Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1917-09-07
, friend, SIT down and gee

Now then, my friend, SIT down and gee
your breath" r~
At a glance knew the prisoner. 10
was Edward Briggs He was frowsy.
unkempt, savage looking, somewhat
the worse for drink, and Of lowering
brow and set pugnacious lips.
Whats all this?" he growled out.
you have been arrested for deadly
assault upon one certain Vandamann,"
observed Marvel
1T would have been more certain if
I'd had the show" retoTted the fell
low.
Did you hurt him much?"
Worse luck, 10. The next timel''
the man glared across his knotted
fist.
"On top Of your last exploit" re-
marked Marvel, 1T may be six months
or year this time. Unless you have
left a case of mayhem behind you
down at Vandamann's can promise
you chance to get out of this mix-up
on conditions"
What conditioner" muttered the
fellow, an evil eye fixed on both Of
us-suspicious and leery.
LAS the Fourteenth Man"
Whats thatl" calculated Briggs
with start, and then he shrank back
within himself, the barrier up, like a
man in trap.
LAS the Fourteenth Man, you of
course knew Royal Ludington."
Suppose l did?"
What did you take to his house
the day of his funeral?"
Briggs bored into the questioner's
face with his shrewd ferret eyes. He
shook his head This is some kind
Of frame-up," he declared. 81 don't
say word till l know what's doingS
After some persuasion the man told.
1t amounted to this: Scoundrel-hearted
Abel Vandamann had seen an oppor-
tunity in the sudden death of one of
his victims to press fictitious claims.
He had utilized the Fourteenth Man
in his plot. This had been to have
Briggs visit the Ludington home
surreptitiously, place the photograph
in a pocket of Ludington's coat, and
in his desk a card bearing notations
of various amounts. These, corresi
ponded in amounts to alleged notes OF
the decedent, we're later presented to
his widow for payment.
The willy schemer had convinced
Mrs. Ludington that he held notes
they we're forgeries-to large
amount, given him by her husband.
He had further persuaded her to be-
lieve that the borrowed money they
represented had been squandered in
gambling and in financing the extrava-
CANT whims of the woman, Idalia.
The notations, the photograph, all
seemed to verify the foul misrepre-
sensations that brought sorrow and
dread to the wife and daughter of the
dead trader. Mrs. Ludington was
proud woman. The fear of disgrace,
publicity, had made her the easy vic
tim of the arch swindler, Abel Wanda
mann.
The demands of the broker were so
extensive that his black-mailed victim
found that after she had sacrificed her
personal belongings to satisfy the
notes, there would be no hope Of
liquidating the Indebtedness at the
bank.
Resilius Marvel held a brief but
productive interview with Abel Wanda
mann the next day. Then he carried
to the bank twelve forged notes for
$50, 900, and a like amount in cash al
ready extorted from Mrs. Ludington
on similar forgeries. The bank there
fore, lost nothing, and the Ludingtons
were restored to fortune and lifted
from the shadow of a great grief
There is such a thing as earthly
observed Resilius Marvel
to me one day.
A column in a daily newspaper was
the basis of the remark It told of
the murder in cold blood of Abel
A stiletto had dealt him
his death wound, so it might have
been a woman. But his strong box
was rified, so it might have been a
man. The police never found out, for
the woman, Idalia, and the Fourteenth
Man had disappeared as completely as
though the earth had opened and swal-
lowed them up.