Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-05-30
crocker- woolworth National bank the

!hd Win y"u-you hau hnoWn then
long? They We're a party from Italy?'
The coun never turned color as h.
replied.
All. no. signor. they were aides o,
the opera. They Were unfortunate ii
San Francisco; i was taking then
east"
oh" said Cheney. with a knowipe
look at Weeks. who smiled in return
You were playing angel them"
II know not what you call angel.
was paying expenses and we were hav.
ing a jolly time"
Yes. reckon you We're" though,
Cheney. Then aloud. Now, Count
know you had this money and Jew.
elso"
Money. no. Jewels. yes. show
the jewels to one or two. but they not
take them. because the jewels were In
the chamois bag I'm my satchel when
we went TO the observation car. Not
one OF the party went back before /
did"
Your party had nearly all the
car; were there any other passengers
COUNT"
only two: an elderly gentleman and
his wife"
"That was Colonel Dawes and his
Wife. Cheney" interrupted Mr.. Weeks.
Hes il wealthy California rancher and
miner. I've looked them up"
You say everyone was searched at
Ogden. COUNT"
Yes, everyone and every piece of
gag The train was delayed two
hours. N not a trace could be found"
Where can you be found, count. in
case | want you?' asked Cheney.
Found. signor? Found. Dios. / have
neen delayed too long already. | must
ieave at once for Italy. l will be in
New York two days and then i sail"
HnG hHYf .~
mend the thief and secure your money
ana jewels. we should want you here
to prosecute them"
prosecute. bah. signor, l care not
to prosecute anyone. Find me my
levels and keep the money. Send
piled, giving his card. A few words
more n the peppery little count was
gone. Weeks went out with him but
almost Immediately returned.
Ihat count of yours must be as rich
as Croesus. Weeks. from the way he
hlngs money around"
He IS. Cheney. He-was-ju-t-Aa~-
ing a good time and l suspect some
one of his party took this money"
whoever did it was mighty clever
about it. And this party of his has
scattered to The four corners OF the
doubtless assumed mes. BY the way,
Weeks. who was the Pullman conduc-
tor i'm charge of the train. and who
was the porter on the carr"
Campbell was .he conductor: TWEEN
ty-fve years in the service. Simpson
was the porter: been with us five years.
I've had both of them questioned; they
appear all right"
Perhaps. When they come in again
l want to see them"
Campbell will be in tonight and
Simpson has been transferred to the
Denver office. l can have him put back
on a run coming in here, however. if
you a him
do so, please. Weeks. and let me
know when he is TO arrive. Don't let
him know l want him; just keep him
around for awhile
"A right, colonel. III use him in my
Office at an increased salary"
The next morning Conductor Camp
bell came in n told a straightfor-
ward story. Cheney turned the list of
Count Rossi's friends over to Guthrie
n Lonergan n had them run down
every clue possible. There was Moth
ing doing in any direction and Cheney
was beginning to believe it was going
to be a failure. and he hated failure
like his satanic majesty hates holy
water. OF course failures had to come
sometimes. but in his first active case
after h war he did not want defeat.
Must be getting in my dotage." he
IIiutNSISu w iIIiSc dS ic Sdl III HIS
office one afternoon reviewing the case.
SO far as WAS known not one of the
fifteen 81 900 bills had appeared in any
of the banks. and a search through
pawnbrokers of the big cities did not
bring to light any OF the diamonds.
He had Paris and Amsterdam notified
| by cable although he knew if the dia-
monds and other precious stones had
ever landed there, the chance of secur-
ing their return was not one in a mil
lion.
Simpson. the porter. had beer in to
Chicago, and. through the carlessness
of MIR. Weeks, had gone out again
without Cheney's seeing him. He had
gone out on the overland to Frisco
and on the way east again had been
doubled back to Frisco from Ogden
because n of the porters on the west
bound train was notified that his
mother was dying in Chicago. The
superintendent at Ogden had done all
this not knowing how much Simpson
was wanted at headquarters. To make
matters worse Simpson got left at Og-
den by going up town on an errand for
a passenger. The superintendent had
given him fits and recommended a
ten-day lay-off when he returned to
Chicago. sui he had sent him west
from Ogden that night because they
were s~horthanded from Frisco. All
ms SiiS.ey ieaftieo ny wire. his talk
to Mr.. Weeks was rather more forceful
than elegant. and the parlOr car official
was mad clear through.
A day later Weeks phoned Cheney
that Simpson would be in tina night.
JEFF" said the colonel, you be at
the Northwestern depot when the
Frisco train comes in tonight. James
Simpson is porter on car No. 8. / want
to know what he does tonight. You un-
derstand."
"Ah sho' does. k%unnel,' replied jeff.
Using jeff was not a new thing.
Cheney had used him many times be-
fore when negroes were to be Swallowed.
n Jef's work vas of a high order.
| Weeks was posted and said he would