Smith had not heard of the capture, and was evidently somewhat embarrassed at the announcement. Quickly rallying, however, he answered:
“I don’t know Joe Jackson—never saw him in my life.”
“Come with me to the window,” said the official.
Rube walked over to the window, and Joe being pointed out, Rube said:
“No, sir, I never saw that man before.”
On being told he was Rube Burrow’s partner, Smith repeated what he was often wont to say:
“I have not seen Rube Burrow since I was a small boy,” and again he denied his guilt.
“Ah,” said the official, “We have new evidence against you, Rube. We know that Mrs. Allen Burrow visited your father’s, and through her you sent a message to Rube Burrow that you wanted to see him; and we know that Ann Eliza brought the answer from Rube that he would meet you in Fellowship church-yard. We know just where you met before the robbery, and we know you parted at Demopolis, Ala., after the work was done.”
This information, which was literally true, was adroitly given Rube for a purpose, and convinced him that the coils were tightening, and that additional evidence had, indeed, been secured.
Rube Smith, though not as old in crime as his copartners, was not a whit less bold and desperate. While in jail at Meridian, pending his trial at Waynesboro, he had been discovered in a plot to kill the jailer and liberate himself and others. He had not been at Jackson thirty days before it was developed that he was scheming to make his escape, and for this offense he then wore a heavy ball and chain. Bold and unscrupulous, he was ready to take the life of any man who stood between him and liberty. He was, however, very secretive and self-possessed, and up to this time he had not, from the day of his arrest, spoken a word which could be used as evidence against him.