Hotel, as it was unstamped, although sealed, and in one of the hotel envelopes. My back was turned towards Gallagher at the time, and when I came to this letter, I hesitated long enough to make a mental note of the style of handwriting, afterward returning it to the clerk with the others.
With my personal mail in hand, and hoping to learn something further concerning Gallagher, I resumed my seat near him, and appeared to be deeply engrossed in my correspondence.
No sooner had I done this than Gallagher arose, and walking up to the clerk, also requested the letters from box "P." He did not perceive that I was watching him all this time, so I was happy in the thought that he was not suspicious of my intimate acquaintance with his identity.
Like myself, Gallagher hesitated when he came to the envelope addressed to Mrs. Porter, and was no doubt much surprised upon discovering that I had failed to abstract it.
After securing some writing material from a desk in the reading room similar to the envelope inclosing the Porter letter, I started from the hotel, closely followed by the Secret Service man, and thinking to give him another slip in such a way as not to arouse his suspicions, I wheeled about, walked into the hotel again, and entered one of the elevators that was about to ascend. I realized that Gallagher would follow on the next elevator, and in order to circumvent his intentions, I stepped off at the fifth floor, walked briskly through the hallway and caught a descending freight elevator, by which process I soon reached the street, where I found myself once more free from anybody's attention.
Going direct to my hotel, I took one of the Great Northern envelopes. which I had just secured, and addressed it to Mrs. Emma Porter, imitating from memory the handwriting which I had observed upon the original. I then placed a piece of blank paper in the envelope, sealed it up, and returned to the Great Northern.
Glancing cautiously around, I was unable to locate Gallagher anywhere, so concluded that he was either in his room or on a wild-goose chase after me. I then asked the clerk for the mail in box "P," and upon coming across the letter to Mrs. Porter, I took it out, replacing it with the one I had but recently addressed to her.
Going to the writing room, and in fancied security from observation, I proceeded to inspect its contents, which were as follows:
Mrs. Emma Porter:
Dear Madam—Please call in person for important letter, which will be handed to you at the office.
(Signed) Clerk,
Great Northern Hotel.
After perusing its contents, I addressed another envelope, copying the handwriting from the original, and after replacing the note and sealing, returned it to box "P," at the same time removing the envelope I had left there but a few moments before.
At this point I found myself virtually "up a stump," but I was not discouraged, and had no intention of being outdone, so returning to Milwaukee, I sent a note to the Great Northern Hotel, in substance as follows:
Clerk, Great Northern Hotel, Chicago, Ills.
Dear Sir—It was my intention to visit Chicago, and make your house my headquarters, but I am just in receipt of a wire necessitating my immediate return to the Pacific Coast, hence request that you please forward all mail to Seattle, Wash., care Hotel. Very respectfully,
(Signed) Mrs. Emma Porter.
