Sistersville oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1896-1901, 1898-01-12
+" MISS JUDSON."

no little excitement among the paSSen-
gers in their search for slick criminal
named George Lacy. Lacy was
forger. counterfeiter, and all-around
swindler and was wanted on dozen
different charges. The steamer was
held for an hour while they examined
"a large number Of passengers. There
was a good deal of talk, Of course, and
70 out of 20 of the passengers, first and
second class, were secretly glad that
the criminal had not been oveThaulad.
So long as he had swindled none OF US
we could forgive him for swindling 9TH
ers.>
As soon as we set eyes on Miss Jud-
son, who was seasick and kept 10 heT
stateroom for the first three or -four
days, we instinctiyely felt that she
would be the belle Of the ship. She was
fairly good looking, of excellent figure,
knew how TO dress and was witty and
magnetic Before breakfast was over
all the single men and half the married
ones were determined to get an intro
duction as soon as possible. None oil
the women liked her. They began tC
snub her almost at once, and that evil
IDENTIFY pleased her, as il gave her an
excuse for avoiding their society. When
Miss Judson got fairly started on her
course she lost no time. She picked
and cullsd until what was known as tAe
"JudSon crowd" numbered about IL
men.
Twelve of these were young men OI
widowers, while the remainder were
married men whose better halves were
in England or India While the crowd
was not composed Of the highest men
tai talent on the ship, it was the money
crowd, though no one figured on this
until later. Miss JudsOn was the only
child of widower out IN India who be-
IongeG TO the civil service, and she was
going out to visit him.
Wien the ship had been out about 6
week Miss Judson iEaugurated cards rc
while away the spare hours. She gave
out at the start that she never played
unless there were cash stakes to make
the game Interesting. AS there werI
people aboard who might be shocked al
the sight of money on the board, slip:
of paper were used as a substitute anG
few outside of the players knew what
was up. 1t was matter of surprise tC
every one who knew Miss Judson that
she was so adept with the pasteboards
and was attended by such good for.
tune There was considerable jealousy
among her coterie and she took adyan.
tage Of every occasion to fan The
flame This prevented anything like
confidence between the men and 40 one
mr. 1OcSnc IN
handled the cards like the slickest gam.
bier and her run of luck was phenome
nal. On two or three occasions SHE
manipulated the cards in such man.
ner that had she been a man l should
have called her down, but as it was
had to give her the benefit of the doub
and keep silence.
When Miss Judson had won $3.50 from
me | cashed the slips and went out o,
the game. She had no further use foI
me. When / tried to baSk in her smiles
as usual, the smiles were not at home
lcsne. She had confided to me that She
found me congenial, but there seemed
to lie some mistake about that after
had decided not to lose any more
money.
The next victim was the son Of ar
English MAJ ufacturer, who was gOins
out to India to invent new ways d
spending his fathers surplus cash. Il
was said that he had $4,000 in tht
|purser's safe. That was when he began
playing cards with Miss Judson. How
much he had left after he got through
no one could say, but that she had go
nt ho1 IF fol
he himself went so far as to declare
that he had been sharped. In th'
course of three weeks the ''JudsoT
crowd" was dissolved One after an
other was cleaned out of his spare cas-
and withdrew, and Miss Judson was
certainly several thousand dollars tc
the good. Nobody was willing to ad.
NIT his exact loss. Indeed, nearly CIV.
cry man lied about and denied any los.
at all, but at the same time each loser
knew that the other loser lied. There
was no card playing for fun, and socr
after it had ceased we were treated tC
several sensations in succession. TIE
first was the disappearance of nverGl
diamond rings and bracelet which
had Eeen left on the piano by player
They had disappeared in broad day
light, with people sitting or moving
about, and as the value was conside:a.
Bile, the sensation was equal. The caI-
tain hushed matters up by suggesting
that one of the servants was the tniei
and that the plumber would sooa be
discovered. Three days later d mar.
ried woman had a sensational COM
plant to make. During her temporary
absence from her stateroom someone
had entered it and stolen G100 in cash
gold watch and a costly breastDin
Her stateroom was only two doors be-
low mine, and in leaving my room ri
3 o'clock in the afternoon | caught
glimpse of some one entering hers. Il
just got sight of skirt, but was Sure
in my own mind that it was one haG
seen Miss Judson wear.
1t was natural 10 at first suspect the
servants, and the captain had them he
fore him in succession and tried hi