The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-04-14
soon dropped it, and he went to his
room, and did not appear again that

j. Burton, New York" The moment
my eye fell upon the cramped chirog'
raphy l gave start which made me al
most lose my lamp. and the tace of the
man had shaken hands with looked 81
me from the page as distinctly as
photograph. In moments time / had
made up my mind that Burton was
"Dick." "Burton's" face was the face
which had painted when reading the
letter, and while the landlord was mixing
himself night-cap," slipped Out
Dicks" letter, compared the chirog-
raphy with Burton's," and found that
the same hand had held the pens.
$50, you've got New Yorker stop.
ping here, have youf" I inquired of the
landlord, pointing to Burton's name on
the register.
eyes, he signs himself that way this
time" replied the host. Il guess he
must be travelling agent, for he never
has the same location twice alike"
He then turned back over period o1
seven months, and showed me Burton's
name six different times. Sometimes he
was Burton, of New Orleans, then OF
Boston, then of Omaha, but never twice
of the same place.
Il don't know what he does come
for" returned the landlord to my query
HE always puts up here, stays about
three days. and always goes away on
boat or train during the night, generally
about midnight No matter what the
weather is when he is here, he borrows
my gun, goes off to the hill, is gone from
one to two days, and is always in q
hurry to be off out of town as soon as he
gets back. He is an odd chap, and ]
shouldn't wonder if he was bit crazy
l went to bed to study over the case.
I need not say that | differed from the
landlord as to Burton's eccentricity.
was certain that the fellow came to
Parkersburg to supply himself with
counterfeit money, and that his "going
hunting" was blind to cover his going
to some den in the hills where the gang
were at work. ! laid out and rejected q
dozen different plans to trip Burton and
secure the arrest Cf the gang. I felt that
must get into his confidence and get
him to trust me, or / might never get
into the living place of the gang, who
were sharp. keen fellows, as was shown
by the manner in which they 80 success
fully conducted business. | might wait
until the man had gone off and secured
his supply of the stuff. and then arrest
but this would not be catching Rogers.
Irolled and tossed about for two hours
and then I suddenly got the idea. ]
would turn "shover" myself. I had
with me about 5000 of counterfeit cur
rency, all well executed. The notes had
been sent to the CHIEF at one time and an
other. and were handed me the day I
LETT Washington. I mapped out a pro-
gramme, felt certain that / could follow
it, and then turned over and went to
sleep.
When I woke up in the morning it
was raining heavily, with no prospect
of clearing away before noon. | be-
lieved that Burton would not start out
in such weather, and he did not. After
breakfast he sat down to cigar and a
newspaper, and one could see that he
had not care how long the storm
lasted.
Holding in my fingers a five-dollar
note, which / knew to have come from
a plate Of Rogers engraving, I drew a
clair up to Burton. sat down and re-
marked:
"You ought to be good judge of
money. Tell me what you think of
that"
He took the bill, glanced from it to
me, turned it several times over, and
then replied that it was as good as
wheat. l hoped for just such an answer,
and | knew now that was on the right
track.
We'll, the bill might deceive even an
expert" replied, giving him a wink.
"for it's one Of the best counterfeits I
ever saw. II I had 100000 of it l
could get rid of every bill without de-
tection."
but would you turn criminal and
rob honest men in that wayp" inquired
the man, his voice betraying considera-
BILE anxiety.
"Why not?" returned. "The world
owes every man 4 living. Ifyou buy of
merchant he cheats you, and if you
stop for day at hotel the landlord
.,vercharges you. It's game of cheat
and plunder all the way up and all the
way down, and if any one is sharp
enough to cheat back admire instead
of condemn him."
That's rather dangerous philosc-
ply" replied Burton, laughing good
naturedly. "You don't mean To tell
me that you carry counterfeit money
with you?"
See here, my friend" said I, lowering
my voice to q whisper, Il mean just
this-make money the best way you
can"
Taking the bill in my hand, I walked
up to the landlord, asked him to give
me small bills in exchange, received
them, ard then walked back to Burton.
He looked 1T me tixedly a moment or
two, and then inquired if l meant what
I had done.
Certainly" replied. "He will
cheat me when | settle up, and why
shouldn I cheat him back? lam going
out on the street now to make some pur-
chases. and l shall not pay out dollar
of good money"
The man got up, walked about a mo-
ment, and then asked me up to his
rooms. Arriving there, he inquired
how much of that kind of money l had,
and I showed him my stock. He ex-
amined every note carefully, and then
asked how l came by them.
I told him that they were furnished
me by a Boston man, and that got rid
of two or three thousand dollars within
a month.
Now, see here, friend" remarked
Burton, looking me square in the face,
Il know yon are shower and am
witness that you passed bill on the
landlord. So / have some security in
telling you that I occasionally deal in
the queer little myself, and there are
certain reasons why you must not pass
any Of the stuff in this town."
could not get it out of him that it
was on account of the headquarters of
Rogers being near the town, but knew
that to be the reason. He then showed
me few bills like the five had, and
stated if I wanted to supply myself he
could give me very liberal terms. I, of
course, was very eager to bargain with
him, and it was agreed that on the next
night he should furnish me with $4,000.
at forty cents on the dollar.
worked every way I could to find
where he was to procure it, but it was
no use. He had not known me long
enough. He said it must be sufficient
for me that / got the counterfeits.
1t was my intention to dog his steps
to the headquarters. I had my gun all
ready for going out, and did not allow
Burton out of my sight forseveral hours.
At noon the weather cleared up, and he
borrowed the landlords gun. I took
mine and started for the hills. believing
he would have to pass me somewhere,
but he eluded me after all. Travelled
about, watching everything, had an eye
| IN the hill road hrt did not catch siobt