TALES OF ADVENTURE

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 218, 13 September 1924, Page 24

TALES OF ADVENTURE

_—»— ■ I »l — I ■ .I—REVENGE!

By CHARLES TRUSCOTT, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,

Criminals frequently utter blood-curdling threats when sentenced, but few try to carry them out. Here is a dramatic story or a man who waited six years Tor a chance to grattry bis lust Tor vengeance, spending' the Intervening time in desperate attempts to escape from prison in order to get at his enemy more speedily. " The narrative is absolutely true." writes the author, " and the grave's of the two leading characters can ho seen at iS'orth Bay."

"Curse you! I'll get you for this!" So venomously were the words spat out that a shudder ran through the crowded courtroom at North Bay, Ontario, one 6pring day in 1916. Then, with a la3t vicious glare at the man responsible for his capture —Detective Fred Lefbyrc — the prisoner, a young Pole named Leo Leopold, alias Rogers, surrendered passively to being led away to commence his heavy sentence of seven years' hard labour.

"When the hearers had recovered from the first shock of tho fiercely-hissed threat, no one paid much attention to it. After all, the prisoner waa little more than a boy; his chief fault an overpowering passion for firearms, which, had broken into various hardware stores to procure. When tracked down and arrested, however, he had attempted to use the gun in his possession to resist capture —hence the heavy sentence. Three years later Rogers, serving his sentence in the penitentiary at Kingston, Ontario, walked 'up to one of the guards;and, handing him a letter, asked him. if. he would mind reading it? Unsuspectingly, the. guard took . the proffered letter, and, resting his' rifle against his leg, turned to examine it. Then, with cat-like swiftness, Rogers jerked a short iron bar from beneath his tunic and brought it down with savage force on the bent head of the unfortunate warder, who dropped unconscious. Without wasting a second Rogers stooped to lift the body of the insensible man from off the Winchester he desired. As he fumbled in his haste he was himself knocked out by the crashing blow of a rifie-butt, wielded by a second guard who, witnessing the cowardly assault, had rushed up.

For his murderous attack on the guard, whom he had almost killed, Rogers, as soon as he was discharged from hospital, was sentenced to twelve months' solitary confinement—a brooding, vicious, sullen captive Avith but one object in life: to get a gun, escape, and kill the hated Lefbyre.

His solitary confinement ended, Rogers somehow got wind of the fact that Government Federal Investigating Officers were visiting the Kingston jail on their usual inspection trip. He sent in a formal application for an interview with the chief, a Mr. Duncan. Much to Mr. Duncan's subsequent regret, lie granted the request, which was coupled with the statement from Rogers that the reason he desired an interview was that he might impart some information concerning plans for a wholesale escape then being formulated by the longterm prisoners and their friends outside. He added that, if be passed on this information to the chief-of- the visiting officers, he hoped . .that, he . in. his turn, •would use his influence to get Rogers' sentence shortened. "

The intervieAv took place in a gloomy, . chamber known as "The Dungeon." This room was almost bare of furnishings, containing only a table; a few chairs, and an iron safe. It was closed: :by "the usual heavy steel door. In charge of two warders, Rogers was .brought in, and, at a command from £Mr. Duncan, the guards retired, leaving in the gloomy chamber only three men— .Mr. Duncan, his assistant (Mr. Knox), tand the prisoner. Rogers glanced at the assistant. "I would rather speak with you alone, Bir," he said, addressing Mr. Duncan. Thereupon the inspector signed to his assistant to leave. -~

The young man hesitated for a moment, mentally sizing up his chief and the prisoner; then, remembering that Duncan carried a revolver, he got up and went out, securing the heavy steel door from the outside.

"Now." said Mr. Duncan, regarding the convict sternly, "sit down and tell mc what you know of this plot." Carefully placing his cap and mittens on the table near his right hand, Rogers reached inside- his tunic With his left, and, producing a letter, rose to his feet. Leaning across the table, he handed it to the officer, asking him to examine it closely for traces of invisible ink, the means by which the prisoners were communicating Avith their friends outside and making their plans for escape. Taken off his guard by the convict's apparent sincerity, Mr. Duncan took the letter from the outstretched; hand, and, spreading it out-on ihe table'in front of him, bent his head to read.it-

I Then some intuition caused him to straighten up again to look at Rogers. But he wae just a fraction of a second too late! .Even as he bent his head, Rogers.right hand had stealthily closed on one of his mittens, in which he had concealed a lump of lead stolen from a machine, and now the loaded mitten was SAvhSging down! Mr. Duncan tried desperately to evade the A-icious blow, and luckily succeeded in escaping its full force. Even as the smashing lump of lead gaßhed open one ,side of his scalp, his fingers closed on Rogers' neck,' and he shouted loudly for help..

Then ensued a deadly, desperate strugglfrj-for life on the one aide and freedom on the other.

Up. and doAvn the room the two powerful men wrestled, pounding, gasping, exerting their utmost strength, the blood- from Mr. Duncan's wound splattering both- of them. But Mr. Knox, the assistant, .waitingjust outside the door, had heard his chief's call, followed by the sounds of the fight now going on within. Fumbling in the - ' semi-gloom of the corridor, at the same time calling for the guards, he at last got the heavy door open, and. plunged in to the assistance of his chief.' " :: ' " "

Quickly he sized up the situation. The two men were reeling round the room, locked in close embrace. A revolver was useless. As the";eoml)a.tants crashed into him his fingers fastened on tiie throat of the treacherous prisoner. *°e«s, straining gasping, exerted all the tremendous strength he possessed .iSiuSaS h £ e thc f p ° n . hia in ___t» . guards, arriving lS^ s S c _ into th! : securely manacled ™?_»?'? E ° gera as Badly hurf__ d^S^,* B ' blood,-Mr. Duncan m loss of pit? but hp,pletely recovered- Wth experience. Meanwhile R oßer T__JTv hls _____mitted *--«^a-__?_^3

wounding with intent to kill, and had been sentenced to serve an additional ten years with hard labour.

It was after this that the cunning of those obsessed with but one idea exhibited itself in the convict.

To all appearances his character underwent a complete change; he became a quiet, well-behaved, model prisoner. But it was only another scheme to regain his freedom and "get the man he had sworn to kill.

The parole system was then being tried out, much to the disgust of veteran detectives and police oflicers who were acquainted with the character of criminals. After two years of perfect behaviour Rogers put in an application to be allowed out on parole. His clean conduct-sheet for those two years, coupled with his youth, prompted the authorities at Ottawa to grant his request, and he was released. For several weeks he failed to report, as ho should have done, and in spite of every effort on the pars. of the police he could not be located. Then, suddenly, he was rounded up and taken into custody within a few yards of the police headquarters at North Bay. Taken into the station, the customary search disclosed the fact that he was in possession of a revolver and ammunition. He was lodged in the cells to await trial on the charges of failing to report and of being in possession of concealed weapons.

In May, 1023, he was brought into court for trial.

At the time of the trial the courtroom contained a sprinkling of spectators, and a number of lawyers, clerks, and guards busy over the usual preliminaries that precede the arrival of the judge. '

Rogers, unfettered, and dressed in ordinary street clothes, was seated on a wooden fornl between two guards in the section of the courtroom allotted to those awaiting trial. Stealthily he inserted his right hand into the outside pocket of his jacket, gave one swift glance round, and then, with.- a powerful outward sweep of his elbows, tumbled the unsuspecting guards on either side of him on to the floor. Then, jerking his right hand from his pocket, he fetched out a gleaming automatic and leapt to his feet. Rogers was, of course, in touch with friends during his short period of freedom, but although an investigation was held, it was never discovered how he procured the weapon tbat enabled him to' make his escape. - "Hands- up everybody!" he shouted, swinging the weapon into plain view. Completely taken by surprise, policemen, guards, spectators, and clerks elevated their hands.

"That's fine!" ejaculated Rogers, keeping the gun slowly circling. "Now hold it!"

Swiftly he backed towards the door, passed through, and closed and locked it from the outside. Then he walked quickly along the corridor, through the outer doors, and so into the street. Knowing that a hue-and-cry would speedily be raisei 1 , he hailed a passing automobile, and, jumping in beside the driver, pressed the pistol into the astonished man's ribs, and growled: "I'm Rogers. Get mc out of town quick!" A few miles out of North Bay he halted the car, thanked the driver, and told him to go ahead, while he himself alighted and struck away from the road into the woods, heading towards the shores of Lake Nispissing. What was passing through his mind just then is unknown, but the one burning desire — revenge on the man who was responsible for his first acquaintance with the interior of a jail—must have been the dominating thought. In the Avild and heavily-timbered country to the north and west of North Bay, or in the great Timigana Forest Reserve, with the aid of. friends to supply him with the necessities of life and with money, the odds were all in favour of his making a clean getaway. Spite of this, he deliberately sacrificed his chances in order to seek that loug-delayed vengeance. Posses Avere soon scouring the countryside in all directions, but iv spite of the most diligent search no sign of the "wanted" man Avas discovered for over twenty-four hours. Then Rogers made a sudden and dramatic appearance, armed with a Winchester carbine in addition to the revolver. Two members of a posse, Avalking along a railroad track just on the outskirts of the town, were unexpectedly confronted with the spectacle of the fugitive, standing among the trees at the side of the track with levelled rille.

The grim figure spoke six Avords: "Drop —your —guns —and—beat—it!" Only too glad to get off so easily, the two men dropped their firearms and fled. A hurried glance over their shoulders as they rounded a bend in the-track revealed a grim figure with levelled Winchester still watching them. Towards evening on the same day a larger posse, brought to the scene try these two men, sighted Rogers and promptly opened fire. The hunted man emptied his own guns in reply, and for a few minutes a fierce hail of bullets Avas exchanged. Then, seeing that he was likely to be surrounded, Rogers made a dash, broke through the cordon, and ran as hard as he could over an open field. In the gathering darkness he disappeared in the bush on the far side, apparently uninjured, although pursued by many bullets. The members of the posse decided that to cross the open field until darkness had settled down was to put themselves in deadly danger, although the hunted man might not have stopped on the other side. Anyway, when they eventually went on, Rogers had A-anishe'd. By-this time a large reward had been placed upon the head of the escaped man, dead or alive, and police headquarters were constantly receiA-ing phone messages from frightened farm folks and from people out for reAvard. Police cars coA-ered many miles following up Some of these calls, but all of them proved useless. Then, afoout nine o'clock one evening, a tall, Avell-built man Avalked into a small general store on the edge of the toAvn, purchased sotr.g fruit and a few bars of- chocolate, and as he received the -change-'from -the h ill -lie -Had tendered in payment, asked permission to use the phone, a permission which_ the unsuspecting storekeeper readily-granted.

Walking over to the instrument, the Btrangcr consulted the directory; then, taking off the receiver, gave the number he required. "Hello!" he inquired as he was put through. "Is that police headquarters? You are looking for a man named Rogers, I believe. He is down at the junction of the three roads, just behind the McLaughlan garage. Send some men —quick!" He then hung up the receiver, thanked tho still unsuspecting storekeeper, and stepped out of tho store, stopping just outside to pick up the rifle he had left there. At police headquarters, in answer to the 'phono call, Detective Lefbyre, with three other officers, hurriedly climbed into a police car and dro\-e rapidly towards the spot described, not knowing whether they were going on another wild goose cha.se or not. Pulling up at the rear of the garage, with guns ready, the police officers tumbled out. Tben—Crack! Crack! Two stabs of flame split the darkness from less than fifty yards away, and the policeman standing beside Lefbyre fell to the ground badly wounded. With one accord the remaining officers dropped flat, and returned the shots with interest, but there was no reply. Cautiously, expecting every moment that the rifle in the hands of the unseen marksman would crack again, the quartet of officers warily approached the bushes at the rear of the garage. Hoping that perhaps one of their bullets had got their man, they converged on the spot whence the two shots had come, but the unseen marksman had disappeared! Knowing it would be suicidal and useless to hunt through the woods in the darkness, the officers returned to the ear and their wounded comrade. They then drove back to headquarters to secure for him the necessary medical attention.

Bcturning once more to tho scene of the shooting, they impatiently awaited the coming of daylight, realising now, by the persistent way in which he was haunting the district, that Rogers was hunting one of his hunters, grimly determined to fulfill his threat of several years before to "get" Lefbyre. At last, when dawn commenced to brighten the 6ky, the officers resumed 'the hunt. Spreading out, they started to comb the patch of timocr.

Rifle in hand, every sense on the alert, Lefbyre, knowing he was the object of the couvict's hatred, scouted silently through the bush. Slowly he emerged from the shelter of the trees and stood motionless on the banks of a small creek. As he stood- there scanning the bush on the far side, a figure rose quietly to its feet close by. It was Rogers!

Simultaneously each man caught sight of the other. Their Winchesters leapt to their shoulders. Crack! Crack! The reports of the two rifles blended. Aud as Rogers, unharmed, hurriedly pumped another shell into the breech of his gun, he saw the man he had sworn to "get" slip slowly to the ground—mortally wounded.

The fugitive stood there for~a moment as if undecided. Then as other members of the posse, attracted by the shots, began "to hurry up, lie silently disappeared in the bush, satisfied that he had fulfilled the threat made, in the crowded courtrooMf six years before. Gathering round Lefbyre, the other policemen tried to aid him, but he died in their arms, his last gasping- words being: got TUft. a,t. last!" By killing such a popular officer as Lefbyre, Rogers sealed hi 3" own doom, for the whole countryside was now aroused, and posses of grim, bitter, determined men hunted in every direction for the' murderer. For three days, however, not a sign or trace of the "wanted" man could be discovered, and it was generally thought that he had succeeded in breaking through the cordon of searchers, and, having satisfied his lust for revenge, bad fled the district. Nevertheless, the hunt continued, and people everywhere were on the alert for traces of the fugitive. S Then, early one morning, a lumberman !on his way to work saw a man, who 1 answered to the widely-circulated description of Rogers, emerge cautiously | from the woods and advance to the edge of the water at the north shore of Lake Ixispissing, only three or four miles out lof North Bay. v

•Hurriedly the lumberjack made his way to the nearest telephone, and got in touch Avith police headquarters. In less than twenty minutes a car-load of armed policemen arrived. Guided by the lumberman, they stole silently through the bush, and reaching the fringe saw the "wanted" man, who was anxiously scanning the AA-aters of the lake through a pair of field-glasses. Quietly the police party leA-elled ,their rifles.

"Surrender, Rogers; we've got you covered!" called out the officer in command.

Wheeling like a flash, Rogers dropped the field-glasses and made a grab . for the Winchester lying -at his feet. But ho never reached it. A A-olley rang.out on the still "morning air, and the desperado pitched to the sands—stone dead. The police had avenged their comrade!