During the summer attempts were repeatedly made to evade
the vigilance of Jesse and his men and several desperate dashes were
frustrated by them, including one occasion when Bracken succeeded in
rushing Dodge as far as Galveston, where they were forced to abandon
their design.
From time to time Bracken would disappear from Houston for a week or ten
days, stating on his return that he had been to New York, after which
there was invariably some new move to get the prisoner away. Time and
space prevent giving a detailed account of all the marches and
counter-marches that took place in this battle of wit against wit.
In August, 1904, Bracken made one of his periodical visits to New York,
and when he returned sought out Jesse and said: "Blocher, you might as
well be a good fellow and get yours while you can. I mean that Dodge is
not going back to New York, even if it cost a million dollars to prevent
it." A few days later Bracken sent a gambler named Warner to Jesse, who
offered the latter thirty-five hundred dollars to get "lost" long enough
for the prisoner to slip over to Mexico. Acting upon the advice of his
attorney, Jesse encouraged this attempt, under the belief that if he
could get the Hummel forces in the position of having attempted to bribe
him the prisoner's bail could then be forfeited and Dodge himself taken
into custody.
Pages:
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316