave my driver a 
 lunch of bread and cheese, which — of course, there — in- 
 cluded whisky. I also gave him a sovereign, telling him 
 to pay his master for the horse-hire and keep the change for 
 himself; then started him back, brimful of delight and the 
 'craythur,' receiving his parting salute: 
 
 " 'Yer *onor is a jintleman, and no mistake.' 
 
 "I arranged with the storekeeper to let a boy take me in 
 his car to Clonmel. 
 
 "The Green Isle!' Well, I found out that day what 
 keeps the grass green in Ireland. My Irish frieze and every 
 thread on me were water-logged, yet the Irish lad, my driver, 
 took the 'buckets-fuir as a matter of course. Amid this del- 
 uge of rain we arrived in Clonmel and stopped at a 'shebeen,' 
 kept by the boy's uncle — driving into the back yard through 
 a gate in a Ijoard fence fifteen feet high, which shut it in from 
 the street. 
 
 "I w^nt into a room in the rear of the sale room, the door 
 of which stood open so that I could see all that passed 
 within, and, as I stood dr>'ing my clothes by the turf fire, I
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 259 
 
 saw how thirsty souls on the 'ould sod,' evaded the Sun- 
 day Hquor law. The proprietor stood in the shop in a po- 
 sition whence he could covertly keep an eye on the police- 
 man patrolling the street, and as soon as he was out of sight 
 a signal was given, the backyard gate thrown open, when a 
 dozen men rushed in, and the gate closed. Coming hilari- 
 ously through the dwelling into the shop, these were soon 
 busily drinking their 'potheen.' 
 
 "It was now 2 o'clock p. m., the rain had ceased, and 
 starting out, I walked along a main street until I saw a sign 
 'cabs to let' I went into the house and was shown into an 
 inner room, where the proprietress sat crooning over a turf 
 fire. She motioned me to a seat beside her, and when I told 
 her I wished for a conveyance to take me to Cahir, a place 
 eight miles distant, she asked me several questions, among 
 others, how long I wished to be gone, and if I were not an 
 American. To all of which I replied to the following efifect: 
 That I was going to visit some friends who were officers 
 stationed in the fort at Cahir; and as to her mistaking me 
 for an American, the ancestors of the 'Yankees' went from 
 about Norfolk County, England, to America, of course, tak- 
 ing the accent with them, and I being from the former place, 
 (Norfolk) of course had the same accent. 
 
 "This explanation appeared to satisfy the old lady, and she 
 became quite confidential ; and, anxious to remove from my 
 mind any trace of ofifense at her unusual questioning, she 
 drew closer to me and said : 
 
 " 'I can see that you are all right ; but the fact is that the 
 captain of police sent an order that I should notify him at 
 once in case any stranger wished to hire a vehicle, especially 
 if I thought him an American. But I do not care for the 
 curs; they are nothing but a parcel of spies and informers 
 in the pay of the English Government; so even if you were 
 the one they are looking for they will wait a long time for
 
 2(30 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 me to inform them, and you shall have my best horse and 
 a good driver.' 
 
 "I heartily thanked the good old Irish lady — for I have 
 found true ladies and gentlemen among the poor and hum- 
 ble, as well as the wealthy, especially in Ireland — and in a 
 few minutes I was bowling gayly along toward Cahir. 
 
 "This is a small, ancient, walled garrison town, the nearest 
 railway station being at Clonmel. This miniature' city has 
 been the scene of many a heart-stirring event in the distant 
 I)ast. Here Cromwell was for a time held at bay, and his 
 fanatical hordes made their Celtic opponents pay in blood 
 for their patriotic and desperate defense of their homes and 
 firesides. 
 
 "Driving through the town gate, I saw in the main street 
 a grocery store with a blind down, and telling the driver to 
 halt there, I paid him and sent him back. I then went into 
 the grocery, and after taking a lunch of bread and cheese; 
 continued my w^alk up the street. I saw a hotel just ahead, 
 but not wishing to attract attention to my movements, I 
 crossed to the opposite side, and while doing so glanced 
 back and saw a car come through the same town gate I had 
 just entered, and dash furiouly up the street, pulling up at the 
 walk a few yards behind me. Just as they sprang out I 
 turned to the left in a narrow lane in which I saw a gateway 
 to the fort, just within the entrance of which a sentry was 
 ])acing, there being opposite several roofless cottages. The 
 soldier s back being turned, quick as thought I sprang un- 
 seen within one of these, and in a moment I heard some men 
 run around the corner and interrogate the soldier, who 
 stoutly declared that no one had entered. The men then 
 demanded to see the captain, were admitted, and after a 
 short time I heard them come out and depart. I stood in 
 that ruin two mortal hours until dusk, then walked out un- 
 seen by the sentry, and turning to the left, came into a nar- 
 row street lined with small dwelling houses.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIJ 
 
 "EXCUSE ME, SIR, FOR QUESTIONING YOU." 
 
 "Crossing- the narrow street in Cahir, referred to at the 
 close of the last chapter, I went in haphazard at the first door, 
 without knocking, and saw a family eating their humble 
 supper. As I walked in I addressed the family at the table 
 thus : 
 
 " 'Good evening. Pardon my intrusion, and do not dis- 
 turb yourselves; but by all means finish your supper." 
 
 " 'Good evening, sir,' was the reply from the man, whom I 
 will call Maloy. 'We are glad to see you; will you sit by 
 and have pot-luck with us?' 
 
 " 'No, thank you,' I answered. 'I am an American — and 
 it is my custom when traveling in any country to make un- 
 ceremonious calls like this, in order to see the people as 
 they really are at home.' 
 
 "After supper was over I related to Maloy and his family 
 several stories and incidents concerning the Fenians and 
 their doings in America, which, of course, interested them 
 greatly. When it was fairly dark I arose to go, and Maloy 
 went outside with me. He had previously informed me that 
 he was employed by the g-ovemment in the civil service. I 
 will not state in what capacity, for, although so many years 
 have elapsed, the true-hearted Irishman may still be earning 
 his bread in the same humble employment, and the knowl- 
 edge that he assisted one whom he supposed to be a Fenian 
 
 (2G1)
 
 202 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 leader in 1873 might even now cost him dearly. When we 
 were outside the door I said: 
 
 " 'The fact is, Maloy, I am a Fenian leader, and the police 
 are after me! I have been dodging them for two days, and 
 thov are looking for me now in Cahir! I have important 
 papers for prominent Fenians in various parts of Ire- 
 land, and it would delay our plans if I am obliged to de- 
 stroy them. TUit I fca'r I must do so at once unless you can 
 help me. I would almost sooner forfeit my life than to lose 
 these papers, and I shall fight to my last breath rather than 
 let them fall into the hands of the police, for it might be the 
 ruin of several good men! My plan is to double back to 
 Clonmel, and I want your assistance to get me out of Ca- 
 hir!' 
 
 " 'Oh, sir,' he replied, 'it is too bad you did not let me know 
 a little sooner, for the mail car is gone ; it starts at 6 o'clock.' 
 "Just as he had finished speaking, a car came rumbling 
 past and he exclaimed joyfully: 
 
 " 'We are in luck ! There goes the mail car to the post- 
 office! Come with me!' 
 
 "We hastened through a narrow, dark lane to the gate — 
 the same I had entered from Clonmel — walked through and 
 at a hundred yards beyond waited for the mail car, which 
 soon came along. Maloy being well acquainted with the 
 driver, hailed him, saying that a friend of his wanted a ride 
 to Clonmel. 
 
 "After shaking hands warmly with Alaloy, I climbed upon 
 the car, and the next instant I was whirling along — into fresh 
 dangers — in that unifjue vehicle, an Irish jaunting car. 
 
 "Arriving near Clonmel I saw a tavern, and ascertaining 
 from the driver that it was near the railway station, I left 
 the car and entered the place, only to find that the best, and, 
 in fact, the sole food to be had for supper was eggs. Hav- 
 ing been on the move since dawn, after a sleepless night, and 
 almost without food, I hesitate to divulge how many eggs
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 20.'J 
 
 I disposed of that evening', for the statement might tend to 
 throw distrust on the general veracity of my narrative. Hav- 
 ing dried my wet clothes and put myself into a presentable 
 condition, I went to the railway station to take the 1 1 p. m. 
 train to Dublin. Seating myself on a bench outside, I 
 handed some money to a porter and sent him for a ticket, 
 which he obtained. There were but a few waiting about, 
 so I stepped into the small waiting room and sat down near 
 three other men. The one nearest, whom I at once put 
 down for a local policeman in private clothes, turned and 
 spoke to me. I replied with civility to his questions until 
 finally he said: 'But are you not an American?' I replied to 
 his startling question in such a manner that he appeared sat- 
 isfied. 
 
 " 'You must excuse me, sir, for questioning you,' he ex- 
 plained, 'but there has been a great forgery in London, and 
 it is said some of the parties are in Ireland, and I am anxious 
 to get a claim on the £5,000 that is olYered for each one of 
 them.' 
 
 "I told him that instead of being offended I was greatly 
 pleased to see the zeal he exhibited in the execution of his 
 duties, and expressed the hope that he might be successful 
 in securing at least one of the forgers, which would give him 
 not only the £5,000, but undoubtedly promotion. I got on 
 the train all right, resolving that I would not speak another 
 word of English while in Ireland, and forthwith turned into 
 a Russian, who could speak 'une veree leetel Francais,' con- 
 fident that I should not be in danger of exposure by en- 
 counter with any one who could speak the Russian language. 
 I threw aw^ay the ordinary Scotch cap I had been wearing, 
 and put on the Glengarry. When I arrived at the Mary- 
 borough junction, the train on the main line from Cork was 
 late, and I walked up and down on the platform, well know- 
 ing that the detectives would scrutinize more closely those 
 who appeared to shrink from observation ; therefore, I af-
 
 204 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 fected the bearing of a Russian prince as nearly as I knew 
 how. 
 
 "I got on the train unmolested, and arrived in Dublin at 
 I a. m. 
 
 "There appeared to be some special watching of those 
 leaving the train, but I passed out unchallenged and took a 
 cab. Not knowing the name of any hotel, I told the driver 
 I would direct the route as we passed along, and he drove 
 away at a great pace. \'ery soon I noticed another cab fol- 
 lowing at an equal speed. I had mine turn a corner, but 
 the one behind came thundering after; and though I bade 
 my driver to turn at nearly every corner- still I could not 
 shake ofT my supposed pursuer until, after apparently being 
 followed about two miles, the stem chaser turned off in an- 
 other direction, much to my relief. We soon approached the 
 Cathedral Hotel, where I alighted about 2 a. m., rang up the 
 porter, and was shown to a room. 
 
 *'At 7 o'clock injhe morning I sent for my bill, left the 
 hotel, went direct to the 'Jew' quarters, and purchased a valise 
 and some second-hand clothes. Noticing the old Jewess' looks 
 of curiosity at seeing one of my appearance making such 
 purchases, I remarked: 'A Fenian friend has got himself into 
 a scrape, and the police are after him ; so I am going to get 
 him out of the country, and wish to let him have some things 
 that do not have too new a look.' At hearing those (in Ire- 
 land) magic words, 'Fenian,' 'police,' she became all smiles, 
 let me fill the valise with old garments at my own price, and 
 at starting said: 'God bless you! May you have good luck, 
 and get ofY safe to America!' 
 
 "I then went to a more pretentious locality, where I pro- 
 cured a silk hat draped with mourning crape, put the Glen- 
 garr)' in my pocket, and became a Frenchman. At this mo- 
 ment I discovered that I had left in my room at the hotel a 
 large silk neck-wrapper rjn which were embroidered my ini- 
 tials. I inmiediately stepped into a shop and left my new
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 205 
 
 purchases, rcsmning the Scotch cap, and started for the ho- 
 tel (where I had given no name), to secure the dangerous 
 article left behind. Coming in sight of the hotel, I saw a man 
 stationed opposite, leaning on a cane, who appeared to be 
 watching the house. As I approached nearer he kept his 
 eyes covertly fixed upon me ; therefore, instead of entering the 
 hotel, I walked past it and turned the next corner, glancing 
 backward as I did so, and, to my dismay, saw the man fol- 
 lowing me. I now adopted the same plan of action that suc- 
 ceeded so well at Cork, and in half an hour I had shaken liim 
 ofif and returned to the place where I had left my new silk 
 hat and valise. Donning the hat, with valise in hand, I was 
 soon seated in an Irish jaunting car, on my way to a station 
 about ten miles out on the railway to Belfast. 
 
 "Upon reflection I was satisfied that the chambermaid had 
 found the silk wrapper and taken it to the hotel ofifice. There 
 the initials, together with the knowledge of my arrival at 
 so unusual an hour, without baggage, and my early depart- 
 ure, had aroused suspicion, and the police had been notified. 
 At about 1 1 o'clock I arrived at the station, and going into 
 a store paid my Dublin cabman and called for lunch. About 
 five minutes before the train was due from Dublin I walked 
 into the empty station, presented myself at the ticket office, 
 and said: Tarlez vous Francais, Monsieur?' and received 
 the reply, 'No.' I then said in a mongrel of French and 
 English that I wished for a ticket to Drogheda — not daring 
 to purchase one through Belfast. Supposing me to be a 
 French gentleman, he was very polite and ordered the porter 
 to take my baggage to the platform. There I found myself 
 the solitary waiting passenger. As the train approached I 
 saw a pair of heads projecting from the carriage windows, 
 eagerly scanning the platform. Two men jumped off, and, 
 hastening to the station master- began to talk to him in an 
 excited manner, all the time glancing toward me. As I 
 passed near the group to get on the train, I heard the agent
 
 Itu; FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 sav: "He is a Frenchman.' No doubt he informed them thai 
 I had purchased a ticket to a way station only— a fact that 
 would naturally allay suspicion. At the next stopping place 
 they actual!}- arrested a man, but went no further. 
 
 "I afterward ascertained that twelve men were arrested on 
 tliat and the preceding day, among the number being a 
 fraudulent debtor trying to escape by the same steamer, the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 "The following extracts from contemporary newspapers 
 win give tiie reader some idea as to what a 'hot' place Ire- 
 land was for me: 
 
 '•(By Cable to the New York Herald.) 
 
 "London. 
 "Three shabbily dressed men, who, from their accent, arc 
 believed to be Americans, were arrested in Cork, Ireland, 
 this nu^rning while attempting to deposit $12,000 in that city. 
 "They are supposed to be the parties who recently com- 
 mitted the frauds on the Bank of England." 
 
 "(From the London Times of same date.) 
 
 "To Editor of Times. 
 
 "Sir: The case of Dr. Hessel has been so lately before the 
 public, anfl so much has been written both in the English 
 and German papers against the English police, that prob- 
 ably a little evidence upon the procedure of the German (or, 
 I ought probably to say, the Bavarian) may not be unin- 
 teresting at the present moment. Myself and son, a sub- 
 lieutenant, R. X., made a great attempt to reach the gro- 
 tesque old city of Nuremberg on Saturday last, arriving there 
 about 7 o'clock. We were asked to put our names in the 
 stranger's book, as usual, which we did. and retired to bed. 
 Imagine our surprise, on rising on Sunday morning, at re- 
 ceiving a visit from one of the chief police officers, request- 
 ing us to 'legitimize ourselves.' I asked him his object for 
 making this demand, when he replied that a man named 
 ^^'a^rcn was wanted by the English police. 
 
 "In vain I showed him an old passport and letters ad- 
 dressed to me, showing that my name was Warner; he in- 
 formed me that I could not leave my room, and placed two
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 267 
 
 policemen at the door. At i o'clock I remembered an in- 
 fluential inhabitant of the town who knew me, and I sent for 
 him. He at once went to headquarters and gave bond for 
 me to a large amount, and at 6 o'clock in the evening myself 
 ^nd son were released. You will remember that in the case 
 of Dr. Hessel four persons swore to his identity before he 
 was deprived of his liberty. In my case a similar name to 
 that required was sufficient to deprive me of mine. 
 
 "I have since received, thanks to the strenuous and prompt 
 action of the British Minister at Munich, a very ample apol- 
 ogy in writing for the blunder that had been committed. It 
 was signed by the Burgermeister of the city, and as the in- 
 telligence of this worthy seems to be equaled by his sim- 
 rtlicitv, he sends me a safe pass to protect me in my further 
 travels, in case Warner should again be considered the same 
 as Warren. I remain, sir, vour obedient servant, 
 
 "CHARLES W. C. WARNER, 
 "Ex-Sherif¥, London and Middlesex. 
 
 "I now return to mv narrative. In the second-class com- 
 partment where I sat were two burly, loud-talking, well-in- 
 formed farm proprietors, one of whom had imbibed a little 
 too freely of the native distillation. The sober one had just 
 finished readingf a colimin article on the 'Great Bank For- 
 gery' to his lively companion, who at length turned and ad- 
 dressed me. I answered him politely in broken French, and 
 he then went on to give his opinion of the bank affair, as 
 nearly as I can remember, as follows: 
 
 " 'You, being a Frenchman, don't understand about our 
 -eat bank; but I tell you those Yankees did a clever thing 
 when they attacked that powerful institution. The one they 
 have got penned up here in Ireland can't possibly escape; 
 indeed, according to the newspapers, he is already in the 
 hands of the police. I am almost sorry to hear it, for in get- 
 ting the best of that bank so cleverly the rascal deserves to 
 get off; and see, here is a description of him.' 
 
 "I loo]-:ed at the paper and saw that it was a fair general 
 outline of my appearance, even to my ulster which I had with
 
 2GS FROM ■\\''ALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 nic in the valise, and the Scotch cap which was in my pocket. 
 Before we reached Drogheda I had explained to one of my 
 new friends, in l)roken French, that, owing to my ignorance 
 of the English language, I had purchased a wrong ticket, 
 and being liable to make a similar mistake, should feel 
 obliged if he would take the trouble to procure me a ticket 
 at that station. He readily assented, and by this means I 
 procured it without exposing myself. The hunt for me was 
 becoming so extremely hot that I dared not show myself 
 again at a ticket ofifice; and if I should be found on a train 
 ticketless that fact might lead to closer scrutiny — the rule in 
 that country being that every passenger must be provided 
 with a ticket before entering a car. 
 
 "The train arrived in Belfast at 9 o'clock, and I at once 
 took a cab to the Glasgow steamer. It w^as very dark, and I 
 went on board unobserved, two hours before the time of 
 departure. Going do\\'Ti into the saloon cabin, I saw the 
 purser sitting near the entrance, to whom I said: Tarlez 
 vous Francais?' He shook his head. I then asked in 
 jargon for 'une billet a Glasgow.' Surmising what I 
 wished, he gave me a ticket, putting on it the number of my 
 berth. 
 
 "Expecting to be followed, I had taken that instant pre- 
 caution of impressing on the purser's mind that I was a 
 Frenchman. I passed into the washroom, just opposite 
 where the purser sat, washed myself and brushed my hair. 
 Just at this moment I heard steps descending the cabin stair- 
 way, then the words: 
 
 "'Purser, a cab just brought a man from the Dublin train. 
 Where is he?' 
 
 " 'Oh, you mean the Frenchmar ' replied the purser; 'he's 
 in the washroom.' 
 
 "While this was passing I had put on my silk hat and taken 
 up my valise, and was standing before the glass (a la Fran- 
 cais) taking a final view of my toilette, and snapping ofif some
 
 :^&:- 
 
 l^e^^t^ 
 
 ■I DEMAND A GUARD AXD SHKLTKR FOR MV UIKK, THK
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 271 
 
 imaginary dust and lint, as the two detectives stepped in, and 
 after looking mc well over went out, and I saw them no 
 more. That proved to be the last ordeal through which I 
 passed in Ireland. After being convinced that they had left 
 the steamer I went to my berth, and being thoroughly ex- 
 hausted I fell asleep in an instant, not awaking until the 
 steamer was entering the harbor of Glasgow. 
 
 "After my arrest a month later in Scotland, during the 
 transfer to London and afterward to Newgate, while await- 
 ing trial, the detectives told me that they were in Cork three 
 hours after I had left, and one of them related their ad- 
 ventures substantially as follows: 
 
 " *We arrived in Cork Saturday afternoon and were not 
 long in finding the temperance hotel where you stayed on 
 Friday night, and the hat you left behind. After a long hunt 
 we ascertained that a jaunting car had left the stand some 
 hours previously and was still absent. 
 
 " 'We had a good laugh at those blunder-heads, the Cork 
 oflficers, 1-etting you slip through their fingers, and then 
 showed them how we do things. After some delay we traced 
 the cab across the bridge to the shop where you got the boy 
 to go for it. The shopwoman was quite voluble about you, 
 saying she knew all the time that you were an American by 
 the accent, and described the bag and ulster which we had 
 ascertained were in your possession. Of course, we were 
 now satisfied that we were on the right scent, but could get 
 no further trace or the direction taken by the cab. We 
 therefore sent dispatches to all the telegraph stations within 
 fifty miles to put the police on the watch and sent messen- 
 gers to the outlying places, but somehow you slipped 
 through our meshes, and nothing turned up until the car- 
 man returned at about up. m., as drunk as a soldier on 
 furlough. After putting him under a water tap until he was 
 half drowned we got him sober enough to tell where he had 
 left you; but he swore you were a priest, and his evident 
 16
 
 272 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 sincerity caused us all to roar with laup^htcr. This angered 
 him, ami ho said: "Ye may twist me head an' dhroun me in- 
 tirelv, bill 1 wull niver spake another wurrud about the jintel- 
 man at all, at all," and sure enough we could get noticing 
 more out of him. 
 
 " 'We had a carriage ready, and, jumping in, we were at the 
 waysitlc inn by midnight and terrified the old woman half 
 out of her wits in arousing her out of bed. After a while 
 she gathered them sufficiently to show us that you had six 
 hours the start of us. The boy who carried your bag could 
 give us no points, but we concluded you intended taking the 
 branch line at Fermoy for Dul^lin. We drove right on, ar- 
 riving at the Fermoy station at i p. m., but, getting no trace 
 we telegraphed to all the stations along the line to Dublin, 
 and there as well to be on the lookout. Who would ever 
 have thought of your taking the opposite direction, penning 
 yourself in at the end of a branch line, at a small inland town 
 like Lismore? Why, you were, as we discovered the next 
 morning, at that moment sleeping quietly at the Lismore 
 Hotel, and only about ten miles from where we were work- 
 ing so industriously for that £5,000! Well, you "done" us 
 fine that time! 
 
 " 'After you so cleverly threw us off the trail, we could get 
 no trace until Sunday morning, when we received a dispatch 
 from Lismore, stating that a man had come on the last train, 
 stayed at the hotel and left at daylight without paying his 
 bill. "Hello!" said I, as soon as I read the dispatch, "we 
 never .suspected Lismore; he has been there all night and is 
 off again !" We telegraphed to Clonmel, Waterford and other 
 places; then left for Lismore, where we arrived, paid your 
 ])\\\ and took the bag with us. Surmising that you might 
 make for Clonmel, we looked for and found the place where 
 you got the car, but no news as to what direction you had 
 taken. It would have made you laugh, as it did us, to see 
 the old livery man stamp about and tear his hair when he
 
 VIA THE PIUMROSE WAY. 27:5 
 
 found how easily he could have made the £5,000 — if he had 
 "only known." 
 
 " 'Starting on the way to Clonnicl, we soon had news which 
 satisfied us we were once more on the right track. Shortly 
 after we met, sure enough, the cab you had sent back from 
 the country store. Arriving there we took the boy, who 
 had just returned from driving you to Clonmel, with us, and, 
 feeling sure that we should soon come up with you, we made 
 our horses spin toward that town. Arriving there, we saw 
 the inspector, who informed us that he had sent a constable 
 in pursuit of, a man who had hired a car to go to Cahir.' 
 (This must have been one of the men in the car whom I es- 
 caped by dodging into the ruined cottage.) 'It being then 
 sundown we drove to Cahir with all speed, arriving there just 
 after dark, passing the Clonmel mail car inside the gate; but 
 it contained no one but the driver. 
 
 " 'We soon found the constable sent from Clonmel, who 
 said you had disappeared into the fort, where a friend must 
 have concealed you, and that you must be there still. He 
 then took us to the fort, which was closed for the night. As 
 soon as my eyes lighted on the ruined cottages I asked him 
 if he had searched them and received an answer in the nega- 
 tive. "Why," said he, "they are, as you see, all open to the 
 day, withe ut roof, doors or windows, and no one would 
 think of hiding in them." "You are a fool," I replied. "Give 
 me your lamp and come with me." After a look around 
 and seeing how easily any person could stand in a corner 
 ovt of sight, I remarked to him emphatically that he was 
 the biggest specimen of a goose I had ever seen in my line. 
 "I think," said I, "you had better go home and play pin. Here 
 is where he dodged you, and now he is off again, with an 
 hour or more start." We worked until after midnight and 
 gave Cahir such a "turning over" that the inhabitants won't 
 soon forget, but could not get hold of the least trace, except 
 at one place (Alaloy's), where a woman said a stranger came
 
 274 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 in at supper time, who said he was an American seeing the 
 people in their homes. We cross-questioned the man, but 
 could get nothing out of him more than that you had de- 
 parted. 
 
 " 'At last we gave it up, went to the hotel to get some sleep, 
 which we needed badl}^ and the next day went to Dublin, 
 heard about the finding of your neck-wrapper at the Cathe- 
 dral Hotel, and knocked about Ireland for some time. Dur- 
 ing this time we arrested several persons, but soon discov- 
 ered none of them was the right party, and we never obtained 
 a genuine trace until you were discovered later in Edin- 
 burgh.' "
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE FLOWERS IN THE PRIMROSE WAT ARE SWEET. 
 
 As narrated in an earlier chapter, I left England two days 
 before the first lot of forged bills were sent in. I left serene 
 and confident of the future. My departure was a happy 
 event in a double sense. All my negotiations had been car- 
 ried on at a considerable expense of nerve, and in leaving I 
 left everything in such trim that success seemed certain, with 
 all chance of danger eliminated from the venture. I felt that 
 the trying toil was now all over, with nothing for me to do 
 but to reap the harvest, and that without elTort or care on my 
 part. 
 
 So, when the late November sun looked down on me — I 
 crossed by daylight this time — standing on the deck of that 
 same wretched Channel steamer, it looked on a liappy man. 
 T did not know then that success in wrongdoing was ever a 
 failure. The anxious toil of the London and Continental ne- 
 gotiations was a thing of the past. Was I not young; 
 wealth was or soon would be mine; was I not in perfect 
 health, body sound and digestion good, and, above all. was 
 not the woman I loved awaiting me in Paris, to give herself 
 to me, in all her youth and beauty, and then somewhere 
 across the Westerji waters would I not find in some tropic 
 seas a paradi=e, which gold would make mine, where I coul 1 
 bear my bride, and there, turning over a new leaf, live and 
 die with the respect of all good men mine? 
 
 (27.^)
 
 276 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Here was a stately structure I was going to erect, but how 
 rotten the foundation! I, in my egotism, fancied, in my 
 case, at least, the eternal course of things would be stayed, 
 and that justice would grant me a clean bill of health. She 
 did give me that, but it was long years after, and only when 
 she had had from me her pound of flesh to the very last 
 ounce. 
 
 I joined my sweetheart and her family at the Hotel St. 
 James, Rue Saint-Honore. She was an English lady, and 
 for a whole year our courtship had been going on, and now, 
 our wedding day being fixed a week ahead, we all set out 
 sight-seeing and having a good time generally. I now en- 
 gaged the coachman I had met before as my valet, and a 
 ver)^ good, all-around, handy man he proved to be. Of 
 course- I was anxious to hear that the first Coup on the bank 
 had succeeded, but I was tolerably confident it was all right. 
 I lad it fallen through it would have proved awkward for me. 
 In that event the Paris climate would have been too warm 
 for me, and I would have had to find a score of excuses to 
 hasten our marriage and leave for the Western World as 
 speedily as possible. 
 
 T had a four-in-hand coach, and we drove everywhere in 
 and around Paris, once to Versailles and on to Fontaine- 
 bleau, where we dined, a merry party. What a strange 
 world is this, what a stage it is, ever crowded with tragedies, 
 too! How absolutely in the dark we are as to the motives 
 and actions of men. 
 
 There I was^ the centre of merry pleasure parties in gay 
 Paris. A young dude, driving my four-in-hand, and yet a 
 criminal, waiting in hourly expectation a telegram an- 
 nouncing success in a great plot which, when it c*xploded, 
 was destined to startle the business world, and to hurl me 
 from the summit of happiness, where I was reveling, appar- 
 ently free from care, to the misery of a dungeon, banishing 
 the happy smiles from my face and the joyous ring from my
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 277 
 
 voice, leaving in place of the smiles the sombre gloom of the 
 prison, and in place of the snatches of song and eager accents 
 I was wont to speak with, the hushed voice subdued to prison 
 tones. 
 
 Late one morning, on opening my eyes, my first thought 
 was: It will be hit or miss at the Bank of England within 
 the next sixty minutes. We had engaged for a coaching 
 party to Versailles and were to dine there. I left for the drive 
 that day with a dim fear that before the sun set I might be 
 under the necessity of leaving Paris in a hurry. 
 
 When starting for Versailles I left my servant behind to 
 wait for the expected telegram, and to bring it to me by rail. 
 We were at dinner, and I was just raising a glass of cham- 
 pagne to my lips when I saw my valet, Nunn, crossing the 
 esplanade. He entered the room and handed me a telegram. 
 Tearing open the envelope I read : 
 
 "All well. Bought and shipped forty bales." 
 
 That meant the first lot for $40,000 had gone through 
 safely. It was certainly a great relief. The next day I re- 
 ceived $25,000 in United States bonds, from George in Lon- 
 don, my first share of the proceeds. I sold the bonds in 
 Paris, receiving payment in French notes. 
 
 On Thursday, the day before our marriage, I had a tele- 
 gram from Mac and George to meet them in Calais, and to 
 Calais I had to go. I arrived there at midnight, just before 
 the Dover steamer got in, and was on the pier to meet them. 
 We exchanged warm greetings; as we did so- Mac placed a 
 small but very heavy bag in my hands, and they began laugh- 
 ing over my surprise. It contained £4,000 in sovereigns, 
 and was stuffed with bonds and paper money. We went 
 to a hotel near by, and there they counted out to me the very 
 nice sum of $100,000 in gold, bonds and French money. As 
 they were going back on tlie same steamer, and I was to re- 
 turn to Paris by the train carrying the passengers of the 
 steamer just arrived, we had only a brief half hour's talk,
 
 27S FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 After g^iving me the money we went out and sat down on 
 the pier, and that conversation and scene are forever im- 
 pressed on my memory. I shall make no attempt to de- 
 scribe cither, but could both be put on the stage, with the 
 audience in possession of a full knowledge of the enterprise 
 we were embarked in, there would be seen a picture of human 
 life such as the novelist or playwright never had the imag- 
 ination nor the daring to depict. To the earnest student of 
 human life it would have been a revelation. 
 
 There we were, three earnest, ambitious young men, en- 
 thusiastic for all that was good and noble. I about to wed 
 a pure-souled woman, who thought me an angel of goodness, 
 and about to fly with my plunder and bride to Mexico. My 
 two companions were returning to London to continue car- 
 r^-ing out a giant scheme of fraud against a great moneyed 
 institution, but there vve were, with $100,000 in plunder at 
 our feet, sitting under the stars, listening to the dash of the 
 waves, and talking not at all like pirates and robbers, but 
 much more like crusaders setting out on a crusade, or like 
 pilgrims going on a pilgrimage. 
 
 I told my friends I should go to the City of Mexico for a 
 year or two, and then meet them somewhere in America 
 where we would unite our wealth to inaugurate some scheme 
 that would benefit thousands in our own generation and 
 millions in the generations to come. We would hedge our- 
 selves about with kindly deeds, so live as to win the respect 
 fjf all, and when under the sod live in the eyes and mouths of 
 men. 
 
 Too soon the whistle sounded, and we had to say good- 
 bye, which we did in an enthusiasm that told how deeply we 
 felt. We were walking in the Primrose Way, its flowers and 
 songs were sweet, and we thought their perfume and melody 
 eternal. 
 
 I again arrived in Paris at daylight, but early as it was, my 
 sweetheart, escorted by my servant, was waiting my arrival.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 270 
 
 It was our wedding morning. During our drive to the ho- 
 tel, radiant with joy, she told me the separation had been a 
 cruel one, and she was so happy to know we should never be 
 separated again! 
 
 At 4 o'clock that afternoon we were married at the Ameri- 
 can Embassy. 
 
 I had told every one I was going to leave the next day for 
 Havre, to embark for Newf York. Our baggage was all 
 packed and placed in a van, which I accompanied to the 
 Havre station, and had stored there. Sunday I purchased 
 one ticket to Bayonne, one for Madrid and one to Burgos, 
 each from different agencies. On Sunday morning I took 
 a van to the Havre station, and transferring our baggage to 
 the road into Spain, checked all of it to Madrid. 
 
 My purpose was to sail by the Lopez & Co. steamer El 
 Rey Felipe from Cadiz to Mexico, which was advertised to 
 sail ten days later. 
 
 We were married very quietly on Friday, and our frie;i;ls, 
 wisely recognizing the fact that young married people lik^ 
 to be alone, the next day said good-bye and returned to Nor- 
 mandy. We spent a quiet and happy Saturday and Sunday, 
 and on Sunday night we left — my wife, servant and self — for 
 Cadiz, via Madrid. My wife, like all English people, knew 
 little of geography, and had such hazy notions of America 
 that she thought it quite the thing to go to such an out- 
 landish and far off quarter of the globe as America via a 
 Spanish port. Columbus, she knew, had gone that way, 
 and why should not we? 
 
 We had an all-night ride to Bayonne in one of those anti- 
 quated compartments used in railway carriages all over 
 Europe, but the ride was not tedious, nor was the night long. 
 This little earth had no happier couple, and, talking of the 
 happy years that lay before us, the night rushed by like a 
 fairy dream. 
 
 Where was my conscience? Why, my dear reader. I had
 
 2S0 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 sung- it such a song that it was delighted with the music, and 
 had, I was going to say, gone to sleep, but it had not It 
 was wide awake, and we w^ere good chums. We both — con- 
 science and I — had persuaded ourselves it was a virtuous 
 deed to do evil that good might come. My conscience was 
 perhaps as old as the sun, but I myself was young and too 
 inexperienced to see the fallacy of the argument, since I my- 
 self was the doer of the wrong; but, of course, I should have 
 hotly denounced any other such philosopher as a villain and 
 rogue. 
 
 The night flew by, and to our surprise we found 240 
 miles had slipped away and we were in Bayonne. Thirty 
 minutes more and we were speeding south, and soon crossed 
 the Bidassoa, the 'boundary between France and Spain. 
 Then my wife saying, "Now I will sleep," laid her head on the 
 shoulder of the happiest man in or out of Spain, and in ten 
 minutes her regular breathing told me she was in the land 
 of dreams. 
 
 The Pyrenees, in dividing France and Spain, stand between 
 two distinct peoples, and as the centuries go by the streams 
 of national life meet, but only to repel each other, never to 
 mingle. One has but to cross the bank to realize that he is 
 among a difTerent race. Dress, food and cooking — social 
 life, religious devotion, modes of thought — are all different. 
 To us here in America it is difficult to realize that so slight 
 a thing as a mountain barrier, easily traversed, crossed by 
 many defiles and good roads, should continue to separate 
 two distinct peoples. But so it is. Stranger still, for nearly 
 all time the inhabitants of the Spanish mountains have been 
 more or less opposed to the people of the Spanish plains, 
 and every century has seen several insurrections among the 
 mountaineers. In 1872 and '73 the Carlists held the moun- 
 tains and more or less fusillading was going on. The possi- 
 bility of my way being blocked by the Carlists never entered 
 into my calculations.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 281 
 
 The railway from Bayonne to Madrid is owied in Paris, 
 and it seems that the directors were paying blackmail to Don 
 Carlos, ostensibly to him, but really to several marauding 
 bands who plundered under the name of fighting for the 
 Don, upon the understanding that the railroad was not to be 
 meddled with. The directors had been paying 100,000 francs 
 a month. As will be easily believed, there was a difficulty in 
 the distribution of the money among so many greedy and 
 inartistic robbers, and the discontented determined to hold 
 up the railroad itself and stop all trains. Unluckily, the train 
 we w^ere on was the one they proposed to experiment on first, 
 and they proposed drastic measures, too — in fact, had blown 
 up or down a short tunnel, and torn up the rails in front of 
 our train. As we crossed the frontier a French gendarme 
 and Spanish civil guard appeared, demanding, passports. It 
 was, of course, a sure thing that I had them all right. It is 
 a safeguard under the protection of w'hich the man who has 
 anything to fear slips through the fingers of frontier guards 
 and police, while the honest man quite frequently neglects 
 the necessar}^ formalities and is detained. 
 
 Our train crossed the bridge over the Bidassoa and we 
 were on Spanish soil. Soon we entered the gorges of the 
 Pyrenees, and while speculating whether I should awaken 
 my wife to see the magnificent scenery all necessity for awak- 
 ening any one on that train was over. Three or four musket 
 shots rang out, our train was ofif the rail, and after a crash or 
 two came to a sudden stop, and then a babel arose, while the 
 train was surrounded by armed men. It was laughable. It 
 seemed like an opera boufTe, the real thing, this motley array 
 of brigands, all trying to maintain under dilificulties the grave 
 Spanish exterior. 
 
 One monkey of 18 or 19 years, armed, came to our com- 
 partment, and, pointing to my chain, said he wanted it and 
 my watch. None of us understood Spanish, but we all com-
 
 2S2 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 preliended his meaning readily. I refused to make him a 
 gift, and got rid of him easily. 
 
 We were all ordered to alight and our captors seemed in- 
 clined to be ugly. Myself and party were about the only 
 well-dressed people on the train, and, seeing a priest close 
 bv, I went up to him, and ascertaining he could speak 
 French, I began, in ver}' bad French indeed, to threaten with 
 verv dire consequences Don Carlos and every band of Carl- 
 ists who dares to annoy an English Duke and Duchess, and 
 demanded instant shelter and a guard for my wife, the 
 Duchess. We could hardly keep from laughing, it was so 
 very like a melodrama. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the 
 situation, and I should have done so too, had I not had such 
 strong reasons for quick passage through Spain to blue 
 water on the South, for I desired to speedily put some leagues 
 of Neptune's domain between myself and the Old World. 
 
 The priest, although a sallow, sombre fellow, was a very 
 good one, and seemed to realize the gravity of the situation, 
 for, calling the chief to him, he warned him to be careful. 
 That gentleman came up, and drawing himself up said very 
 proudly: "Sir, we are soldiers, not robbers." I said I was 
 ver}^ glad to know it, and demanded to be informed if I was 
 a prisoner or not, and was told I was not, but with the same 
 breath he said he would be obliged to detain us for a few 
 days. There was a fonda, or inn, close by, and leaving my 
 wife there, I finally managed by a liberal use of money to 
 secure an ox-cart, and by virtue of great generalship on the 
 part of myself and servant, got all our baggage out of the 
 wrecked train and safely up to the inn. 
 
 Spaniards are provokingly slow, but by riding mule-back 
 five miles away I succeeded in seeing the local commander 
 of the Carlist forces, and he promised to send me the next 
 day a pass through the lines, going either south or north. I 
 got him also to include in the pass my fellow passengers. I 
 (lid this because there was a Portuguese family who had tick-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 283 
 
 cts for South America. They were then on their way to em- 
 bark at Lisbon, and the old gentleman, the head of the fam- 
 ily, was very weak and ill. 
 
 My safe plan would have been to return to France, make 
 my way to Brest and embark from there to New York, and 
 that would have been my course had I had any conception 
 of the slowness of the Spanish officials and of the fierce 
 storms and snows that dominate the passes of the Pyrenees 
 in Winter. 
 
 We were informed by many officials, railway guards, Cus- 
 tom House officers, Carlists, etc., that by crossing thirty 
 miles south we would pass the lines and get to a little town 
 on the railway where trains left frequently for Madrid. The 
 Spaniards about the place would never have let us start 
 out on that perilous trip had it not been for the money there 
 was in it. I had secured at a round price three century old 
 bullock carts, and in the afternoon of the second day we got 
 off. I had all the women and the sick Portuguese in one 
 cart, with the two other carts ahead heaped with luggage. 
 Thus there were eight bullocks, four mules and (unlucky 
 number) thirteen men engaged. 
 
 I had very misty notions as to our destination, but took 
 it for granted the baker's dozen of natives I had with me 
 knew what they were about. Snow was ever\'where, and 
 we were mounting up, up, up, on wheels, but I supposed 
 the highest altitude was only four or five miles away, and 
 that the dc/wn grade would be easy until we reached some 
 snug inn where we would find shelter for man and beast. 
 Then an early start by daylight and our novel jaunt would 
 come to an end in civilization and a railway. But I did not 
 know Spaniards, their country, the Pyrenees, nor what bliz- 
 zards can blow in sunny Spain. 
 
 Myself and my servant Nunn trudged on alongside the 
 cart with the women. It took an hour to get out of sight 
 of the fonda, and then we struck a fine, wide military road
 
 ::S4 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 that wound in and around the mountains, but always up and 
 deep in snow. Three, four o'clock came and still no sign of 
 the summit, but with the road winding in and out for miles 
 ahead. The sky began to darken, and without warning 
 down came the snow. Then frequent halts of the caravan 
 to rest the cattle. Deeper grew the snow, and as the dark- 
 ness began to settle down I realized the responsibility I had 
 unwittingly taken on my shoulders. I had four delicate 
 women in my forlorn party and found myself fast 
 in the midst of a snowstorm, in a wild pass of the Pyre- 
 nees. I recognized one blessing, how^ever, and w^as pro- 
 foundly grateful — the air was calm — and though the snow 
 fell thick and fast it was not driven by a storm. 
 
 Nunn proved to be thoroughly reliable, helpful and full of 
 cheer. Between us we kept up the spirits of the party. But 
 all hands began to grow hungry. Fortunately I had in my 
 baggage a large pate de foie gras. That is a fat goose liver 
 pie, and it was fat, happily so, as it went the further. Then 
 I got rugs and wraps out of my trunks for the women and 
 a couple of bottles of brandy, and administered liberal doses 
 all round. I soon had them happy and full of courage. It 
 was certainly better to have them full of Dutch courage in 
 a fool's paradise than to have them awake to their position, 
 for I quite expected it would end in a night camp-out in the 
 snow and sending an empty cart for supplies. Two hours 
 after dark we came to a dead halt, and my guides — they 
 were beauties— said they could go no further; the oxen 
 could not pull the carts. There was a fonda, they said, two 
 miles away, but did not show any disposition to help to get 
 there, and for that matter did not seem to care whether we 
 did or not. I ordered them to leave the middle cart behind 
 and divide the teams, one team to be added to the front cart 
 and one to be hitched in front of the mules. Our interpre- 
 ter was one of the Portuguese women, but we did not get 
 on very well, the Spaniards objecting to anything being
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 285 
 
 done, all of them apparently waiting for the Virgin or some 
 of the saints to come to our aid; but as neither did, Xunn 
 and I were exasperated, and finally took the matter into our 
 own hands. By my orders, despite the energetic protests 
 of the drivers, he unhitched the oxen from the middle team, 
 and between us we got them to the mule cart, hitched them 
 in front of the mules and pulled out and past the other carts. 
 Here the Spaniards halted us, and after an angry altercation 
 in the dark — and it was dark — they agreed to go on. So, 
 taking a yoke of oxen from our cart, they were put in front 
 of the four of the first cart, and off we started. Nunn vol- 
 unteered to stand by and guard the stranded cart; so giving 
 him two blankets and a little brandy we drove off in the 
 darkness. But not until, in sight of all, I had given him a 
 revolver, and each of the unlucky thirteen a good nip of 
 brandy. My anxiety about serious results was over as soon 
 we started, and in an hour and a half we halted in front of a 
 wretched mountain inn, patronized by muleteers, with the 
 first story for a stable, but none of us were disposed to be 
 particular. A supper of Spanish beans was soon ready, and 
 then a bed was made up on the floor, and the women were 
 soon asleep. After seeing that the mules and oxen were 
 fed, I took half an hour's nap. Then with two drivers we 
 started back, taking three yoke of oxen. What a tramp I 
 had back through the snow and storm! I was very happy, 
 however, for I knew my wife and party were safely sheltered, 
 and the excitement of action kept one from being gloomy. 
 
 In due time we found our stray, hitched to and started, 
 but it was hard pulling and the exhausted oxen had to come 
 to frequent halts. At last, just as I was beginning to feel 
 tired, we came to the fonda. 
 
 The snow had slackened, but the wind was beginning to 
 blow, so Nunn and I carried all the luggage and traps into 
 a corner of the stable below, and tumbling down into the 
 hay we were soon in the land of dreams. In my dreams I
 
 2Sa FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 was on a shoreless sea in a bark that silently and swiftly 
 circled around. Dark clouds closed in on all sides, while 
 inv boat sailed between ever-narrowing wallsj, the c'ouds 
 still closing in, until a giant hand grew out from a ragged 
 edge of the cloud w^all, which, seizing the prow of my boat, 
 pulled it into the gloom and darkness. I felt the clouds 
 brushing my cheek. I heard the roar of falling water, and 
 felt that niy doom was sealed. I thought of my wife, and, 
 trying to call her name, was dumb. I looked behind. Far 
 off and far up there w^as a glow of rosy light, and within 
 the aureole was her face, full of sorrow, looking at me with 
 pity in ever)' feature. As I looked, her face was slowly 
 eclipsed by a cloud. Then with one cry I plunged into the 
 sea — and awoke. 
 
 That dream would easily have joined the long procession 
 of forgotten dreams, but it was recalled many a time during 
 many years. And, try as I might, I felt it to be a portent and 
 a prophecy. 
 
 When I awoke in the morning I was dumfounded to find 
 a blizzard blowing that the cattle could not face, and with 
 every appearance of continuance. In reply to my inquiries 
 I learned they sometimes blew in those altitudes for a week. 
 This was pleasant news for me, and the prospect made me 
 nervous. It was now Thursday, the fourth day since our 
 departure from Paris. And what might have happened in 
 London in that time! Here was I as completetly isolated 
 from the outside world and from all news about my com- 
 panions in England as if on a desert isle. For all I knew 
 discovery might have been made, and full details of the 
 fraud might be blazing in the press of Europe. I began to 
 fear I had run into a trap. To make matters worse, the 
 steamer El Rey Felipe was advertised to sail Monday 
 from Cadiz, and to miss her seemed danger indeed. 
 
 I was a prisoner in a wretched inn in a defile of the 
 Pyrenees, with a civil war raging, and no telling what might
 
 ■IN .Tl V lilil'JAM 1 WAS (JN A SHUHKLIJSS Sl^A. ' — 1 '.iK'' -'•<'■
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY, 289 
 
 arise to detain us. Our objective point was only sonic 
 thirty-five miles away, but with roads deep in snow, with 
 wretched cattle and more wretched Spaniards for drivers, 
 there was poor prospect of making headway. I felt it would 
 never do for me to suffer longer detention. 
 
 I determined to leave my wife and baggage in charge of 
 Nunn, to put the $120,000 I had in a bag and start back 
 to the French frontier, cross into France and catch the 
 Saturday steamer from Havre to New York, explaining to 
 my wife that important business demanded my presence in 
 America, that she could follow on the next steamer and 
 that I would meet her on arrival. 
 
 In the mean time my unlucky thirteen were happy. 
 For were they not sheltered, with plenty of food and high 
 wages, all out of the pocket of the great lord the Virgin 
 herself must have sent to them? In fact, they were winning 
 from me what to them was a fortune. I w^as paying each 
 man a dollar a day and $5 for each team and cart. 
 
 From my experience I must give the Spaniards a good 
 name for honesty. Of course, they were charging me cut- 
 throat prices, but they were poor, and wealthy lords did not 
 often coine their way. Aside from that they were very 
 honest. ]\Tany things, such as rugs, shawls, lunch baskets, 
 dressing cases, etc., that must have seemed of value to them, 
 lay around everywhere, but not a single article was missing 
 during the entire trip. 
 
 All day long the blizzard blew. It w^as a novel situation, 
 and how I should have enjoyed it had I only possessed that 
 greatest of all blessings — a good conscience! As it was, I 
 was in misery, and could find no peace, not even in my 
 wafe's smiles and evident content to be anywhere with me 
 
 I saw that the cattle were well cared for and that the men 
 
 had both food and wine. Then my servant skimiished 
 
 around and decapitated sundr)-- chickens he found. So we 
 
 had roast chicken three times a day, and as I had a case 
 
 17
 
 290 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 of brandy in my luggage, we did not suffer. Nunn roasted 
 the chicktns, made the punch, got the Spanish men and 
 women to dance for our entertainment, and made himself 
 generally of service. About midnight the storm broke up, 
 and to my great satisfaction the stars came out. That night 
 I slept in the same room with the women, with a sheet hung 
 between us. 
 
 At 5 o'clock I had all hands up and breakfast under way. 
 I ordered the drivers and hangers on to have the teams 
 hitched up and ready at daylight. They all ate breakfast 
 hcartilv enough, but were not zealous about starting out. 
 They made all sorts of pretexts and excuses to avoid leaving 
 their comfortable quarters. Certainly the road was not an 
 inviting prospect, there being quite eighteen inches of snow, 
 but I was determined to start one way or the other, either 
 south with the party or north alone. After long argument 
 they, thinking they had me at their mercy, refused to hitch 
 up the cattle to make the attempt. I at once paid and dis- 
 missed them all. Determining to set out immediately alone 
 for the French frontier, carr}dng only a small bag slung 
 over my shoulder, and concealing the bonds and paper 
 money on my person, I would leave the greater part of the 
 gold in charge of my wife. I knew Nunn would be a trusty 
 guard to her. 
 
 I had not given her any intimation of my purpose, but 
 got my bag ready, and, secreting about me the bonds and 
 paper money, I took my wife into a room, and, first telling 
 her she must be very brave, explained my plan, pointing 
 f)ut T must not miss the Saturday steamer. She should 
 follow on the next, and I would leave her $20,000. But she 
 pleaded to go with me, said she would be no encumbrance, 
 would ride mule-back to the railway, no matter how far 
 away. I then called Nunn and told him T should leave him 
 in charge of the baggage, and that we were going to set 
 out at once. I praised his fidelity, and informed him I would
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 2'.)1 
 
 make him a present when he arrived all safe in New York 
 with the baggage. But when the sick man and his family 
 were told we were going they raised a howl. Tlie women 
 all hung on me crying and imploring me not to leave them 
 to despair and death. They would all perish, etc. 
 
 I had secured a good saddle mule, but with a man's saddle, 
 and my wife was sensible enough not to make an outcry 
 over the prospect of a ride man-fashion. She came out 
 warmly clad and mounted the mule, and I strapped some 
 rugs and a bundle of lunch behind the saddle. The owner 
 of the mule was at his head, halter in hand, ready to lead off. 
 The entire population were out staring open-mouthed. I 
 delivered a speech to my lucky-unlucky thirteen, telling 
 them in the best way I could that I was going in order to 
 deliver them all over to the vengeance of the military chief 
 of the district. That I should accuse them as robbers and 
 thieves, and that they might look for anguish that would 
 wring their hearts and souls. 
 
 They were greatly moved, and, pulling out my watch, I 
 informed them by pantomime and bad Spanish that if they 
 got the teams in harness and the luggage all packed on the 
 carts in tvcenty minutes I would take them into my favor 
 and resume our journey southward. 
 
 Spaniards are proverbially slow. But these Spaniards were 
 not slow, and a very few minutes saw us all once more 
 mounted on our cart, with the two baggage carts following, 
 and on our rocky way southward.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 FEAR SAYS "NO" TO HAPPINESS. 
 
 We passed during the day a military post and several 
 squads of armed men. Poor fellows! they were wretchedly 
 equipped, so far as garments went. They all examined us 
 curiously, but did not ofTer to stop or question us while 
 I marched on ahead of the cavalcade like a dnmi major, 
 giving the military salute to each party as we passed. I 
 ought to have been fatigued, but I was not. After about 
 five miles of uphill work we began to descend. Tlie road 
 was a masterpiece of engineering, and well it might be, for 
 it was one of five military roads the great Napoleon ordered 
 to be constructed across the Pyrenees, and it was done in a 
 thoroughly workmanlike manner. ' It wound in and out 
 and along defiles of stern beauty. 
 
 W^e halted for rest and refreshment at noon, and again 
 at 4 o'clock for an hour. At the last place we found some 
 Carlist officers, one a young Englishman, who was a good 
 fellow and most attentive. He was an aide-de-camp on -Don 
 Carlos' staflf. He told me there was no chance of his side 
 winning, but he was in it for the fun of the thing and in 
 hope of seeing some fighting. He had taken part in a num- 
 ber of skirmishes, and was by no means satisfied yet. He 
 volunteered to escort us through the lines, and was evidently 
 more than pleased to meet an English lady in the person 
 of my wife. 
 
 (202)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 293 
 
 It was beautiful to see him order about my muleteers and 
 bully them up hill and down. dale, not hesitating to use his 
 whip on them. About 5 o'clock we started off in great 
 shape, having some twenty miles to go to the little town on 
 the railway south of the Pyrenees. We had two lanterns 
 and a number of torches; it was a picturesque caravan in the 
 darkness. The yoimg officer rode beside the first cart, con- 
 versing with mv wife, while I walked in the rear. We had 
 reason to congratulate ourselves over our escort, he being 
 a brave and brilliant fellow and evidently a person of im- 
 portance. He little thought whom he was escorting. I was 
 pleased on my wife's account, as he was company, for her, 
 and, altogether, she thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of the 
 whole situation. 
 
 We had made a fine bed of hay and blankets for our sick 
 man. Nevertheless, he was a source of much anxiety and 
 trouble. At last, to the intense relief of all, we heard far 
 away the shrill whistle of a locomotive. It was sweet music 
 to my ears, for I realized the peril of the delay. We had now 
 arrived at the base of the southern slope of the Pyrenees 
 and the plain stretched out before us. We had just passed 
 through an intrenched camp that guarded the entrance to 
 the valley. Our escort had ridden ahead, and not satisfied 
 with smoothing the way for us, had turned out the guard 
 to do us honor. We halted for a few minutes, and several 
 uniformed officers came forward and were introduced to 
 my wife and me. It was a picturesque scene. The mantle 
 of snow covering all, the strange-looking mountaineers, the 
 eager-faced, boyish officers — French, English, Austrian — 
 all soldiers of fortune, who, in the dearth of great wars, were 
 seeking fame in the inglorious civil contest; our torches 
 casting fantastic shadows until the forest-covered mountain, 
 dark and frowning, though snow lay ever}'where, seemed 
 peopled with hosts of men — all made a picture never to be 
 forgotten by some of the observers.
 
 204 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Another mile and our escort had to leave us, but the town, 
 staiulinc: dark against the snow, was in plain view. By his 
 ad\icc I went ahead on foot with two men, in case any of 
 "the enemy" were prowling around, but found none until 
 we arrived in the towTi; then a scene of great excitement 
 to the townspeople arose. 
 
 \\'e were examined and cross-examined, and our state- 
 ments taken down in writing and sworn to by all hands. In 
 the mean time I had made beds for our sick man and the 
 ladies in the waiting room of the station, and about 2 
 o'clock I went to sleep. The station was fortified and full 
 of soldiers, but I did not care, being told the Madrid train 
 would start at daylight; if so, I would be in time for El Rey 
 Felipe, and would be sailing out of Cadiz harbor on Mon- 
 day over the blue water, westward ho! 
 
 After a two hours' nap I was up, paid of? my lucky 
 thirteen, giving them a present in addition to their due, with 
 a written paper certifying that they were honest and brave, 
 and had delivered me and mine in safety. 
 
 The weather continued very cold, and when the train, 
 consisting of two passenger and one baggage car, arrived 
 we found tliere were no heating arrangements, and we 
 shivered at the thought of an all-day's ride without fire or 
 heat across that windy plain. I determined to liiavd a 
 compartment to ourselves, for my wife and I had not had a 
 moment's privacy since the smash-up of the train. So we 
 fixed up a bed on the floor of a compartment for our sick 
 man, and I put his family in to look out for him. When 
 the train left we found ourselves, very much to our satis- 
 laclion, alone. I had telegraphed ahead to Burgi s to have 
 hot water cases, then the only mode of heating cars in 
 Europe, ready on our arrival. 
 
 The engineer of our train was an Englishman. As it was 
 so impf;rtant that I should not be delayed I gave him a 
 sovereign and his stoker another, and asked him as a
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 295 
 
 favor to make time. He said he would and kept his word. 
 But arriving at Burgos we found that the train from San- 
 tander going south was two hours late, so my wife and I 
 started out to see the famous town. 
 
 After a short view we made our way to the Cathedral, and 
 it was a sight! It is one of the many sacred edifices which 
 the piety of former ages bequeathed our own. One of these 
 sacred buildings — like the Strasbourg and Cologne Cathe- 
 drals, in the construction of which generation after genera- 
 tion of pious souls — pious according to the fashion of their 
 times — had given their days to the building and decoration of 
 the cloister or church where their lives were lived, and all 
 was done with loving and patient care. 
 
 We in our day may sneer at the monks and brothers 
 of the Dark Ages, but in those times of rude violence all 
 gentle hearted, scholarly souls found in the sanctity and 
 quiet of the cloister the only refuge open to them, and they 
 did good work, both in the domain of mind and in the 
 world of material things. Much that was "piety" and much 
 that was "faith" in their day is termed superstition in ours; 
 but who will deny that the simple piety and credulous faith 
 of their day was a million times better than the restless 
 skepticism and sad unrest of ours? 
 
 At Burgos I tried to get an English paper, but none was 
 to be had and no one there had ever seen one. 
 
 But here some startling news came flashing over the 
 wires. Nothing less than that there had been a revolution 
 at Madrid, the capital. Amadeo, the lately elected king, 
 had suddenly resigned, and a republic had been proclaimed 
 with Castelar at the head. 
 
 I began to see more and more what a fool I was to let 
 myself be caught at such a time in such a land, but still had 
 so much confidence in my good fortune that I felt I would 
 be on time for the steamer on Monday. 
 
 It was now 3 o'clock Friday. We were all aboard for
 
 206 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Madrid and just pulling out of the station. We would be due 
 there the next morning. From Madrid to Cadiz there is 
 only one through train in twenty-four hours, and that leaves 
 seven mornings a week; but, as it runs only fifteen miles 
 an hour, and is seldom on time at that, one must figure 
 on taJving an entire twenty-four hours for the journey. 
 Still, as we would be due Saturday morning, I had a big 
 margin for delay. 
 
 At last we were off. On the train and in every group 
 we passed tliere were signs of subdued excitement. Between 
 Royalists and Republicans sharp lines were evidently drawn 
 which soon were to culminate in bloody conflict. 
 
 Soon after lo o'clock we arrived in the walled town of 
 Avila, about eighty miles from the famous Escurial built 
 by the second Philip, and about 150 miles from Madrid. 
 Here we got an excellent dinner and good cofifee. But 
 dinner was spoiled for me by the disastrous intelligence that 
 martial law had been proclaimed and that the Government 
 had seized the roads running north from Madrid to transport 
 troops. 
 
 Here was a pretty pickle! I w-as enraged. I saw the 
 chief of the railway at Avila, but he was a fool, and under 
 the unwonted state of affairs had lost what little head he 
 ever had. 
 
 So once more our baggage was all piled out of the train, 
 and once more we had to go into camp on the floor of the 
 station, with a terrific din around us. 
 
 I arose early, and looking up the telegraph clerk and 
 railway chief, I made them both rich by the present to each 
 of five escudos. 
 
 Then I telegraphed Castelar and the Minister of War 
 that I was an Englishman, that I had my family with me, 
 and having important business in Madrid I must not be 
 detained in Avila. I demanded tliat he should at once 
 direct the military officials to send me on to Madrid by
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 297 
 
 special train. I also sent a telegram to Hernandez, president 
 of the road in Paris, offering 5,000 francs for a special train. 
 Another urgent message was sent to the superintendent in 
 Madrid repeating the offer for a special train, the same sum 
 to himself if he expedited the train. I also authorized him to 
 spend a similar amount if necessary in bribing the military 
 authorities. 
 
 At II o'clock I had a long telegram from him saying a 
 train would be made up at Avila. But an hour having 
 passed away, I sent him a message to order up an engine 
 and one car from Madrid. Another message arrived at 12 
 o'clock, and down came am engine and car. 
 
 Our baggage was hustled into the three front compart- 
 ments. I put Nunn and the Portuguese party in one and 
 my wife and I occupied the rear compartment. Tliank 
 Heaven! once more alone together. The soldiers and in- 
 habitants flocked around, and we were the observed of all 
 observers. 
 
 The local railway chief was more than anxious to see us 
 off, as I added another five to the five escudos already 
 given. Just then the telegraph operator flew out with an 
 order for our train to await the arrival of the train from 
 Madrid. 
 
 I stormed. I kept the wire hot with messages of protest 
 to ofificials. Two messages came from Madrid saying the 
 delay was but temporary. So there I sat in that musty com- 
 partment, my wife by my side and with a heart full of bitter- 
 ness, for I saw the precious hours slipping away, and with 
 them my chance of taking the Sunday morning train so as to 
 catch the Cadiz steamer. To miss it, I thought, meant ruin. 
 
 Hour after hour passed by, and there we sat. My secret 
 cause of unrest had to be kept locked in my breast, while 
 my young wife, all unsuspecting, was merry and happy, 
 chanting little snatches of song and telling me a hundred 
 times she was the happiest of women. She did not care
 
 29S FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 fi^r revolutions, nor for delays. Was she not with me! The 
 sun lx\<;~an to go down the sky, and the shadows fell. Still 
 we sat on, expecting;;- every moment an order to proceed. 
 The suspense was terrible. 
 
 At last about 6 o'clock an order came to have everything 
 ready to pull out for Madrid at 7, so very reluctantly we dis- 
 mounted to take supper in the station, and once more got 
 into the car. But no order came. The hours dragged on, 
 and I saw fate closing her hand on me. 
 
 The night wore on, when suddenly, toward midnight, the 
 operator rushed out of his office and, shouting to the en- 
 gineer, flew up to our compartment, said good-bye and in 
 a minute we were oflf. After that long and terrible day it 
 was hapi)iness to be moving. 
 
 I had given the engineer a tip; he put on steam, and as 
 we flew over the road hope returned. I felt we were safe. 
 At the rate we were going I should have two or three hours 
 to spare. We soon were at the Escurial. As fate would 
 have it we found here an order to run us on a side line and 
 to keep the track clear for a train going north. For two 
 miserable hours we waited and no train. Tlien I set the 
 wires in motion again, and just as the eastern skies grew 
 gray we started. 
 
 Soon after midnight I telegraphed to the railway author- 
 ities at Madrid to hold the train going south to Cadiz until 
 my arrival, offering $100 an hour for every hour's de- 
 tention. 
 
 Madrid is situated on a high sandy plain, storm-swept in 
 Winter worse than any plains in Northern Europe. We 
 had a whcc.ry engine. Four miles out it broke down, and 
 then I gave up the struggle. 
 
 At 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon, nine hours too late for 
 the Cadiz train, we arrived at Madrid, too late to reach 
 Cadiz by a special train. Not too late could the train liave
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 299 
 
 been started off as soon as ordered, but in Spain a special 
 train is an unheard-of thing-. 
 
 Mine from Avila was an innovation, only possible because 
 there was so much money behind it to all concerned at 
 both ends of the line. No Spaniard was ever known to be 
 in a hurry, and no particle of matter between his chin and 
 his sombrero holds any lurking suspicion that anything 
 born of a woman could be in a hurry or have any reason 
 for any sucli insanity. 
 
 Here I was at last in the much-longed-for Madrid, but 
 not on time, and I had nothing to do but to put in execu- 
 tion some new plan. Had I even at that late date resolved 
 to go to New York, I could have returned to France by 
 the Eastern route, via Barcelona, and all might have been 
 well. 
 
 I telegraphed to Lopez & Co. to Cadiz inquiring if they 
 would hold the El Rey Felipe for twenty hours. Tliey 
 replied they were under contract with the Government and 
 had to sail on time. So I said good-bye to that plan. 
 
 On consulting my memorandum I saw there was a 
 French steamer sailing from St. Nazaire, on the west coast 
 of France, for Vera Cruz, Mexico, which would touch at 
 Santander on Saturday for mails and passengers, and I 
 resolved to go by her; this, of course, meant retracing our 
 way through the hated Avila to Burgos, and changing there 
 for Santander. 
 
 Here we saw the last of the Portuguese family with their 
 sick member. They said good-bye with every expression 
 of gratitude, and in truth I was glad to see them ofif. We 
 were all very tired of them, and they had been a serious ex- 
 pense. That is, might have been serious, but as I paid that ex- 
 pense out of the Bank of England's cash I naturally could be 
 liberal in the extreme, and gave a salve to my conscience 
 by reflecting what a good-souled, charitable young man
 
 300 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 I was in looking out for these strangers and putting my 
 hand freely in my pocket in their behalf. 
 
 As soon as breakfast was over I hurried to the English 
 Embassy, and there securing files of the London papers 
 looked eagerly and nervousl}- through them. To my intense 
 relief I saw there was nothing in them. Therefore, I knew 
 all was serene in London and that the Old Lady was without 
 doubt giving out sovereigns by the tens of thousands for us. 
 
 \'er}' much relieved in mind I returned to the hotel, and 
 we set out to see ^Madrid.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 I WATCH THE PYRENEES SINK IN THE SEA. THEN SAIL. 
 O'ER GREEN NEPTUNE'S BACK. 
 
 It was II o'clock when we started. The streets were 
 thronged, and the throngs moving in one direction. That 
 was to the street hned on both rides with churches, whose 
 doors were flung wide open to the surging masses. We 
 went wdth the current and entered a famous church which 
 was crowded with the pious, their souls rapt in their devo- 
 tion. Like -all European churches, there were no seats, 
 but the audience, closely packed, knelt or stood. We 
 joined the w'orshipers, but looked around with curious eyes. 
 When the prayers were ended the street w'as one living mass 
 of people, all moving to\\'ard the outskirts of the town. We 
 went with the tide, and with the tide entered the arena, where 
 a bull fight was on — curious transition from church to arena. 
 It was a great sight — I mean that of seeing the people — • 
 there were 15,000 present in that amphitheatre. It looked 
 just like the old Roman arena, and to us was in all its details 
 intensely interesting. 
 
 On Alonday we visited the picture galleries and museums, 
 and on Tuesday w^e got our baggage down to the depot 
 once more, and purchasing our tickets we w^ere off for 
 Santander. I was too anxious to enjoy the scenery. We 
 were a day and a night on the journey, and arriving on 
 Wednesday I still had before me three days of anxiety. 
 
 Being thoroughly sick of Spain, I longed to be on blueS 
 
 (301)
 
 302 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 water with our good ship's prow pointed to the Western 
 World. Then I felt I could begin to enjoy life. I had a 
 charming wife — delightful companion — and once up anchor 
 all my haunting fears would die, and life's pleasures would 
 be mine to the full. But there in Santander the time dragged 
 wearily. To be sure, I had the English papers, but they 
 were nearly a week on the way, and a bad conscience finds 
 many a cause for fear. I was aching to be aboard. Saturday 
 came at last, and going early down to the headland at the 
 harbor's mouth, with my field glass I anxiously scanned the 
 Bay of Biscay to see if I could discern an3'vvhcre on the 
 horizon the smoke of the approaching steamer. Lingering 
 there until the dinner hour, I hastened to the hotel. 
 
 My wife was merry and happy. I was glad to see her so, 
 and found it difficult to conceal my solicitude. Going both 
 together to the headland we spent most of the afternoon 
 there. Night and then midnight came, and no steamer's 
 lights flashed in the dark waters of the bay. Heartsick and 
 anxious I went to bed, half resolved to take my wife into my 
 confidence, tell her in some measure the truth, and point 
 out to her the necessity of my taking flight, leaving her to 
 follow at her leisure. It would have been a terrible shock to 
 her, but I began to fear that the truth would come to her 
 ears some time. 
 
 Early the next morning my servant awoke me, asking 
 me to look out of the window. I ran to it, and looking 
 out, there in the bay, just in front of the hotel, lay a steamer 
 of the largest size and magnificent in her beauty. It was 
 a hai)py sight for me. 
 
 Xunn hired a boat for our luggage and a second for me, 
 and then, after a hurried breakfast, we boarded the steamer, 
 Nunn following with the baggage. Among other things I 
 had a favorite dressing case, and had given the servant 
 strict orders to keep it under his eye, but as soon as he 
 came aboard he inquired in great agitation if I had brought
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 303 
 
 it off with me. Upon my saying no he was quite overcome; 
 at the same time explaining that he had laid it on top of the 
 baggage in front of the hotel, and some one had stolen it. 
 While he was speaking a passenger came walking by with 
 the identical case in his hand. Nunn flew at the man and 
 seized both him and the bag, and sure enough he had the 
 thief, but I ordered him to let the man go, and he went 
 away shamefaced enough. He little thought when stealing 
 the bag that the owner was going on the same steamer. At 
 last we were afloat, and now I was all eagerness to hear the 
 steam monkey start to bring the anchor a-peak. It is 
 simply amazing how a bad conscience "moldeth goblins swift 
 as frenzy's thought." Even as I stood there I was not at 
 rest, but was impatient and suspicious of every movement 
 from the shore. As the long day dragged slowly on and 4 
 o'clock came, preparations for getting under way were 
 going rapidly forward. I took my field glasses, stationed 
 myself on the after deck and anxiously scrutinized every 
 boat leaving the shore. Suddenly a boat started out from 
 the head of the bay, pulled steadily by eight rowers, and my 
 conscience told me it meant danger, but the boatmen pulled 
 down along the shore, then suddenly stopped, and I could 
 see that they were passing a bottle around, taking a drink. 
 Soon I discovered a heap on the stern, which on closer in- 
 spection proved to be nets, and my fears boiled down showed 
 me they were simply fishermen and I an ass and somewhat 
 ashamed of myself. I felt I had really no cause for fear, 
 even had the steamer remained in harbor for a week. Just 
 then, with a mighty throb, the screw gave a turn, and it 
 was music to my ears. Tlien the waters of the bay were 
 churned into yeasty waves. The city and shores seemed to 
 glide by and our prow was pointed direct to the blue sea 
 rolling beyond. Soon the joyous billows were toying with 
 our ship, and huge as it was were tossing it as lightly and 
 easily as a child a toy.
 
 oOi FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 But, Still ill at ease, I walked the deck restless and! 
 unhappy. 
 
 I no long^cr feared arrest, was confident that never would 
 hand of human justice be laid on me, but I dimly felt that 
 there was a divine justice which would exact retribution. I 
 felt that if there was mind behind this frame of matter we see, 
 then He who made the natural law and decreed a penalty 
 for every infraction must have made an infallible decree for 
 every violation against the moral law. If so, where could 
 we poor insects go or hide, or how scheme or dodge to 
 escape the divine vengeance? 
 
 But as I stood on the deck that night and watched the 
 mountains sink into the sea I felt this all dimly, and tried to 
 sliake ofif the feeling. I stood fascinated, with many con- 
 flicting emotions sweeping through my mind, sadly w^atch- 
 ing the receding shores of Spain, and just as the highest 
 mountains were sinking in the sea my servant appearing at 
 my side informed me that dinner was ready and my wife 
 waiting. Sending him away and turning my face to the land, 
 I strained my eyes through the gathering gloom to discern 
 the distant shore. Then with a bitter feeling in my heart 
 I set out for the saloon, but stopped and quoting these lines — 
 
 "The day of my destiny is over, 
 And the star of my fate hath declined " 
 
 — ^went below. 
 
 Soon, under the warming influence of wine, forgetting all 
 my forebodings and looking into my wife's face beaming 
 with love and content, I could not refrain from saying to my- 
 self: I am a fool to doubt that happiness is mine. Am I not 
 Fortune's favorite? With love, youth, enthusiasm, health 
 and wealth on my side, what else save happy days and 
 nights and long years filled with content can be mine? 
 
 So, shaking ofif my forebodings, the eighteen days of our 
 voyage over green Neptune's back were ideal, and we 
 became objects of envy to all the passengers.
 
 
 i.i
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 307 
 
 Our ship was the Martinique, with French officers and 
 crew, and a fine, manly lot of men they were. The passengers 
 were mostly colonial people returning home to the French 
 colonies in the West Indies. They were nice, refined people, 
 but we were rather reserved and kept to ourselves. One of 
 the passengers had a dozen Spanish fighting cocks, and 
 they afforded us much amusement. There were frequent 
 mains on the! after deck and sometimes on the dinner table. 
 These were ver}^ popular, particularly with the ladies, who 
 were continually asking to have the cocks brought on 
 after dessert. A space w^ould be made in the centre of 
 the table and two cocks placed on it. How they loved 
 fighting! They certainly enjoyed it far better than the 
 spectators. There were four long tables, all crowded, but 
 when the main was started the other tables were deserted 
 and the passengers packed around ours. 
 
 Our opposite neighbors were two Sisters of Charity who 
 were on their way to the City of Mexico to fill a gap that 
 death had made in the ranks of their order there. They 
 were simple, sainted souls and had never known any life 
 other than the religious, and never emerged from the cloister 
 save only to do deeds of mercy in the countr}^ town out- 
 side. They had been selected by lot to go to Alexico. We 
 were favored to become fast friends of theirs, and I was 
 glad to have them accept such attentions as we could give. 
 It was delightful to meet such simple, unsophisticated peo- 
 ple under circumstances when, they being travelers, the 
 rules of the Church permitted them to throw off their re- 
 serv^e, to associate with strangers and to live — so far as 
 food and drink were concerned — like the people they were 
 associated with for the time. 
 
 My wife and I grew to like them well, and I was never 
 
 tired of getting* their views of men and things. Truly their 
 
 lives were a thing apart from the world and the ways of 
 
 men. Thev told me with a kind of rapture that the average 
 
 IS
 
 308 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 life of one of their order in Mexico was only five years, and 
 they thoug-ht heaven had been very gracious in selecting 
 them, that they might give their lives to thq Church and so 
 become members of the mighty army of martyrs who were 
 honored in heaven by looking upon the face of the Virgin 
 and her Son and serving them. 
 
 They knew nothing of wines and did not suspect the 
 costliness of those which during the entire voyage they 
 drank at my expense. 
 
 The dinners were rather formal affairs and occupied an 
 hour and a half, and between the good sisters and us two 
 \ve always finished a bottle of claret and two of champagne, 
 and about a like quantity between dinner and bedtime. I 
 don't believe that up to the hour" they left the world they 
 ever quite understood why they were so happy and merry 
 on that voyage. 
 
 We used to visit the steerage forward nearly every day. 
 There A\as an unmistakable lady so unfortunate as to be 
 a passenger there. She appreciated our visits, and eventu- 
 al! v confided the story of her life to my wife, ancj what a 
 story it was of woman's love and man's perfidy! 
 
 I had an electric battery which I frequently took into the 
 steerage to astonish the natives. When I first put a silver 
 piece in a basin of water and told them the man taking it 
 out could keep it, what a rush there was! There was one 
 would-be clever clown who was perfectly willing to test 
 the power of the battery, but was so clever he never would 
 take lK)ld of both handles at once. He dodged around for 
 two or three days greatly pleased with his sharpness, but 
 I determined to have him some day and have him hard 
 when I got him. So one morning when dancing about as 
 usual he happened to be barefooted. Apparently by acci- 
 dent, T upset the basin of water over the deck, making it a 
 good conductor, then accepting his offer to tr}^ the machine 
 by holding one handle, I dropped the other on the wet deck
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 309 
 
 and gave him the benefit of the whole, power of the battery. 
 He let one terrific yell, then stood rooted to the deck speech- 
 less for a moment; then g-ave vent to a series of whoops 
 that would have made the fortune of a Comanche Indian. 
 When freed from the current the clever fellow made a break 
 for the steerage and never appeared again at any of my 
 electric seances. All those ignorants insisted that my bat- 
 tery was surely el diablo. 
 
 After eighteen days we cast anchor in St. Tliomas harbor, 
 and pleasant as our voyage had been we were glad to see 
 land. We were to stop a day for coaling. 
 
 Taking the two sisters, we went ashore in one of the 
 many boats surrounding the ship, all manned by scantily 
 robed black fellows. The town, with its hordes of gaudily 
 dressed and noisy blacks, was most interesting. I had hired 
 the boat for the day, so the three black fellows accompanied 
 us around the town. Each wore a stovepipe hat. The 
 remainder of their furniture consisted of cotton shirt and 
 trousers. The men were barefooted, of course. 
 
 My wife was the typical blue-eyed, golden-haired" English- 
 woman, and was the observed of all observers in that black 
 mob. I myself was all in white, from canvas shoes to white 
 umbrella. So, between the two sisters in their black robes 
 and white bonnets and our attending boatmen, along with a 
 mob of half-naked black boys that followed, we formed 
 quite a circus and created a commotion in the town. 
 
 First I took the sisters to the cathedral. Both were grate- 
 ful and knelt at the altar for a full half hour while we waited. 
 Then after visiting several stores to make some small pur- 
 chases, we went to a circus showing there that week. I bought 
 ten tickets for my party. Everything they saw in the tOAvn 
 was marvelous and strange to them. When we entered the 
 circus tent the sisters were perplexed and thought it must 
 be a new sort of church. But words would fail to express 
 their amazement when they saw the clown and bespangled
 
 olO FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 horseman enter the ring and the pcrfomiancc begin. They 
 were in a new and hitherto undreamed-of world, and gazed 
 in childlike wonderment on the scene, and, like children, only 
 saw the glitter of the spangles and thought both men and 
 women performers were angels of beauty. Even after the 
 thing was over the magic and witchery of it all rested on 
 them. Their hearts were deeply stirred and their thoughts 
 were with the performers. To please them we sat until the 
 audience had dispersed, and, when going out, one of them, 
 speaking of the performers, told my wife they must be "very 
 near to God." 
 
 Then we went to the hotel. I dispersed my cortege and 
 ordered a room for ourselves and one for the sisters, and 
 we all took a nap until evening. Then we had some negro 
 singing and dancing for our amusement in the courtyard 
 of the hotel, and at 9 o'clock we went out for a moonlight 
 walk under the tropical sky. About 10 we found we had 
 had enough of it and were glad to betake ourselves to bed. 
 
 We all breakfasted together in the courtyard the next 
 morning and soon after went aboard. At noon up came 
 the anchor and we were ofif for Havana, our next stopping 
 place, twenty-four hours' sail away. Tlie steamer after one 
 day's detention to take in cargo would continue her voyage 
 to Vera Cruz. It was my intention to go on to that port, 
 and from there across the country to the capital, the City 
 of Mexico. There was no cable to Mexico in 1873, and 
 things there were in rather a primitive condition. Of course, 
 I never anticipated pursuit beyond New York, and took it 
 for granted that my friends at Police Headquarters would 
 squelch it there. But once in Mexico there would have 
 been nr) danger for me. 1>) be in Mexico was like being 
 in the centre of darkest Africa. There was no extradition 
 treaty, no railroads and no telegraph; above all, I had 
 plenty of cash. 
 
 I intended to buy an estate near the capital, and settle
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 311 
 
 down for two or three years, and by a liberal expenditui - 
 of money secure the friendship of the government officials 
 and the chief people of the country. Official and social 
 morals being not of the best, if my history transpired I 
 would probably become the lion of society, as they would 
 all esteem it a creditable thing to any man to securel a few 
 millions from the English, whose enormous wealth is the 
 plunder of India and all the world for centuries. 
 
 The next morning I found we were sailing along the 
 Cuban coast, quite near the land, which looked so inviting 
 that I made up my mind to go ashore and stay a month in 
 Havana, so I had my baggage got on deck. Soon after 
 dinner the engines were stopped for some hours for repack- 
 ing, the captain informing me that it was doubtful whether 
 we should arrive in Havana in time to go ashore that night. 
 At 6 o'clock the sunset gun is fired, the custom house closes 
 and no more debarkations are allowed that day. If I went 
 ashore the next day I must be up and oflf at an early hour, 
 as the ship sailed at 7.30, so I told the captain if he arrived 
 before 6 o'clock I would go ashore and wait for the next 
 steamer, but if we were late I would go on to Vera Cruz 
 with him. 
 
 Once having made up my mind to go ashore, I was all 
 eagerness to push matters. To do so I even asked the 
 captain to tell the engineer to force the engines a little if 
 possible. It was well on to 6 o'clock when we steamed past 
 Moro Castle and dropped anchor in the harbor. I engaged 
 two of the boats alongside, our baggage was hurried into 
 them, my wife went down the ladder, and speaking some 
 hurried farewells I ran down after her and sprang lightly 
 into the boat. That instant the sunset gun was fired. Two 
 minutes later and the custom house officers on board would 
 have forbidden my leaving the steamer. I say two minutes, 
 but it was less than half a niinute. Half a minute! Thirty 
 seconds changed my destiny.
 
 CHArTER XXX. 
 
 "HAPPINESS AND I SHAKE HANDS FOR A TIME." 
 
 Cuba! What a productive and fertile island it is, with 
 its charming climate and lovely scener}'! But, as in so many 
 of the green spots of this world, man has blasted and spoiled 
 all that indulgent nature has lavished here. From the days 
 of Columbus the story of Cuba has been one of wholesale 
 murder of natives, of revolutions — later of insurrections! and 
 deadly civil strife, which have ruined whole provinces once 
 covered with large sugar, cofTee and tobacco plantations. 
 
 Slaver}' now, as in all her past Christian histor\% is ever}'^- 
 where. Previous to 1861 40,000 slaves were yearly imported 
 in slave ships into the harbor of Havana. 
 
 Perhaps all men are cruel when they are absolute masters 
 of the lives and fortunes of their fellows and amenable to 
 none for their acts. Certainly the white Cubans, as a rule, 
 are cruel masters in all their dealings with their slaves. 
 
 Probably to-day, certainly in 1873, "lost of the large 
 plantations witnessed scenes of cruelty never surpassed in 
 the long annals of human servitude. 
 
 During my stay I was invited to visit many plantations, 
 but visits to two were enough for me, there being too many 
 signs on the surface of the brutality that lay beneath. I 
 could easily give cases that I saw or heard of, but refrain 
 from doing so here. 
 
 One day's stay in Cuba convinced us we could spend a 
 month very happily on the island, and, discovering that 
 '(HI 2)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 313 
 
 Don Fernando, the proprietor of the hotel, had a furnished 
 house in a lovely situation to let, we resolved to remain, 
 renting the house for a month at a fixed rate per day. This 
 rate included the ten servants — slaves — in the house, he to 
 furnish good horses and ererything except wine. The 
 service proved good, and the cooking exquisite. This was 
 rather expensive, but certainly a handy kind of housekeep- 
 ing, taking all worry and household cares from my wife's 
 shoulders. 
 
 There were a large number of American visitors on the 
 island, lovers of and seekers after sunshine and warmth, 
 which they found in abundance while swinging in hammocks 
 under the palm or cocoanut trees, or in strolling along the 
 white strand, with its innumerable sunny coves, while the 
 Winter storms and blizzards were raging in the Northern 
 States. Here we formed many pleasant acquaintances, and, 
 throwing oflf much of the reserve maintained during the 
 voyage, we mingled freely in the nice but gossipy society 
 which winters there. 
 
 Our house was on a lovely slope in full view of the Gulf 
 of Mexico, and in the midst of what was more like a tropical 
 plantation than a garden. 
 
 I made the acquaintance of Gen. Torbert, our Consul, 
 and was introduced by him to the Spanish oflficials, includ- 
 ing the colonel of police. I assiduously cultivated the ac- 
 quaintance of the latter, and frequently had him out to the 
 house to dinner and lunch, and felt pretty confident that if 
 any telegrams came about me he would certainly l)ring 
 them to me at once for an explanation. Even if my presence 
 became knowai, and telegraphic orders for my arrest should 
 arrive, no speedy action would be taken and ample time 
 given me to escape. Tn all the assemblies, picnics and balls 
 I was gratified to find my wife very nmch souglit after and 
 admired. It was well slie had a few happy days; enough 
 misery lay not far ahead.
 
 314 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 In the mean time I had no word from my friends in Lon- 
 don. In fact, they did not know where I was. When I 
 bade them good-bye at Calais they told me not to inform 
 them of my destination until I had got there, and then to 
 do so through some relative. 
 
 Every day I watched the New York papers to see if there 
 had been any explosion in London, but the silence of the 
 press told me my friends were having an amazing success, 
 and we might expect two or three months more to elapse 
 before there would be any discover^-. 
 
 We had been some weeks in Havana. 
 
 It was well into the month of February when one day, 
 being in my hammock on the veranda, with my wife sitting 
 near me, my servant rode up with tlic papers, and, handing 
 me the New York Herald, I leisurely opened it, while 
 clmtting with my wife, but could not suppress an exclama- 
 tion when my eyes fell upon an Associated Press dispatch 
 from London, in staring headlines. They read: 
 
 AMA2IXG FRAUD UPON THE BANK OF 
 
 ENGLAND! 
 
 MILLIONS LOST! 
 
 GREAT EXCITEMENT IN LONDON! 
 
 £5,000 REWARD FOR THE ARREST OF THE 
 AMERICAN PERPETRATOR, F. A. WARREN. 
 
 "London, Feb. 14, 1873. 
 "An amazing fraud has been perpetrated upon the Bank 
 of England by a young American who gave the name of 
 Frederick Albert Warren. Thd loss of the bank is reported 
 to be from three to ten millions, and it is rumored that 
 many London banks have been victimized to enormous 
 amoimts. The greatest excitement prevails in the ci+y, and 
 the forgery, for such it is, is the one topic of conversai^^ion
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 315 
 
 on the Exchange and in the street. The police are com- 
 pletely at fault, although a young man named Noyes, who 
 was Warren's clerk, has been arrested, but it is believed 
 that he is a dupe. 
 
 "The bank has offered^ a reward of i5,ooo for information 
 leading to the arrest of Warren or any confederate." 
 
 I took a long walk on the beach to tliink over the situa- 
 tion. I was alarmed over the arrest of Noyes, which I knew 
 ought not to have occurred if the proper precautions had 
 been taken, but I concluded that at the worst his arrest only 
 meant for him a brief incarceration. 
 
 I knew that no human power and no fear could ever make 
 him betray us. Two things never entered my calculations 
 at all; that is, that my right name would ever transpire, or 
 that George and }vlac would ever, by any possibility, be 
 brought into question for the fraud. 
 
 So I came back from my walk with my plans outlined. 
 It was to remain quietly where we were for a fortnight 
 longer, then take the steamer to Vera Cruz, go to the City 
 of Alexico and there buy an estate, as I had originally pro- 
 posed. Then, after a few months, leave my wife there and 
 travel incog, through Northern Mexico and Texas, meet 
 Mac and George and afterward return to Alexico. 
 
 Not a soul in all Europe knew I was in Cuba, and so long 
 as my name did not transpire I was as safe in, Cuba as if 
 in the desert. 
 
 Consequently I determined to go on in the same way 
 since our landing. In the mean while I would w^tch the 
 papers, and if any signs of danger appeared I could take 
 instant measures for my safety. 
 
 As the days passed the cable dispatches appearing in the 
 papers increased in volume, and the papers everywhere had 
 editorials, which, as a rule, were humorous or sarcastic, 
 poking fun at the Britishers in general and the Old Lady 
 of Threadneedle Street in particular. Then the comic
 
 316 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 papers took it up, and from week to week published cartoons 
 intended to be funny. 
 
 One of the funniest of these came out in one of the New 
 York comics, which appeared after the mail arrived from 
 London with the particulars of the simplicity of the bank 
 officials in their dealings with the mysterious F. A. Warren. 
 This full-page cartoon represented a young dude, seated on a 
 mule, riding down a steep declivity. 
 
 At the bottom the devil stood, holding in the fingers of 
 his extended hands a quantity of thousand-pound bank 
 notes tempting Warren, and John Bull stood behind the 
 mule, belaboring it with an umbrella and driving Warren 
 down to the devil. 
 
 I tried to keep the papers from my wife, but one day she 
 came home from a visit with a flushed face and eager to talk, 
 and began telling me about some daring countryman of 
 mine "who had the audacity to rob the Bank of England," 
 and "who ought to have a whipping." On several occasions 
 Americans there asked my opinion as to who the party 
 could be. 
 
 I always told them he was some clever young scamp, 
 with plenty of money of his own, who did it for the excite- 
 ment of the thing and from a wish to take a rise out of 
 John Bull. 
 
 The next French steamer for Mexico was advertised to 
 land at Havana for passengers and mails for Vera Cruz in a 
 few days, and I determined to sail by her. Soon after my 
 arrival I had formed the acquaintance of a wealthy young 
 countrj'man of mine from Savannah by the name of Gray. 
 We soon became fast friends, and I had him out to dinner 
 nearly every day. He had a warm friend in Scnor Andrez, 
 a rich young Cuban planter, and had accepted an invitation 
 to visit his cofTcc plantation in the Isle of Pines, the largest 
 of all that immense body of islets and keys of the south coast 
 of Cuba in the Carribean Sea, one of the loveliest tropical
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 317 
 
 isles imag-inable, and Gray insisted upon my making one of 
 
 the party. 
 
 It was proposed to spend a week on the island, and to 
 take three days in going and coming. But if I went then I 
 would be unable to sail on the steamer of the 25th, and 
 would have to wait another week. 
 
 One day Gray brought Senor Andrez to dinner, along 
 with a common friend, a Senor Alvarez. All three joined 
 in imploring me to make one of the party, promising sport 
 as novel as good; said the wild boars were plentiful; that 
 we would have two days' shark fishing, turning turtles and 
 hunting their eggs, and could vary it by a slave hunt, the 
 jungle and some of the smaller islands being "full of run- 
 aways," and as they were by law wild beasts we might be 
 lucky enough to shoot a few of them — shoot, not capture, 
 as the planters knew that a runaway slave who had tasted 
 the joys of freedom if caught was useless as a slave. So, as 
 a matter of sport, as well as a warning to other slaves, they 
 organized yearly hunts to bag a score or two. ' But so great 
 is the depravity of the human heart that these wretches, in 
 their desperate wickedness, objected to being shot, and at 
 times were guilty of the enormity of shooting back again. 
 History records how, on certain occasions, they did so with 
 such good effect that the hunted became hunters; but these 
 were rare events. 
 
 After long urging I consented. At the time there were 
 only two short railways in all Cuba. We were to' cross the 
 island to the south coast, and there embark for the Isle of 
 Pines in a boat owned by our host, which would be in 
 waiting. The railway would take us to the little hamlet of 
 San Felipe, some forty miles south, and there we were to 
 take horses to the seaport town of Cajio. We were to start 
 on Saturday, two days ahead. My wife did not relish my 
 going, and I disliked it more than she did, but for totally 
 different reasons. Mine were that, as a matter of prudence,
 
 318 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 I ought to recall my consent and remain in Havana until 
 steamer day. and then sail without fail to Mexico. But 
 fearing the ridicule of my friends, I went, persuading myself 
 that there could be no danger and that everything in Lon- 
 don was buried in so dense a fog bank that the detectives 
 would struggle in vain to find a way out of it or any clue 
 to our identity. 
 
 Had I known of the clever work of the Pinkcrton brothers 
 in London and the discoveries in Paris I should have been 
 ill at ease; but had I known that Capt. John Curtin — then 
 a member of the Pinkerton staff in New York, Init now 
 (1895.) of San Francisco — had with perfectly marvelous in- 
 tuition and rare detective skill let daylight into the whole 
 plot, and had reported to his chief that whenever F. A. 
 ^^'arren was discovered he would prove to be Austin Bid- 
 well; I say if I had known this, instead of going ofif on a 
 ten davs' pleasure jaunt into an isolated comer of the world 
 I should have taken instant flight, leaving Cuba, not by the 
 usual modes of departure, but by sailing boat, and alone, for 
 one of the Mexican ports. 
 
 Capt. Curtin had been detailed to work on the New York 
 end of the case, to look for clues. It seemed a hopeless 
 task. He is a warm friend of mine now, after twenty years, 
 and has long forgiven me for the bullet I lodged in him in 
 1873. A few years after arresting me in the West Lidies he 
 went to San Francisco and started a private inquiry oi^ce of 
 his own at 328 Montgomery street. When, after twentv 
 years' incarceration, I arrived there one lovely May in 1892, 
 he was waiting for me at the ferry, and gave me warm 
 greetings, and as hearty congratulations, too, as any man 
 could give another; then introduced me to his friends 
 evcr>'wherc, and, in fact, from the hour of my arrival until 
 my departure, three months afterward, was never tired of 
 d<>ing me a service and forwarding my business, so that 
 ])y his kind offices I made a great success out of what, by
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 319 
 
 reason of the great financial depression, might (nhe-rwi.e 
 have Droved a faikire. But as Capt. Curtin, after effecting 
 my arrest, liaving recovered from his wound, was one of 
 the four who took me to England, I will wait until a later 
 chapter to tell how it was he discovered my name and 
 located me in Cuba. 
 
 On Saturday morning our party of four, accompanied 
 by a following of black fellows and half a dozen dogs, set 
 out by train. Before reaching San Felipe our bones had a 
 shaking. The roadbed was execrable, the trucks of the cars 
 were without springs, and to me it seemed as if we must leave 
 the rails at any moment. 
 
 In Havana we regarded Don Andrez as a good fellow, 
 but upon our arrival at San Felipe he had grown into a 
 man of importance. When we came to Cajio he had grown 
 into a person of distinction, and at the island he had swollen 
 into a local Caesar. At San Felipe, a mere hamlet, horses 
 were waiting for us and mules for the baggage, but before 
 setting out we went to a nearby hacienda and sat down to 
 what was simply the best lunch of which I ever partook. 
 
 The town was chiefly remarkable for the number of its 
 fighting cocks. At the hacienda there were dozens, each in 
 its separate compartment — regarded the same as horses and 
 game dogs are in England and America — and half the black 
 boys we met were carrying game birds. 
 
 At last, starting for Cajio, the road soon degenerated into 
 a mere track, which led through some barren hills with 
 scanty growths of a species of oak without underbrush, and 
 here and there a sprinkling of cacti, and in the lower reaches 
 between the hills grew dense green walls of Spanish bayonet. 
 
 We were crossing Cuba at its narrowest part, and from 
 San Felipe to Cajio was only some thirty miles. After 
 fifteen miles we came into the fertile coast belt and passed a 
 number of deserted sugar plantations where tropic vegeta- 
 tion was trying to cover up the work of ruin wrought by
 
 r>2<"> FROM WAI.T^ STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 man. Residences and sugar bouses destroyed by fire were 
 vcr\- inucb in evidence. To my surprise I learned tbat 
 bodies of insurq^ents — wbo tben held and bad bcld for six 
 years nearly tbe entire eastern province of Santiago de Cuba 
 and Puerto Principe, and part of tbe extreme western 
 province of Pinar del Rio — bad only a few weeks l:iefore 
 landed by nigbt at tbe port La Playa de Batabano, fifteen 
 miles away, and witb tbe cry of "Free Cuba and deatb to 
 tbe Spaniard!" bad blotted out tbe town and tben marcbed 
 into tbe bcart of tlie country', burning bouses, killing tbe 
 wbites and calling upon tbe; slaves to join tbem in freeing 
 Cuba. Many did, and terrible were their excesses, and terri- 
 bly did they pay for tbese. The* Spanish soldiers and loyal 
 Cuban volunteers closed in upon them, and at the little 
 hamlet of San Marcos, where we halted and examined the too 
 evident signs of the battle and massacre tbat followed, they 
 made their last stand, but were no match for their well- 
 armed and disciplined foes. After a desperate struggle they 
 were overpowered, and every surviving soul was butchered 
 by the infuriated soldiers. It was better so. Had they been 
 spared it would have only been for the moment, for by 
 official decree of tbe Captain-General of Cuba, indorsed by 
 the Madrid Government, every inha1)itant within the insur- 
 rectionar}' line, without regard to age or sex, was doomed 
 to death without form of trial. 
 
 At San Marcos we made a halt to view the scene of the 
 fight and examined the heaps of ashes where thel fires were 
 kindled which consumed the bodies of the slain. Two or 
 three were my countr)'men. At tlie time it was quite the 
 thing for venturesome Americans to go and join the rebels 
 and help the fight for "Cuba libre." For some years every 
 few days notices would appear in tbe press about some 
 Americans having been shot for joining or attempting to 
 join tbe rebels. This went on until tbe afTair of the steamer 
 Virginus, when her crew and passengers, to the number of
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 321 
 
 150, were shot, the steamer having been ca[)ture(l close to 
 the shore and about to land men and guns. Then our Gov- 
 ernment awoke and forbade Spanish officials to shoot Ameri- 
 cans without trial. 
 
 As I stood there curiously examining the marks of tb.e 
 conflict, or examining some part of an unconsumed bone, I 
 little thought that in a very few days I myself would be a 
 fugitive, creeping through jungles and over tropic plains, 
 seeking to join the comrades of the men on whose ashes I 
 w^is then treading, to aid their fight for free Cuba. 
 
 Perhaps my subsequent fate made me ponder over my 
 happy life in Cuba, and compare the horrible misery of my 
 prison life, with its hardships and degrading detail, with 
 the brightness of those days, when love, obedience, wealth 
 and luxury were mine. 
 
 But in those long years, when in their gloom and de- 
 pression I was fighting to keep off insanity by ignoring the 
 dreadful present and dwelling on the past, no incident of all 
 my life on the island haunted me more than this at San 
 IMarcos. Every detail was photographed on my brain, and 
 as I recalled that blackened spot strewn with ashes soddened 
 by tropical rains, soon to be all the greener for the fertilizing 
 tragedy, many a thousand times I said, "Would to God my 
 ashes were mingled with the dead there." 
 
 Soon after leaving San Marcos, striking into the jungle, 
 the road became so narrow that we had to go single file. 
 I found the silence of the tropical forest impressive, and 
 think it had its effect on us all — even the negroes and dogs 
 moved on, making no sound. Although novel scenes, yet 
 I was glad when 5 o'clock came and we emerged from the 
 jungle on to the coast road. It was sandy, but well trav- 
 eled. Another mile and we were in Cajio, and the Caribbean, 
 blue and lovely as a dream, lay spread before us, with hun- 
 dreds of palm-crowned islets and coral bays, all with sandy 
 beaches of dazzling whiteness.
 
 322 FROM "SVALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Scnor Andrez had a house here, and as they had notice 
 of our coming ever)'thing was prepared for our reception. 
 Entering the house, we were served with black coffee and 
 thin rice cakes fried. Gray and I wanted a swim before supper 
 in the waters, which looked very tempting, but it would have 
 been a breach of etiquette to indulge then — and, by the way, 
 there is a strange rq)ugnance to water inherent in the Spanish 
 nature, there being no bathhouses in Spain, they say, and 
 I believe it. Gray and I, during the next few days, were in 
 and out of the water at all hours, but could never persuade 
 any one else to try the experiment of a swim in the warm 
 water of the Caribbean. At the house, or when out in boats, 
 we frequently invited some of the comoany to join us in 
 a plunge, but none ever accepted the invitation. We are 
 told on good authority that "our virtues depend on 
 the interpretation of the times," and one might add "on 
 the interpretation of our nation." The Anglo-Saxon loves 
 soap and water and plenty of it; the Spaniard does 
 not. But this contrast may mean nothing in our favor; 
 there may be a reason for it, racial probably, but possibly 
 climatic. 
 
 Supper came, and it was a treat. Grav and I noted tlmt 
 in suitability of material to the purpose intended, and in 
 cooker}^, it excelled anything in our experience. Cafe Riche 
 and Tortoni's were not in it. We were, curious to see the 
 cook. She was ordered in for our inspection, a sober, sad- 
 faced negress, angular, bony, and, strangely enough, knew 
 only a few words of Spanish, her language being some 
 African dialect, Africa being her natal place, as it, indeed, 
 w^as of most of the slaves. 
 
 What views of life, what views of tlie Christian world most 
 of these slaves must have! Torn from tlieir homes, leaving 
 their slaughtered family on the ashes of their homes, and 
 carried off to toil and wear out the only life nature will 
 ever give them — for what? To toil amid hunger and abuse
 
 I 
 
 STiMF: natives I MET IN TAWNV, SPAIN.— Pa^e 2«)0.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 325 
 
 too foul to name in order that the Christian robber may 
 have gold to gratify his desire. 
 
 She was evidently alarmed over the summons — it might 
 mean anything — she was unused to the coin of compliment; 
 but we gave it freely, however, and the next morning each 
 of us did better, and when departing placed a sovereign 
 in her hand and made Senor Andrez promise to be good 
 to her. 
 
 Our host grew his o\vn tobacco and made his own cigars. 
 These were famous even in Havana, and Gray and I enjoyed 
 them that evening. A number of grass-woven hammocks 
 were swung under a roof in front of the house. It was 
 delightful lying there watching the phosphorescent waves 
 rippling or breaking on the beach under the light of a full 
 moon and listening to the chatter or the songs of the black 
 fellows who swarmed around while smoking cigars worth 
 the smoking. The negro children, shrill-voiced and loud, 
 were very much in evidence. 
 
 The air was delightful, and following the custom of the 
 country we slept in the hammocks without undressing. 
 
 The next morning, under a sunrise sky, which in its 
 glowing colors looked like the New Jerusalem, Gray and 
 I made a break for the glorious water that rippled on the 
 beach. What a swim we had! We were the only humans 
 visible. All other unfeathered bipeds were asleep, and we 
 varied our bath by wandering around the beach in a state 
 of nature, viewing things generally, but a turtle pond held us 
 fascinated. Stakes had been driven down inclosing a space, 
 and upward of twenty great turtles were prisoners, waiting 
 apparently with the greatest of jmtience to be devoured — 
 that being, so far as I can see, the ultimate destination of all 
 life — that huge procession to the stomach. The rocks tell 
 us that it began a good while ago, and it has kept up with 
 crowded ranks ever since. When the missionary landing in 
 Fiji anxiouslv inquired of the boss cannibal gentleman 
 19
 
 32G 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 where his predecessor might be sojourning, he was promptly 
 informed that he had "gone into the interior." To "go into 
 the interior" is the decree fate writes in her book of doom 
 and copies on the birth certificate of all the breathers of 
 tlie world.
 
 CHAPTER XXXT. 
 
 THE PHILISTINES ARE UPON THEE, SAMSON. 
 
 I was very fortunate in my servant Nunn, he being- 
 devoted to me, a resolute fellow as well, and thoroughly 
 trustworthy. He felt very badly over my leaving him be- 
 hind in Havana. Nor would I have done so under ordinary 
 circumstances. 
 
 The dav before leaving on the trip, taking him aside, but 
 not wishing to actually disclose anything, I talked in a very 
 impressive, grave way, instructing him to leave Havana 
 secretly after telling his mistress that I had ordered him to 
 go to Matanzas, a city forty miles east by rail. He was to 
 bring all the New York papers, meet me at Cajio and not let 
 a soul know his destination, but be there awaiting my arrival 
 from the Isle of Pines the following Sunday week. If in the 
 mean time anything unusual, no matter what, happened, 
 then he was instantly to depart for Cajio, there hire a boat 
 and crew and come after me, not to mind expense and not 
 to lose a moment's time. Nunn was one of those wise men 
 who know how to obey orders without self-questionings as 
 to the whys and wherefores. 
 
 I b.ad secured gun licenses from the authorities, and, 
 giving them to Nunn, ordered him to bring a breech-loader 
 and a brace of revolvers with him. 
 
 During my stay in the Isle of Pines I would be out of 
 reach of the outside world. If on meeting Nunn I found 
 from the papers he brought that there was anv sign of danger 
 
 (327)
 
 328 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 I would not return to Havana, but would secure a boat, 
 provision it, set sail alone for some port in Central America 
 and send my servant back after my wife. 
 
 At lo o'clock our party set out in an open-decked cargo 
 boat from Cajio for San Jose, seventy miles across the 
 water and on the west coast of the island. > San Jose was 
 <;ne cf the half-dozen plantations belonging- to our host, the 
 chief product being cofTce, and on this one there were 130 
 slaves. 
 
 Wq had a motley cargo. Twenty black fellows, dogs, 
 turtles, fighting cocks, two trained pigs, a good-sized snake 
 that answered to the name of Jacko and liad the run of the 
 siiip. Ship, men, women and young darkies, trained pigs 
 and everything except we three guests were the absolute 
 property of our host. 
 
 We were passing through the gate of the Gulf of Mata- 
 mano. The bottom was so white and the water so clear 
 that we could see distinctly all the wondrous marine life 
 beneath. Ashore in the thick forests all seemed to be dead, but 
 here in the water and beneath the surface all was teeming 
 with life. Flocks of sea fowl w^ere in the air or whitened 
 the rocks which everywhere rose above the waters, and 
 innumerable little islets rested like lovely pictures in the 
 blue setting of the sea. 
 
 At one of the loveliest, called Cayos de Tana, with a wide 
 fringe of white beach, we landed; that is, our boat ran toward 
 it until the keel stuck in the sand, when a dozen black fellows 
 sprang over into the water, and, taking us white trash on 
 their shoulders, earned us ashore. Once there we set out to 
 find turtle eggs, and soon found heaps of sand which, when 
 scraped away, revealed the eggs in dozens. We took away 
 about a bushel, but they had a rancid flavor, so Gray and I 
 backed out of our promise to eat them, as did Senors 
 Andrcz and Mondago. 
 
 The man in charge of the boat was a skillful sailor, and,
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 329 
 
 having a fine breeze, we rushed through the water at a 
 great rate. At last, after a day of novel enjoyment, just as 
 the short twihght of the tropics was fading out, we ran 
 alongside of the little pier of San Jose and were welcomed 
 with loud shouts and gun shots from about a liundred 
 gaudily attired slaves, who were excited and seemingly glad 
 over the return of their master, this being Sunday and a 
 holiday. 
 
 Did any of my readers ever think what the rest of Sunday 
 is to the toilers of the earth? If Christ left no other legacy 
 to the Christian world but that happy day of rest, then must 
 we still bless and praise him as the Mighty Benefactor of 
 the world, the Saviour and glorious hero of the working- 
 man. For nineteen years I toiled, exposed to every storm 
 that blew, and was sustained through all the six days' 
 misery by the blessed knowledge that Sunday, with its rest, 
 was never far ofif. And when the Sunday morning dawned 
 and the happy consciousness filled my mind that for one 
 day at least I was free from toil, my heart filled with grati- 
 tude to the Galilean carpenter, who, by his gracious deeds 
 and genius, had so impressed the hearts of men that for 
 his sake they had taken the seventh day of the Hebrew and 
 bequeathed it as a day of rest to all the toiling generations 
 of the sons of men. The Roman Empire, which overshad- 
 owed the world and held the nations in subjection, knew no 
 day of rest, and to-day the toiling millions of China never 
 wake to say: "This is a day of rest on which I can turn my 
 thoughts to other things than toil." 
 
 I must not here enter into details of tliat week of rare 
 sport and keen enjoyment in the Isle of Pines. We went 
 shark fishing by day and tipping turtles in the moonlight by 
 night, when they came ashore to deposit their eggs in the 
 sand. One never-ending source of enjoyment to the Cubans 
 was the battles of the fighting cocks. I had got over some 
 of my repugnance to the sport, and enjoyed it almost as well
 
 330 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 as the cocks themselves. How soon one leanis to do m 
 Rome as do the Romans! 
 
 The week had come to an end, and, although importinied 
 bv m\- host to delay my departure, my anxiety as to the 
 state of affairs in the outside world was too great to postpone 
 mv return to the mainland. So, after a rousing send-off from 
 every one on the plantation, I departed. Just as the sun 
 was flinging its dyes over the clouds and waters, one week 
 from the Sunday of my arrival at San Jose, I was sailing 
 into the little bay of Cajio. Gray was to remain another 
 week, and I was returning in a small sloop manned by two 
 of Senor Andrez's men. I found Nunn waiting for me on 
 the beach. He handed me a letter from my wife and said 
 ever\-thing was well at home. Opening the letter I found 
 an earnest appeal to return at once. Going to the hacienda 
 near by I took the bundle of New York and London papers 
 Xunn had brought. I went to my room, and, opening the 
 Herald I was amazed to see the storm over the Bank of 
 England business and the great desire to discover the mys- 
 terious \\'arren. 
 
 I felt that the time had come when it would no longer 
 be prudent for me to live under my right name. Tt was an 
 easy matter to invent a name and live under it, and I deter- 
 mined to do so, for a time at least, until after I saw how mat- 
 ters developed. But I could not do this in Havana, for in case 
 of using an alias it would be necessary to take my wife into 
 my confidence. She was sure to discover the' matter sooner 
 or later, and it was better for her to learn the miserable 
 truth from my own lips than to leave the discovery to come 
 to her through the public press. 
 
 In Mexico I should really have nothing to fear, even if it 
 was known I was there. So, after some cogitation, I deter- 
 mined to return to Havana, say good-bye to all our friends 
 and embark as soon as possible for Vera Cruz. I was 
 impatient to set off at once, but it was both dangerous and
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 331 
 
 difficult work to go through the jungle by night, so telHng 
 Nunn to be ready to start at sunrise I went to bed. 
 
 At dawn we set out and (Hd not halt until we reached 
 San Marcos, with its gloomy memorial of human savagery. 
 After an hour's halt we set out and arrived at San Felipe 
 in time to catch the train to Havana. On arriving there at 
 dusk I sent my servant to inform his mistress of my safe 
 arrival while I called on Don Fernando at the hotel. His 
 frank and hearty reception told me at once that he had heard 
 HOthing, and he knows pretty well everything going on in 
 the town. From the hotel I drove to the police barracks and 
 called on the colonel of police, with the same result, which 
 satisfied me beyond all doubt that however the storm blew 
 in London or New York there was not a single cloud on the 
 horizon in Havana. But it was soon to blow a hurricane. 
 I had a very happy meeting with my wife, and found her the 
 picture of health and happiness. 
 
 As I looked in her face, beaming with confidence and 
 faith, I realized how hard it would be to tell hen the terrible 
 truth, and what a shock it would be to her when she dis- 
 covered the husband she believed the soul of honor stood 
 in danger of a prison. Yet I was tolerably certain she would 
 forgive me upon my promise never to do wrong again. 
 
 She had sent out invitations to dinner for Thursday to 
 twenty friends. There was then a steamer in the harbor 
 advertised to sail in two days for Mexico, and I had thought 
 of going by her. Had we, this book would never have been 
 written. 
 
 As invitations were out for Thursday, I concluded to 
 wait for Saturday's steamer, but determined to sail on that 
 day witlaout fail. 
 
 Under our system of housekeeping a dinner party was a 
 simple thing. We merely had to nodfy our landlord how 
 many guests we expected and the thing was done, so far as 
 we were concerned. Don Fernando would send his hotel
 
 332 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 steward down to the house with reinforcements of cooks 
 and waiters, and my wife had simply to usher the guests into 
 the dining room and out again. Don Fernando's super- 
 numeraries did the rest. On the day of our dinner I was 
 strongly tempted to give some hint to my wife that I was 
 in some way entangled in a web, but as she was so happy 
 I could not do it, but resolved to wait until we were settled 
 in Mexico, and then to tell her a little, but not all the truth. 
 
 My wife, all unconscious of the frightful calamity impend- 
 ing, entered upon the last half day of happiness she was to 
 know for many long years. The same statement would be 
 true of myself. As the guests were arriving I was in a 
 happy vein, and in the same happy frame of mind sat down 
 to dinner. Twenty happy mortals, but not one divined the 
 termination of that dinner party, least of all the proud and 
 happy hostess. It was a great success, and at 8 o'clock was 
 drawing to a close. The long windows were open, while 
 the warm breeze from the nearby gulf was pouring through 
 the room. The clock had just chimed the quarter when 
 there came a sudden rush of feet over the veranda and 
 through the hall. All eyes were fixed on the open door 
 leading to the hall, when an eager, resolute-faced man, evi- 
 dently an American, stepped with a firm pace into the room, 
 followed by a dozen civilians and soldiers. With a quick 
 glance over the company his eyes rested on me, and coming 
 direct to my chair, while my guests gazed in amazement, he 
 bowed and said in a low voice : "Mr. Bidwell, I am sorry 
 to disturb your dinner party or to annoy you in any way, 
 but I am forced to tell you I have a warrant in my pocket 
 for your arrest upon a charge of forgery upon the Bank 
 of England. The warrant is signed by the Captain-General 
 of Cuba, everything is in due form, and you are my pris- 
 oner. I am John Curtin of the Pinkerton force." 
 
 Every man who enters the arena and joins in the struggle 
 of life has more or fewer takedowns in his history. But
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 333 
 
 my wish is that between this hour and my last I may have 
 no more takedowns so near the freezing point as this was. 
 I shall never forget the look on my wife's face. First she 
 gazed at the intruders with indignation, then turned to me 
 with a look of eager expectation, as much as to say: "Wait 
 till my husband raises his arm and you will all go down." But 
 instead of seeing me rise, indignant and angry, driving the 
 intruders out, she saw me talking quite calmly to Curtin. 
 Then her face grew deadly white. None of the guests heard 
 Capt. Curtin's words, but, as will be easily imagined, there 
 was a painful silence, which I broke by standing up and 
 saying that there was some unhappy mistake, that I was 
 arrested upon the charge of furnishing arms to the insur- 
 rectionists in the eastern provinces. I requested my friends 
 to withdraw at once, and everything would be explained 
 on the morrow. 
 
 There were five soldiers present, Mr. Crawford, the Eng- 
 lish Consul-General, Capt. Curtin and two of his subor- 
 dinates, my servant Nunn being in custody of the latter. 
 It was- a strange and unhappy scene, and every one felt 
 extremely awkward and ill at ease, especially the writer. In 
 the rear of the dining room was a large sitting room, where 
 I kept my valua.bles in trunks and did my writing. I turned 
 to Curtin and said: "Will you come in the other room?'' 
 "Certainly," he replied, without the slightest hesitation. The 
 room was brilliantly lighted. Motioning him to a seat, I 
 said: 
 
 "Will you have a glass of wine?" 
 
 "Yes, but I never drink anything but Cliquot," replied 
 the Captain, pleasantly. 
 
 A servant brought in a bottle and glasses, and I turned 
 the conversation upon the subject of money. The captain, 
 being a stranger to me, guided by former experience with 
 Irving & Co. I fancied he might be bribed. Sometimes 
 the police are susceptible to this form of temptation, and I
 
 334 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 was at bay and desperate. I intended to offer him a for- 
 tune for a bribe. If he refused to take it I resolved to 
 shoot him and dasii out of the window, for at my elbow 
 was an open drawer, with a loaded revolver ready at my 
 hand. 
 
 I said: "You know the power and value of money,''" 
 
 "Yes, and I need and want plenty of it." 
 
 Pointing to a trunk I said: "I have a fortune there. Sit 
 where you are ten minutes, give no alarm, and I will give 
 you $50,000." 
 
 Then a scene ensued that if put upon the stage would 
 be deemed farfetched, if not incredible. When I said this 
 the captain never moved a muscle, but looked at me seri- 
 ously, earnestly, then dropped his eyes to the bottle. As 
 he did so I placed my hand on the revolver. He took the 
 bottle up, filled his glass, and, looking steadily at me, 
 drank it off, and, replacing the glass on the stand, coolly 
 remarked: 
 
 "Why, sir, that is $5,000 a minute!" 
 
 "Yes, and good pay, too," I said. 
 
 "But I won't have it!" he interjected, and sprang to his 
 feet as he saw me make a movement ; but I was too quick 
 for him. 
 
 I fired point-blank, and down he went as if felled by 
 lightning. 
 
 I rushed to the window, when the Venetians were torn 
 violently down, and one of Curtin's subordinates, revolver 
 in hand, sprang from the outer darkness through the win- 
 dow into the room, and the others came with the soldiers. 
 My wife, too, white faced, rushed in from the dining 
 room. A lively struggle followed, in which Curtin, having 
 risen from the floor, joined. The struggle was soon over, 
 leaving me a pri.soner under close guard. 
 
 My bullet had struck the captain, breaking a rib and 
 glancing off, but he was game, and when we shortly after
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 835 
 
 'dq>arted for the city he rode with me in the same car- 
 riage. I tried to soothe my wife's fears, but it was attempt- 
 ing the impossible, so we drove away to the city in three 
 carriages, Curtin assuring my wife that I would sleep at 
 the hotel. 
 
 By the time we arrived the news had spread among 
 the American colony, and as the hotel was a sort of 
 American club delegations of my acquaintances speedily 
 arrived. All were loud in the denunciation of the outrage. 
 Of course, they saw things on the surface only. Soon 
 our Consul-General Torbet arrived, and assured me he 
 would see that I should be treated with every consid- 
 eration until such time as the unfortunate mistake was 
 corrected. 
 
 That night I slept at the hotel with Curtin and his two 
 companions for roommates. Curtin took his wound and 
 close call very good naturedly, and said he did not blame 
 me at all, but felt taken down to think I had got the drop 
 on him. Early the next morning my friend, the chief of 
 police. Col. Moreno de Vascos, called on me, indignant and 
 angry that I should suffer such discourtesy. He was par- 
 ticularly indignant over the insult to himself in not being 
 consulted, so that he could have sent me a note to call on 
 him and explain. Then he turned to Capt. Curtin and told 
 him to liberate me, as he would be responsible for me when- 
 ever wanted. But the captain knew what he was about, and 
 knew his business too well and the backing he had to pay 
 any attention to Col. Vascos. I claimed the protection of 
 our Consul, but Torbet regretfully told me that on account 
 of the orders Capt. Curtin bore from the State Department 
 at Washington he was forced to consent to my detention, 
 but he would not permit me to be kept in the ordinar)- prison. 
 So about 12 o'clock next day I was transferred to the police 
 barracks, and put into the lieutenant of police's room and 
 a guard of soldiers placed over me.
 
 336 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 The New York Herald of the next day contained the 
 following: 
 
 (Editorial, New York Herald, Feb. 26, 1873.) 
 
 "CUBAN AFFAIRS— BIDWELUS LMPRISON.MENT. 
 
 "The special telegraphic advices which we publish to-day 
 in reference to the arrest and imprisonment at Havana of 
 Bidwell, one of the parties accused of the recent forgeries 
 on the Bank of England, are very interesting, touching the 
 jurisdiction of the Island authorities in this matter. It 
 appears that Bidwell was arrested at the request of the 
 British Govermnent on the supposition that he was a British 
 subject; but it is represented that he is a citizen of the 
 United States of America, and that his arrest in Cuba is not 
 justified by any extradition treaty with England, nor by 
 any authority, except that of the Captain-General, whose 
 will over the Island is the supreme law. If it can be estab- 
 lished that Bidwell is a citizen of the United States his case 
 certainly calls for the inten'ention of the Secretary of State. 
 The prisoner, it seems, desires a transfer to New York, 
 which is perfectly natural, but we suspect that the internation- 
 al difficulties suggested touching his detention in Cuba will 
 not materially improve his chances of escape. Such pro- 
 ceedings could be carried out in no other country than 
 Cuba, where the Captain-General does not always act in 
 accordance with law. Distinguished lawyers and judges of 
 that city, in conversation with the Herald correspondent, 
 denounced the act as being utterly illegal anf! without 
 precedent." 
 
 (Cable dispatch to the London Times, March 3, 1873.) 
 
 "Havana, Cuba, Afarch 2, 1873. 
 "Great efforts are beinq- made by the law>'ers and promi- 
 nent citizens here to obtain the release of Bidwell, supposed 
 to be Warren. To-morrow the American Consul will de- 
 mand his release on the ground that he is an American 
 citizen. The British Consul-Gcncral, E. H. Crawford, is 
 doing everything in his power to counteract these efforts. 
 There is great excitement here over Bidwell's arrest and 
 the popular sympathy is with him."
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY, 
 
 337 
 
 (By cable from 
 
 Havana 
 31. 
 
 to New 
 1873-) 
 
 York Herald, March 
 
 "Bidwell, the alleged Bank of England forger, whose arrest 
 caused so much excitement here, escaped by jumping from 
 the second story balcony of the police barracks late last 
 night in the presence ofi his guards. He was partly dressed 
 at the time. Bidwell and his wife are greatly liked here, and 
 no doubt his Havana friends, seeing the impossibility of 
 counteracting by legal means the efforts of the British Con- 
 sul to secure his extradition, planned the afTair. 
 
 "It is the general opinion that John Bull has seen the 
 last of Bidwell, there being dozens of planters in the district 
 ready and willing to shelter him, which they can do effectu- 
 ally."
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 NIGHTLY IN MY DUNGEON THE MAGICIAN MEMORY 
 WOULD UNROLL THAT SCENE. 
 
 So at last justice had laid hold of me, but I thought It a 
 very- shaky hold — so much so that I was confident that I 
 could break away from her, so that she could never weigh 
 me in her balance. 
 
 I will not enter into the details of events in Havana for 
 the next few days — briefly told, I was nominally a prisoner; 
 actually so, as regards leaving the barracks. The com- 
 mander, Col. Vascos, was a warm friend, and, living in the 
 barrack, he wanted me to dine at his table, but as I was al- 
 ready planning an escape, I deemed it best not to accept. 
 
 My wife spent many hours with me daily. All my meals 
 were brought from the hotel. Nunn was kept a prisoner 
 for two days, then liberated. I took him into my confidence, 
 telling him I was going to escape, and directed him to make 
 all outside arrangements for that event, and he was greatly 
 rejoiced when I told him he should accompany me in my 
 flight. 
 
 Captain Curtain was awake to the danger of losing his 
 man, and had lodged a written protest with the English 
 and American Consuls against my being confined in the 
 police barracks. 
 
 Tlie only result was that Col. Vascos issued an order to 
 keep him and his men out of the barracks. 
 
 I had a great many visitors, including officers of the army 
 and navy, and all were loud in protestation and indignant 
 (338)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 339 
 
 at my arrest. None seemed to care whether I was guihy or 
 not, but all demanded my liberation, as there was no extra- 
 dition treaty and no law to surrender me. Even my lawyer, 
 the most influential in Cuba, assured me there was not the 
 slightest danger of my surrender, but I knew that the bankers 
 Rothschild would ask Spain to give me up, and to an 
 impecunious Government like that of Spain the word of a 
 Rothschild was more potent than that of a king. 
 
 Then I knew such bright men as William A. Pinkerton 
 (who had arrived) and his lieutenant, Capt. John Curtin, 
 would never have made the mistake of coming to Cuba with- 
 out full powers; therfore, feeling confident that my surren- 
 der would be only a question of time I resoved to escape. 
 
 At my request Col. Vascos had sent a guard of soldiers 
 to my house and brought to the barracks two of 
 my trunks. I had $80,000 in cash and bonds, besides many 
 valuables as well, in them. I gave my wife $20,000 and my 
 servant $1,000 in gold and $5,000 in Spanish bank notes. 
 Curtin had in vain tried to seize my luggage, but the Span- 
 ish law stood in his way. 
 
 All this time the rebellion in the island was in full blast, 
 the insurgents — consisting of native Cubans, mulattoes and 
 negroes (ex-slaves) — held possession of the greater part of 
 the Eastern provinces — that is, the whole eastern end of the 
 island, and the western end, called Pinar del Rio. They 
 had kept the flame of rebellion alive for six years and were 
 still making a desperate and fairly successful fight to main- 
 tain themselves. The sympathies of the American people 
 w^ere with them, and they looked to our country for arms and 
 recruits. The former were smuggled into the island as op- 
 portunity offered by a Cuban committee in New York. 
 Not many, but yet some, recruits went, for it was death to 
 be caught going or returning, and few ever returned. The 
 civil conflict was murderous, neither side giving quarter. 
 The spirit of adventure was strong upon mCj and I resolved,
 
 340 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 if I escaped, to make my way to the Western Province and 
 join the insurgents for a year, then make my escape by cross- 
 ing the narrow body of water between Cape San Antonio 
 and the mainland of Central America. 
 
 Once among the rebels all pursuit of me was at an end, 
 as army after army had been sent from Spain to crush the 
 rebellion, and each had in turn melted away before the valor 
 of the rebels or the deadly climate. 
 
 Nunn volunteered to accompany me, and I gave him 
 $2,000 to send to his wife in Paris, that his mind, might be 
 easy on that score. No one knew my real destination save 
 Nunn and my wife. It was hard to obtain- her consent, but 
 at last it was given. I arranged with her that she was to 
 leave Havana as soon as she knew I was off, cross to Key 
 West, wait one month there, and, if she then heard nothing 
 of me, she was to telegraph my sister to meet her in New 
 York, take the steamer to that city and live with her until 
 I rejoined her. 
 
 Among other things, Nunn, by my orders, procured good 
 maps of the country. A Spanish gentleman, a warm friend, 
 but whose name I will not mention, was my counselor in 
 the plot. He advised me to go to the Isle of Pines, as Senor 
 Andrez Imd promised to keep me safely from all pursuit. 
 I let my friends think that was my destination. I proposed 
 as when on my visit to embark from Cajio, but to take a 
 westward course along the coast, and when well off Pinar 
 del Rio and night fell to put about and steer to shore under 
 cover of the darkness. Once ashore, to get as far inland 
 as possible before dawn. Tlien to keep a lookout for any 
 body of rebels and join them as a volunteer in the cause of 
 "free Cuba." We w^ere sure of a welcome, particularly as 
 we would come well armed. 
 
 I had made it a practice to give the sentinels in the po- 
 lice barracks a bottle of brandy every day and a box of cigars 
 every second day during my stay, besides what were to them
 
 "THK IJAY <jF my DK.STIXV l.S 'jXKIi/-— J'.^t; • .",04.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 343 
 
 valuable presents, so I was highly popular in the barracks. 
 We had fixed on the night of March 20 for the venture. 
 
 ]\Iy room was in the second story of the barracks, but I 
 was allowed to go freely through all the rooms on that floor, 
 followed more or less by a guard. None of the windows 
 opened on the street. There was a room leading to an open 
 window, but the door was kept locked. It was arranged 
 to have it unlocked with the key on the inside at 10 o'clock 
 that night. I was to walk about as usual, and, when the 
 hour came suddenly step through the door, lock it behind 
 me and then bolt through the window into the street. Nunn 
 and my friend were to await me outside of the window with 
 orders to shoot any man (not a native) who attempted to 
 stop me, as I feared Curtin or his men might be on guard 
 in the street, and once in the street I did not propose to go 
 back again alive. 
 
 The guns and two extra revolvers had been made into 
 a bundle and left at the station. At a nearby room were dis- 
 guises for Nunn and myself, consisting simply of cloaks and 
 whiskers. We intended to board the 10:30 train going 
 South, and once well out of the: station would dispense with 
 all disguise but the Spanish cloak each of us wore. 
 
 The day for the venture came. I had previously in- 
 structed my wife to send word she was indisposed, and to 
 remain at the hotel. She had very bravely ofTered to be 
 on hand and with me up to the moment I disappeared 
 through the door, but fearing that in the excitement some 
 of the soldiers might say or do something insulting, I for- 
 bade her being on the scene. I had had an unusually large 
 number of visitors during the day. I felt but little anxiety 
 over the result, save only on the side oj Capt. Curtin. I had 
 a sort of suspicion or presentment that, once fairly outside 
 of the barracks, I would run against him. The day passed 
 rapidly away, and 6 o'clock came, and all the civil officials, 
 with the horde of hangers-on, departed, leaving the usual 
 20
 
 344 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 evening solitude in the barracks. Soon Nunn came with my 
 supper and cautiously produced a revolver and belt. I 
 strapped the belt around me under my vest, placing the re- 
 volver under a pile of clothing. Nunn reported everything 
 all right. He had seen Curtin that day as usual around the 
 hotel and apparently unsuspicious of anything unusual 
 going on. 
 
 The window I was to jump out of opened on. the public 
 street, and the street would be jammed full of people at the 
 hour I was going. Of course there were a good many 
 chances of failure, chiefly so because all the police from top 
 to bottom knew me by sight, and if one of them happened 
 to be one of the half hundred witnesses of my jump he might 
 have wit enough to seize me. 
 
 Nunn and my friend were to be under the window ready 
 to act according to circumstances. Above all, to be ready 
 to seize hold of any one who manifested any intention to 
 detain me. Xunn was full of courage and hope. At 7 
 o'clock he w^ent away, not to see me again until we met out- 
 side the barracks. I called the guard and three or four idle 
 soldiers into my room and served them out liberal doses of 
 brandy. Unluckily enough, however, the one on duty would 
 drink but lightly. Soon after 8 Consul-General Torbet came 
 in to smoke a cigar and have a chat. He remained until 
 nearly 10, and then departed. Then I felt the hour had in- 
 deed come. I thrust the revolver inside my shirt, and rolled 
 up a cap and put it in the same place. Then calling the 
 sentn,% I gave him a drink and a cigar, and stepping out into 
 the hall, T began my usual march around through the upper 
 rooms of the barracks. T was to go out of the window at 
 precisely 10. It wanted ten minutes of that time. It was 
 a long ten minutes to me, but I marched around puffing my 
 cigar unconcernedly, with an eye on the door I was to slip 
 through. At the hour I had my watch in my hand, and was 
 in the room farthest from the door of exit into the room
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 345 
 
 Opening on the street. I walked swiftly through the two 
 intervening rooms and so was for a brief four or five seconds 
 out of sight of the slow following sentinel. I reached the 
 door, opened it, stepped through and instantly locked it. In 
 a moment I was through the open window into the little 
 iron balcony outside. One swift glance showed me the street 
 thronged with people, but hesitation meant failure and death. 
 I climbed lightly over the railing and hung suspended for an 
 instant from the bottom; the crowd below made a circle from, 
 under, and I dropped easily to the ground, bareheaded, of 
 course. Nunn was there, and instantly clapped' a large 
 straw hat on my head. The strange incident did not seem 
 to attract the least notice, for in a moment we were lost in 
 the crowd. I had my hand on my revolver, and had so 
 strong a belief I should every second be confronted by Cur- 
 tin that I was strangely surprised when I saw no sign of the 
 gentleman. In less time than it takes to tell it, I was down 
 into an open hallway and then into a room. I and Xunn, 
 who were smooth-faced, were given bushy whiskers and a 
 cloak. In the mean time, I paid an agent in waiting $10,000 
 in French and Spanish notes, then we hurried out of the 
 rear into a cab and were driven to the station, arriving just 
 in time to catch the 10:30 train. 
 
 The cab ride and train ride that night were happy rides. 
 I had been a captive and now was free. The sights and 
 sounds all around me took on a deeper purpose and a more 
 significant meaning than they had ever borne before. 
 
 I had for a few brief days been a captive, shut out from 
 nature's sights and sounds, and that brief deprivation awoke 
 in me a feeling of appreciation for the feast that is every- 
 where around us spread with a lavish hand. My mind was 
 in a tumult of delight, and I almost forgot I was a fugitive; 
 fortunately the Spaniard is not a suspicious animal, and no 
 notice was taken of us; and so we bumped slowly on south- 
 ward through the tropic night.
 
 346 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Seven o'clock on the morning of the nth found us at 
 Guisa, a small station on the railroad about ninety miles 
 from Havana and west from Cajio some twenty miles. Our 
 friend here procured us horses, and, bidding- him good-bye, 
 Kunn and I started on our ride to Cajio. We were both 
 greatly elated over the success of our adventure. Our 
 friends had procured for us police passports and gun per- 
 mits under the names of Parish and Ellis. 
 
 I had a chronometer, several valuable diamonds, a re- 
 volver and gun. Nunn carried a canvas bag containing, 
 among other things, 250 capital cigars, tobacco, matches and 
 300 cartridges. Then we had good maps of the island and 
 current charts of the Gulf of Mantabano, with its hundreds 
 of rocky inlets, spreading everywhere along the south coast. 
 V>\\t, armed as we were, it would never do to be picked up 
 by any Spanish boat or patrol anywhere near the rebel bor- 
 der. It prol^ably meant death if we were captured. 
 
 I think on the whole it would have been the wiser plan 
 to have gone to Senor Andrez's plantation at San Jose. Tlie 
 fear in that case was that if an order arrived from Madrid 
 to deliver me up I might not be safe even in the Isle of 
 Pines. At Cajio I resolved to lose myself so far as the 
 Spanish authorities were concerned, and only travel by night. 
 If we remained on land this would be necessary, as soldiers 
 were everywhere and our police passports would not hold 
 good if we were found traveling in the direction of the rebel 
 lines. 
 
 I proposed going by sea, and then all our voyaging would 
 necessarily be by night, for there were Spanish gunboats 
 even'where patrolling around the shores, but there were in- 
 numerable small inlets where we could draw up our boat, lay 
 perdu during the day and spy out the next island to sail to 
 at night. 
 
 We arrived in rhie time at Cajio, and here our passports 
 were demanded by a little yellow monkey of a sergeant. I
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 347 
 
 did not quite like having passports scrutinized and de- 
 termined to try and avoid any more of it. 
 
 We found no boat at Cajio, nor could we buy, or, if we 
 bought, could not manage one alone. The only thing we 
 could do was to charter one with a crew of four men. Dur- 
 ing my stay in Cuba I had been studying Spanish. I had 
 become a tolerably proficient speaker, so I had no great 
 difficulty in associating with the natives. 
 
 I found my idea of joining the rebels by sea impracticable, 
 and as to go by land was perilous in the extreme, I made 
 up my mind to send Nunn back to Havana and to make the 
 venture alone. I did not care to_ chance his life, and I also 
 felt that it was safer for one than for two. 
 
 Forty miles away was the last fortified post on the Rio 
 Choerra, at the small town of Voronjo. Once across that 
 small stream I would be on neutral ground, liable at any 
 time to fall in with a rebel band. 
 
 Nunn was very plucky and most devoted. He by no means 
 wanted to go back, but at last consented. 
 
 I determined to chance traveling on the beach by night. 
 So at 12 o'clock the day after our arrival at Cajio we 
 mounted our horses and announced that we were returning 
 to Havana. Two miles away, at the small hamlet of Zoringa, 
 we put our horses out and struck for the beach about four 
 miles west of Cajio. Then we went a few yards into the 
 jungle and sat down for our last talk and to wait for the 
 darkness. We were no longer master and servant, but 
 friends. The hours went slowly by; we did not say much, 
 but felt strongly. We had good cigars and smoked almost 
 incessantly. 
 
 I told him to see Curtin, to give him my regards and 
 laugh at him in a nice way, and to tell my wife that I would 
 limit my stay with the rebels to a year. I told Nunn to 
 send for his wife to join him in New York, and my wife 
 would take her into service so that they could be together.
 
 348 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGfATE 
 
 I did not dare to keep the gun we had, but retained the 
 revolvers in a belt around my waist. They were rather old- 
 fashioned, and, as the sequel proved, the ammunition was not 
 waterproof or else was defective. I had two bottles of water, 
 a hundred cigars in my pocket, 300 cartridges, four pounds 
 of dried beef and a loaf of bread. I wore a soft hat and had 
 on a fine pair of English walking boots, an important article 
 for the tramp ahead of me. I wore my chronometer tied by 
 a stout string. I sent my wife all my valuables save three 
 diamond studs, $700 in gold and $5,000 in notes, mostly 
 Spanish bank notes, and I kept $10,000 in bonds. 
 
 Nunn cut me a stout ironwood cudgel as a handy weapon. 
 At last the night came, and still we waited, loath to say 
 good-bye. We had come out of the jungle and were sitting 
 in the still warm sand talking in low tones and watching 
 the stars. At last when my watch told me it was 10 we rose, 
 and, shaking hands warmly, parted, he going east to Cajio, 
 I west toward Pinar del Rio and the rebel camps. 
 
 Of course, my great danger lay in meeting soldiers who 
 would stop me. Indeed any one wjio met a stranger and a 
 foreigner heading west would either stop him or give an 
 alarm, and if once arrested (passports so near the enemy's 
 camp were useless) it meant death, or what was quite as 
 bad, incarceration in a filthy prison until my case was re- 
 ported on to the Captain-General in Havana. That, of 
 course, meant my return to Havana and possibly to England. 
 Everv-thing is very primitive in Cuba. The common peo- 
 ple — that is, the whiles and free people — live in mere huts 
 or cabins, and sleep in hammocks under roofs open on two 
 sides. All go to bed soon after sunset, so there was no 
 danger in night traveling, save only in meeting the^ sentries 
 or running on somei detached post of soldiers. 
 
 In case of meeting these, I had resolved to plunge into 
 the tropical jungle wliich came close down to the beach. 
 Neither night traveling nor the situation had any terrors
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 349 
 
 for me. I felt my only danger lay in stumbling- upon some 
 outpost or sentry who might perceive me before I saw him 
 and so cover me with his rifle before challenging, but I knew 
 from observation since my arrival in Cuba that the discii)line 
 among the Spanish soldiers was very slack, and I had a 
 pretty firm belief that isolated sentries usually took a nap 
 while waiting the relief. 
 
 After leaving Nunn I started out at a quick pace, alert 
 and confident. The moon had gone down, but the Carib- 
 bean Sea was lovely in the starlight, and between watching 
 the phosphorescent ripples of the waters and listening to the 
 night noises of the jungle I soon discovered I was enjoying 
 my jaunt and foimd myself anticipating the pleasure of the 
 free, open life ahead of me when once beyond the Spanish 
 outposts and a soldier of fortune. I thought what a story 
 of adventure I would have to relate when a year or two 
 later I rejoined my wife and friends, and I felt that a good 
 record won in a fight for "free Cuba" would make men 
 willing to forget my past. 
 
 I found my westw^ard march frequently interrupted by 
 spooks — some rock, stump or bush would, to my suspicious 
 eye, take on the human form until I thought it was a sentry 
 on guard and meant danger. Once or twice I sought the 
 shelter of the jungle and spent a long time watching for 
 some sign of movement. On one occasion I painfully made 
 a circuit of nearly a mile to pass a projecting mass of bushes 
 in the belief that there were men behind it. The air was 
 balmy as on a June night at home, I trudged along with 
 my two bottles of water slung across my shoulder tied to a 
 cord, and between them and my revolvers and cartridges I 
 was pretty well loaded down. 
 
 Nowhere during the night did I come across any fresh 
 water, but was fated to have a water ax:l venture before day- 
 light which I did not relish. Soon after midnight I sat down 
 on the sand well in the shadow of some palmetto trees and
 
 350 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 had a very enjoyable lunch of bread and dried beef, washed 
 down by water from my bottle; then lighting a cigar and 
 reclining at full length on the dry sand I passed a pleasant 
 half hour enjoying the line Havana. I looked forward to 
 the liDurs of daylight to be spent reclining at ease in the 
 jungle with many anticipations of pleasure. I had a supply 
 of fine cigars, plenty to think about, and the consciousness 
 of having overcome serious difficulties gave me a feeling of 
 elation — then my surroundings were so novel and I was 
 fond of outdoor life. 
 
 At 4 o'clock the sky put on a ragged edge of gray in the 
 east, and feeling pretty well satisfied with my progress I 
 began to think of selecting a retreat for the hours of day- 
 light. Suddenly I found myself upon what was evidently 
 the neck, of a swamp extending far and wide into the land. 
 I had discovered during the night that there was a well- 
 traveled road skirting and following the beach at a^ distance 
 of a few hundred yards, but there was danger of my meeting 
 some one there, so I stuck to the beach. 
 
 In the middle of the swamp was a clear space of water 
 with marshy banks. As it was nearly daylight, and being in 
 no hurr}', my presence in the country unknown, and in no 
 immediate danger, I determined to halt and not tackle the 
 swamp until nightfall again. Then, if seen by any one, I 
 would have some hours of darkness to make myself scarce 
 in the neighborhood. 
 
 Turning to follow the edge of the swamp I saw before me 
 on a little lower level than where I stood in the sand what 
 appeared a plot of vivid green grass, and without any pre- 
 caution stupidly stepped with my full weight upon it, and 
 instantly found myself floundering in four feet of mud and 
 water. I had fallen, and getting back on the solid ground 
 I found myself wTt to the shoulders, my legs covered with 
 nuul and my pistols, bread, etc., soaking with salt water. At 
 once I ran across the beach and sat down in the warm water
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAt. 351 
 
 of the sea, washing off the mud as well as possible. Then 
 I made my way into the jungle, crossing the road, and going 
 into the thicket a short distance sat do\vn waiting for day- 
 light, purposing to remain concealed near enough to the 
 road to see all passersby, so that I might judge what sort 
 of people I was among. 
 
 As the ground where I stood was low and wet, and my 
 clothes soaking, I feared catching the fever, so made my 
 way well back to where some fallen trees had made a rift 
 in the dense mass of trunks, creepers and foliage, letting in 
 the sunlight. There I pulled off my garments to dry, taking 
 great care not to let any of the poisonous leaves come into 
 contact with my flesh, and made myself comfortable, sitting 
 down to lunch nearly in the state of nature. I was more 
 concerned over my damaged cigars than my dampened cart- 
 ridges. On examination I found the cigars but slightly 
 wet, so, spreading them out to dry along with the drapery, I 
 lit one and surveyed the position. As the moisture was 
 already steaming out of my garments I took matters cheer- 
 fully and considered the outlook good. 
 
 Having finished one of my bottles of water, I made up 
 my mind to carry only one, and to take my chance of 
 replenishing that. So long as my health continued perfect 
 I did not require much water; what I feared was that my 
 exposure and change of diet might make me feverish ; if so, 
 I would suffer from thirst unless I struck a hilly country. 
 
 How much company my watch was to me during those 
 long days and nights! I was never tired of examining it. 
 About lo o'clock I made my way to the road and placed 
 myself in a mass of foliage, where unseen by any one I had 
 quite a range of the road. Up to this hour I had not seen 
 a soul. At first I watched the little, stretch of road with 
 eagerness, but no one appearing I turned my attention to 
 watching the evolutions of a huge yellow spider which was 
 spreading its net near by. While absorbed, and almost fasci-
 
 352 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 nated, I was suddenly roused by the sharp, quick beating 
 of hoofs on the sandy road. Giving- a startled glance, I saw 
 a man unarmed, but evidently a soldier, gallop quickly by 
 on a mule. Twenty minutes later an old-fashioned cart con- 
 taining four lialf-dressed negroes and drawn by four 
 wretched mules passed. The men were silent and downcast. 
 Before i o'clock thirty people had passed, several being 
 soldiers of the guardia civil (armed police). 
 
 Then starting to spy out the land from the bushes and 
 vines bordering the swamp I could see a bridge crossing 
 the neck of the swamp, but, worst of all, quite a collection of 
 houses at the other side, reaching down to the beach, and a 
 wharf that ran out into the water quite fifty yards, with, no 
 doubt, a guardhouse and police station among them. I saw 
 my way blocked. It seemed certain there would be sentries 
 on guard at the bridge, or so near it as to make it impossi- 
 ble for me to cross unobserved. The swamp extended in- 
 land apparently for three or four miles, and the jungle grew 
 so dense as to make it impossible to penetrate it in an effort 
 to go around, so I determined not to venture crossing the 
 bridge, but to swim for it. 
 
 The swamp spread on both sides of the lagoon, and there 
 was no such thing as wading in that almost liquid morass, 
 so I tried to find by daylight a place where the mud was 
 covered with water enough at least to make swimming pos- 
 sible, but no such place could I find. 
 
 Everj'where a black tangled mass of rotting leaves and 
 creepers spread, making such a horrible slime that I shrank 
 from attempting to cross it to the open water. Once over 
 that there was the same ordeal to go through on the other 
 side, and I knew I could only do it at full length — that is, to 
 lie flat and pull myself along as well as possible. The sim- 
 plest way was to wade out into the sea, then to swim far 
 enough outside of the pier to escape observation from any 
 one who might chance to be on it,
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 353 
 
 But this involved the chance of a horrible death, the sea 
 there swarming with sharks, which at night come in shore. 
 Therefore, after cogitating the matter, I resolved to attempt 
 the bridge, taking the risk of being seen. It might prove 
 fatal to be seen, as I would have to bolt back, and once 
 knowing a fugitive was in the jungle they might turn out 
 and hedge me in, unless I took the sea route. This I 
 resolved to do, if the one by the bridge proved imprac- 
 ticable. 
 
 So during the afternoon I gathered a small lot of dried 
 limbs and broke them off in sufficient quantity to make a 
 raft capable of bearing about twenty pounds. On this I 
 intended to put my revolvers, cartridges, cigars, etc., and 
 also to rest lightly on it myself, pushing ft before me as I 
 swam. After dark I crossed the road into the jungle skirt- 
 ing the beach, carrj'ing my raft, and deposited it on the 
 sand. Lying down in the hot sand near by smoking a cigar, 
 I waited for the moon to go down. I was doing more than 
 watch the stars and moonlit water. I was saying to myself, 
 "Wliat a jolly world is this!" 
 
 Then, beginning to argue of human destiny, at last I 
 brought the argument around to Ego, and decided that he 
 was a pretty clever fellow, and that the world meant to treat 
 him well. So Ego, settling down into a very comfortable 
 frame of mind, lighting a fresh cigar and looking across at 
 the dark masses of the coral islets crowned with foliage set 
 in the mirrored waters, passed two delightful hours. 
 
 I watched the moon go down and was not impatient, for 
 the beauty of the scene more even than the novelty of the 
 position cast a charm over the spirit and soothed the eye 
 and mind. I wondered how many were seeking me and 
 how many thousands were speculating over my identity and 
 whereabouts, yet not one in his wildest imagination could 
 ever picture the reality of my position in all its strange and 
 magic surroundings. Through all the coming twenty years,
 
 354 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 niglitlv 
 
 in my dungeon, the magician memory would unroll 
 that scene from his pictured chambers. It was all there — 
 the physical that the eye took in and the thoughts evoked 
 and sent swarming to the brain, tliere to remain engraved 
 until life and memor}' end.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIIT. 
 
 SHARKS, SALT WATER ONES, AND OTHER THINGS. 
 
 The bridge had no protection along the side save a simple 
 stringpiece of timber. On the far side the houses rested 
 nearly against the bridge entrance, forming a street, which 
 I had to pass through. 
 
 The moon went down at lo, but I could hear loud voices 
 and occasional bursts of laughter until ii. Then all grew 
 still save the night noises of the woods and swamps. 
 
 At midnight I carried my raft down to the edge of the 
 water, then leaving it there for use in case of a repulse, with 
 my ironwood stick in my left hand and my revolver in the 
 right, I marched down to the bridge, but fearing my upright 
 figure might be seen, dark as it was, outlined against the sky, 
 I stooped' and crawled along the stringpiece of timber until 
 within twenty feet of the large house at the end of the bridge. 
 Peering through the gloom J listened, but could not see or 
 hear any movement. Straightening myself up I took half a 
 dozen paces, when, in the stillness, I heard a sharp crackle 
 that turned me to stone as the flame of a wax match revealed 
 two soldiers sitting on a bench within the porch of the guard- 
 house not ten feet away. One had struck the match to light 
 a cigarette. The flame that betrayed them to me showed 
 to them my form outlined on the bridge. 
 
 There was a sudden exclamation, a hail, "Quien va!" then 
 a sudden and thrilling rattle of accoutrements, but I had 
 turned and was flying back across the bridge. Suddenly a 
 
 (355)
 
 SuG FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 rifle shot rang out sharply on the night; a second followed, 
 but I was unharmed. In ten seconds I wasi beside my little 
 raft, and, pushing it before me, waded out in the shallow 
 water. \\'hen up to my knees I halted, unstrapped my 
 revolvers and placed them on the raft. Then pulling off my 
 shoes I put them and my load on the raft, fastening all with 
 a string put there for the purpose. Sticking my knife 
 through the lapel of my coat and resting my chin on the raft 
 I began to swim, keeping well out, so as to go outside the 
 long wharf. 
 
 In the mean time everything was in commotion ashore. 
 Two more shots were fired, and flashes of the guns proved 
 that a squad had turned out and had crossed the bridge in 
 hot pursuit, Tlien I blessed the wise forethought that had 
 led me to construct the raft. Certainly it had saved me, for 
 they would surely search the jungle. 
 
 During the fearful excitement I had forgotten all about 
 the sharks. In the darkness I had given all my attention 
 to tr)-ing to get a glimpse of the wharf. Suddenly, near me 
 in the calm and awful stillness, there sprang out of the dark 
 waters a large fish which fell back with a splash. 
 
 My heart stood still and my blood seemed to freeze, for 
 to my horror I fancied I saw the black fins of numberless 
 sharks cutting the water. I saw myself dragged down into 
 the awful depths and torn limb from limb by the fierce and 
 hungry monsters. I gave up hope and ceased my swimming, 
 expecting every minute to see the water chunied into angry 
 foam by the furious sharks. Instinctively I placed my hand 
 on the knife I had thrust through the lapel of my coat for 
 just such an emergency, but strength and courage were all 
 gone and my nerveless hand could not draw it out. It 
 seemed a long time that I waited, half dazed, for death, which 
 I hoped when it came would be swift. 
 
 Then I began swinmiing again, but in a hopeless wzy. 
 My nerve was all gone. I fancied I was ringed around with
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 357 
 
 the black-finned devils, and thought I could discern the 
 currents from their waving tails; but I kept on swimming, 
 pushing my raft before me, until suddenly I was thrilled 
 through by my foot striking the bottom. 
 
 Making a rush for the shore, and once there, heedless of 
 the fact tliat I was in the rear of the houses, I fell down in 
 the sand, weak and panting, and there T lay until strength 
 enough to walk came to me. Then, taking my baggage 
 from the raft, and cutting the cords that bound it together, I 
 started on. Courage and confidence soon came back, and I 
 kept steadily on for three hours, passing several small 
 salt water inlets, but no fresh water to fill my now empty 
 bottle. 
 
 At the first sign of day I went just within the border of the 
 jungle, and lying down was soon asleep, and sleeping 
 soundly, too, for waking I found the sun high in the heavens, 
 and, looking at my watch, saw it was 9 o'clock. At the same 
 time I discovered that I was hungry, with no food save a 
 small piece of dried beef and not a drop of water in my 
 bottle. 
 
 The salt water lagoon, or inlet, where I had my adventure 
 of the previous night was marked on my map as a river, 
 but it was not. However, I did not worry over the water 
 question, as I knew I was near the hilly country surrounding 
 the town of Alguizor, an important military headquarters, 
 and I was confident of soon meeting some creek flowing 
 from the hills. As for food, there were to be found in the 
 dense jungle, where the soil was moist and. wet, the holes 
 of the nut crabs. They were large and fat — that is, appeared 
 to be fat — and I knew that with plenty of them in the jungle 
 I should not sufTer from hunger. 
 
 Before starting inland for the day I turned to look at the 
 blue waters rippling under a light breeze, and glancing in 
 the sun, only a fe\y yards away, I smiled to think of the 
 phantoms my fears had conjured up, but for all that I re-
 
 358 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 solved that no more night swims in the sea should find place 
 in my programme. 
 
 I made my way with difficulty through the tangled woods, 
 but had gone nearly a mile before I came to the road. After 
 a cautious survey from my shelter, I stepped out on it, and 
 looking away to the west I saw cultivated hills with teams 
 and people moving about; I also saw the road became two — 
 the right-hand one led away from the coast into the hills, the 
 one to the left continued to skirt the beach. Both roads were 
 well traveled, and I knew I was near the tobacco belt, which 
 is cultivated throughout its entire length, from the Gulf to 
 the Caribbean Sea, for a breadth of twenty miles, its western 
 border touching the province of Pinar del Rio. Forty miles 
 beyond that border the rebels held the towTi of San Cristoval, 
 but I had made up my mind to follow the coast until I 
 reached the hamlet and harbor of Rio de San Diego, fifty 
 miles south from San Cristoval, then to strike north to the 
 town of Passos, twenty miles west of San Cristoval. Once 
 past San Diego, I would be well within the rebel lines, and 
 could safely show myself, although I determined not to do 
 so voluntarily until I was at Passos. 
 
 The roundabout way I was traveling doubled the distance, 
 but, aside from getting outside the lines of the Spanish pa- 
 trols, I was in no particular hurry, and my mode of life was 
 hardening and fitting me for the servdce in which I was to 
 embark. I counted upon taking ten days, or rather nights, 
 to reach San Diego, and five from there to Passos, where T 
 would make myself known to the rebel chiefs as an American 
 volunteer in the cause of Cuban liberty. And, I thought, 
 what a change of scene for Mr. F. A. Warren. From the 
 Bank of Fngland to a volunteer in a rebel camp in Cuba! 
 
 I crossed the road and entered the jungle to pass the dav, 
 but as the ground was dry the trees and vines were not so 
 closely matted, making it easier to move about, and a far 
 mora agreeable place it was for a daylight picnic than the
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 301 
 
 jungle where I had passed the day before. But no crabs 
 showed themselves, and as there was no animal life to be 
 found, there was nothing but my piece of dried beef to be 
 had "to go into the interior," so I dined ofif that; then, light- 
 ing one of my precious cigars, lay down in a sort of fairy 
 bower to enjoy myself, and succeeded. During the entire day 
 no sight or sound of human form or voice came to me, nor 
 yet of animal life, save only a mateless bird, garbed in green 
 that flitted around. Of course, not a drop of water this 
 whole day long for me, and, though I was moderately thirsty, 
 I did not suffer, despite the fact that I smoked several cigars. 
 But I felt that I must have food and drink that night, what- 
 ever risk I incurred in securing it. I determined, therefore, 
 to start early on my journey and get food before the coun- 
 try peopld were all in bed. As soon as night fell I stepped 
 out on the road and cautiously started westward. Knowing 
 there must be some town or hamlet near by, I purposed 
 to enter, spy out some shop and watch until the shop- 
 keeper was alone, then enter and purchase a supply of 
 such food as he had, then march out and disappear as 
 quickly as posible. 
 
 Soon after starting I came to a small place such as the 
 poor whites of the country inhabit, and seeing two women 
 in the doorway I walked in, and with a salute and "Buenas 
 noches, senoritas," I asked for water (agua) ; they responded 
 with alacrity and brought me some in a cocoanut shell. I 
 saw it was vile stufT, with an earthy taste, but thirsty as I was 
 it tasted like nectar. Tliere was some food on a wooden 
 dish inside, and I suppose they saw me looking at it, for the 
 older woman ran in and returned bringing me two roasted 
 plantains and a rice cake. Just then I discovered a man in- 
 side and two others came up from the rear of the house, or I 
 would have purchased food of the women ; but, seeing them, 
 I thanked the ladies, and, saying good night, disappeared in 
 the darkness. Picking up the empty bottle I had left in the 
 21
 
 302 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 road I walked on, feasting as I went on my roasted plan- 
 tains. How nice they tasted! 
 
 A mile aliead I came to a tumbledown roadhoiise, with 
 quite a crowd of loud-voiced men standing around, who evi- 
 dently had been indulging in the fiery aguardiente sold there. 
 Like the Levite and priest, I passed by on the other side, 
 giving the place a wide berth. Soon after I entered a towai 
 or hamlet of a dozen houses. Two or three passed me in the 
 darkness with a ''Buenas noches, senor," to which I mum- 
 bled some reply, they doubtless taking me for a neighbor. 
 Two uniformed men, evidently police or soldiers, w'ere loung- 
 ing in the only shop, and I dared not enter until they were 
 gone. Planting myself in a deep shadow, I sat down waiting 
 for them to go out, but they showed no sign of moving until 
 a shrill voice from a female throat issued from a nearby 
 house, bidding one of the loungers to lounge no more Just 
 then, and he, hurriedly obeying the summons, went; soon 
 his companion followed; then, leaving my empty bottle in 
 the road^ and with my hand on the revolver in my outside 
 pocket, I entered the shop. The easy-going Cuban shop- 
 keeper paid no particular attention to me, did not even 
 stop rolling the cigarette he was making. After deliberately 
 lighting it, he lazily responded to my "Buenas noches, senor," 
 I saw bread, cakes and ham, and ordered of each ; then, see- 
 ing some Spanish wine, I took a bottle; also a bottle of 
 pickles. Producing a $io Spanish bank note, I paid the bill, 
 and emerged into the night with the precious load, and so 
 strong was the animal instinct of hunger upon me that I 
 would have fought to death sooner than surrender the pro- 
 visions I carried. 
 
 Picking up my empty bottle I looked out for a chance to 
 fill it as T walked through the town on the main road, which 
 went straight west, but intending to abandon it as soon as I 
 came to the fields and found it was safe to sit down for a 
 feast, then make my way to the beach, now some two miles
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 3G3 
 
 away, and put in a good distance before daylight. But for 
 two mortal hours the road was bordered by impcnetral)le 
 walls of cactus and bayonet grass, and to make the matter 
 worse the moon came out from behind the clouds and poured 
 a flood of light on the open road. Twice men on horscl^ack 
 passed me, coming from the opposite direction, and both 
 times I sank down in the shadow of the cactus, both times 
 with revolver in hand, but dreading an encounter, as the noise 
 of firing might wake a hornets' nest about my ears. 
 
 At last I came to a road which entered a field. I was soon 
 aver the bars and found myself in an old tobacco plantation, 
 now partly planted in Spanish beans. Crossing a couple of 
 fields at the foot of the hills and in going over a triangular 
 piece of ground, I found the ruins of a house, and nearby a 
 small stream of water. I was in luck, and, taking a good 
 drink and filling my bottle, I sat down in a convenient shad- 
 ow and spread out my eatables. They were a goodly sight, 
 and consisted of four pounds of good ham, a dozen good- 
 sized sweet cakes, two loaves of bread, a bottle of pickles and 
 one of wine, and one of water. I began with a drink of wine, 
 then followed ham and bread and cake for dessert, all washed 
 down with a fine long drink of water. Then lighting a cigar 
 I stretched myself at full length and spent a delightful hour 
 star-gazing. 
 
 Then I arose, took another drink of wine^ but as it was 
 not particularly select, threw the remainder away, and, filling 
 both bottles from the brook, I prepared to march. 
 
 How I wish the kodak fiend existed then and tliat one of 
 them had happened along just then to take a snap shot at 
 me as I stood there in full marching order, with my w^ter 
 bottles slung over my shoulders, my eatables tied up in a 
 large silk handkerchief, with my garments all in tatters, the 
 result of thorns and creepers snatching at them in my jungle 
 trampings; but, worst of all, my trusty and precious walking 
 boots were beginning to show signs of rou^h usage.
 
 SGi FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 I Struck the road leading to the beach and marched west- 
 ward, but it was an unknown land, and I was in constant 
 fear of running against some military post or patrol, being 
 thus constantly delayed by long halts to watch some suspi- 
 cious object or by making long detours to avoid them. Once 
 I had a fright. Two men on horseback riding on the sandy 
 road were almost on me before I saw or heard them, and I 
 only had time to sink into the shadow as they passed almost 
 within reach of my hand. Both were smoking the everlast- 
 ing cigarette, and were engaged in earnest talk. Daylight 
 came and found me not more than eight or ten miles further 
 on my journey, but I w^as very well content as I pitched my 
 camp for the day. I had a royal feast, then, after a cigar, 
 lay down to sleep in another fairy bower and slept until noon, 
 and awoke to find myself wondering how matters were go- 
 ing with Capt. Curtin in Havana, rather amused over the 
 state of chagrin I knew he must be in. I thought of a pos- 
 sible future meeting some years ahead, when, all danger over, 
 I would see and chaff him over a bottle of Cliquot and the 
 $50,000 he wouldn't have, and how I went all the same and 
 saved the money. 
 
 I realized I must be frugal or my provisions would never 
 hold out; so, after a light lunch, I began to make my way 
 slowly to the beach through the tangled maze of trees and 
 vines. Coming in sight of the blue waters I lay down to 
 sleep again and awoke when the stars w-ere out. The moon 
 would not go down till late, but as there was a deep, broad 
 shadow cast by the trees I walked in it. 
 
 Good food and the long day of rest restored my strength. 
 All my confidence returned, and I made good progress. At 
 last the moon went dowTi, and then I pressed rapidly forward, 
 always w^ith revolver in hand, ready for instant action. I 
 think I made fully twenty-five miles this night, but as the 
 coast was indented my progress in a straight direction w^as 
 not more than half that distance. Just as it began to grow
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 365 
 
 gray in the east I came out on a wide inlet. It ran deep into 
 the land. I recognized it from my map as Puerto del Gate, 
 and then I knew I was in the province of Pinar del Rio and 
 almost out of danger, 
 
 I went into the bush again and pitched camp, waiting for 
 daylight to come and reveal my surroundings. Pitching 
 camp consisted in scraping a few leaves together and lying 
 down; but this morning I was too excited to sleep. I felt 
 that I was near my goal, after having safely gone through 
 many dangers. Once across the Puerto del Gato, two nights 
 of travel would place me outside of the farthest Spanish pick- 
 ets and bring me among friends, far beyond chance of pur- 
 suit, and I also knew that the mere knowledge of my presence 
 in the rebel camp would cause all thought of pursuit to be 
 dropped. 
 
 When daylight came I stood and looked around. Across 
 the inlet, twenty miles away, I could see only dark masses 
 of green, with no sign of life. To the north the land was 
 hilly, with houses here and there in the distance, and signs 
 of animal life. I cautiously searched the shore for a mile in 
 the hope of finding a boat to cross to the other shore of the 
 inlet, but none was in sight. 
 
 About 9 o'clock I saw smoke off at sea, and soon I made 
 out a small Spanish gunboat coming rapidly up. Dropping 
 anchor about a mile up the inlet, she sent a boat ashore. I 
 was feeling sleepy, and, going into the woods again, I took a 
 light lunch, and, emptying one bottle of water, lay down to 
 sleep, resolved to make my plans when I awoke. I did not 
 like the appearance of this gunboat; it seemed to promise 
 the presence of the enemy in force around me, besides being 
 a visible manifestation of the pov.'cr of that enemy. 
 
 When I awoke from my nap I started on a cautious spy- 
 ing out of the land, making my way toward the head of the 
 inlet, but keeping always under the protection of tlie woods. 
 While going cautiously along I was startled by the notes of
 
 366 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 a bugle ringing out some military call not far away, and a 
 moment later the gunboat replied with a gun, then steamed 
 out to sea. Continuing my progress through the woods 
 I came to the road, and, hiding securely in a thicket where I 
 could see unseen, I watched. Soon I heard the sound of 
 voices, and then a detail of armed men passed, going leisurely 
 east, escorting an empty wagon drawn by four mules. It 
 meant much, these armed escorts, showing they were in the 
 face of the enemy. Several others passed during the hour 
 of my watch. Then, with many cautious glances up and 
 down the road, I slipped quietly across and crept for two 
 hours through the jungle. Making my way to the side of 
 the bay, I saw that I had left the military post behind me. 
 There were white barracks and a wharf with people walking 
 on it, and here the road and beach were one. Tliis much 
 discovered, I went a safe distance into the jungle and lay 
 down to have a good sleep, feeling I would need all my en- 
 ergy^ and strength for the coming night, as it promised to be 
 a critical one, especially as I could not afford to wait for the 
 moon to go down, and would not have the shelter of dark- 
 ness, for the moonlight was so powerful that one could easily 
 read print by it. 
 
 I slept until dark, and awoke refreshed, then lunched and 
 nearly finished my last bottle of water. I had only sufficient 
 food for two more light meals. After lunch I smoked for an 
 hour, star-gazing and philosophizing. At 9 o'clock, emerg- 
 ing into the road, I started cautiouslv out, walking in the 
 shadow of the jungle as much as possible. I thought the 
 head of the inlet was about ten miles away, and expected 
 to find a military post or at least a picket stationed there. 
 ***** 
 
 Daylight once more. But it found me happy and content, 
 for the difficulties of the passage of the wide inlet, which had 
 confronted me the night before, had all been surmounted. 
 I was now in a densely wooded point on the western side of
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 367 
 
 the bay. Between nie and San Diego lay a wild no man's 
 land of fifty miles. Tliat meant only two nights more of 
 peril and uncertainty, and it wa& all straight going. So far 
 as the coast line was concerned I was outside of the Spanish 
 lines. Tired out and very well contented, just as the sun 
 rose fiery red above the horizon, I lay down and was at once 
 in dreamland. At noon, hungry and with only a few ounces 
 of food to satisfy my hunger, I woke. Finishing my last 
 bit of ham and bread, I lighted a cigar and set about plan- 
 ning. Pulling out my little map, I began to scan it for the 
 thousandth time. About six miles to the north was the lit- 
 tle town of San Miguel. Between me and San Diego lay fifty 
 miles of wild country swept by fire and sword, without an 
 inhabitant and without food. Hungry as I already was, I felt 
 it would not do to undertake a two days' journey through 
 that wilderness without eating. Of course I made a mistake. 
 I was clear of the toils, and I ought to have taken every and 
 any chance rather than enter the enemy's lines again. 
 
 I resolved, soon after night came, to set out for San Alig- 
 uel, watch my chance to enter a shop and purchase food, 
 then, beating a hasty retreat, strike out across the country 
 straight for San Diego, there to find myself among friends 
 in the rebel camp. 
 
 I set out and without any particular adventure arrived 
 about 9 o'clock at San Miguel. It proved to be a hamlet 
 with the houses ranged close together on opposite sides of 
 the streets. The moonlight cast a deep shadow on one side, 
 while the opposite side was almost like day. I stoodi in the 
 deep shadow watching. The first building was evidently a 
 police or military barrack. The door was wide open, but no 
 one was visible inside. About five doors off was a shop, 
 but the door was closed, and from where I stood there ap- 
 peared no sign of life within. I waited about ten minutes, 
 and rashly concluding that there was no one save the pro- 
 prietor there, I stepped out of the shadow into the moonlight
 
 368 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 and hurning across the street, put my hand on the door, 
 opened it and stepping- within found myself in the presence 
 of tAventy soldiers, all gossiping, smoking or gambling. Belts 
 and cartridge boxes along wuth bayonets decorated the walls 
 or were lying about on boxes and barrels. 
 
 All eyes were turned on me. I saw myself in a fearful trap 
 and nothing but consummate coolness could keep them from 
 questioning me. My heart beat fast, but with an afifecta- 
 tion of indifference I saluted and said: "Buenos noches, se- 
 nores." Tliey all returned my salutation, but looked at each 
 other eagerly, each waiting for the other to question me. 
 
 I stepped to the counter and asked for bread ; two loaves 
 were given me. I picked up some cakes and paid for them. 
 From the door I turned, and putting all my dignity into a 
 bow, I said: "Good night, gentlemen." They all seemed 
 held by a spell, but they looked and were dangerous as death. 
 I closed the door, fully realizing my peril, feeling the storm 
 would break the instant I was out of sight. Fortunately 
 there was no one near, and I ran swiftly across the street 
 into the protecting shadow and crouched down in a dark 
 space between two houses. The cactus-like weeds grew 
 there and pricked me, but I heeded them not, for that instant 
 the soldiers poured out of the shop, an angry and excited 
 mob, buckling on their belts, cartridge boxes and bayonets 
 as they ran. Some had their nuiskets, others hastened to 
 get them and all save two stragglers rushed out of the town in 
 the direction from which I had entered. I wondered at this, 
 but soon discovered the reason. Some few women, hearing 
 the tumult, came into the street, but seeing nothing, went 
 in again; the stragglers all disappeared and the street was 
 quiet. 
 
 I came out of my comer and hurried in the shadow down 
 the road in the opposite direction to the course followed by 
 my pursuers. Arriving at the last house at the foot of the 
 street, I found myself confronted by a small river, quiet and
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 369 
 
 apparently deep, with all the space from the last house to 
 the river one impassable barrier of giant cactus, I had either 
 to swim the river or tuni back, and I ought to have plunged 
 in as I was, revolver and all, the distance over being short; 
 and, as I am an expert swimmer, I could easily have got 
 across, loaded down as I was. But a contemptible trifle had 
 weight enough to cause me to adopt the suicidal course of 
 turning back. 
 
 The fierce animal instinct of hunger was on me, the smell 
 of the food enraged me, and I thought if I swam the stream 
 the cakes and bread I carried would be soaked and probably 
 lost, for I had them loose in my arms; beside, I was over- 
 confident of my ability to escape my pursuers. They had 
 marched by the road that led behind the village to the bridge 
 crossing the river some distance up; evidently, not seeing 
 me, they took it for granted I knew of the bridge, and had 
 gone that way. 
 
 To appease at once my hunger, in a fatal moment I re- 
 traced my steps. As I passed a house three women came 
 out. They spoke to me, and in my excitement, instead of 
 saying good evening in Spanish (buenas noches), I said 
 good morning (buenas dias). They, of course, saw I was a 
 stranger. 
 
 Just then four soldiers came hurriedly into the street from 
 the road, and I was forced to leave the women and crouch 
 down in my former hiding place. Then they did what 
 women seldom do — betrayed the fugitive. Calling to the 
 soldiers, they pointed out the place I was in. All four came 
 running, and in a moment were almost on top of me. I pre- 
 sented my revolver and snapped the trigger twice without 
 exploding the cartridges ; they were too close or too excited 
 to use their muskets, but all four grappled with me, and nat- 
 urally used me pretty roughly. 
 
 There was a terrific hullabaloo, as in response to their cries 
 their comrades came running in. By the time they had
 
 370 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 hustled me across the street into the shop there was a mob 
 of half a hundred around me. Soon the commander, a cap- 
 tain, appeared. I wish I could say he was a gentleman, but 
 he was not. He was a little, peppery young fellow, appar- 
 ently with negro blood in his veins, and dictatorial and insult- 
 ing in manner. 
 
 Surely I was an object — a tramp in appearance — but with 
 a diamond ring on my finger (which I had taken from my 
 pocket and slipped on), a revolver strapped to my waist and 
 a splendid chronometer in my pocket. Such an object had 
 never before loomed on their horizon. Was not one glance 
 enough to show that I must be a notable rebel, and there 
 was but one doom for such. 
 
 My desperate situation cast out all fear, and I was cold and 
 haughty. Flourishing my police passport, I infomied him 
 that I was Stanley W. Parish of New York, a correspondent 
 of the New York Herald, and he had better look out what 
 he was about. 
 
 But it was evident that police passports made out in Ha- 
 \'ana had no currency in the face of the enemy; but at any rate 
 it proved that whatever my intentions might be, I had at 
 least hailed last from Havana, and not from the rebel camp, 
 and this would prevent my peppery captain from enjoying 
 the pleasure of standing me up in the morning to be fusil- 
 laded, such being the law for all captives in the savage contest. 
 
 Down my gentleman sat on a barrel, pompous and im- 
 portant, and ordered me to be searched. All this time a 
 dozen hands were holding me fast. I told my officer he was 
 a fool and a clown, but my captors began to go through my 
 pockets, and speedily there was a heap of gold and paper 
 money on the barrel, and my little fnend fingered it with a 
 covetous eye. I had my $10,000 in bonds pinned in the 
 sleeve of my undershirt. This they missed, but found all 
 else T carried. In the mean time there was an eager audience 
 looking on, absorbed in the interest of the scene.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 371 
 
 There was a collection indeed on tliat barrel. Beside my 
 ring, there were five other valuable diamonds, my chronome- 
 ter, which with its regular beat and stem-winding arrange- 
 ment was a great curiosity. Then the heap of money was 
 a loadstone for all their hungry eyes. The captain was mak- 
 ing out an inventory and statement, while I stood white with 
 rage to see the half-breeds, blacks, browns and yellows, 
 handle my property so freely. I w'as especially in a rage 
 with the impudent captain, who had the nerve to put my 
 watch in his pocket. Absorbed by the interest of the scene, 
 my captors had insensibly loosened their hold, and I deter- 
 mined to have some satisfaction out of the captain. Sud- 
 denly sei;^ing one of the revolvers before I could be stopped 
 I gave liim a stinging blow with it and sprang on him. We 
 rolled on the floor, and there was a scene. I was dragged 
 off by fifty hands, every one trying to seize me, if only by one 
 hand. My captain got up with the blood running down his 
 face, and, rushing to a peg, he seized a sabre bayonet and 
 flew at me like a mad bull. I shouted at him in Spanish, 
 calling him a cur and coward, bidding him to come on. He 
 was not unwilling, while my captors held me firmly exposed 
 to his assault. Another second would have ended my life, 
 when a woman spectator, who stood near nursing a child, 
 threw her arms around him ; this, joined to my indifference, 
 for I continued my jeers and taunts, changed his purpose, to 
 my disappointment, for I preferred death to going back to 
 Havana.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 ONE LOVELY JUNE MORNING INTO PLYMOUTH HARBOR 
 
 WE SAIL. 
 
 Ten days after the events recorded in the last chapter I 
 sailed once more into Havana. This time a prisoner. Two 
 days after my capture, by order of the Captain-General of 
 Cuba, I was put on board the little gunboat Santa Rita, a 
 wretched little tub that steamed four miles an hour and took 
 eight days going from Puerto Novo on the south to Ha- 
 vana. 
 
 I was taken by a guard of soldiers, not to the police bar- 
 racks, but to the common prison, where an entire corridor 
 was cleared of its inmates to make room for me and my 
 guards. Capt. Curtin was the first man to call. He, of 
 course, was delighted to see me. While giving me credit 
 for my escape, he told me he did not purpose to have me 
 leave him again, and having permission from the authorities, 
 he or some of his men intended to keep me company night 
 and day. Of course I respected Curtin for his honest deter- 
 mination to do his duty. He really was an altogether good 
 fellow, and showed me all possible courtesy and considera- 
 tion; in fact, on his first visit he brought me a letter from 
 my wife, along with a box of cigars and a bottle of wine on 
 his own account. 
 
 One of his men, by the name of Perry, used to sleep in my 
 little room with me, and every morning Curtin would relieve 
 him, remaining until dinner time. We kad many lono- talks 
 (372) "^
 
 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE. 373 
 
 on all sorts of subjects, and he gave me many inside histories 
 of famous criminal cases which he had been engaged in. 
 In time we became very good friends. 
 
 He also gave me full particulars of the really extraordinary 
 way in which he discovered my presence in the West Indies 
 and the reason which led him to conclude that F. A. Warren 
 and I were one. William Pinkerton ordered him to look 
 up the New York end of the business and see if he could 
 discover the identity of Warren. He was one of the many 
 working on the case, but to him belongs the credit of estab- 
 lishing my identity, also of locating my whereabouts and of 
 effecting my arrest. 
 
 When ordered on the case he knew no more about me or 
 the forgery than what he read in the newspapers. He soon 
 made up his mind that I was an American, and that I was a 
 resident either of New York or Chicago. This because I 
 was so young and evidently had a good knowledge of 
 finance and financial matters. So he determined to seek for 
 a clue to F. A. Warren in Wall street. He procured a list 
 of the names of every banker and broker in New York, and 
 then spent some time in interviewing them, his one question 
 being "Now, who is he?" With their assistance he soon 
 made out a list of nearly twenty possible Warrens, and 
 speedily narrowed it dowTi to four, my name being one of 
 the four. He soon located my home, and began making 
 cautious inquiries on the spot from neighbors and others. 
 He discovered that I was believed to be in Europe, and 
 had been there before, and that when I last returned I had 
 paid off debts and apparently had plenty of money. He 
 had become convinced of my identity, but if I were Warren 
 — where was I? 
 
 Without arousing suspicion, he heard from some of my 
 acquaintances a saying of mine that whenever I had a bank 
 account, I should live in the tropics. So he reported to his 
 superiors that in his opinion F. A. Warren and I were onD,
 
 374 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 and he believed that, if in America at all, I might be found! 
 at some fashionable resort in Florida. 
 
 He \\^s ordered to go to Florida, and visit the various re- 
 sorts. Upon his arrival at St. Augustine, he sent letters to 
 several of the West India islands, including Martinique, Ja- 
 maica and Cuba, inquiring for the names and descriptions of 
 all wealthy young Americans lately arrived. One letter he 
 sent to Dr. C. L. Houscomb, then the leading American doc- 
 tor in Havana, who, replying to his inquiry, gave my name 
 among others. After my arrest Dr. Houscomb told me how 
 grieved he was to have betrayed me, but that he thought 
 that Capt. Curtin was a newspaper man, and wanted the in- 
 formation as a matter of news. 
 
 With this letter in his hand, Capt. Curtin found a plain 
 path before him. To go ahead of my story a little, I will 
 say here that eventually the bank authorities made him a 
 considerable present in cash, along with their congratula- 
 tions over his clever detective work. Capt. John Curtin is 
 to-day well and hearty, a prosperous man and very generally 
 respected by the citizens of San Francisco, where he lives. 
 
 About ten days after my arrival he brought me a New 
 York Herald containing these dispatches: 
 
 (Special to New York Herald.) 
 
 Madrid, April 12, 1873. 
 The American Ambassador, Gen. Sickles, has formally 
 notitied Senor Castelar that the American Government will 
 consent to the surrender to the British Government of Bid- 
 well, now under arrest in Havana upon charge of being con- 
 cerned in the Bank of England forgery. 
 
 (Special to New York Herald.) 
 
 London, April 12, 1873. 
 To the great gratification of the authorities here, ofificial 
 confirmation is given to the rumor that the Spanish Govern- 
 ment has concluded to grant the extradition of Bidwell, now 
 under arrest in Havana. There seems to be no doubt that
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 375 
 
 Bidwcll is the mysterious Frederick Albert Warren, and 
 there is a very general curiosity to see him. Many con- 
 flicting' stories have been published of his extraordinary 
 escape and equally extraordinary capture. The Times' re- 
 port had it that he was mortally wounded, and that he had on 
 his person when captured diamonds to an enormous value, 
 which had disappeared soon after. Sergeants Haydcn and 
 Green of the Bow Street force and Mr. Good of the Bank of 
 England sail on the Java to-morrow to escort Bidwell to 
 London. 
 
 So the web was closing in on me. Of my daily sad inter- 
 views with my wife I will say nothing here. But could I 
 have foreseen that this w^oman, on whom I had settled a for- 
 tune, would have married another soon after my sentence, T 
 should not have felt so sorrowful on her account. In due time 
 Green, Hayden and Good arrived^ and were introduced to 
 me. I did not give in, but made, by the aid of my 
 friends, a hard fight to persuade the Captain- General to sus- 
 pend the order for my delivery', and succeeded for a time. 
 
 At last, after many delays and many plans, early one May 
 morning I was taken to the mouth of the harbor. There 
 the boat of the English warship Vulture was in waiting, and 
 I was formally transferred to the English Government, and 
 Curtin. Perry, Hayden and Green went on board with me. 
 Soon after she steamed out of the harbor. Later in the day 
 the Moselle, the regular passenger steamer to Plymouth 
 and Southampton, came out, and about ten miles out at sea 
 was met by the Vulture's boat, and I and my four guardians 
 were transferred to her. 
 
 At last I was of¥ for England, and it looked very much 
 as if Justice would weigh me in her balance after all, the 
 more certainly because I found my wife on the Moselle. I 
 had secretly resolved never to be taken back, but intended 
 the first night out of Havana to jump overboard, possibly 
 with a cork jacket, or something to help to keep me afloat. 
 The waters of the gulf were warm, there were many passing
 
 S7G FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 sliy^s, aiul I would take my chance of surviving the night 
 and being picked up. But, very cleverly, Curtin decided to 
 send niy wife with mc and treat me like any other cabin 
 passenger, rightly divining I would not kill her by commit- 
 ting suicide or going over the side on chances. 
 
 I was well treated all the way over, but every night my 
 prayer was that we might nm on an iceberg or go down, 
 so that my wife might be spared long years of agony and me 
 from the misery and degradation of prison life. 
 
 I had obtained a position in Havana for one of my serv- 
 ants, but Nunn was returning wdth me, feeling very badly 
 and most unlxappy over the sure prospect of my future mis- 
 er}'. I was pleased to think he had held on to the money 
 I had given him. Altogether, he was quite $2,000 ahead, 
 and I wanted to make it $5,000. He certainly deserved it 
 for his constancy and aflfection. 
 
 One lovely Tune day we sailed into Plymouth, there to land 
 mail and such passengers as wanted to take the express to 
 London. I instructed my wife to go to Southampton 
 while I went ashore with my guardians. 
 
 From the London Times, June 10, 1873: 
 
 "Among the passengers who landed at Plymouth yester- 
 day morning from the royal mail steamer Moselle was Bid- 
 well, otherwise F. A. Warren, in charge of Detective Ser- 
 geant Michael Hayden and William Green, accompanied 
 by Capt. John Curtin and Walter Perrv of Mr, Pinker- 
 ton's stafif. They were joined by Inspector Wallace and De- 
 tective Sergeant William Moss of the city police, who had 
 come down from London the previous night to meet the 
 steamer. 
 
 "It being known that Bidwell was expected from Havana 
 in the Moselle, an enormous crowd assembled in Milbay 
 pier to await the return of the steam tender with the mail, 
 in order to get sl sight of the prisoner, and so great was the 
 crowd that it was with some difficulty that Bidwell and his 
 escort managed to reach cabs, and w^cre driven to the Duke of 
 Cornwall Hotel adjoining the railway station. They left by
 
 •I KIKEL) I'lJlXT JJLA.NK, AXL) DOWX HK WEXT AS 11' 
 FEI-I,i:i> i:V LIGHTXIXG."— Papp 334.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 379 
 
 the 12.45 train for London. A crowd of 20,000 persons 
 were present to see them oflf, and cheered Bidwcll heartily. 
 "Bidwell will be taken before the Lord Mayor in the jus- 
 tice room at the Mansion House this morning." 
 
 Accompanied by my escort of six, I arrived in London 
 one bright Spring morning, just as the mighty masses of that 
 great Babylon were thronging in their thousands toward 
 Epsom Downs, where on that day the Derby, that pivotal 
 event in the English year, was to be run. All London was 
 astir, and had put on holiday attire, while I, now a poor weed 
 drifting to rot on Lethe's \vharf, was on my way to Newgate. 
 
 Newgate! Then it had come to this! The Primrose 
 Way wherein I had walked and lived delicately at the ex- 
 pense of honor, ended here! 
 
 "Whatsoever a man sow-eth, that shall he also reap," was 
 written by one Paul. The wisdom of many was here and 
 condensed in the wit of one, and one with the shrewdest in- 
 sight into things and a practical knowledge of human his- 
 tory. 
 
 I was a prisoner in Newgate. Newgate ! The ver}^ name 
 casts a chill; so, too, does a sight of that granite fortress 
 rising there in the heart of mighty London. Amid all the 
 throbbing life of that great Babylon it stands — chill and 
 grim — and has stood a prison, fortress for 500 years, 
 Through all those linked centuries how many thousands of 
 the miserable and heartbroken of every generation have been 
 garnered within its cold embrace! What sights and 
 sounds those old walls have seen and heard! As I paced its 
 gloomy corridors that first night, pictures of its past rose 
 before me so grim and terrible that I turned shuddering 
 from them, onlv to remember that I, too, had joined the long 
 unending procession ever flowing through its gates, which 
 had heaped its walls to the top with one inky sea of misery. 
 
 In the cruel days of old many a savage sentence had fallen 
 from the lips of merciless judges, but none more terrible 
 22.
 
 380 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 than the one which was to fall on us from the lips of their 
 ferocious imitator, Justice Archibald. 
 
 I found my three friends already prisoners there, and a 
 sad party we were. When we said good-bye that night on 
 the wharf at Calais, where we sat star-gazing and philoso- 
 phizing, we little anticipated this reunion. 
 
 What a rude surprise it was to find how things were con- 
 ducted in this same Newgate. I took it for granted — since 
 the law regarded us as innocent until we were tried and 
 convicted — that we could have any reasonable favor granted 
 us there which was consistent with our safe keeping. But 
 no. The system of the convict prison was enforced here, 
 and with the same iron rigor. Strict silence was the rule 
 along with the absolute exclusion of newspapers and all news 
 of the outside world. The rules forbid any delicacy or 
 books being furnished by one's friends from the outside. 
 This iron system is as cruel as unphilosophical, for, pending 
 trial, the inmates are more or less fiving in a perfect agony 
 of mind, which drives many into insanity or to the verge of 
 insanity, as it did me. How can one, then, when the past 
 is remorse — and the present and future despair — find 
 oblivion or raze out the written troubles of the brain save in 
 absorption in books. 
 
 When Claudo is doomed to die and go "he knew not 
 where," peering into the abyss, the fear strikes him that in 
 the unknown he may be "prisoned in the viewless winds" 
 and blown with restless violence round about this pendant 
 world." A terrible figure! It filled at this time some corner 
 of my brain and would not out. It went with me up and 
 down in all my walks in Newgate. 
 
 If I had the pen of Victor Hugo, what a picture I would 
 draw of a mind consciously going down into the fearful 
 abyss of insanity, making mighty struggles against it, yet 
 looking on the cold walls shutting one in and weighing 
 down the spirit, feeling that the struggle is ineffectual, the
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 381 
 
 fight all in vain, for the dead, blank walls arc staring coldly 
 on you, without giving one reflex message, bearing on their 
 gray surface no thought, no response of mind. For they 
 have been looked over with anxious care to discover if any 
 other mind had recorded there some thought which would 
 awake thought in one's own, and help to shake off the fearful 
 burden pressing one to earth. As a fact, a man so situated 
 does — aye, must — make an efifort to leave some visible im- 
 press of his mind as a message to his kind. It is a natural 
 law, and the instinct is part of one's being. It is a passion 
 of the mind — a longisg to be united to the spiritual mass 
 of minds from which the isolated soul is suffering an un- 
 natural divorce of hideous material walls. 
 
 It is this law which makes the savage place his totem on 
 the rocks, and it is, thanks to the same instinct, that this very 
 day our savants are finding beneath the foundations of the 
 temples and palaces which once decked the Phoenician plain 
 the baked tablets which tell us the family histories, no less 
 than the story of the empires of those days. When the im- 
 press was made on the soft clay to be fire-hardened, each 
 writer felt or hoped in the long ages in the tar-off unknown, 
 
 "When time is old and hath forgot itself, 
 When water drops have worn the streets of Troy 
 And blind oblivion swallowed cities up, 
 And mighty States, characterless, are grated 
 To dusty nothing" 
 
 then some thought, some message from their minds, there 
 impressed on the senseless clay, would be communicated 
 to some other mind, and wake a response there. 
 
 Many a time, with a brain reeling in agony, did I turn and 
 stare blankly at those walls, and, in a sort of dumb stupor, 
 search them over in hope to find some word, some mes- 
 sage impressed there, some scratch of pen or finger nail. It 
 might be a message of miser\% some outcry from a wounded 
 spirit, some expression of despair.
 
 asu 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 Had there been one such — had there been ! Ever}^ one of 
 my predecessors had left a message on that smooth-painted 
 wall, but the red-tape official rogues — the stultified imaees 
 sans reason, sans all imagination — had, after the departure 
 of each one, carefidly painted over all such legacies^ 
 
 The hideous cruelty of it all! ]\Iy blood boils even now, 
 when I think of it. Even in the days of Elizabeth the keep- 
 ers of the Tower of London had enough human feeling to 
 leave untouched the inscriptions made by Raleigh and 
 others, and there they are to-day, and to-day wake a response 
 in the heart of every visitor that looks on them.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. 
 
 My life at Newgate was an ordeal such as I hope no 
 reader of this will ever undergo. Day by day I saw the 
 world slipping from under my feet, and the net drawing its 
 deadly folds closer around me. S,oon 've all were forced 
 to realize there was no escape for any of us. 
 
 Of course, we were all guilty and deserved punishment — 
 I need not say we did not think so then — but the evidence 
 was most weak, and had our trial taken place in America 
 imder the too liberal construction of our laws, undoubtedly 
 we all would have escaped. But in England there is no 
 court of criminal appeal, as with us, and when once the jury 
 gives a verdict, that ends the matter. The result is that if 
 judges are prejudiced, or want a man convicted, as in our 
 case, he never escapes. The jury is always selected from the 
 shopkeeping class, and they are horribly subservient to the 
 aristocratic classes. They don't care for evidence — they 
 simply watch the judge. If he smiles, the prisoner is inno- 
 cent. If he frowns, then, of course, guilty. 
 
 With us when a man is charged with and offense 
 against the laws he engages a lawyer — one is sufficient and 
 quite costly enough. In England they are divided into three 
 classes, viz.: solicitors, barristers and Queen's Counsels. 
 
 The solicitor takes the case and transacts all the business 
 connected with it. A barrister is the lawyer who is em- 
 ployed by the solicitor to conduct the case in court and 
 make the pleadings. He never comes in contact with tlie 
 
 (383)
 
 yS4 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 client, but tal-ces the brief and all instructions from the so- 
 licitor. The Queen's Counsel is a lawyer of a higher rank, 
 and whenever his serene lordship takes a brief he must, to 
 keep up his dignity, "be supported" by a barrister. So my 
 reader will perhaps understand the raison d'etre of the prov- 
 erb, "The lawyers own England." As no solicitor can plead 
 in court, so no Queen's Counsel will com.e in direct contact 
 with a client, and must be "supported" by a barrister. Ergo, 
 any unfortunate having a case in court must fee two, if not 
 three legal sharks to represent him, if represented at all. 
 
 We employed as solicitor a Mr. David Howell of 105 
 Chieapside, and a thoroughgoing, unprincipled rascal he 
 proved to be. He was a small, spare, undersized man, with 
 little beady eyes, light complexion, red hair, and stubby 
 beard, and when he spoke it was with a thin reedy voice. 
 Erom first to last he managed our case in exactly the way 
 the prosecution would have desired. He bled us freely, and 
 altogether we paid him nearly $10,000, and our defense by 
 our eight law}^ers — four Queen's Counsels and four barristers 
 — was about the lamest and most idiotic possible. 
 
 We early came to the unanimous conclusion that in our 
 country Howell would have had to face a jur}^ for robbing 
 us, and that but one of our eight lawyers had ability enough 
 to appear in a police court here to conduct a hearing before 
 an ordinar}' magistrate. 
 
 I do not propose to enter into the details of our prelim- 
 inary hearings before the Lord Mayor at the Mansion 
 House, or of the trial. Both the hearings and trial were 
 sensational in the highest degree, and attracted universal 
 attention all over the English-speakmg world. Eull-page 
 pictures of the trial appeared in all the illustrated journals 
 of Europe and America, and our portraits were on sale 
 everj^where. 
 
 After many hearings before Sir Sidney Waterlaw, we 
 were finally committed for trial.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 385 
 
 Editorial from the London Times' of Aug. 13, 1873: 
 
 THE BANK FORGERIES. 
 
 "Monday next has been fixed for the trial, and the de- 
 positions taken before the Lord Mayor at the Justice Room 
 of the Mansion House by Mr. Oke, the chief clerk, have 
 been printed for the convenience of the presiding judge and 
 of the counsel on both sides. They extend over 242 folio 
 pages, including the oral and documentary evidence^ and 
 make of themselves a thick volumcj together with an elabo- 
 rate index for ready reference. Within living memory' there 
 has been no such case for length and importance heard be- 
 fore anv Lord Mayor of London in its preliminar)' stage, 
 nor one which excited a greater amount of public interest 
 from first to last. The Overend Gurney prosecution is the 
 only one in late years w^hich at all approaches it in those re- 
 spects, but in that the printed depositions only extended over 
 164 folio pages, or much less than those in the Bank case, 
 in which as many as 108 witnesses gave evidence before the 
 Lord Mayor, and the preliminary examinations — twenty- 
 three in number from first to last — lasted from the first of 
 March until the 2d of July, exclusive of the time spent in 
 remands." 
 
 From the London Times, Aug. 10, 1873: 
 
 "On the opening of the August sessions of the Old Bailey 
 Central Criminal Court. The court and streets were much 
 crowded from the beginning, and continued so throughout 
 the day. Alderman Sir Robert Garden, representing the 
 Lord Mayor; Mr. Alderman Finis, Mr. Alderman Besley, Mr. 
 Alderman Lawrence, M. P., Mr. Alderman Whetham and 
 IVIr. Alderman Ellis, as commissioners of the Court, occupied 
 seats upon the bench, as did also Alderman Sheriff White. 
 
 "Sherifif Sir Frederick Perkins, Mr. Under-Sheriff Hewitt 
 and Mr. Under-SherifT Crosley, Mr. R. B. Green, Mr. R. W. 
 Crawford, M. P., Governor of the Bank, INfr. Lyall, Deputy 
 Governor, and ATr. Alfred de Rothschild were present. The 
 members of the bar mustered in force, and the reserved 
 seats were chiefly occupied by ladies. Mr. Hardinge Gififord, 
 Q. C. (now Lord Chancellor of the British Empire), and 
 Mr. Watkin Williams, Q. C. (instructed by Messrs. Fresh-
 
 o8G FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 field, the solicitors of the bank), appeared as counsel for the 
 prosecution/' 
 
 For eig^lit mortal days the final trial dragged on, and there 
 we were pilloried in that horrible dock — a spectacle for the 
 staring throngs that flocked to see the young Americans 
 who had found a pregnable spot in the impregnable Bank 
 of England. 
 
 The misery of those eight days! Xo language can describe 
 it. nor would I undergo it again for the wealth of the world. 
 
 The court was filled with fashionables, ladies as well, who 
 flocked to stare at misery, while the corridors of the Old 
 Bailey and the street itself were packed with thousands eager 
 to catch a glimpse of us. The Judge, in sc arlet, sat in solemn 
 state, with members of the nobility or gouty Aldermen in 
 gold chains and robes on the bench beside him. The body 
 of the court was filled with bewigged lawyers — a tippling 
 lot of sharks and rogues, always after lunch half tipsy with 
 the punch or dry sherry which English lawyers drink, jesting 
 and cracking jokes, unmindful of the fate of their clients. 
 Capt. Curtin and a score of detectives were present. 
 
 No fewer than 213 witnesses were called by the prosecu- 
 tion. Of these about fifty were! from America, and by them 
 they traced our lives for many years before. As the forged 
 bills were all sent by mail it was necessary to convict us by 
 circumstantial evidence. The evidence was all very weak, 
 save only in that remarkable matter of the blotting paper. 
 Our conviction was a foregone conclusion. 
 
 The jury retired to consider their verdict shortly after 7 
 o'clock, and on returning into court after the lapse of about 
 a quarter of an hour they gave in a verdict of guilty against 
 all of the four prisoners.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 "NOTHING LEFT US BUT A GRAVE, THAT SMALL. MODEL 
 
 OF THE BARREN EARTH," WITH DISHONOR 
 
 FOR AN EPITAPH. 
 
 Judge Archibald proceeded to pass sentence. He began 
 with the interesting and truthful remark: "I have anxiously 
 considered whether anything less than the maximum penalty 
 of the law will be adequate to meet the requirements) of this 
 case, and I think not." We had information that a few 
 days previously a meeting of judges had been held and that 
 he had been advised to pass a life sentence. What he really 
 meant to say was that he had anxiously considered whether 
 anything less would be adequate to satisfy the Bank of 
 England. He went on to say that we had not only inflicted 
 great loss on the bank, but had also seriously discredited 
 that great institution in the eyes of the public. He continued : 
 "It is difficult to see the motives for this crime; it was not 
 want, for you were in possession of a large sum of money. 
 You are men of education, some of you speak the Conti- 
 nental languages, and you have traveled considerably. I 
 see no reason to make any distinction between you, and let 
 it be understood from the sentence which I am about to pass 
 upon you that men of education" — and he might have added, 
 what he undoubtedly thought, Americans — "who commit 
 crimes which none but men of education can commit must 
 expect a terrible retribution, and that sentence is penal 
 servitude for life, and I further order that each one of you 
 
 (387)
 
 388 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 pay one-fourth of the costs of prosecution — ^£49,000, or 
 $245,000 in all." 
 
 And, after all, what aroused so greatly his indignation? 
 It was simply this — because we were youngsters and Ameri- 
 cans, and had successfullv assaulted the fondly imagined 
 impregnable Bank of England, and, worse still, had held 
 up to the laughter of the whole world its red-tape idiotic 
 management, for had the bank asked so common a thing 
 as a reference the fraud would have been made impossible. 
 
 Let my reader contrast this modern. Jefifreys, his savage 
 tirade, and, for an offense against property, this most brutal 
 sentence, with the treatment of the Warwicksliire bank 
 wreckers. Greenaway, the manager of this bank, and threei 
 of the directors by false balance sheets and perjured reports 
 for years had looted the bank, finally robbing the depositors 
 of £1,000,000, several of whom committed suicide and thou- 
 sands more of whom were ruined. 
 
 They were tried, convicted, and in being sentenced were 
 told that, being* men of high social position, the disgrace in 
 itself was a severe punishment; therefore, he should take 
 that fact into consideration, and ended by sentencing two to 
 eight months', one to twelve and one to fourteen months' 
 imprisonment. 
 
 We were sentenced late at night — nearly 10 o'clock — a 
 smoky, foggy London night. The court was packed, the 
 corridors crowded, and when the jury came in with their 
 verdict the suppressed excitement found vent. But when 
 the vindictive and unheard-of sentence fell from the lips of 
 this villain Judge an exclamation of horror fell from that 
 crowded courL 
 
 Wc turned from the Judge and went down the stairs to 
 the entrance to the underground passage leading to New- 
 gate. There we r.alted to say farcwelll. 
 
 To say farewell! Yes. The Primrose Way had come to 
 an end, but we were comrades and friends still, and in order
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 389 
 
 that in the gloom of the slow-moving days and the blackness 
 and thick horror of the years to come we might have some 
 thought in common, we then and there promised — what 
 could we poor, broken bankrupts promise? 
 
 Where or to what in the thick horror enshrouding us 
 could we turn? We had 
 
 "Nothing left us to call our own save death. 
 And that small model oi the barren earth 
 Which serves as paste and cover to our bonesj" 
 
 nothing but a grave, that 
 
 "Small model of the barren earth," 
 
 with dishonor and degradation for our epitaph! 
 
 But there, in the very instant of our overwhelming defeat, 
 standing in the dark mouth of the stone conduit leading 
 from the Old Bailey to the dungeons of Newgate, by virtue 
 of the high resolve we made, we conquered Fate at her 
 worst, and by our act in establishing a secret bond of sym- 
 pathy in our separation dropped the bad, disastrous past, 
 and starting on new things planted our feet on the bottom 
 round of the ladder of success, feeling that, with plenty of 
 faith and endurance. Fortune, frown as she might now, must 
 in some distant day turn her wheel and smile again. 
 
 And what was this act? Why, it was a simple one, but 
 bore in it the germ of great things. 
 
 As we halted there in the gloom we swore never to give in, 
 however they might starve us, even grind us to powder, as 
 we felt they would certainly try to do. We knew that in 
 their anxiety about our souls they would be sure kindly to 
 furnish each with a Bible, and we promised to read one 
 chapter every day consecutively, and, while reading the same 
 chapter at the same hour, think of the others. For twenty 
 years we kept the promise. Then, making the resolve men- 
 tioned in the beginning of this book, T marched back to my 
 Cell. The door was opened and closed behind me, leaving-
 
 390 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 me in pitch darkness — a convict in my dungeon. Dressed 
 as I was I lay down on the httle bed there, and through all 
 that long and terrible night, with a million dread images 
 rushing through my brain, I lay passive, with wide-open 
 eyes, staring into the darkness, conscious that sanity and 
 insanity were struggling for mastery in my brain, while I, 
 like some interested spectator, watched the struggle; or, 
 again, I was struggling in the air with some powerful but 
 viewless monster form, that clutched my throat with iron 
 fingers, but whose bodv was impalpable to the grasp of my 
 hands. A mighty space, an eternity of time and daylight 
 came. Then, like one in a dream, I rose mechanically, and, 
 finding the pin I had secreted, I stood on the little wooden 
 bench, and, impelled by some spiritual but irresistible force, 
 I scratched on the wall the message I had resolved to lca,ve: 
 
 "In the reproof of chance 
 Lies the true proof of men." 
 
 Tlien I thought of my friends and my promise, and, like one 
 in a dream, I took the ill-smelling and diny little Bible from 
 the shelf, and, turning to the first chapter, read: 
 
 "And the spirit of God moved upon the waters." . . . 
 "And God said let there be light, and there was light." 
 
 Then the book fell from my hand, and I remembered no 
 more. ]\Iy mind had gone whirling into the abyss. 
 
 I was sentenced on Wednesday. For three days, from 
 Thursday to Sunday, my mind was a blank. I have no 
 recollection of my removal under escort from Newgate to 
 Pentonville. 
 
 On Sunday, the fourth day of my sentence, like one rousing 
 from a trance, I awoke to find myself shaven and shorn, 
 dressed in a coarse convict uniform, in a rough cell of white- 
 washed brick. The small window had heavy double bars set 
 with thick fluted glass, which, while admitting light, foiled 
 any attempt of the eye to discern objects without. In the
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 391 
 
 corner there was a rusty iron shelf. A board let into the 
 brickwork served for bed, bench and table. A zinc jug and 
 basin for w^ater, with a wooden plate, spoon and salt dish (no 
 knife or fork for twenty years!) completed the furnishing-s. 
 
 As I was looking around in a helpless way a key suddenly 
 rattled in the lock and, the door opening, a uniformed warder 
 stepped in and, giving me a searching look, said in a rough 
 voice: "Come on; you'll do for chapel; you have put on the 
 balmy long enough." His kindly face belied his rough 
 tones, and I followed him out of the door and soon found 
 myself in the prison chapel. None was present, and I was 
 ordered to sit on the front bench at the far end. The benches 
 were simply common flat boards ranged in rows. Soon the 
 prisoners came in singly, marching about two yards apart, 
 and sat on the benches with that interval between them — 
 that is, in the division of the chapel where I sat, it being 
 separated from the rest by a high partition. Soon a white- 
 robed, surpliced clergyaiian came in, and the service began; 
 but I had no eye or ear, nor any comprehension save in a 
 dim manner, as to what was going on. My brain was trying 
 to connect the past and the present, feeling that something 
 terrible had befallen me, but what it was I could not under- 
 stand. When the services were over I returned under the 
 escort of the warder, who, when I arrived at my cell, ordered 
 me to go in and close the door, which I did, banging it be- 
 hind me. It had a spring lock, and when I heard the snap of 
 the catch and looked at the narrow, barred window, with 
 its thick, fluted glass admitting only a dim light, I remem- 
 bered evervthing. Like a flash it all came to me, and I 
 realized the full horror of my position. Sitting down on 
 the little board fastened to the wall, serving as bed, 
 seat and table, I buried my face in my hands 
 and began to ponder. Regrets came in floods, with 
 remorse and despair, hand in hand, when, realizing that it 
 was madness to think, I sprang up, saying to myself the
 
 392 FROM ■S^^ALL. STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 hour and minute had come for me to decide — either for 
 madness and a convict's dishonored grave, or to keep the 
 promise I had made to my friends — never to give in, but to 
 hvc and conquer fate. 
 
 I determined then and there to hve in the future, and 
 never to dwell on the horrible present or past. Tlien I 
 remembered the last scene in Newgate and my promise to 
 accompany my friends step by step, day by day, in our 
 readings. Finding a Bible on the little rusty iron shelf in 
 the corner, and this being the fourth day of our sentence, I 
 tumed to the fourth chapter. It gives the story of Cain's 
 crime and punishment, and I read the graphic narrative 
 with an intensity of interest difficult to describe. When I 
 read, "And Cain said unto the Lord, my punishment is 
 greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out 
 this day from the face of the eartli," I felt that the cry of 
 Cain in all its intense naturalness, in its remorse and despair, 
 was my own, and I was overcome. Laying the book down, 
 I walked the floor for an hour in agony, until fantastic 
 images came thronging thick and fast to my brain. I real- 
 ized that my mind was going and felt I must do sometliing 
 to make me forget my miser}'. 
 
 I opened the Bible at random and my eye caught the word 
 "misery." I looked closely at the verse and read: 
 
 "Thou shalt forget thy miser}', and remember it as waters 
 that pass away." 
 
 I threw the book down, crying with vehemence, "Tliat's 
 a lie! God never gives something for nothing." Soon I 
 opened the book again and looked at the context. Those 
 of my readers who care to do so can do the same. The 
 verse is Job xi., i6. The context begins at verse 13. From 
 that hour I never despaired again. 
 
 The same day I beran committing the Book of Job to 
 memory, and worked for dear life and reason. I became 
 interested, and my interest in that wondrous poem deepened
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 393 
 
 until the stud\- became a passion. Thus I turned the whole 
 current of my thoughts into a new ciianncl. Reason came 
 back, and with it resolution and courage and strength. 
 
 I was in Pentonville Prison, in the suburbs of London. 
 All men convicted in England are sent to this prison to 
 undergo one year's solitary confinement. At the completion 
 of the year they are drafted away to the public works' prisons, 
 where, working in gangs, they complete tlieir sentences. 
 
 Of my experience in Pentonville during my year of soli- 
 tude it suffices to say that, passing through a great deal of 
 mental conflict, I found I had grown stronger and was eager 
 for transfer to the other prison, where I could for a few hours 
 each day at least look on the sky and the faces of my fellow 
 men. 
 
 At last the day of transfer came, and, escorted by two 
 uniformed and armed warders, I w^as taken to the famous 
 Chatham Prison, twenty-seven miles from London on the 
 river Medway. . . . 
 
 "You were sent here to work, and you will have to do it 
 or I will make you F.uffer for it," was the friendly greeting 
 that fell on my ears as I stood before a pompous little fellow 
 (an ex-major from the army) at Chatham IVison one lovely 
 morning in 1874. 
 
 I had arrived there under escort but an hour before, strong 
 in the resolve to obey the regulations if I could, and never 
 to give in if I had a fair chance ; also with a desperate resolve 
 never to submit to persecution, come what might, and these 
 resolutions saved me — but only by a steady and dogged 
 adherence to them on many occasions, through many years 
 and amid surroundings that might well make me — as it did 
 and does many good men — desperate and utterly reckless. 
 
 After a few more remarks of a ver>' personal and pungent 
 nature the little fellow marched off with a delicious swagger 
 and an heroical air. I at once turned to the warder and 
 asked, "Who is that little fellow?" "The Governor!" he
 
 o94 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 gasped out "If he had only heard you!" and then followed 
 a pantomime that implied something very dreadful. Then I 
 marched off to tlie doctor, and next to the chaplain, who 
 (l<nowing who I was) asked me if I could read and write, to 
 which I meekly replied, "Yes, sir;" but apparently being 
 doubtful upon the point he gave me a book. Opening it 
 and pretending to read, I said in a solemn tone of voice: 
 "When time and place adhere w-rite me down an ass." He 
 took the book from me, looked at the open page, gazed 
 solemnly in my face with a funny wagging of his head, as 
 much as to say, "you will come to no good," and followed 
 the little major. 
 
 Then my cicerone took me into the main building, filled 
 up to the brim with what seemed to be little brick and stone 
 boxes, and, halting in front of one, said, "This is your cell." 
 Looking around to see if it was safe to talk, he began to 
 question me rapidly about my case, and getting no satis- 
 faction he wound up the questioning with the remark : "Well, 
 you tried to take all our money over to America." Then, 
 becoming confidential, he told me what wdcked fellows the 
 other prisoners were, chiefly because they went to the Gov- 
 ernor and reported the ofificers, charging them with mal- 
 treatment and bullying particularly, and knocking them 
 about generally. Of course, the warders never did such 
 things, but were really of a very lamblike and gentle nature. 
 In order to back up their lies the prisoners would knock 
 their own heads against the walls and then swear by every- 
 thing good that some one of the w-arders had done it. I 
 said, perhaps he had. 
 
 Well, he said, perhaps an oilficer might give a man "a. little 
 clip," but never so as to hurt him, and "only in fun, you 
 know." I felt at the time that I would never learn to appre- 
 ciate Chatham "fun," but on the very next day I was con- 
 vinced of it when a man named Farrier pulled out from liis 
 wraistband a piece of rag, and, unrolling it, produced two of
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 397 
 
 his front teeth with the information that a certain warder 
 had struck him with his fist in the mouth and knocked 
 them out. 
 
 But to return to my narrative. After many "wise saws 
 and modern instances," he locked me up in the htttle brick 
 and stone box and departed, having first informed me that 
 I "would go out to labor in the morning." 
 
 I looked about my little box with a mixture of curiosity 
 and consternation, for the thought smote me with blinding 
 force that for long years that little box — eight feet six inches 
 in length, seven feet in height and five feet in width, with 
 its floor and roof of stone — \\T)uld be my only home — would 
 be! must be! and no power could avert my fate. 
 
 On the small iron shelf I found a tin dish used by some 
 previous occupant, and smeared inside and out with gruel. 
 There being no water in my jug, when the men came in for 
 dinner, I, in my innocence, asked one of the officers for some 
 water to wash the dish. He looked at me with great con- 
 tempt and said: "You are a precious flat; lick it off, man. 
 Before long you won't waste gruel by washing your tin dish. 
 You won't be here many days and want to use water to clean 
 your pint." 
 
 After dinner I saw the men marched out to labor, and was 
 amazed to see their famished, wolfish looks — thin, gaunt 
 and almost disguised out of all human resemblance by their 
 ill-fitting, mud-covered garments and mud-splashed faces 
 and hands. I myself was kept in, but the wean% almost 
 ghastly spectre march I had witnessed constantly haunted 
 me. and I said, "Will I ever resemble them?" And youthful 
 spirit and pride rusher^ to the front and cried, "Never!" 
 
 Night and supper (eight ounces of brown bread) came at 
 length, and I rose up from my meal cheerful and resolute to 
 meet the worst, be it what it might short of deliberate perse- 
 cution, with a stout heart and faith that at last all would 
 be well. 
 
 23
 
 398 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 In the morning I arose, had my breakfast (nine ounces of 
 brown bread and one pint of gruel), and was eager to learn 
 what this "labor" meant. I was prepared for much, but not 
 for the grim reality. I had been ordered to join eighty-two 
 party — a brickmaking party, but working in the "mud dis- 
 tricts." So we, along with 1,200 others, marched out to our 
 work, and as soon as we were outside of the prison grounds 
 I saw a sight that, while it explained the mud-splashed ap- 
 pearance of my spectral array, was enough to daunt any 
 man doomed to join in the game. Mud, mud everywhere, 
 with groups of wear}' men with shovel, or shovel and barrow, 
 working in it. A sort of road had been made over the mud 
 with ashes and cinders, and our party of twenty-two men, 
 with five other parties, moved steadily on for about a mile 
 until we came to the clay banks or pits. Fortunately we had 
 a very good of^cer by the name of James. He wanted the 
 work done, and used his tongue pretty freely; still he was a 
 man who would speak the truth, and treated his men as 
 well as he dared to do under the brutal regime ruling in 
 Chatham. He speedily told me off to a barrow and spade, 
 and I was fully enlisted as barrow-and-spade man to Her 
 Majesty. 
 
 A steam mill, or "pug," like a monster coffee mill, \vas 
 used for mixing the clay and sand and delivering it in 
 form of bricks below, where another i)arty received them 
 and laid them out to dry, preparatory to burning. Our duty 
 was "to keep the pug going" — keep it full of clay to the top. 
 Tlie clay was in a high bank ; we dug into it from the bottom 
 with our spades, and filled it as fast as possible into our 
 barrows. In front of each man was a "run," formed by a 
 line of planks only eight inches in width, and all converging 
 toward and meeting near the "pug." The distance we were 
 wheeling was from thirty to forty yards, and the incline was 
 really ver>' steep; but that in itself would not have been so 
 bad, but the labor of digging out the clay was severe, and
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 399 
 
 that everlasting "pug" was as hungry as if it were in the 
 habit of taking "Plantation I'itters" to give it an appetite. 
 
 One had no period of rest between the filling of one's 
 barrow and the start up the run. In an hour's time my poor 
 hands were covered with blood blisters, and my left knee 
 was a lame duck indeed, made so by the slight wrench given 
 it each time I struck in my spade with my left foot; but I 
 made no complaint. About lo o'clock the man next to me 
 with an oath threw down his spade and vowed he would do 
 no more work. Putting on his vest and packet, he walked 
 up to the warder, and quite as a matter of course turned 
 his back to him and put both hands behind him. The warder 
 produced a pair of handcuffs, and without any comment 
 handcuffed his hands in that position, and then told him to 
 stand with his back to the work. No one took the slightest 
 notice and the toil did not slacken for an instant, but one 
 man was out of the game, and we had to make his side good. 
 
 Noon came at last. We dropped our spades, hastily 
 slipped on our jackets and at once set off at a quick march 
 for the prison. I naturally looked at the various gangs 
 piloting their way through the mud and all steering in a 
 straight line for the Appian way whereon we were, for, as 
 all roads lead to Rome, so all the sticky ways "on the works" 
 led to the prison. Our laconic friend was trudging on 
 behind the party, and to my surprise I noticed that several 
 of the other parties had un enfant perdu, hands behind his 
 back, marching in the rear, and as soon as we reached the 
 prison each poor sheep in the rear fell out quite as a matter 
 of course. When all the men were in, a warder came up 
 and gave the order, "Right turn! Forward!" and ofif the 
 poor fellows marched to the punishment cells for three days' 
 bread and water each, and no bed, unless one designates 
 an oak plank as such. It w^as all very sad; 'twas pitiful to 
 see the matter-of-fact way in which every one concerned took 
 it all.
 
 400 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 So my first clay in the mud and clay camo to an end, and 
 I found myself once more in my little box with a night 
 before me for rest and thought. Althougn I had suffered, yet 
 there were grounds for gratitude and liopc, and I felt that 
 I might regard the future steadily and without despair.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 HENCEFORH A LIGHT WAS TO STREAM THROUGH 
 IHE FLUTED GLASS OF MY WINDOW. 
 
 The first day was over, but it seemed to me that some- 
 thing" more must come. That what I had gone through could 
 mean the Hfe of a day must surely be impossible. Was there 
 nothing before me but isolation so complete that no whisper 
 from the outside world could reach me, that world which 
 compared with the death into which I was being absorbed 
 seemed the only world of the living? 
 
 Had I actually nothing to look for but the most repulsive 
 work under the most repulsive conditions? I said there 
 must be surely some change, that wheeling- mud forever was 
 not the doom of any man and could certainly not be mine. 
 
 I looked about my little cell, the stillness of the grave 
 without, the utter solitude within. The ration which formed 
 my supper was on the table, eight ounces of black bread. 
 Try as I might to cheat myself with hope, I knew that hope 
 for many a long year there was none, that so far as the most 
 vindictive sentence could compass it, for many a long year 
 the earth with her bars was about me. 
 
 No "De Profundis" cry could ever ascend from the abyss 
 to the bottom of which I had fallen. What was outside of 
 me had nothing but the hideous. 
 
 But although the visible seemed corruption, and the 
 things which my soul, and body, too, had refused to touch 
 were become my sorrowful meat, yet I could not but feel 
 
 (401)
 
 402 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 that the invisible, that part of me which no bars could hold 
 and no man deprive me of, was still my own, and that in it 
 I might and would find sufficient to support what I began 
 to feel was, after all, the only man. 
 
 To face the actualities of the position was the first thing; 
 not to cheat myself, the second. I had seen the sort of men 
 I was to be with. I set to work to study and to understand 
 the kind of life we were to live together. 
 
 At early dawn we rose, receiving immediately after the 
 nine ounces of bread and pint of oatmeal gruel which com- 
 posed breakfast. At 6.30, to chapel to hear one of the 
 schoolmasters drone through the morning prayers of the 
 English Church service, and listen to some hymn shouted 
 out from throats never accustomed to such accents. Then 
 the morning hours would drag slowly on in the Summer's 
 sun and Winter's blast until the noon hour; then there was 
 the long march back from the scene of my toil to the prison 
 for dinner. Arriving there, each man went to his cell, closing 
 his door, which snapped to, having a spring lock. Soon 
 after a dinner is given consisting of sixteen ounces of boiled 
 potatoes and five ounces of bread, varied on three days of 
 the week with five ounces of meat additional. At i o'clock 
 the doors were unlocked and we marched out to our work 
 again. At night, returning to the prison, eight ounces of 
 black bread would be doled out for supper. Then came 
 the hours between supper and bedtime, when shut in be- 
 t\veen those narrow walls one realized what it was to be a 
 prisoner. 
 
 In the corner of the cell there was a board let into the 
 stonework. There was a thin pallet and two blankets rolled 
 up together during the day in a corner of the cell that served 
 for bedding, but so thin and hard was the pallet that one 
 might almost as well have slept on the board. For the first 
 few weeks this bed made my bones ache. Most men have 
 little patience and small fortitude, and ihis bed kills many
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 403 
 
 of the prisoners. I mean breaks their hearts, simply because 
 they have not the wit to accq^t the matter philosophically 
 and realize that they can soon become used to any hardship. 
 It took six months for my bones to become used to the hard 
 bed, but for the next nineteen years I used to sleep as sweetly 
 on that oak board as I ever did or now do in a bed of down, 
 only, like Jean Valjean, in '"Les Miserables," I had become 
 so used to it that upon my liberation I found it impossible 
 for a time to sleep in a bed. 
 
 On a little rusty iron shelf, fixed in the comer, was our 
 tinware. Although called tinware, it really was zinc, and 
 was susceptible, through much hard work, of a high polish, 
 but this "polishing tinware" was a fearful curse to the poor 
 prisoner. It consisted of a jug for water and a bowl for 
 v^ashing in and a pint dish for gruel. There were strict and 
 imperative orders, rigidly enforced, that this tinware should 
 be kept polished, the result being that the men never washed 
 themselves, and never took water in their jugs, for if they 
 did their tinware would take a stain — "go off," as it was 
 termed — the result being that if the poor devil washed and 
 kept himself clean he would be reported and severely pun- 
 ished for having dirty tinware. 
 
 A prisoner is not permitted to receive anything from his 
 friends or communicate with them in any way, save only 
 once in' three months he is permitted to write and receive a 
 letter, provided he is a good character and has not been 
 reported for any infraction of the rules for three months ; for 
 if reported for any cause, however trifling, the privilege of 
 writing is postponed for three months, and, as a matter of 
 fact, more than half of the men never get a chance to write 
 during their imprisonment, 
 
 A visit of half an hour once in three months is permitted, 
 but this is a favor that is only granted upon the same condi- 
 tion as the privilege of letter writing.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 WHAT, THESE TEDIOUS DETAILS AGAIN. 
 
 It will be well to present here some account of those who 
 were to rule my life for so many years. 
 
 The Board of Prison Commissioners have their head- 
 quarters at the Home Office in Parliament street, London, 
 and are under the control of the Home Secretary of State. 
 One of these visits each of Her Majesty's convict establish- 
 ments once a month, in order to try any cases of insubordina- 
 tion which are of too serious a nature for the governor of the 
 prison to adjudicate upon, he not being permitted to order 
 any penalty beyond a few days of bread and water and loss 
 of a limited number of remission marks. 
 
 The head authority at each prison is the governor, of 
 whom the largest establishments, like Chatliam, have two. 
 Next comes the deputy governors — the medical officer and 
 an assistant doctor; the chaplains and schoolmasters, Prot- 
 estant and Catholic. There are four grades of prison 
 warders, viz., the chief warder, principal warders, warders 
 and assistant warders. The chief warder, of course, stands 
 first in the list, and his duties, if honestly executed, render 
 him the most important, as he is the most responsible of 
 the prison officials, save, perhaps, the medical officer, who 
 is the autocrat of the place. r>ut, in case anything goes 
 wrong, he is the man who gets all the blame, and when mat- 
 ters nm smoothly and well, the governor gets all the thanks. 
 During the absence of the governor the deputy takes his 
 (401)
 
 FROM \yALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 405 
 
 place, and in turn the chief warder performs the duties of 
 the deputy governor's ofifice. As all business passes through 
 the chief's hands, he must be a fair scholar, though some- 
 times a principal warder who understands bookkeeping is 
 detailed to assist him. He must be of strict integrity, a 
 thorough disciplinarian, and of a character to make him 
 respected both by his superiors and inferiors in position. 
 The warders of all grades are under his command, and must 
 fear him for his inflcxiliility in punishing any breach of 
 regulations, and have confidence in his disposition to act 
 justly toward them, he being the one on whom the governor 
 relies for all information regarding their conduct. It is on 
 the reports of the chief warder that the governor acts in all 
 cases involving their promotion,' reprimands or fines, and 
 their application for leave of absence must be approved of 
 and signed by him. It is clear that unless he is ver)^ straight 
 in the performance of his duties, he would soon place him- 
 self in the power of some of the warders, who would not 
 fail to take advantage of any knowledge of his derelictions 
 to benefit themselves, and to the detriment of discipline and 
 good order. Under the EngHsh Government the salary of 
 a man possessing these superior qualifications is between 
 $500 and $600 a year and his uniform. This is of blue cloth, 
 the sleeves and collar of his coat and his cap embroidered 
 with gold lace. On alternate days, at the prison where I 
 was confined, he came on duty at 5 a. m. in Summer and 
 5.30 in Winter, and left the prison at 4 p. m., leaving in 
 charge a principal warder, coming on duty the following 
 morning at 7 a. m. At 6 o'clock p. m., after receiving the 
 reports from the ward officers, stating the number of pris- 
 oners each has just locked up, and thus seeing that all are 
 safe, he locks with his master key the gates and outer doors 
 of the main buildings, and before finally retiring for the 
 night he must lock the outer gate, so that no one l:)Ut the 
 governor can get in or out — each watchman being locked
 
 406 FROM WALL STREET TO NE^^GATB 
 
 into the ward which he is set to guard. There are bells in 
 his room connecting with the various wards, and in case of 
 sickness or any other emergency, he is the man who is 
 aroused. It is the chief warder who keeps everything con- 
 nected with the prison in running order, and wliatever goes 
 wrong the cr}' is for the chief, and he is sent for, be it day or 
 night. 
 
 In a large establishment there are a dozen or more prin- 
 cipal warders. These are the lieutenants of the chief, and 
 have general superxdsion of the working parties. Tlieir pay 
 is about $400 a year and uniforms. There are of the other 
 two grades, w^arders and assistant warders, from tsvo to three 
 thousand employed in all Her Majesty's prisons in Great 
 Britain and Ireland. Warders and assistant warders are 
 provided with a short, heavy truncheon, which each carries 
 in his hand or in a leather sheath which hangs from his 
 belt, to which is also attached a sort of cartouch box in 
 which he keeps the keys, which are fastened to a chain, the 
 other end to his belt. When about to leave the prison, on 
 going off duty, he must hang up the belt and attachments in 
 the chief warder's office. Their pay, besides uniforms, which 
 are of blue cloth, is $350 a year for warders and $300 for 
 assistant warders. All promotions are by seniority. In case 
 of transfer by authorities to any other prison, they retain 
 their position in the line of promotion, but if they volunteer 
 or make application to be transferred they have to begin at 
 the bottom in reckoning the length of service for promotion. 
 When the authorities wish to transfer warders, it is usual for 
 them to call for volunteers, of wliom they find a sufficient 
 number anxious for a change, unless the transfer is to an 
 unpopular station, such as Dartmoor, which is among the 
 bogs, and a lonely, bleak place. 
 
 Warders are exempted from doing night duty, which is 
 all done by the assistant warders, who are on that service 
 one week out of three. Althoug-h when on night duty they
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 407 
 
 had the day for sleep and recreation, I never saw one who 
 did not detest it, because they must remain on duty contin- 
 uously for twelve hours, and must not read, sit down nor 
 lean against anything, nor have their hands behind them. 
 These military regulations apply as well to the whole time 
 they are on duty in the prison, day or night. A few years 
 ago the time of daily duty was reduced to twelve hours, with 
 one hour at noon for dinner. Besides this, at times they 
 must do a good deal of extra duty. Each is allowed ten days 
 annual holiday, but is frequently obliged to take it piece- 
 meal, a day or two at a time, so that he cannot go far away 
 from the scene of his servitude. Their duties require un- 
 flagging attention and never-ceasing vigilance, which must 
 be a heavy tax on the brain, and the twelve hours must be 
 passed in standing or walking about. In' fact, they are sub- 
 jected to military discipline, or rather despotism, and any 
 known infraction of the rules subjects them to penalties 
 according to the nature of the offense. Leaning against a 
 wall, sitting down, etc., for a first offense, they are mulcted 
 in a small sum — 12 to 60 cents, usually — and are put back 
 in the line of promotion. The fines go to the Ofiticers' Li- 
 brary fund. I knew one officer, Joseph Matthews, who had 
 been assistant warder twenty years, and, being frequently set 
 back for doing some small favor to prisoners, was dis- 
 charged from the service in 1886, without a pension, for some 
 slight breach of regulations. He had a wife and six children, 
 and had worked twenty years for less than $7 per week. 
 For giving a convict a small bit of tobacco, a heavy fine, 
 suspension, and in case it was not the first offense, expulsion 
 from the service without a pension. For acting the go- 
 between and facilitating correspondence with the friends of 
 convicts, expulsion — possibly imprisonment. One of the 
 assistant warders, who was convicted of iiaving received a 
 bribe of £100 from one of us at Newgate, was expelled from 
 the service and imprisoned eighteen months. Another at
 
 408 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Portsmouth Prison underwent the same fate, save that his 
 term was but six months, for sending and receiving letters 
 for a prisoner, and similar cases are of frequent occurrence. 
 The warders and assistant warders are tlie ones who come 
 in direct and constant contact with prisoners, and when the 
 eye of no superior authority is on them, or nothing else to 
 deter, they are "hail fellow well met" \\ilh such of the con- 
 victs as are unprincipled enough to curry favor with and 
 assist them in covering up their peccadilloes from their supe- 
 riors. They naturally recoil at the hardness and parsimony 
 of tlie Government toward them, evading the performance 
 of duties when they can, and I have heard more than one 
 say: "Why should we care what prisoners do, so long as 
 we don't get into trouble? The Government grinds us down 
 to twelve hours' daily duty on just pay enough to keep body 
 and soul together; then, if we complain, tells us that we can 
 leave if we like, as there are others ready to step into our 
 places. Bah! what do we care for the Government? It is 
 of no benefit to us; the big guns get big pay, and the higher 
 up the office the more the pay and the less the work. To be 
 sure, we can go out of tlie prison to sleep, but otherwise we 
 are bound as closely as you are." Yet these very warders, 
 the moment any superior authority appears on the scene, 
 are as obsequious and fawning as whipped dogs, and recoup 
 themselves for this forced humiliation by taking it out of 
 such of the convicts as fail to curry their favor, or ofTend, or 
 make them trouble. Surely their office is a very responsible 
 one, and it is blind, false economy to, retain low-priced men 
 in such a position. The present English system of penal 
 servitude is perfect on paper, but the moral ciualities of most 
 of the warders and assistant warders preclude all possibility 
 of the reformation of those in their charge. 
 
 Notwithstanding the expositions of the English delegates 
 at the international meetings, prison reform has never yet 
 been tried in Great Britain and Ireland. In other words, all
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 409 
 
 efforts in that direction have been defeated by placing con- 
 victs in the immediate charge of a class of men who, by edu- 
 cation and training, possess none of the qualifications requi- 
 site for such a responsible position. 
 
 In so far as forms are concerned, the business of the 
 prison is carried on most systematically. There are blank 
 forms which cover everything, from provisioning the prison 
 to bathing the men, and these must be filled in and signed by 
 the warder in charge of the particular work being done. For 
 example, ever>^ week he must fill in the proper form and 
 certify that every man in his ward has had a bath. I have 
 known men to go unbathed for many months, simply be- 
 cause they did not wish to bathe, and it saved the warder 
 trouble — nearly all others in the ward only bathed about once 
 a month, and yet at the stated times the officer filled' up and 
 signed the form, certifying to the superior authorities that 
 those in his ward had been bathed at the regulation times. 
 
 A great majority of the ofBcers are soldiers who have 
 been invalided or pensioned of? after doing the full term 
 for which they enlisted — twelve years — and of sailors in the 
 same condition. In order to encourage enlistment into the 
 army and navy, the Government gives discharged soldiers 
 and sailors the preference in the civil service, apparently 
 heedless as to their moral qualifications. Indeed, it would 
 be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain about these, for 
 the very nature and present requirements of these services 
 tend to harden and make men conscienceless, subservient 
 and fawning toward their superiors, and tyrannical to those 
 in their power. 
 
 As to those in the prison service, there are many who 
 would be good men in a situation suited to their acquire- 
 ments, and there are but a few of those who are brought 
 into immediate contact with the men — who, in fact, virtually 
 hold the power of life and death over them — whose influence 
 is of an elevating or reforming kind. Indeed, I have heard
 
 410 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 many of tlicin telling or exchanging obscene stories with 
 prisoners, and using the vilest language and bandying 
 thieves' slang, in which they become proficient. I am bold 
 to say that at least one-half of all I have known are in morals 
 on a level with the average prisoner, or, as I have heard more 
 than one assistant warder say. "Too much of a coward to 
 steal, ashamed to beg and too lazy to work" — therefore be- 
 came a soldier, then a warder. This may, at the moment, have 
 been spoken in a jesting way, but it is none the less true. 
 
 What can be expected in the way of refinement and good 
 morals from a class of men who entered the army or navy, 
 coming, as they did in most cases, from the untaught and 
 mind-debased multitude with which that land of drink and 
 debauchery swarms? 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing that very much is 
 expected from them, and in order to fulfill the very hard 
 terms of their contract with the Government, and keep their 
 places, they are- forced to resort to trickery, deception and 
 perjury, until these, in their attitude towai^d their employer, 
 the Government, become second nature, readily resorting to 
 lies to clear themselves from blame, even in trivial matters, to 
 save themselves from a sixpence fine. There are jealousies 
 among themselves, but when it is a question of deceiving or 
 keeping any neglect of duties or violences against prisoners 
 from the superior authorities they all unite as one man and 
 affirm or swear to anything they think the position requires. 
 
 A real pleasure was derived from those prisoners' friends, 
 the rats and mice, which I easily tamed and taught to be my 
 companions. 
 
 Not long after my arrival a prisoner gave me a young 
 rat which became the solace of an otherwise miserable 
 existence. Nothing could be cleaner in its habits or more 
 affectionate in disposition than this pet member of a despised 
 race of rodents. It passed all its leisure time in preening 
 its fur, and after eating always most scrupulously cleaned
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT?. 411 
 
 its hands and face. It was easily taught, and in course of 
 time it could perform many surprising feats. I made a small 
 trapeze, the bar being a slate pencil about four inches long, 
 which was wound with yarn and hung from strings of the 
 same; and on this the rat would perfonn like an acrobat, 
 appearing to enjoy the exercise as much as the performance 
 always delighted me. I made a long cord out of yarUj on 
 which it would climb exactly in the manner in which a 
 sailor shins up a rope ; and when the cord was stretched hori- 
 zontally it would let its body sway under and travel along 
 the cord, clinging by its hands and feet like a human per- 
 former. 
 
 A rat's natural position when eating a piece of bread is to 
 sit on its haunches, but I had trained this rat to stand upright 
 on its feet, with its head up like a soldier. Placing it in 
 front of me on the bed, I would hand it a- piece of bread, 
 which it would hold up to its mouth with its hands while 
 standing erect. Keeping one sharp eye on me and the 
 other on its food, the moment it noticed that I w^as not look- 
 ing it would gradually settle down upon its haunches. 
 When my eyes turned on it it would instantly straighten 
 itself up like a schoolboy caught in some mischief. It 
 always showed great jealousy of my tanie mice, and I had to 
 be ver}^ careful not to let it get a chance to get at one. On 
 one occasion I was training one of the mice, and did not 
 notice that the rat was near. Suddenly, like a flash, it leaped 
 nearly two feet, seizing the mouse by the neck precisely as 
 a tiger seizes its prey. Although I instantly snatched it 
 away, it was too late, the one fierce bite having severed the 
 jugular. 
 
 I have mentioned mice, and indeed they were most inter- 
 esting pets, easily trained and as scrupulously clean and neat 
 as any creature of a higher race could be. I at times had a 
 half dozen of them, which I had caught in the following 
 simple \vay: I first stuck a small bit of bread on the inside
 
 412 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 of my pint tin cup, about half way down; then turning it 
 bottom up on the floor, I raised one edge just high enough 
 so that a mouse could enter, and let the edge of the cup rest 
 on a splinter. It would not be long before one would enter, 
 and as it could not reach the bread otherwise it stood up, 
 putting its hands against the sides of the cup, thus over- 
 balancing it, causing the cup to drop, and simple mousie 
 would find itself also a prisoner. 
 
 Although there was an order that no prisoner should be 
 permitted to have any kind of pets, especially rats and mice, 
 and as the prison swarmed with these, the warders had 
 become tired of being obliged to turn over the cells and 
 prisoners daily in search of these contraband favorites, the 
 loss of which generally provoked the owners to insubordi- 
 nation; in consequence of which there was a tacit under- 
 standing that they were not to be interfered with, provided 
 they were kept out of sight when the governor made his 
 rounds. 
 
 Nothing could overcome the jealousy of my otherwise 
 gentle rat when it saw me petting a mouse, and it would 
 watch for an opportunity to spring upon its diminutive rival 
 and put a speedy end to its career. 
 
 I had one mouse which to its other accomplishments 
 added the following: It would lie in the palm of my open 
 hand, with its four legs up in the air, pretending to be dead, 
 only the little creature kept its bright eyes wide open, fixed 
 on my face. As soon as I said, "Come to life!" it would 
 spring up, rush along my arm and disappear into my bosom 
 like a flash. 
 
 I had a mouse trained the same as the one above 
 described, and -was in dread lest a warder should see and 
 destroy it. Therefore, in the hope of getting a guarantee 
 for its safety, one day when the medical officer on his round 
 came to my cell with his retinue I put my mouse through 
 the "dead dog" performance. The little fellow lay exposed
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 415 
 
 in my hand with one of its twinkling eyes fixed on me, and 
 the other on these strangers. Such was its confidence in 
 me that it went through the performance perfectly, and 
 when I gave the signal in an instant it was in my (as the poor 
 thing believed) protecting bosom. The doctors laughed, 
 and the retinue of course followed suit — if they had frowned 
 the latter would have done likewise. The doctors appeared 
 so pleased that I felt certain they would order the warder, 
 as was in their power, to let me keep my harmless pet, the 
 sole companion of my solitude and misery, unmolested. 
 
 They went outside the cell and lingered; in a moment 
 then the warder came in, and after ai struggle got the mouse 
 out of my bosom and put his heel upon it. I am not 
 ashamed to confess that I cried over the loss of this poor 
 little victim of overconfidence in human beings. 
 
 I once procured a beetle with red stripes across its wing- 
 sheaths, and trained it to show some degree of intelligence. 
 This was for months the sole companion of my solitude, but 
 it was at last discovered in my possession and taken away. 
 
 I made friends with the flies, and found that they dis- 
 played no small degree of intelligence. I soon had a dozen 
 tamed, and in the course of my long observations I dis- 
 covered, among other things, that the males were very 
 tyrannical over the fair sex, and tried to prevent them from 
 getting any of the food. In the Summer mornings at day- 
 light they would gather on the wall next my bed and wait 
 patiently until I placed a little chewed bread on the back of 
 my hand, when instantlv there was a, rush, and the first one 
 who got possession, if a male, tried to prevent the rest from 
 alighting, and would dart at the nearest, chasing it in zig- 
 zags far away. In the mean time another would have at- 
 tained possession, and it went for the next comer, and for a 
 long time there would be a succession of fierce encounters, 
 until at last all had made good their footing and feasted 
 
 harmoniouslv; for as fast as one succeeded in alighting it 
 24'
 
 41« 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 was let alone. Sometimes a male would take possession of 
 my forehead, and, in case I left him unmolested, he would 
 keep off intruders on what he evidently considered his 
 domain by darting at them in a ferocious manner. On one 
 occasion I noticed a fly that had one of its hind legs turned 
 up, apparently out of joint. As it was feeding on my hand I 
 tried to put my finger on the leg to press it down. During 
 three or four such attempts it moved away, after which it 
 appeared to recognize my kind intention and stood perfectly 
 still while I pressed on the leg. It may be unnecessary to 
 add that I failed in performing a successful surgical opera- 
 tion. 
 
 As the Winter approached the flies began to lose their legs 
 and wings ; those that lost their wings would walk along the 
 wall until they came to the usual waiting spot, and as soon 
 as I put a finger against the wall the maimed creature would 
 crawl to the usual place on my hand for breakfast. Indeed, 
 the long years of solitude had produced in me such an unut- 
 terable longing for the companionship of something which 
 had life that I never destroyed any kind of insect which 
 found its way into my cell — even when mosquitoes lit on 
 my face I always let them have their fill undisturbed, and 
 felt well repaid by getting a glimpse of them as they flew 
 and with the music of their buzzing.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 THE DATS O' SUMMER MERRILY SPENT IN" THE LAND 
 
 OF THE HEATHER. 
 
 In the cell next to mine was a prison genius named 
 Heep, who was one of the most singular characters I ever 
 met. As I shall have occasion to speak of him frequently, I 
 may as well give here a sketch of his life as related to me 
 by himself. He was born in the town of Macclesfield, near 
 Manchester, in 1852, of respectable mechanics, or trades- 
 people as they are called in England. His father died when 
 Heep was about 5 years of age, and after a time his mother 
 married a carpenter and joiner of the place. 
 
 Young Heep was a lively child, up to all sorts of tricks, 
 and does not remember the time since he could walk that 
 he was not in some mischief, and, as he remarked, "took 
 to all sorts of deviltry as naturally as a duck to water." 
 As long as his father lived there was not much check on 
 his mischievous propensities, but his stepfather proved to 
 be a severe and stern judge, and brought him to book for 
 every irregularity, thrashing him most unmercifully for 
 each ofifense. His mother could not have filled her ma- 
 ternal duty ver}' judiciously, judging from the fact that 
 before he was 12 years old she set him to follow and watch 
 his stepfather to the house of a woman of whom she was 
 jealous. The boy possessed great natural abilities, and in 
 good hands would have turned out something different 
 than a life-long prison drudge. He was handsome, genteel in 
 
 (417)
 
 418 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 appearance, an apt scholar, though very self-willed and head- 
 strong, and as he grew up his naturally hot temper became 
 uncontrollable. At an early age he had discovered that by 
 threats of self-injury he could bend his parents to his wishes, 
 but found in his stepfather one who would put up with no 
 nonsense; even when he cut himself so as to bleed freely, 
 instead of the coveted indulgence it only procured him an 
 additional thrashing. 
 
 At 15 he had become ungovernable at home, and his 
 father had him put in the county insane asylum, where he 
 remained a year and a half. While there he caused so much 
 trouble that the attendants were only too glad when he 
 escaped and went to Liverpool. Here he succeeded in get- 
 ting a situation with a dealer in bric-a-brac, rare books and 
 antiquities. In a short time the proprietor placed so much 
 confidence in his integrity that he gave him the charge of 
 his place during his own absences, and young Heep was 
 not long in taking advantage of his position to rob his 
 employer by taking a book or other article which he sold 
 to some one of his master's customers. This went on for 
 some time until on one occasion he took the book to a shop 
 kept by a woman to whom he had previously sold several 
 articles and offered it for a sovereign. She examined it 
 and found that it was an ancient, illuminated Greek manu- 
 script, worth fifty times more than the price young Ileq:) 
 asked for it, and, suspecting something wrong, she told 
 him to come again for the money the next evening. At 
 the appointed time he entered the place and was con- 
 fronted by his master, who contented himself with upbraid- 
 ing him for his perfidy and discharging him from his 
 service. 
 
 At this period of his career he liad contracted vicious 
 habit.s, the most pernicious for him being that of drink, for 
 when sober he was in his right mind, l)ut the moment the 
 drink was in his common sense departed, and he became
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE "WAT. 419 
 
 a raving maniac, ready to fight or perpetrate any other act 
 of folly. Up to this time he had never been tempted to steal 
 only in order to supply means for improper indulgences. 
 
 Not long after being discharged from his situation he 
 v^^as found by the police acting in so insane a manner under 
 the influence of drink that the magistrate before whom he 
 was taken had him sent to the Raynell lunatic asylum. 
 Here, being perfectly reckless, he carried on all sorts of 
 games which made him obnoxious, although making him- 
 self very useful in work which he liked, such as gardening, 
 etc. He also took up fancy painting and soon became a 
 skillful copyist of prints of any description, enlarging or 
 reducing, and painting them in oil or water colors. He 
 also became a good decorator and scene painter, besides 
 devoting time to various studies, including music. 
 
 At last he found means to effect his escape and lay in 
 hiding until night; then as he had on the asylum clothes, 
 which would betray him, he went back and got in through 
 the window of the tailors' shop, which was in an isolated 
 building, and exchanged the clothes he had on for a suit 
 belonging to one of the attendants. Thinking himself now 
 safe from recognition he started ofif across the country, but 
 had not gone more than twenty miles when, in passing 
 through a small town, a policeman who had just heard of 
 the escape from Raynell arrested him on suspicion. 
 
 The Raynell authorities sent some one to identify him; 
 he was taken back, tried on the charge of stealing the 
 attendant's suit of clothes, which he still had on, was con- 
 victed by the usual intelligent jury and sentenced to five 
 years' penal servitude. 
 
 He finished his term of imprisonment at Chatham, and 
 instead of being set at liberty was sent under guard back 
 to the asylum! 
 
 According to English law, if a person confined in a 
 lunatic asylum escapes and keeps away fourteen days he;
 
 420 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 cannot after that be arrested, unless he commits fresh acts 
 of insanity. 
 
 After several futile attempts he at last made good his 
 escape and obtained work with a farmer, where he remained 
 safe for thirteen days, and was congratulating himself that 
 in less than another dav he would be free, when his 
 thoughts were broken ofif by the appearance of two at- 
 tendants who seized and carried him back to the asylum. 
 The events above narrated had driven him into a state 
 of desperation at what he felt to be gross injustice, and he 
 carried on in such a way that the doctor ordered his head 
 to be shaved and blistered as a punishment, the strait- 
 jacket and all other coercive measures having been of no 
 avail. The night watchman had orders to watch him 
 closely, but he kept so sharp an eye on the watchman that 
 he caught him asleep, and, creeping to the closet window, 
 which he had previously tampered with, crept out, and 
 after climbing the low wall found himself on a raw Novem- 
 ber night, with the rain falling in torrents, a stark-naked, 
 head-shaved-and-blistered but once more a free man. In 
 this condition he wandered on throughout the night, and 
 just before daylight he entered a cemetery to find that 
 refuge among the dead of which he thought himself so 
 cruelly deprived by the living. 
 
 Beneath the entrance to the church there was a passage 
 which led to some family vaults in the basement, and he 
 crept down the passage to seek some shelter for his nude 
 body from the driving rain, which had chilled him through. 
 While groping about in the dark his hand rested on some- 
 thing soft, which, to his unbounded delight, proved to be 
 an old coat which had probably been left there by the sex- 
 ton and forgotten. He remained hidden all day, and trav- 
 eled through the fields all night, during which he found a 
 scarecrow, from which he transferred to his own person 
 its old hat and trousers.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 421 
 
 He said that althoug-h so hungry, he never had felt so 
 happy as he did at finding- himself once more dressed up. 
 After proceeding a few miles farther, he ventured into a 
 laborer's cottage in quest of food, which was given him, 
 and with it a pair of old boots. As dilapidated, ragged, 
 vagabond-looking, honest people are common in England, 
 no questions were asked, and he proceeded on his way 
 rejoicing in that freedom of which he had been deprived 
 for ten years or more. 
 
 Amid all his pranks he had never been charged with 
 Idleness, and now worked at odd jobs about the farms until 
 he had procured a decent suit of clothes, when he applied 
 to a master house painter for work as a journeyman, 
 though he had never done anything of that kind. The 
 master, pleased with his appearance, gave him a trial, but 
 the first job showed such ignorance of the art of house 
 painting that he was forthwith discharged with half a day's 
 wages. However, he had picked up some valuable hints, 
 and being very apt by the time he had been more or less 
 summarily discharged from half a dozen places he had 
 become a good workman, and henceforth had no trouble 
 about retaining any situation as long as he refrained from 
 beer and restrained his temper; but at the slightest fault- 
 finding on the part of the master he would fly into a passion 
 and throw up the situation, and this, especially, if he sus- 
 pected that anything had leaked out about his imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 While at work with a companion at painting the interior 
 of a gentleman's residence near Bradford a word or tw^o 
 was dropped which made him believe his fellow workman 
 had become aware of his being an ex-convict. Quitting 
 work, he w^ent to a public house, passing the rest of the 
 day in carousing. About midnight, while on his way to his 
 boarding house, it occurred to him tliat he had noticed a 
 good many valuable things about the gentleman's house
 
 422 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 which he could obtain. No sooner thought than done; the 
 entrance was in a moment gained; he had just conscious- 
 ness enough left to gather a few things, then lie down by 
 the side of them and fell into a drunkard's sleep, in which 
 the scn^ants found him when they came dowii in the morn- 
 ing. A constable was sent for, he was given in charge, 
 tried, convicted of the crime of burglary and sentenced 
 to seven years' penal servitude. 
 
 His former term of five years had made him proficient 
 in all the dodges of prison life, and he felt justified in his 
 own mind in using all his craft in order to put in his seven 
 years as easily as possible. As he had been^ in Raynell asy- 
 lum, he knew that by "putting on the balmy" so as to be 
 sent to the lunatic department he would not be sub- 
 jected to the prison rules and be as well off as he hiad 
 been in the free asylum. Persistent attempts at suicide 
 by cutting himself in the arms and legs with a piece of 
 glass so as to bleed freely accomplished his purpose. Being 
 placed with the other convict lunatics, he made him- 
 self useful, but on account of his bad temper and 
 overbearing, quarrelsome disposition, obnoxious to his 
 fellow prisoners. 
 
 Eventually he was discharged with an eighteen months' 
 ticket-of-leave and $2.50 as capital for a new departure. 
 
 He went to Liverpool, procured a passage on board a 
 fi eight steamer to America, which he paid for by working 
 at painting. Landing at New York, he made his way to 
 Norfolk, Va., where he procured work as a painter. Owing 
 to his infirmity of temper he did not keep his place long, 
 and after knocking about for a few months he took a freak 
 to return to England — the last place of all for any man 
 who has once been a prisoner. 
 
 Once more in his native land, he procured work without 
 difiFiculty at house painting, but, as usual, remained in one 
 place but a very short time. His earnings, like those of a
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 423 
 
 great majority of the working class in England, were squan- 
 dered in the public house. 
 
 Soon after the events just recorded, Heep concluded to 
 visit his old home in Macclesfield. He accordingly threw 
 up his situation, and arrived at the railway station an hour 
 before the train was due. In order to while away the time 
 he entered a public house and drank several glasses of ale. 
 The compartment which he entered happened to be empty, 
 and as usual whenever he indulged his appetite for any- 
 thing containing alcohol, he was soon quite out of his mind 
 and fancied that some one on the train was coming to 
 murder him, and leaped headlong from the train, which 
 was going at the rate of forty miles an hour. Tliis came 
 to a standstill, he was taken on board again, not seriously 
 injured, and left at Wrexham in Denbighshire, from which 
 he was sent to the Denbigh Insane Asylum. This being 
 a Welsh institution, did not, according to Heep, possess 
 those facilities for enjoying life which were so liberally 
 supplied to the inmates of the Raynell asylum near Liver- 
 pool. Accordingly he behaved himself with so much pro- 
 priety that the doctor discharged him as cured. 
 
 Not long after his return he got work near Manchester 
 at painting in a block of new houses where the plumbers 
 were at work putting in the gas and water pipes. On a 
 Saturday, when he left work at noon, he 'met a young 
 plumber who was out of a job. This man said he knew 
 where he could earn a sovereign if he had tools to do a 
 job in a butcher shop, and told Heep that if he would go 
 to the houses where he had been painting and borrow a 
 few plumbers' tools and assist him he would divide the 
 amount. Heep went back, but finding that the master 
 plumber and all his men had gone (Saturday afternoon in 
 England being a half-holiday for laborers), he took the 
 few tools required, went and finished the job by 7 p. m.; 
 then instead of taking the tools back, they went into a
 
 424 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 public house where they caroused till midnight, when they 
 separated, Heep taking the tools to his boarding house. 
 On INIonday he started earh', so as to get the tools back 
 before the other workmen arrived. On nearing the houses 
 he passed a policeman who walked a little lame. He turned 
 his head to look back, and the policeman happened to do 
 the same thing, and seeing Heep looking at him his sus- 
 picions were aroused. Turning back, he came up and 
 asked him what he had in the two bosses (tool baskets). 
 Heep informed him, and on further questioning showed 
 him the key to the house from which he had taken the 
 tools, and asked him to accompany him there, which he 
 did. They entered, Heep putting back the tools, and 
 showed the policeman where he had been paintingj^ and 
 wished him to stay until the master came in half an hour. 
 This the policeman declined to do, and took the tools and 
 told Heep to come to the police station. 
 
 Heep lost his temper and began cursing him. The po- 
 liceman went to the door, and seeing another just passing 
 beckoned him in, and the two marched him to the station. 
 The plumber was sent for, and was induced to make a 
 charge against Heep and value the stolen goods at ten 
 shillings. Seeing that the police were bound to make a 
 ■case against him, he seized the plumber's knife and cut 
 his throat, severing the windpipe. The doctor was sent 
 for, he was transferred to the jail hospital, and in the course 
 of two or three weeks was well enough to appear before 
 the magistrate, though he could not speak, and was bound 
 over for trial. 
 
 In the mean time the police had discovered that he had 
 served two penal terms, on the strength of which, when 
 convicted, the magistrate sentenced him to ten years' penal 
 sen-itude. 
 
 At the trial he had not yet recovered the use of his 
 voice, nor did he have any one to defend him, for at that
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 
 
 425 
 
 time, unlike the present, tlie Crown did not furnish a lawyer 
 foi^ the defense of those who were unable to employ one at 
 their own expense. When the magistrate was about to 
 pronounce the sentence, he said that as the prisoner had 
 escaped from ordinary asylums he should send him to a 
 place from which he could not escape — meaning a prison.
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 •WE WILL FERRY YOU OVER JORDAN THAT ROLLS 
 
 BETWEEN. 
 
 Once convicted of a crime in England it is impossible, 
 unless a man has money or friends, for him to obtain an 
 honest livelihood unless he is the happy possessor of a 
 trade. All the great corporations demand references that 
 will cover a series of years of the applicant's life, and,, above 
 all, strict inquiry is made as to his last employer. This 
 cuts the ground out from under the feet of the unfortunate, 
 and feeling that England can no longer be a home to him 
 he turns his eyes as a matter of course to America. 
 
 A fair percentage of the prisoners are men who perhaps 
 under great temptation, or while under the influence of 
 drink, have broken the laws, but yet are honorably minded 
 and resolved in future to lead an honest life. Such are 
 not undesirable citizens; l)nt there is another class, that 
 of the professional criminal; with these the prisons swarm, 
 and, worse yet, the slums and saloons of the great cities 
 are breeding thousands more that will take the places of 
 those now on the stage. 
 
 The conditions of society in England are such that the 
 procession of criminals is an unending one. The societv 
 that creates the criminal also has established a system of 
 police repression that makes the life history of society's 
 victim one of misery, until such time when the criminal, 
 growing wise by experience, shakes the dust of English 
 (42G)
 
 FROM WALL. STREET TO NEWGATE. 427 
 
 soil off from his feet and transfers liinisclf, a moral ruin, 
 to our countiy, here to become a curse and a burden. 
 
 This flow of moral sewage to our shores is constant and 
 unceasing. Our Government has frequently protested 
 against it, but with no success, for the officials in England 
 indignantly deny that the State either encourages or assists 
 the exodus of her criminal classes; but from my personal 
 knowledge I know this to be false. The officials over 
 there have found out an effectual way to rid themselves 
 of their discharged prisoners as fast as their sentences ex- 
 pire, and cast them on our shores, and this is so ingenious 
 a way that the wrong can never be brought home to 
 them. 
 
 During my twenty years' residence in Chatham I sup- 
 pose nearly half as many thousands asked me for informa- 
 tion about America, and at least 95 per cent, assured me 
 that when released they would "join the society" and depart 
 at once for that happy hunting ground — that Promised 
 Land which charms the imagination no less of the criminal 
 than of the honest poor of the Old World. In every Eng- 
 lish prison the walls are decorated with placards, gorgeous 
 in hue, of rival firms appealing to the readers for patronage. 
 "Join us," they all say; and every prisoner knows the appeal 
 "join us" means if you do we will ierry you over thei Jordan 
 that rolls between this desert land and the plains flowing 
 with milk and honey on the other side. The "firms" I 
 mention are those arch humbugs, the Prisoners' Aid So- 
 cieties of England. 
 
 Elizabeth Fry, who made "aid to prisoners" fashionable 
 and a society fad in England, has much to answer for. 
 Prisoners' Aid Societies have sprung up in evers^ quarter 
 of England, and having a rich soil, and under the fostering 
 care of the Government, have flourished with a rank and 
 luxuriant growth. These societies draw their nourishment 
 from English soil, but, unhappily for us, their tall branches
 
 428 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 hang over our wall and their ripened fruit falls on our 
 ground. 
 
 From the time a prisoner ISecomes accustomed to his 
 surroundings until the hour of his release the one thing 
 ever uppermost in his thoughts, the one distracting sub- 
 ject and cause of anxious solicitude, is the question, "Which 
 society shall I join?" It is a tolerably safe venture to pre- 
 dict that he will "join" "The Royal Prisoners' Aid Society 
 of London," which society is happy in having Her Gracious 
 Majesty and a long list of illustrious lords and ladies for 
 "governors." What that may mean no one knows. Cer- 
 tainly no benefit from these people ever accrues to the dis- 
 charged prisoners, but who can describe the glory that 
 falls on the four or five reverend gentlemen, sons, nephews 
 or brothers of deans or bishops, high-salaried secretaries 
 of this particular society, who pose at the annual meeting 
 in Exeter Hall, before a brilliant audience, and after have 
 the felicity of seeing their report in the church and society 
 joumals and their names connected with such exalted 
 people. 
 
 The way the Government over there accomplishes its 
 purpose of getting rid of its criminal population at our 
 expense and at the same time is able to answer the charges 
 of our Government with disavowal is this: 
 
 Tlie Home Secretary alone possesses the pardoning 
 power for the United Kingdom, and directly controls every 
 prison, his fiat being law in all things to every official as 
 well as to every inmate. He has officially recognized and 
 registered at the Home Office every prisoners' aid society 
 in England, Scotland and Wales, and in order to boom 
 them he gives to every discharged prisoner an extra gra- 
 tuity of £3 provided he "joins" a prisoners' aid societv on 
 his discharge, the result being that all do so. England 
 is a small and compact countrv, and the police have practi- 
 cally one head, and that head is the Home Secretary.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 4213 
 
 Under the eirciinistances the system of poUce espionage 
 is so perfect that whenever a discharged prisoner is recon- 
 victed for another crime he cannot escape recognition, and 
 in all such cases the Home Secretary notifies the particular 
 aid society who received the prisoner on his discharge of 
 the fact, very much to the vexation of the officials of the 
 society, who are all anxious for a good record in reforming 
 men that come officially under their auspices. They pub- 
 lish that all who are never reported as reconvicted are re- 
 formed, and all love to make a big showing for the money 
 subscribed at the all-important annual meeting, the result 
 being that all the men hustled out of the country by the 
 society count as reformed men. 
 
 These societies are supported by subscriptions, which 
 all go in salaries and office rents. The assistance given to 
 the discharged prisoner is limited to the £3 extra gratuity 
 given the society by the Government on the prisoner's 
 behalf. The London societies have an agreement with the 
 Netherlands Line and the Wilson Line of siteamers to 
 "take to sea" for £2 los. all "workingmen" they send to 
 them. I have talked to thousands of men wdio "joined the 
 society," most of whom intended to go to America, and I 
 have talked to scores who had "joined," but who, unluckily 
 for themselves, not leaving England, w'ere reconvicted and 
 sent back to Chatham. Throughout twenty years I con- 
 versed with several thousand men who joined the society 
 avowing they w^ere going to America, and were never heard 
 of again in England, and have also known some scores of 
 men who passed through the hands of the society agents, 
 yet were afterward reconvicted. Therefore I am in a posi- 
 tion to speak with authority on the important question of 
 England dumping her criminal population on our shores.
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 "WELL,, MY MAN, WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO?" "I 
 
 WANT TO GO TO AMERICA, SIR." "TUT! TUT! 
 
 YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO GO TO SEA!" 
 
 "YES, SIR; I WANT TO GO TO SEA." 
 
 The Royal Society and The Christian Aid Societies, pre- 
 sided over by a Rev. Mr. Whitely, enjoy a bad pre-eminence 
 in this respect. The year before my release the latter stated 
 at the annual meeting that six thousand discharged pris- 
 oners had passed through his society, and I venture to 
 assert that five thousand of these found their way to this 
 country through the assistance of this society. These two 
 societies have been boomed to an incredible extent, and 
 it would be a curious study if any report could be had as 
 to how the large subscriptions were actually expended. 
 
 For the sake of making my narrative clear, I will here 
 only speak of the first-named societv'. 
 
 Two months before release the prisoner must inform 
 the warder that he intends to join the Royal Society. He 
 notifies the Home Office, which in turn notifies the society 
 and for\vards a warrant for £3. The prisoner upon dis- 
 charge takes a certain train for London, and is met upon 
 his arrival at the station by an agent of the society. This 
 agent ranks as a sen'ant, is usually an ex-prisoner and is 
 always paid 21 shillings a week. He pilots his man at a 
 certain hour before the Reverend Secretary, and here fol- 
 lows a verl)atim report of the dialogue between the great 
 (430)
 
 Aii.h >ii:\i:i ' )-oi: nwcn at Tin: TiiiAL.
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 433 
 
 man and the poor, timid and dreadfully embarrassed ex- 
 prisoner: 
 
 Great Man — Well, my man, what do you intend to do? 
 
 Ex-Prisoner — I want to go to America. 
 
 Great Man — Tut! tut! my man; you mean you want to 
 go to sea. 
 
 Ex-Prisoner (taking the hint) — Yes, sir; I w'ant to go 
 to sea. 
 
 Great Man — Very well, my man. Go with this agent, 
 who will fix it with the ship captain so you can go to sea. 
 
 If a steamer of either line named is about to sail he is 
 taken on board at once goes to the steerage, and just before 
 sailing the agent hands him a ticket and the criminal is safely 
 off lor America. England is rid of a bad subject, and the 
 Royal Society has one more "reformed" man to put in its 
 report. In addition to the £3 gratuity the ex-prisoner has 
 iDcen paid £1, £2 or £3 in addition, provided his sentence 
 had been at least five years. The society is not a cent out 
 of pocket over him, and forlorn and friendless he lands 
 here with from $2 to $15 in his pocket. He has got the 
 cheap suit of clothes he wears, one handkerchief and one 
 pair of stockings extra. It is almost certain he will speedily 
 drift into crime, spending the remainder of his life in prison, 
 and finally dying there or in the poorhouse. 
 
 There is just one way this evil can be stopped — I might 
 say tw^o ways. The first, and a method that would be 
 efifectual in stopping the influx of criminals from all coun- 
 tries, is to let Congress put a tax of $30 or $50 on the 
 steamship companies for every passenger not an American 
 citizen whom they bring to America. Not one discharged 
 criminal in a thousand could meet the tax in addition to 
 the fare. The only other way possible would be for our 
 Government to request the English Government to furnish 
 them with photographs, marks and measurements of all 
 discharged criminals. Then have them copied and sent to 
 25
 
 43-i FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 the Immigration Commissioners of our ports. But that 
 would involve a radical change in these boards and their 
 methods. Efficiency there under our corrupt system is, I 
 fear, hopeless. 
 
 I visited Ellis Island a few days ago and saw how they 
 passed a shipload of immigrants in a few minutes, and as 
 I looked I felt it was hopeless to expect any efficient meas- 
 ures to throw back the foul tide that is polluting our shores. 
 
 Seldom as men of the criminal class once safe in America 
 ever return to England, yet they do now and then return. 
 In the two or three cases that came under my observation 
 it was very much to their loss and grief, for they only came 
 back to undergo another term. 
 
 One day, in 1890, a man working in my party slipped a 
 note into my hand that had been given hini for me in chapel 
 that morning. As in similar cases, I secreted the note, and 
 when safe in my little room I read it. The writer said he 
 had lately come down from London, and was most anxious 
 to get into my party in order to have a chance to talk with 
 me. He said he had been living in Chicago and could give 
 me all the news. He ended the note by stating he was being 
 nuirdered by hard work, and implored me to try and get 
 him into my party, where it was not so hard. This I was 
 most anxious to do, as in my party we could talk almost 
 with impunity. To have a man near me fresh and only a 
 year before in Chicago would be like a letter from home and 
 also a newspaper. Therefore, I determined to get Foster 
 in my party if possible. At this time I had been seventeen 
 years a resident, and was, in fact, the oldest inhabitant, and 
 had some little influence in a quiet way. About eleven years 
 before I had been put in the party, and had a chance to 
 learn bricklaying, and having become an expert in the art 
 was given charge of the bricklaying. I was on the best of 
 terms with our officer, so when, a day or two later, one of 
 our men was so fortunate (in the Chatham view of it) as
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 435 
 
 to meet with an accident and be admitted to that heaven, 
 the infirmary, I told my officer to ask for Foster to replace 
 him. He did so, and he, very much to his gratification, 
 found himself by my side, with a trowel instead of a shovel 
 in his hand. We worked side by side, Winter and Summer, 
 storm and shine, for two years, and in spite of myself I 
 began soon to like the man. His chief and only virtues 
 were truthfulness and fair-mindedness toward his friends — 
 rare and incongruous virtues for a professional burglar; 
 nevertheless, he possessed them in a marked degree. This 
 is a statement to make a cynTc smile, and is one of those 
 cases where the result is justifiable; yet, however the cynic 
 may smile, there is plenty of all-around good faith in the 
 world, and there is no nation, race or color, no clique, re- 
 ligion nor social strata, that has a monopoly of the article. 
 Good faith and truth grow in unlikely places, as I have 
 found in my career, for I have looked on life from both 
 sides, and to look on it from the seamy side is instructive, 
 indeed, for then the mask is off and the true cliaracter is 
 revealed. I have been away down in the depths, and for 
 years have toiled cheek by jowl, through sunshine and 
 storm, in blinding snows and pelting rain, with my brother 
 men under conditions too brutal and demoralizing to be 
 understood if described — conditions where the very worst 
 side of human character would naturally be thought to come 
 to the front, and I came out of the fierce struggle in that pit 
 of death with conclusions as to the human animal that are 
 decidedly favorable, and I am inclined to the view that man 
 was bom almost an angel, and that, in spite of the fearful 
 temptations of the world into which he has been thrust, much 
 of the angelic pottery abides.
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 MANY A MAN MORE DANGEROUS WRITES ALDERMAN 
 
 AFTER HIS NAME. 
 
 Foster's experience during his four years' residence in 
 Chicag-o was decidedly novel, and it had evidently brightened 
 his wits — that is, increased his cunning without adding to his 
 honesty. And as I think it will interest my reader to get a 
 view of life from the actor's own standpoint, I will relate one 
 of the many stories he told me during the years we worked 
 together. 
 
 Upon Foster's release from his first term of imprison- 
 ment he joined the Christian Aid Society of London, and 
 Mr. Whitely, the secretary, promptly "sent him to sea," as 
 he has thousands of others. In due time he arrived in New 
 York, but as he had heard much of Chicago he.' determined 
 to go there. He arrived penniless, but within an hour ran 
 against an old friend in the person of a former partner in 
 the art of burglary who had been a fellow prisoner with him 
 in London. This man's name was Turtle, and Mr. Whitely 
 harl only "sent him to sea" two brief years before. It was 
 plain from his magnificent diamond ring, pin and big bank 
 roll, freely displayed, that the seafaring life of the former 
 protege of the London Prison Aid Society was a profitable 
 occupation. He was delighted to meet Foster, and took 
 him to a tailor's at once and fitted him out liberally, at the 
 same time handing him $250, just for pocket moixey 
 (436)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 437 
 
 When, on the next day, Foster stated to his friend that 
 he was ready to undertake a burglary, Turtle was displeased, 
 and said: "No; we are on the honest game, which pays 
 better." What that was will appear. Turtle had a large 
 private inquiry office, with two of the city detectives for 
 side partners, who turned over to him all business in which 
 there was a prospect of mutual profit. All imaginable 
 schemes of villainy were concocted and executed there, and 
 with perfect impunity, too. For Turtle had the ear of all 
 the magistrates, and was in with all the gangs that made 
 the City Hall of Chicago the worst and vilest den of robbers 
 that encumbers this earth. 
 
 What cause the pessimist has for his boding views when 
 in cities like New York, Quaker Philadelphia, Chicago and 
 San Francisco, the City Halls, those centres of municipal 
 life, hold and are ruled by the worst and most dangerous 
 gangs of criminals sheltered by any roof in any city! 
 
 Alas! that the centre which should be the purest stream 
 within the city should be a foul cesspool, sending out poison- 
 ous vapors to pollute the life of the citizens! 
 
 Universal sufifrage in our great centres is a corrupt tree 
 and its fruits must needs be poisonous. 
 
 Turtle gave his friend Foster a welcome at his office and 
 at once enrolled him on his staff, but virtually made him. a 
 member of the firm. So, between the two Police Head- 
 quarters thieves and the two English ones, they had a com- 
 bination indeed. 
 
 Many stories Foster told me during the years of our 
 intercourse that were novel and strange, and gave me a 
 view of the social world seldom seen. Here is a specimen: 
 One day a countryman appeared at Police Headquarters 
 in Chicago and announced that he had been robbed of 
 $20,000, and showed how his coat pocket had been cut open 
 and the money taken. This, he explained, had been done 
 in a crowd. It was a strange place for a man to carry so
 
 438 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 large a sum, and, still stranger, the pocket was cut on the 
 inside. Of course, a pickpocket in the rare event of cutting 
 the pocket of an intended victim must of necessity cut the 
 pocket from the outside. The countryman had fallen at 
 Headquarters to the tender mercies of the two partners of 
 Turtle. One glance at the pocket showed them there was a 
 colored gentleman in the woodpile, and as there was $20,000 
 in the deal somewhere, they determined to have some share 
 of it. Tliey, of course, pretended to believe the story of the 
 countryman, but for fear some of the other Headquarters 
 men nn'ght hear and want a share, they hurried him away 
 from the office over to the Sherman House; then one went 
 to Turtle's ofhce and posted him on the situation. The 
 countryman was anxious to leave town, but on various pre- 
 tenses they held him for two days, but as he stoutly affirmed 
 that the lost money was his own they were puzzled to solve 
 the myster\' ; but their knowledge of human nature was such 
 that they felt certain that if they could only arrive at the 
 bottom the old gentleman would not be quite as white 
 as he pretended to be. He came from an obscure mountain 
 town in East Tennessee, and while they fancied a trip there 
 might solve matters they feared to lose their victim — for 
 victim these human tigers determined the countryman 
 should be. The second day they resolved on decisive meas- 
 ures to get at the truth, and at the same time secure some 
 plunder, provided the Tennesseean had any cash. 
 
 So far Turtle and Foster had not been seen by the victim. 
 The detectives asked the countryman to remain one more 
 night to see if they could not catch the men who had robbed 
 him. That afternoon one of Turtle's staff secured a room 
 at the same hotel, and, seizing an opportunity, slipped into 
 the countr)'man's chamber and concealed some burglar tools 
 under the mattress of his bed and in his carpet bag. Tliis 
 once done, they marched the "guy" along Clark street, and, 
 as arranged, Turtle and one of his staff met them, and
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 439 
 
 shaking hands with the two detectives asked if they were 
 arresting their companion for a job. Upon their saying 
 he was a weaUhy gentleman from the South, Turtle burst 
 out laughing, and said he knew him for an old-time burglar, 
 and if they would search his house they would find stolen 
 goods, and ended by saying, "Bring him down to my office 
 and I will show you his picture." The detectives now 
 changed their tones and threatened to arrest him. He hav- 
 ing, as the sequel will show, a bad conscience, became fright- 
 ened. Then they arrested him, and announced that they 
 were going to search his room at the hotel. This they did, 
 taking him along. Of course, they found what they had 
 previously hidden, very much to the terror of the country- 
 man, who, lashed by a bad conscience, began to think he 
 was in a fix. The friends of the hour before now became 
 threatening bullies, promising to get him ten years for the 
 possession of burglar tools. They took him to Turtle's 
 ofifice, and there stripping him they found to their disap- 
 pointment that he had no money, but found carefully folded 
 up in an inner pocket a postofifiice receipt for a registered 
 letter sent from Nashville to St. Paul. They kept him a 
 prisoner that night while Turtle left by the first train for St. 
 Paul with the receipt in his pocket. The next morning found 
 him in St. Paul, and a few minutes later he walked out of 
 the office with the registered letter, which proved to be a 
 bulky one. Tearing it open he found it full of United States 
 bonds and greenbacks, amounting in all to $20,000. The 
 next day all save $i,ooo, reserved for the victim, was divided 
 among the four birds of prey. That day the victim was taken 
 before a friendly magistrate and fully committed to await in 
 jail the action of the Grand Jury. Twenty-four hours later 
 a tool called on him at the* jail, and gave him the option of 
 taking $1,000 and getting out of town by the first train or 
 getting ten years for the possession of burglar tools. The 
 poor fool, with. trembling eagerness, accepted the first part
 
 440 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 of the ultimatum, and within an hour a bail bond was filled 
 up, and darkness found the baffled old man speeding west- 
 ward, never again to look on his own people. 
 
 But how was he a baffled old man? He had embarked 
 in a scheme of villainy, but had been beaten at his own game 
 by sharper rascals. From whom did he steal the money? 
 Read : 
 
 In a small Tennessee town there lived a widow whose 
 husband had been killed in the Confederate army and who 
 found herself, like so many more Southern ladies at the 
 close of the war, impoverished, and with a family of children 
 to be provided with bread. But it seems she was a brave 
 body, and with a head for business. She opened a small 
 hotel in Nashville, and by reason of her histor)^, no less than 
 her excellent hostelry, she thrived apace, and, investing all 
 her savings in newly started industrial enterprises in Nash- 
 ville, her small investments brought in large returns, which 
 w^ere reinvested, until at 40, finding herself mistress of a 
 competency, she quit business and went to spend the re- 
 mainder of her days where she was born. The hero of the 
 adventure in Chicago was not only her neighbor, but had 
 been the comrade of her husband through the deadly fights 
 of the war. She naturally turned to him as a friend for 
 advice. He first asked her to be his wife, and upon her 
 refusal he began to urge her to dispose of all her interests 
 in Nashville and reinvest her money in the nearby city of 
 Knoxville. At last she consented, and sent him to Nash- 
 ville with authority to act as her agent. He disposed of her 
 property, except the old hotel. He was paid $20,000 on 
 her account, and once with the money in his possession he 
 determined to keep it. It was a cowardly deed, and dearly 
 did he pay for it. He wrote her he was going to Chicago, 
 and would take the money with him, as he would only remain 
 for a day. To Chicago he came, and, as related, robbed him- 
 self, sending oft' the money in a registered letter to himself.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 441 
 
 Then he appeared at Police Headquarters with his cut pocket 
 and chmisy stor>% which appeared in the next morning's 
 paper. He sent a marked copy of the paper to the lady, and 
 at the same time wrote a hypocritical letter stating that he 
 was so heartbroken over losing her money that he did not 
 have the courage to look her in the face, and never should 
 until such time as he could repay the money. He said he 
 was going to California to work, and when he had enough 
 she would see him again, but not before. 
 
 How easy it is for a man to become an unspeakable 
 villain, and how nicely this one was hoisted with his own 
 petard ! 
 
 Eventually this catastrophe proved a blessing to the 
 widow. It drove her back to her hotel again, and soon after 
 she became the wife of one of the bravest and best men 
 Tennessee ever produced. I was so interested in the fate 
 of this lady that when in Nashville in 1893 I tried to hunt 
 her up. I found several who knew the whole story, and 
 from them I heard her after history and a full confirmation 
 of Foster's narrative. 
 
 Foster remained four years in Chicago and flourished. 
 He and Turtle became very influential in politics and part- 
 ners in a combine of rascally Aldermen and police magis- 
 trates that robbed the city and the citizens with impunity. 
 But, unluckily for him, he one day took it into his head to 
 pay a visit to his old haunts in England, there to display his 
 diamonds and bank roll to such of his former cronies as 
 happened to be at liberty. On arriving in London he began 
 to play the role of a rich American, but was recognized by 
 the police, an old charge raked up against him, arrested, 
 promptly placed on trial, found guilty and sentenced to ten 
 years' imprisonment. Although the possessor of consider- 
 able property, he is to-day toiling at Chatham like a slave, 
 and probably if he lives he will come out a broken man. 
 It is a certainty that the very day he is liberated he will
 
 442 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 "go to sea," being sent by a prisoners' aid society, and a 
 few days later become an ornament to that good city of 
 Cliicago. Once there, his ambition will not be satisfied 
 until he takes his seat as Alderman, becoming one of the 
 City Fathers. ]\Iany more immoral and dangerous than he 
 write Alderman after their names in that windy city.
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 A BATTERED HULK STRANDED ON A SHORE TO WHICH 
 
 NO TIDE RETURNS. 
 
 I am glad to say that during the almost lifetime I passed 
 at Chatham there were only a scant half dozen Americans who 
 came down to keep me company. One, Stoneman by name, 
 interested me. He was a man of great nerve and quick 
 apprehension, and very truchful, therefore I found his stories 
 of his adventures most interesting, besides the fact that his 
 history was another proof of the truth that wrongdoing 
 never pays. Stoneman was of good parentage, and had 
 entered the army in 1861, making a good record up to and 
 including the battle of Gettysburg. There, owing to a 
 quarrel with his captain, he deserted, and became a bounty 
 jumper, making a large amount of money, but when the 
 war ended, finding his occupation gone, he entered upon a 
 life of crime, starting out first as a very successful express 
 robber. The last robbery he engaged in in that line was 
 on the New Haven road near Norwalk. His share amounted 
 to some thousands, but he was literally bowled out, and by 
 a singular circumstance. One of his confederates by the 
 name of Riley had been arrested, and was confined at Nor- 
 walk. He engaged as counsel for his chum a well-known 
 criminal lawyer of New York by the name of Stuart, and 
 arranged with him to go up to Norwalk to see Riley the 
 following day. Although Stoneman had plenty of money, 
 
 he told Stuart he had none, but Riley had. Then he gave 
 
 (443)
 
 444 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Riley's wife $2,500, and told her to be present at the inter- 
 view between the lawyer and her husband. At the inter- 
 view Riley told him he would give him $2,500 if he cleared 
 him or $1,000 if he got him off with a sentence of two years 
 or less. Stuart was hungry as a shark to finger the money, 
 and \\Titing out a receipt for the full amount inserted the 
 conditions agreed upon. Putting the money in his pocket 
 he started back to New York with Mrs. Riley. Stoneman 
 was on the train waiting for them, and as soon as they 
 started he joined them. It happened the train was crowded, 
 and they had to stand. It seems some pickpocket saw Stuart 
 pull out the money, and determined to get it from him. On 
 the arrival of the train in New York he succeeded in doing 
 so, Stoneman had hurried out of the station, and, of course, 
 knew nothing of the loss. So soon as Stuart discovered 
 his loss he blamed him for it, and, being in a fur}% he flew 
 to Police Headquarters, secured the services of a friendly 
 detective, and, going to the hotel that he knew Stoneman 
 frequented, had him arrested on a charge of robbing him. 
 The end of it all was that Stuart and the detectives got all 
 his money, and then, knowing him to be a daring man, one 
 that would neither forget nor fear to avenge his wrong, to 
 get him out of the way they betrayed him to the Connecticut 
 police as one of the express robbers. He was sent to Nor- 
 walk to stand his trial, was convicted and sentenced to five 
 years, and sent to Weathersfield. Being a good mechanic, he 
 was put in the blacksmith shop, and there, with an eye to 
 the future, he did what is frequently done by professional 
 gentlemerk in our prisons, made a complete and most finely 
 tempered set of burglar tools. They were too bulky to be 
 smuggled out by friendly warders, so he secreted them in 
 the shop where he worked and ruled. Many of the prisoners 
 in Weathersfield are expert workmen, and from the machine 
 shops there a high class of work is turned out. Among 
 other workshops, there is one for the manufacture of silver-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 445 
 
 plated ware. Stonenian had made chums with one of the 
 prisoners who held a confidential position in the silverware 
 manufactory. As Stoneman's sentence was the first to ex- 
 pire, he gave him points, and it was plotted between them 
 that the prison itself should be burglarized by Stoneman 
 on a certain night after his release. The confidential man 
 was to leave the way clear to the safe where the silver bars 
 used in the business were stored. He in due time was lib- 
 erated, with the customary injunctions from the warden 
 and officers "not to come back any more." He did come 
 back, but in a way entirely unanticipated by them. 
 
 He, of course, knew the whole routine of the place, the 
 stations of the guards, and that the wall after 8 p. m. was 
 left entirely unguarded. The second night after his libera- 
 tion found him beneath the wall with no other implements 
 than a light ladder of the right height. In a minute he was 
 on top, had pulled his ladder up and lowered it inside. 
 
 Once inside, every inch of the place was familiar to him, 
 and he had a clear field. The shops, although inside of 
 the boundar}' walls, were quite separate from the main 
 building, where the men, closely guarded, were confined. 
 He entered the familiar room where he so long had worked, 
 and easily placed his hands on his (to him) precious kit of 
 tools, and carried his jinnnies, wedges, sledges, bits, braces, 
 drills, etc., to the wall, and then landed them safe outside. 
 Then he returned and entered the room where the plunder 
 he sought lay. Thanks to his friend, the way was easy, and 
 his art was not required to secure it. There were 600 
 ounces in silver bars, a pretty good load in avoirdupois, but 
 he only made one journey of it, mounted the wall and 
 speedily was over. 
 
 Stoneman was a long-headed fellow. He had taken, with- 
 out the owner's leave, one of the many boats on the banks of 
 the near-by river. He carried his plunder and tools down 
 to the boat, and pulled across the river, two miles do^vn, to
 
 446 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 where quite a stream empties into the Connecticut. HeS 
 pulled some distance up it; then putting everj'thing into 
 bags he sank them in the creek. Then drifting back into the 
 Connecticut River again he threw his ladder over and 
 turned the boat adrift. At 7 o'clock the next morning he 
 was in New York. 
 
 In due time, in the idiom of the professionals, he "raised 
 his plant," and the burglar's kit manufactured in the Con- 
 necticut State Prison did what Stoneman considered yeoman 
 service. With all his art and cunning, justice would not 
 be cajoled by him, but weighed him in her balance, to a 
 good purpose too. His success in his particular line was 
 great, but he paid dearly for it all. Alany times he escaped 
 detection, but not always. Not to escape, but to be brought 
 to the bar, means a fearful gap in the life of a criminal. 
 He was, as I say, famous in certain circles for his success 
 in his lawless course, yet in the twenty years between 1865 
 and 1886 he passed sixteen years ih captivity. In that year 
 he went to England with a confederate, and a few hours 
 later in London they snatched a parcel of money from a 
 bank messenger in Lombard street. Both were caught in 
 the act, and sentenced at the Old Bailey to twenty years 
 each. To-day Stoneman is toiling under brutal task- 
 masters, and it is all but certain he will perish at his task, 
 friendless, alone, unpiticd. Better so even, for should he 
 ever be freed it will not be until the twentieth century is 
 well on its way to the havo beens of time, then only to find 
 himself a battered hulk stranded on a shore from which the 
 tide has ebbed forever.
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 I FIND THE FENIANS WITH ME IN THE TOILS. 
 
 I had, of course, for many years heard much of the 
 Fenian prisoners in the Enghsh prisons, particularly Ser- 
 geant AlcCarty and William O'Brien. Soon after my arrival 
 at Chatham I was placed in the same party with them. We 
 were all three strongly drawn together, but were shy of being 
 the first to speak. Of course, it was strictly against the 
 rules to talk, but as a matter of fact the prisoners find many 
 opportunities for talking, particularly if they do their work. 
 The ofificers are reported and fined if their men fall behind 
 in their task, so if a man is any way backward in working 
 the officer keeps his weather eye open, and reports him for 
 any infraction of the rules. 
 
 One day, soon after they were put in my party, I gave 
 O'Brien a hand in fixing his run. We spoke a few words. 
 The ice was broken; we soon became fast friends, and our 
 friendship remained unbroken until their happy release 
 some years after. They were fine, manly fellows, and I in 
 time came to have a warm aflfection for them. 
 
 McCarty had for nearly twenty years been a sergeant in 
 the English army. He had come out of the Indian mutiny 
 with a splendid record, and had been recommended for a 
 commission. But while wearing the British uniform, his 
 heart was warm for Ireland and her cause, so when, in 1867, 
 his battery being then stationed' in Dublin, he was informed 
 many devoted adherents to the Fenian cause had determined 
 
 (447)
 
 448 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 to try and seize Dublin, with a view of starting a wide revolt 
 against English domination, perilous as it was, he cast his 
 lot in with them, and speedily found sufficient adherents 
 in his own field battery to seize it and bring it into action 
 against the English. The plan miscarried. Sergeant Mc- 
 Carty, along with many others, was arrested and tried lor 
 treason; as a matter of course was speedily convicted, and 
 sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. This sen- 
 tence was commuted to penal servitude for life. 
 
 O'Brien was an enthusiastic youngster of 17, and an 
 ardent patriot. He had enlisted in a regiment then stationed 
 in Ireland for no other reason than to familiarize himself in 
 military affairs, also to win over recruits to the Fenian 
 cause, and when the revolt began to be in a position to seize 
 arms. The result of it all, so far as my two friends were 
 concerned — they found themselves by my side in the great 
 Chatham ship basin loadisg trucks with mud and clay, and 
 that upon a diet of black bread and potatoes. The cars, or 
 trucks, held four tons, there were three men to a truck, and 
 the task was nineteen trucks a day, and between the urging 
 of officers, frightened themselves for fear the task might 
 not be done, and the mud and starvation, it was despairing 
 work. 
 
 The punishments were not only severe, but were dealt 
 out with a liberal hand. The men, as a rjile, were willing to 
 work, but between weakness, brought on by perpetual hun- 
 ger, and the misery of the incessant bullying of the officers, 
 some few suicided every year, but many more did worse to 
 themselves; that is, the poor fellows, seeing nothing but 
 miser)' before them, would when the trucks were being 
 shifted on the rail deliberately thrust an arm or leg under 
 the wheels and have it taken off. No less than twenty-two 
 did this in 1874. Of course, the object was to get out of the 
 miul. When once a man's leg or arm was ofif he would no 
 longer be able to handle a shovel, and would necessarily be
 
 »T. H«H. SIR *- J. t COCKBU«t 
 
 
 i>^<^-^-^«%pi 
 
 
 S^^^S^'-^^^
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 451 
 
 placed in an inside or cripples' party and set to work picking 
 oakum or breaking stones, with the result that, being free 
 from severe toil and sheltered from the storms, they would 
 not be so hungry'. Then, again, they could more easily 
 escape being reported, and that meant much. 
 
 There w^as never anything but black bread for breakfast 
 and supper, save only one pint of gruel with the bread for 
 breakfast. For dinner every day we got a pound of boiled 
 potatoes and five ounces of black bread; three days a week 
 five ounces of meat — that is, fifteen ounces a week for a 
 man toiling hard in the keen sea air. We were always on the 
 verge of stan-ation ; our sufTerings were terrible. In our 
 hunger there was no vile refuse we would not devour greedily 
 if opportunity occurrred. 
 
 O'Brien was a slight, delicate fellow, quite unfitted for the! 
 hardships and toil he was subjected to, but he was a high- 
 spirited, brave youngster, and his spirit carried him through, 
 while many a man better fitted physically to endure thd toil 
 gave in and died, or became utterly broken down, and would 
 be sent aw^ay to an invalid station a physical wreck. Mc- 
 Carty and I used to do extra work so as to shield O'Brien, 
 and so long as our trucks were filled on time the officer 
 made no complaint. The prisoners were certainly very good 
 to each other, and usually did all in their powder to help and 
 cheer up the weaker men. 
 
 In 1877 my two friends w^ere liberated. I was glad to see 
 them go, but I missed them sadly. But McCarty had suf- 
 fered too much. He only survived his liberation a few days, 
 dying in Dublin, to the grief of all Ireland. O'Brien started 
 a tobacco store in Dublin, where he still is. 
 
 I knew all of the dynamiters — Curtin, Daily, Dr. Gallagher, 
 Eagan, etc. However misguided, yet they meant to serve their 
 country, and dearly have they paid for their zeal. I pitied 
 poor Gallagher. The strain on his spirit was too great. He 
 soon broke down, and his dejected, forlorn looks, his stoop- 
 26.
 
 452 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 ing shoulders and listless walk made me and all think his 
 days were numbered; but he had immense vitality and still 
 lived when I was liberated; but he was truly a pitiable object, 
 and if he is ever to live to breathe the air a free man then 
 his friends must secure a speedy release, for he is slowly^ 
 sinkuig into his grave.
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 IN MOOD AS LONELY, IN PLIGHT AS DESPERATE AS HIS. 
 
 I have related how, the Sunday after my sentence, in my 
 despair I took the Httle Bible off the shelf. The other books 
 I had at Chatham besides the Bible were a dictionary and 
 "The Life of the Prophet Jeremiah." Once, soon after my 
 arrival in Chatham, I took the Jeremiah down from the 
 shelf, but speedily put it back and made a vow never to take 
 it down again ; and I never did. It remained in view on the 
 little shelf for nineteen years, while I sat there watching- it 
 rot away. The dictionary is a good book, but grows tire- 
 some at times. As for the Bible, there is no discount on that. 
 For fourteen years I was a careful student of its sacred pages. 
 Every Sunday of that fourteen years, from 12 o'clock until 2, 
 I used to walk the stone floor of my cell preaching a sermon 
 with no audience but my dictionary and "The Life of the 
 Prophet Jeremiah." I at first began my Bible studies and 
 my sermons as a means to occupy rity thoughts and keep 
 my mind bright. It saved my life and reason. I need hardly 
 say that I became tolerably familiar with the book, and I 
 had the great advantage of studying the Bible without a 
 commentary'. 
 
 I thought in my enthusiasm I should never tire of the 
 Bible, but after ten or twelve years I began to grow weary 
 of it, and grew very hungry for other mental food. I wanted 
 a Shakespeare, for with him to keep me company I could 
 no longer' be in the desolation of solitude. At last I deter- 
 
 (453)
 
 454 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 mined to get my friends to tr}' for me. I had learned the 
 Bible almost by heart; the smallest incidents in the life of 
 the Prophet Jeremiah were much more familiar to me than 
 the histor>- of the civil war, and Anathoth took on pro- 
 portions which made it as real as New York and far more 
 important. The desperate efforts I had made to keep my- 
 self from falling into the condition of so many I had seen 
 drooping to idiocy and death were, I felt, successful, and 
 any occupation which kept alive the intellect could not but 
 be beneficial. I was hungry, starving for mental food. 
 Never had books appeared so attractive, never was kingdom 
 so cheerfully offered for a horse as I would have offered 
 mine for an octavo. ]\Iy friends had written for me to the 
 Government, but with no success. At last they had inter- 
 ested the American Minister in London, who promised to 
 write to the Home Secretary for me, but a year had slipped 
 by and I had heard nothing. 
 
 Jeremiah continued witl> me, and it seemed he was to re- 
 main with me to the end. But a change was coming. 
 
 Can I ever forget the day it happened! Can I ever cease 
 to remember the delight, the incredulity, the astonishment 
 of that happy day! I had come in at night hungr}^ cold, 
 wet and miserable. T made my way a little depressed to my 
 cell. As I was about to step* across the threshold I saw a 
 book Ivins: on mv little wooden bed. Amazed and aston- 
 ished, I hesitated to enter. Small as such a circumstance 
 appears, the ver}- sight of the book brought on a weakness. 
 I feared to pick it up, a horril:)le dread seized me that it 
 might be a new Bible, and I was unwilling to risk another 
 disappointment. The footprint on the sand was not more 
 suggestive nor more awe-inspiring to Robinson Crusoe than 
 the appearance of that book was to me. In mood as lonely, 
 in plight as desperate as his, there lay before me a sight as 
 imlookcd for and, as it seemed, as full of meaning as the 
 footprint was to Robinson.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 455 
 
 At last I pulled myself together, determined to end the 
 suspense and know what was before me. I picked up the 
 book, and who can understand the delight, the joy, the 
 rapture even, with which I read on the title page, "The Works 
 of William Shakespeare." In an instant, I became a new 
 man. If ever one human being felt gratitude to another I 
 felt it at that moment for the American Minister. To him 
 I owxd it that henceforth a new light was to stream through 
 the fluted glass of my window, that henceforth a new world 
 was opened up for me to live in, and the world seemed 
 lighter to me. IMany a month and year afterward my cell 
 was filled and my heart cheered by the multitude of friends 
 the divine William provided for me. 
 
 About the time I received my Shakespeare another piece 
 of happy fortune befell me. A smallpox scare was existing 
 outside, and all hands in the prison were ordered to be vac- 
 cinated. When the doctor came around a few days after- 
 ward to examine the efifects of the operation he found my 
 arm so swollen that he directed me to be taken to the hos- 
 pital. 
 
 For tv\'enty-five days I had full opportunity to learn what 
 the girl in Dickens' "Little Dorritt" meant when she called 
 the hospital an " 'eavenly" place. It was the first time I had 
 ever been admitted, and the change from the horrible mud 
 hole to the rest and comfort of a cell in the hospital was 
 indeed almost " 'eavenly." With nothing to do but to read 
 my Shakespeare, the cravings of hunger for the first time 
 since my imprisonment satisfied, I was tempted to believe — 
 I did partly believe — ^that the world had few positions pleas- 
 anter than mine. 
 
 Godliness with contentment is undoubtedly g-reat erain. 
 Contentment alone without the godliness is no poor thing, 
 and was I not content? Few, indeed, of all the thousands 
 who have toiled in that torturing prison house have ever 
 been or are likely ever to be so content as I was.
 
 4oG FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 How true it is that happiness is altogether relative, and 
 that it is divided much more evenly among men than we are 
 willing to believe! A mere respite from an intolerable posi- 
 tion, a single book to keep the mind from cracking, trans- 
 fomied gloom and misery into light and at least comparative 
 happiness. 
 
 After a time I began to watch the effects of the unnatural 
 life upon others. They arrived full of resolution, buoyed 
 often by hopes which they were soon destined to find de- 
 lusive. The short-time men, those with seven or ten year 
 sentences, could face the prospect hopefully. To them the 
 day would come when the prison gate must swing back and 
 the path to the world be open once more. But no such hope 
 cheers the long-timers, the men with twenty years and life, 
 who quickly learn how great the proportion is of their num- 
 ber who find relief only in the box smeared with black which 
 incloses what is left of them in the grave. Every day I used 
 to see the effects on them of hunger and torment of mind. 
 The first part visibly affected was the neck. The flesh shrinks, 
 disappears and leaves what look like two artificial props 
 to support the head. As time wears on the erect posture 
 grows bent; instead of standing up straight the knees bulge 
 outward as though unable to support the body's weight, and 
 the man drags himself along in a kind of despondent shuffle. 
 Another year or two and his shoulders are bent forward. 
 He carries his arms habitually before him now, he has grown 
 moody, seldom speaks to any one, nor answers if spoken to. 
 In the general deterioration of the body the mind keeps 
 equal step; and so unfailing is the effect that even warders 
 wait to see it, and remark to each other that so and so is 
 "going off." When the sufferer begins to carry his arms in 
 front every one understands that the end is coming. The 
 projecting head, the sunken eye, the fixed, expressionless 
 features are merely the outward exponents of the hopeless, 
 sullen brooding within. Sometimes the man merely keeps
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 457 
 
 on in that way, wasting more and more, body and mind, 
 every day, until at last he drops and is carried into the in- 
 firmary to come out no more. 
 
 Truly I was looking- on life from the seamy side. 
 
 Before my own experience had taught me I used to think 
 at times when such a subject ever came into my mind at all: 
 "What must be the thoughts and anticipations of a man 
 condemned to separation from other men, to lead an un- 
 natural life under the strained and artificial conditions of 
 prison?" The change is so violent, it comes so suddenly, the 
 unknown possibilities are so terrible, the sufferings naturally 
 implied are so inevitable, that had any one gifted with a 
 knowledge of futurity shown me that such experience was 
 to be mine I would have thought it utterly impossible that 
 such horrors could be withstood by ordinary strength. 
 
 The delights of pleasure are seldom equal to the anticipa- 
 tion of them, and it is probable that the pain of suffering is 
 more unbearable in the shrinking expectation than when 
 affliction actually opens her furnace door and commands us 
 to enter. Perhaps there is a compensation of some kind 
 in nature, a provision to deaden feeling when a death stroke 
 falls — some merciful dispensation by which we fail to realize 
 or to understand in its exactness the meaning of the stroke 
 which is crushing us. 
 
 The man rescued from drowning or from asphyxiation 
 has felt no pain. The animal that falls beneath the rush and 
 the murderous claws of a beast of prey seems to fall into a 
 torpor-like indifference, under the influence of which he 
 meets with no great suffering the death his captor brings 
 him. Probably all great suffering comes accompanied with 
 a reserve of strength or \\ith a power of resistance which 
 may even spring from weakness, but which invests the suf- 
 ferer with courage, and perhaps, too, with hope, to meet it.
 
 45S 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 but the pitiless application of a discipline designed with con- 
 summate skill to find out all the weak points of a man's 
 inner armor and to inflict the utmost possible suffering upon 
 him, I used to ask myself if it could be possible that I was 
 really the man upon whom so hideous a fate had fallen. 
 
 The blackness of darkness w-as round about me. Infinite 
 despair stood ready ttj seize me. It seemed an amazement 
 that life should be forced to remain with him who longs for 
 death, who would rejoice exceedingly and be glad could he 
 find the grave. But when the first horril)le numbness of 
 the shock was disappearing, when the first glimmering per- 
 ception came to me that "as a man's day so shall his strength 
 be," I began to suspect, and soon to know, that in many 
 ways the reality was not so terrible as imagination pictured it. 
 
 However ample the provision be w'hich men may make to 
 inflict suffering upon other men, however well and success- 
 fully they may apply the provision^, they cannot alter men's 
 nature. That will assert itself under all circumstances. The 
 fact that a man is restrained of his liberty by no means alters 
 his nature. The things he liked or disliked w'hen he was 
 at liberty he will like or dislike when a prisoner, and he is 
 not long in finding that "whatsoever a man soweth that shall 
 he also reap" is just as certainly true of the seed he plants 
 in inclosed ground as it is of what he scatters in the open 
 f^.eld. 

 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 IP PAIN IS NOT AN EVIL, IT CERTAINLY IS A VERT 
 
 GOOD IMITATION. 
 
 The world inside of the walls has a public opinion of its 
 own, and it is at least quite as often just as the public opinion 
 whose sphere is not circumscribed by stone walls and iron 
 bars. The man who accepts the situation, resolved to get 
 his hand as easily as possible out of the tiger's mouth, soon 
 becomes known as a sensible fellow, willing to give others no 
 trouble and anxious to have no trouble given him. Such a 
 man will rarely be molested. 
 
 Patient, uncomplaining endurance always excites pity and 
 sympathy. The most ignorant, the most brutal warder will 
 scarcely oppress the man who goes quietly and unresistingly 
 along the thorny road stretched out before him; who, not 
 taking the thorns for roses, is not disappointed at finding 
 few roses among the thorns. 
 
 Those, however, who are determined to see the rough 
 
 side of prison life may easily do so ; the appliances are there 
 
 and they will certainly be accommodated. An English prison 
 
 is a vast machine in which a man counts for just nothing at all. 
 
 He is to the establishment what a bale of merchandise is to a 
 
 merchant's warehouse. The prison does not look upon him 
 
 as a man at all. He is merely an object which must move in 
 
 a certain rut and occupy a certain niche provided for it. 
 
 There is no room for the smallest sentiment. The vast ma- 
 
 (459)
 
 4G0 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 chine of which he is an item keeps undisturbed upon its 
 course. 
 
 Move with it, and all is well. Resist, and you will be 
 crushed as inevitably as the man who plants himself on the 
 railroad track when the express is coming, Without passion, 
 without prejudice, but also without pity and without remorse, 
 the machine crushes and passes on. Tlie dead man is car- 
 ried to his grave and in ten minutes is as much forgotten 
 as though he had never existed. 
 
 The plank bed, the crank, the bread-and-water diet, un- 
 authorized but none the less effectual clubbing at the hands 
 of warders, the cold in tTie punishment cells penetrating to 
 the ver}' marrow of the bones, weakness, sickness and un- 
 pitied death are the certain portion of the rebel. 
 
 Some are found idiotic enough to invite such a fate, 
 though fewer now than formerly. The progress of education 
 in England during the last twenty years, and the philan- 
 thropic efforts of many societies and private persons, but 
 above all the covert but successful efforts of the authorilies 
 to deport them to this countr}' instantly after their release, 
 have had an immense effect in thinning the ranks of prison 
 inmates. The Judges, too, have been forced by public 
 opinion to be much less severe than they used to be, and 
 that counts for much even in the inside of prisons. 
 
 Xothing can be more capricious than the sentences they 
 pass. In very few cases does the law set any limit. "Life 
 or any term not less than five years" is the usual reading of 
 the statute books, and the consequence naturally is that one 
 Judge will give his man five years, while another will con- 
 demn his to twenty years for precisely the samo crime com- 
 mitted under precisely the same circumstances as the first 
 one. 
 
 Another great blot on the English judicial system is that 
 no court of appeal exists to which a sentence miglit be re- 
 ferred for review, so that the most unjust and unequal sen-
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 461 
 
 tences are constantly passed from which there is no appeal 
 but in the forlorn hope — rather, entire hopelessness — of a 
 petition to the Home Secretary. I have often seen a man 
 who had been sentenced to five years for murder working" 
 by the side of another whose sentence was twenty years for 
 some crime against property. Such contrasts, of course, ex- 
 cite great discontent, and in some cases are the reason why 
 men set up a hopeless resistance to what they feel to be 
 persecution and injustice. 
 
 It always seemed to me that the standpoint of the Board 
 of Directors, established in 1864, and which continued with- 
 out change until very recently, was altogether wrong. They 
 appeared to think that in their dealings with other men the 
 only course was to be the application of "force, iron force," 
 as one of the governors expressed it. The very great ma- 
 jority require no such application, and the few difficult ones 
 could easily be managed in another way. Certainly it is 
 necessary that all prison discipline be penal, but it is not 
 necessary that it be ferocious and inhuman, as certainly is 
 the English. Starvation, the crank, the plank bed, the fear- 
 ful cold of the cells are not measures necessary in dealing 
 with any man. 
 
 Whatever they could think of to harden, to degrade, to 
 insult, to inflict every form of suffering, both physical and 
 mental, which a man could undergo and live, was embodied 
 in the rules they made. Their prisons were to be places of 
 suffering and of nothing but suffering. 
 
 So far as the directors were concerned the regulations were 
 carried out to the letter, but each prison is under the control 
 of a resident governor, with a deputy governor to assist him. 
 These gentlemen are always men of good social position, 
 retired officers of the army, who have seen the world and 
 have experience in controlling men. They are rarely inclined 
 to unnecessar}' severity, but are generally willing to apply 
 the rules with as much consideraition as such rules admit.
 
 II 
 
 4G3 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 The g-overnor's discretion, however, is Hmited, but daily con- 
 tact more or less with men whom he sees to differ very little 
 from free men, and whom he sometimes finds to be even 
 better than many he knows who are not, but who perhaps 
 ought to be, on the wrong side of the bars, makes him un- 
 willing to throw too many sharp points on the path which 
 has to be trodden by men for whom he often cannot help 
 feeling considerable: sympathy. 
 
 I have more than once heard governors express their 
 disapproval of the starvation system and of the ferocity of 
 treatment toward men who some day or other must go back 
 to society. 
 
 Under such governors the new arrival speedily finds out 
 that to a certain extent his comfort depends upon himself. 
 No man can make a bad thing good or trick himself into 
 believing that suffering is pleasure. If pain be not an evil, it 
 is an exceedingly good imitation, and the wisest philosopher 
 is just as restless under the toothache as the most perfect 
 idiot.
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 WIS ROW BECOMES FILLED WITH VERT SHARP-EDGED 
 
 STONES INDEED. 
 
 The inhabitant of a cell has a very roiig-h row to hoe 
 under any circumstance, and it has to be hoed, but there is no 
 necessity for him to fill his row with stones and to plant 
 roots in it himself. He soon finds his level, and the im- 
 pression he makes on his arrival is the one which, as a rule, 
 ding's to him to the end. 
 
 When prison air and prison influence have succeeded in 
 incasing a man with the sort of moral hardbake that renders 
 him callous to those feelings which at first so g^all the raw 
 spots, he finds himself watching with curiosity the shapings 
 of newcomers. Some announce immediately on arrival that 
 they cannot possibly be there more than a month or two; 
 their arrest was a mistake, and their uncle, the member of 
 Parliament, is now busily engaged making representations 
 to the Home Secretary. One of the very few amusements 
 prisoners have is in watching the important fellows, the men 
 whose friends could do so much for them if they would onlv 
 let them know where they are. Sometimes a chap who has 
 perhaps been a body sen^ant or something of the kind, who 
 has picked up tlie kind of veneer he could catch by aping 
 his master, will furnish food for smiles to every one he comes 
 in contact with during his stay. He never receives a letter 
 without explaining confidentially to every one that another 
 aunt whose favorite he was has just died, leaving him £10,000 
 
 (463)
 
 46* FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 in cash, not to speak of a trifle or two in the shape of half a 
 dozen houses. These gentlemen are immediately furnished 
 with a name which becomes much better known than their 
 own, and whenever they have delivered themselves of their 
 periodical brooding of lies the news goes smiling round that 
 Billy Treacle's aunt has died again and left him another 
 fortune. 
 
 So long as their inventions do no more harm than make 
 them ridiculous they are only laughed at and let alone, but 
 when one of them develops a talent for invention which 
 molests or injures others, especially when it takes the form 
 of confidential communication to the governor of what he 
 sees, and still more of what he does not see, such retribu- 
 tion as both prisoners and ofBcers can inflict is not long in 
 falling. His row becomes filled with very sharp-edged 
 stones indeed, and roots which tear his hands painfully. 
 Nearly always these boastings are fathered by an absurd 
 vanity — a desire ever to appear what they are not, and while 
 they think they are deceiving others they deceive no one but 
 themselves. 
 
 One case I remember, though, w^as an exception. One 
 young fellow made such use of his invention, and the story 
 is so interesting and instructive as showing with what lofty 
 respect English gentlemen are educated for the rights of 
 property, that I shall relate it. 
 
 Four or five years after I went to Chatham a young 
 fellow named Frederick Barton arrived with a ten years' 
 sentence for forger>\ His appearance and manners were 
 very much in his favor, and his conduct so confirmed the 
 good first impression that he speedily became a favorite 
 with everybody from the governor dowTi. 
 
 Some three years had slipped by when one day he asked 
 me if I would prepare a petition which he might send to 
 the Home Secretary in the hope of obtaining a commutation 
 of sentence. I liked the youngster very well and readily
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 4^7* 
 
 consented, l)iit told him that I doubted very much if he 
 would get anything. The petition was sent, and in a few 
 days the usual answer was returned, "No grounds." He 
 told nie of his ill luck, and I said to him: "Look here, so 
 long as you send up whining petitions asking for mercy both 
 you and they will be treated with contempt. If you wish 
 to get that English gentleman in the Home Ofifice to do 
 anything for you, make him believe you are a millionaire; 
 you will see whether he will do anything then for you or 
 not." He laughed merrily at that. "A millionaire! Why, 
 I haven't a sixpence. My father is only a private coachman 
 at Tunbridge Wells." "That is nothing at all," I said; "if 
 you will be guided by me, and let me manage things for you, 
 I will have a petition sent in for you from the outside, and 
 I feel sure we can get you out." An idea had just flashed 
 into my mind, and I was eager to try it. 
 
 At first he was a little timid about the venture, fearing 
 that I might get him into trouble, but when he became con- 
 vinced that I would do nothing of the kind he consented. 
 I had a warder in the prison who in consideration of an 
 occasional tip used to act as my postman, sending my letters 
 to my friends and bringing in theirs to me. This was a 
 deadly ofifense against the rules, but as the permitted corre- 
 spondence was outrageoush^ limited I saw no reason why I 
 should deprive myself of letters when I had the chance to 
 have them, and as I took good care that the great men in 
 London should get no inkling of my misdeeds I dare say 
 their hearts did not grieve after what their eyes did not see.
 
 CHAPTER XLVIIL 
 
 HE TELEGRAPHED THE NEWS TO MY WARDER, AND 
 BARTON WENT ON HIS WAT REJOICING. 
 
 My warder friend supplied me with writing materials. I 
 prepared one letter, w-hich I had him copy, and another in 
 my own handwriting. Both were directed to Barton, and 
 informed him that his rich uncle had lately died and had 
 left him one hundred and sixty thousand pounds in 
 money and sixteen thousand acres of cotton land in 
 India. He was also informed that his father had gone to 
 India to look after the property, and that upon his 
 return a petition would be presented to the Home Secre- 
 tary, who it was hoped would grant his release. These two 
 letters my warder sent to a friend of mine in London with 
 a note from me requesting him to post them immediately. I 
 told Barton what I had done, at the same time cautioning 
 him to guard the closest secrecy. Two, days afterward the 
 letters arrived, and I directed my protege to spread the news 
 as much as possible, to tell all the warders he saw and to 
 show them his letters. We had at that time in the prison 
 a wideawake but tricky fellow named George Smith. He 
 had been clerk to an important firm of auctioneers in Lon- 
 don, and had been sentenced by probably the most savage 
 judge on the bench. Commissioner Ker, to fourteen years' 
 imprisonment for receiving a quantity of stolen silverware, 
 which he had his employers sell for him. He was about to 
 be released, and I determined to make use of him, but w^ith^ 
 (460)
 
 ••I'OMK ON- VOr ARE FRKK."— Pap.' 4N>.
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 469 
 
 out letting him know the truth, for I knew that if he sus- 
 pected he was merely doing a good turn for the chum he 
 left behind him, he, like the Home Secretary himself, without 
 the right kind of inducement would have left his friend to 
 stop where, he was until the bottomless pit was frozen over 
 hard enough to hold a barbecue on it. Barton, by my 
 directions, told Smith of his good fortune, and that he hoped 
 on his father's return to be liberated. Smith then did exactly 
 what I expected and wanted him to do. He said there was 
 no need to wait until then ; he was going to be released in a 
 few days, and "if you like I will send in a petition for you ; 
 it can't do you any harm, and it may get you released imme- 
 diately." Barton at once accepted the offer, and told him 
 that if successful the post of manager on the Indian estate 
 would be at his disposal. He also suggested to ask me to 
 write the petition. Smith managed to see me in the course 
 of the day, and, supposing me to have no knowledge of the 
 matter, explained the situation and asked me to write the 
 petition. Needless to say, I promised everything asked for, 
 and added that I would make it my business to have the 
 petition in London at some place where he could find it the 
 day of his discharge. 
 
 The petition was prepared, setting forth all the interesting 
 facts for the edification of the right honorable gentleman 
 in the Home Office, and after being submitted to Barton 
 and Smith, sent to the latter's address in London. 
 
 Millbank is a gigantic prison in the heart of London every 
 one of the thousand cellls of which cost the Government 
 £500 to build. Tliis is the establishment where David Cop- 
 perfield visited Mr. Uriah Heep when that gentleman was 
 under a cloud, and heard him express the wish that "every- 
 body might get 'took up' so that they could learn the error 
 of their ways." For many years all London men whose 
 sentences had expired were brought here for release, and 
 here Smith came a few davs after the petition was posted. 
 27.
 
 470 
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 
 
 On the morning of his discharge and within an hour after 
 passing through the gates of ^Mihbank he left the petition 
 personally at the Home Office. Two days afterward one of 
 the clerks acknowledged its receipt, accompanied with the 
 gratifying assurance that it was under consideration. A 
 week later ]Mr. Smith was notified that the release would be 
 granted. He immediately telegraphed the news to my 
 warder, who told me, and I told Barton. Two days more 
 and the release came down, Barton went on his way rejoicing 
 and ever}^ one was glad at his happy fortune. Tlie only one 
 who felt much disappointment was ver}^ likely poor Smith, 
 who never heard of his friend again.
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 I FLUSTER THE GREAT JUPITER OF MY LITTLE "WORLD. 
 
 The successful issue of this little enterprise gave me great 
 satisfaction. Tliere was, of course, nothing in it for me, nor 
 did I want anything, but it furnished me with an excellent 
 standpoint from which to address the Home Secretary should 
 the occasion ever arise. 
 
 The occasion did arise some time after, and I utilized it 
 in this way : A friend of m-ine had come over from America 
 to see me and to try if it were not possible to obtain some 
 reduction in the sentence. My postman warder was away at 
 the moment, so letter-carrier facilities were cut ofif. I wanted 
 very much indeed to communicate with my friend, and 
 applied to the Home Secretary explaining the position and 
 asking him to let me write twd letters immediately. At the 
 end of eight weeks an answer came back that the Home 
 Secretary had carefully considered the application and could 
 find no sufBcient grounds for advising Her Majesty to grant 
 the prayer thereof. The next day I obtained a petition sheet 
 from the governor and wrote the following petition : 
 
 "To the Right Hon. Sir William V. Harcourt, Secretary of 
 
 State for the Home Department: 
 
 "The petition of, etc., humbly showeth: That two months 
 ago I petitioned the Home Secretary for permission to write 
 two letters, explaining the urgency of the occasion and 
 pointing out that the request was by no means unusual. 
 Yesterday the answer arrived telling me, with as much truth, 
 
 (471)
 
 47:i FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 I liave no doubt, as kindness, the anxiety with wliich the 
 right honorable gentleman has been for eight weeks con- 
 sidering the petition. 
 
 "I hasten to express to the Home Secretary the regret I 
 cannot but feel at the thought of causing him so much con- 
 cern, which I sincerely trust has had no prejudicial effect 
 upon his health. I regret this the more as there was really 
 no necessity for requiring eight whole weeks of his time to 
 the inevitable great neglect of the public business, for no 
 man who owns or who is known to be able to get a half 
 sovereign ever has the slightest difificulty in sending out as 
 many clandestine letters as he chooses. This, of course, is 
 an infraction of the rules, and any reasonable man would 
 rather get along in a friendly spirit with the prison author- 
 ities than be at war with them, but when trifling favors which 
 it requires but to stretch out the hand to take are refused, 
 rules, prison authorities and the Home Secretary himself 
 are contemptuously set aside and the forbidden favor taken. 
 
 "I trust that this knowledge will save the Home Secretary 
 any repetition of the anxiety he has suffered on this occasion, 
 but while regretting my want of success in petitions for my- 
 self I desire to thank the right honorable gentleman for the 
 kind attention he pays to my petitions for others. 
 
 'The Home Secretary will perhaps remember his merciful 
 consideration of the case of Air. h>ederick P>arton, whom 
 he released some short time ago, but it will perhaps be news 
 to him to hear that it was 1 who invented Mr. Barton's for- 
 tune and wrote the petition which furnished the grounds 
 for advising Her Most Gracious Majesty to extend her royal 
 clemency to , the deserving young man. The result of my 
 petition by no means sur])rised me, for I was always con- 
 fident that an English gentleman could never be guilty of 
 the solecism against English customs implied by keeping 
 in prison a young gentleman who could perform so mer- 
 itorious an act as to fall heir to many bags of gold and 
 sixteen thousand acres of cotton land in India. 
 
 "ATr. Barton had previously petitioned for mercy pointing 
 out that he was but ly years old at the time of his arrest, and 
 asking that his extreme youth might plead for him. This 
 petition the Home Secretan^ treated with very proper con- 
 tempt, but it was really delightful to contrast that contempt
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 473 
 
 with the respectful and instant attention shown to the petition 
 of the young heir. 
 
 "I have a difficuhy in expressing the comfort with which 
 I saw an EngUsh Home Secretary, with all the power of the 
 Empire in his hands to protect him a'gainst imposition, re- 
 leasing a criminal after reading a sheet of foolscap covered 
 with lies, which had been left at the Home Office by a 
 released convict within half an hour after passing through 
 the gates of Millbank. It is but the merest justice, however, 
 to add that poor Mr. Smith, the presenter of the petition, 
 was as badly humbugged as the Home Secretary himself. 
 The glitter of gold was flashed before his eyes as it was 
 before the eyes of Sir William Vernon Harcourt, and with 
 equal efifect. 
 
 ''To ma this efifect was certain, as not the slightest doubt 
 existed in my mind that the moment it became a question 
 of great sums of money all distinctions would vanish and 
 pickpocket and Home Secretary would scramble on to the 
 same foothold. 
 
 "The result, it is unnecessary to add, perfectly justified 
 me. As I watched the lucky Frederick set out to return 
 to the stable he came from it occurred to me that had he 
 understood German, which he did not, nor English either, 
 for that matter, he might have whispered joyfully to himself, 
 in the words of another dealer in ways that are dark and 
 tricks which are vain: 
 
 " 'Es ist gar hubsch von einem grossen Herrn, 
 So menschlich mit dem Teufel selbst zu sprechen.' 
 
 "Doubtless, however, the Home Secretary will feel, as I do 
 myself, that he acted in this matter in accordance with the 
 commonest dictates of duty, and I beg to assure him that, 
 having even,' facility for sending out as many letters as I 
 please, I shall never again cause him weeks of anxious con- 
 sideration. Respectfullv submitted, 
 
 "AUSTIN BIDWELL." 
 
 Whatever Sir William Vernon Harcourt may have 
 thought about the petition, he said nothing, but I dare say 
 he did not feel flattered. It required no small daring to 
 send It, but as I knew I had nothing to hope from him I
 
 
 474 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 could look with perfect equanimity upon any consequences 
 likely to follow. 
 
 The governor of the prison did not dare to violate the 
 regulations by refusing to send my petition, wTitten as it 
 was on an ofificial form and duly entered on the books of 
 the establishment, but he sent for me in hot haste. Assuming 
 a threatening air, he demanded how I dared to play such 
 monkey tricks. Offtcially the governor was a hot member and 
 enforced an iron discipline both with warders and the men, 
 but personally he was not a bad fellow, so I merely laughed 
 and asked him if he was a critic and reviser of petitions; 
 therefore, a local Home Secretary. He saw I was not to be 
 intimidated, and almost begged of me not to do so any more. 
 As he was a pretty good fellow, and I had no wish to cause 
 him any embarrassment, I readily promised, provided I was 
 permitted now and then to write a special letter. This per- 
 mission he intimated would not be withheld, and there, so 
 far as the governor was concerned, the incident ended. But 
 so unheard-of a document emanating from a prisoner created 
 a sensation among the ol^cers, who all came to know of 
 the matter, and added several degrees to whatever respect 
 they were inclined to have for me. 
 
 As there is no attempt at humor in this book, and since 
 I am on the subject of petitions, I will give here a copy of 
 one sent by a fellow prisoner who was somewhat of a char- 
 acter and whose name was Niblo Clark. 
 
 To some of the prisoners the art of reading and writing 
 is an all but insoluble mystery. Every man is allowed a 
 small slate, and many of the prisoners spend an incredible 
 amount of painful toil and mental wrestling in preparing a 
 petition, which, by the way, never does any good. Poor 
 Niblo for a whole year, through all the Summer's warmth 
 and Winter's frost, spent his spare hours producing this peti- 
 tion, and I think my reader will agree witli me that it is a 
 masterpiece of its kind
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WA"2. 
 
 475 
 
 PETITION. 
 
 Register No. Y 19. Name, Niblo Clark, 
 
 Present Age, 40. Confined in Chatham Prison. 
 
 Date of Petition, Januar>' 15, 1890. 
 
 CONVICTED. 
 
 CRIME. 
 
 SENTENCE. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 When. 
 1880. 
 
 Where. 
 
 Old Bailey, 
 
 London. 
 
 Burglary. 
 
 15 Tears. 
 
 In Hospital. 
 Troublesome. 
 
 To the Right Honorable Henry Mathews, Her Majesty's 
 Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department: 
 The Petition of Niblo Clark Humbly Sheweth — 
 The Right Honorable Secretary the great benefit your 
 humble petitioner would derive by a speedy removal from 
 this damp and foggy inhospitable Climate to a milder one; 
 the atmostphere here his thoroughly prejudicial to your 
 petitioners health and causes me to be a great Sufferer i am 
 Suffering from asthma accompanied with bad attacks of 
 Chronic bronchitis and have been now 3 long years Con- 
 fined to a bed of Sickness in a Sad and pitable Condition 
 and upon those Clear grounds and physical proofs your 
 petitioner humbly prays that it may please the Right Honor- 
 able Secretary to order my removal to a warmer andl milder 
 Climate 
 
 necessity also compels me to complain of repeated acts 
 of injustice and Cruely committed again me, and which in 
 some respects Might Justly undergo the imputation of 
 ferocity there are numbers and frivolous and false charges 
 conspired against me and every time i am discharged from 
 here the Governor takes them Seperate one each and trys 
 to murder me: i have been No less then Six weeks at one 
 time on bread and Water accompanied with a little penal 
 Class and all the officers are incouraged to practise all kinds 
 of barbarious maltreatment against me and other sick men — 
 theres is one officer here place here for the express purpose 
 of tantelizing me and other his Name is Warder Newcombe 
 this officer sir has barbariously struck and assaulted pa- 
 tients on there Sick bed and Several has complained of it 
 to the Governor — But i am Sorry to say its greatly fostered 
 and incouraged especially upon me it is quite useless to 
 complain of anything to the Governor
 
 476 FROM WALL, STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Right Honourable Sir i humbly beg that you will listen to 
 
 my woe 
 for what i Suffer in Chatham prison the one half you do not 
 
 Know 
 From repeated attacks of this frightful disease i am getting 
 
 worse each day 
 So i humbly trust you will have me removed without the 
 
 least delay 
 
 In making my request in poetr}' Sir i hope you wont think 
 
 i am Joking 
 for the greatest favour you can bestowe upon me is to Send 
 
 me back to Woking 
 For in this damp and foggy Climate its impossible to ever 
 
 get better 
 So i humbly trust in addition to this you will grant me a 
 
 Special letter 
 
 Another little case i wish to State if you Sir will Kindly 
 
 listen 
 has it would Cause a Vast amount of talk all round and 
 
 about the prison 
 I mean if Xiblo Clark Should be sent upon some public 
 
 Works 
 it w^ould cause more talk then the late dispute between the 
 
 russians and the turks 
 
 in fogg)' wheather with my disease it would be impossible 
 
 to larst one hour 
 and if you doubt the accuracy of what i say i refere to 
 
 doctor Power 
 or any other naval doctor or one from the army garrison 
 they one and all would say the Same and likewise Doctor 
 
 Harrison 
 
 Since my reception in this here prison i have been a most 
 unfortunate man 
 
 and i will tell you the why and wherefore as well as i possi- 
 bly Can 
 
 for ever)' time i been in this hospital its the whole truth 
 what i Say 
 
 for my medical treatment i assure Sir i have dearly had tC 
 'pay
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. 477 
 
 A regular marked man i have been for them all its well 
 
 known to Captain Harris 
 for the list of reports against me would reach from this place 
 
 to paris 
 So i humbly beg Right Honourable Sir you will grant this 
 
 humble petition 
 for i am sorry to State i have nothing to pay having lost 
 
 both health and remission 
 
 Such Cruel injustice to poor Sick men is far from being just 
 
 and right 
 but to report Sick patients in hospital is the ofificers Chief 
 
 delight 
 But perhaps kind Sir you might imagine that they only do 
 
 this to a dodger 
 But its done to all — Austin Bidwell as well and likewise 
 
 to poor Sir Roger (Tichborne). 
 
 like Savage lions in this infirmary the Ofificers about are 
 
 walking 
 to Catch and report a dying poor man for the frivolous 
 
 Charge of talking 
 and when we go out from hospital our poor bodies they 
 
 try to Slaughter 
 by taking these reports one at the time and Killing us on 
 
 bread and water 
 
 I am suffering a Chest and throat disease a frightful Chronic 
 
 disorder 
 and to go out from hospital is attempting Suicide to get 
 
 heaps of bread and Water 
 for it is such cruel treatment made me as i am and brought 
 
 me to the Verge of the grave 
 So in conclusion Right Honourable Sir a removal i humbly 
 
 Crave 
 
 if this petition should not be sent prisoners abstain from 
 further writting who will explain his case more Clearly to 
 the A^isiting director and i wish to have this petition Sub- 
 mitted to the director by your truly humble servant Niblo 
 Clark
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 IT WAS NIGHT; SILENCE AND GLOOM HAD SETTLED 
 DOWN ON THE INMATES. 
 
 By a refinement of crnelty we had been separated and 
 sent to prison wide apart; for twenty years I had not seen 
 the face of one of my friends. But there was an invisible 
 bond between us that no tyranny could break. How blessed 
 the happy forethought that made us, in that dark hour, amid 
 our despair, make that promise! 
 
 Ten years had slowly dragged by, 1883 came, and my 
 devoted family felt that I, and my comrades, too, had paid, 
 as was right, our due to justice, and we ought to be liberated. 
 They determined that it would not be their fault if I re- 
 mained in captivity. So that year my sister came to England 
 and remained permanently there. She worked bravely and 
 well, but year after year passed without result. None of us 
 was prepared for the vindictive fury of the Bank of England 
 — its power was all-potent with the Government. George 
 had been bedridden for years, and was slowly dying. At 
 length, in 1887, the medical officer of the prison certified 
 his speedy death was certain, and the Government released 
 him to die; but he resolved that he would not die until we 
 were free. With liberty and hope health came slowly back, 
 and he devoted every hour to working for our liberation; 
 but for a time devoted in vain. More than once had I seen 
 the prison emptied and filled again. Of all the life prisoners 
 I had met there on my arrival, or who for years after had 
 jf)incd me, I was the sole survivor. 
 (478)
 
 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE. 479 
 
 One by one sickness or insanity, born of despair, had 
 laid them in the prison graveyard or buried them in the 
 asyhmi. Out of more than seventy hfe prisoners none had 
 Hved to be Hbcrated, and determined appeared the Bank of 
 England directors that I should not form an exception ; but 
 that if ever the prison doors were opened to me it should be 
 only when so near death that I might join the many who 
 had gone before. 
 
 My fate seemed inevitable, but never for a moment did I 
 cease to believe that Fortune's frowns would one day dis- 
 appear and that I should yet again feel the warmth and 
 sunshine of her smile. From his sick bed, and in his health, 
 our comrade never ceased his efforts. He succeeded in 
 interesting James Russell Lowell and many others in my 
 behalf. The President asked the English Government offi- 
 cially to grant my release. Mr. Blaine, the Secretary of 
 State, sent a very strong letter through Minister Lincoln 
 in London, and I thought when told of it that my day to 
 go was not far away. 
 
 It will interest Americans, perhaps, to hear that the repre- 
 sentations of the President and of the Secretary of State of 
 the United States met the same courtesy as was shown to 
 all the previous ones. Still, George was not discouraged. 
 He sent agents to England, who managed to interest the 
 newspapers in the matter, and never did he cease, until by 
 the statements of the press upon the ferocity of my treat- 
 ment, the reproaches of my friends and the representations 
 of many I had never seen, including Lady Henry Somer- 
 set, Mrs. Helen Densmore (then residing in London) and the 
 Duke of Norfolk, at last the Home Secretary felt the 
 pressure, and all unwillingly — "much against his will," as 
 he termed it — was forced to order my release. 
 
 ******* 
 
 "Thou shalt forget thy misery and remember it as waters 
 that pass away."
 
 480 FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE 
 
 Twenty }'€ars had passed away since I had bade my 
 friends good-bye under the Old Bailey, and now 1893 had 
 come. It was a frosty February night, and I was alone in 
 that little room with its arched roof and stone floor. It was 
 past 7 o'clock, and the prison gloom and stillness had set- 
 tled down on all the inmates, when suddenly there came the 
 noise of hurrying feet that echoed strangely from the arched 
 roof as the warders tramped loudly on the stone floor of the 
 long hall. A rush of feet, or, indeed, anything that broke 
 the horrible stillness at that hour, was startling. Tliey were 
 the feet of the reserve guard, which was never called in save 
 when the patrol who glided around the corridors in slippered 
 feet discovered some suicide. Many a heartbroken man 
 had I known in that twenty years who in his despair ended 
 his misery thus. 
 
 While wondering who the unfortunate could be I heard 
 their steps mounting the stairway leading to my landing, 
 and then a sudden thrill shot through me as they turned 
 down the corridor toward my cell. My heart stood still as I 
 thought, could they be coming for me? I had a sudden 
 frenzy of fear that they might pass my door, but no, they 
 came straight on, halted, and Ross, a principal ofificer — I 
 had known him twenty years — gave a thundering rap on my 
 door and shouted, "I want you!" Then a key rattled in the 
 lock, the door was thrown open and three friendly faces 
 looked in. Faint, deadly white, trembling like a frightened 
 child, I started to my feet trying to speak, but no sound 
 came from my lips for a moment. At last I stammered, 
 "What's the matter?" Ross thrust his form through the 
 door, and with face close to mine said the thrilling words, 
 "You're free!" I cried, "I don't believe you!" and Ross said: 
 "Come on, my boy; it's all right. 
 
 Like one in a dream I passed out through the door of that 
 little cell whose grim, narro\y walls had frowned on me for 
 a score of years and had in vain tried to crush my spirit.
 
 VIA THE PRIMROSE WAT. 
 
 481 
 
 Still like one in a dream I went down that long hall listen- 
 ing only to the strange sound of my own footsteps and 
 saying to myself: "It is all a dream. I will awake, as I 
 have from thousands of like dreams, and find myself again 
 in my dungeon." 
 
 I was led into the outer ofBce, where some papers were 
 read to me, and then others given me to sign, but P listened 
 or signed like one in a maze. Suddenly I saw Ross thrust 
 the key into the outer door. Tliat roused me, and the 
 thought flashed into my mind, now I will see a star. 
 
 The heavy door rolled on its hinges, the ponderous gate 
 was flung back. Stepping out, I intuitively looked up, and 
 a sudden awe fell upon me, for there, like a revelation, shone 
 the Milky Way, with its millioned arch of radiant suns. At 
 the sight of that miracle of glor}', my heart beat fast. I 
 realized that I was free, with health and strength, with cour- 
 age to begin again the battle of life, and in my irrepressible 
 emotion I cried aloud, and my cry was like a prayer — "God 
 is good." 
 
 1. .
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 BY G. B. 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF CRIME; OR, THE CAPABILITY OF THE 
 HUMAN MIND FOR SELF-DECEPTION. 
 
 PROPOSITIONS. 
 1.— No man in his right mind ever commits a crime. 
 2.— No man ever commits a crime in his own opinion. 
 
 (Above axioms apply to the whole human race.) 
 
 Consigned to penal servitude for life! "Am I the man?" 
 "No; impossible!" Such were my surging thoughts after 
 the conclusion of the memorable trial at the Old Bailey. 
 
 That first night in Newgate after the sentence — can I de- 
 scribe it? Its memory is seared indelibly on my brain. 
 It was a night given to retrospection and vain regrets. 
 
 At last I had reached that dread abode of which I had 
 heard so much ; that place whose history, extending through 
 centuries, one long record of crime, had made the very 
 name infamous. Reclining on the hard pallet, the mind 
 whelmed in chaos, it was many hours before my thoughts 
 began to arrange themselves. Then at last I began to realize 
 the degradation and destruction to which I had brought 
 myself by giving way to the fallacies of false reasoning. 
 
 In that gloomy cell, whose cold, gray walls sent a chill to 
 my heart, no imaginings could drive away the dread reality 
 fjf the situation. Of honest parentage, energetic, indus- 
 trious, ambitious, starting out in lifq determined to conquer 
 in the battle of life by adherence to the golden rule taught 
 
 (482)
 
 " APPENDIX. 483 
 
 tne by my mother, what causes had placed me among so- 
 ciety's outcasts? How did it all happen? As strange as it 
 may seem to you, and to me now, up to that moment I had 
 never felt a twinge of conscience, and had without any feel- 
 ing of guilt got myself into a bottomless gulf. 
 
 My mind reverting to the past, I soon perceived that it 
 was tlu' first almost imperceptible step into wrongdoing 
 which had led to the final catastrophe. That first step had 
 not been taken until by a process of reasoning the conrcience 
 became convinced that the special circums'ances justified 
 the special action, therefore the step was taken without a 
 feeling of guilt. 
 
 Following up this self-examination, I perceived that the 
 mind, unconscious of the fact, remained on this slightly 
 lower moral level ready to argue pro and con about the next 
 slightly illegitimate desire that might present itself. This 
 came and was, as before, under the justification of the special 
 circumstances, again taken without a feeling of guilt. 
 
 Thus by a series of acts, each leaving the mind on a lower 
 level, not realizing any departure from its original high 
 moral tone, each taken without any feeling of guilt, I found 
 myself in the garb of a convict, but at last brought to my 
 senses and clothed in my right mind. 
 
 From the above the reader will perceive that I had arrived 
 in prison an innocent man, in my own opinion. At this 
 juncture, this terrible mental struggle during the first night 
 after the sentence, all the fallacious reasonings, the glitter 
 and tinsel surroundings of the luxurious life the easily 
 acquired money had procured me; all the glamour which 
 had rendered the mind itself incapable of sound reasoning, 
 disappeared like a fog before the sun. The mind cleared, 
 all the various acts of dishonesty, each of which had ap- 
 peared so harmless at the time, presented themselves to my 
 startled and aroused conscience in all the nakedness of their 
 hideous deformity.
 
 ibi 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Writhing in anguish I cried: "Surely I am a monster, 
 diflferently constituted from any other human being who ever 
 broke the laws! They have inherited a tendency for wrong- 
 doing and only follow the dictates of their crooked moral 
 natures, while there is no taint in my ancestry for 250 
 
 years." 
 
 \'isitors at any prison see rows of men dressed in the 
 repulsive convict stripes, with hair and beard shorn, making 
 them look all alike, and one naturally concludes that they are 
 all of about the same moral calibre. Taking up the) routine 
 of prison life, with opportunities for association and con- 
 versation, I soon began to separate and classify. I found 
 ever}^ class of society numerously represented ; lawyers, doc- 
 tors, merchants, bankers and noblemen were working 'side 
 by side with the sneak thief, burglar and forger. I found 
 the same feeling of caste ruling there as in the outer world, 
 the mammoth defalcator, embezzler or forger looking with 
 contempt on the burglar, he in turn disdaining the sneak 
 thief and pickpocket. 
 
 Prisoners are divided into two general classes : Those who 
 have not led a criminal life until they came to regard it as 
 a proper business. At this latter stage they become the 
 second class, professional crooks. There is a possibility of 
 reforming the first. Tlie second class are beyond hope 
 until they are too old to risk the loss of more years in prison. 
 If they are also confirmed gamblers and drinkers there is 
 scarcely a hope of reformation, and all the money thrown 
 into the bottomless pit of such efforts better be expended 
 in stopping the sources of corruption. 
 
 As years rolled, or, rather, dragged on, I heard many his- 
 tories which began to expand my ideas of human life, its 
 capabilities and possibilities for good or evil, and came to 
 this conclusion: As compared with influences of the en- 
 vironments of the child from birth heredity is scarcely a 
 factor in the resultant man or woman. But this proposition,
 
 APPENDIX. 4S7 
 
 which would require a separate article, is a wheel within a 
 wheel which must be passed for the present. 
 
 Another discovery filled my mind with amazement: Dur- 
 ing the fifteen years in English prisons I never found a man 
 who was guilty, all being innocent in their own opinions. 
 Many years passed before I fully realized that this feeling of 
 self-justification was all but universal among prisoners. 
 
 When finally the fact was recognized it was an illumina- 
 tion, and I cried: "I am not then the abnormal monster 
 with an exceptionally constituted mind which has brought 
 me to shame, while) feeling innocent, but really guilty." 
 
 Thus through a long training in an unusual school of 
 experience I was brought to the study of: The Philosophy 
 of Crime and the Capabilities of the Human Mind for Self- 
 Deception. 
 
 Self-justification is one of the most powerful impulses 
 inherent in mankind, and lies at the foundation of all stray- 
 ings from the strict line of honesty. 
 
 Prisoners, while deceiving and misleading the authorities 
 as to their sentiments and lives, will freely tell the truth to 
 one another. Being one of themselves, and on account of 
 the colossal fraud in which I had been implicated, I was in 
 their eyes a prison aristocrat, and one whose notice was 
 esteemed a high honor. Indeed, many a man took the risk 
 of three days in the solitary cell on bread and water to 
 speak to me so that he could brag among his fellows, "Bid- 
 w'cll told me so and so." 
 
 These men (as well as the authorities) had so inflated an 
 idea of the acuteness of the men who had found a weak 
 spot in the business armor plates of the supposedly im- 
 pregnable Bank of England that none dared romance with 
 me, fearing discovery and consequent refusal on my part 
 to speak to them thereafter. The rule of silence and non- 
 intercourse is made only to be broken, as there is not one of 
 our modern prison systems, excopt that at Cherry Hill,
 
 jjiS APPENDIX. V , 
 
 Philadelphia, under Warden Cassidy, in which these rules 
 amount to nnich except practically to work an injustice; 
 all whisper, talk or communicate. The more cunning, who 
 have graduated from the gutter through station house, jail 
 and reformatory into prison, escape discovery, while those 
 less astute are caught and severely punished. As all asso- 
 ciation of prisoners is contaminating, I may remark in 
 passing that no such inhuman rules exist at Cherry Hill, be- 
 cause each prisoner is properly isolated in a cell, each with 
 means (whether fully adequate or not I have not fully in- 
 vestigated) for passing his leisure time profitably if so in- 
 clined; in any event, safe from the awful contamination of 
 life in prisons where the contract or any other system of 
 associated labor prevails. 
 
 Having explained why the prisoners laid bare to me their 
 real sentiments, I may now state that, without exception, 
 luen who were incarcerated for offenses ranging from the 
 lightest to the most atrocious recorded in the annals of 
 crime from their own point of view were innocent. That 
 is, each related a train of circumstances which justified the 
 action which by no means a])peared to him in the light of 
 perpetrating a crime. 
 
 The environments from birth had brought them to a con- 
 stitution of mind, had seared the conscience until the perpe- 
 tration of crime w^as, in their belief, the honest business in 
 life for them. According to their code the whole machinery 
 of justice, judiciary and police alike, was a monstrous viola- 
 tion of their rights. 
 
 Many a professional thief has said to me: "The whole 
 world is dishonest. The grocer sands his sugar; the stock 
 exchanges, the bankers and the merchants have their tricks 
 of trade. The point is that those who cheat legally, keeping 
 within the letter of the law, are more cowardly, while we are 
 brave enough to act out the same moral principles and 
 dare the law. Of course, we don't blame them for their
 
 APPENDIX. 489 
 
 methods, only that they find fault with and punish us be- 
 cause our circumstances prohibit us from getting money in 
 the way they do. Like them we must have money, and 
 would prefer to get it by their little game without risk of 
 getting behind the bars." 
 
 "Rut," you object, "Mr. Bidwell, how do you make your 
 theory fit the case, for example, of a man who deliberately 
 plans and executes bank forgery, knowing that he is break- 
 ing the law?" 
 
 Very easily, on the principle explained on a previous 
 page. The influences of the environments of this man's 
 life from birth have been of every variety, good and evil. 
 The result proves that society had permitted the evil to pre- 
 dominate, so his conscience now permits and he thinks it 
 quite right for himself to plan and execute the crime. Could 
 y(m converse with this man on equal terms, that is, to have 
 an introduction which would make him believe you w^ere 
 a brother professional, you would find him brainy above 
 the average. 
 
 You would find him fully equipped with arguments and 
 reasons which would be poured out with such evident 
 earnestness that you would conclude that the man actually 
 believed himself justified in following a risky and law^-defy- 
 ing business. He would recall to your memory or cite 
 numerous cases of men and firms who had taken care to 
 carry on business under the advice of a high-class lawyer, 
 keeping within the letter of the law, yet whose methods, 
 either of carrying on business or by failure, had brought 
 WTeck and ruin to tens of thousands, taking the jointures 
 of widows and the last dollar from orphaned children. 
 
 He Avould then contrast those honest (?) methods wi:;h 
 hig own operations: "I only operate against firms that can 
 stand the loss; that is to say, I select those w^ho are sup- 
 posed to be rich. But if the result of my business methods 
 cause such a firm to fail, then I sav to mvself, 'Served it
 
 |!M) APPENDIX. 
 
 ricrlit for sailinc: luulcr false colors.' Often it is want of 
 care or loose business methods that enable me to get a 
 wedge into their business armor plates. In such a case I 
 say : 'What I get from them is a fee to teach them how to do 
 business correctly.' Besides, I do a lot of good' with my 
 money in giving to the very poor, and never pass a beggar. 
 Well, am I not better than those who play their little games 
 by wholesale on the innocent and defenseless, who are rutli- 
 lessl)' robbed by those in whom they place the utmost and 
 justifiable confidence?" Thus the forger would go on for 
 days if you had the patience to listen. 
 
 But mv reader will object and say: "But the forgers are 
 considered the aristocracy among crooks. They are often 
 men of good families, and in numerous cases men who had 
 a business training, therefore capable of thinking out the 
 subject and making these discriminations and comparisons; 
 but the ordinary class of criminals surely have not the 
 capacity to reason out these things, and therefore it is out 
 of the question for such to justify themselves and believe 
 stealing to be the correct thing." 
 
 To this I reply: Again you, like all the world nearly, take 
 the superficial for the solid. The same principle covers this 
 and every possible case, for there is a principle inherent in 
 the constitution of the human mind, popularly called the 
 conscience, whicli renders it as impossible for any person 
 to do wrong willfully as to fly. "A curious conscience is 
 this!" you exclaim. Yes, a curious conscience indeed! which 
 is a thing of education, the education of environments. 
 
 The average business man has no conception of the de- 
 basing influences as compared with twenty years ago. 
 
 Innncrscd in business and daily cares, they take little heed 
 of the almost universal deterioration of the moral character 
 of their sons, who in turn think it a great triumph to be 
 able to Ijoast of having ruined some one's else daughters, 
 and this caused by the ever-increasing temptations them-
 
 APPENDIX. 4!)1 
 
 selves, as members of society, permit to surround their own 
 progeny. 
 
 Unlike the good people, the corrupters make their money 
 in the line of corruption! 
 
 From the foregoing it will be seen that the conscience in 
 any single individual is a variable quantity and itself the 
 child of circumstances. This being the fact, then, from 
 whatever germ it may spring, the conscience is the creature 
 of education, a manufactured article. Therefore, does it not 
 concern society in the highest degree to see to it that the 
 materials of manufacture shall be of the very best? That 
 the environments from birth shall be the most favorable to 
 the development of a conscience which will cause its pos- 
 sessor to live up to. the old golden rule? Then, indeed, the 
 millennium will have come and the golden age no longer 
 a fable! But the golden rule of to-day is: "Do him or he 
 will do you." 
 
 But to return to your last objection regarding ordinary 
 professional criminals not having the sense to, like the edu- 
 cated forger, reason out a justification for his' crimes. The 
 burglar will furnish any number of reasons in justification 
 of his business methods. These may not be clothed in such 
 flowery periods, or his statements so concise as those of the 
 forger or defaulter, but, nevertheless, good enough for him- 
 self. And as you go down in the scale of what are designated 
 as "enemies of society, parasites on the body politic," no 
 matter how uncouth the speech or confused the expressions, 
 each applies the same principle of self-justification. 
 
 It is, I believe, a recognized fact that children left to be- 
 come street arabs, and eventually jail birds, are but the prod- 
 uct of the degrading surroundings. But society takes no 
 thought that it would be infinitely greater economy to save 
 the child than to sufifer the depredations of the otherwis?? 
 future criminal. 
 
 The old Papal maxim, "Give us the children and you may
 
 402 APPENDIX. 
 
 have the men and women," must be acted on by society, 
 unless we wish to see our workhouses, jails and prisons ever 
 overflowing, ever new ones necessitated. 
 
 Below I give a few of many examples which came under 
 my notice illustrating that the principle of self-justification is 
 all-powerful. 
 
 While in the hospital ward at Woking Prison (where Mrs. 
 Alaybrick is now confined under a ferocious and unjust 
 sentence)^ one of the men in my party was constantly com- 
 plaining to me about the severity of his sentence, which was 
 for tvvent}'' years. He was about the same age, and appeared 
 to be a good-hearted but ignorant sort of fellow. He had 
 been brought up amid such vicious and brutalizing sur- 
 roundings that he had not the least conception of any dif- 
 ference between vice and virtue, or even that chastity is a 
 virtue. He met a young governess crossing the park of a 
 nobleman where she was employed, the result being the 
 above sentence for a most dastardly and atrocious assault. 
 
 On one occasion when he complained about ''the terrible 
 and unjust sentence" I said to him: "Instead of twenty 
 years you should have been hanged, drawn and quartered, 
 for you ruined the girl's life." This seemed not only to 
 astonish, but to perplex him at my lack of sympathy. Being 
 a fellow prisoner, and, for reasons previously explained, 
 doubtless my opinion impressed him more than had even 
 the verdict of the jury. Hitherto he had claimed that he 
 had done no harm, but now, after somewhat recovering from 
 the effects of my thunderbolt, he conceded: "Well, I didn't 
 do her much harm, anyway." 
 
 Reader, if you are leaning on "heredity" as the main 
 cause for crime, pause and consider what the conditions 
 must have been to produce such a result in one who was 
 once an innocent babe, somebody's son, somebody's darling. 
 And this is but one case of hundreds of thousands! 
 
 And society encourages the production of such men and
 
 APPENDIX, 493 
 
 women! Society licenses the all-pervading saloon, those 
 glittering and attractive places thickly planted on all the 
 thoroughfares of our towns and cities, which are so con- 
 venient a rendezvous for young men for whom the saloon 
 is the entrance to all iniquities, the entrance to the primrose 
 way which leads to destruction. 
 
 Case 2. — The professional tramp is a man, or a semblance 
 of one, whose conscience has been educated by environments 
 into the belief which he embodies in this axiom : ''The world 
 owes me a living; I am too lazy to work, and from dread 
 of prison afraid to steal, and therefore beg." Whenever one 
 of these does get into prison it is the result of a mistake. 
 Many strange characters I met, but few were of this order, 
 for in England every tramp knows that to inhabit a prison 
 means to work, so they fight shy of doing anything that 
 could possibly get them a long sentence. But one I met 
 there had made a serious and unaccountable mistake. 
 
 John Henry- Furgeson never intended to compromise his 
 precious person so far as to get himself sent to any place 
 where work is enforced. But as the sequel to one of these 
 mistakes to which the best tramp is liable, he found himself 
 beside me dressed in the prison style and compelled to do 
 what his soul loathed — that is, working — and at very severe 
 labor, too. ]\Iany years we worked together, and he seized 
 every opportunity for talking about his former efforts to 
 get through the world without cares or labor, hoping that 
 I was a sympathizer in those sincere and praiseworthy en- 
 deavors. 
 
 The English tramp fraternity mostly winters in London, 
 and, like the rest of the fashionables, he every year in the 
 early Spring left London for an all-Summer outing through 
 the kingdom. Going north by the coast line, he would 
 speedily reach Lincolnshire, and leisurely continue his way 
 into Scotland, begging his food and sleeping in hayricks, 
 and, as he expressed it, "happy as a lord." The Summer
 
 41U 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 days merrily spent in the land of heather by our modern 
 Autolicus, he would cross by the west coast, then south to 
 Carlisle, Preston and Liverpool, from which place he struck 
 southeast to London. Traveling throuj^h byways via Man- 
 chester. Sheffield, Oldham, Birmingham and Oxford, he 
 expected to reach London before the frosts made it uncom- 
 fortable sleeping in the fields and hedges, 
 
 "Once," he said to me, "on leaving Preston, I had got 
 gloriously jolly on 'alf and alf (ale and porter mixed), and 
 found myself one Sunday morning in Liverpool without a 
 copper. I say, Bidwell, I was hawfully 'ungry, and felt that 
 something to eat must be 'ad. So I went to the work'us 
 for a bit of breakfast. But, what do you think? They wanted 
 nie to grind com in a handmill; but I wouldn't do it. No, 
 I wouldn't do it; Fd see 'em blowed first.' 
 
 "Why not?" I asked, surprised. 
 
 "X"o, Bidwell ; I wouldn't on any account. Why, it was 
 a Sunday, and I won't work on Sunday. So I went down 
 to a market. Seeing no one around, I got in among a lot 
 of empty baskets and kept a good lookout. Soon I twigged 
 a gentleman coming, and began tg groan and cry out. He 
 stopped and said: 'My man, whatever is the matter?' 'Oh, 
 eir, the pain is just hawful,' and I rolled on the ground. Put- 
 ting his hand in his pocket, he said: 'Poor fellow; here is a 
 shilling; go to the druggist and get something to take for it' 
 You better believe I lighted out and bought two pints of 
 bitter ale, a herring, two penn'orth of pudding; and didn't 
 I fill up and get jolly, too! The next morning I started for 
 Sheffield, was awful hungry, but did not dare beg, as the 
 cops were everywhere, and all onto me. About lo o'clock 
 I saw a man down a lane with a small flock of sheep; he 
 called and said he would give me a ha'penny if I would 
 watch the sheep while he went to yon house. Well, you 
 know, I had my eye on his bundle in the hedge, and was 
 sure there was grub in it. Soon as he was out of sight I
 
 APPENDIX. 495 
 
 flew to where the bundle was, took it out and fled across the 
 fields until I came to a nice sunny place in the woods, where 
 I sat down and opened it. And, oh! such a nice bit of bacon, 
 some cold taters and bread! How I did go into that grub! 
 Then I lay down in the sun to sleep, and had such a beauti- 
 ful dream! I sold the clothes in the bundle that night at a 
 public house for a pint of ale and a shilling." 
 
 My friend did not seriously object to stealing, but his 
 conscience would not let him work on Sundays. 
 
 Case 3. — Another character I knew, who was not only a 
 Scotsman, but an Edinburgh Scotsman. This man was a 
 professional burglar, yet a devoted adherent of the kirk — 
 that is, of course, the Presbyterian Church. He, like all his 
 countrymen, was as full of theology as were our Puritan 
 ancestral witch-burners of New England, and as full of 
 argumentative fight as the old Cromwellian soldiers. He 
 overflowed with burning zeal for the kirk, and had an equal 
 hatred for the Scarlet Lady of Rome. Had this man, Mc- 
 Cann, lived in the time of the Covenanters his name and 
 histor}' would have been transmitted to posterity as one of 
 the noble army of martyrs of his church. 
 
 Rarely is any person met who was better informed on all 
 questions of theology-, and it was his sole subject of con- 
 versation in and out of season, until one became so tired that 
 the wish would come: "Oh, that he might be translated to 
 the heaven of which he speaks so incessantly!" 
 
 When proving the Presbyterian Church to be the Church 
 of God he would become so enthusiastic and absorbed in 
 his arguments that he would risk three days' bread and water 
 rather than break off on the approach of a warder. 
 
 Occasionally I got him to talk about himself. One of his 
 adventures was as follows: The woman with whom he was 
 at the time living wanted a pair of new shoes. As McCann 
 had no cash, he determined to secure a pair for her in the 
 line of his profession. So one dark night he climbed from a
 
 496 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 neighboring roof to the window of a shoe warehouse, pried 
 open the sash and entered, carefully closing the window 
 behind him. The watchman outside thought he heard some 
 ono moving about within, and sent in an alarm, which 
 brought a squad of police. 
 
 Surrounding the warehouse with a cordon, a few entered 
 to search the place. Our theologian heard the commotion 
 and hid himself under a pile of leather clippings. As they 
 drew near his place of concealment, seeing a, prison the 
 probable result of his venture, he became terrified. His 
 conscience was aroused at the peril of his position, and in 
 his extremity, "Since man could not help me," he said, "I 
 turned to God, and never before prayed so fervently, vowing 
 that if He would blind the eyes of the police, as were of old 
 those of the enemies of the Prophet Elisha, so I should not 
 be discovered, then I would burglarize no more." 
 
 He was not discovered, which fact he attributed to divine 
 intervention, for after a vain search the police came to the 
 conclusion that it must have been a false alarm. 
 
 Then our burglar came forth from his hiding place, a new 
 man, of course? By no means. His terror was a thing of 
 the past, and he said: "I sat there a few minutes, thinking 
 it over, and then determined to get square on the police for 
 giving me such a fright; so I filled a bag with shoes and 
 packed them safely home." 
 
 I had working with me another Scotchman by the name 
 of Andrews. He was a professional burglar, and is now 
 serving his third term of imprisonment. He was a strange 
 character. He regarded burglary as a profession, and was 
 rather indignant that the police should persecute gentlemen 
 in his particular line of business. Strange as it may seem, 
 he could not, outside of his profession, be called an immoral 
 man. Tf not religious, he was at least zealous for the cause, 
 anfi well up in tlieology, and it was amusing to hear how 
 readily he quoted the Bible in his talk and argument. Above
 
 APPENDIX. 497 
 
 all other things he had an extraordinary fad — a sort of bee 
 in his bonnet — being a zealous desire to make every one 
 around him happy, and by any means, too. For example, 
 if two men fell to fighting he would go from one to the other 
 and tell all manner of kindly lies to make the two men friends 
 again. But his character will be best understood by my 
 relating a story he once told me. It was this: After com- 
 pleting his second sentence he returned to Glasgow and 
 promptly resumed his profession. First perpetra'ing a series 
 of burglaries in the small towns around Glasgow, he finally 
 began, to do jobs in the city itself. Just at this time there 
 happened to be some great revivalist — I believe it was ]Mr. 
 Moody — preaching in Glasgow. One night our hero, with 
 a friend of his, started out, each with a "jimmie" concealed 
 in his clothing, to do a little professional act in the house- 
 breaking line. It happened to be near to where Mr. Moody 
 was nightly holding forth. For some reason they arrived 
 on the scene of the operations too soon, and, in order not to 
 attract the attention of the police by loitering around, they 
 went in to hear the preaching. Andrews' heart was stirred 
 and warmed by the preacher's theology — but let me con- 
 clude the story in his own w^ords: 
 
 "Well, Bidwell, I never heard the doctrine of orig- 
 inal sin and the efficacy of baptism laid down so convinc- 
 ingly before. That sermon did me good, and I wanted to 
 stay after the service and see the preacher, but, as our job 
 had to be done before lo o'clock, I could not wait. So Bill 
 and I did the job, but all night long I was thinking about 
 that sermon, so the next afternoon I went to the house where 
 Mr. Moody w^as staying and saw him. Soon as ever he came 
 into the room I caught him by the hand and said : 'Oh, sir, 
 by the grace of God you have saved me for this world and 
 the world to come. I, sir, am a burglar. Last night I 
 started out to commit a burglary, but by some gracious 
 providence I was led to enter the church last night, and
 
 4i).S APPENDIX. 
 
 heard vou preach, and your earnest preaching of the Word 
 went to my heart, and I resolved to become a new man, and 
 I, under lieaven, owe my conversion to you.' 
 
 "Well, I say, Bidwell, didn't it make him happy, though! 
 He shook hands with me three or four times, and made me 
 promise to write to him. I intended to, but the next night I 
 was doing a job, and the cops got me in the house, and the 
 judge gave me this ten. I say, what a shame! I'll get 
 square on the police yet for it." 
 
 It was impossible to make these men see any incongruity 
 between their religious professions and criminal acts. 
 
 On the morning of June 20, 1894, I had a talk with 'Mr. 
 Erastus \\'iman in his cell at the Tombs. He said he ex- 
 pected to get a year or two, but an hour later Judge Ingra- 
 ham sentenced him to five and one-half years in Sing Sing. 
 
 When upon the stand in his own behalf, he testified under 
 oath that he had no guilty intent, and had ne^'er done any of 
 the acts charged, except under the feeling that the cuTum- 
 stances justified him in doing as he did. I am not palliating 
 crime, but the truth must be known as to human life and 
 motives before society can adjust itself on a basis that will 
 make ordinary property crimes impossible., 
 
 "I do not expect to go to Sing Sing," he said emphatically, 
 "and I am not cast down or depressed. I know that I never 
 intentionally committed a crime, and, having abundant con- 
 fidence in the ability of my lawyers, I naturally expect to re- 
 gain my freedom." 
 
 The examples herein given, however incredible they may 
 appear, are from actual life, and are only specimens taken at 
 random from memory's storehouse.
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 SAFEGUARDS AGAINST FORGERY AND FORGERS. 
 
 BY G. B. 
 
 As a result of the widespread disasters in the commercial 
 world, a very large number of experienced and brainy men 
 are being thrown out of employment. Naturally, a consider- 
 able number of these are fully conversant with the methods 
 and practical workings of our great financial institutions. 
 Some of them also add a knowledge of chemistry, skill with 
 the artist's pencil and brush, and occasionally among the 
 "outs" is found a clever engraver. From such as these are 
 recruited the gangs of skillful forgers. 
 
 When the cutting punch and the so-called safety paper 
 came into use it was the general belief that the forgers were 
 at last foiled and absolute protection secured. Indeed, these 
 artists themselves were for a time laboring under the de- 
 lusion that their business was gone forever. But the more 
 brainy soon discovered that, like the burglars against the 
 safe manufacturers, these supposed safeguards could be over- 
 come by the exercise of patience and skill, and these once 
 conquered, the ver}^ safeguards made it much easier to nego- 
 tiate forged papers of this description. And this because the 
 bank ofificials, relying on such precautions, do not scrutinize 
 either the paper or the presenters as closely as in the old days 
 of plain blanks. 
 
 Therefore, it is true that the negotiating of forged paper 
 is, on this account, less dangerous than formerly. It does not 
 even require the popularly supposed marvelous skill to doc-
 
 .>(l(l 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 tor the punch holes and to restore the faded or obhterated 
 tints in altered checks or other documents. 
 
 These facts, patent to a few of our leading bankers, besides 
 those who have been lately victimized, ought to be made 
 known forthwith to every banker in the country, that they 
 may fully realize that the utmost art of the engraver and 
 printer has failed to afford permanent protection. 
 
 The great army of brainy young men who live by their 
 wits is being rapidly augmented by the many disgraced vic- 
 tims of the imported pool rooms and racetrack betting rings. 
 From this and other causes known to me, I PREDICT 
 l^HAT IX THE NEAR FUTURE THERE WILL BE 
 AN OUTBREAK OF FORGERY IN ITS VARIOUS 
 BRANCHES ALMOST UNPRECEDENTED. 
 
 It is a maxim among first-class forgers that the presenter's 
 introduction is as important as that the forged paper must be 
 perfect. Indeed, of the two, the introduction is considered 
 of more importance. Whether by forged letters or by win- 
 ning the confidence of some local customer of the bank se- 
 lected to be victimized, everything must be in strict business 
 form, as the least negligence would arouse suspicion in the 
 minds of the lynx-eyed paying tellers or other bank officials, 
 and the astute forger never tries to lull suspicion when once 
 aroused beyond the time necessary to make himself disap- 
 pear. 
 
 Perhaps the most dangerous to the banker, but safest for 
 the presenter, is to get a genuine letter by means of a forged 
 introduction. This will be the favorite method of the future, 
 and to put bankers on their guard the following actual oper- 
 ation will enlighten them as to the modus operandi: Some 
 years since a party of three, consisting of tiie backer, the 
 writer, or actual forger, and the presenter, left New York for 
 Europe on one of their annual predatory expeditions. 
 
 The first step in the previous preparations had been to 
 purchase several drafts on Europe for small amounts from
 
 APPENDIX. OOl 
 
 the largest bankers of New York. To procure one of these 
 the applicant pretended it was for his servant, who desired to 
 send part of her wages to her friends in the old country, and 
 some other like pretext was given to the other bankers. The 
 next was to obtain a sample of their stationery, and, as the 
 surest way to succeed in this, letters purporting to have been 
 written in Paris, and addressed to the same New York bank- 
 ers who sold the f mall drafts, were sent over to the well-known 
 Charley Bullard, then proprietor of the American Cafe in the 
 Grand Hotel, who mailed them there. Of course, the Paris 
 postmark gave the letters a bona-fide appearance. These 
 letters contained the inquiry if they could transact certain 
 business in New York, and that if their reply should be in 
 the afifirmative particulars and reference would be promptly 
 furnished. In due time the replies were received. It made 
 no difference what was the ansv>er, as the object had been 
 attained — that of getting copies of the letter headings and en- 
 velopes used in their foreign correspondence. A confederate 
 printer and engraver supplied fac- similes of these, and hav- 
 ing obtained the same colored ink, it was not very difficult 
 to get up the imitation of the genuine letters, inserting names 
 and wording them in a way to produce the desired effect. 
 
 This preliminar}' accomplished, the party sailed out of 
 New York harbor having in their possession these forged 
 letters of introduction, purporting to have been written by 
 Messrs. August Limbert & Co. to the Bank of Ireland, in 
 Dublin, from Messrs. Duncan, Sherman & Co. to their corre- 
 spondent in Liverpool, and from Messrs. Taussig, Fisher & 
 Co. to their agents in Bremen and Hamburg. These were 
 exact imitations of those used by the above New York bank- 
 ers and the signatures above suspicion; in fact, marvelously 
 like the genuine. Indeed, I have known instances of bankers 
 discounting their own forged paper, which had been made 
 by this same gang of experts. 
 
 During the voyage and subsequent operations great care
 
 ,-,02 APPENDIX. 
 
 was taken that the members of the party should appear to 
 be entire strangers to each other; indeed, the presenter or 
 layer down of the paper, did not know the actual forger, but 
 met the backer only. 
 
 Immediately upon their arrival in Dublin, a uniformed 
 messenger, commissioners they are called, was sent to the 
 Bank of Ireland to purchase a draft on London for five 
 pounds. Perceiving at a glance that it could be easily altered, 
 a second for three pounds was sent for by another messen- 
 ger. These were drawn on the Bank of England and were 
 at once raised to two thousand pounds each, and. handsome 
 pieces of commercial paper they were, being as beautifully 
 engraved on water marked special paper as are those equally 
 fallible blanks now used by the Chicago National Bank and 
 by numerous other corporations in this country and abroad. 
 
 All being now ready, the forged letter of August Limbert 
 & Co. was handed to the presenter — for this trip a bright 
 young Hebrew known as Rosey, who had been picked up in 
 an uptown billiard hall in New York. Upon presentation 
 of the letter to the manager of the Bank of Ireland, he was 
 received with the consideration due to the bearer of a letter 
 from so great a banking house. Of course, there could be 
 no ground for suspicion, and doubtless it would have been 
 safe to get forged paper cashed then and there, but the 
 crafty leader preferred another and more certain method. 
 Therefore, after some preliminary conversation, Rosey, ac- 
 cording to his instructions, remarked to the manager: "In 
 passing through your beautiful Dublin I have only called to 
 pay my respects." But when in the course of the interview 
 it transpired that our forger was on his way to Belfast to in- 
 vestigate the linen manufacture with the object of establish- 
 ing a factor)' near New York, the manager, as had been an- 
 ticipated, volunteered to give him a note of introduction to 
 their correspondent, the famous Ulster County Banking 
 Company.
 
 APPENDIX. 505 
 
 At lo the next morning- the presenter, Rosey, walked into 
 this institution with the air of a miUionaire and all the con- 
 fidence inspired by so potent a document as a genuine let- 
 ter of introduction from the greatest bank in Ireland. He 
 immediately presented the letter and both drafts, which were 
 instantly honored. These might easily have been for fiity 
 thousand pounds instead of for four thousand, had the im- 
 portance of this genuine letter been fully understood. 
 
 Leaving without delay, the next morning found the party 
 in Liverpool ready for the second operation. Upon presen- 
 tation of the forged Duncan, Sherman & Co.'s letter at the 
 Barings' Bank, the same kind of manipulation produced a like 
 result, and Rosey left the bank with a genuine introduction 
 to a bank in Manchester, which was only twenty-five miles 
 distant. Another of the party purchased a draft for a small 
 amount from the same Liverpool bank, and this was changed 
 to two thousand five hundred pounds. 
 
 With this and the genuine letter the presenter, Rosey, 
 walked into the Manchester Bank at 2 o'clock the same day, 
 received the cash and departed for London. These two op- 
 erations had taken three days, and the fourth day after their 
 arrival in Oueenstown found the party crossing the historical 
 Rhine on the way to Bremen. 
 
 It is not necessary to enter into further details. Suffice to 
 say that the operation in Bremen was successful, and, giving 
 the presenter, Rosey, who alone had taken any risk, fifteen 
 thousand dollars, he was sent back to New York, never again 
 to meet his temporary employers. Even had Rosey, the pre- 
 senter, been arrested, the actual forger would have been safe, 
 because, with the customary precaution, he had kept himself 
 aloof and was known to the backer only. 
 
 It may interest bankers to know that the very next mat- 
 ter attended to was to send off to their police protectors — 
 certain headquarters detectives in New York — the customary 
 percentage of the plunder, which, in all the operations of the
 
 506 APPENDIX. 
 
 party in question, had been arranged at 20 per cent, of the 
 gross amount. 
 
 Having given an example of one of the numerous pre- 
 texts used to lull suspicion in the purchase of drafts for small 
 amounts, it may prove interesting to cite another in which 
 immense sums were obtained by first making a good impres- 
 sion on the manager of the Bank of England. 
 
 During the preparations preceding the Bank of England 
 "Million Pound Forgery" one of the party known as "F. A. 
 Warren," styling himself a railway contractor, called on the 
 manager, ostensibly to get some advice as to investments, 
 but really to ingratiate himself into his confidence. In the 
 course of the interview, while speaking of the railways he 
 pretended to be building in Southern Russia, he apparently 
 quite casually drew from his pocket plans of various tunnels, 
 culverts and bridge work. These were, in fact, accurate 
 copies which had for this very purpose been made from the 
 original working drawings — these having been borrowed on 
 some pretext from the real contractor, who thought he knew 
 "Warren" to be a gentleman of wealth, certainly one of great 
 erudition and information on railway subjects. 
 
 In making the copy the name of "Warren" had been sub- 
 stituted. It can easily be surmised what a powerful corrobo- 
 rative effect the opportune production of these must have 
 had on the mind of the manager, a link strong as steel as to 
 the integrity and financial standing of their new customer, 
 Frederick Albert Warren, contractor, etc. 
 
 Certainly, each banker is cautious to the limit of his knowl- 
 edge and experience, but there may be some for whose bene- 
 fit a few precautions may well be mentioned here. When- 
 ever a stranger presents a letter of introduction, quietly ex- 
 cuse yourself and use the telephone or telegraph to verify 
 the letter. 
 
 Whenever a known customer introduces a stranger to 
 identify him, take him aside and inquire what he really knows
 
 APPENDIX. 5U7 
 
 about this man and whether his information is sufficient to 
 warrant his own indorsement of the stranger's paper. If 
 not, explain to your customer the absolute necessity for cau- 
 tion; if you choose show him this paragraph, and if offended 
 at your refusal be cautious in future transactions with such 
 an incautious customer. 
 
 Tliese local introductions are easily obtained by various 
 devices and ruses, and it cannot be too strongly impressed 
 that the presenter of forged papers is a carefully selected 
 fallen business man, and is usually a man of insinuating ad- 
 dress, suave and agreeable manners, experienced in all the 
 methods which tend to win the confidence of men and 
 women, and above all is cool, self-possessed, fertile in ex- 
 pedients and ready for every emergency. 
 
 Never be thrown off your guard by any professions unless 
 accompanied by vouchers which will stand the closest scru- 
 tiny. Any one who betrays the least fear of investigation 
 must be investigated. 
 
 Never place reliance on the apparent incidental production 
 of vouchers, which may be bogus or forgeries, or even in 
 part genuine, as in the case given where forged drafts were 
 cashed on the strength of a genuine letter of introduction — - 
 this having been first obtained by forger>\ 
 
 Of course, the banker never sees the actual forger, the 
 writer, I mean, and if he understands his trade it will be of 
 less use to scrutinize the paper than the presenter, for in the 
 case under consideration — that of gangs of professional 
 forgers — it is impossible for him to stand proper investiga- 
 tion as to his identity. Therefore, as a rule, verify the man 
 and the paper will be found, like the man, all right or all 
 wrong. 
 
 Still another form of introduction, and possibly even more 
 dangerous than by letter, is as follows: One of the gang is 
 sent through the country until he finds a good business for 
 sale. Presenting himself by some of the means previously
 
 -,08 APPENDIX. 
 
 described, he g-ives some adequate reason why he happens 
 at the moment to be unable to pay the whole amount down. 
 Therefore, he pays the least possible sum in cash and gives 
 his note at short date for the balance. Of course, these are 
 secured by mortgage on the purchase. 
 
 The seller may be considered in his own town wideawake, 
 but he is no match for his new friend — for such his arts and 
 cajolerv will soon make of him — and he will be ready to in- 
 troduce him with high commendations to his friends, but also 
 to his bank. This done the plan is complete, and after a 
 semblance of real traf^c has lulled all possible suspicion the 
 blow is struck and some morning the place is found closed 
 — the holders of the forged paper being left to divide the 
 proceeds of the remainder of his stock of merchandise. 
 
 The forger's objections to this pretty certain plan are two- 
 fold. First, it requires too much time in preliminary work 
 and execution. Second, the person of the one who shows up 
 in it becomes too well known, so that many with whom he 
 did business would be able to recognize him forever after, 
 despite the changes in clothing, cut of hair, beard or mus- 
 tache, these bcin_g the only changes considered necessary in 
 the other class of operations, where the presenter is seen but 
 once, and then for a few minutes only. 
 
 Elsewhere it is stated that the introduction is considered 
 of even more importance than the forged paper, and of this 
 fact the following is a striking illustration : Once a gang of 
 forgers left New York and made the first stop at Indianap- 
 olis. Here a draft on New York for $3.45 was purchased 
 from a private banker and raised to $10,000. (In buying 
 small drafts forgers always put in cents, also give a name in 
 which none of the letters go below the line, as Laura Burdell, 
 thus, while extracting the ink, avoiding the risk of injuring 
 the signature or the writing on the line below.) Next one of 
 the party called at the Citizens' National Bank and received 
 a certificate of deposit for $20, and this was also raised to
 
 APPENDIX. 509 
 
 $10,000. The work of executin^,^ both was very bungUngly 
 done, and it was the first thought of the leader to destroy 
 them and try some other town. However, after some con- 
 sideration it was determined to get a genuine letter of intro- 
 ' duction to some Cincinnati bank. Within three days this 
 was accomplished by showing some forged introductions, 
 and the gang transferred the theatre of operations to that 
 city. 
 
 This letter was addressed to Mr. Yhergescn, then cashier 
 but now president of the Merchants' National Bank, and was 
 from the Citizens' National Bank of Indianapolis, the same 
 from which the certificate of deposit had been obtained. 
 
 Upon this occasion the presenter was a highly educated 
 and polished gentleman. The two forged papers had been 
 mailed to him, in care of Mr. Yhergesen, so that the pre- 
 senter could not see them until he should open the letter in 
 his presence. After this letter was in the mail the discovery 
 was made that in addition to the poor work of raising the 
 small draft, the usual custom of writing the amount across 
 its face in red ink, as had been done on the original, had 
 been neglected. Therefore, this discovery was concealed 
 from the presenter, for had he known of the blunder he 
 would have refused to make the attempt in Cincinnati. 
 
 Arriving at the bank, upon presentation of his letter Mr. 
 Yhergesen received him with courtesy and handed him the 
 letter. Opening this, upon taking out the two pieces of 
 raised paper he was startled at the sight of such a bungle. It 
 was, however, too late to retreat, and he handed both to the 
 cashier, explaining that he wished to open an account with 
 the $20,000, but must have $13,500 at once in order to meet 
 a payment. Within five minutes he left the bank with the 
 above sum. 
 
 In this case subsequent events proved that the letter made 
 such an impression on the mind of Mr. Yhergesen that he 
 paid no attention to the paper until the presenter had left
 
 510 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the bank. His first careful look at the draft and certificate 
 made him suspicious enough, but scrutiny of thei letter con- 
 vinced him that this, at least, was genuine. He instantly sent 
 a dispatch to Indianapolis, and in a few minutes receive an- 
 swer that the two papers were forgeries. Without a mo- 
 ment's delay Mr. Yhergesen put the chief of police in pos- 
 session of the facts, and a good description of the forger, but 
 to this day 'Sir. Yhergesen has never found him. 
 
 And for a very excellent reason. The right hand man of 
 the chief of police, the principal detective, was by prear- 
 rangement waiting outside the bank with another of the gang. 
 The moment the presenter appeared and gave them the sig- 
 nal that all was right they went to a nearby saloon, where 
 the presenter soon joined them and handed over the $13,500 
 to the backer, w-ho immediately paid over to the detective 10 
 per cent, or $1,350. 
 
 The forgers then left the city, while the detective hastened 
 back to headquarters and was with the chief when the news 
 (?) came that the Merchants' National Bank had been visited 
 by forgers. 
 
 As I stated in the beginning of this article, the banker can 
 have effectual protection, but it will never be made effectual, 
 either by means of the worthless "safety paper" long in the 
 market, nor yet by means of a Bankers' Association using a 
 common fund to hunt down the criminal under an agreement 
 never to compromise and never to rest until the forger is 
 brought to justice. This, at the best, could be but a partial 
 remedy. 
 
 Such an association employing astute and relial:)le detec- 
 tives would accomplish something. They would run to earth 
 presenters and many non-professionals — employees who had 
 betrayed their trusts, etc. 
 
 The Jewelers' Association, by employing the Pinkertons 
 and never compromising with the criminals, succeeded in 
 exterminating that dangerous class of professionals who
 
 APPENDIX. 511 
 
 preyed on them and their travchng salesmen, until now we 
 seldom hear of a robbery in that line. 
 
 But dealing with forgers is a different matter. In this 
 case the manager and the writer never come to the front, 
 while the presenter is an outsider carefully selected, used for 
 the occasion and then, as a rule, discarded. Even if arrested 
 he would be unable to betray his princrpals. It will be seen 
 by the foregoing that if the banker is to have protection he 
 must ever investigate the presenter. But where is his pro- 
 tection, if, instead of presenting forged paper over the coun- 
 ter, the forger sets his wits to work and opens an account at 
 some bank and lets his forged paper go through the Clearing 
 House? 
 
 To this I reply that neither scrutiny, vigilance nor per- 
 sonal experience will insure protection. The protection must 
 be mechanical. That is, the paper must bear in its fibre an 
 effectual check other than tint and water mark — one that the 
 act of the forger in altering or in filling up punch holes will 
 infallibly ruin the check or the face of other documents. Sec- 
 ondly, the paper from the moment the pulp is made in the 
 mill must be guarded so that the forger can neither procure 
 the paper nor secure blank checks., i. e., paper of above de- 
 scription must be made under the same safeguards that the 
 paper used for currency is at the Treasury in Washington — 
 every sheet registered and numbered and kept track of after- 
 ward. 
 
 Mr. Robinson of the American Bank Note Company as- 
 serts that all these so-called "safety papers" now on the mar- 
 ket are worthless. This from so good an authority on this 
 subject, together with my own opinion, caused an expert to 
 try and solve this very important problem which has baffled 
 all those who have attempted for many years to beat the 
 forgers. The writer believes that object is, accomplished. 
 
 In concluding this paper I may add that forgers never 
 work continuously, but by dashes. Such are the modern
 
 •M-J 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 facilities for rapidity of movement that within tliree daj-s he 
 puts through from two to twenty operations, extending pos- 
 sibly from the ]\Iississippi to the Atlantic. Then the pre- 
 senter is discarded, the forger against whom there is no other 
 evidence takes a long vacation in Paris or Saratoga, if it is in 
 Summer, or in Florida during the Winter, and leisurely and 
 securely plans another raid, at the same time keeping a look- 
 out for the right man to act as presenter in his next opera- 
 tion. 
 
 The great majority of bankers consider it wise to cover up 
 any case in which their banks have been victimized, but this 
 is a very short-sighted policy. 
 
 The Bank of England never compromises, and it is this 
 fact which accounts for the comparatively few attempts to 
 extract illicit gold from its plethoric cofifers — certainly, it is 
 neither their infallible (!) system nor their business precau- 
 tion. 
 
 There is no greater provocative to crimes against property 
 than that of compromising with the criminals in order to re- 
 cover some or all of the plunder. 
 
 Judging of a bookkeeper by how nice his books look is ob- 
 viously wrong. The criticism should be: Is he correct? 
 Not, does he ever make mistakes? Every one mal-ces mis- 
 takes, and I should think more highly of those wdao have the 
 moral courage to let their books show actual entries and cor- 
 rections. Erasures should never be permitted. If a mistake 
 is made the pen should be drawn through and new words or 
 figures interlined. No matter how the books or papers look 
 they should show everAthing. Chemical ink erasers should 
 never be permitted, and their use by any employee should be 
 a subject for investigation and severe reprimand. Their sale 
 should be made a penal offense. 
 
 Bankers or other business men interested, washing to cor- 
 respond on above and cognate subjects will receive a prompt 
 reply to their queries. Such will please address the author.
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 NARRATIVE BY EDWIN NOTES. 
 
 One day returning- after a sliort absence in the conntry T 
 was accosted with "Ed, my boy, there has been a cablegram 
 here for you the last two days." Quickly tearing it open, I 
 read: "London, Langham. Come Wednesday's steamer, 
 sure. If business not satisfactory, expenses paid. Austin." 
 "What is this London, Langham?" I thoug-ht. "I know^ well 
 enough what and where London is, but Langham I have 
 never heard of." It was useless to worry myself about the 
 matter; I did not understand and did not care to make in- 
 quiries. I knew Austin was in Europe with my other friends, 
 and I knew that they were flourishing, for they had' sent me 
 a considerable sum of money but a short time before. It 
 was very evident that they w'anted me in London, and though 
 Langham was a myster}^ I determined to set out at once. 
 
 It w-as still early. The newspapers advertised the White 
 Star Steamer Atlantic to sail that day at 3. I had time to go 
 to New York and catch her. Tossing a few articles into a 
 valise and rapidly bidding good-bye to the family, I caught 
 the 10 o'clock train for New York, arriving there about 2. 
 Before leaving Hartford I sent the follo\\'ing cablegram: 
 "Bidwell, Langham. London: Sailing to-day, Ed." If I was 
 out over "Langham," I found on my arrival in London that 
 I was out $10 over my cablegram, for it never arrived. Ten 
 dollars for ten w^ords was the rate then, and my money went 
 
 (513)
 
 514 APPENDIX. 
 
 into somebody's pocket, doubtless. At precisely 3 o'clock 
 the company's tug began hauling the ill-fated ship I had 
 taken my passage on out into the stream. A moment after- 
 ward, with our prow turned seaward, we had set out for 
 Europe. Incoming vessels hurried past us, outgoing lagged 
 behind. The ship was full of passengers, and we crowded the 
 decks watching the objects grow small as the receding 
 arms of the bay began to fade in the distance. Outside Sandy 
 Hook the steamer slackened Tier course to send ofif the pilot 
 and a couple of mistaken travelers. One of them had a 
 ticket for Brazil, the other wanted to go to Europe for noth- 
 ing. Neither could be accommodated, so they and their be- 
 longings were sent over the ship's side, watched with breath- 
 less interest by the rest of us, who knew where we were going 
 and what we wanted. Perhaps though, of all the multitude 
 whom the two deserters were leaving behind, I was the only 
 one who was making the slightest mistake as to his destina- 
 tion. I knew I was going to London, and that I was going 
 of my own free will, but had I dreamed of my real destina- 
 tion, of the desolate little English towm I was to pass so many 
 years in, wnth what care would I have avoided that steamer, 
 with what eagerness would I have crowded into the pilot 
 boat with the passengers we sent off, or, failing that, with 
 what certainty would I not have taken a return ticket by the 
 same steamer, even could I have foreseen the fearful doom 
 awaiting her when, upon her return voyage, she 
 ran ashore upon the iron-bound coast of Nova Scotia, 
 losing more than six hundred of the lives intrusted 
 to her. But no inward warning admonished me, no 
 friendly hand beckoned me back, for the present all 
 was enjoyment. "Youth at the helm, pleasure at the 
 prow!" my eyes were withholden that I could not see, and 
 I went on joyously, little thinking that the time was rapidly 
 coming when I would envy the fate of those whom the Atlan- 
 tic was to carr)^, in a very few days, to destruction in America,
 
 APPENDIX. 515 
 
 their first sight of the land being of the spot which was to 
 close over their bones. 
 
 Among our passengers was Bull Run Russell, whose opin- 
 ion of America, like that of most Englishmen, had under- 
 gone a wonderful change after seeing what kind of strength 
 Uncle Sam coufd rise up with when it became necessary to 
 show his muscle. The Duke of Sutherland was there, too, 
 and as he was not wearing either ducal robes or coronet he 
 looked very much like people composed of the ordinary 
 flesh and blood of humanity. A person I took much more 
 interest in was Paul du Chaillu, the man who a few years be- 
 fore had invented the gorilla in the unknown country above 
 the Congo. I had read so much about him, such rapturous 
 praise, such scornful incredulity, such learned proofs, such 
 contemptuous rejection, that it was a pleasure even to see a 
 man who had made the world talk so much about him. On 
 the ninth day of the voyage I stepped off the tender onto the 
 Princess landing stage at Liverpool, and for the f.:;: time in 
 my life my feet stood upon English ground. My luggage 
 consisted only of my valise, so taking it in my hand, : . i:er r: 
 brief interview with a Custom House ofificer, I set out on 
 foot to find the Northwestern Station, where I was to take 
 the train for London. 
 
 Ever}'thing was strange to me. Ever}^where I heard what 
 we in America call the "British language," an accent which 
 at home we hear occasionally in the mouth of some Tommy 
 Atkins or " 'Arry" who has left Her Gracious Majesty's serv- 
 ice and has come to favor America with his presence. Here 
 for the first time I saw the real Tommy Atkins in his red coat 
 and pipe-clayed belt, and saw the real " 'Arry" talking con- 
 fidently to the real Mary Ann in the London language. By 
 dint of questioning I succeeded in wending my way through 
 the dirty, dingy Liverpool streets to the station, which, like 
 most English railway stations, is also a hotel. j\Ianv of my 
 fellow passengers, pilgrims to what Hawthorne calls ".Our
 
 516 APPENDIX, 
 
 Old Home" were tliere before me, and we sat dowTi to my 
 first English dinner, half-cooked meat, sodden vegetables and 
 "tart," something corresponding to the leatheriest of Down 
 East pies. During my journey from New York the 
 Langham mystery had been cleared up for me, and when 
 after a railway ride of four hours I reached Euston station I 
 knew I had only to take a cab for the Langham Hotel. My 
 cablegram not having arrived, there was no one to meet me 
 at Euston Station, but the omission' was amply made up by 
 the warmth of my reception at the hotel. 
 
 I was yet in ignorance of the reason for summoning me 
 to England. No suspicion ever crossed my mind that the busi- 
 ness could refer to anything not perfectly legal. In the joy- 
 ousness of our meeting, the talk of home and of things home- 
 like, the evening clipped by, and it was not until after break- 
 fast the next morning that the intended project was com- 
 municated to me. 
 
 The particulars of what followed, of my arrest and of the 
 atrocious sentence pccsed upon me, I shall say nothing of. 
 Tliey are fully detailed in other parts of this book. I shall 
 merely cay I believe the sentence to have been prompted by 
 national prejudice. The man who passed it has long since 
 gone to stand before a tribunal where, I trust, he has found 
 more mercy than he gave me, or it is ill with him now. It is 
 hard, however, to believe that he acted conscientiously when 
 I remember the sneers he exchanged with witnesses over 
 the "Americans." 
 
 The long horror of the trial was at last over, and not long 
 aftenvard. I \vas transferred to the great prison at Portland, 
 containing at that time more than sixteen hundred men, and 
 where is was resolutely intended to keep me until the last 
 breath had left my body. I went to Portland expecting 
 that the animus of the prosecution would follow me, 
 but it is only just to say that in such an expectation 
 I was wrong. There was a belief that I was deter-
 
 APPENDIX. 517 
 
 mined to escape and likely to succeed. Extraordinary 
 precautions were taken to prevent me, but those pre- 
 cautions, instead of causing me any annoyance, had 
 the effect, rather, of making me more comfortable. Of 
 course, this was not the object aimed at. The measures 
 would have been taken had the effect been to inflict upon 
 me the utmost torture, so I am not perhaps called on either 
 to feel or to express any great gratitude, but all personal ani- 
 mus seemed to be left in London. The head of the institu- 
 tion, or, as they call him in England, the Governor, was Mr. 
 Clifton, a very old servant of the Home Office, who was uni- 
 versally known by the only name ever given him in his ab- 
 sence, "Old George." He was altogether an oddity, but not- 
 withstanding his thirty years as a prison officer he w^as far 
 from having the hard heart people generally attribute to men 
 of his profession. We got on very well, indeed, together, 
 and he allowed me manv, little favors which were no small 
 alleviation and which I w-as always careful not to abuse. The 
 Portland Prison is probably the costliest prison in the world. 
 It is built on the summit of a high bluff standing sheer up 
 out of the sea. It looks more like a fortress than a prison, 
 and it is so profusely provided, no matter at what cost, with 
 ever)lhing required that I used to consider it the pet and 
 show establishment of the service. The discipline is strict; it 
 can be made intolerable. 
 
 For years after I went to Portland I used to think that while 
 it was hopeless to expect any leniency from the Government, 
 in face of the bank's opposition, there ought to be no reason 
 for extra severity; that w^hen I had suffered as many years 
 imprisonment as had ever been inflicted on any Englishman 
 for even the worst case of murder, the heavy doors w^ould at 
 last be flung open and I be told I might go. I little knew 
 with what bitter animosity, with what unrelenting vindic- 
 tiveness, with what pitiless hatred English gentlemen can 
 follow a man who inflicts on them a personal injury. Rarely
 
 olS APPENDIX. 
 
 did a month pass but I witnessed the release of some ^vretcH 
 condemned for a crime, perhaps of pecuHar atrocity, to im- 
 prisonment, but for whom ten or twelve or fourteen years 
 was considered a sufficient punishment. For many of those 
 men I myself wrote the petitions which procured their re- 
 lease, but whenever I petitioned, or my friends petitioned for 
 me, asking- that I might be placed on the same footing as 
 Britisli subjects, that some little distinction in sentence might 
 be made between me and murderers who with difficulty 
 liad been saved from the gallows, the answer to the very end 
 was a sneer: "The Home Secretary had carefully considered 
 the petition and could not find grounds for advising Her 
 Majesty to grant the prayer thereof!" One day, after I had 
 been in prison more than fourteen years, and considerably 
 longer than any British subject had ever been kept for any 
 similar offense, I was electrified by hearing from an officer 
 that George had been released. I afterward heard that the 
 release had been granted on medical grounds, but, being ig- 
 norant of the circumstances, was silly enough to suppose that 
 English fairness was exerting itself at last, and we would all 
 speedily follow him. I quickly learned my mistake. My 
 friends immediately petitioned for me, and I petitioned, too, 
 asking that the measure of what they call mercy in England 
 which had been extended to my friend might be accorded 
 also to me. The answer was a prompt refusal. Once more 
 the leaden days began their heavy roll, once more the dull 
 and hopeless apathy settled upon me. I had seen the prison 
 emptied and filled two or three times, I had grown to be its 
 oldest inhabitant, and was beginning to feel that I had made 
 my sepulchre and crept into it before my time. Other men 
 used to comei and talk to me of patience, but I felt that pa- 
 tience was stale and that I was weary of it; who could be pa- 
 tient in such extremes? Aly offense had been against money, 
 and I knew at last that the pity I had to expect was the pity 
 the rapier point^affords; that if I could find mercy in the law,
 
 APPENDIX. 519 
 
 'twas mine; if not, let me not ask it of an English Home Sec- 
 retar}\ 
 
 About four years after my friend's release, while continu- 
 ally oppressed with gloomy thoughts of the future, I was 
 startled by the news that Austin was gone. When Henry 
 Matthews, the Home Secretary, was first appealed to he 
 scornfully refused to do anything for Austin, although he had 
 been five years longer in prison than any Englishman had 
 ever been kept on any similar charge, and although Mat- 
 thews was every day liberating the most atrocious criminals 
 merely because they had asked him; but they were not 
 Americans, neither had they injured the Bank of England. 
 One reflection consoled me, however. I knew Austin and 
 George would leave no stone unturned for me and Mac, and 
 I had practical proof of their devotion. Immediately upon 
 his release he and George went to visit Mac's family, and it 
 was then arranged that a member of it, who had already been 
 on a bootless errand to England, should make a fresh effort. 
 The journey was at once undertaken, the messenger carrying 
 letters which procured an introduction to the Duke of Nor- 
 folk and to the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. Tliey 
 both expressed much sympathy and promised their assist- 
 ance. The Duke of Norfolk, the first peer of England, went 
 personally to the Home Secretary and said that in his opin- 
 ion the sentence was altogether too severe, and that as two 
 of the men had already been released it was but the common- 
 est justice to release the others. Such a statement from so 
 great a man was, of course, listened to. A few days after- 
 ward I was taken up to London, where I met Mac, who ar- 
 rived there from Dartmoor a few hours before me. A day or 
 two later we started for America. It was a bright, clear day 
 in August, and as we stood upon the platfom in the Euston 
 Station watching the hurr}'ing crowds it seemed almost im- 
 possible to believe that twenty years had fled since I had last 
 stood in that station, or to realize that many there had been
 
 ^■20 APPENDIX. 
 
 boni and brought up since the last time I had been in a rail- 
 way carriage. The friends who had interested themselves for 
 us were still chatting, when, at the guard's warning, we took 
 our places It was what is called the steamboat train, run- 
 ning to Liverpool on steamer days for the convenience of 
 steamboat passengers. I was far less excited than I thought 
 I would be. It seemed as though I were in my natural ele- 
 ment, that the hideous past was a nightmare, the memory of 
 wliich fresh scenes were already beginning to weaken. The 
 run home across the ocean was rapid and agreeable. On our 
 arrival we were met by Austin and George, who took us to 
 dine in the same parlor of the Fifth Avenue Hotel where 
 we had dined the evening previous to the setting out of the 
 other three more than twenty years before for Europe. We 
 considered it to be a remarkable, almost a miraculous, re- 
 union after such an experience, after the endless years of 
 such a horror. We were home again, and we were together, 
 but we were almost alone. Few, indeed, of the friends we 
 had left were in this world to greet us. They had passed 
 away to the countless majority beyond; others were in their 
 places, and already lost ones were scarcely missed. Tlie fallen 
 trees were gone, new ones had shot up in their room, but 
 the new, however they might fill their places, were not the 
 old. Still, we could not but feel that we had come home to 
 friends, whose hearts beat warmly for us, that at eveningtide 
 there was to be peace, and that whatever the past might have 
 been the future was certain to be an assured success. A suc- 
 cess merited by honest endeavor.
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 "HEL-P ME TO BEAR MY DOOM AND PATIENT WAIT." 
 
 When in the greatest distress, by a strange reaction, the 
 brain is apt to become filled \vith comic images. 
 
 The first verses that I ever attempted were the result of that 
 condition of mind, and it may prove of interest to psycho- 
 logical readers to know that while undergoing intense suf- 
 ferings, the following and many similar lines were composed. 
 
 Many thousand lines were brought out in the memory, 
 some of which, one of my illustrious encourager, Charles 
 Dudley Warner, considered worth publication, and are here- 
 with submitted as a sample of how a person can preserve 
 the mental balance under difficulties. 
 
 YANKEE DOODLE'S ADVENTURES WITH THE BRIT- 
 ISH LION. 
 
 Yankee Doodle took a notion 
 To take a voyage o'er the ocean; 
 He came to London on ship Tyron, 
 And ran against tlie British Lion. 
 
 With blazing eyes like lightning flashing. 
 And monstrous jaws together crashing, 
 And roaring like the rumbling thunder. 
 He struck the Yankee dumb with wonder. 
 
 The mane like coiling snakes upwaving, 
 He, filled with beer, began thus raving : 
 " This fellow looks so long and lankey 
 That, bless my heyes! he's some darned Yankee; 
 I'll take more beer to ease my swallow. 
 Then he tliat fluid soon shall follow." 
 
 " I'll put him where there's nought but working; 
 Where lazy Yankees can't do shirking; 
 
 (523)
 
 524 A CAPTIVE- a PRAYER. 
 
 Instead of doing only rhyming, 
 Up tread -mill wheel I'll set him climbing; 
 Old oakum too, I'll put him picking, 
 Or, if he won't, he'll get a Hcking; 
 Then on his knees he'll soon be kneehng, 
 When cat-o'-nine tails sets him squealing." 
 
 With this, himself to frenzy lashing. 
 And tail against his sides swift thrashing, 
 He swallowed down so mighty handy 
 Poor silly Yankee Doodle Dandy. 
 
 I repeated the Captive's Prayer in my cell, thousands of 
 times. 
 
 Almighty God of Grace — if God there be, 
 Heed thou the captive's cry and set me free. 
 My sorrow-stricken face wilt Thou uplift ? 
 In dark affliction's cloud make Thou a rift. 
 
 So that Thy favor through it shining 
 
 May show it has a silver lining. 
 Tlion heed the captive's cry and set me free. 
 Almighty God of Grace — if God there be. 
 
 'Tis fourteen years since on me freedom smiled, 
 "While banished far from country, wife, and child, 
 Misfortune's arrows sharp have pierced my heart, 
 My spirit too, with most envenomed dart. 
 
 In solitude wild fancies thronging. 
 
 The heart for home is ever longing. 
 Then heed the captive's cry and set me free, 
 Almighty God of Grace — if God there be. 
 
 Thy fragrant flowers bountifully spread. 
 Shed not their rich perfumes around my head ; 
 For me bloom not the fruitful vine and tree. 
 Their healthful juicy fruit I never see. 
 
 Me thus of all so long depriving. 
 
 My soul to black despair is driving. 
 Then heed the captive's cry and set me free. 
 Almighty God of Grace — if God there be.
 
 riUSONEWS DREAM. 505 
 
 Great forests, haunted by the bounding deer ; 
 
 Vast inland seas, with water sweet and clear; 
 
 Small lakelets, set like gems among the hills; 
 
 Broad prairies, mighty rivers, sparkling rills, — 
 All from my sight so long have vanished, 
 That even hope at times is banished. 
 
 Then heed the captive's cry and set me free, 
 
 Almighty God of Grace — if God there be.' 
 
 He] J) me to bear my doom, and patient wait 
 Till thou dost change my lonely captive state, 
 For I am now too blind to see the way 
 Thy loving hand is guiding me each day. 
 Past errors in the memory turning. 
 Consume the brain with endless burning. 
 Is there a God? Does He in prisons see ? 
 Is there a God ? Will He soon set me free ? 
 
 There is a God who soon will loose my chain. 
 And soothe the years that still to me remain ; 
 Then I will see once more on high unfurled 
 That noble starry flag which sways a world. 
 
 Then freedom's friends around me sweeping, 
 "Will make me shout with heart upleapiug. 
 There is a God who now has set me free, 
 And sent me joyful home beyond the sea. 
 
 The above and following may interest, if for no other rea- 
 son than that I composed them in an English prison cell : 
 
 PRISONER'S DREAM. 
 
 The writer, in Life's race unhorsed by treacherous foe, 
 
 Lies pierced by arrows from Misfortune's bow. 
 
 Be, then, indulgent, for these humble lines 
 
 Composed in place where every lack combines 
 
 To make his task severe at every turn, 
 
 And fill his verse with pictures hard and stern. 
 
 Confined in a living grave apart from men 
 
 The mind tormented with the "might-have-been,"
 
 50(5 riilSOXER'S DREAM. 
 
 Of wasted yeai-s, 'mid which the striving soul 
 Quailfs bitter gall from Sorrow's fateful bowl. 
 No show-white blossoms on the cherry trees, 
 Nor clover 'stilling honey for the bees; 
 No buds of peach and apples' laden boughs, 
 Nor meadows pastured by the meek-eyed cows; 
 No new-mown hay and flowers of lovely hue 
 Shed fragrance in the walls which bound his view. 
 All rural life with each fair landscape scene 
 Bedecked in Nature's robes of living green; 
 The fields of Indian corn and golden wheat, 
 Whose heads by zephyrs bowed the farmers greet, 
 Their willing horses with the harvest wains, 
 Returning homeward with the farmers' gains; 
 The murky, thunder-laden clouds foretelling storms, 
 Like mountains piled in huge fantastic forms; 
 The sun with all the myriad twinkhng lights 
 Are shut from him with all fair Nature's sights. 
 
 No living creatures save the friendly flies 
 Cheer solitude where crippled captive hes. 
 In early morn the clanging of the prison bell 
 Recalls the mind back to the cheerless cell. 
 From which m nightly dreams it flies away, 
 'Mid distant scenes to revel, free and gay. 
 
 By Fancy's elfs 'tis led in magic flights 
 Above to fairy realms, where strange delights 
 Imbue the dreaming soul with purest bliss. 
 Pure as on infant's brow its mother's kiss; 
 There, wandering careless through elysian halls 
 Sweet music echoes from the pictured walls. 
 
 Angelic forms around him circling stand, 
 Explaining splendors of their wonderland. 
 Or join in mazy dance and merry sports, 
 'Mid beauties of those fair elysian courts. 
 The walls with sparkling jewels are inlaid. 
 And orange trees by gentle zephyrs swayed
 
 PRISONER'S DREAM. 527 
 
 Exhale sweet odors from their golden fruits; 
 Beneath their shade the Muses play on lutes, 
 While dancing maidens sing a roundelay 
 Around the crystal fountain's dashing spray. 
 
 Then spirit voices murmur gentle lays: 
 
 Keep pure thy heart, and hope for better days; 
 Be strong and hold thy spirit anchored fast 
 Upon the Rock of Hope, to stem the blast 
 Of woes that howl around thy head, 
 And stretched thee crippled on a prison bed; 
 Be strong, and thou shalt see again unfurled 
 The noble Starry Flag which sways a world. 
 
 The willing elfs his spirit onward lead 
 To place untainted by the world's base greed, 
 Afar from bustling Traffic's ceaseless roar, 
 Through avenue of trees along the shore 
 Of crystal lake enshrined in golden sand, 
 With witching prospects spread on either hand, 
 To garden where the fruits and flowers unite 
 To fill the ravished soul with fresh delight. 
 
 There from his native land, unseen, so long 
 The friends of other days about him throng, 
 And cheering words, amid the children's play, 
 Soon charm past miseries all away. 
 
 They feast 'neath bower of vine whose branches spread 
 Full laden with their purple grapes o'erhead, 
 Their carpet, velvet sward from Nature's own 
 Enchanted loom, they owe to her alone. 
 And there amidst the flowers they enjoy 
 Sweet pleasures of the mind without alloy, 
 And feast on thoughts Minerva's crucible refine. 
 Not drawn from Bacchus with his flowing wine, 
 Wlio, crowned with vine at Nabob feast presides, 
 'Tis said, bewitching whom in him confides. 
 That rosy god of wine the judgment steals, 
 The bacchanalian throng late homeward reels;
 
 .>1'S 
 
 ox LONDON BRIDGE. 
 
 Nor brandy's circean cup that lirst delights, 
 And fills with glee the roystering wights, 
 "Who sip the ruby fluid that next deceives, 
 And then a scorpion sting behind it leaves. 
 
 Surrounded by what makes them happy there, 
 They pass the fleeting moments free from care; 
 Through air perfumed their joyous voices ring, 
 While near Elysian birds unfearing sing. 
 
 Hark ! dismal sounds strike on the sleeping ear, 
 
 And bowers, and elfs, and friends all disappear; 
 
 In dire confusion are the senses thrown, 
 
 Exciting fears of danger still iinknown. 
 
 They send a telegram up to the brain. 
 
 Which struggles to evade some fearful pain. 
 
 Then Ego waking falls from 'mong the stars 
 
 To stare in blank dismay at prison bars; 
 
 It was the clanging of the prison bell 
 
 Which plunged the spirit down from Heaven to Hell. 
 
 Says he — the spirit pierced to core : Ah me ! 
 
 Would I might sleep and dream till dead or free; 
 
 The gnawings of Remorse while waking never cease, 
 
 Nor give the tortured mind a moment's peace. 
 
 Those dreams recall some glimpses of the past. 
 Before Adversity's harsh and cruel blast 
 Had swept his life of all but woes and tears, 
 Exposing him to fickle Fortune's sneers. 
 And to the world's contempt, without defense. 
 Those dreams are Nature's recompense 
 For loss of freedom and of manhood's rights, 
 With home, sweet home, and all its pure delights. 
 
 HONESTY OR DEATH. 
 
 THE ex-convict's SOLILOQUY ON LONDON BRIDOE. 
 
 The gates were open thrown in winter's cold. 
 And all the world before him lay unrolled, 
 No home to shelter him from sleet and rain. 
 Through weary weeks he sought for work in vain;
 
 OiV L OND ON BRII) OE. 529 
 
 His garments tattered, then on freezing feet 
 He passed the day and ni<i;lit in square or street, 
 With hunger gnawing and an aching head, 
 No place of rest for him but a pavement bed. 
 He wandered shivering in the wintry blast, 
 His mind oppressed with visions of the past, 
 And hoped that Death would come to his relief 
 Ere Want again had turned him to a thief. 
 When Hope was dead within his hungry breast, 
 Despairing, then he sought eternal rest, 
 Unheeded by the busy passers by. 
 From the London Bridge he gazed upon the sky. 
 Soliloquizing to himself like this: 
 
 Is there a Heaven where all is peace and bliss, 
 
 A God, who from that starry vault above 
 
 Regards us waifs with kindly eyes of love. 
 
 Bestows a gracious, loving Father's gentle smile, 
 
 And saves us from those vices which defile, 
 
 Implanting with corrupt, infectious breath. 
 
 Polluted, germs of lingering painful death? 
 
 This cannot be; for, were it really so, 
 
 He would not let us wanderers sink so low. 
 
 'Tis He permits, from moment of our births. 
 
 All moral pestilences round our hearths. 
 
 And casts us prone 'neath Want's unsparing heels. 
 
 Unheeding merciless our just appeals. 
 
 It is us struggling poor who always get the worst; 
 
 Upon our heads His furious tempests burst; 
 
 His favorites all in lofty houses dwell. 
 
 For them the earth is Heaven, for us 'tis hell. 
 
 In crowded rooms and huts we must abide; 
 
 They, richly clad, in splendid coaches ride — 
 
 Alas ! those starry depths conceal no God, 
 
 Wlio scourges thus with His unsparing rod. 
 
 His powerful arm was never round me thrown; 
 I've crept along my crooked path alone, 
 Its guiding posts and waymarks to delude
 
 530 OX LOXDON BRIDGE. 
 
 "With stinging prickly briers thickly strewed 
 To catch the careless feet in clinging snares 
 And tear the wearied life with thorny cares. 
 
 "While still a babe Starvation made me bow, 
 
 I never felt upon my childish brow 
 
 Sweet, gentle Mercy's sympathizing tears, 
 
 Nor Pity whispering comfort in my ears. 
 
 By brazen Crime my tottering steps were led, 
 
 While nourished clad in squalid rags and fed 
 
 On bad examples and the moral swill, 
 
 That childhood's noblest aspirations kill. 
 
 In savage Indians' hut had I been born, 
 
 No stifling walls would then have made foi'lorn, 
 
 And cast a blight upon my youthful days, 
 
 "With Vice as guide through Life's entangled maze; 
 
 But, ranging mountains, plains, and forests vast, 
 
 The time in sylvan sports I would have passed 
 
 "\r\^ith feathered arrows shot from twanging bow 
 
 Bring down the antlered buck and buffalo; 
 
 In verdant valleys and the grassy dale. 
 
 Entrap wild turkeys and the fattest quail, 
 
 Or take the crafty ducks in artful snare, 
 
 And fearless face the black or grizzly bear; 
 
 Exploring haunted caverns deep and dark, 
 
 Or, gaily paddling my canoe of bark 
 
 Adown a stream or on a quiet lake, 
 
 The scaly fishes for my booty take. 
 
 All creatures have a right to live and play 
 In safety from Mankind's destructive sway; 
 Then let them peaceful feed in the forest mead, 
 Nor make them victims of the sportsman's greed. 
 O then, do not in sporting wanton slay. 
 But just enough for food from day to day. 
 
 But bom amid a city's want and guilt, 
 "Where human buds and leaves soon wilt, 
 And, falling from the tree of life, decay. 
 Despised by stronger leaves which blow that way.
 
 HONESTY Ul{ DEATH. 531 
 
 I'm one of those poor, fallen, wilted leaves, 
 
 A straw which fell from out the binder's sheaves, 
 
 And by opposing winds is blown about, 
 
 A wandering waif, a reckless, vicious lout, 
 
 Considered worthless, lost, a snarling cur, 
 
 Or sorry hack requiring constant spur. 
 
 Civilization's woes have pressed me hard, 
 Expect more mercy from a howling 'pard, 
 Who from a branch leaps on a passing doe, 
 And ends his victim's suffering at a blow. 
 My life, with that fierce leopard's work compared, 
 Will show that worse, far worse I've always fared. 
 
 Not mine the fortune of the slaughtered beast, 
 
 Thus by a sudden death to be released. 
 
 We, victims of the rum shop's legal trade, 
 
 Are first so gently in a gutter laid. 
 
 And then when driven by Want to do some deed, 
 
 They shut us close in jail to fill our need, 
 
 Where, passing wretched lives 'mid woe and wrong, 
 
 We prematurely join Grim Death's great throng. 
 
 My life was cursed by ills which fill the world. 
 Against its cragged rocks 'twas always hurled; 
 Jehovah no relief to me has brought; 
 Degeneration slow but sure has wrought 
 A shattered life of lingering, dull, decay 
 Which forces me to curse the fatal day 
 When first I saw the light of blazing sun. 
 I'm glad the fleeting race is nearly run; 
 1 will not starve nor end my Ufe in blood; 
 The coast is clear, I'll leap into the flood.
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 METROPOLITAN POLICE DISTRICT. 
 
 ruL 
 
 jZ^^222<at-iZ.:_r:«^^ik«^^ 
 
 ^"7^ , a Convict ahout to be liberated 
 
 on License, or a Person subject to the Superoision of the Potice. 
 
 Under the provisions of the Frevention of Crimes Acts 1871-9, you are required 
 to report yourself personally to the Chief Officer of Police of the District in 
 which you reside, or to a Constable, or pei'son appointed by hirn. 
 
 TAKE NOTICE, THEREFOKE, thai I, the unde.-signed, the 
 Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, being the Chief Officer of Police 
 of the Metropolitan Police District, have appointed the Constable in charge 
 of the Convict Office, Great Scotland Yard, to receive your declaration oP 
 residence on liberation, and I require you to report yourself to hitn 
 pei-sonally within 48 hours thereof at that Office. 
 
 (f you neglect So to do within 48 hours of the said liberation, you 
 are liable (o have your license forfeited or to be sentenced lo Iwelve 
 months' iinprisonnieni wuh hard labour. 
 
 Metropolitan Police Office, " """^ ' 
 
 Tom Taylor's famous play, "The Ticket-of-Lcave Man," 
 lias aroused general curiosity, and causes many to ask: 
 What is a ticket-of-leave? Perhaps there is nothing- more 
 valuable in this line for a library book than those issued by 
 the P>ritish Government to the celebrated claimant, Sir 
 Kodger Titchborne, after eleven years' incarceration..
 
 TICIIDORNE'S TICKET-UF-LKAVE W^^ 
 
 No. 300. (No. ?,) 
 
 METROPOLITAN POLICE DISTRICT 
 
 (KJ lr»\/%^ 
 
 To I M rK>%^ L4\^/U^ f^^ ^ Convict liberated 
 
 on License, or a person subject to Vie Supervision of the Police. 
 
 Under the provisions of the Prevention of Crimes Acts, 1871 and 1879, you 
 
 are required to report your entry into and removal from a Police Uistrict 
 
 to the Chief Officer of Police of the said District, or to such other 
 
 person as he may appoint, and so long as you remain in the District you 
 
 must report joui%e\{ personally, once a month, at such time as may be 
 
 prescribed by the Chief Officer ; and any change of address within the said 
 
 I 
 district must be declared in like manner. 
 
 TAKE NOTICE, THEREFORE, that I, the undersigned, the 
 
 Commissioner of Police of tlie Metropolis, being the Chief Officer of Police 
 
 of tl»€ MetropolihiQ Pnlic« District, lequire that yon report youwelf 
 
 personally, to the Constable in charge of ^ /i<^ C%0¥^\Jt4^ ^f* ^ 
 
 Fiiliiii yiiiii ir f\C % ^ '^f-^^ ^ yA>4 iiu t rf> i i iLiii^ LliL ULiiiuu >i 
 
 l j_l I | 1 II I I ' ' ' ' ' ' " ' ' I " ' 
 
 ^t^lf^ i^'%/'''- of each month «iid any change of residence shall 
 
 likewise be declared to the said Constable iivior to yoiir retnoval' 
 
 The Penalty for neglecting to do as above directed, or for 
 leaving the District without declaring youi intention so to do, is the 
 
 k 
 
 forfeiture of your License, or Twelve Months' Imprisonment with Hard 
 
 1 
 Labour. 
 
 Sttropoliian Police Office, 
 
 ■ Tf vou Itave the Dittncl Mid at;iiu leliito to it you mnsl 'imrotdialfly rfporl such rrliini e,Jifr *l 
 thTconvict Office. Ureal ScoUuiiJ Vaid, M' »l Uie Police Swiiou.ncueil to yuur place of »bod. 
 
 fovRS,
 
 534 NOTICE TO SIR li. C. D TICUBORNE, BART. 
 
 
 rOBM— 38c. 
 
 l-iANTS CONSTABULARY 
 
 So^t to be tented on Licevse Holder number \ J^. ' I 3 C) 
 
 34, 35 Vic, CAP. 112. 
 
 StCTlON 5. — E^ery holder of a license graoted under llie Penal 
 Servitude Acts who is at Urge in great Britain or Ireland shall notify the 
 place of bis residence lo the chief oflScer of police of llie district ia 
 which his re!>idence is situated, and shall, whenever he changes such residence 
 within the same police district, notify such change to the chief officer of 
 police of thai district, and whenever he changes his residence from one 
 pohce district to another shall notify such change of residence to the 
 chief officer of police of the police district which he is leaving, and to the 
 chief officer of police of the police district into which he goes to reside; 
 mortover, every male holder of such a license as aforesaid shall, once io 
 each month, report himself at such lime as may be prescribed by the chief 
 officer of police of the district in which such holder may be, either to such 
 chief officer himself or to such other person as that officer may direct, and 
 such report may, according as such chief officer directs, be required to be 
 made personally or by letter. 
 
 If any holder of a license who is al large in Great Britain or Ireland, 
 remains in any place for foriy:Cight hours without noiif)ing the place of bi» 
 residence lo the chief officer of police of the district in which such place is 
 tiluated, or fails to comply with the requisitions of this section on the 
 occasion of any change of residence, or with the requisitions of this section 
 as to reporting himself once in each month, he shall in every such case, 
 unless he proves to the satisfaction of the «ourt before whom he is tried that 
 be did his best lo act in conformity with the law, be guilty of an offence 
 against this Act, and upon conviction thereof his license may in the discre- 
 tion of the court be forfeited ; or, if the term of penal servitude in respect 
 of which his license was granted has expired at the dale of his conviction, it 
 shall be lawful for the court lo senunce him to impnsonmenl, with or without 
 bard labour, for a term not exceeding one year, or if the said term of penal 
 servitude has not expired, but the remainder unexpired thereof is a lesser 
 period than one year, then to sentence him to imprisonment, with or without 
 hard labour, to commence al the expiration of ihe said terra of penal 
 •eiriiude, for such a term as, together with the remainder unexpired of bis 
 said term of penal servitude, will not exceed one year. 
 
 Bv/virfiipof the above I hereby direct you to report 
 yourself ytrknuiUy on the first Monday in each month to the 
 C/UccA^i *^«^*u-i^ of 'be Hants Constabulary, at the 
 
 Police StalioD at ^ ty^^e^^^-t-JL, 
 
 Chief ConslaUe of //o/Kf,
 
 HACK OF TICKKT-OI'-LEAVE. 5;j5 
 
 lEIS LICENCE WILL BE FORFEITED IF THE BOLDER DOES NOT 
 OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS. 
 
 CONDITIONS. 
 
 I. Tie Holder ahiQ prestrre hi« Licence, and prodace it when called apon to do to bj a llagiitrato or PoUm OffiiNT. 
 
 Z He etuti tbeUin from tdj noUtion of the law. 
 
 8. He ehill not h«bita»Uf iMociale with notoriooal; b«d Charieleni, neb s< reputed Thieres and ProstltaUSn 
 
 4, He shall not lead an idle and diuolate Liie, wiihoat riaiblo means of obtaining an honest LiTelihood. 
 
 If bis licence is forfeited or revoked in conaeqoence of a Conrictioo for any OSence, he will be liable to nndergo «■ 
 iFsiM I f Ti ml SerritaJo a4iul_UaUitofM«Mw^f-4»4«ak«£ — — ' yinre ■hinh inmiinaJ liijuitiiiwl wbuu tiii ■ 
 T irmn a mnn or. .i ln i l . . i . , I t i T^ r w p( ^". ^ ^^^,^^^ ^/ /!^ ^^^ 
 
 Tht-atlmtion of the Licence-holder m directed la the following provisions of " TTie Prevention of 
 
 Crimes Acts, 1871 and 1879." 
 
 If it appe*re fram the ficla prored before ft coart of eumtnar; juhsdictioa that there are reaeooahle gproahds for 
 believing that f'he oonTict eo broagbt before it is getting his liTeiihood by diflhooeet means, ench coDviot eball be 
 deemed tu bo gnilty of an oOfence againat the PreveDtion of Crvtnes Act, and hie Ucence shall be forfeited. 
 
 Every holder of a Uceoce granted onder the Peoa] Serritade Acta who ia at large in Great Britain or Ireland, ehall 
 ■within 48 boara of hia UberaUoo pereonally notify iha place of hi* residence to the chief o£icer of police of the district 
 in which hid reeidencv ia sitn&t^d, or to a consuble or person appointed by bioi, and sbatl, whenever he changes such 
 r6tidence withia the aame police djstnct, notify euch cbange to the chief o^icer of police of that dislnct, or to a constable 
 or perbon appointed by hitn, and tcheriever he changes his yesidence from one police district to another, eball personally 
 notify Bocb -change of reaidence to the chief ojjlcer of police of the police district which he is leaving, or to a conatable 
 or person appointed by Uim, and to the chief o^icer of police of the police district into which he goee to reside, or to a 
 aonstable or person appointe4 by him ; moreover, every male bolder of eucb a Liceoce as aforesaid shall, onr^ in each 
 month, report Aiiruei/ personally at each time as may be prescribed by the ctuef officer of poLce of the district in which each 
 bolder may be, eilber to enctt chief officer himself or to socb othei person as that Officer may direct, and such report 
 may, aocording aa eucb chief officer directs, be required to be made personally or by letter. 
 
 If any holder of a hcence who \b at large in Great Britain or Ireland remains in any place for forty^ght hours vntTurut 
 notifying the place of hie residence to the chief o^icer of police of the district in which soch place is siloated, or to a 
 constable or person appointed by him, or fails to comply with the requisitions of this section on the occaaion of any change of 
 residence, or with the reqoisiiions of ihts section as to reporting himself ooce in each month, he shall tn every each case 
 unless be proves to the satisfaction of the Coart btfore whom be is tried that be did his best to act in cooformity wilb 
 the law, be guilty of an offence against the Preveotion of Crimes Ad, and apon conviction thereof his licence may in the 
 dioeretum of the Court be forfeited^ or if the term of Penal Semtnde in respect of which his Ucence was granted has expired, 
 at the date of his conviction, it ehall be lawfoJ for the court to sentence him to imprisonment, with or without Hard 
 Labour, for a term not exceeding one year, oc if the eaid term of Penal Servitude has not expired bot the remainder 
 unexpired thereof is a leaser period than one year, then to eenience hjm to imprisonment, with or without Hard 
 Laboor, to commence at the expiratios of the eaid term of Peoal Servitude, for such a term as, together with thd 
 remainder ^eir^ired of his said term of Penal Servitude, vnll not exceed one year. 
 
 Where any person is convicted on indictment of a crime, and a previous conviction of a crime Is prored agunst 
 him, be shall, at any time withtn seveTi years immediately after the expiration of the sentence passed on him for the 
 last of such crimes be guilty of an offence against the Preveniion of Cnmes Act> and be liabls to imprisonment witij 
 or without Hard Labour, for a term not exceedmg one year, under the foUowing circunistances or any of them : 
 
 Fu0T. If, on his being charged by a constable with getting bis livelihood by dishonest meana, and being brought 
 before a court of summary jurisdiction, ii appears to such court that there are reasonable grouruisfoT bclievino that 
 the person so charged is getting his livelihood by dishoneH means; or, 
 
 Sboondlt. If on being charged w^tb any offence punishable on indictraeut or summary conviction, and on being 
 required by a court of summary jurisdiction to give his name and address, be refuses to do so, or give* a JaU^ 
 fkomt or a falm address ; or, 
 
 tsoDhY. If he is found in any place, whether publio or private, under snch circumstances aa to satisfy th« court 
 befotv whom he is brought ihal he was about tn commit or to aid in the commission of any ofente ponishable oi> 
 ittdictmant or summary couviction, or mas \eait\ng for an opportunity to commit or aid in the commission of any 
 offeooa poniabable on indictment or summary conviction ; or 
 
 Fova.TES.'W. If he is found in or upon any dwelling-house, or any building, yard, or premises, being par««l of or 
 AUacbed to eucb dwelllng-hoose. or. in or upon any ebop, warobonse. counting-bouse, or other place of business. 
 or in any garden, orchard, pleafiure-groond, or nnrsery-ground, or in any building or erection in any gardeo, 
 orchard, pleaaore-gTOund, or nareery-ground, without being ablt to account to the sati^action of the Court befo;« 
 whom be la hioaz^for his being found on such premises.
 
 ."):)t; MESSAGE TO YOUNG- MEN. 
 
 The effect of a bad act, as of a good, reaches and influences 
 all ages to come. Generations yet to fill the earth in a dim 
 and misty future will be worthy or unworthy according as we 
 transmit to our immediate descendants influences good or 
 evil. 
 
 There are thousands of men now doing their utmost to 
 corrupt the youth of the land, leaving, like Frank Kibbe, a 
 serpent's trail. 
 
 Having made a study of all paths which lead to the seduc- 
 tion and destruction of young men; having full knowledge 
 of the arts, blandishments, devices; having learned the lesson 
 from the beginnmg, witnessed its consummation, embrace 
 rtiin and death — I cannot resist the desire to warn young men 
 to bcAxrare of temptations in whatever guise these may pre- 
 sent themselves. 
 
 Youth is unpractical, fond of excitement, more than gener- 
 ous — in truth, a universal philanthropist. Youth must avoid 
 the fast young man — he is kaleidoscopic, but is as old as 
 Adam and able to raise Cain. He will degrade you and 
 reduce you to his own moral level. 
 
 My young friend, just starting out in business life, perhaps 
 you are convinced by the actions of those around you that 
 the attainment of wealth will place you on the pinnacle of 
 happiness. This feeling will make you ambitious for show 
 as a means of getting ahead; extravagant, and you will soon 
 find yourself straitened for means to keep up the style of 
 your richer companions. A gulf is opened, an appalling gulf, 
 which you see not, yet the glitter and tinsel surroundings, 
 gayeties, bad female associations, even occasional mortifica- 
 tions, all combine, and into the gulf you plunge. 
 
 Then follows the first step — fancy it if you can — I can : Bor- 
 rowing from employer, not by asking, but by taking from 
 the cash; the futile resolutions to restore; the fictitious en- 
 tries in the cash book; the false oaths attached to balance 
 sheets; the profuse expenditure; then the forgery — and you
 
 MESSAGE TO YOUNG MEN, 537 
 
 see the fate of thousands of promising young men with whom 
 I have seen prisons filled. Discovery, disgrace, both of self 
 and family, then suicide or a prison. 
 
 My picture is not overdrawn. It is the daily, yea, the 
 hourly, record, a record of polluted minds and whirling 
 brains, of shattered health and early death. 
 
 One young man of twenty-seven, who occupied a prom- 
 inent position in a Connecticut savings bank, defaulted, and 
 fled to Canada. There, his money, dishonestly obtained, did 
 not' as he had fondly hoped, contribute to happiness, and 
 one day he killed himself in Montreal, leaving behind the 
 following note : "My prospects were such that many a young 
 man might envy. I scarcely know how I have gone wrong." 
 This is the feeling in all like cases. The temptations come in 
 such plausible guise, that before the victim is aware he has 
 entered the path from which he escapes only by a miracle. 
 "1 have been chief sufferer, and also chief mourner. I am tired 
 of life. If my body is found, I want a private funeral. I don't 
 want anybody to mourn for me. If I could retrieve myself I 
 would do it, but I see no chance for it." 
 
 Those who read this book will perceive that the night after 
 receiving a life sentence I gave way to the same feelings ol 
 despair which caused this young man to end his life, and put 
 himself beyond the possibility of retrieving past errors. 
 
 That past, with all its terrible experiences, I put before the 
 world as a flaming light to warn young business men, such as 
 I was, to beware of the first deviation toward the path which 
 ends within the prison's iron gates, or, if they escape that, it 
 will surely bring them to degradation and miser}-. 
 
 Since emerging from the living grave, where I was buried 
 half a generation, in going about our cities I see thousands 
 en route toward a future which my experience enables me 
 to predict — the workhouse, the jail, the felon's cell, the con- 
 vict's, drunkard's or the pauper's gravCc
 
 5:iS MESSAGE TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Do you wish to be known as a "good fellow" and to be- 
 come a "general favorite?" 
 
 I have known many who succeeded for a time by squan- 
 dering- their salaries, but these usually end in the poorhouse 
 or prison. 
 
 O, young man! if you cannot answer an emphatic "yes" in 
 questioning ever}' act of your life — "Is this right? Should I 
 wish another to act toward me?" — then it is you to 
 whom these lines are addressed. May my wrecked life lead you 
 to pause and reflect. Do not say it is too late. Have I not 
 proved it possible to found an honorable future on the ruins 
 of the past? Go thou and do likewise. Though the outlook 
 may be gloomy, persevere in the right, and success will be 
 yours at last. Never despair. 
 
 To young men I proclaim — watch yourselves; prove 
 worthy of trust; be pure minded; act with wisdom; be true 
 to manhood; true to your heritage; faithful to honor and 
 your country; thoroughly honest in every fibre of your being, 
 and you will attain the true aim of life — happiness.
 
 4^^^ ? 
 
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