had been advised by either the Mealeys or Givens that one or the other of these Government officers would call upon him and ask him to sign an affidavit indicating that the claims had been taken up in good faith, that had been prepared in advance, and that it would be all right for him to do so; that the entryman would be assured of compensation for his "trouble" in a befitting manner, the recompense ranging from $15 to $50 in each case; that one or the other of the Special Agents did call, as outlined, and would lose no time in getting down to business on the affidavit proposition, asking a few direct questions, of. a cut-and-dried character, and then have the entrymen read the document as a whole and sign it accordingly, one of Kribs' representatives following up this proceeding by paying the stipulated price; that after they had been subpoenaed to appear before the Grand Jury, Kribs' representatives had induced them to confer with the latter at his residence in Portland before consulting either Heney or Burns, these visits being for the purpose of determining the character of the evidence they should give; that upon appearing before Heney and Burns they had executed affidavits in accordance with the instructions given them by Kribs, and now, like repentant sinners, had returned to make amends by telling the truth.
As rapidly as these entrymen would conclude their affidavits, wherein they would detail all the facts in connection with the matter. Burns would turn them over to Francis J. Heney, who would have them go before the Grand Jury and relate their stories, but in no instance would the Government prosecutor accept their statements for presentation to the inquisitorial body until they had met the approval of Mr. Burns.
Finding that they had been deserted entirely, the two Mealey brothers who had already been on the carpet several times before Burns in an unavailing effort to extract the truth from them, finally yielded, and were ready to become good Indians. But they had stood out too long to suit Burns, and having exerted all the influence within their power to hinder the wheels of justice, the famous Government sleuth was in no mood to treat with them, and, although Burns wanted their testimony badly enough, he insisted upon a compliance with certain conditions before he would permit them to make affidavits at all. Even after they had expressed a willingness to make a complete confession of their part in the fraudulent transactions. Burns hesitated to take them into camp, until they had prostrated themselves on their marrow bones before him and begged for mercy for the sake of their wives and children, and pleading to be given an opportunity to reveal their entire relationship with Kribs. Their humiliating attitude was enough to soften a heart of stone, and it had the effect of causing Burns to relent, and take their affidavits, the substance of which the Mealeys reiterated before the Grand Jury at the proper time.
From the moment of Allie Houser's confession down to the period when the Mealeys surrendered, there w^ere anxious faces around Government headquarters, but now everything looked like plain sailing, and the despondent countenances of the week before had given way to a feeling of supreme exuberance. But the coast was not clear yet, by any means; the work was still in an unfinished state, because Fred. A. Kribs, agent for C. A. Smith, the king-pin of the lot, was yet outside the fold. The case needed the fine veneering of his co-operation to add polish to it all.
When the subject was under discussion at Government headquarters as to the most available method of corralling Kribs, I had occasion to meet him one day on the streets of Portland. And what a fall was there, my countrymen! Poor Kribs looked the picture of despair. From the joyous, hail-fellow-well-met of such a short time before, he had changed so that I was hardly able to recognize him, and I was almost on the point of passing him by as some waif of humanity who had seen better days.
Methought, as I stood upon the street corner, facing this warrior of bygone days—this relic of a has-been period—that I could hear him muse, in plaintive tones, something like this: Page 198
