The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-10-28
BELOW THE DEAD LINE


contents Of brown paper parcel upon
the Office table OF MIR Felix Boyd.
no. it's not a birthday present for
you. Felix" he genially rejoined. in re-
sponse 20 a quizzical inquiry from his
nearer. These don't look much like il,
eh2"
Not very much. Jimmie. for fact"
smiled Boyd. drawing up his chair and
curiCusiy surveying the odd lot of rub
.bIsh exposed to his view.
X consisted chiefly of old cigarette
boxes, scraps Of pasteboard from bro
ken candy packages. crumpled portions
OF paper bags, parts of newspaper
wrappers and soiled envelopes, few
leaves from a small calendar, several
strips cut from the border edges of
newspapers and magaZines-the entire
lot looking much like a collection from
some old refuse barrel.
The central office man, with the par
Gel Under his arm, had entered the Pine
street Office of Mr. Felix Boyd only
few minutes before, and just as Boyd
was lighting his pipe after returning
from his midday lunch.
II was a day in September, by the
way. and precisely four months sub
sequent to that on which had occurred
the startling burglary OF the great
Southern Trust IL Insurance company,
q crime made memorable by the vast
sum secured by the burglars. amount
jng to nearly half a million dollars in
bonds and negotiable securities. Despite
the fact that one of the thieves, the no
1oriGus Bud Rafferty,, had since been
caught and convicted, not trace of the
stolen property could be obtained nor
any clue leading to the identification
and arrest of Rafferty's confederates.
Yet negotiations with the convict
with a view TO recovering some of the
NFl II.
Tried by the authorities since his incar-
ceration at Sing Sing. and many invit-
ing offers had been made him. all Of
which had been ScOrnfully rejected by
rafferty,. whose grim loyalty TO his
vonfederates was said to be entirely in
accord with his resentful and desperate
character.
At the time of the great burglary,
which had occurred the previous May
many comm ahtS were made rejecting
Jpon the judgments of the trust COM
pany directors Cor not having awaited
themselves of the services of Mr.. Felix
Boyd whose secret work and constant
Vigilance below the dead-line had
TtveITed numerous similar crimes. These
comments came chiefly from Boyds
Own!sclients. however. who alone were
IN al position to appreciate his extra
grldAary talents and peculiarly effec-
tive methods.
The victimized company not being
among his clients. Boyd had felt only
a cursOry interest in the crime This
Indifference was accentuated. moreover
by the fact that certain details of the
burglary. incidentally brought to his
notice by Jimmie Coleman convinced
hiRr-that the job was not the work of
the organized gang of crooks which
long had been operating below the
dead-line. directed by that obscure
.a-fsa mir, fr,nl
by the name of the Big Finger.
This powerful gang had given Boyd
no end Of serious trouble an1 its ex-
termination finally had become so i'm
perative to the safety of the great fin
ancial interest served by him that Boyd
was now resolved to hazard almost any
desperate move that presented even a
Visionary promise of success. That any
advantage i'm this direction was to be
derived from the curious contents of
Jimmie Coleman's brown paper parcel.
However. did not then eHters the mind
Of Felix Boyd.
Where did you get this lot of trash.
iimWieE' he inquired: -
Up the river" replied Coleman sem
tertiously. as he drew up a chair TO
the table.
Sing Sing?"
Exactly"
What about it. Jimmie?"
lBave a look" said Coleman. tender
ing qpe Of The scraps 81 Pasteboard. the
side of broken cigarette box DO
You find anything worthy of note3"
An. 1 seer Boyd exclaimed. 1T is
fuTjonsly marked with fine pencil lines.
so Inscribed as TO attract no serious at
tentioH- This might be brief COM
munication, Jimmie in cipher, or a Sc
cret code
That's precisely what it is. Felix.
and you'll find all Of this rubbish sim
iIaFly marked"
How came IT in your possession ?''
asked Boyd, with Indifferent interest.
Did YOU bring il down from the peni-
tentiary?"
Exactly" nodded Coleman. II went
gpcthere To deliver prisoner this
morning and when coming ayav OH
served Burrage, one of the deputy war
'tefls. racking bis thinking-nnachine
over one Of these scraps of paper.
few inquiries ELECTED some rather
startling disclosures, and brought this
lot 81 track from a drawer In his desk
What were his disclosures. Jimrnie?a
For some weeks. Felix. one of the
conflicts up there has been frequently
receiving Parcels of papers. cigarettes.
candy and the like. ostensibly from a
woman he is engaged 10 marry after
his release Under the rules of the in
2titutioE. all such packages are care
fully examined before delivery to the
prisoners"
All. I see" remarked Boyd. Bur
rage finally observed that all of the
articles sent to the convict mentioned
bore these fine pencil lines"
''fIe first discovered them on the out
or edge of n cigarette box" replied
Coleman. AS you'll observe. they are
not OF a character to attract much at
tention. and Burrage at first thought
they had been idly or a:mlessly made
Quiet investigation. however, revealed
that each article subsequently ad-
dressed TO this particular convict bore
III some obscure corner, few of these
same peculiar marks"
THAT settles it. Jimmie. He is in
secret communication with the woman
mentioned"
so Burrage then decided continued
Coleman. HE did not, however. reveal
his suspicious to the convict. On the
contrary. he continued TO deliver the
Parcels. and afterward contrived at
lines 10 secretly remove from the con-
VETS cell some portions OF the-well