Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1909-03-13

set the police at work. and the bar
rister took the initiative One Of the
underOfficials of the court remember
ed when questioned that well dressed
man. who was not recognized. but who
was supposed to be barristcr, had
penetrated to the CloakrOOm and later
on had reappearcd with n fur trim
med ovcrcOat on his arm and disap-
peared. In leaving the court he had
passed within five feet of the barriS-
ter. Stimulated by a generous reward,
the police began to hunt for CLOVIS, and
1t was not long before they found one
in pawnshop. The thief had come
in and offered to sell the coat. and.
being a decent looking man he proba-
bly, did not anticipate being question
ed When asked to prove himself the
owner he became confused ard walked
out. The pawnbrOkcr 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 II She same
sort and failed. There " r. plenty Of
secondhand cloth =. We I'D be
willing to buy. however. sd thr police
made their hunt in tlt election.
Meanwhile, four days at = ;hr seal
Ing of the coat from the ha1list"r, he
had to make Journey d WIN into the
country for Il hundred niles. When
he came to take the train he found
himself In compartment with
sporty looking young man who had
been drinking too much and who want
cd to be too familiar all ut once. Mr..
Saunders had been seated in the car
| riaga a quarter of an hour before he
noticed n fur trimmed uvcrCoat folded
UP and lying on the seat The fur and
the color of the cloth seemed the same
as in his lost garment.
"Say. now, old fcl}cr," said the young
man as he saw that the others attcn-
ton was attracted to the coat II
want to show you that know thing
or two. You may think there are flies
on me, but you will get left
well, what is it," was asked.
The coat was shaken ont and held
up, and after chuclllc or two the
| question was asked:
what dye think this is worth:''
The barriStcr closely inspected it, and
his heart began to beat faster. That
was either the coat he had left in the
hotel cloakroom or the one stolen from
him later on. He was ready to make Il
dozen aiIidavits to that effect.
81 should say the first cost was e"
he finally replied.
what. Three pounds for a 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 be skinned to death. That coat,
sir never cost less than flo, and I
shouldn't wonder if the figure was
500"
but the fur IS cheap and the cloth
shoddy. It's all for show"
In your eye it Is. It's Il fifteen
pound coat-not a penny less. And
what dye s'pose I paid for IT,
Cant say"
"A flyer Bought it of a fellow lodg-
er two days ago and am going to make
my old dad a present of it when | get
down to Singleton. a fifteen pound
coat for e.. and that's the kind of a
young man | am. Have drink? No
hard feelings, you know"
"Thanks but never drink
"Some folks never do. Some folks
don't know when they see n good
! thing Well. I'll drink alone
That was the end of the ConverSa-
ton. The young man drank from his
flask several times and after yawning
and stretching finally fell asleep. When
1t was certain that he slept the barriS-
ter reached over for the coat. went
through the pockets, and his heart al
most cholled him as he found the little
book and the key. They had simply
been transferred to another pocket
When a 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 nObodys conscience
was troubling.