Los Angeles herald., 1891-09-01
UNDER HER SKIRTS.
The Place a Girl Concealed
Her Booty.
An Exciting Affair on Sundays
Santa Monica Train.
A Startling Way of Recovering Sto-
len Property.
A Pretty Girl and How She Stole a
Satchel-ToO Modest to Return 1t.
The Owner RecOvers 1t BY
Main Force.

No matter who he is. He will here
be called Jones. To use his real name
would expose him to notoriety which
might result in his losing a good posi-
tion, and he will adorn tale and point
a moral just as we'll incog.
Mr.. Jones' business takes him to Santa
Monica on Sundays, where he collects
quite comfortable lot of money. AS it
is largely silver coin he gets, he carrie s
a neat little leather satchel, or as it is
properly called, a grip.
Mr.. Jones was at the beach on Sunday,
and boarded the O'Clock train to re-
turn to this city. His little satchel was
well filled, and putting his ticket inside,
he placed it on the seat beside him.
The train filed up, and sweet faced,
innocent looking young girl stood YEARLY
in the aisle, and gave half inquiring
glance at the grip which occupied the
seat by Mr.. Jones' side. The eyes were
lustrous and round, and lighted up with
an amazingly fetching expression of
gratitude as the grip was deposited on
the floor and she wat given its place.
AS she sat down by him, Mr.. Jones
saw that she was very pretty. Her
figure was so round and symmetrical, or
the dress covering it was so cunningly
devised, that her curves, and they were
all outcurves, were plainly indicated.
She leaned back in the seat and the
train sped on to Los Angeles Mr.. Jones
timidly glanced down at his satchel it
was perfectly safe on the floor, and be-
side were two Of the shmmest, daintiest
little bottines imaginable.
The car was so crowded that it was
nearly half way to the city before the
conductor slammed the front door of the
car and shouted "tickets." Mr.. Jones
first felt in his pockets for his, and then
he remembered that he had put it in
the grip with his money, and he reached
down for it, but his hand failed to find
it. He squirmed around in his seat to
look for it. 1t was gone
The conductor was rapidly punching
his way through the car. Poor Jones
thought of his employers and how long
it would take him to reimburse them
out of his salary of $50 month for the
lost coin.
Suddenly suspicion and a remem-
brance struck Jones and struck him so
hard that he gasped and stared at the
charming girl sitting next to him. He
remembered that she had been wig
Cling about on her seat a great deal
lately and had had lots of bother ar
ranging her skirts about her evidently
shapely legs.
81 can't find my grip, will you kin dly
OF md 7 hox
got over on your side of the floor" he
said to the girl.
She amiably stood up, but he could
see nothing, of the grip. Jones has
travelled and knew something about
women's slyness when they become
thieves.
will you, please" he continued in a
sharp, determined tone.
The girl looked displeased, her face
and throat grew scarlet with rage, but she
stepped into the aisle, though she did it
so awkwardly, with sort of a shuffling
step that Jones felt triumphant. He
was positive she had his grip concealed
under her skirts.
"Now, my DEAR" said he, "you will
save yourself going to jail if you quietly
hand back my grip"
The girl screamed, the passengers
crowded around and, not understanding
the situation, some threatened to throw
Jones out of the window. He stood his
ground, however, and the girl began to
get confused in answering the searching
questions of the conductor, and at last
confessed that the grip was fastened to
an elastic strap, which hung from her
waist under her clothes.
"Well, give me the grip and you can
CO." said Jones.
'Oh, 1 can't! I can't do it here I"
cried the girl, her face now red with
shame instead of anger. "Please wait
till we get to town, where can get a
ROOM"
"No, ma'am !" emphatically answered
Jones. eff l had lost that satchel it
would have ruined me. / don't take
any chances. You just unhitch it right
now and give it back"
''But l c-c-cant" sobbed the girl.
'D.d-don't you understand l can't
get it without pulling up my skirts, and
/ c-c-can't do it before these people,"
Here was a case. A girl who could
steal, but who was too modest to escape
going to Jail by disarranging her clothes,
so as to return her booty.
Mr.. Jones was equal to the occasion
81 never have acted rude to woman IN
my llfe," he said to the girl, ''but have
asked you in vain to give me back my
property, and nowI I'm going to take it"
There was piercing scream, and then
a mass OF white lace-trimmed garments,
pair of little shoes topped by we'll
filled brilliant hued silk stockings flew
into the air for moment, and some
thing snapped, and Mr.. Jones stood
grasping his little grip, to the handle of
which was fastened neat little steel
snap from which depended broken
strip of elastic cloth. The girl sank
ahamefaced into the seat and turned her