A VICTIM OF DRAW POKER.
CHAPTER LII.
AN EXPRESS MESSENGER ROBS A TRAIN IN NEW YORK OF THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS—HE LOSES AT CARDS AND DRAWS UPON THE FUND IN HIS KEEPING—OFF FOR THE WEST—TRACED TO DENVER AND THEN TO SANTA FE BY DETECTIVE ARNOLD OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DETECTIVE ASSOCIATION—ONLY TOO GLAD TO GET AWAY—THE ROBBER ROBBED IN A GAME OF POKER WITH HIS LANDLORD, WHO THEN ATTEMPTS TO DETAIN HIM FOR HIS BOARD BILL—BESIEGED FOR A NIGHT—JOE ARNOLD AS AN ARTFUL DODGER.
John A. Bemis is the name of a young man who must figure in this narrative because of his weakness—because he allowed himself to fall into bad habits when he was entrusted with money belonging to other people. When the crime was committed in the summer of 1877, Bemis was, and is yet if he is still living, a young man of good family. His people resided in Syracuse, N. Y., whence Bemis started out on one of the New York railroads as an agent for the American Express company, running into New York. As agent for a big carrying enterprise running into the nation’s financial metropolis, he became the custodian of large sums of money, often carrying a million dollars on a single trip. He was implicitly trusted by the company, being a young man whose life was supposed to be singularly exemplary, and backed by family connections of the very highest order. There were many times that he might have made a big haul without taking more than the ordinary risk which thieves take. But he seems to have resisted all the more luring bait which was thrown out to him, and to have at last been tempted by a comparatively small sum.
As was learned after his arrest by the Rocky Mountain Detective Association, he fell into loose company one day while carrying $3,600 for his company. He was lured into a game of penny-ante poker, which assumed, before the game was finished, extensive proportions. Having exhausted his own pile, and feeling chagrined at being beaten, he drew upon the money which he held in trust. He did not draw upon the pile very extensively, but sufficiently to create a deficit which he was unable to make good. Finding himself in a corner, fearing to explain his breach of trust, and being unable to supply the missing sum himself, he decided in an evil moment upon flight, and also concluded to carry the residue of the company’s money in his possession with him.
This decision once formed, he left his express car at a way station, and jumping upon a train coming westward, was off before the theft was discovered.
The company was thunderstruck when the crime was discovered. The New York papers were full of the details a few days afterwards, and the wires carried the report to all sections of the country, dwelling upon the young man’s family connections, the trust which had been reposed in him, and filled with surmises as to what could have induced him to take the foolish step which he had taken. Soon followed other telegrams and posters, the latter carrying portraits of the young fellow, offering a reward of $800 for his apprehension. The express company determined upon close pursuit and the capture and punishment of the defaulter, not because they did not respect the feelings of his family, but because they felt that he should be made an example of. Detectives throughout the eastern states and as far west as the Mississippi river were put to work on the case. They sought in vain for the fugitive. He was not to be found by the most vigilant of the officers who took the trail.
A month after the robbery, Gen. Cook received a letter from Mr. Fargo, president of the express company, giving a description of the robber, renewing his offer of a reward of $800 for his apprehension, and saying there were reasons to believe that Bemis had come to Denver. The principal reason urged was that Bemis had a cousin here, whose name was given.
The case was placed in the hands of Detective Arnold by Gen. Cook, who was relied upon to do his best work on it. Mr. Arnold worked a long time without a clue. The hotel registers for a month back were scanned with the keenest scrutiny. They were dumb. Not a shadow of a clue was presented. No one going by the name of Bemis had registered at any of the hotels since the time of the robbery. The cousin was sought out and skilfully pumped. He knew nothing, or professed to know nothing, of his relative. He declared that the young man had not been in Denver to his knowledge. This to Mr. Arnold. But Arnold soon came to the conclusion that he was not the best man to talk with the cousin. Arnold is one of the men who believe that there are more ways to accomplish a purpose than one. He made himself acquainted with the associates of Bemis’ cousin in Denver and set some of them quietly after him. Not only the man’s male friends, but some of his female friends were set to work. This ruse was at last successful. The cousin at last told one of these sub-detectives that his cousin had been in Denver; that while here he had gone by the name of James Walker, by which name he had registered at the American house, but that he had taken his departure some time previous. The kinsman professed to know nothing of the course Bemis had taken, leaving the detectives almost as much in the dark as they were before.