New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-16
vopx nAuv rR,RuNr SUNDAY DECEMBER

He heard but he did not beileve me nc wa'
sure that nv courage had failed me at the ast mo
ment But-and let this be written on MS sIae OF
the account-he gave me the papers; II may De IN
pure generosity, it may be because he had not inc
Armed with them ran on deck almost as
quickly as I had descended. found the position
of things but slightly changed. The pollce-boat
was now alongside, The officer IN command, at
tended by two or three subordinatcs, was coming
ND the ladder Close to the gangway Selgn was
standing. evidently waiting for the group buI
he had his eye on the saloon door also, Tor ha9
scarcely emerged from the latter when he stepped
Have you changed your mind, governor Are
You going to buy him off p he muttered looking
aslance at me as still moved WIN MIN ny n'S
side an .o,ou
MOI / exclaimed loudly and repeatediy-so loudly
that the attention Of the group at the gangway
was drawn toward us When / saw that this was
effected, stepped hastily in front OF Sleigh ana
before he had any clear notion Of what was aGig
was at the officers side. Sir IT., sa'u' r"i''''s
my hat " do you speak French -,
'"'" Parfatemcnt. monsieur he answered, politely
am an Enelishman, and wish TO lay, an in
formation" | said speaking in French ana paus,,
ing there that I might look at Sleigh. AS ma
expected he did not understand French: us
ba1ied and perpeXed face assured me OF that; ~
tried to interrupt me, but the COURTEOUS o'nO'"'
waved him aside.
+" This man here who is trying TO shut my mouth
is smugger Of foreign watches resumed
rapidly Z" He has them about him now ana Is
going to take them ashore They are in number ',
of pockets made for the purpose in the lining OF nj,
coat. am connected with the watch trade and
my firm will give ten pounds reward TO any one
who will capture and prosecute him.
u understand replied the officer And, turn
ing to Sleigh, who, shut out from the knowledge
of what was going forward, was frettlng ana lum
ing in fever of distrust, he addressed some words
TO him He spoke in Spanish ard quickly ana
could not understand what he said. That IL was
to the point, however, the engineers face betrayed
1t fell amazingly on the instant, ana he caso d
That which followed was ludicrous enough. My
heart was beating fast, but could not suppress
smile rs Sleigh clasping the threatened coat about
him. backed from the police He poured out a
torrent of fluent Spanish, and emphatically de-
nicd it was clear the charge; but alas! ne cher-
ished the cOat-at which the police were making
tentative dives-overmuch for an innocent man
with no secret pockets about him ,,,
His mo, Senior, mo- his Pro dios,n and
At a sign from the now grim-lockne officer, two
of the policemen deity seized him, and IN a
twinkling Notwithstanding his resistance, had the
1t was the turn of the bystanders to cry, Nadre
de Dios!7 rs from pocket upon pocket came watch
after watch until five dozen lay in sparkling
rows upon the deck could see that there
were those among the ships company besides
the culprit who gazed at me with little favor;
but the eyes of the police officer twinkled with
qualification each second added TO the inch
prize And that was enough for me
Still knew that all was not done yet; and
7 watched leenlv what was passing. Sleigh,
taken into custody, had desisted from his dis
that he was telling long story. of which could
make out little more than the word lnglese'
repeated more than once. Ii was his turn now
If he had not understood M French; neither
could | understood his Spanish And ! noticed
that the officer, as the story rolled on, looked at
me dOub,qly Judged that that the crisis r ;,n had
sir what he says?" / asked cOurteOusly.
lie tells me a strange story, Mr. Englishman7
the answer: and the speaker eyed me with
curiosity but not unfavorabIy. He says that
Morrisscy, the villanous Engshman-vour pardon
who was at the bottom of the affair of last
Sunday. has had the temerity to return to the
scene of his crime, and is on this vessel"
I shrugged my shoulders. A strange story,
indeed y / answered But it is for Monsieur
to do his duty. l am the only Englishman on
board as the steward will inform you: and for
prisoner wishes. doubt to be even with mel'
He nodded brusquely he took the papers
engineer in his rage and excitement had not made
his story plain No one dreamt OF his charge
being aimed against another Engl shman. No
one knew of another Engishman. The steward
sullenly corrAporated me when | said | was the
only one on 6card, and so all who heard Sleigh
slightly befogged, perhaps, by his Spanish which,
failed him here-did not doubt that his was
pure counter-accusation preferred en- revanche.
No doubt the improbability of Morrissey's re-
turn had some weight with them; Then my
them too, note for $50 pesetas had somehow
slipped which had disappeared when they were.
handed back to me. Need | say after this how 1t
ended? Or that while the police officer bowed
his courteous " Ados" to me- and his men gathered
up the watches, and the crew scowled. the prls-
oner was removed by force to the boat fairly
foamng at the mouth. and screaming out to the
last horrible threats which my ears were long in
forgetting. | walked up and down the deck,
brazening il ont. but very sick at heart
However. the San Miguel, despite her engineers
mishap duly left in half an hour-a nervous
half-hOur to me. With a thankful heart watched
the fort-crowned hills about Carthage change
from brown to blue, and blue TO purple, behind
us, until at length they sank down in the dis
tance.
But officers and men looked coldly on me and
that evening, at Almeria; took up bag and
baggage and left the San Miguel | had enough |
Of the thanks, and moro than enough of the
company, of my cabin-fclow, whom left where
had found him-or nearly so-behind the sail |
cloth. I believe that he succeeded in making his
escape: not that I have since seen him or heard |
from him. But fully month later friend of
mine staying at the Hotel de la Paz, at Madrid |
was placed under arrest for some hours on sus |
pcion of being Morrissey: that the latter must
at that time have been at hberty.-Cornhill.