Soon after leaving prison I fell in with an old “stir” (prison) acquaintance. He was an older man than I was, wise as to the methods of the underworld, and cunning in crime. He proposed a partnership. I agreed, and the following three years we wandered together over a good portion of the world. We visited the larger cities of Europe, matching our wits against the police, and, as luck would have it, always making a clean getaway. Of course we did no big work. Ours was of a petty nature.

Tiring of the Continent, we drifted back to the States, wandering from one to another. The pickings from promiscuous work became poor, and we decided to systematize our further efforts. Looking about for easy graft, we decided “working the rattlers” looked the most promising. “Working the[Pg 70] rattler” is a term applied by the underworld to denote the robbing of freight trains, generally in transit. We organized a gang of four men as active workers. It was no trouble to find men in different cities, eager and anxious to take off our hands what booty we might happen to get. Right here I want to say that it would no doubt create some surprise to some people to know the identity of those very “fences.” Of course it is impossible for me here to mention names, but I will say that among the men to whom we regularly sold our stuff were found some of the solid men of the community, both financially and socially. The nature of the “fence” is essentially selfish. Knowing the origin of the goods to be sold, he offers an absurd sum for them. The crook may at first hesitate, but finally accedes to the bargain. The majority of “fences” I found were crooked, even to the crooks themselves. The men know this, yet still continue to deal with him. One of the paradoxes of the underworld is this pertinent fact: that notwithstanding the known reputation[Pg 71] of a “fence” for crookedness, the thief will still continue to deal with him. The “fence,” as a rule, looks to his own welfare first. If the police happen to “get the goods” on him, and offer as an inducement the safety of himself, the “fence” will usually give the information sought by the police. He thinks nothing of turning “State’s evidence,” providing his liberty is assured him.

Another peculiarity of the crooks is their habit of congregating in the city in some rendezvous of the underworld, known to the police as such. Ask any police head if such plac............