The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-08-11
WHO WAS THE THIEF ?

safety OF tn ~soyereigns, my door hav
ing a particularly intricate lock, in
which / took good care to turn the key
befors leaving.
i remained below for an hour or SO
Investigating these fresh complaints,
but, as the other cases, / was utterly
unable to make head or tail of them.
Vexed and b~ewildered, I went back to
my office, unlocked the door, turned on
the light and mechanically stretched
out my hand to take the s~overeigns
from my desk. My hand closed upon
nothing more solid than thin ARMY
little pile Of gold had vanished!
Coz o minute or two / stood there
! gazing blahkly before me, SO utterly
confused and dismayed that / could
scarcely bring my wits to bear upon
the mysterious affair. Then managed
TO pull myself together and took d look
around the little cabin. In the course
OF my observations my eyes happened
to rest upon the port-hole, which stood
wide open, the weather being oppres-
sively hot.
| regarded the innocent-loohin g
p%ort-hole with the air of q yeritable
Sherlock Holmes. 1 went outside and
thrust my arm in through the opening,
but my hand did not reach within fully
p" VI u III v ~
me as being the only way by which
the thief could have got at the money,
and | determined to put my theory to
a practical test.
l hurried down into the salo
where most OF the passengers were c.
gregated. AS yet few OF them we ,
aware OF the robberles, for we had
kept the matter as secret as possible.
| went straight up, to q young Ameri-
car gentleman, who | knew had q
great many trinkets in his stateroom,
and was rather careless, too, in the
way he left them lying about.
Don't show any SURPRISE" l whisp-
cred, glancing round at the occupants
of the saloon. "but might | ask wheth-
en- your stateroom is locked? ?"
cit is"
And Ia the portfolio open
81 should think 50. l don't want to
find the place as stuffy as the engine
room when | go to turn in"
well, just pass me your key. /
want to try a little experiment. Wait
till Pm gone and then stroll up on
deck. Let yourself be seen-on the
lower deck particularly-but don't pay
too close attention to anyone you may
notice lettering there"
He fell in readily with my scheme.
| went and shut myself In his state
room, %crouching down so that could
just keep an eye on the portfolio over
the top of the lower berth. l remain
ed in that cramped position until my
limbs fairly ached, and 1 was half in
clined to give it up as a bad job.
But suddenly, as [ glanced up at the
portfolio, my blood ran cold, AMI in all
keep down u yell. In the dim light [
saw a long. thin, hairy arm thrust in
through the opening The next mo
ment q small black hand had fastened
upon q leather case lying close to the
window and withdrawn it as quick as
thought almost.
1 sprang to my feet and bolted out
into the passage. | dashed up the
saloon stairs and made for the lower
deck. There, just above the spot
where / judged the stateroom to be
situated, L came face to face with the
Brazilian, De Castro. In spite of the
with the deep cape and had his eternal
cigarette between his teeth. He
looked at me with an air of frank sur
prise, and [ looked at him with an air
Of profound suspicion.
Suddenly a happy thought flashed
through my mind, ! turned round and
sprang down the saloon stairs, running
full tilt against the chief steward, who
was standing at the bottom.
Nuts |" [ cried, without giving him
time to recover from his surprise.
Really he looked at me with such
utter CONSERVATION / verify believe he
was convinced | had taken leave OF my
enses
do you hear ?" [ went on excitedly,
sect me u handful of nuts-uuick ="
When he brought them, 1 hurried
back on deck. The Brazilian had
, moved away u little toward the stern,
went close up, stood right in front OF
/, him, and then began deliberately tC
crack the nuts.
He regarded me with u plying sort
of look, but | paid little attention tc
him. | was watching hat cloak OF
his. Presently | saw a corner OF the
cape drawn aside and behold II pair ol
small cleaning eyes fixed greedily
upon me.
1t was enough. My suspicious were
confirmed. Inlng the rest of the nuts
into the sea, and walking straight up
to De Castro said ::
u must ask you to accompany me
to the captains cabin 2"
"VOt you mean ?" he cried, drawing
back.
| was determined to stand no non.
sense apd straightway took him by the
shoulders. The m laid my
hands upon him | heard Il vicious snarl
under his cape. 1t was pulled sud.
, denly aside and out flew u monkey.
The little brute went at me tooth
n nail. ] saw the CLEAN Of u knife,
too, in the BraZilian's hand, but | iei
him nave my fist straight between the
, eyes before he could use it,, and he
/ measured his length upon the deck.
The quartermaster came running up
and the rascal was dragged Off t o the
, captains cabin. When searched there,
Mrs. Melhurst's rings and IL miscel.
lianeous collection of other valuables
were found upon him. In his state.
room we discovered q perforated box,
apparently intended for the use of the
monkey, who was evidently quite as
accomplished a thief as his master.
A MODEL FARMERS SOCIETY.