their friends might rescue them, the authorities
at Aurora decided to place them in the penitentiary for safe
keeping. Colonel Melick, representing the Nebraska Bankers Association,
went to take them to Lincoln. The robbers were unknown to the
officers at Aurora, but when Mr. Melick walked into the jail
he recognized in one of them an old time acquaintance, Shorty
Gray. Several years ago Shorty had been arrested by Mr. Melick
and had remained as his guest for some weeks at the county jail. "Pretty
tough luck, Shorty," was Mr. Melick's greeting to his former
charge. "Darned tough luck, Mr. Melick," said Shorty.
Large crowds gathered at the station along the line to see the
bank robbers, but Mr. Melick took them back into the Pullman
and pulled down the curtains, and thus kept them from the gaze
of the curious throngs. This shows the humanity of the man. The
dynamiters showed their appreciation by acting like men and making
no trouble of
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any kind. Upon their arrival in Lincoln they were
hurried into a large automobile and quickly landed behind the
gray walls of Lancaster. When the convicts heard of the appointment
of Mr. Melick they were curious to know all about him. Way up
on gallery C sat an old fellow who was serving from one to ten
years for burglary. "I know him well," said this old
burglar, "for he brought me from Sacramento to Lincoln once.
I laid up in that jail a long time trying to beat the case, and
believe me, that he was a feeder." For the benefit of those
of my readers who are unfamiliar with the criminal vocabulary,
I will explain, that the criminals rate the sheriffs in two classes.
One class are the "feeders," and the other class are
the "stomach robbers." The first feed well, but the
others instead of giving the prisoners sufficient to eats draw
the money from the county and divert the most of it to their own
benefit. News travels fast in the penitentiary, although they
are
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