Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-06-03
TITO Clex,er
Wom en-.
[Original.1

Sdl next W ueI. I1dNluS paul ueT ldre
| and looked out of the window, meditat-
ing on something she had on her mind,
| she suddenly remembered her muff.
! 1t was not where she had left it, but
reposing on the lap of the lady next
| to her, who sat as compOsedly as IL
she had not appropriated it.
Pardon me, madam" said Mrs. Co
thorn, you have taken up my muff by
mistake"
mot at ALL" replied the lady. II
have my own muff."
Mrs. Gothorn was simply stunned at
this assurance and was thinking what
to do when the lady mOtioned to the
conductor. The car was stopped, and
she got out. Mrs. Gothorn got out too
She followed the thief till she came to
policeman.
ARREST that woman" she said to
him. "She has stolen my muff."
Can you prove it?' he asked
Eyes. Don't you see that it is the
same fur as my tippet-mink"
The policeman did not look especial
ly convinced. Indeed, he did not know
the difference between mink and sable
muff and told her she was charged by
the other lady with stealing her mum
do take her away" said the thief
"She's crazy. She's been following
me all over town, thinking have her
muff."
That ended it. The policeman look
ed from one to the other for q few
moments and, seeing that they both
appeared to be ladies, declined to have
anything to do with the case. The
thief went ON, and Mrs. Gothorn, real
izing the futility of following the mat
ter up, abandoned the chase.
A year later Mrs. Gothorn attended q
dinner given by her friends, Mr.. and
Mrs. Ames. She was introduced before
going to the dining room to several peo-
pie she did not know. One of them, Mrs.
Fisher, was the woman who had ap-
propriated her muff.
Now, Mrs. Gothorn had thought
great deal about the clever trick by
which she had made her loss and as
to what she would do in case she ever
again met the thief. One thing she
had determined upOn-that she would
not figuratively speaking, buck up
against a stone WALL by accusing her
of the theft. She would use stratagem.
If Mrs. Fisher remembered her as the
woman she had despoied, she gave no
evidence of the recollection. Before
the party moved to the table Mrs. Go
thorn whispered to Mrs. Ames that she
would like to be seated next to Mrs.
Fisher.
During the earlier courses Mrs. Go
thorn had time to arrange her plan
Mrs. Fisher sat on her right, Mr..
Wetmore on her left She asked Mr..
Wetmore If he had ever seen black
pearl. He said he had not and, taking
ring off her finger, she showed him
one In the setting and told him to
pass 1t on for examination. He did so,
and the ring was passed around the ia
BILE, every one, including Mrs. Fisher,
holding and admiring 1t, till it got back
to its owner. Between Mrs. GOthOrn
and Mrs. Fisher on the table rested the
latter's vanity bag. While Mrs. Fisher,
conversing with her dinner companion,
had her back turned to Mrs. Gothorn
and all the guests were intent on the
host, who was telling story, Mrs. Go
thorn slipped her black pearl set ring
in an outer pocket of the bag without
being noticed.
Ten minutes later Mrs. Gothorn said:
'Will whoever has my ring please
return It to mew
Each guest looked at the others, and
several of them said that they sup
posed the ring had been returned.
Then Mrs. Gothorn looked frightened.
From fright she came to anger.
"Mr. Ames," she said, 'some one Of
your guests has my ring. l demand
an Investigation, and at once, before
any one leaves the ROOM"
MRS. GOthorn," replied Ames, color
ing, ''you must be mistaken. We are
all ladies and gentlemen"
II demand to be searched" Mr.. Wet
more spoke up. II was the one who
first passed the ring, and suspicion
would naturally rest on me-" He turn
ed his pockets inside out. Come,
Ames; search me-"
Every one, including Mrs. Fisher,
urged that all be searched and that
the host and hostess do the searching
They finally consented, and of course
the ring was found in Mrs. Fishers
vanity bag.
Host and hostess begged Mrs. Co
thorn to be satisfied with the recov-
cry of her ring and not bring a scan
dial on them and their guests Far
from listening to their request, she
went herself to the telephone and call
ed for the police In few minutes a
wagon drove up to the door, and man
in uniform entered.
ARREST that woman" said Mrs. Go
thorn.
ION what charge" asked the officer
Stealing from me black pearl
ring"
'Have you evidenceT
Eyes; every man and woman at this
table is my witness. have another
charge. 1t is this: A year ago she
stole mink muff from me-"