other conspirators—the tools of the big land grafters.
The verdict was a personal triumph for Heney and he might have gone home, his duty done. The government had asked him to try only the "first of the series," but Mr. Knox knew his man. Heney never thought of quitting. He ""couldn't afford" to go on, but on he went—after the men behind the tools. They were alarmed. There comes a time in the progress of every honest investigation when the grafters are panic-stricken. They lose their heads and fly apart, each to save himself. That is the time to strike. They rally afterwards and fight better than ever. The conviction of Puter started the panic in Oregon and Heney was quick to strike.
While the jury still was out, he sent a shot toward Hall. Meeting Col. Greene, he told him he knew Hall was protecting Loomis, Ormsby and Sorensen. Like Greene, Loomis was a special agent under Hall's control; Ormsby, the crooked ex-Forest Superintendent, was a member of Hall's grand jury; and Sorensen was Hall's man in the Puter gang, who had "skipped."
"I don't know why," said Heney to Greene, "but Hall is protecting these fellows, and if he doesn't look out I'll have him removed. Now that's between us."
Heney gave Greene this "to carry" and the messenger must have run with it, for the moment the Puter verdict was rendered, Hall came in where Heney and Burns were.
"Do you know," he said smoothly, "I have about concluded to indict Loomis, Ormsby and Sorensen."
"Do you think you could find Sorensen?" Burns asked, quite as smoothly.
Oh, yes. Hall could find Sorensen. He had a letter from him, from somewhere in Wisconsin. And he fetched the letter. Heney glanced at it and handed it to Burns, who stepped out, had it copied and returned the copy to Hall. They were building a case around Hall, and the original showed that at the time Sorensen was wanted. Hall was in correspondence with him. Burns wired the Secret Service at Chicago to locate Sorensen, the key to Hall.
Puter Confesses to Burns
The key to the situation as a whole, however, was Stephen A. Douglas Puter, and the moment they convicted him, Heney and Burns set about getting him to confess. A thief, but a land thief; a criminal, but a criminal of the forests and plains, "Steve" Puter was a strong, free, fighting spirit. He would be hard to break down. The idea of "peaching on his pals" would be abhorrent to him. But so was the idea of confinement. Puter had said that he would die before he would go to prison, and the day after the verdict, his brother, Clarence, an attorney, called on Heney to ask his consent to "a fine, a big fine—anything but jail."
Heney was hard. "Steve gets the limit," he said, "in the penitentiary." And, knowing where the brother would go next, Heney hurried in to see the judge. He explained the situation and his plan, and when Clarence Puter appeared in chambers, the judge was as hard as Heney. It was Burns's turn now. The detective reasoned that while Puter would "stand by" his friends, he would expect his friends to stand by him. Puter must be "isolated." Burns found a way to warn Pierce Mays and the other gentlemen involved with Puter that they were under suspicion and that they would better not be seen with Steve or his brother. This done. Burns had it suggested to Puter to appeal to Mays and his friends to go on his bond. When the "shadows" reported that Clarence Puter had called on these men and come away "mad," Burns went to see him.
"Puter," he said, "the big fellows are making a 'fall-guy' of your brother. They want him in jail out of the way. Now Heney's onto the whole lay-out and he doesn't want Steve and that bunch. He wants the big guns, the very fellows who have gone back on Steve. And if you don't believe they have quit him, go and see. Try Mays or any of 'em."
"I have tried them," Puter said, bitterly, "I've tried 'em all."
A bloodhound in pursuit. Bums turns cat when he catches his prey. He played with the Puters. He saw them both. They hated to "squeal," but Burns held out in one hand a picture of Steve as a fool serving years in prison out of loyalty to friends who had gone back on him; in the other, new friends, himself and Heney.
Steve Puter confessed, and his confession opened the way to the land-fraud system. The others "came through" also—McKinley, Tarpley, Marie Ware, Emma Watson.
