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Chapter X

Heney's coup in substituting the 11-7 case for that of the 24-1 throws consternation in the ranks of the defendants, and upsets Mays' arrangements with United States Attorney Hall to have Heney beaten in the weaker case, so as to open the doors for the dismissal of the other—Marie Ware meets an interesting mining man, who is assiduous in his attentions, and almost wins her tender young heart, but he proves to be Douglas W. Doyle, of the Government Secret Service, and the astounding discovery causes the wedding bells to go on a strike—Colonel Greene shows to disadvantage as a sleuth—Details of the final preparations for the great 11-7 battle.

MAYS was free to admit that the 11-7 case was a dangerous proposition, but insisted that there was nothing to fear, as the statute of limitations had barred all criminal proceedings, and that he would experience little difficulty in quashing the indictment on demurrer. I was at a loss to comprehend why an indictment should have been returned against us in the 11-7 case, unless the prosecution hoped to secure convictions under it and felt sanguine of its validity; but as Mays was so positive that it was fatally defective, he inoculated me with some of his confidence, and I gradually came to believe the cases would ultimately be thrown out of court.

What I most feared in the 11-7 case was that by reason of the fact of ten persons being involved, it was not unlikely that one or more of them might be induced to make a confession, and by standing in with the Government, would secure immunity from punishment in order to save their own scalps. If, however, the status of the case was as Mays predicted, there could be no serious cause for alarm.

Personally, I had no fear whatever as to the outcome of the 24-1 case, as the six entrymen who were supposed to have taken up the claims were purely fictitious; that no one outside of Marie Ware, McKinley and myself were aware of this fact, and as it would be impossible for the Government to produce the original claimants to the land, it was a foregone conclusion that no basis of conspiracy could be established.

In the course of our conference Mays called my attention to a current report that William J. Burns, recognized generally as one of the shredwest detectives in the employ of Uncle Sam, was engaged in searching for evidence against us, and that he was assisted by a large staff of Government Secret Service men, all of whom were experts in their line, and pointed out the necessity of seeing Marie Ware and Horace G. McKinley at once and cautioning them against being interviewed by anybody, particularly with reference to the 24-1 case.

He then instructed me to be in readiness for trial, as the case would undoubtedly proceed at the May term of Court, at which time I would be expected to have my witnesses present.

In addition to Judge Martin L. Pipes, of Portland, I had employed my brother, Lawrence F. Puter, of Eureka, Cal., to represent me at the trial. Mays was also to remain in the case, but in the capacity of silent counsel, as he deemed it unwise to appear openly in my behalf on account of his complicity in the frauds with which I was connected. He preferred to remain in the background, and pin his faith to the hold he had on United States Attorney John H. Hall, the idea being to try us on the 24-1 case, where Heney was certain to meet with defeat, thus discouraging the Government in relation to the other

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