The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-01-27
doubted if the clerk and head cham

IhElllE W nam "a ~" W. ~ W.
quite ju%stifable. ] FASTENED back TO
the room and executed a fresh search
so as to satisfy my conscience. When
I was absolutely convinced that the
letters were gone, ! danced about the
room in 81 transport Of glee. The
awful incubus which had been weigh
ing down my spirits was suddenly
removed, and / breathed again.
"What a blockhead ! am" ! said
TO myself; why did it never occur to
me TO destroy the letters and claim,
on my return, that they had been
LOST"
Chance had supplied the excuse
which Imagination had been unable
10 c%oniure up. ! continued my jour
ney, light-hearted as "A prisoner who
has just secured his freedom.
Yelvcrton had advised me to stop
ovcr at SacramentO-one Of the his
tOric cities OF the state-and visit the
capitol and other points Of interest. |
adopted the suggestion. The train
got into Sacramento in the morning,
and / was driven right TO "A hotel.
/ wrote my name on the register,
and asked for "A room for one day. The
clerk whirled the book around, glanced
at the name, and said
All right, Mr.. Bon-why, are you
Mr.. Bonworthy Elliot Bonworthy
Of Clcveland?"
"Wcll," / said, with some dignity,
" what did you imagine ! wrote that
name for-amuscmcnt?'
His tone and manner surprised and
annoyed me. II was evident, how
ever, that my cool answer had discOn-
ccrtcd him. for his hand shook as he
pcncilcd the number Of the room
after my name, and his voice trcm-
BLEED when he called up the bell boy.
Ten minutes later, just as | was
completing n hasty toilet, there was
"a knock at my door, and, i'm answer
to n Z" come in" the clerk entered,
followed by n tall, military-looking
man. When the door was closed, the
clerk motioned his hand toward me,
and nodded.
d" What is it?" ! asked.
ado | understand" said the mill
tary man, "that you acknowledge
yournamc to be Elliot Bonworthy?'
cor course | do" Unanswered some
what angrily.
wei, ! like this nerve, - said the
military man to the clerk, and the
clerk grinncd at me.
Say" continued the military man,
"havc you any friends in this town.
"No," | said ~ had some letters
OF introduction to several
The clerk gave II loud, derisiye
laugh.
THAT settles it, Bill, " ne said to his
companion you had better Il him
in, You can take him down TO the
city on the afternoon train
what does all this mean?" i eX-
claimed.
Bill produced IA paper from his
pocket. at means that you are un-
der arrest" said he, con n charge Of
obtaining money under false pre-
lenses. We know all about your
Observation-Disclosures scheme; it may
have worked all right i'm San Fran
cisco, but it doesn't go here. Now,
jest come along quietly, and there
won't be any trouble; otherwise
| glanced ut the warrant. There
was my name, Elliot Bonworthy,'
rs plain ms print. | don't need to
remark that | was astonished and
frightened. | had heard OF men being
mistaken for criminals and put to the
necessity Of proving their own iden-
tity, but here was | arrested under
my own name, in II place where |
had supposed myself unknown. What
could | door say? asked a few
questions, and learned that the crime
that was charged had been committed
i'm the city of San Francisco Il week
or two before. OF course, | could
prove an alibi at the trial-but, in the
meantime, what was TO be done to
keep out Of Jail?
| accompanied Bill "quictly," as
he had suggestcd-to the sheriff's
office, and we waited until the next
train left for San Francisco.
Bill proved to be an entertaining
companion. The first half Of the trip
he did his best to convince ne that |
ought to make n full confession to
him Of all my various crimes. He
promised to stand in and get me
off with n light sentence. When he
found this undertaking hopeless, he
began TO talk about the country. an
swcring the questions which |. "A
stranger to the scene through which
we were passing very naturally asked.
At length, however, as we were cross
ing the ferry from Oakland, when eX-
pressed my satisfaction at beholding
the Golden Gate for the first time, he
turned on me, with Il shCepish grin,
and said
You'd bctterletu up. 1t won't do no
good. OF ours you know the place as
well as | do, and it's nc use trying to fill
me full OF prunes.
When we arrived i'm the city we went
directly TO the sheriT's office.
"Wewill take you to the jail later
% NsN --N IL