Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1892-11-26

6Wered
Forty-eight honrs later we had ar
rived at Sandy Hook, and were fast up |
preaching quarantine when something !
called me from the britlSe, and / went I!
on deck |
There. standing by the railing, look ,
ing off toward Staten Island, were the
mem bers of this strange family. But
what a change, I thought of Cinderella
and her magical Transformation.
The day was one of the hottest OF
September, yet the old lady was
| wrapped in an elegant sealskin gar
ment that reached nearly to her feet
Under this saw the folds of a hand
some black satin dress A rich bonnet
on her head and light kid gloves COM
pleted her costume.
The old man looked as if he had jrlst
come from the hands of one of the most
fashionable London tailors. He was
| dressed in a complete new suit OF
| clothes, q costly overcoat and a silk
hat.
But the greatest change in appesr-
ance was in the four daughters Hith-
| erto they had been long, slim girls;
! now they were quite round and plump.
Their dresses were plain but rich; and
handsome hats shaded their faces,
which were, however, thin and, If any.
thing, still paler than before.
As soon as the ship was in hes berth
| and everything mado secure, l came
down from the bridge, and, standing
near the tSangway, watched the bag
gage as It was carried on the dock 1t
SO happened that it was piled up not
far from the foot of the gangway, SO
that had good opportunity to SEQ
the result of the examination.
Co. ilxr ha Ives n n .
gone ashore with the other passengers,
and now stood near collection of
trunks. bags and bundles of rugs,
waiting for an officer to examine their
luggage.
Twas well acquainted with the senior
inspector, who was stationed but few
steps from the gangway. Occasionally
he looked up and smiled as the men
came to him and reported the result Of
their work.
A few minutes later an official ap-
preached the strange family and asked
for the keys of their trunks, which the
old man had not produced. He thrust
his hand into his pocket and drew oGs
his keys. The officer took them, fitted
them to the trunks, threw open the lid
OF one after another, lifted the con-
tents, ran his hand through them; in
.
In the meantime the attention of the
senior officer had been drawn in that
direction IL trrs->0S -sa', faced this
=. Oup, carefully scrutinizing its mem
bcrs while the examination was in prog
, ress.
When all had been opened, the lid,
, were closed and marked by the inspec
, tor, who then reported that nothing
contraoand or dutiable had been found
! smiled as / heard the report. At tina
moment the eyes of the senior Office
, met mine. ] noticed peculiar ex
, preston on his face.
Advancing toward the party, the in
! spector told the old man to go to tn,
Office occupied by the custom house off
cials. My curiosity was excited.
! left the ship, went down the gangway
and stood few steps distant, watching
, the proceedings.
! The old mans countenance turned
= or eenish-white as he looked in the di
4 rection indicated. The old lady trem
= bled and seemed scarcely able to stand
y while the four girls were white an
2 terror stricken. They followed tn
superintendent into the office, and tn
: door closed behind the whole party.
:. The old man was requested to ste
!. into one of the examining rooms, Will
n the mother and daughters were talSei
q in charge by n female searcher an
4 conducted into another
a After about half an hour the tren
d bling woman and her daughters re
turned TO the main office. Tho fcmal
~ searchcr followed, and, going up to tn
4 table in the center of the room, place
4 n small valisc upon it in front of th
e appraiser.
Q At almost the same moment the oil
man appeared, accompanied by an off
o Ger. The officer placed on the table
o. small package inclosed in brown papeI
d The office was now filed with peopl,
!. many of whom were passengers fror
o the ship. They had perceived that th
It queer family were suspected, and ha
d | remained behind to see the fun" IL
appraiser rose from his chair. went Il
v to the table and opened the valis'
V Every eye was upon him as he DIRE
,t forth its glittering contents and sprea
= them out before il.
v Swiss, French and English watche
n chains. both long and short, bracelet
rings and jewelry of every descriptio
Is lay sparkling in the sunlight. II
n brown paper package, upon beir
ID ! opened. disclosed about six thousar
$ dollars worth of unset diamond
n- These were found concealed in Il
Il clothing of the old man
II The total value of the goods was c
timated to lie nearly eleven thousar
le dollars
o. a loud laugh rang through the roo
D. at the expression of dismay on the o
ID mans face. There was little sympatt
le for hiJa, but the position of the po'
ST old lady and her daughters was indes
ii pitiable.
In the excitement OF the moment
I did not think of renarking the appea
le | ance of the girls until an exclamatiC