The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1889-10-26

she put it, the Judge would have looked
like the slice of ham in half of sand.
wich if he put the coat on with the cur
tains sewed into It,
On these accounts the Judge felt pro-
voked at the demure quilt-maker for
taking no interest in what to him was
as interesting as the sentence at the
end of a trial is apt to be to prisoner.
You. don't seem to be at all con-
cerned about the custom-house, miss, "
said he.
mot at ALL" she replied.
''Well, how is that?" he asked.
Because I'm bringing nothing du-
table" she replied.
well, l am" said he. i've got
! two pairs of lace curtains, and my wife
is making me so nearly crazy about
them that if this voyage lasts three
days longer I'll either throw them
overheard, or I'll walk right ashore
with them over my arm, and I'll call
out: Here's what I've been trying to
run through; here's what made me feel
more like sneak than l ever felt be-
fore; here's what's sapped my man
hood for seven long"
cit was very foolish to buy lace
curtains" said the quilt-maker, softly.
but now that you have got them, the
only thing to do is to put them at the
bottom of whichever trunk has got all
your soiled linen in it, then pile the
linen on top. Inspectors aren't apt to
go much farther when they come to
that point"
Madame" said the Judge, 81 know
why you've got nothing dutiable. You
know too much. You're too level
headed. The consequence is you're
about the only one on board who is
really enjoying the trip"
The quilt-maker smiled and went on
with her sewing. The others con-
tinued their worry. The moving tales
of happenings to other persons in the
past came to an end at last, and the
uneasiness might have been tenn
porarily allayed Rad not an old trav-
eler, who had held aloof from every
body and every thing except the poker
players and the smOke-room, been in
discreetly questioned about the course
he had always pursued toward the
custom-house men. 1t was an extra
nervous and loquacious lady who asked
him the question. His answer, re-
peated by her to every body on the
deck, was like bomb-shell.
my plan is very simple" said he;
81 tell nobody on shipboard what I've
got l deal only with the inspector
who examines my luggage. These
ships are full of custom-house Spies
They report what they have learned
from tn gossip of their fellow passen-
gers. and the inspectors have no
course left except to do their duty"
The ship full of spies! There was a
state of things! 1t capped the climax.
Every man and woman tries to absent
himself and herself from'all the others,
in order TO recollect just whom they
had conversed with, and what they had
told them. The ladies who had
brought their knick-knack of silver
and china and gold on deck to show to
one another were in fever of alarm.
The Judge and his wife, who had al
lowed every soul on board to know
about the lace curtains, were in an
agony of apprehension. In a large
measure the passengers now began to
suspect one another OF being custom
house spies. The tension in the cabin
was such that had it been transferred
to the boilers it would have been dan
gerOus.
The next incident of the voyage was
the arrival of the two officers, who
came aboard at Staten Island, to re-
ceive the declarations of the passen-
gers. A curious mental process, upon
which there is no room here to dwell.
had gradually brought about a general
sitting Of conscience, accompanied by
the assumption that. after all, no one
had any thing that was really dutiable:
excepting the Judges lace curtains, of
course. and the jewelry and spoons and
pen-knives and watches that would 90
in the gentlemen's pockets and there
fore did not count, since it was under
stood that the searching of pockets
was a rare occurrence. Therefore all
agreed that they would say they had
dutiable, and all asserted that
they felt easy of mind and conscience
in doing so. This was so largely the
general agreement that one pledged
the other not to break the compact
but to be firm and say they had moth
ing, when asked the question. What
then, shall be said of human nature
when it is known that $50 far as one
man was able to Judge by what he was
told and observedD nearly every pas
5enger, on coming to the crucical
point, weakened, and gave the
officers a general idea of what he had
that might call for an enforcement
of the law. Not what he or she had
in his or her pockets mere trifes.
you know" of jewelry and precious
Stones-but the Delft plates, and the
suits for the eldest boy at home, and
the cheap etchings, and a hint of all
the things that had to be left in the |
trunks. The only answer to such a
queer denOten1ent is that human nature
is either better, or at least more eau
tious, than it sometimes pretends to
ho Ac 70 ,o off