The daily sentinel., 1899-02-18
THE SHIPS THIEF.

would you please come down to her state
room immediatclyr"
I had just shut myself into my little
office on deck, having run through the
ships accounts before turning in that
night It is quite mistake. by the way,
10 think that we pursers have no more
ouerous duties to perform whea at sea
than to satch over the passengers com
fort, read prayers on Sunday ana keep
store Of nautical Information at our finger
ends for the benefit of every curious voy
ager Nowadays the purser OF crack
Am erioan liner-making perhaps record
passage of six days or so-has his work
pretty we'll cut out for him during tho en-
tire voyage.
On the present occasion l had scarcely
got my accounts fairly in hand when !
was interrupted by slight tap at the door
I arose at once ard opened it, and there
stood Mrs. Melhurst's Canadian maid,
with flushed face and nervous, agitated
manner.
is there anything wrong?'' 1 asked,
with some surprise, when she had deliv-
cred her message.
"There is. sir" she replied hastily
"All know
She was about to mako some other state
ment. but pulled herself up suddenly and
tripped along the deck without another
word.
Iswitched off the electric light, locked
the door and hurried away after her When
I got to Mrs. Melhurst's stnteroom, saw
at once that something had occurred to
cause her serious anxiety. The berth, the
couch, and even tho floors were Uttered
with the contents of cabin trunks and
hand bags. In the midst of the confusion
stood the lady herself, looking decidedly
perplexed and annoyed.
"This is very SINGULAR NJ Morse,'' she
said, pointing to an empty jewel case
which lay open on the upper berth. "My
diamond ornaments are missing"
"You don't say sor' l exclaimed In
sheer astonish hment.
81 do say so, " she replied sharply. "Yop
can see for yourself that they are gone.
"How did 1t happen?"
"I cannot possibly tell you. At dinner
this evening l happened to mention to
Mrs. Latimer that had picked up Ger
tain crescent shaped brooch on the cont
nent. She expressed wish to see it. When
the tables were cleared, came in here,
took out the brooch and left the jewel case
lying on the berth, but when l got back
the case was empty"
"How long were you absentS'
"Not more than half an hour"
"You are sure you had the key of your
cabin in your possession all the timer"
"Positive. 1 never let it out of my
hand while was in the saloon.
was totally staggered. l examined the
look carefully, but there was absolutely
nothing to show that it had been tam
pered with. ! could hit upon no better
suggestion than that Mrs. Melburst might
possibly have mislaid the jewels some
where This had the sole effect of exas.
perating the lady to such IA degree, for 1t
seems that she had already searched every
nook al d corner In the cabin, that | was
glad to beat retreat in order to lay the
matter before the captain.
had Just got to the head of the saloon
stairs when heard some one bounding up
after me three or four steps at u time.
turned and saw Mr.. Carter, who, by the
way, had made several voyages with us on
previous occasions
81 say, Mr. Morse" he said taking me
confidentially by tho arm, you've got
some queer customers on board this trip.
Glow sop
"Why, some ones gone and walked off
with my silver cigarette case, IA couple of
rings and pair of god'-
"Tell me exactly what has happened.
"My dear fellow, how can 1? 1t Is
enough to puzzle Philadelphia lawyer
You see, went to my statcroom after din
ner-I can swear to that-a"d d l remember
pair of gold sleeve links on the upper berth.
Then put on my dressing gown, stretched
myself upon the couch and had down
right good snooze When l got up about
five minutes ago found my trinkots had
vanished.
'Pon my word things were beginning to
look serious and no nista Se. | 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 my
self. The first thing next morning he
sent message to Mrs. Melhnrst request
ing private interview in his cabin on
deck. He also signi1ed 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 s.ateroom in future.
1t was pretty evident we had "blaoA
sheep" on board--probably IN old hand at
the business. For the next few days we
had no further complaints. The thief was
evidently Lying low" waiting until tran
Quillity was restored before making n fresh
attempt Meanwhile 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
We happened to have passenger on
board-a Brazilian named De Castro
who was a hit Of mystery to mo all
thrnuU h rho ynynue Rut for the fnct thnt