The Winslow mail., 1901-02-14
CHAPTER XIII.
THE LOST TRAIL.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE LOST TRAIL.
So saying, Sturgis settled himself in
his chair and began his narrative.
"After leaving you this morning, my
first step was to gain admission to the
Tombs-''
ITO the Tombs?" interrupted Dun
lap.
Eyes; the cabman has been remanded
TO the Tombs to await trial for compile
ity in the murder of the unknown man
whose body was found in his cab.'
"Arbogast's?"
eyes, Arbogast's. But of course the
police do not know that"
"Were you allowed to see the cab
man?"
eyes. AS reporter of the Tempest,
I was able to obtain an interview with
him. When first arrested, the man,
whose name, by the way, is Reilly, was
incapable of making a connected state
ment: the lawyer assigned to defend
him laughed in his face when he heard
his story, and advised him to leave
the romancing to trained lawyer as
his only chance of escaping the electric
chair. Naturally, under the circum-
stances, the poor fellow hesitated to
unbosom himself to a stranger. But
l finally managed to gain his confidence
by showing him that | believed his
story, and that [ was trying to find
the men whose scapegoat he now is. 1t
no of Oh
about three o'clock, he was stationed
at the cab-stand in front of Madison
square, where he was accosted by a
man, answering Chatham's description,
who engaged him to drive him to the
Fulton street ferry. On reaching the
ferry, the man ordered Reilly to pro-
ceed to low grogshop on South street.
Here he entered, returning in a few
minutes to invite the cabman to take
a drink with him. The men seated
themselves at a table upon which
bottle and two filled glasses were al
ready placed. Chatham handed one of
these glasses to Reilly, who drank it
and probably many more. At any
events, he remembers nothing further
until he was rudely shaken by Chat
ham, who led him out into the street.
Here the cold air revived him, and he
remembers noticing several things to
which he did not pay much attention
at the time, bat which seem significant
now as he recalls them:
"Firstly-It was now quite dark.
"Secondly-The cab, which had been
facing south when he entered the bar
room, was now facing north.
"Thirdly-Chatham persistently car
ried his left hand in the bosom of his
coat; he was very pale and seemed weak
and i'll.
''He with difficulty climbed upon the
box beside Reilly and ordered him to
drive uptown. Presently the cabman
became drowsy again. The next thing
he remembers is coming to himself
after the overturning of the cab by
the cable car. That the man was
drugged there can be no doubt. 1t is
probable that while he sat apparently
drunk in the barroom, Chatham took
the cab to the Knickerbocker bank, eX-
pecting to smuggle Arbogast into it
without Reilly's knowledge = a deep
move, since it woulG. effectually cover
up the trail, if they wanted to make
away with the bookkeeper, as they
evidently did. Seymour may have met
him at the bank by appointment; but
l am more inclined TO believe that he
was there unknown to Chatham, and
possibly for the purpose of spying
upon the latter, to see if his instruc-
tions were carried out. He lent his ac-
complice a hand in the nick of time;
and then, like prudent general, he re-
tired to a safe position, thence to di-
rect further operations. What | can
not yet understand is, why Chatham
should have taken the enormous risk
he did in conveying Arbogast's body
from the bank, since Seymour's inten-
tion was plainly 10 make away with
the boOklleeper in any event. | can
explain this only on the supposition
that Seymour thought he could con-
ceal the body in some way and prevent
it from falling into the hands of the
police. On the part of any ordinary
criminal this would have been rank
folly; but the resources of such a man
as Seymour are such that 1 do not feel
disposed to criticise his generalship in
this particular without first under
standing his ultimate object. From
what | have seen of his work thus far
l have derived profound admiration
for the mans genius and cunning dew
iltry. Fortunately fate was against
him this time. It's instrument was the
cable car which overturned the cab,
thus delivering Arbogast's body into
the hands of the police and furnishing
the key without which, it is quite like
ly, Seymour might have remained for
ever undiscovered