Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-12-27

On board ship when you find man
who shows a marked preference fol
his own society above that of the
loungers on deck or habitues OF the
smoke room, one is inclined to jump
at the conclusion thatl;he has some
solid reasons for his exclusiveness. If,
in addition to this he happens to be
of an uncommunicative disposition,
with black hair and swarthy com
plexion, given to wearing slouched
hat and long cloak rightly or wrongly,
you put him down us q decidedly sus-
picious character.
Now, we happened to have passen-
ger on board-a Brazilian named De
Castro-who tailed in every way with
this description. But for the fact that
l had conclusive evidence to show he
could not have been directly con.
cerned in the robberies- inquiries
proved he had remained on deck the
whole evening he certainly would
have been treated to private inter
view in til, captains cabin. AS it
was, I was forced to conclude that
black hair, swarthy complexion, slouch
hat and cloak were quite compatible
with man S innocence.
Nothing further occurred to excite
suspicion until the last day or two of
the voyage. Then, one ev'ning after
dinner, word was brought to me that
three other staterooms had been rifed
in the same mysterious manner.
Watches, jewelry and even money had
disappeared, though i'll all three cases
the passengers stoutly declared they
had left their doors locked.
When the alarm reached me l hap
pened to be standing in my deck Office.
l had in my hand twenty sovereigns,
which had just taken in exchange for
American money to accommodate ''one
of our passengers. I didn't want to
lock up the gold; [ simply placed it
on my desk, switched off the light and
hurried away. had no fears for the
safety of the soversfgns, my door hav
ing a particularly intricate lock, in
which [ took good care 10 turn the
key before leaving.
/ remained below for an hour or so
investigating these fresh complaints,
but, as in the other cases, was utter
lY unable to max head or tail of them.
Vexed and bewildered, I went back to
my Office, unlocked the door, turned
on the light, and mechanically
stretched out my hand to take the
sOvereigns from my desk. Ny hand
closed upon nothing more solid than
thin Army little pile of gold had
vanished
For minute or two I stood there
gazing blankly before me, SO utterly
confused aud dismayed that l could
scarcely bring my wits to bear upon
the mysterious affair. Then I managed
to pull myself togethe and took a
look around my little cabin. In the
course of my observations my eyes
to rest upon the porthole,
which stood wide open, the weather
being oppresslvely not.
l regarded the innocent looking
portfolio with the air of a yeritable
Sherlock Holmes. l went outside and
thrust my arm in through the open
ing, but my hand did not reach within
fully two yards of the desk. Still. it
struck me as being the only way by
which the thief could have got at the
money, and I determined to put my
theory to a practical test.
I hurried down into the saloon,
where most OF the passengers were
congregated. AS yet few of them were
aware of the robberies, for we had
kept the matter as secret as possible.
l went straight up to young Ameri-
eau gentleman, who | knew had
great many trlnkets in his stateroom,
and was rather careless, too, in the
way he left them lying about.
Don't show any surprise" whiS-
pered, glancing around at the other
occupants OF the saloon. "but might l
ask whether your Stateroom is
locked?"
cit is.
"And is the portfolio open?"
81 should say sol l don't want to
ind the place as stu6Iy as the engine
,oom when so to turn in. "
"Well, Just pass me your key; [
want to try q little experiment. Wait
ill Pm gone, and then STROLL up on
leck. Let yourself be seenEon tae
over deck particularly but don'tpay
90 close attention to any one you
nay notice lettering there"
lie fell in readily with my scheme.
I went and shut myself in his state
DOM, crouchiny down SO that could
ust keep an eye on the portfolio over
he top of the lower berth. / re-
uained in that cramped position. un-
il my limbs fairly ached, and was
Ialf inclined to give it up a pad
OBJ.
But suddenly,Ns I elancel ot