Court opened, and Mr. Warble, with an
air of satisfaction that he could not all con-
ceal, called the name of John H. Potts.
Tom Nelson arose, was sworn, and duly
took his place on the witness-stand. The
first part of the examination brought out the
facts that he was a drummer, resident in
Chicago, and travelling for a firm there;
that he had been in Aurora ten days since
and had gone on in the pursuit of his busi-
ness. Hearing of the capture of the train-
robber he had written his friend Mr. Keach
of his willingness to tell what he knew at
the trial. Mr. Keach, after communicating
with the prosecuting attorney, had informed
him of the time when it would occur ; and
at much inconvenience to himself he had
returned from another part of the State to
testify.
Then he narrated rapidly — ^all the while
in the hoarse voice of Jack Potts, so differ-
ent from the smooth accents of Tom Nelson
— ^the occurrences of his first meeting with
the prisoner in the bar-room of the Empire
Hotel at Bud, his immediate recognition of
the likeness of his voice to that of the out-



296 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE

law, and consequent suspicion that he was
not the J. Chance he claimed to be, and his
decision to follow him to Aurora on the
morning train. He said that the words and
actions of the prisoner grew more and more
suspicious, the conversation being largely
about the train robber, and about the pris-
oner's intention to recover from him the
diamonds he had taken from Miss Geraldine
Roray. Then when the prisoner dropped
his handkerchief, and at once disowned it
on having the tell-tale initials of T. N.
