CHAPTER X
MEETING THE ARCH-BANDIT
"At the end of January the Canadian five-dollar notes were completedand cut the size of the genuine. After being counted they amounted toseventeen thousand five hundred and forty dollars. They were put in anempty macaroni box and was nailed up and put away for Cecala, who wasto have them exchanged for good money to various people whom he knew.
"On February 1st, 1909, not having received any word from New York,Giglio left and went to Cina's house to inquire the cause of the longsilence. Next day Giglio returned, accompanied by Cecala and Cina, andfixed the press to print the two-dollar notes, check letter A, andplate number 1111. Having prepared the press Cecala and I fixed somegreen ink, but after several attempts to imitate the genuine Cecaladecided we could not do it. That night Cecala gave me five dollarsand told me that on February 4 I was to go to New York. I was to go tohis house and there talk with a party who was capable of preparing theink. Then admonishing me not to leave until Cina called for me with acarriage, Cecala left with Cina and Giglio.
"On February 4, about eight in the morning, Cina came to the stonehouse with Bernardo, the former to accompany me to the station and thelatter to remain with Uncle Vincent and Caterina. I arrived in NewYork at noontime and went directly to Cecala's home at No. 92 EastFourth Street, where I found his wife who gave me a piece of paperafter making sure of my identity.
"'My husband is waiting at the address written on the piece of paper,'she said. 'Ask for him in the bank on the ground floor.'
"The piece of paper contained this address: '630 East One Hundred andThirty-Eighth Street.'
"Arriving at One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth Street I found the house Iwas seeking and asked for Cecala. A well-dressed man told me thatCecala would not return until two o'clock. It was then half after oneand the man told me to return in a half hour. In the meantime I walkedover toward the L station thinking I might meet Cecala. I returned tothe address written on the paper after walking around for about fortyminutes without seeing Cecala. I was told to take a seat and thewell-dressed man telephoned to Cecala, who arrived in a few minutesand invited me upstairs with him. I went up to a room on the secondfloor and there met two men.
"Cecala introduced me to one of the men who was tall, wrapped up in ashawl of brown color, of oval face and high forehead. He had darkeyes, an aquiline nose, dark hair, and dark mustache. He appeared tobe about forty years old. As he was walking about the room I noticedparticularly that this man had one arm outside the shawl and the otherhidden beneath the wrap. Could he be hiding a weapon? The other manremained seated in a chair. He was about thirty or thirty-five yearsold, of medium build with dark curly hair, sallow complexion. His nosewas a little flattened, he had a brown mustache, brown eyes, and worea cap 'A la Sicilian.' Cecala introduced the first man as Mr. Morelloand the second as 'Michele, the Calabrian.'
"Morello bade me make myself comfortable. Then he gave me a piercingglance and said slowly:
"'How is it, professor, that you cannot succeed in reaching a colorlike the green on the two-dollar notes?'
"'I told Mr. Cecala from the beginning that this was not in my line ofwork,' I replied.
"'How is it that a printer like you don't know how to mix inks?'
"'I am experienced in composing and printing books, not in printingmoney.'
"'Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!' ejaculated the bandit comprehendingly. 'So, if youdo not know how to mix the ink the bills cannot be printed?'
"'Certainly not.'
"'Well, we will find a man who knows how to prepare the inks, and Iadvise you to do the printing carefully so that the money can beeasily exchanged. Save the Canadian notes because they are expensiveto exchange. And just now we are without money and cannot incur extraexpenses.'
"'I would rather leave this work and return to New York,' I ventured.
"'You are crazy,' yelled Cecala, who was still present. 'Now that weare at it we must complete it. If things go right, we will all berich; but don't think of betraying us because _your life would belost_ if you did. You must never tell any one what you are doing atthe peril of losing your life. If you get into danger because of thesecret we will save you.'
"Morello eyed me sarcastically. He shot a menacing side-glance at meand uttered this warning in a low voice: 'Suppose you are arrested.Well, you must never tell that you know us, because we, remaining onthe outside, can help you at the cost of losing our property. I adviseyou to be faithful to us. Remember, you are dealing with gentlemen.'
"'I understand that,' I said, feigning respect, 'but I am in greatdanger alone in the woods with the woman, and if I am taken bysurprise I am ruined.'
"'How? Are you alone? Where is Uncle Vincent? Is he not there?'
"'Yes.'
"'He alone is enough to keep any one away from the house. Soon therewill be other people to help you, and keep you company, and bring armsand ammunition. The first stranger that is suspected will be killedand buried in the woods.'
"Morello spoke this with a saturnine air of unconcern as if he hadbeen discussing a smoke or a glass of wine. To this man murder wasmerely an incident to his trade.
"The arch-bandit now turned to Cecala, saying:
"'It would be well to ask Milone (Antonio B.), and see if he is ableto make the green tint.' Milone is the man who made the plates.
"'Who cares to go to Two Hundred and Thirty-Ninth Street, in theBronx, at this hour?' replied Cecala in disgusted protest. 'It can bedone to-morrow.'
"'No. It is better that we send Nick (Sylvester) to-night,' saidMorello with an air of finality that booked no dispute.
"'Do what you think, Piddu.[2] Suppose we arrange to send DonAntonio?'
"'Do not let him leave us, though.'
"'I know, and if he has to leave, I will accompany him,' concludedCecala almost in a whisper.
"Cecala now invited me out with him, asked me where did I want tosleep, and when I told him at my aunt's, he offered to accompany methere.
"As we were about to leave the place Morello turned to Cecala and Ioverheard him say:
"'Nino, I wish you would not have the professor come here any more.You know there are detectives following me and as soon as they see asuspicious face they arrest him. The other night, as you know, theyarrested father and son while they were going down the stairs.'
"'I know it,' replied Cecala, 'but what are your suspicions about DonAntonio?'
"'Well--er--sometimes you can't tell.'
"The 'Black-Hand' chief dropped into a brief reverie. Maybe he had avague vision of the fate that was to befall him. The other manpresent, Michele, the Calabrian, had not uttered a single word duringthe entire conversation.
"After we had left the house Cecala turned to me and said with batedbreath:
"'The man you saw with one hand is Giuseppe Morello, the same who wasimplicated in the barrel murder.'
"I did not reply because I did not know of Morello; neither did I knowof the barrel murder. I only thought that he really had one armbecause I did not see the other. From time to time Morello had beensnuffing tobacco.
"'I want you to know all my friends so that you can have an idea withwhom you are dealing, and don't think they are poor, but alllandlords,' now confided Cecala. 'Morello is President of the CorleoneSociety (Ignatz Florio) and has in his power four buildings amountingto one hundred thousand dollars. The other man you met the last time,Pecoraro, is the proprietor of a large wine deposit, and he has moreproperty. Giglio and Cina are owners of the estates that you saw. I ampoor because I did not know how to profit. My profession is that ofbarber. I had a splendid shop, but the business was poor and I soldit. Two weeks after I sold the barber shop I got in with Morello andopened a grocery store in Mott Street. But after two years I wasforced into bankruptcy because all the goods were sold on credit and Iwas not paid. Then I opened up two gambling houses, one in MottStreet and the other in Elizabeth Street. I was getting along wellwhile I fed the police. When I did not want to give them any more theybegan to
go against me and forced me to close up.'
"At the moment I could not understand why it should have beennecessary to 'feed' the police, as he said, not being acquainted withthe methods here."
FOOTNOTE:
[2] Piddu is the Sicilian diminutive for Giuseppe, the Christian nameof Morello.
The Barrel Mystery Page 10
