Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-01-30

u.
being n decent looking man he proba-
bly, did not anticipate being question
3D. When asked to prove himself the
owner he became confused ard walked
out. The pawnbroker had gone to the
door after him to call an officer, but
as none was at hand he had to stand
and see the man disappear in the
crowd 1t was found that the man
had tried two other shops of the same
sort and failed. There were plenty Of
secondhand clothiers who would he
willing to buy, however. and the police
made their hunt in that direction.
Meanwhile, four days after the steal
ing of the coat from the barrister, he
had to make a journey down into the
country fer hundred miles. When
he came to take the train he found
himself in Il compartment with a
sporty looking young ulan who had
been drinking too much and who want
| cd 10 be too familiar all ut once. Mr..
| Saunders had been seated in the car
| riaga quarter Of an hour before he
/ noticed fur trimmed overcoat folded
| III ard lying on the seat. The fur and
| the cclcr Of the cloth seemed the same
rs II his lost garment.
| "Say. row. cid felicr." said the young
man IS he saw that the others atten-
ton was attracted to the coat, II
want to show you that l know a thing
or two. You may think there are flies
on me, bat you will get left"
| well, what is it," was asked.
The coat was shaken out and held
up, ard after chuckle or two the
| question was asked:
| What dye think this is WORTH"
The barrister closely inspected 1t, and
his heart began TO beat faster. That
was either the coat be had left in the
hotel cloakroom or the one stolen from
him later on.s He was ready to make a
dozen affidavits to that effect
81 should say the first cost was g."
he finally replied.
What! Three pounds for coat like
that. Say, old man, don't you ever bet
on the horses. If you don't know a
horse better than you do an overcoat
you'd he skinned to death. That coat,
sir. never cost less than Els, and l
shouldn't wonder If the figure was
600"
Tut the fur is cheap and the cloth
shoddy. It's all for show"
In your eye it is. It's fifteen
pound coat-not Il penny less. And
what dye s'pose paid for it,
cant say"
"a flyer. Bought it Of n fellow lcdg-
| Il
my old dad present of it when / get
down to Singleton. A fifteen pound
coat fer s.. and that's the kind of a
young man I am. Have IL drink? No
hard feciin::s. you know
Thanks. brt / never drink
Some felix's never do. Some folks
don't know when they see good
thing. Well, III drink alone"
That was the end of the CONVERSE
ton. The young man drank from his
flask several times and after yawning
and stretching finally fell asleep. When
it was certain that he slept the barris-
ter reached over for the coat went
through the pockets. and his heart al
most choked him as he found the little
book ard the key. They had simply
been transferred to another pocket
When respectable barrister starts in
picking pockets he may not stop there.
Mr.. Saunders didn't. He was TO leave
the train before the young man. and
when he left he had the fur trimmed
overcoat on his back. 1t went back
with him to London, and within few
hours the Russian embassy had his
missing key and code and everybody
was happy and nobody's conscience
was troubling.