Jim Cummings

Jim Cummings

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jim Cummings, by Frank Pinkerton
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Title: Jim Cummings
Author: Frank Pinkerton
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JIM CUMMINGS
OR
THE GREAT ADAMS EXPRESS ROBBERY
With a portrait of the notorious Jim Cummings and illustrations of
scenes connected with the great robbery
By Frank Pinkerton
Vol. I, March 1887. The Pinkerton Detective Series, issued monthly, by
subscription, $3.00 per annum.
Chicago

CHAPTER I
.
THE CONSPIRATORS--THE FORGED LETTER--THE PLAN.
In the rear room of a small frame building, the front of which was
occupied as a coal office, located on West Lake street, Chicago, three
men were seated around a square pine table. The curtains of the
window were not only drawn inside, but the heavy shutters were closed
on the outside. A blanket was nailed over the only door of the room,
and every thing and every action showed that great secrecy was a most
important factor of the assembly.
The large argand burner of a student's lamp filled the small room with
its white, strong light, The table was covered with railroad time- tables,
maps, bits of paper, on which were written two names a great number
of times, and pens of different makes and widths of point were
scattered amidst the papers,
One man, a large, powerfully-built fellow, deep-chested, and long-

limbed, was occupied in writing, again and again, the name of "J.B.
Barrett." He had covered sheet after sheet with the name, looking first
at a letter before him, but was still far from satisfied. "Damn a man who
will make his 'J's' in such a heathenish way."
"Try it again, Wittrock," said one of his companions.
"Curse you," shouted the man called Wittrock. "How often must I tell
you not to call me that name. By God, I'll bore a hole through you yet,
d'ye mind, now."
"Oh, no harm been done, Cummings; no need of your flying in such a
stew for nothing. We're all in the same box here, eh?"
"Well, you be more careful hereafter," said "Cummings," and again he
bent to his laborious task of forging the name of "J.B. Barrett."
Nothing was heard for half an hour but the scratching of the pen, or the
muttered curses of Cummings (as he was called).
Suddenly he threw down his pen with a laugh of triumph, and holding a
piece of paper before him, exclaimed: "There, lads, there it is; there's
the key that will unlock a little mint for us."
Throwing himself back in his chair, he drew a cigar from his pocket,
and, lighting it, listened with great satisfaction to the words of praise
uttered by his companions as they compared the forged with the
genuine signature.
These three men were on the eve of a desperate enterprise. For months
they had been planning and working together, and the time for action
was rapidly approaching.
The one called "Cummings," the leader, was apparently, the youngest
one of the three. There was nothing in his face to denote the criminal. A
stranger looking at him, would imagine him to be a good-natured,
jovial chap, a little shrewd perhaps, but fond of a good dinner, a good
drink, a good cigar, and nothing else.
One of his colleagues, whom he called "Roe," evidently an alias, was
smaller in size, but had a determined expression on his face, that
showed him to be a man who would take a desperate chance if
necessary.
The third man, called sometimes Weaver, and sometimes Williams,
was the smallest one of the conspirators, and also the eldest. His frame,
though small, was compact and