La Junta tribune. (La Junta, Bent County, Colo.) 1881-1939, 1906-09-08
Escapi,,g BY a Hair

By MAURICE SMILEY.

SvvJYVvvWVSvWVsvsWVv
II vas no esideace Of any special
shrevdness On my part thai ! knes
vhat Wilson Vas watching ths tram
for
II papers vere full Of the cetAiis
Of yuAsoa's last exploit The trtek ns
had turned on this particular occasion
vas the lining Of . tray OF DIAMONDS
fron the Importing nrn OF Cousief
Yreres-
The police. spurred on by an unuse
ally liberal o9er OF reward on nenAii
VI the Brothers Couvier. had followed
Juasoa pretty sharply and knew tnAt
Wilson must have got sons TIP To the
effect that Judson Vas going TO take
. train for . cooler habitat-nost
probably the SEQ for the west
Nov. Wilson and I we're rivals In
. sort OF professional vay. and oe
termined that II ! could prevent II ne
should not finger any portion OF the
10000 francs which had been hung up
By the diamoad drm- therefore kept
nodestly in the background-no need
70 - to conspicuous In these matters
but at the same time kept q sharp
eye on Wilson and his movements
We knew each other by sight. and
thought IL only common prudence 10
conceal from him any fact wnicn
! would lead him to suspect that l vas
coanected or interested in any way
With his mission. We had had pro
fessionai rub or tvo on former occa-
sions. and I knew with what l had to
deal
II Just happened that I saw him get
Q telegram At the station Office ana
that gave me two ideas which l pro
ceeded to put into effect. One vas TO
intercept the messenger boy attached
to the once, and for . Quid pro quo
induce him to hand to Wilson this mes
sage. scribbied on . telegraph blank;
-Mr. Wilson: I forgot In my hurry
to copy the message just delivered TO
you Kindly return II TO me for
moment and I viii hand II to you at
any time.-Mary Emerson. Operator"
Five minutes later the boy handed
ne the message Wilson had received.
II read:
Anderson says Judson will take the
$40 train for Chicago. VIII wear .
long white beard.-Foiey."
Foley vas the chief His dispatch
threw new light on the Judson tip. So
Anderson had turned against Judson.
for whom I felt more than half sorry.
~ knew him rather Well. II hap
pened that I was going to take the
>: 30 train myself. and determined to
keep . sharp outlook for anybody with
. long white beard. I was smooth
shaven myself.
But the second idea II was ridic-
ulously easy TO write . messase my
self. and my convenient messenger
friend for another Quid pro quo
handed It to Wilson. My message ran
lika this:
Made a mistake. Judson will leave
on the s:15 for Montreal-Foley."
II was already sos and Wilson had
barely time to catch the 9:15 train.
for he swallowed the spoon. hook and
bait.
With Wilson safely side-tracked.
boarded my train with my eyes peeled.
But I didn't zee anybody with . long
white beard. and I settled down for q
good nights rest after had made .
thorough inspection Of the entire train
As I sauntered through II from the
smoker to the rear Pullman. The
chances were that Wilson would not
Be able to lay his hands on Judson
this time.
Message for Henry Wilson. Is Mr..
Wilson in this car!
"Ah. yes. I guess that's for me-"
remarked. casually. reaching out my
hand for II As the conductor stopped
At my berth.
The message was worth many times
the half dollar II cost me. OF course
II was from Foley. II read:
Anderson makes complete confes-
sion. Says story Of Judson being dis
guised was . blind. He will. % far
as Anderson knows, be smooth shaw
en-. ~ be does not suspect he will b
| followed, but thinks he has side-
tracked us. williams II At Buffalo.
and viii msst IL train ak Lss'e LanA-
| ing 70 - q any assistanes - can In
the natter.-Foley."
The plot was thickening! Willia0s
Was 70 msst tie tfaln at Lees Lao
| ing. wherevog that Was. The chisf
| fact q interest 70 ~ was that n
| though had successf1lly shnnted WI
soa OF tie trail of Judsoa % that -
voulA not inteffsre With ny plans foe
keepins hin iron lingering IL ~.
ward. Wiu1aDs sud6ea1y loomoa ~,
aaA Willia0D vas even . noso aan-
| Qsrous rival thaa Wilsoa.
~HoW fne aFo - fru0 Lees LanA-
iAg. portsfr' iaeuire1