St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1909-06-26
BY George Z. Pardy


but Knapp shook his head. 81
Il amt seen anyone drivin' pas
here" he responded mot likely tina
would either, for there's no place tt
drive to, seem that this is the enc
of the road"
Plainly Mr.. Knapp was armed at al
points against curious seekers for in
formation. The officers proceeded tC
make thorough search of the prem
ises but their explorations of barn
house and outbuildings proved fruit
less. Murray, however, felt intuitiveIy
that the willy Mr.. Knapp was not as
innocent as he would have them be
lieve Strolling past the barn and
surveying tho ground carefully the de,
tective took Iote of stretch of clear
ed land running down to the creek
and saw that the sod had recently
been turned in one or two places
Slight indications frequently lead to
big results and sudden suspicion
flashed across Murray's mind.
Knapp" he said pleasantly, 81
mean to Try my hand at fishing in that
creek. Lend me spade"
What do you want with a spade?''
asked Knapp, tightening his lips.
ITO dig bait with, of course" re-
piled Murray readily.
Knapp looked uneasy, but produced
a spade and handed it to the detec-
tives Murray walked toward the
creek and came to halt at one of
the spots where the sod had been
| turned.
! There's no sense in digging here"
demonstrated Knapp; you won't find
any worms. 1t was dug over the
other day. Come bit further down"
Not for me-" returned Murray.
"1he kind of worms I'm after are
right here, and it's easier work than
In the hard places"
Knapp said nothing in reply, but the
persp.ration broke out on his wrinkled
face. Murray drove the spade into
the glound, and smiled as he felt the
blade strike something hard. He
turned back the soil with a few vigor-
GUS strokes, and there came to view
one OF the wheels of the missing dem
ocrat wagon, buried beneath a foot of
earth. Murray looked at Knapp who
grlnned in sickly fashion The de-
tective called his companions and
placed Knapp under arrest He was
told that the best thing he could do
was to confess his thefts, and after
rejecting a few moments he nodded
and led the way to the house. His
wife met the party at the door.
Get me the shingle,' said her hus-
band.
The woman obeyed without a word
Of protest. She went indoors and re-
turned with broad single, covered
with red dots. which Knapp explained
were made by chicken blood. One
broad, red blotch signified where the
barr stood, and the smaller marks in
tlcated the spots where Knapp had
buried his plunder. The detectives
selected one of the marked places and
began to dig. The first thing to come
to light was large coffin. This
looked as though some tragedy lurked
behind, and they lifted the casket out
or the earth. 1t was very heavy and
hastily they removed the lid, expect
Ing to see the mutilated form of one
of the robbers victims. But instead i
OF the remains of a human being sew
eral dozens Of boxes containing shoes
were revealed. The weakened thief
standing beside them laughed harshly.
"Corpses amt the only things found
In cottins. he remarked sagely.
The officers pursued their search
digging up every place indicated on
the sh1ngle map, and great and varied
was the list of property that came to
light Among the things unearthed
were shroud, toilet set, a baby car
r1age, 40 silk dresses, gold watches.
seven ploughs, harrow, surgical in.
struments, a churn, a log chain, a
clock, set of grocer's
scales, hats, overcoats, pipes, bar
oer's pole, even policeman's shot
gun, which Knapp had stolen from the
owners house.
The men took turns at digging and
sVen the thief himself was pressed
INTO service, until fully ten wagon
Dads OF plumber lay in sight. It was
ruly fine exhibition of wholesale
hieying, and the marvel of it all was
hat Knapp swore to having done it
Jingle handed. Subsequent devotion
nents proved his statement to be cor
ect.
Knapp and his wife were taken to {
erie and placed in prison. A large ,
'acant store was hired and all of the ,
property placed on exhibit {
ion therein to be identified by the
ightful owners. There was no room
o spare, for Knapp had stolen enough :
tuff to equip a small department J
tore.
For several years, it appeared. the | t
veteran had been plying his S
ilfering trade. In burying his plum +
er he had boxed it up securely, pre- /
aratory to sending it away. His r
1ethods were sweetly simple. He I
Tould drive into town in a wagon. an q
arently for the purpose of selling s
arm produce or garden vegetables. t
nd in that way obtaining a thorough a
of different houses, always c
managing to sneak in later and carry a
q whatever he could lay his hands
a. Nobody knew anything about .
Inn. who he was or whence he came, b
year prior to his capture he had f
sttled In the secluded belt OF timber v
nd kept entirely to himself. n