The Washington herald., 1920-09-05

and sheets around themselves
and came out. squeaky and fdg-
ETY. looking. They always show
more curiosity and sand than the
men do.
We got them all lined UP and
Pretty quiet, and i went through
the bunch. / found very little on
them-1 mean in the way of valu-
ables. One man in the line was a
sight. He was one of those big,
overgrown. solemn snoozers that
sit on the platform at lectures
and look wise. Before crawling
out he had managed to put on his
long, frock-tailed coat and his
high silk hat The rest Of him
was nothing but pajamas and
bunions. When / dug into that
Prince Albert, / expected to drag
out at least a block of gold mine
stock or an armful Of government
bonds, but all / found was a little
boys French harp about four
inches long. What it was there
for. I don't know. / felt a little
mad because he had fooled me so.
/ stuck the harp up against his
mouth.
IF you can't pay-play." l says.
81 can't play" says he.
Then learn right of quick"
says !. letting him smell the end
of my gun-barreL
He caught hold of the harp.
turned red as a beet. and com
menced to blow. He blew a dinky
little tune I remembered hearing
when l was a kid
Prettiest little gal in the country
oh!
Nanny and Daddy told me so.
l made him keep on playing il
all the time We were in the car.
Now and then he'd get weak and
off the key, and I'd turn my gun
on him and ask what was the
matter with that little gal. and
whether he had any intention OF
going back on her, which would
make him start up again like
sixty. ! think that old boy stand
ing there in his silk hat and bare
feet, playing his little French
harp, was the funniest sight |
ever saw. one little red headed
woman in the line broke out
laughing at him. You could have
heard her in the next car.
Then Jim held them steady
while / searched the bcrths. ]
grapplcd around in those beds and
filled a piIlOw-caSe with the
strangest assortment Of stuff you
ever saw. Now and then I'd come
across little pop-gun pistol. just
about right for plugging teeth
with. which I'd throw out the
window. When ! finished with
the collection. dumped the pill
low-case load in the middle OF the
aisle. There were a good many
watches, bracelets. rings. and
pocketboOks. with a sprinkling OF
false teeth. whiskey TASKS, face
powder boxes, chocolate caramels
and heads of hair of various col
Ors and lengths. There were also
about a dozen ladies' stockings
into which jewelTy. watches and
rolls of bills had been stuffed and
then wadded up tight and stuck
under the mattresses. l offered
to return what called the
"scaIps," saying that We were not
Indians on the war-path, but none
OF the ladies seemed to know to
whom the hair belonged.
One OF the women-and a good
locker she was-wrapped in
striped blanket, saw me pick up
one Of the stockings that was
pretty chunky and heavy about
the toe. and she snapped out:
That's mine, sir. You're not
in the business of robbing women.
are you?"
Now, as this was our first hold
code of ethics. so ! hardly knew
what to answer. But, anyway. l
replied: We'll. not as a speciality.
If this contains your personal
property you can have it back"
1t just does" she declared
eagerly, and reached out her hand
for it.
"You'n excuse my taking a look
at the contents" l said. holding
the stocking up by the toe. Out
dumped a big gents gold watch.
worth two hundred. gents
leather pocketbOok that we after
ward found to contain six hun
dred dollars, a 32-caliber revol-'
Yer: and the only thing Of the lot
that could have been lady's per
sonaI property was a silver brace
let worth about nifty cents.
said: Madame. here's your
property" and handed her the
bracelet. Now" l went on. how
can you expect US to act square
with you when you try y deceive
US in this manner? I'm surprised
at such conduct"
The young woman flushed up as
If she had been caught doing
something dishonest. Some other
woman down the line called out.
The mean thing" I never knew
whether she meant the other lady
or me.
When we finished our job we
ordered everybody back to bed.
told EN- good night very politely
at the door, and left. We rode
forty miles before daylight and
then divided the stuff Each one
of US got $1,752.S5 in money. We
Jumped the jewelry around. Then
We scattered, each man for him
self.
That was my first train robbery
and it was about as easily done
as any of the ones that followed.
But that was the last and only
time l ever went through the pas
sCngcrS. | don't like that part of
the business. Afterward / stuck
strictly to the express car. During
the next eight years l handled
good deal of money.
The best haul l made was just
seven years after the first one.
We found out about a train that
was going to bring out a lot of
i >
government post. We stuck
that train up in broad daylight.
Five of us lay in the sand hills
near a little station. Ten soldiers
were guarding the money on the
train but +hey MIGHT inst a : we'll