Walker of the Secret ServicePost, Melville Davisson
General
Walker of the Secret Service
Post, Melville Davisson
Secret service -- Fiction
He made him pull down the track for perhaps half a mile, then he
stopped and put him off. He ran the engine, himself, for perhaps a
mile farther, then stopped again. White and I got out of the train
and Mooney gave the engine just enough steam at the throttle so that
it would move off slowly and stop a mile or so farther on, then he
swung down on the ground and joined us. He did not open the throttle
of the engine for he knew that on the twisting road through the
mountain the train might go off the track on the sharp curves.
It was his policy never to do unnecessary damage. He did not wish to
wreck the train or cause the possible wreck of any other train
traveling in the night.
We turpentined our shoes, and started in a due line north by west
toward a town on the Ohio River. We traveled all night. When
daylight appeared we stopped and hid ourselves in the mountains.
Here, Mooney and White opened the mail sack and examined the
packages of money.
They had one hundred and two thousand dollars in bank notes.
But it was not in the form of such bank notes as one is accustomed
to see. The notes were in sheets and unsigned, in the form that the
United States Treasury is accustomed to send currency to the
national banks.
This discovery did not seem to impress Mooney but it put White in
despair.
For a long time Mooney said nothing; finally he took White to one
side and talked with him; presently they came back to me. He showed
me the sheets of notes and pointed out that they could not be used.
They lacked the signatures of the bank officers and an attempt to
pass them would lead immediately to one’s arrest.
They determined now to hide the money and go on.
It was necessary to put it in some place where it would not be open
to the rain. For this purpose they looked about for a hollow tree.
Finally they found a chestnut on the wooded ridge of the hill. They
put the mail sack into the hollow of this tree—crowding it up
tightly so that it would not fall down—then they skillfully filled
the hollow of the tree with leaves and a few broken branches,
removing with care every trace of their work.
We went on.
We slept during the day, in the leaves, hidden by a tree top or
covered by a log and traveled at night. It was a long tiresome
journey. We carried provisions for three days. We had a compass,
flash lights, and a map; but it was heavy traveling in the night,
over the ridges of hills, across ravines, and through the dense
undergrowth of the valleys.
Finally, we came out before the town on the Ohio. Here Mooney handed
me five hundred dollars and told me to return to the circus; giving
me the name of the town for which I should purchase a ticket at the
station.
I never saw either of the two men again.
But I learned afterward what happened to them.
It was by no means the intention of these two men to abandon this
fortune in bank notes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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