The Tupelo journal., 1912-08-30

speaking in stage whispers. You get
me? What I'm telling you is to be
kept under your hat"
Certainly; that's understood"
Right you are. . Now. the
particular phase Of lawless industry
at present engaging my distinguished
professional attention is"-he allowed
himself the dramatic pause-"smug-
Cling. For some time e Treasury
Department has been aware that a
very considerable quantity Of highly
dutiable goods was finding its way
into the country-mainly for the New
York markets-without paying toll.
A syndicate Of Maiden Lane jewelers.
has been reaping most OF the profit,
although other goods have been COM
ing through; but that's BY the way.
Now the Customs net Is fine enough
to assure us that no such heavy i'm
portations could have been sneaked
in through any regular port Of entry.
All we were certain of was that 1t
was getting in duty free-though we
couldn't prove even that. . So
then, I was turned loose on the prob
lem, and I've been puzzling over It for
six months"
He was briefly silent, apparently in
reminiscent mood. EARLY in the
game" he resumed, II had aus to
believe that most Of the stuff was
seeping in through New England. So
l sat me down and tried to figure 1t
out from the other sides point OF
view-supposing l wanted to turn
the trick on my W account. Seer
Clearly. Go on"
Being q product Of this neck O
the woods made It some easier; l
know the coast pretty thoroughly. It
struck me how alfred easy 1t would
be. to establish q depot for the TO
ception Of goods on n OF these little
islands hereAbouts-or even ut ooGpe
retired point On the mainland Thsn
one could ship the stun over By any
old unrakely tramp, transship It to q
smaller vessel at some agreed point
OF the coast, and stow 4 away for
distributor practically ut ones "
convenience. With such q central
station, the stun could be smusyled
to the railroad through any number
Of small harbors-a trunkful here. q
trunkful there. all disguised as pas
senger baggage; and these waters are
90 thick with small craft that their
comings and goings attract practically
no attention. Plausible, lea
sible-yes?"
Ingenious, certainly"
"To cut it short, I finally satisfied
myself that the schooner employed
for the trans-shipment was the fisher
man that, as you saw, preferred my
room to my company. l took a chance
there, like a fool-lucky to get on
with a whole skin. But by the time
/ hit the water l felt pretty sure they
had some s~ure-enough good reason
for not wanting any strangers hang
ing round"
"Td think you justified in assuming
that much"
"The worst OF 1t was, that mishap
made me a marked man; I'd been q
wee mite too indiscreet. For q while
I thought I'd have to fade into he
background, and let one Of my brother
sleuths polish of the job. You a
fancy how that would have CALLED.
Fortunately you offered yourself"
II like that" Coast commented.
Anyway, my magnificent imagina-
ton offered you to me-" Appleyard
pursued without loss of countenance.
Il began to see how easy 1t would be
to snoop along the coast as your crew
-inconspicuous, unsupported. You
seemed to have only the vaguest idea
Of what you wanted to do, where you
wanted to cruise. And I'd begin 10
suspect myself of failure OF the parts
of speech II l couldn't insidiously talk
you into going where | wanted to-
No Mans Land, Muskeget, Tucker
muck, Chappaquiddick, or wherever"
"Im ready to certify you're quail
fed to talk the hind legs off the do
nestle mule" Coast averred with en-
thusiasm.
Don't worry; I'm a merciful a
Rather cheap, that-what?"
Extremely"
"Your fault: you fed it to me. I'm
beginning to think you must be the
only original, perfectly-pasteurised
mascot. Since we met the very stars
have seemed to battle in their course
for me. Even the fog helped-shunt-
ing us off to No Mans Land"
Yes"
Il had no particular notion OF in
vestigating that island first of all; but
a number of circumstances made me
suspect we were in its neighborhood.
l had figured it out that the variation
of the magnetised compass must have
carried us sou'west, for one thing;
and the absence of fog signals made
me think we must have got well south
of the main-traveled routes; finally,
1 knew that, once south of Devils
Bridge, the set. of the tide would
snake us out toward No Mans Land.
So, when we ran aground and went
ashore, leaving you asleep, | wasn't
surprised to recognize the place"
you could-in that fog"
.