In the narrations of mail robberies which we have thus far given, their perpetrators, though bold and unscrupulous, have not often plotted the destruction of human life in order to further their projects. But in the case we are about briefly to relate, murder on a large scale was coolly contemplated for the sake of the facilities which would be afforded to the plunderers of the mail, by the confusion, distress, and preoccupation which necessarily follow the throwing of cars from a railroad track. The certain destruction of property and the probable loss of life which would be caused by the successful execution of their plans, were nothing to these atrocious scoundrels, as long as by these means plunder might be brought within their grasp.

Rather more than a year ago, on a certain day in March, the locomotive of a mail train upon one of the Western railroads was thrown from the track by a "T" rail, which was placed with one end against a tie, so that the other, projecting somewhat upward, was struck by the engine. This occurred near a city in one of the Western States. No one on the train was injured, and whoever placed the obstruction failed in accomplishing his purpose, if that was to rob the mail.

No person was particularly suspected of the deed, but tracks made by a boot of peculiar shape, with rows of large nails around the soles and heels, were found in the soft clay in the neighborhood of the spot, and an impression of them was taken for future reference. On the same day the Superintendent of the road received a letter, of which the following is a copy.

The author of this document (who here signs a feigned name) claimed to be a natural son of an English lord celebrated in literature, and assumed the name of his pretended father. He seems to have been a man of considerable shrewdness, though he did not prove to be quite shrewd enough to outwit the business men and officers of justice with whom he had to deal.

The Superintendent replied to the letter, requesting an immediate interview. To this B. (the person in question) returned an answer, stating that he had written to one of the leaders of the gang in New York, and that he would call on the Superintendent as soon as he had received a reply, which might give him further information.

Three or four days after this the interview was held, and afterwards another in the presence of the attorneys of the railroad company. On these occasions, B. repeated his story with some further details, and offered to assist in the detection of the scoundrels, if he could be assured of a sufficient reward. There were many suspicious circumstances about this person, both as respected his appearance and the statements which he made.

It did not seem very probable that any one should have so intimate a knowledge of the designs of the villains as he appeared to possess, without being, to some extent at least, involved in their guilt. Notwithstanding their suspicions, the officers of the road concluded to engage his services, with the intention of keeping a sharp lookout upon him. He gave the names of several persons as concerned in the scheme, and proposed to correspond with some of the leaders and draw from them disclosures which would cause their detection.

About this time he went to work in a printing office, and was observed to be irregular in his habits, being much out at nights. He had occasional interviews with Mr. S. (one of the Attorneys above mentioned,) rather respecting what he had not discovered than what he had, and sometimes showing letters that he pretended to have received, threatening his life unless he left the country. These interviews, however unfruitful they were in available information, led to a result which was not anticipated by the cunning B.

Had this individual narrowly observed all the surroundings of the lawyer's office, he would have seen a quantity of fresh damp sand strewed upon the walk in front, through which he was obliged to pass on entering. Of course he thought nothing of it; hardly any one would; but the impressions which his boots made on that sand were found to correspond exactly with those obtained from the clay at the scene of the railroad accident before mentioned!

One evening, about three weeks after the accident on the railroad, B. rushed into the office of the railroad company in breathless haste, and informed the Assistant Superintendent that he had been applied to by a certain person to put obstructions on the track a little West of the city, to catch the 9 P. M. mail train West; but had got away from him and hurried to the office to give this information. The Assistant Superintendent and others immediately went up the road about two miles, and found obstructions placed in the spot indicated, and removed them. When the train passed, the light in front of the locomotive showed several men running into the woods.

This was the third instance of attempted obstruction to the mail trains upon this road, within less than a month (one having occurred previously to that first mentioned, causing, however, but slight damage,) and it was ascertained that there were considerable amounts of money in the mail on each of those occasions.

It may be remarked in passing, that although B. had notified the company in advance, of actual obstructions, and had given the names of the parties concerned, yet no progress seemed to be made in detecting the guilty individuals. It was evidently his policy to obtain money from the company as the price of his disclosure, and yet to manage so that no discovery would result.

In the mean time, the Post-Office Department had been informed of these facts, and an experienced and skilful police officer in Chicago was appointed Special Mail Agent to investigate the matter. He very soon came to the conclusion that whoever the other guilty persons might be, B. was "one of 'em" to all intents and purposes. As we have before stated, B. had said that one of the leaders was in New York, and at the request of the company's attorney, B. wrote a letter to him.

The Chief of Police of New York was written to, and requested to station an officer at the post-office to watch for and arrest the party who should call for the letter, but during the time which elapsed between the arrival of the letter and the officer who was to watch outside the post-office, the letter disappeared, and even before any one connected with the New York post-office had been apprised of the arrangement.

Four days afterwards, B. informed one of the company's attorneys that the man in New York had received the letter and sent him a verbal answer to the effect, that he had better write no more by mail, "as the letters might get lost." Mr. P., the Chicago police officer, went in company with a lawyer to New York, with the design of finding the man to whom the letter was addressed. Their efforts, however, though assisted by the Chief of Police, and the Special Agent for the New York district, were unavailing.

It was ascertained that he had paid his passage to Liverpool on the ship Washington, but having been asked a casual question by one of the officers of the vessel, concerning his relationship to a certain Englishman, he had forfeited his passage-money, and disappeared.

Having returned to the West, Mr. P., the government Agent, determined to arrest B., which he effected, and, without his knowledge, obtained possession of his boots, which had already supplied such important evidence against him.

He displayed much virtuous indignation, and talked largely of his wealth, respectability, and high standing in society; but all this availed him nothing, and he was committed to jail.

Although he had arrested B., yet Mr. P. doubted whether he had sufficient evidence to convict him, and determined to condemn him out of his own mouth. Accordingly he made arrangements with a deputy sheriff of Milwaukie, to play the part of prisoner, and thus to obtain the rascal's confidence.

Agreeably to this arrangement, when B. entered the prison, he found the deputy sheriff already in his cell, apparently a fellow victim to the demands of justice. For about four weeks this gentleman was most of the time in the cell with B., representing himself as an "express robber;" conducting himself in such a turbulent manner that B. supposed the time of his absences was passed in the dungeon.

For some time, however, he failed in extracting any disclosures from B., who confidently expected that his connection with the railroad company would protect him. After he had been in prison about three weeks, B. was informed that his arrest had been made by an United States officer, who intended to make his boots convict him of obstructing the mail train, and that the railroad company were powerless to shield him from punishment for acts committed (as this had been) previous to his employment by them.

He now saw his danger, and, on returning to his cell with his supposed fellow prisoner, who had assumed the name of Harris, he manifested great agitation. Harris asked what was the matter. B. hesitated for a while, and at length exclaimed: "That rascally P. has stole my boots."

"What if he has?" replied the pseudo Harris. "They couldn't be worth much."

"They are worth considerable to me, I can tell you, for he means to send me to State prison with them."

"Send you to State prison? What in the world do you mean? How can your boots send you to State prison?"

"Why, he is going to show that they made the tracks that were found where the rail was put on the track East of Adrian."

"Well," said Harris, "that looks rather bad, but it isn't as bad as it might be. You'll get out of it yet, and I'll help you, if I can. I expect to get bailed out in a day or two, and if I can do anything for you, I will."

"You are the man for me," said B., "and I shall want you to come and swear on my trial that you saw a person by the name of A—— put the rail on, and that I wasn't there."

"But if you are innocent," replied Harris, "you will get clear; and if you are guilty, I don't believe I can help you."

"You must, by heavens," said B. "If you don't, I'm a goner!"

Here the conversation ended that day, but the next morning B. directed his fellow prisoner to testify that his name was Grover, and that on the night on which the obstruction in question was made, he went with A——, and saw him put the rail on the track. (So minute, by the way, was B.'s description of the place and the manner in which the obstructing rail was laid, that the deputy sheriff going there afterwards in company with Mr. P., easily found the spot, and identified the very tie under which the rail was placed, though it was the first time he had been there.)

"Well," said Harris, alias Grover, (who seemed to grow rapidly rich in names,) "if I help you out in this way, what shall I get by it?"

B. replied: "If you get me clear I shall keep the confidence of the railroad company, and will introduce you to a set of good fellows who do nothing but big jobs, and my connection with the company will enable me to get you a position where you can pay yourself."

Having by such inducements secured (as he supposed) the aid of his companion, B. recovered his equanimity, and wrote as follows to one of the attorneys for the railroad company:—

The railroad company could have no further doubt of his guilt. It was plain that he had entered their service to betray them; and though he had given the names of his accomplices, he had been careful not to catch them.

At his request he was removed to Adrian for trial. He told his counsel what he should prove by Grover; and was assured of an honorable acquittal.

At the trial, the counsel for the prosecution examined several witnesses in relation to the boot-tracks, which, for the time being, were as interesting to the legal fraternity, as are the ancient bird-tracks found in sandstone, to geologists.

The defence supposed that the counsel for the prosecution would there rest, and were confident that they had the game in their own hands, knowing, as they did, that the evidence thus far adduced was not sufficient to convict their client.

But the prosecution called "Wm. B.," (the deputy sheriff,) when, to the utter astonishment and dismay of the prisoner, his man Grover took the stand!

This unexpected transmutation at once dissipated the dreams of triumph and future villany in which he had been revelling; and as "Wm. B." testified to the facts in his possession, and the disclosures of the prisoner, this baffled scoundrel found the prop on which he had relied falling beneath him, and plunging him into that gulf from which he had made such desperate though vain efforts to escape.

He was found guilty on two indictments. On the first, he was sentenced to imprisonment for life, the judge remarking that he would suspend sentence on the other till the first had expired.

The interval between the pilfering of small sums and the deliberate plotting of wholesale murder for the sake of plunder, seems a wide one; yet no one who enters even the verge of the maelstrom of a dishonest course, can tell how far within the vortex he may be drawn by its ever strengthening current.

The case just related forms a culminating point in the series of villanies which we have recorded in this book for the benefit of those who, in defiance of the eternal laws of Providence, attempt to make the way of the transgressor easy.