The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1900-03-22
A MYSTERY SOLVED.
Discovery Of Lady's Belongings
on a Steamer.
various Articles OF Apparel and
Pieces Of JeweIry PurIoined
from Her stateroom Found
in o Rats Hole.

This story is told of a lady who
lives in one of the big cities west of
Detroit: A year and half ago she
was on her way to Honolulu on board
one of the big Pacific liners. On the
first day out she had made herself at
home in her stateroom, leaving some
of her effects about the room. The
next morning she looked for hand
kerchief that she had left on a chair
the night before, but could find il no.
where. 1t was a thing of small i'm
port, however, and she did not worry
much about it, except to wonder what
she could have done with it. The next
or deck watching the gentle sweinng
of the sea with its limitless horizon.
Here and there n ship could be de-
serted putting into San Francisco, Or
further in the distance could be seen
the smoke of others whose direction
could not be determined. In the morn
ing she missed another handkerchief
that she had put in the same place
as the other. All search for il was in
vain. 1t was a small loss. and yet the
second disappearance aroused her Gu
riosity Another beautiful day on
deck soon made her forget all about
it. That night she made sure that she
had put third handkerchief in the
same place as she had the others, and
the last thing she did on retiring was
to see that it was still there. The first
thing she did in the morning was to
look over to the little footstool. She
had been somewhat surprised on the
preceding mornings, but this time she
was not little shocked when she saw
that the stool was empty. She
searched the room everywhere. but
could find no trace of the missing
article. Nor was she able to discover
the necktie that she had worn the day
Lefore. She began to suspect that the
maid had something to do with these
disappearances. And yet there We're
her jewels just as she had left them.
No, il could not have been a thief.
else why had not the more valuable
articles been taken. The lady puz-
zled over the mystery good d.al, and
even the fresh breezes and the wash
of the water at the vessels bow did
not dispel all thoughts of it from her
mind. That night she decided to sew
n fourth handkerchief to the stool
and see if that would make any diff
ference, and. selecting a piece Of
coarse linen thread, she proceeded TO
carry out this idea. What was her
amaZement the next morning to find
that thu threads had been severed and
the handkerchief had disappeared.
Moreover, when she came to look for
diamond pin that she had laid aside
the night before il was not to be
found. Then truly she was aroused,
and resolved to communicate her sus-
picions to the captain. This she did.
and the officer promised to invcsti
gate Immediately. He gave orders to
the head stewardess to thoroughly
search the room for the missing arti-
Giles before casting any suspicion on
that one of her assistants who had
charge of the room in question. The
room was accordingly searched, but
nothing could be found of the miss
ing articles. But the stewardess no.
riced in the very corner of the room.
under the berth small hole in the
partition, and she spoke of this to the
captain. The carpenter was called,
the berth was taken down and several
boards were taken out of the floor and
the partition. Deep down among the
beams of the vessels deck was a coll
lection that would have done justice
to fancy goods store. all fashioned.
after the latest style in rat architect
ure, into a coy nest. And there.
among the other things, was the dia-
mond pin, besides several other pieces
of jewelry. What the rat wanted with
the jewelry is a mystery but there
il was. 1t is scarcely necessary to
add that the stewardess Who cared for
that room received an extra large tip
at the end of the voyage.-Detroit Free
Press.