Here I lay me down to sleep
To await the coming morrow
Perhaps success, perhaps defeat
And everlasting sorrow
I've labored long and heard for bread
For honor and for riches
But on my corns too long you've tread
You fine-haired sons of bitches.
Let come what will, I'll try it on
My condition can't be worse
And if there's money in that box
'Tis money in my purse.
No one had even come close to capturing him, when he struck again five months later. Two months after that he robbed two stages in two days. In between each job, it seems he spent most of his time in San Francisco, posing as a successful businessman complete with diamond stick pin and walking cane. He also posed as a tired traveler, politely asking for a meal at isolated homes. The only trouble he ever encountered was on his twenty-third holdup on July 13, 1882, when he attempted to hold up the stage on its way to Oroville. For the first time, he met resistance. The express messenger, George W. Hackett, actually fired at him. Black Bart disappeared into the bushes and escaped.
The attempted robbery of stage bound for San Francisco on November 3, 1883 would be his last. Reason E. McConnell drove that day. On board was Jimmy Rolleri. At the bottom of a steep grade, Rolleri got off the stage to go hunting. He told McConnell he would meet him on the other side of the hill. Meanwhile, at the top of the grade, who should McConnell meet but Black Bart. This time the treasure box was securely fastened onto the stage. While Black Bart was busy trying to get it loose, Rolleri strolled up with his shotgun. Before he knew it, Black Bart was shot at three times, one shot wounding him. He fled into the brush and disappeared with a heavy sack.
McConnell hastened into Copperopolis and reported the crime. When Hume and other detectives arrived on the scene they found many of Black Bart's possessions that he hastily left behind, including a razor, a belt, a magnifying glass, and his black derby hat. And on a handkerchief they finally found a definitive clue--a laundry mark of F X 0 7. Hume assigned Detective Harry N. Morse to track down the laundry. The obvious place to look was San Francisco, where they were approximately 90 laundries.
