New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-21

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nnv and unuttcrably stupid of me not 10 h haor
noticcd this before! Could the note nav ,,.n
intended for any one ese' anu , . Wv The question
w. limit mn the porter at that time OF nen'i Ind
cock any further explanations from hiil l. ooma
any inclination to do so: Ana w. w, w." rat man
to mus sa,n6 - ont nv name It was signed ut the
hottom of my railway ticket ara ne misnu -" Las
seen it when the bagSagc-maser "o D IN mo my
nnchinp IL las is the custom) on giving i NV 10y
pnnJ,n,"e In that case a visit to the different
nrincipa hotels, and an inspection Oh .ici ,ontS
iers would eventually ascertain my onaaum,cd
Yes. that was it, of course ana lhas oar,css an
10 10 ,he delay | would give Mr.. Fearless an
otber half hours grace, and If at cIouN ~
didn't appear. would go to bed Bqt n'S III
INV Tlar,osgs d;d rot come Decidedly annoyed at
ho"inc usclessIy lost tho rest and sleep neeuco
on the eve Of a long sea voyage, and tnihhiis ~
hans the fellow might yet come TO time III III,
llps un before 7 left. went to bed. Next morn
mo- the first thing did was to 90 to me ci r,
"s' Still no person had been to see me me
,,e"r arrived for me to drive down to the DOCK
H Wuia. 60 do With the parcel | didn't know
Whay IL MIGHT leave it to be kept till called
s The clerks mere UNDERGONE in charge OF inc
Office at that early hour-wouidn, LAX , the
cnSil,,litv of accepting its care without authorI
srorn The head clerk or manager, and these would
NOT be up until after had gone. ln mere was wa
nothing for it but to take the parcel WIN n;,
and still fancying the man mlghI come iol =; =.
60 tho steamer as the fat man knew was gong III
no ~ .n Albania and had so telcgraphed his friend
did so On reaching the ship went as ont
to my stateroom to deposit ,nt tore hut instead
me My portmantcau was not there puU such
vas n snail. round-topped American trunk, suc9
W. m" tb"v call a Saratoga" 1 called the steward
and 6 nIHeT yc s SIR he said THAT'S quite right
That's your trunk ,..a ct think
But say it isn't l retorted' 'n'nN
ought TO know my own property,
Well. sir, that's what the transfer baggage man
fetched here this morning along Win your o,ncr
things There was eight in all, ana tnIe o or
he told. me you wanted IN your c"o'n 'Of ''''
TT It was my portmanteau I wanted; not this
COMPOUNDED thing" .o. ou,orr ,our
things, sir. / know, sir, for saw them all co'He
There must be some mistake, then said ]
and they have brought me somebody eScs trun>
for my p0rtmanteau that's ALL" ,
These baggage people never make mlsu. .i
sir replied the steward 1t would rum their
business II they dd Ddm nu 1 cbsc s vpo Sjt
Yes. they did But how does that help IL.
don't know the numbers Of the checks gave
him Yet stay; what was h ua,LNinS "'0"''
took the receipt and my memorandum
boon and compared them. Yes, they were all
RIGHT But stop-no, they were not all right
They tailed in every case but one NO; Il,o1; III
NV memoraudum book read 6567 in the receipt.
That is to say, the first number was III my hcn MN
orandum hook, and was not III tne rcceip ,, %m NV
j.; ;no NV momorondnm hook. 1t could not be pos,
sibe that the baggage agent IN the tralh Couo
have made mistake with one cneck anu nay
been so correct with all the others. Inc mistake
of n figure | could understand, Dut not u Iohg
number running into thousands Nor oo9 i ior
the same reason have erred in entering me nun, nun
hers in nv book. There was one curious thing
about it, too There was no figure oil the hrSI
number in the second. No; the cheek mus,
have been changed by some one after rcccLee e',
it, But by whom? The checks had never p TS
ont of my possession. All, yes, they had. Inc
fat man with the thin face had had them IN MS
hand on tie platform at Chicago. Inc iat man
with The thin face seemed to be my evil genius.
Was I never to escape him or his influence over
Dash the fat With the thin h faG e. ,dtS Sx
claimed, only my invectye was begun oy rarf;r
ting torment since 1t was my misfortune 10 en-
counter him. First with that confounded parcel
which I have half mind to pitch overheard; ana
now. with this bcas;ly, vulgar, disrcpntab.e-look-
ing trunk. As if such thing could belong to
me- l wish he was
Nv further imprccations on the fat mans head
were here cut short by the appearance at the
stateroorn door of slightly built young man with
short black hair and mustache, and dressed in a
lashionably made and perfect htting sui oil iight
tweed.
All, I beg your pardon for intrudng, sir
he said. smiling, and showing row OF whlte teeth
but believe this is the room in which my berth
is situated | presume have the pleasure of adj
dressing my room mate :?
lie spoke with decided American accent, and
the rcsentful glance with which l had at first
greeted him at once thawed away.
to put it more correctly, my ballroom But
won't you come in? l shant be here minute
Thanks. Don't stir, please. only want to
leave these things" and he threw down on the
sticks, and n small yellow leather "valisc" Tor
Gladstone bag. as we call it in England together
with a large bundle OF papcr-covcrcd books and
newspapers III come back directly and put
hon hQ nd . RtT
and see about getting my seat at the table There's
always n rush, and there's nothing like being at
the captains table. Shall l secure you a seat
at the same timc?'
%@@h' thanks thanks. Don't trouble I sad;i
here; What name shall give?7
Major Wardc, please"
III right Here's my card taking one ont
OF IN e,aborats syer-mouncd crocodilcskin
full wave of the hand he was gone
looked at the card. 1t was as severely simple
as the most eXacting republican could desire:
ALFRED WESTERFELDT,
New-Yorl
Was all there was on it,, Rather indefinite per-
haps yet not so bad the Englshman who got
into the American papers rs d" Mr.. Smith, of
/ London
Wen, sir what shall do with the trunl, ?'
asked the steward, who had been waiting outside.
had forgotten all about the trunk in my short
interview with my room-matc and had. while
contemplating his card. fallen into of those
sudden fits OF abstraction hardly to be called
revcric. in which it had seemed TO glImmcr through
my mind that ] had seen this Mr. Westerfeltlt be-
fore somewhere or other, but where or when |
could not recall ! trying to remember,
when the stewards question shattered my train of
thought.
i" won't have it in herc-that's fiat I replied
But I'll tell you what. You can leave il in the
passage outside the door. and then, if any one
turns up 10 claim il, they can get it, It's not
impossible that somebody on board has taken my
porimantcau by mistake"
The steward smiled increduousy.
No board has got it. sir. Pm sure of
that However, he deposited the trunk outside,
as / told him.
There was one comfort. II any one saw it, the
| rcd W with which it had been labelled on the
dock before it came on board would be taken
quite much for Westerlcldt as for Wardc
/ went up deck. We were steaming slowly
out across the bar and past Sandy Hook, and the