The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-07-05
sroRY or rae
UNCUT DIAMONDS
sroRY or YnE

his asa to ~ ae,k u lte vessel
isef sate tiehey. flssats. There
Aeat seem % Be 4tss dG'1pt sbput ,his
egin. a SUICIDE
itetnea stamped his right foot "a angry
@nluaf-etcr Bat almost INSTANTLY he re-
covered himself ana Was Ia. auave gen
tioman
w viii look ii little farther into the
matter. Mir CLANCY. was his formal re-
ply
Con was about to speak when the chief
broke out suddenly with:
What's that"
Folio wing the range OF his pointed An
ger Clancy SAW II rope gungway near the
othcr "hd OF tho steamer, The foreman of
The deck hands. responding TO the call OF
barnes, came up and saluted
What's that for2" repeated the chief.
pointing 10 the offending rope.
For the deck hands.
ANY of EN- gone ashorc?"
"Only one. sii."
Barnes groancd aloud. 1t was an UNI
usual manifestation of emotion on the
part of this self -possessed man.
why did you let him go?"
III complained of being III. SIR. and 1
gave him leave of absence without pay"
Who was he?"
IN name was Brown, sir"
"Dd YOU know him? What did he look
Ike"
We'll. Sir. we take so many of EN- on at
every port that l confess l didn't know
this one. AS to his looks. sir-well, he was
suffering from neuralgia and his face was
covered with bandages.'
lold he take anything ashore?"
Only u package of cigars, a bundle OF
old clothes and a pound cake
The devil" calculated Barnes.
on, SIR cried the foreman. there was
nothing duuable. sir; l can take oath to
that. gave a personal examination, and
can assure You that he only had the old
clothes. the cigars and the cake"
VIVA DID he wan with the cake?'
Well, you see. sir, his mother was a
DeVonshire woman, and he was taking
home a cake made in her old home. A
bit of sentiment. sir. That was the ex-
%planation he made to me, sir"
Summon all your men on the after
deck, said Barnes, tartly.
Clancy looked on with some curiosity.
The old man often did queer things, and
he wondered what this last move meant.
In five minutes all OF the deck hands
were lined up like man-o'-warsmen. The
chief turned to the foreman and said in
his curt way:
Count en-"
The foreman did so. wonderingly. AS
he concluded a look of perplexity clouded
his face. He counted them a second time.
"All there2" queried Barnes. sarcastic
ally.
Yes" stammered the foreman; "all
here, sir"
Brown, too?"
II don't know. sir"
Call Brown
The foreman obeyed. An unkempt look
ing man stepped forward.
You see," said the chief, with a sar-
don.c laugh, Brown didn't go ashore. All
your men are here"
But. SIR" said the man. h%altingly, "f
any of EN- ever go ashore it's always
without pay
"Tathead."
Barnes muttercd the word. He hurried
to the end OF the wharf, Clancy by his
SIDE. A passing cab was hailed. They en-
tered. The chief poked his head out of the
window.
To the office of the New York Daily
Eanner-hurry like hell.''
he vehicle ratified over the rough stones
along the wharf side. barnes sat with his
eyes closed. Presently, ernember.ng that
Siahcv was with HIM, he put his hand N
ms pocket. md. pulling out a newspaper,
hafced 1t to his assistant. The young
MAJ thought that under the circumstances
tA-S was an act of extreme courtesy. Sud-
aenlN Ii dawned on MIN that this was the
newspaper that had been picked up on the
hoor of statcroom No. lS. lie glanced
over the journal carefully. 1t was q copv
Ell the Daily Banner of June Is, 1865. 1t
ald not seem TO have any particular sig
~n.ilcance. To make sure Con went over
I page by page and column by column.
Barnes, sunk m the cushions of the car
rage watched him with y quizzical smile.
ouoGehly Clancy gave an exclamation of
surprise. a Little section of the fourth
column of the fourth page about an inch
deep was missing. 1t had been neatly cut
from q column of small advertising
headed Personal" Con turned to his
companion.
Did YOU notice this %
"~Certa:nly."
Clancy was silent for a moment; then
he turned to his companions:
"What made you skeptical about the
suicide? The evidence was conclusive"
1t was too conclusive; that made me
doubtful"
Dld inns cut newspaper influence you?"
Sure. A man may write poetry when
he Is in the queer state of mind which
precedes self-destruction. but he is hardly
likely to cut advertisements from a news
paper. Now, the important thing to find
out is was clipped from this paper.
Don't you feel curious?'
Curious cried Con, why, I never in
my life saw a mutilated newspaper that
l wasn't filled with the most intense long
Ing TO find out what had been cut from
it, ~
The cab pulled up in front of the Daily
Banner office. Con, eager to participate
In the search, reached the counter first
Have you a copy Of the Daily Banner
Of June is. 1862"
The clerk. engaged in writing. made no
answer: he did not even look up. Clancy
repeated the question with some en-
phas.s. The young man tugged away at
an incipient mustache, and, pausine for a
moment. smiled indulgently at his oues-
toner.
why that's last year"
You don't ave to tell me that" said
Con, %irritably; Il want to know IL you
nave It,"
The clerk drew himself up naughty.
I'VE only keep papers for a week back"
Barnes stepped up TO the counter. His
voice was polite. but it was positive.
"Of course, you keep the Banner in
bound files. I would like to see the file
for June Of last year"
Certainly" with alacrity; 1--WE keep the
bound copies up stairs. I'll see IL 1 can
find June. You see some of our files were
destroyed by fire."
Barnes heart sank. If he failed to find
that paper he might as we'll give up the
chase. But he said nothing. He waited
with infinite patience. Five, ten, fifteen
minutes passed. When the tension was
becoming unhearahle tho clarL ro+,r,ad