The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-01-20
Il IL f . C. Z mr. q s p Y
~ ChevaZier William lie Queux

uac they were searching Tor some paper or other
that you possess"
what can my papers concern themH" exclaimed
the joval, roundfaced Consul, man whose courtesy
is known to every skipper trading up and down the
Mediterranean and who is perhaps one of the most
cultured and popular men in the British Consular
Service. 81 don't keep banknotes in that safe you
know We fellows in the Service don't roll in gold
as our public at home appears to think"
NO But you may have something in there
which might be of value to them. You're often the
keeper of valuable documents belonging to English
men abroad, you know"
Certainly. But there's nothing in there just
now, except, perhaps, the registers of births, mar
riages and deaths of British subjects and the IA.
pers concerning Board of Trade Inquiry No. my
dear Gordon, depend upon it that the yacht running
ashore was all blind. They did it to be able
to get the run of the Consulate the ciphers
and sail merrily away with them. 1t seems to me-
however, that they gave you jolly good dinner and
got nothing in return"
Perhaps it would have been better if they had
You'd at least have had the satisfaction of knowing
what their little game really vast"
But the and the woman who left the yacht
an hour before she sailed, and who slipped away into
the country somewhere! l wonder who they wereY
Horribly distinctly told me that he and Chatter were
alone, and yet there was evidently LADY ana gen
teman on board. | guessed there
there, from the way the boudoir and ladies' saloon
were arranged and certainly hand decor
ated a dinner table as that was decorated"
Eyes That's decidedly funny" remarked the
you say? They changed there of course Expresses
call there going north and the other south,
within quarter of an hour after the train arrives
from Leghorn. They showed lot of ingenuity,
otherwise they'd have gone direct to Pisa
Ingenuity! | should think so! The whole
affair was most cleverly planned. Horribly would
have deceived even you my dear old chap He had
the air of the perfect gentleman, and glance
the yacht convinced me that he was a wealthy man
travelling for pleasure"
"You said something about an armory."
Eyes, there were Maxms slowed away in one of
the cabins They aroused my suspicious"
"They would not have aroused mine," replied my
friend. yachts carry arms for protection in many
cases, especially If they are going to cruise along
uncivzed coasts where they must land for water
or provisions"
told him of the torn photograph, which caused
him some deep reflection
81 wonder why the picture had been torn up.
Had there been u row on board-a quarrel some
thing?"
at had been destroyed surreptitiously think"
"Pity you didn't pocket the fragments. We could
perhaps have discovered from the photographer the
identity of the original"
"Ah!" l sighed regretfully 81 never thought of
that. l recoect the name of the firm, however"
81 shall have to report to London the whole
occurrence British subjects under suspicion"
Hutcheson said. "We'll whether Scotland Yard
knows anything about Horribly or Chatter. Most
probably they do. Not long ago description of
ON board yacht circulated from London
as being a pair of we.known burglars who
cruising about in vessel crammed with booty which
they dared not get rid of. They were however, not
the friends of the Lola, for both men
wanted were arrested in New Orleans about eight
months ago. without their yacht for they confessed
that they had deliberately sunk it of the
islands in the South Pacific"
"Then these fellows might be another pair of
London burglars!" exclaimed eagerly, the start
ling theory occurred to me.
'They might be. But. of course, can't form
any opinion until we hear what Scotland Yard has
to say. I'll write a full report in the morning if
you will give minute descriptions of the men,
well as of the captain, Macintosh"
Next morning | handed over my charge of the
Consulate to Frank, and then assisted him to 60
through the papers in the safe which had been ex-
omined by the thieves.
"The ruffans seem to have thoroughly overhauled
everything" remarked the Consul in dsmay when
he saw the disordered state of his papers "They
seem to have read every one deliberately
(which shows that had they been in search for