The Barrel Mystery

by William J. Flynn

  CHAPTER XVI

  EVADING THE GANG IN VAIN

  "On June 6th I rented some rooms at No. 171 Thompson Street and paidfor a month in advance. I then went to the barber shop to find Cecala.I told him of hiring the rooms and that I needed a deposit to have thegas turned on. He told me that he would look out for everything in aday or so when he had the time. He showed a receipt for my goods,which had been shipped from Highland the day before and which wouldsoon arrive, he said. He gave me five dollars with which to pay thecharges on my furniture when it would arrive. When I asked him how Iwas to get food, he handed me a card and said that I was to go to theaddress and say that he sent me and that provisions would be furnishedme. On the card was D. Milone, No. 235 East Ninety-seventh Street.

  "'Will I get what I want there?'

  "'Certainly,' Cecala said. 'Just mention my name and all will be wellwith you there.'

  "After arranging with an express company to have my goods taken fromthe dock to the Thompson Street rooms, I went to the Milone addressand asked for Cecala.

  "'Who is this Cecala?' inquired a short man of ruddy complexion andstout face.

  "'Why, don't you know him?' I asked. 'He gave me this address where Iwas to come and buy groceries.'

  "'Have you inquired in the bank downstairs?'

  "'No.'

  "'Go and see.'

  "I went down to the bank of one De Luca and found a barrel containinggroceries addressed to Luigi Cosentino. This I had brought to my roomsin Thompson Street.

  "'You must pay sixty cents,' said the banker, 'right away.' And Cecalapaid the money for me.

  "Going upstairs again Cecala said in the presence of Giglio andSylvester:

  "'Don Antonio, we must continue the work. Not in that place (the stonehouse), but in another farm that has been rented by Giglio and thatis very far from Highland. We will not work any more with the samepress because it is not very good as to impression. We must buy a newpress, which Calichio is negotiating for now, a new model.'

  "'I will not come again,' I replied, 'because I have found work as acompositor and I am to go to work to-morrow.'

  "'Don't begin to make trouble. You know all our secrets now and wecan't let you go.'

  "'But why don't you let Calichio continue the work?'

  "'Calichio is no good at the press. You know of what he is capable.'

  "'I cannot go,' I repeated.

  "'Listen, Don Antonio, I promise you that you will not work much.Print at least the other ten-thousand sheets of paper for two-dollarnotes and the work will be completed. Then we will suspend operationsfor the summer, and will begin again in the Fall.'

  "'Mr. Cecala, I will return to print the paper that is left, but youmust give me, at the beginning of August, $400 because I want toreturn to Italy; then I will come back to New York in November. Areyou satisfied?'

  "'Have no doubts as to that. By the first two weeks of August I willgive you $500 and not $400, because by that time I will have sold allthe money. But will you return to America?'

  "'Yes, because I am going to Italy only to arrange family affairs.'

  "Calichio now arrived and said that he had found the party who wantedto sell the press, and he suggested that I go and see the man. At thisjuncture Giglio interrupted to say that the press, which we had beenusing, had been broken up and thrown into the woods on the farm thathad just been rented in his name for the new location of the plant.

  "'But,' put in Calichio, 'is that farm a place that is at all likelyto be suspected?'

  "'Certainly not,' said Giglio, 'it is far from Highland, about threehours over the road, and is situated on the Hudson River. It is aframe house standing by itself so that in working there will be nonoise heard by neighbors. And there is no road where people pass bythe house.'

  "'You mean,' Cecala interrupted, 'that you can work without fear ofbeing disturbed?'

  "'Not even the flies will disturb us.'

  "'Good,' said Cecala, turning to me. 'Go and see this Riso (thepressman) and see if he really wants to sell the press.'

  "'Why should I go and not some one else?'

  "'You are of the trade and know whether there are any defects.'

  "'And if he asks me who I am, what shall I answer?'

  "'Tell him you are Cosentino and have a shop on One Hundred andFortieth Street.'

  "'Why don't you come with me?'

  "'No,' said Cecala, 'I will wait here.'

  "'It would be better that you come along. Two heads are better thanone.'

  "Cecala was persuaded and together we went to the printing shop tolook over the presses. Riso, the pressman, said that he wanted to sellthe press because he had not enough work to keep it occupied and wasshort fifty dollars to pay off the mortgage. He explained that inorder to sell it he must first get permission from the factory people,who held the mortgage. He bought it about eight months previously.

  "A price of $85 was agreed to.

  "'But,' queried Riso, 'what do you need the press for?'

  "'For a printing shop,' I replied.

  "'And have you a shop now?'

  "'Yes.'

  "'Where?'

  "I gave him the One Hundred and Fortieth Street address suggested byCecala before we entered the printing shop.

  "Riso assured me that the press was first class and would turn outfine work.

  "On June 10th, the next day, the press was paid for and carted off ina covered wagon. I had taken the press apart without arousingsuspicion that it was to be taken on a long journey. The parts weretaken off because of the danger of leaving them on the press bodywhile in shipment. On the sides of the closed wagon was the name ofAntonio Armato, Bakery. The man who drove it was introduced to me byGiglio as his godfather. Giglio explained that the press was to becarted on godfather's wagon because he had been unable to get anexpress wagon at the moment.

  "In order to keep up the bluff before Riso I said to Giglio:

  "'Well, it is just as well. You know where my shop is and can havethis man take the press there. I will remain downtown and attend toother matters while you take the press uptown.' Cecala squinted at meadmiringly.

  "On the 13th of June Cecala informed me that I was to be ready to goto Highland at six o'clock the next morning. I was to go to Cina'shouse and remain there a day, he said, and then I would be taken tothe new farm. He told me that the press had been shipped and taken tothe house by Sylvester, who had returned to New York. Cecala also saidthat he had given Calichio ten dollars with which to pay the fares andthat I was to meet Don Peppe (Calichio) at his Jones Street houseearly the next morning and then board the train in company with him.Money would be forwarded to me as soon as I reached Highland; Cecalahad none with him at the present.

  "'I hope you will not treat me as you did before,' I said. 'Promise topay and not pay.'

  "'Have no doubt. I will take in $200 to-night from a man in Brooklyn,and will send you ten dollars by Giglio.'

  "Cecala said Giglio was in New York then at the house of his(Giglio's) brother-in-law in Jackson Street. This brother-in-law hadmarried one of Cina's sisters, but he knew nothing about thecounterfeiting scheme.

  "At five o'clock in the morning of June 14th I went to Calichio'shouse and found him packing a suit-case with inks and plates. One ofthe sets I remember was the Bank of Montreal design with a baby on thegreen side, marvelously clear zinc plates. Calichio told me they wereto be used for making the new Canadian five-dollar notes.

  "'When are they to be printed?' I asked.

  "'When we get to the new farm.'

  "I told Calichio that I certainly would not print any of them at thisseason and he suggested that they probably were to be printed inNovember. He said:

  "'They will probably be printed in November, at the beginning of thewinter season, for now the waters are troubled. The police is makingarrests daily.'

  "He placed the plates in the suit-case and together we went toWeehawken Ferry and arrived in Highland at 11 A. M. There foundPeppino waiting for us at the
station with a carriage. He drove to hisbrother's house (Cina's). There we found Uncle Vincent and Bernardo,the others having gone to Poughkeepsie on business and left word thatthey would return by evening. After lunch I played with Cina'schildren while Calichio, Uncle Vincent, Bernardo and Peppino lockedthemselves into a room for a conference. About 8 P. M. Salvatore Cinareturned from Poughkeepsie with Sylvester and immediately ordered hisbrother to prepare the horse and carriage and take us to the 'Third'farm."