The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1895-04-20
ments, but all without avail. The hid

iGg place renamed q secret. IS
Meanwhile, however. other events
We're happening IN SINNERS store
vents that subsequently led up to o re-
l4arkahJe denouement. The captain had
:. daughter, q very handsome girl, bor-
Aering on IS years of age. Mary Skin
yer was 4 tavorite with every member
Il The rough band and, for her pa-r,
.,,a"srel to treat all tho hand impair
:ia!ly, il she had any preference, it was
given Ia Will Blake, II fair haired
etuM- irishnan, who had joined Skin
nrr GA his last cruise and had remained
with hina "I,"n he gave Up !: seafaring
':fr. VIII made no secret of his adIni-
,@tlea Of Mary and thereby incurred the
'Ii!tt5fv o: Jackson. tie lieG!cnaut, who.
as he hoas.ed to his houu companions,
Haa IN Ia make The girl his wife.
Mary coll:anted herself with treating
Jackson With inlitfercEce e. passing oi
his many compliments III Il laughing
.,la.lnr.
There had been. All apparent cessa-
fiea of Vigilance on the part Of the ems
toms officers tGr some time. and this
somewhat emboldened the smusglers,
;ans. I. very large consignment Of goods
mad been arriving at the store for Il lew
days. The customs officers had, how
ever, simply changed their tactics. Dis
ruislng themselves. they mixed with
the members Of SINNERS band, drank
with them, went on fishing excursions
With them and endeavoresi hy ali secret
3.iaai:s to wornl tliei2 secret from them.
Gne part OF. SINNERS store was devoted
t. :. E:r, and it was here that all the
rough characters III the nei-hborluad
we wont ta c~onsregatc.
The chief OF the customs officers
w.s i man named O'Brien. a wide
awake, keen witted young fellow. He
also had fallen "a victim II the charms
q Mary. iut his advances met with 10
i,ettes success than did those Of Jackson.
lie VS. g constant visitor at SINNERS
pace. 1t happened that he was there Oh
Il certain night, but thoroughly dis
=uised. While ~conversins with some of
las companions he thought he saw Il
ci.nnncr OF light coming through tho
floor at BIS feet, and at tie same time
lie imagined he heard tine mErHaur Of
voices, one of which no thought he rec
osnized as that of Mary. On the alert
in - moment, he stopped down as if to
adjust his shoostring, when his SUPPOSE
tons were contirmed-a faint light was
visible through the crack, and the hum
CT voices was distinctly heard.
Keeping his own counsel, he SOC
after left the place, reckoning to q
trusty companion to follow him. When
they were out of earslot. he told him
of his discovery, which was more AS
founding from the fact that it had al
ways baen supposed that SINNERS
house had neither cellar nor basement.
Determined to profit by the discovery,
I-l2! ard bis companions waited for
a later hour before proceeding any fur
ther. Then, still further Disgusting them
selves, they proceeded to reconnoiter
SINNERS place. Not a light was to be
seen from any of the windows, nor was
there q sign Of any human being stir
ring. Cautiously approaching the door,
O'Brien tried the latch, but it was
locked, and it resisted all his efforts to
force it. Meanwhile his companion
lad gone to the roar Of the house, trying
the windows ard doors in succession,
but without success until he came to
the last window, which gave way after
& vigorous push, making a slight noise.
C%rouching down i'll darkness, he listened
for any movement from within; but,
hearing none, he returned to O'Brien
au.t told him Of his success. The two,
with dark lanterns, entered the room
and cautiously looked around. 1t was
the adjoining the bar, the door of
which was open. The two men peered
in, but all was still. They then in ST.
lence made a tour of the house, but
found it utterly deserted.
Returning to the bar, they began ex-
amining the floor carefully on the spot
pointed out by O'Brien as the place
where he had seen the light. There was
no sign of a trapdoor there, but the
boards. On being tapped lightly, gave
ont Il hollow sound, proving that there
was q chamber of some sort underneath.
They next went behind the bar and
made % minute search. At the back of
the bar was q sort of s%ideboard, upon
which the bottles of liquor We're set ont.
There was a cupboard underneath. and
it was i'll this cupboard that O'Brien
found what he was looking for.
There were several panels set in the
wall at the back, studded with brass
nails. In examining these nails the
sharp eyes Of the officer detected two
that appeared to be larger than tho 9TH
ers. Pressing one Of these caused the
panel to swing inwardly, but the space
was not LARGE pnOuoh to admit n p,an,c