en ladies' stockings into which jewellery,
watches, and rolls of bills had been stuffed and then wadded up tight
and stuck under the mattresses. I offered to return what I called the
"scalps," saying that we were not Indians on the war-path, but none of
the ladies seemed to know to whom the hair belonged.

One of the women--and a good-looker she was--wrapped in a striped
blanket, saw me pick up one of the stockings that was pretty chunky
and heavy about the toe, and she snapped out:

"That's mine, sir. You're not in the business of robbing women, are
you?"

Now, as this was our first hold-up, we hadn't agreed upon any code
of ethics, so I hardly knew what to answer. But, anyway, I replied:
"Well, not as a specialty. If this contains your personal property you
can have it back."

"It just does," she declared eagerly, and reached out her hand for it.

"You'll excuse my taking a look at the contents," I said, holding the
stocking up by the toe. Out dumped a big gent's gold watch, worth
two hundred, a gent's leather pocket-book that we afterward found
to contain six hundred dollars, a 32-calibre revolver; and the only
thing of the lot that could have been a lady's personal property was
a silver bracelet worth about fifty cents.

I said: "Madame, here's your property," and handed her the bracelet.
"Now," I went on, "how can you expect us to act square with you when
you try to deceive us in this manner? I'm surprised at such conduct."

The young woman flushed up as if she had been caught doing something
dishonest. Some other woman down the line called out: "The mean
thing!" I never knew whether she meant the other lady or me.

When we finished our job we ordered everybody back to bed, told 'em
good night very politely at the door, and left. We rode forty miles
before daylight and then divided the stuff. Each one of us got
$1,752.85 in money. We lumped the jewellery around. Then we scattered,
each man for himself.

That was my first train robbery, and it was about as easily done as
any of the ones that followed. But that was the last and only time
I ever went through the passengers. I don't like that part of the
business. Afterward I stuck strictly to the express car. During the
next eight years I handled a good deal of money.

The best haul I made was just seven years after the first one. We
found out about a train that was going to bring out a lot of money
to pay off the soldiers at a Government post. We stuck th