New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-08

lance commntee .u
"You frighten me-" / said however, as my
letters are all genuine, and beer the names Of
many of the most prominent people OF Cevsis sh
hardly expect to meet with oi'ncu'''e' VI '""'
Probably not said YelvertOn;, but you may
expect to he rather cody tTea xeIa;med oncrilv
can see they are going to destroy half the pleas
ure of my visit TO the Coast" v.,,..u.ov M
| NV annoyance seemed to AFFORD ieiVerton 10
small amusement, and he required several times
to the subject after had allowed it to drop.
1t part of my plan to SOP over vsiverton
also made brief stay in that place, and we oG-
oupied adjoining apartments In the same hG sd
Once when he happened e DC IN N my my I9nn and
/ came upon the hated bundle OF Letters;
Here are those internal documents th,. ns re-
where he stood. lie picked It up felt Of Its thick
ness, and then gave sardonlc laugh. Ii
You ore certainly in for it. my boy ,d he se nis
and put the letters back on the 'aoe am'" " p'''
Before his departure which took place the
next day, Yelverton made me promise lhai :
| he might meet me on my arrival at the COAST;
| promised it unhesitatingly, for was satisne et
that his friendship would bring opportunities no'
| to be Sighted.
| Various circumstances which need not detail
| heightened my stay in Denver from week 10
nearly month, and in the course Oh thau I'm. un,e
| | quite forgot about the letters oil lntIouucuTu.
When l was ready to depart, however, thSuSn s
of them with sudden and intense pang VI "''-
| comfort. ...,aa In
| / telegraphed to Yelverton, and proceeded 70
| pack my trunk Just as was about TO turn tne
key it suddenly occurred to me that nau ar,,
noticed the bundle Of letters IN ms ths trmnk
! and investigated. The letters were not 20
| found either in the till or elsewhere linen l
remembered that shortly after my IL az ON.
and had put them on The table. However, they
| were not there now. -
made thorough search Of the room; the let
ters had plainly disappeared
| went Immediately to the clerk and told my
storys He sent for the head chambermaid 90,
"Who takes care of Mr. Bonworthys room =
~" Maggie" answered the head Gh "a,
u have lost package OF letters" SAID L.
| The two exchanged significant giances
| "Do YOU think they were stolen?" ] asked
"no one could have any possible Object,
if the letters were valuable.
"N-no," said not exactly"
"well; I'll tell YOU" said the clerk, evidently
much relieved; ave let that girl Clara go, be-
cause she had n reckless way Of burning up things
| that she found lying around in the rooms. IL
| you have made thorough search and you are
the letters ore not there the chances are they
found it difficult to represss my, JOY, at this
intelligence 1t is to be oihted II the clerl; and
my strange conduct, in actually refusing to make
a row when one quite justifable. | fastened
bacl1 to the room and executed a fresh search so
|
When l was absolutely convinced that the letters
were gone, danced about the room in q transport
| of glee The awful incubus which had been
weighing down my spirits was suddenly removed,
aWhat blocyhead I am said to myself;
"why did it never occur to me TO destroy the let;
tors, aud claim, on my return, ulat they had
been lost ?"
Chance had supplied the excuse which magma
my journey, light-hearted as prisoner who has
just secured his freedom-and totally unssplcious
| of the fate that was about to overtake me.
! Yelverton had advised me to stop over at Sacra-
| mcnto-one of the historic cities of the State
| and visit the capitol and other points OF inter
est. | adopted the. suggestion. The train got
| into Sacramento in the morning, and was driven
| right to a hotel
I wrote my name on the register. and asked
for a room for one day. The clerk whrled the
book around, glanced at the name, and said
| "All right. Mr.. Bon--why, are yon Mr. Bon
worthy? Elliot Bonworthy-of Cleveland ?"
WELL" | said, with some dignity, what dld
YOU imagine wrote that name for-amusement?'
| His tone aud manner surprised and annoyed
me. 1t was evident, however, that my cool answer
had disconnected him, for his hand shook as he
pencilled the number of q room after my name,
and his voice trembed when he called up the
bell-boy.
hasty toilet, there was knock at my door
and in answer to " Come in, the clerk entered,
followed by tall, military looking man; When
the door closed, the clerk motioned his hand
toward me, and nodded.
What is it ?" / asked
|
you acknowledge your name to be Elliot Bon
| worthy"
"Of course 1 do" answered. somewhat
angrly.
well, like his nerve" said the military man
to the clerk, and the clerk grinned at me.
Say" continued the military man, have you
mo" | said Il had some letters of intro
ducton to several"
The clerk gave loud. derisive laugh
THAT settles it. Bill" he said TO his companion:
you had better run him in. You can take him
down to the city on the afternoon train.
What docs all this mean? exclaimed az.
! Bill produced paper from his pocket. " IL
| means that you under arrest" said he on
a charge of obtaining money under false pretences
We know all about your lett t Introduction n
| Francisco, but it doesn't go here. Now lest come
along quietly, and there won't be any trouble;
glanced at the warrant: There was my name.
Elliot Bonworthy," as plain print. / don't
| need to remark that | was astOnshed and fright
ened had heard of men being mistaken aar for
their own identity but here was L, arrested under
my own name, in place where where had supposed
myself utterly unknown. What could door
say? l asked few questions, and learned that
| the crime that was charged had been committed
| in the city of San Francisco week or two before
| or course ! could prove an abb at the trial
| but, in the meantime. what was to be done 10
| keep out of Jail?
gestcd-to the sheriGs office and we waited there
until the next train left for San Francisco
Bill proved to be rather entertaining COM
panion. The first half of the trip he did his
best to convince me that ought to make a fnll
| confession to him of oil my varions crimes. He
promised TO stand in and get me of with
light sentence. When be found this undertaking
hopeless. he began to talk about the country,
answering the questions which I. stranger to
the scenes through which we were passing. very
naturally asked. AT length; however as we were
crossing the ferry from Oakland, when expressed
| my satisfaction at beholding the Golden Gate for
| the first time. he turned on me- with sheepish
grin. and said:
I YOU'D better let up. 1t won't do no good.
OF course you know the place as well as do, and
it's no use your tryin' to fill me full OF prunes."
| When we arrived in the city, we went directly
TO the sherifs Office