them.

I met the Vice-President at the express office, in such a manner that
none of the employes were the wiser as to my profession or business, and
he made an appointment to meet me at the Astor House in the afternoon.
At the Astor House he introduced me to the President, the General
Superintendent of the company, and we immediately proceeded to business.

They gave me all the particulars of the case they could, though they
were not much fuller than those I had already received from Porter's
reports. They reviewed the life of Maroney, as already related, up to
the time he became their agent, stating that he was married, although
his marriage seemed somewhat "mixed".

As far as they could find out, Mrs. Maroney was a widow, with one
daughter, Flora Irvin, who was about seven or eight years old. Mrs.
Maroney was from a very respectable family, now living in Philadelphia
or its environs. She was reported to have run away from home with a
roue, whose acquaintance she had formed, but who soon deserted her.
Afterwards she led the life of a fast woman at Charleston, New Orleans,
Augusta, Ga., and Mobile, at which latter place she met Maroney, and was
supposed to have been married to him.

After Maroney was appointed agent in Montgomery he brought her with
him, took a suite of rooms at the Exchange, and introduced her as his
wife.

On account of these circumstances the General Superintendent did not
wish to meet her, and, when in Montgomery, always took rooms at another
hotel.

The Vice-President said he had nearly come to the conclusion that
Maroney was not guilty of the ten thousand dollar robbery; but when my
letter reached him, with my comments on the robbery, he became convinced
that _he was_ the guilty party.

He was strengthened in this opinion by the actions of Maroney while on
his Northern tour, and by the fact that immediately on his return the
fast mare "Yankee Mary" made her appearance in Montgomery and that
Maroney backed her heavily. It was not known that he was her owner, it
being generally reported that Patterson and other fast men were her
proprietors.

This was all the Vice-President and General Superintendent had been able
to discover while South, and they were aware that I had very little
ground on which to work.

I listened to all they had to say on the subject and took full memoranda
of the facts. I then stated that although Maroney had evidently planned
and carried out the robbery with such