The Portland daily press., 1895-07-06
THE mon TEzUMA EMERALD
By RoDRIGUEs OTToLENGUI,
[tApyright. 1886, by the Author.l
"Is the inspector in?"


or. The man was Mr.. LEROY Mitcheps
English valet. Contrary to all precedent
and tradition, he did not speak in cock
ney dialect, net even stumbling over the
proper distribution of the letter ''h''
throughout his vocabulary That he was
English, however, was apparent to the
ear because of a certain rather attract
i've accent, peculiar to his native island,
and to the eye because of deferential
politeness Of manner, too seldom OBJ
served In American servants He also
always called Mr.. Barnes inspector, 4"
oblivious to the fact that he was not a
member of the regular police and mind
full only of the English application OF
the word to detectives.
"Step right in, Williams" said Mr..
Barnes. "What is the trouble?"
81 don't rightly know, inspector, ."
said Williams Won't you let me speak
to you alone? It's about the master.
Certainly. Come into my private
ROOM
He led the way, and Williams fol-
lowed. remaining standing, although
Mr.. Barnes waved his hand toward a
chair as he seated himself in his usual
place at his desk ''Now, then," con-
tinued the detective, whats wrong?
Nothing serious, hope?"
81 hope not, sir, indeed. But the mas
ter's disappearedp'
Disappeared, has he?" Mr.. Barnes
smiled slightly. .tNow, Williams, what
do you mean by that? You did not see
him vanish, eh2''
mo, sir, of course not If you'll ex-
cuse my presumption, inspector, DON t
think it joke, sir, and you're laugh
ing.
stAll right, Williams, F." answered Mr..
Barnes, assuming more serious tone.
81 will give your tale my sober consid-
GRAFTON. Proceed.
'tWell, / hardly know where to be-
gin, inspector. But I'll just give you
the facts without unnecessary opinions
of my own.
Williams rather prided himself upon
his ability to tell what he called "a
straight story He placed his hat on a
chair, and standing behind it, with one
foot resting on rung, checked off the
points Of his narrative as he made them
by tapping the palm of one hand with
the index finger Of the other.
ITO begin, them" said he, sMrs.
Mitchell and Miss Rose sailed for Eng
land on Wednesday morning of last
week. That same night, quite unexpect-
ed, the master says to me. says he,
Williams I think you have young
woman you're sweet on down at New
port?' We'll, sir. says I, I do know a
person as answers to that description,
though I must say to you, inspector,
that how he ever came to know it beats
me. But that's aside, and depression is
not my habit. We'll, Williams the
master went on, I shan't need you for
the rest of this week, and if you'd like
to take trip to the seashore shan t
mind standing the expense and letting
you go. OF course thanked him very
much, and went, promising to be back
on Monday morning, as directed. And I
kept my word, inspector. though it was
hard wrench to leave the young person
last Sunday in time to catch the boat,
the moon being bright and everything
most propitious for a stroll, it being her
Sunday off and all that. But, as said,
kept my word and was up to the house
Monday morning only little after 2,
the boat having got in at g. was a
little surprised to find that the master
was not at home, but then it struck me
as how he must have gone out of town
over Sunday, and looked for him to be
in at dinner. But he did not come to
dinner, nor at all that nig4S. Still I did
not worry about it, It was the masters
privilege to stay away as long as he
liked, only could not help thinking I
might just as we'll have had that stroll
in the moonlight Sunday night But
when all Tuesday and Tuesday night
went by and no word from the master l
must confess got uneasy, and now
here's Wednesday noon, and no news,
so just took the liberty to come down
and ask your opinion in the matter, see
ing as how you are a particular friend
of the family and an inspector to boot :"
Really, Williams, said Mr. Barnes,
"all see in your story is that Mr.
Mitchell, contemplating little trip off
somewhere with friends, let you go
away. He expected to be back by Mon
day, but, enjoying himself, has remain
ed longer
81 hope that's all, sir, and I've tried
to think SO. But this morning I made
few Investigations of my own, and I'm
bound to say what I found don't fit that
theory"
"Ah, you have some more facts
What are they?"
Zone of them is this dispatch, that I
found only this morning under book
on the table in the library" He handed
blue paper to Mr.. Barnes, who took it
and read the following on cable blank:
Emerald. Danger. Await letter.
For the first time during the inter-
view Mr.. Barnes face assumed really
serious expression. He studied the dis
patch silently for full minute and
then, without raising his eyes, said:
f'What else?''
well, inspector, l don't know that
this has anything to do with the affair."
INIT the master had a curious sort of