The post master and myself having at that time confidence in H., I took him aside and told him Pat must not be allowed to escape, on any account, and that if he went alone with him, he must promise to be responsible for his safe and speedy return with the money, to all of which, H. readily assented, claiming to have complete control over his man, and promising to have him back in a few moments. With this understanding they both passed round the house, and I started to give the Marshal the signal that the time for his services had arrived.
Not more than three minutes had elapsed before I returned in company with that officer, and H. was seen coming towards us, with a small box under his arm, but _alone_.
"He went into the house, through the back yard," was the response.
Taking the box from H., and handing it over to the post master, to be taken to the carriage, we at once passed into the house, but no Pat could be found. On applying to H., to know what this meant, he explained by saying, that as soon as the box was handed to him, Pat hopped over the fence into his back yard, and entered the house.
After some further search, he could not be found there, and H. proposed that we should not then appear too anxious to secure him; repeatedly promising to have him forthcoming at any moment, after the excitement had passed by a little. Returning to the carriage, we started for New York, counting the funds as we rode, which amounted to $4473. Much of it was in the original parcels of bank-notes, of one hundred and two hundred dollars each, enclosed in the usual straps of paper, with the amount of each package marked thereon, in the figures of the cashiers and others, which greatly assisted afterwards in the identification.
The author of all this mischief managed to elude the most secretly and cautiously executed plans for his arrest. It was, however, pretty well ascertained that he occasionally visited his home during the night season, and one night he was discovered at a late hour, by a local policeman (who had been employed to watch for him,) emerging from the front door of his house. They saw each other at about the same instant, and the policeman made an effort to seize him; but Pat was well armed, and was in the act of pointing a gun at the officer, when the latter, knocking it aside, presented a revolver and snapped it, the cap, luckily for the miserable fugitive from justice, only exploding.