Q. She knew Morello how long previous to this?
A. She had known him on the other side; never had anything to do with him here.
Q. About when was it she got this "Black-Hand" letter?
A. Seven years ago; I was a third-year student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Q. What was the substance of the letter?
A. The substance of the letter was that unless a certain amount of money was paid they would kill me. Naturally, my folks did not tell me anything at all about it for fear that I would get excited, neglect my studies, and so fail in my examinations. The folks kept the thing quiet for a few days. The "Black-Handers" also said that if anything were told to the police authorities, the murder would take place anyway—money or no money. You see, my father was not here. I was a young man, my brother was a small boy, and my family did not know what to do at the time. My grandmother, though, knew this man Morello to be mixed up with people of questionable character, and so she went to him or he happened to meet her (I don't know which); anyway, she confided the thing to Morello. He said, "All right, don't get excited; they don't kill people off all at once. Wait until you get another letter. Then we will see if we can find out the party who writes those letters."
Finally, another letter was written. Then a third, and a fourth letter came. Morello always took the letters under the pretext of studying the handwriting and to find out the origin of the letter. Eventually, he found out the origin of the letter, he said and—
Q. What was the origin?
A. Never found out. He just said that he had found out that they were willing to settle for $1,000, but that he would pay $100 and that he would make sure they returned the money to him after they found out who he was; he said that we need not worry any more.
Q. Did you pay the $100?