Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-03-05
quite compatible with q mans innc:

suspicion until the last day or two III
the voyage. Then, one evening after
dinner, word was brought to me thai
three other staterooms had been riaed
in the same mysterious ann
Watches, jewelry and even money had
disappeared, though in all three cases
the passengers stoutly declared theyS
lad left their doors locked.
When the alarm reached me l han
pcned to be standing in my deck Office.
I had in my hand 20 s%overeigns, which
/ had just taken in exchange for Amer;.
can money to accommodate one of our
passengers. l didn't wait to lock I'M
the gold; / simply placed it on my desk.
switched off the light and hurried
away. 1 had no fear for the safety Of
the soyereigns, my door having a par.
ticularly intricate lock, in which l took
good care to turn the key before leay.
ing.
remained below for an hour or 50
investigating these fresh complaints.
but, as in the other cases, / was utterly
unable t o make head or tail of them.
Vexed and bcwildered, l went back 10
my office. unlocked the door. turnedGn
the light, and mechanically stretched
out my hand to take the sovereigns
from the desk. My hand closed upon
nothing more solid than thin army
little pile of gold had vanished!
For a moment or two l stood there
gazing blankly before me, SO utterly
confused and dismayed that l could
scarcely bring my wits to bear upon
the mysterious affair. Then l managed
to pull myself together, and took alook
around my little cabin. In the course
of my observations my eye happened
tn rest upon the port hole, which stood
wide open, the weather being oppres-
si"ely hot.
regarded the innocent looking port
hole with the air of q veritable Sher.
lock Holmes. / went outside and thrust
my arm in through the opening, 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 de-
termined to put my theory to a practi-
cal test.
l hurried down into the saloon, where
most of the passengers were congre-
gated. 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 a young American gen-
tlenlan who l 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" / whis-
pered. CHANGING around at the other oc-
cnpants of the saloon, "but might ask
whether your stateroom is locked?"
st is"
well, just pass me your key; I want
to try a little experiment.. Wait till
IN gone and then stroll up on deck.
Let yourself be seen-on the lower deck
particnlarly-but don't pay too close
attention to anyone you may notice
lettering there"
! went and shut myself in the state
room, c%rouching down so that I could
Just keep an eye on the portfolio over
the top of the lower berth. I remained
in that cramped position until my limbs
fairly ached, and l was half inclined to
give it up as a bad job.
But suddenly, as I glanced up at the
portfolio, my blood ran cold, and in all
my life | never had such difficulty TO
keep down a yell. In the dim light /
saw a long, thin hairy arm thrust in
through the opening. The next mo-
n,ent a small black hand had fastened
upon a leather case lying close to the
window and withdrew it as quick as
thought almost.
l sprang to my feet and bottled out
SIDE into the passage. l dashed up the
saloon stairs and made for the lower
deck. There, just about the spot where
l Judged the stateroom to be situated.
came face to face with the brazilian.
DE Castro. In spite of the heat he was
wearing his long cloak with the deep
cape, and had his eternal cigarette be-
tween his teeth. He looked at me with
an ar Of frank surprise, and I 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 stewart, who
was standing at the bottom.
Get me a handful of nuts-ouick!"
I cried.
hen he brought them ! hurried
pack on deck. The Brazilian had moved
away a little toward the stern. I went
close up, stood right in front of him.
and then began deliberately to crack
the nuts.
ne regarded me with a plying sort of
look u | paid little attention to him.
Presently l saw a corner Of the cane
drawna aside and behind q pair Of small,
cleaning eyes fixed greedily pom me.
II was enough. My suspicious were
confirmed. flung the rest of the nuts
IN n sea, and walking straight up to
De Castro, said:
must ask you to accompany me to
the captains cabin
"vot you mean?" he asked. drawing
back.
trA