The National tribune., 1910-01-06

myself on my immaculateiwhlte bed ana
wept tears of real despair, for every
thing was just as bad as It had been
right along 1t was exactly tho same
thing Then born of my utter hope
lessness and anguish came 4 grim de-
Termination to find the GIIilty Thing or
perish in the attempt. l began at one
end of the room and l deliberately put
my nose to and actually smelled every
blessed thing in it as | started out on
my desperate quest. From bureau l
went to chair, and from chair to table,
from table to couch, etc No luck at
| all Everything absolutely all right. In
the lower corner of the room reposed
my trunk, placed there iby the porter
while / was at dinner. 1t was the small
steamer trunk / had purchased in ia
pan, made of bamboo and covered with
crash or linen-you know the kind. l
had brought it abroad with me be-
cause it was so light, and you will re-
member 1 had had it forwarded from
Molde to Bergin by the F. Beyer
Agency when We began our driving. AS
approached the trunk / got hotter"
as the children say in their hunting
games My suspicious were suddenly
aroused l made one bound for that
trunk, got down on my knees and
touched my dainty nose to the dirt
grimmed canvas covering. "Ah, ha! vii
lain, at last you are unearthed! Per-
dition seize thy SOUL" cried /. and all
that sort of thing. Yes, indeed; it was
this miserable-lO looking, wretched old
trunk that had given all the trouble.
Undoubtedly while We were off on our
driving trip it had rested III some ware
house or more exposed place, and. judg
ling from the peculiar nature of the
odor, l should say large quantities of
fish in all conditions of freshness had
been deposited upon it. The canvas
covering absorbed the frightful smell
which time, instead of diminishing,
seemed to make more noticeable. The
warmth of the room brought out all its
pristine strength, and yet up to that
moment l had not been able to trace
it. l had had several suspects" re-
moved from my room at the various
places tpoor innOcents), and l had dis
creetly complained to several chamber
maids, who always expressed great as
Itonishment, declaring that I was ''the
first person." and all that, as indeed I
suppose 1 was, and now, after all, had
only my own property to blame. / really
felt quite guilty, and half hesitated
about telling Elizabeth, altho, of course,
/ was dying to tell her You see, while
Elizabeth had had Two trunks forward
ed from Molde, one of them was made
of wood with brass trimmings and the
other, small bonnet trunk, was COW
cred with shiny leather, which held the
smell only a very short time, really,
only while we We're in Bergen. She
complained for about one day in Chris
tiania, and that was the last I heard
from her on the subject. Always, at
Christiania Cat Bergen our luggage was
in our rooms when we went to them),
at Copenhagen, a, Amsterdam aud at
Brussels the rooms seemed perfectly
fresh and sweet when they were first
shown; the trouble began later, after
my trunk had been brought up, but I
wasn't bright enough to find this out.
Well, 1 told Elizabeth, of course, at
once, and l wish you could have seen
the expression on her face. When We
had both Gained down she said she had
noticed right along that my room had
the same horrid smell, but as hers
hadn't she thought she wouldn't say
anything about it, hoping that every
change we made would end the trouble.
You better believe 1 had that old trunk
yanked out of my room as quickly as
possible (after unpacking it), and / am
happy to tell you that nice new one
now reposes in the same spot it did.
And thus ends the Tragedy of the
Rooms, which, after ALL wasn't so very
tragic. l have lost several articles Of
more or less value during our travels,
but this is the only really unpleasant
thing that has happened since 1 left
home, so / ought not to complain. And
now, here ] am at the end of my let
ter, and, l declare, / haven't told you a
single thing about this perfectly fasci-
mating city. Well, never mind, we ere
to be here for about week, and I'll
write you again in few days.
For the nonce, then, by-by.
Your loving,
Sailor Aunt