Show J i iJ M J tl Q 1 a True Tales of the thes Edited by WM J BACON j s Secret etT Service by byan y On Government Orders sh k m an Ex Operative P The Affair of the Iron Pot i There 1 ere are few mysteries which are never never cleared up commenced Captain 1 Dl as w we sat before the cheerful wood wo d fire of ot his cozy COz study one night la last C r winter although some of them i slumber lumber sl for tor years rears among the things thin gs forgotten until the denouement Is acci accidentally I dentally developed by b some person 7 1 who perhaps never heard of or the ong original original inal In I matter Such was the case which t I 1 lave Have Ji ve come to remember as that of ot otTlie The Iron Pot It was a vessel of ot this j humble character that finally cleared f up a great mystery and brought the guilty to Justice You HYou are well weIl aware that the silver dollar passes current for tor something like 49 or SO 60 cents more than the actual silver sliver in It is III worth This fact has not been be n overlooked by counterfeiters and because of or It the secret ecret service has had fr i some some knotty problems to unravel t Tho The largest percentage of ot counter felts of specie are crude black leaden 4 f things that are readily detectible and andi i difficult to pass The handling candling of these I coins Is beset with excessive danger But there ther have been some cases where j counterfeiters have so perfectly imi imitated imitated 1 the silver dollar that experts have h ve been deceived by y It ft Such a coin was I brought lout by b a gang operating In St StLouis StLouis StLouis Louis some years ago Their dollar was fIlS co of the same fineness and weight as the a coin of ot the governments mint and had the same quantity of or alloy t The Tap Tb only difference between the two wa was that the spurious coin was a shade thicker than the genuine which fact was waa due to the machinery of the coun counterfeiters counterfeiters being somewhat lighter and ands i s less Jess powerful than that of the federal 1 mints to 1 The popular Idea that coins are cast castor t j or molded is quite erroneous They are stamped or pressed out of or narrow strips of metal It Is Js only by this means that i 1 they th can be sufficiently compressed to tostared tott U tt f i stared sU ld the wear to which they are sub subjected subI I 1 jested je In circulation The machines J i used for tor this purpose are heavy pon ponderous ponderous ponderous derous things and It Is difficult for I counterfeiters co to secure the manufacture manufacture f j ture of ot such a machine and quite as ashard ashard hard a proposition for tor them to find a aj j j suitably secret place In which to oper operate iff I I ate it ft once they have got it made madee e The St Louis gang g had their plant I In Jn a 8 cleverly constructed cave In to a at 11 if t suburban district It was an artificial f cave cave dug back in the face tace of or a clay cla clai i and gravel bluff blut The entrance wasI was through the shanty of or a poor Irish r family a circumstance that diverted 1 I suspicion sus pic Ion from it and one to which is i f partly duo the long Immunity the gang t enjoyed r It is not necessary to detail the long i t i Ind tedious work it took to t locate I f I the cave for tor that is a story all by It Itself itself 1 self and does not need to be told to 1 lead up to the matter of the Iron pot r At any rate when we ve descended upon the shanty and explored d the cave we found nothing more than a ponderous machine a few tools ordinarily em employed employed m with machinery of any charac character i 6 I ter and a gasoline engine which sup supplied supplied supplied plied the motive power We were certain t tan tain ta 1 that the machine had bad been used t to stamp out the bad money but there thereas i was as nothing besides It that looked the thel least l t bit suspicions It might have J i R been used for tor a legitimate business l J quite as well nell as for tor a contraband one oneas oneas as ns far as anything we ne found would In Indicate indicate The only fact that tended to point to Its real use was wa that It was hidden away aWa In such a suspicious place There was as no SCRIP scrap of metal no coins chemicals or other thing used In Inthe inthe inthe the art Only the machine and a few wrenches and similar tools The gang had skipped out The Th Irishman w RIS is s and his wife was too clever to be caught In the traps we laid for tor her We e had made a except for the machine which was destroyed The cave was filled up Acting under orders from Washington we main maintained maintained maintained secrecy about the entire matter matterand matterand matterand and nothing of it got into the news newspapers newspapers newspapers papers I found one thing in the shanty which might or might not offer a clew to the counterfeiters rs It was an empty envelope V bearing the postmark of ot an obscure railroad station In the sunk land district pf of northeastern Arkansas I had long lone ago learned that it is the seemingly Insignificant things that lead to the discovery of criminals and while this envelope might mean nothing on the other hand it might be of the gravest importance It had been found beneath the sheet of metal on which the cook stove stood the tip of one corner discolored and grimy attracting I Imy imy my attention I had secured It and pocketed It without attracting atten attention attention tion If the gang had never existed It could not have disappeared more We were face to face with wl a blank wall This made us the th more anxious to capture the counterfeiters As nothing better offered the chief suggested that I follow up the clew of the empty envelope With as cumbersome and complete an outfit as every city sportsman carries car carries carries ries into the woods with him I left the train one day da at the wayside station which bore the name of the postmark Securing a guide and cook in the per person person person son of ot a lanky native I had my m truck hauled out to the St Francis river only onI two miles mUes distant where I pitched camp romp and made preparations for an indefinite stay It was las ryas the greatest game country I have ever eer seen There were deer with without without without out limit and a good sprinkling of tur turkeys turkeys turkeys keys some bears and water fowl of every kind until the killing kUling of ot them lost much of or Its charm and became more like ruthless slaughter I had a plentiful supply of at liquors and cigars a fact my guide lost no time in spreading broadcast about the coun country country try This was Just what I wanted him to do for tor It bi ought the natives flock fiock flocking flocking ing ling to ta my camp to partake of the li liquors liquors liquors and cigars which I distributed with a lavish hand It gave me the opportunity for tor which whist I was playing By making Inquiry of ot my visitors I learned that about five miles down the river were camped in a snug cabin built bunt by themselves three gentlemen from parts unknown They maintained the place as a sort of ot club and had spent the spring season there They left leU about March and were gone until October when they returned one night and again took possession of their cab cabIn cabin cabin In Our raid on the cave had been made on the of October and this caused me to think that perhaps the empty envelope was making good As the three gentlemen did dih not deign to visit my camp I 1 decided to tomake tomake tomake make a call upon themI them themI th m mI I started out o t in a n folding canvas canoe late In ht the afternoon and arrived ar arrived arrived rived In the vicinity of their camp Just Justat justat at nightfall With a sharp cypress cy ress tree aided by a Jagged cut from my hunting knife I succeeded in punching a bad hole In the bottom of or the canoe and with the boat rapidly filling with water I landed Just after sunset at the very ery door of their cabin robin The three men were at home and they welcomed me with the open hospitality of camp campers campers ers insisting that I spend the night with them This was Just what I had been playing for forIt forIt forIt It was easy to see that the men were crooks There Is always some something something something thing to disclose the counterfeiter if it I the observer Is 15 only sufficiently versed i in their ways and mannerisms to rec recognize recognize recognize the telltale signs I was pretty sure before the evening was over 1 that these were the men who had done the Job In St S1 Louis Nothing about the cabin was the least bit suspicious A large Iron pot bubbled invitingly over the open fire tho the fragrant odor of boiling meat Is Issuing Issuing issuing suing from under Its lid when the steam pushed It up on one side A steaming haunch of venison cooking with some vegetables and dumplings was produced from the pot for our supper which was served soon after my m arrival In the center of the room was a big table crudely rudely constructed of heavy oak timbers The cabin was well lighted the lamps being of expensive character and great brilliancy brUl Ian C Guns and fishing tackle and hunting tog gery of ever every kind gave the cabin the atmosphere of a sportsmans club The men talked freely of ot everything ee but themselves They spoke of ot many cities but never of their homes They told me they were college chums who had ha always made it a custom to spend a few months together each fall In the woods They The were wee clever men men and readily passed for the lawyer lawer the doc doctor doctor doctor tor and amI the merchant the characters they respectively pretended to be The Theone Theone Theone one to whom the other two deferred In everything was a large powerful man with face and a jaw like a bulldog His face tace was too shrewd to tobe tobe tobe be pleasant He watched me furtively a sinister amused smile playing about the corners of or his mobile mouth That smile spoke volumes It made me ae le Ie awake all night It seemed to say sa that he knew my real character and there therefore therefore therefore fore I thought it best to keep on the watch The man seemed capable of offering me personal violence But the night passed away awa without inci incident Incident dent After breakfast I repaired the leak In my canoe and paddled slowly up stream trying to figure out where I had seen the big man with the square jaw before While I was smoking a last cigar before retiring that evening it came cameto cameto cameto to me where I had hall seen him It was wason on a street car in St Louis on one oc occasion occasion occasion casion when I was shadowing the UIA shanty shant at the cave cae He had been on the same car and had kept his seat when I alighted near the hut hu He had looked at me then as If Jf he wanted to know me the next neat time he saw me I Iwas Iwas Iwas was assured that he was one of the counterfeiters and made up my m mind to arrest the three of them the first thing next morning Here I learned a lesson in procrastination procrastination procrastination While I hastily gobbled down my breakfast the next day da a trapper who rho camped near by and who had gone to the village the th night before for tor sup supplies supplies plies happened along and told tord me a most disconcerting bit of news The three men had taken French leave They had caught a through freight about midnight taking little or no tto baggage with them I hastened to the village and although I worked the single telegraph wire to its utmost capacity the three men succeeded in making their escape e Sending a full fulI cipher report to Washington I repaired to the cabin in inthe Inthe inthe the swamps and made a careful search of it Everything within c is S In tn the greatest confusion Clothing and sheIl tins ns and fishing tackle were strewn about the floor evidencing n a precipitate te departure It was tantalizing tantalizIng tantalizing ing to again allow the criminals to es escape escape escape cape I felt relt deeply chagrined and re resolved resolved resolved solved never again to put off a matter of this kind The men had forestalled me by only a few hours for I had in intended Intended intended tended arresting them that morning and there had been nothing in their conduct during my visit to their cabin to Indicate In that they thought o Q flight In one corner of ot the tIle cabin beneath the very bunk on which I had slept there was an excavation three feet teet square and as many deep The cover was down and dirt was strewn over It fl which gave it the same appearance as the dirt floor of the house I discovered discovered ered it by b a hollow sound when I tapped over ver the spot It was empty I noticed the absence of the pot which had had haQ supplied my supper upper but It was rather a subconscious notice of it The fact really made no appreciable Impression on me at the time nor did it in fact until more than a year ear had passed It was then recalled by a newspaper dispatch under date of the small village Some of the boys in the village had appropriated the cabin as a sort of ot club house after the three men had fled fied They would spend Saturdays there fishing and swimming and hunt hunting huntIng hunting ing Immediately in front of the cabin was a steep bank and the river widened out Into a broad deep pool which afforded good fishing and swims swim The boys would throw white pebbles into this hole and dive for them from the bank One of them had struck his hiE head against something hard at the bottom of the river and had been pulled up a corpse his skull having been fractured by b the Impact of the blow blo The others Investigated and found a large iron pot half burled buried In the soft mud Its cover was sealed down and Its weight had been so great the boys lift JUt it fl from its oozy bed The dispatch stated that the pot was to be raised and its contents examined I was in Little Rock when I read this dispatch and without waiting wafting for Instructions from headquarters I boarded the first train and set out for forthe forthe forthe the village I was In a state of fever feverish feverish feverish ish excitement fearing I woul arrive there after aft r the pot had been secured I wanted to be the first to its con contents contents contents tents I felt sure I knew what was in it After a journey that seemed Inter interi Interminable I arrived at the village and inquired about the pot My fears had been groundless With the indifference so characteristic in country people the villagers had forgotten after the funeral of the unfortunate young man manthe manthe manthe the incident of the pot While hUe there had been some talk of raising it no nc noone noone one had taken the lead and there the matters had rested Securing a team of mules and som some strong ropes and chains I drove out to the cabin By BJ dint of ot much diving I succeeded In fastening the chains about the pot and had my assistant drag it out upon the bank It was the vessel vesel which had hung over the fire when I 1 had visited the counterfeiters in their lair Then I remembered Its absence when I had searched the hut but after arter their departure It was sealed with paraffin and sealing wax and not nota a drop of water had passed pa sed the lid lidIt lidIt lidIt It contained a complete set of en engravers engravers engravers gravers tools several bottles of power powerful powerful powerful ful acids glass stopped and sealed a number of bars of silver some odd counterfeit sliver silver dollars and the dies with which they had been stamped out The dies were thickly coated with wax and were as bright and fresh as a J when they beat bea out the false coins in inthe Inthe inthe the secret cave After swearing my my assistant to secrecy I returned to headquarters with my m booty Sot Not many man weeks week later two 10 of the themen themen themen men were captured I had given the department a minute description of them |