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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
ON THE MURDERERS' TRAIL

When the three murderers slipped out of the front door they disappeared as if from the face of the earth. The posse scoured the country surrounding the penitentiary, and ran down clew upon clew without finding even a trace of them. All Thursday afternoon and night the posse kept up the search, and carefully inspected all clumps of brush and woods and looked into culverts and beneath bridges without results. Many dews had been run to earth but all failed; On Friday morning the sheriff swore in twenty additional deputies and kept a force of clerks busy sending out circulars to every officer in this and adjoining states. Chief of Police Hunger also added several special officers to his force. At Omaha, Mr. C. E. Johnson, chief of the Nebraska Bankers Association's secret service, also got busy and put out all of his men. Of all the officers

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in the state the bank robbers fear him the most on account of his systematic and never-tiring methods. Many a member of the safeblowers' colony has been compelled to leave the state to operate elsewhere on account of this man. James Malone, chief special agent of the "Burlington," also joined in the search with a force of railroad detectives. By Friday morning the entire eastern and southern part of the state was covered by a dragnet maintained by hundreds of county and police officers and thousands of private individuals.

Acting under the conviction that the men were in hiding in Lincoln, Chief Hunger and a force of men kept up a search of all rooming houses of doubtful character, and the entire police force kept a close watch on all suspicious characters. Friday passed by and still no clew. While the search was going on everything was quiet at the prison. On Friday noon, Steward Robb, who was nearly exhausted from hard work, asked

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the governor to be relieved from the office of acting warden, and Mr. R. W. Hyers, deputy game warden, and a former warden of the prison, took his place. A thorough search was started at the prison commencing at the west cell house. Everything in the cells except the bed clothes was taken to chapel and stored there. The men were kept locked up and fed in their cells. Late on Saturday night came a clew indicating movements of the three fugitives. About an hour after leaving the prison they appeared at the dairy farm of Joseph Dickman at 2709 Van Dorn Street. They were first seen by the hired man, staggering through the drifts of snow, and indeed were a pitiful sight, wet and almost frozen. They were invited into the house, and it was then first seen that they were convicts. Dowd acted as spokesman for the trio, assured the lady of the house that they were not going to hurt anyone, but just wanted a shelter. She kept cool, told them that she had

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to milk the cows, and asked them to go with her to the barn and help her with the work. They said they would. Dowd and Morley went with her while Gray remained in the house and kept watch over the telephone. When they entered the barn she asked them if they could milk, and they answered that they could not. Then she asked one of them to go up into the silo and throw down the ensilage. Morley climbed up there and Dowd filled the mangers with feed for the cows. When the chores were done they returned to the house and Dowd pulled down the curtains. Mr. Dickman's two sons returned from delivering milk, and their mother told them that the convicts were in the house and for them to keep quiet and to do as the men ordered. When the boys came in the murderers asked them the news in town. They related what they had heard. That was the first intimation Mrs. Dickman had of them having committed murder.