"Upon our arrival, we proceeded to Walgamot's dental parlors, and after waiting- in the reception room a short time, the Doctor came in, and was immediately asked by Col. Greene if he had ever seen me before. Walgamot scanned me closely and then unhesitatingly replied in the negative.
"'Then,' said Col. Greene, 'this is not the Joseph Wilson who took up a homestead claim with you in 11-7?' "'Decidedly not!' was Walgamot's answer.
"The dentist then pretended to evince curiosity, as if greatly surprised at the resemblance, and remarked that it was a very strange coincidence; that the Wilson he knew was about my size and complexion, was maimed, like myself, and in the same limb, too, and that we walked alike and resembled each other in every respect with the exception of our facial expressions.
"There was no doubt about that, because I looked more like a ghost than a human being while all this torture was in progress. At all events, it seemed to settle the question in the mind of Col. Greene, so he thanked me very profusely for my trouble in coming with him, and expressed the hope that I had not been greatly inconvenienced. At that I assumed fresh courage, and assured him with a patronizing air that I was only too glad of an opportunity for aiding him in clearing up the apparent 'mystery,' whereupon we parted company."
After relating his story to me, Wilson volunteered the information that I had nothing to fear so far as he was concerned. He seemed to feel great confidence in himself because of his ability to throw Col. Greene off the scent, and his estimate of the latter as a detective was not of a flattering character. Wilson often referred to the Inspector as a "mummy," and expressed the opinion that if the entire Secret Service Department of the Government were all like him, there would be nothing to fear.
Meeting "Lookout Dan" again, I complimented him upon the highly satisfactory manner in which he had handled the matter. Tarpley did not consider that much credit should attach to himself, declaring that Walgamot was only too glad of a chance to protect Wilson, and incidentally deceive Col. Greene. He claimed that Wilson's promptness in 'phoning to him from Salem was what saved the day, although Walgamot had exercised masterful diplomacy by his answers to the Inspector's inquiries.
The subject of William J. Burns then came up for discussion between Tarpley and myself, "Lookout Dan" urging that I seek an interview with the famous Government sleuth; in short, "beard the lion in his den—the Douglas in his hall." While I was not particularly infatuated with this idea, still it appealed to me as a wise suggestion, and I decided to adopt it.
Finding Burns, though, was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and I realized before many days that he was about the hardest man to trail I had ever encountered. True, upon several occasions I caught glimpses of his coattails disappearing around corners, but that was the nearest approach I ever came to meeting him face to face.
"Lookout Dan" thought it would do no harm, even if it could do no good, to cultivate Burns with a view of feeling his pulse, but I was not in the same class with him as a sprinter, and whatever acquaintance we made was after my conviction.
As the date for the trial approached, McKinley, Tarpley and myself held a council of war with the object of canvassing the situation. We came to the conclusion that everything possible had been done in the way of preparation for our defense, as we had surveyors on the ground as witnesses who had previously made an examination of the township, and who were in a position to testify that the character of the land was such as to preclude anyone from making a statement that the improvements we had vouched for did not exist, as the township was so densely covered with underbrush and timber that it would be an utter impossibility to notice a cabin within a hundred feet of the line.
We also had witnesses who had been in the employ of the Government's engineers and photographers at the time they had investigated the status of thePage 134
