Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-04-13

: hours in some shrubbery near the fac
, tory, but, being cold and cramped, wa
about to abandon his position, when h
heard voices near him, and of cours
remained quiet and listened intentlv.
One of the speakers was Glicler
the other a man called Decker. VIII,
was always ostensibly employed il
making cheese.
II want you to keep sharp lookou
at the WE'LL" said Glicker; "the boy
will be in tonight with two or tire,
buckets of swag, and it is likely the,
will keep below few days. See to i
that there is plenty Of grub in the cave
and let no one down unless he gives thu
grip"
"All right" said Decker, II an al
ways particular with all the gang ex
cept you"
Cali [ have to do is to show my
crippled hand. / am marked for life
curse the luck. 1 got this in memory
of the last crib cracked. That was
the closest call ] ever had"
The man moved away and James
Riley went home elated.
He was now certain that he was on
the right track.
That the cheese-factory was a rem
devious for b.nd of thieves there .was
no doubt, and he at once set his wits to
work to unearth their secrets.
A few expressions that he had over
heard struck him particularly. "The
we'll" buckets" keep below the
cave" etc., all indicated that there
was subterranean hiding place be-
meath the factory.
Riley remembered seeing we'll
in one corner of the building,
and he naturally concluded that
this was the one alluded to, and
that it was used as an entrance to the
den of the robbers
He was we'll aware that the region
abounded in caves, some of which were
OF vast dimensions, penetrating in
every direction.
Having formed this theory, James
Riley Systematically set about proving
it's truth
He studied the appearance and hab-
its Of all the suspicious characters about
the place, Dave Glicker in particular.
He invented excuses to frequent the
factory, and on one occasion took hold
of the handle of the windlass of the
well, remarking to the man Decker,
who was, as usual, working near, that
che guessed he would get drink of
fresh water"
To his surprise the man offered no
objection, except the remark that he
would have good pull, and so he did.
The bucket sank to a wonderful depth
but came up filled with clear, cold
water, from which he concluded that
there was spring beneath the cave.
Finding that the thieves had so
guarded themselves that detection was
almost impossible, Riley's determina-
ton to carry out his purpose only
strengthened, and as last resort he
decided upon a plan of action that was
desperate in its cool bravery.
Being about the same height, COM
plexion, and figure as Dave Glicker, he
decided to personate the scoundrel for
the purpose Of proving his guilt.
Dave Glickers crippled hand was a
serious obstacle in the way OF COM
plete personation.
Riley's logged perseverance was un-
daunted. Rather than give up his
project he resolved to sacrifice his
own right hand.
For this purpose he came to the city
and enlisted my services as described.
After his recovery FROM the opera
ton be secretly returned to the neigh
borhood of the cheese-factory, where he
watched and waited until q time when
he was certain that all the outlaws ex-
cept Glicker and Decker were off on a
raiding expedition. f.
He then contrived to send message
to Glicker, purportipg to come from
one Of the gang, which called him away
from the factory for several hours.
1t was so managed that Decker did
not know of Glicker's absence.
Riley chose the time between day.
light and dark to put into execution
the design for which he had risked so
much.
BY carefully initiating Glicker's car
riage, gestures, and voice and displaying
his right hand, which was crippled ex-
actly the same as Glicker's, he sue
ceeded in deceiving Decker and effecting
an entrance to the cave, which he found
was about halfway down the we'll.
Riley carried matches and candle
wi: h him SO that he was able to explore
the place where the dcsperadoes had
stored their plumber.
He had no difficulty in furnishing
proofs connecting Dave Glicker with
the Edwards tragedy.
What was still better, he was able to
secure most of the stolen money and