from Mr. Pearson. He went to his room immediately,
and prepared a report of all that had transpired during the morning,
carefully detailing all that he had heard relating to Mr. Pearson's
alleged intimacy with one of the robbers, and of the successful attempt
he made to extricate himself from the vault, by means of the ten-cent
piece. After concluding his relations, he requested the assistance of
another operative, in order that they might scour the country round
about, in the hope of finding some clues of the escaping robbers.

On the next morning, operative Howard Jackson, a young, active and
extremely intelligent member of my force, arrived at Geneva, and placed
himself in communication with John Manning, for the continuance of this
investigation.

When Manning's reports were duly received by my son, William A.
Pinkerton, the superintendent of my Chicago agency, he gave the matter
his most careful and earnest attention, and as he finished their
perusal, he formed the opinion that young Pearson was not entirely
guiltless of some collusion in this robbery. The more he weighed the
various circumstances connected with this case, the more firm did this
conclusion become, until at last he experienced a firm conviction that
this young man knew more about the matter than he had yet related.

It seemed strange to him that a young, strong and active man like
Pearson should not have manifested even ordinary courage in a crisis
like this. He was behind the desk when the attack was made upon Miss
Patton at the door, and saw what was transpiring before the second
assailant had time to reach him. Even if powerless to defend her, it
seemed reasonable that he could have raised an alarm, which would have
attracted the attention of the passers by; or, failing in that, he
could, at least, have hastily closed the vault doors, and thus have
saved the money of the bank. He knew that these doors were open, and
that within the vault were nearly thirty thousand dollars, for which he
was indirectly responsible. But a moment's time would have sufficed to
close these doors and adjust the combination, and yet he made no effort
to prevent a robbery which he knew was intended.

The ordinary promptings of manhood would, it was thought, have induced
him to make some show of resistance, or to have gone to the rescue of a
young and delicate girl; but none of these things did he do, and, if the
story related was true, the young man had acted like a b