The Barrel Mystery

by William J. Flynn

  CHAPTER VII

  THE PLANT OF THE COUNTERFEITERS

  "And a truck did come about three A. M., December 8, 1908. Along withus came Giglio and another man named Bernardo, a man with a ruddycomplexion and a large mouth. We crossed through the village and afterabout two and a half hours' ride arrived in front of an old, desertedstone house situated in the woods, off the road about twenty paces.Bernardo said laughingly:

  "'Here is the printing shop. Don't you like it?'

  "'No,' I replied.

  "'Tell that to Cecala when he comes,' said Cina.

  "'But this is no place for a printing shop,' I continued, Caterinawatching me with glaring eyes.

  "'Come, don't lose time,' roared Cina. 'Unload the stuff before someone comes along and we are seen.'

  "'I will go back with Caterina.'

  "'Where to?' inquired Cina.

  "'To the house where I was; then to New York.'

  "'The house where you were is rented to a party coming from New York.You cannot stay in my house because there are too many children there.When Cecala comes you can speak to him.'

  "'But I don't want to stay alone here in the woods.'

  "'Have no fear. My brother-in-law and Bernardo will stay with you. Andthen, of whom are you afraid? No one passes on this road except at 10A. M., when the letter carrier goes by.'

  "By the time this conversation ended my furniture was all inside thedoor. Cina told Giglio to get the stove ready for it was very cold.Cina hinted that he was going away soon. Hearing Cina say this, I toldhim I wanted to return to the village.

  "'You are crazy,' he said. 'Have you money to pay me for returningyour goods? Besides, I am not going to the village. I am going sixmiles in the other direction to buy hay for the horses. Cecala may beback to-morrow. Talk to him. My brother will bring you stuff to eat.So, why worry?'

  "Later, I overheard Cina whisper to Giglio:

  "'I got close to Caterina, who was in the door-step almost crying, andtried to comfort her, saying that when we were left alone we would getaway.

  "'Where is the fare?' Caterina is supposed to have asked him.

  "Finally Cina departed. Giglio and Bernardo remained and began toarrange the furniture as best they could.

  "Calmed of my anger, I went into the house and looked around. I founda large room that served as a kitchen and a back room for a store-roomon the ground floor. Up the stairway and on the second floor I foundthree small rooms and a large room. Another flight of steps led to agarret. In the large room on the second floor I saw the press. It hadbeen brought there while I was remaining at the farmhouse near Cina's.It was the same press I had dickered for. There was a dilapidated bedin one of the three small rooms on this floor, which Giglio had fixedup the best he could under the circumstances. As I was looking aroundthe place I was convinced that I had been led into a trap of somekind, but it never entered my head that I had been brought up therefor the purpose of printing counterfeit money! I thought that perhapsthey wanted me for printing obscene literature, such as is prohibitedby law, but on looking closer I did not discover any type, and my mindbegan to get busy trying to figure out what a press without type andaccessories could be intended for placed in a desolate house in thebackwoods.

  "It must have been about eleven o'clock that morning when I saw ashort-set man, possibly twenty-five or thirty years old, driving up.He was a man of dark complexion with a large moustache, dressed like afarmer with big shoes and red handkerchief around his neck, wearing acap 'A la Sicilian.' He proved to be Cina's brother Peppino. Heentered the house and said that he was bringing the supplies. He setdown a bag of 100 pounds of potatoes, about forty pounds of flour tomake bread, a bottle of olive oil, a case of macaroni, olives, smokedfish, salt, kerosene, onions and a small form of cheese, as well astwenty small cans containing tomato sauce. Unloading this stuffwithout ever uttering a word, the short-set fellow waved his hand atGiglio and Bernardo as he started on his way. Before leaving thehouse, though, he uttered the words 'Be careful.'

  "Giglio now ordered Caterina to cook, saying that he was hungry.Caterina, realizing that she had to deal with bad people, prepared ameal. Four days went by and on the fifth Giglio and Bernardo left,saying that they were going to get something to eat as the provisionsbrought by Peppino could not last much longer. We were then living onbaked potatoes and plain bread.

  "I remained alone with Caterina in that isolated house for two dayswithout seeing any one. It was snowing. I could not go out. Those dayspassed like so many years. Caterina was taken ill with a fever. Ialmost despaired. Where could I go for help? I knew no one and therewas no house nearby. During those awful days suicide was continuallyin my mind. Then again the thought would come to me--why should you?What for? Why abandon my wife, my parents, my relatives? No, Ireflected, better fight it out to the end and see what those banditshave up their sleeve.

  "On the morning of December 15, 1908, it was snowing large flakes andit was bitter cold. There came a knock on the door. Cecala and Cinaentered. Both of them laughed boisterously when they saw me.

  "This angered me, and I declared that I was not to be treated anylonger as if I were a child.

  "'Very well,' said Cecala. 'If you were a child you would never do forus. We are dealing with you because we know that you are a serious andintelligent fellow, otherwise ... well, don't shout when you talk tous. You must calm yourself because you are dealing with gentlemen andnot with villains.'

  "'I know that; but your actions are not those of gentlemen.'

  "'When you know more then you will not talk so much,' said Cecala in alow tone.

  "Caterina had heard voices and was coming downstairs:

  "'Mr. Cecala,' she said, 'it is necessary that I go to New Yorkbecause I am ill and feverish. Give me the fare and I will go.'

  "'In this weather?' asked Cecala.

  "'Yes.'

  "'When?'

  "'To-day.'

  "'Go away; I have no money.'

  "'You have no money? Give me back the five dollars that I gave you onthe boat.'

  "'I have only two dollars, which I need very much.'

  "'You do not consider me sick?'

  "'Surely I do. So much that we have brought a chicken to cook.'

  "'I don't cook because I am not well, and I am cold,' promptly assuredCaterina.

  "'Madame,' continued Cecala with mock courtesy, 'be happy in thethought that in a month from now we will all be rich. All these queerideas will pass from your mind then. Go ahead and cook. Here is thestuff. From to-morrow on you will not be alone. You will have company,and you will be happy.'

  "Cecala now turned abruptly to me saying in a sinister tone of voice:'Don Antonio, come upstairs. I have news for you.'

  "We entered the large room where the press was standing. Cecala took apackage from his coat pocket. 'Here is the work that we must execute.We must print counterfeit money!' His rat-like eyes froze me to thespot. 'Here are the plates. Compare them with the original. Withoutany one knowing it we will soon be rich. The money that is to becounterfeited is the Canadian five-dollar note. Already I have severalrequests, and if we can do perfect work we will print a million. Ihave brought with me one hundred thousand sheets of paper of fourqualities and different sizes so that we could choose the best gradefrom the lot. The Canadian is not hard to counterfeit because there isno silk in it like in the American money. I am sure that we willsucceed. As to buying the inks, have no fear. In fact, I have alreadybought the inks, and will consult with you in choosing the right kindfor this work. No one will come here except our own people. It is justas well that Caterina remain here. If a stranger should pass and seethe lady he would imagine that there is a family living in the houseand that would not rouse suspicion. So the lady had better stay.'

  "I drew a deep breath. I saw the trap closing around me. As calmly asI could I replied:

  "'This is not my work. I do not even know how to prepare the press.'

  "'Do not begin to find excuses,' barked Cecala. 'This wor
k must bedone. You will leave here when I tell you that there is no more needof you. Not before.'

  "'But this is very difficult work. It is out of my line,' I ventured.

  "'No matter. If you are a printer you know how to do it. I will assistyou. Look at these plates. See whether they are all well made.'

  "I looked at the plates and said I could not distinguish which waswhich. I saw five pieces of zinc engraved on either side of which wasthe 'Bank of Montreal--Canada. Five-dollar note.' The pieces wereseparate, according to the colors; that is, two large plates for thegreen side, and one black; on the face was a large 'V' printed in thecenter, and on the light green the seal in a violet color. The serialnumbers were in red.

  "I explained that there were several things required before anyprinting could be done.

  "Cecala now grabbed me by the shoulders and fairly hissed these wordsat me:

  "'Don Antonio, you are the person who must execute this work under mydirection and the guidance of some one else that you will know in thefuture. _Your life would be lost if you should reveal our secret toany one._ We are twenty men banded together in this affair, and wewill respect you as one of us. Caterina will be respected as well, andwhen we are done we will give her a sum of money to go to Italy; butyou must remain with our society for life. We will provide for you andbetter your condition, and that of your family, without ever revealingto your parents the secret. If you want to write to your brother inNew York and your aunt be careful to say that you are working for apriest in Philadelphia telling them that the address is a village nearPhiladelphia. When you wish to come to New York I must know about it.I will send your fare and tell you where to find me so that I can giveyou the return fare. Courageous persons will help you and guard you incase there should be some spy on the trail. No one will come to thisplace, because the land about the house is our property, and it wouldbe hard for detectives to discover us without some one taking themhere. This place is not suspected. The money printed here is to bechanged in Canada. No one can suppose that it is printed in thislittle village. Without offering any excuses you must do this work.Knowing that you are a serious man I talk to you with frankness.During the time that you remain here you will lack nothing to eat, butyou must bear in mind that we are not big capitalists yet, and untilwe make some money you must suffer a little.'

  "The voice of the 'Black-Hand' Society had spoken. I was the unwillingtool. To refuse meant death. So I resolved to play my part as well asI could and merely answered that I would do what they asked but not toexpect perfect work as I was not a practical plate printer, and hadnever seen counterfeit money before nor printed it.

  "Caterina now called us downstairs to eat. At table Cina told Caterinato abandon the idea of returning to New York. He told her that she wasto remain and cook for the people that would come, that she would bepaid for her work. Caterina made no answer to this.

  "Afterwards I went upstairs with Cina and Cecala and began to set upthe press in the large room near a window that faced the road, Cecalaremarking that there was need of light.

  "Then, after a sinister pause, Cecala began to tackle me again with aspeech:

  "'Don Antonio, I also have American two-dollar plates, but they needretouching. Some of the lines of the black are not precise. We willprint twenty thousand dollars of the Canadian money in five-dollarnotes, and then fifty thousand of these two-dollar United Statesnotes.' Saying this Cecala showed me the plates, which he took fromhis coat pocket. He made me examine them and I observed that they wereof check letter A, plate number 1111. He wrapped them up in a clothand put them in his coat pocket, saying that he would return them whenhe brought the inks. The plates for the two-dollar bills were in threepieces; that is, the green side, the face or black side, and the sealand counter of dark blue.

  "That night Cina and Cecala slept in the house. In the morning theywent off at a very early hour leaving me alone and promising to returnin a few days. On the morning of December 20th, 1908, Cecala andGiglio returned in company with another man, a Sicilian, and dressedlike one. The stranger took from a bag the wood blocks that wereneeded for the plates which Cecala had had retouched. The stranger waspresented to me as Uncle Vincent. Cecala then told Caterina to preparea meal as Uncle had traveled all night and was cold and hungry.

  "We went upstairs to mount the plates on the blocks. Cecala put themin the chase, and, like an experienced man, made the press ready forthe green side of the counterfeit money. Cecala also prepared thegreen ink and then made me print a proof to see whether the work wascorrect. We worked that day in making proofs because we could not getthe right shade of green. Finally, we mixed in a little yellow and hitthe right shade of green for the Canadian note. It was necessary,however, to let the ink dry in order to see whether the shade wasexactly right. That day the whole conversation was of getting rich.Millions were to come to each of us. They went so far as to figure outjust what would be the share of each at the end of the month, sellingthe stuff at 35 cents on the dollar. All were as happy as lords. Allexcept Caterina and I.

  "At about 4 P. M. Cecala took four of the five-dollar note proofs,those which were most like the genuine, and left for New York togetherwith Cina saying that he had to show them to persons more competent.This left Giglio and Uncle Vincent with me.

  "On December 23, Cina came to the house bringing a wagon load of coaland after unloading it told me that he received a letter from New Yorkcalling for other proofs but darker in shade. I mixed up some moreink, and after running off the proofs I handed them to Cina, who tookthem away with him. After about eight days I had received no notice ofprinting or of the proofs when on January 2, 1909, Cecala and Cinasuddenly returned and ordered that the work proceed. The notes were tobe printed in the last shade of ink that Cecala had prepared. No moreproofs were to be sent to New York, Cecala said, because it was verydangerous. One of the gang might be picked up and the notes found onhim. They told me to go by the genuine note for shade and that when Istruck off a proof to show it to Uncle Vincent, who was veryproficient.

  "They told me to hurry and to work fast. They needed the two-dollarnotes badly because Cecala had received an order from a Brooklynbanker for $50,000 counterfeit money. After they were through talkingand gossiping I turned to Cecala and said:

  "'Mr. Cecala, on the fifth instant I must go to New York to attend ameeting of the Grand Court of the Foresters of America, for the annualinstallation of officers takes place on that night. I must necessarilyattend because I am an officer and you will, of course, provide myfare.'

  "'What do you care for the society?' sneered Cecala. 'We are in somuch need of you, and you are finding new excuses. Leave these thingsgo and work.'

  "'I must attend.'

  "'Well, I will send your fare from New York. In case I do not comeback, see me at 92 East Fourth Street, fourth floor.'

  "While this conversation was taking place Giglio and Uncle Vincent hadpicked out the paper stock of which four thousand sheets were countedout. Cecala, assisted by me, made the press ready. Experiments weremade to see if the impression was right. After Cecala had goteverything in readiness he told Uncle Vincent to ink the press fromtime to time as there was no fountain on it. I fed the press byputting the sheets in and taking them out as they were printed. Gigliowould take the printed sheets and spread them out in the garret todry.

  "At 2 P. M., on January 4th, 1909, the green impressions werecompleted on the Canadian notes. Not seeing any one appear with thefare to New York I gave my watch to Giglio and begged him to go to hisbrother-in-law and sell it. Returning the next morning Giglio handedme one dollar and a half, and said that I was to go on the 2 P. M.train. His brother-in-law, Cina, would come with the horse andcarriage and accompany me to the station.

  "About noon Cina came. Caterina said she did not want to be left alonewith two strange men, and asked to be taken to Cina's family until Ireturned. This was agreed to and Cina left her at his house and tookme to the Poughkeepsie station. I arrived in New York at 5 P. M. andmet Cecala
at the station; he feigned surprise at seeing me. Heexcused himself for not sending me the fare and explained that he hadno money.

  "Cecala conducted me to Thirty-ninth Street and First Avenue where heintroduced me to a certain Giovanni Pecoraro, a wine merchant. Heinvited me to eat some salame cheese and fruit. We drank some wine,and then Pecoraro told me to return to this store and get two bottlesof liquor, which I was to take to Highland on my way back to theplant.

  "Coming out of the store, Cecala led me to a house in the same streetnear Avenue A where there were six men in a room playing cards. Cecalacalled one of them aside--a young man about thirty, and requested himto give five dollars to me. This young man, whom Cecala calledSalvatore, responded readily and gave me the money as I was leaving.Cecala now accompanied me to the meeting room of the Foresters ofAmerica. He told me that at 11 P. M. he would call for me andaccompany me to the station, and that I was not to stop over night norsee any of my relatives.

  "After the meeting I found Cecala and Pecoraro waiting outside for me.They made me get on a car and go to Pecoraro's store, where I wasgiven three bottles of liquor and some salame wrapped in one package.They accompanied me to Hoboken where, at 3 A. M. on January 6, 1909,I boarded the train for Highland. Arriving there, I found Cina'sbrother, Peppino, waiting with a carriage. I got into the vehicle andhe brought me to the stone house, that is, the counterfeiting plant.The reader will observe that I was shadowed by the 'Black-Handers'every step of the way. It would have been impossible for me to make abreak-away without courting death. During the month of January, 1909,the work of counterfeiting at the farmhouse proceeded withoutinterruption. From time to time Cina would show up with potatoes andflour. He would examine the work, help for an hour or so spreading themoney on the floor to dry, and then return to his farm."