Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-19


bills. and il / cannot absolutely swear that
the sugar is mine-because there Is no way
by which that can positively be IDENTIFIED
can swear that my. sugar was IN these iuen'
tical barrels when it was stolen. :,
Jim looked at the man In dazed astonlsn-
ment, and for some moments was unable
to speak word.
''But l bought it from the. men who raised
it," he managed to say, at last. :.
"You bought it from the men who stole IL
the same men whom / heard hired one Oh
the Iron Line of tugboats to give them tow
short distance up the river. The tug was
taking up lot of empty barges, and ner
captain says he met those men, who had a q
number of barrels in dug-out He ddns
know where he left them, because they drop
ped off during the night. Then, again, there
are no sugar plantations above mere, as w"
ought to know"
Jim couldn't think of any special reason
why he ought to know anything about ~
since he had never been on the MISSISSIPPI,
before, but he made no reply ne ioOlnd eSamneat ~
the marks on the barrels, which were dupnls.
Gates of those on the paper, and could douDe
no longer that he had purchased stoien suga..
81 don't for one moment imagine ina. {ott
had any idea of anything except exacty wnas
the men told you when you bought the sugar.
said the merchant. Neither will l take It
from here without due process oil law, II you
think there is any question ABOUT its pHEins
mine | have offered a reward OF ten dollars
to any one who would return it to me; ana
will pay you that amount, but you lose INC
balance, Of course"
AT this juncture Jethro came on board, ana
jim told him of the discovery thai naa ; ptS tSa
bills which proved the merchants ownership;
Its my fault moren it is your NJ repheu
Jethro as soon he understood tne situa,,
ton. Here have ! been a-runnm up an
down this river ever since ! knowed any
thing. an vet | let them villains convince
me that they'd made. the sugar up there. l
ought to have knowed that they could DOT.
rowed all the money they needed from most
anv merchant along the river, without navin
to tote lot of sugar five or six miles 10 get
little, mean forty dollars. :.
at isn't your fault at all, Jethro, SAID jim.
'I should have known better myself.
at is my fault" insisted Jethro. stub
lbornly. "an' you'll Jest take that much mo-
ney outer my wages, that's what, you IL DO;
Tt'I learn me not TO be moren half 1901
next time"
Then the cook retired to the kitchen, where
his anger could find free vent without dis
turbing anybody. and Jim said, with sigh:
There's no question about its being your
sugar and If you'll send some one here to
take it away IN see chat it's landed
"I'm sorry. for you, my, boy" replied the
merchant. kindly, but | must claim my
dollars offered for the return of the goods.
and I'll send team for the sugar at once.
Come up to the store and see me before you
go away.
Jim took the money, because ne tnougnt
that if reward had been offered he was en-
titled to it-that he had really earned it. OF
course. he had no intention of allowing Jetbro
To nav the amount, and he thought with
teen regret of the thirty dollars that he
would be obliged to place the wrong side
of his proft-and-loss account.
In a very short time after the merchant
left the boa5, men came to remove the sugar,
and while it was being put on shore True
and Bent came on board.
.eWell, you are the luekiest chap / ever
saw. Jim!'' exclaimed True "You manage
10 sell everything you buy whenever you
want to.
between the merchant and himself, and they
no longer thought he was such a particularly
lucky fellow. But all they could do was to
sympathze With the 1;S y9png . trader IN his
Jim could see no reason for a call upon the
stcrekeeper, as he had been requested to do
yet he started up town as soon as the sugar
had been landed
Mr.. Fernad, for that was the merchants
name, treated jim as cordially as if he had
been very old and very intimate friend.
The merchant advised him as to what places
letters to merchants in New Orleans who
would be most likely to take what goods he
might have at fair prices, and, in fact, inn
parted so much valuable information that
the young trader began to think that he
had received pretty fair equivalent for his
thirty dollars.
"Whenever you are going up or coming
down the river, and have the time, come and
see me-" concluded Mr.. Fernald as Jim rose
TO CO. 81 am sorry for you that your sugar
speculation turned out so badly; but vet /
could not have done any differently"
Certainly you couldn't" replied jim, quick.
". "You have been so kind to me that /
can't truly say I'm sorry things happened Just
as they did, and shall surely stop to see you
whenever get chance"
When Jim arrived on board of the fat-boat
again it was SO late in the afternoon that il
would have been of no. advantage to have
started down the river that day, and he de-
cided to remain where he was until morning.
Jim was the first one on deck the next morn
ing, being anxious to begin trading again az