Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-01-22
o.es ago. found my srinkets had van,

ufes ago. found my trtnke0 mad van
lshed."
Pom my word. things were beginninh
o look serious and no mistake! lost
no time In hunting up the captain and
!made him acquainted with the state OF
Affairs. He was just as much puzzled
as was myself. The first thing next
morning he sent a message to Mrs. Mel
hurst. requesting a private interview
III his cabin on deck. He also signified
his wish that should be present. We
both questioned the lady closely. but
her replies did not tend to throw any
light upon the singular occurrence.
Nevertheless we determined to keep
close watch upon the stateroom In
future. 1t was pretty evident we had
"black sheep" on board-probably an
old hand at the business. For the next
few days we had no further complaints.
The thief was evidently Lying lOw."
waiting until tranquility was restored
before making fresh attempt. Mean
while kept my eyes open. ! observed
the little peculiarities of the different
passengers, and took particular note
Of the manner in which they occupied
their time.
|
On board ship when you dnd a man
who shows a marked preference for his
own society above that Of the loungers
on deck or habitues Of the smokeroom,
one is inclined to jump at the conclu-
sion that he has some solid reasons for
his exclusiveness. If. in addition 10
this. he happens to be Of an uncOm-
municative disposition. with black hair
and swarthy complexion. given to wear.
Ing slOuch hat and long coat-rightly
or wrongly, you put him down as de-
:idedly suspicious character.
! Now, we Happened to have passen.
ger on boar,l-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 concerned
| in the rObberies-for inquiries proved
he had remained on deck the whole
evening-he certainly would have been
treated to private interview in the
! captains cabin. AS 1t was, l was fore
ed to conclude that black hair. swarthy
| complexion. slouch hat and cloak were
/ quite compatible with q mans inno-
rence.
| Nothing further occurred to excite
suspicion until the last day or two Of
| the voyage. Then, one evening after
| dinner, word was brought to me that
three other stateroOms had been ritied
in the same mysterious manner
I Vo vol fau md hnH
disappeared. though in all three eases
the passengers stoutly declared they
aad left their doors locked
When the alarm reached me l hap
| pened to be standing in my desk office
I had in my hand twenty sovereigns,
which had just taken in exchange for
American money to accommodate one
Of our passengers. didn't wait TO lock
up the gold: simply placed it On my
desk. switched off the light and hurried
away. had no fear for the safety of
the sovereigns. my door having a par
ticularly intricate lock. in which l took
good care to turn the key before leav
ing.
1 remained below for an hour or SO, IL
vestigating these fresh complaints. but
Us in the other cases, 1 was utterly un
able To make head or tail of them. Vex
ed and bewildered. l went back to my
office unlocked the door. turned OF
he light. and mechanically stretched
out my hand TO take the sovereigus
from my desk. My hand closed upoL
ai,.
little pile of gold had vanished.
For a minute or two l stood there gaz-
ing blankly before me. so utterly con.
fused and disma yed that could scarce
ly bring my wits TO bear upon the mys-
terious affair. Then l managed to pull
myself together. and took look around
my little cabin. In the course of my
observations my eye happened to rest
upon the portfolio, which stood wide
open. the weather being oppressively
lot.
l regarded the innocent looking port.
1ole with the air of veritable Sher.
.ock Holmes. l went outside and
thrust my arm in through the opening,
but lny hand did not reach within fully
two yards or the desk. Still, IT struck
lie as being the only way by which the
thief could have got at the money, and
determined to put my theory to prac.
ical test.
l hurried down into the saloon,
where most Of the passengers were con-
gregated. AS yet few of them were
aware Of the robberies for we had kept
the matter as secret as possible.
went straight up to young American
gentleman who 1 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-
psred, glancing around at the other oc-
:upants CT the saloon, but might ask
whether your stateroom IL locked"
1T is
"And the portfolio openT
81 should say so! don't want to ind
che place as stuffy as the engine room
when I go to turn in"
We'll, just pass me your key; wan.
10 try a little experiment. Wait till
I'm gone and then stroll up on deck.
Let yourself be seen-on the lower deck
particularly-but don't pay too close at.
tention to anyone you may notice lott
ering there"
He fell In readily with my scheme.
went and shut myself in his state
room, crouchins down % that I could
lust keep an eye on the portfolio over
the top Of the lower berth. I remained
In that cramped position until my limbs
ached. and 1 was half inclined to give II
up as bad Job.
But, suddenly, as glanced up at the
oorthole, my blood ran cold, and in all
my life 1 never had such difficulty to