Montgomery County sentinel., 1890-10-17


had purchased ticket | stated the case
to the superintendent Of police, and had
him arrested and held until the neces-
sary papers could be had It was
Phillips sure enough, but how changed !!
He had sacrificed whiskers and mus
tache. He bad dyed his eyebrows and
had his hair shipped short. He had
changed his fine clothes for an ordinary
suit and his beaver for soft felt. I
might have sat and looked at him for
two hours and failed to recognize him,
but his voice had given him away.
In the fall of 1868 a paymaster be-
longing to the Western army suddenly
stepped out of sight with $l75, 900 in
new, crisp greenbacks. He was ut
Cairo when he received the money from
the Government, and he put il into
satchel and lost himself between six
o'clock in the evening and sunrise next
morning He had been gone three days
when | reached Cairo. He was des-
cribed to me as tall, slim. light-com-
plexioned man, with light side whiskers,
blue eyes and auburn hair. There was
nothing peculiar about him except a
habit he had of rubbing the back Of the
left hand with the palm of the right
when speaking. This was a very slight
clue to work on, but it was all | had.
searched for four days between Cairo
aud Chicago, but couldn't strike his
trail. My idea was that he would head
for the East and seek to get out of the
country, but he had other plans. Pretty
we'll satisfied that he didn't leave Cairo
by rail, | began hunting among the
steamboats,. found, after long search,
that man who might possibly have
been tho paymaster, took boat that
night up the river, but how far no one
could say. The information was SO
vague that it was like hunting for
needle in haystack, but | went up to
Quincy before making a stop. II he
showed up at St. Louis he was sure to
be nabbed, as the officers in all the
larger cities had been notified and we're
now on the watch | could hear moth
ing of my man in Quincy, and after
day or two | went on to Keokuk. II
was busy times on the river then, and
every body was on the jump. could
hear nothing of the paymaster, and was
about to return to Cairo to take up a
new line Of pursuit, when stranger ap-
preached INC with proposition. He was
a farmer, and perhaps some one had
pointed inc out as capitalist or specu-
lator. He had lot Of black walnut
timber which he wanted to get to mar
ket, but needed money as starter. He
offered. in case | would advance $500,
to give me certain share in the ven-
ture, and, as | thought we'll Of it, |
drove out to his place, a distance of
about twelve miles We reached there
at night, and next morning walked
through the timber. AT about 10 o'clock
We came upon the farm which backed
against his, and as we were both thirsty
We went to the we'll for a. drinks Whiia-
there the woman, with whom my
was well acquainted, came out, an,
all sat down on a side porch for chm
After two or three minutes man came
out, and she introduced him as her neph-
CIV from Ohio. lie was roughly dressed,
but any one with half an eye could see
that he was in disguise. He had shaved
clean, the sun had burned his face and
neck, and his hands were not over clean,
and he explained that he had served
year in the army, been discharged for
disability, and had come out West to
rough it for few weeks.
jumped TO the conclusion that he
was doscrtor, but bad no idea of troub-
ling him. II was the business of the
pro"ost marshal to pick up such fell
lows. We somehow got to talking about
some of tho battles on the lower Missis-
sippi, and as my farmer friend ar the
stranger did not exactly agree the dis
cussion waxcd hot. Then, to my great
amazcmcnt, tho stranger began to rub
the back Of his left hand with his right.
| now compared him with the descrip-
ton, and allowing for the changes he
had made saw that he must be my
man. Iquietly addressed him by name,
told him who | was and what | had
come for, and what do you suppose he
did 2 He just fell right off his chair in
regular faint, and we worked ovet him
quarter of an hour before he opened
his eyes He had been planning his
embezzlement for weeks He vas really
the woman's nephew, but she did not
know that he was paymaster. He had
the money in satchcl in his room and
had used only about $50 of it. His
plan was 10 lie in hiding for several
months and then skip to Europe.