Part 2 - Chapter 3

Lodge 341, Vermissa

On the day following the evening which had contained so many
exciting events, McMurdo moved his lodgings from old Jacob
Shafter's and took up his quarters at the Widow MacNamara's on
the extreme outskirts of the town. Scanlan, his original
acquaintance aboard the train, had occasion shortly afterwards to
move into Vermissa, and the two lodged together. There was no
other boarder, and the hostess was an easy-going old Irishwoman
who left them to themselves; so that they had a freedom for
speech and action welcome to men who had secrets in common.

Shafter had relented to the extent of letting McMurdo come to his
meals there when he liked; so that his intercourse with Ettie was
by no means broken. On the contrary, it drew closer and more
intimate as the weeks went by.

In his bedroom at his new abode McMurdo felt it safe to take out
the coining moulds, and under many a pledge of secrecy a number
of brothers from the lodge were allowed to come in and see them,
each carrying away in his pocket some examples of the false
money, so cunningly struck that there was never the slightest
difficulty or danger in passing it. Why, with such a wonderful
art at his command, McMurdo should condescend to work at all was
a perpetual mystery to his companions; though he made it clear to
anyone who asked him that if he lived without any visible means
it would very quickly bring the police upon his track.

One policeman was indeed after him already; but the incident, as
luck would have it, did the adventurer a great deal more good
than harm. After the first introduction there were few evenings
when he did not find his way to McGinty's saloon, there to make
closer acquaintance with "the boys," which was the jovial title
by which the dangerous gang who infested the place were known to
one another. His dashing manner and fearlessness of speech made
him a favourite with them all; while the rapid and scientific way
in which he polished off his antagonist in an "all in" bar-room
scrap earned the respect of that rough community. Another
incident, however, raised him even higher in their estimation.

Just at the crowded hour one night, the door opened and a man
entered with the quiet blue uniforrn and peaked cap of the mine
police. This was a special body raised by the railways and
colliery owners to supplement the efforts of the ordinary civil
police, who were perfectly helpless in the face of the organized
ruffianism which terrorized the district. There was a hush as he
entered, and many a curious glance was cast at him; but the
relations between policemen and criminals are peculiar in some
parts of the States, and McGinty himself, standing behind his
counter, showed no