The Opelousas courier., 1894-05-05
"All right, Mr.. Bon-why, are you
Mr.. Bonworthy Elliot Bo1worthy

ACCOMPLISHMENTS"
His tone and manner surprised and
annoyed me. 1t was evident, how
that my cool answer had discon-
,erted him, for his hand shook as he
Denciled the number of the room
after my name, and his voice trem-
bled when he called up the bell boy.
Ten minutes later, just as l was
completing a hssty toilet, there was
a knock at my door, and, in answer
TO a come in" the clerk entered,
followed by a tall, military-looking
man. When the door was closed, h
clerk motioned his hand oWard me,
and nodded.
"Whatis it?" I asked.
"DoI understand" said the mill
tarv man, that you acknowledge
YOUR name to be Elliot Bonworthy"
GOT course l do" Unanswered some
what angrily.
s.Weli, | like this nerve" said the
military man to the clerk, and the
clerk grinned at me.
Say" continued the military man,
'shave you any friends in this town.
No" l said; II had some letters
of introduction to several
The clerk gave q loud, derlslve
laugh.
ssThat 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 ram.
"What does all this mean" l eX-
claimed.
Bill produced a paper from his
pocket. 1T means that you are un-
der arrest" said he, ION a charge OF
obtaining money under false pre-
lenses. We know all about your
Observation-Disclosures scheme; it may
have worked all right in San Fran
cisco, but it doesn't go here. Now,
lest come along quietly, and there
won't be any trouble; otherwise
I glanced at the warrant. There
was my name, "Elliot Bonworthy,
as plain as print. / don't need to
remark that l was astonished and
frightened. | had heard of men being
mistaken for criminals and put to the
necessity of proving their OWL iden-
tity. but here was [ arrested under
nv own name, in a 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
in the city IL San Francisco a week
or two before. OF course, l could
prove an alibi at the trial-but, in the
meantime, what was to be done to
keep out of jail?
| accompanied Bill %"quietly," as
he had suggested-to the sheriff
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 me that l
ought to make a full confession tc
him of all my various crimes. He
promised to ''stand in and get me
off with a light sentence. When he
found this undertaking hopeless, he
began to talk about the country, an
swering the questions which |. {
stranger to the scenes through which
we were passing, very naturally asked
At length, however, as we were cross
inc the ferry from Oakland, when l eX
pressed my satisfaction at beholdlnE
the Golden Gate for the first time, h
turned on me, with a sheepish grin
and said:
"You'd betterlet up. 1t won't do ~
good. OF course you know the place a
we'll as / do, and it's no use trying to til
me full of prunes."
When we arrived in the city we wen
directly to the sheriff's office.
1--WE will take you to the Jail late
on" said Bill, alphabetically.
The sheriff dispatched a messenge
after some Of the complaining witnes
SEES, and then proceeded to interview
me. I told him my name and e,
planned that I was a tourist frol
Cleveland. He nodded his head an
announced that the jig was up, an
that I might as well confess, for the
had very good case against me.
Presently two well-dressed me
were ushered into the room. Bill az
companied them.
seThis is the man." said the sheriff
"He acknowledges tat least tn
name"
HE is not the man." said one {
the newcomers, emphatically.
"He isn't?" exclaimed the sheriff
and Bill made a hasty reference to til
Internal regions.
"No!" cried the gentleman. {
told you the fellow had a blonde mu
tache, blue eyes, was thick set an
wore his hair parted nearly in tt
middle"
"Yelverton!" Exclaimed, springir
"That's one of his names" said tt
sheriff. "He went here under tt
name Of Elliot Bonworthy and he ha
; an armful eff letters of introduction
with which he worked the tow
, What do you know about him."
} "He stole those letters from me
Denver" | said.
"Oh, then you are the simon-pu1
Elliot Bonworthy?" said one OF tt
gentlemen.
II can prove it readily enough
:, necessary" | said. {,
; tThe sheriff and Bill began to NAL
. profuse apologies, to which | pa:
little attention, as I was anxious
: learn of Yelyerton and his perform
anceS.
HE arrived here nearly a mont
: ago." said one of the gentleme1
! ssand began Immediately to make a
. ouaintance by means of these lette