Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-07-09
Finding a
Treasure
1t Puts Gentleman Into
a Middle
By ARTHUR LANGLEY
wilkins was bored.

he arose from his chair. StrOlled out 10
the cigar stand. lit a cigarette. smoked
for a few minutes, threw away the
stump. walked to the club entrance
and stood with his hands in his pOck-
cts. wondering what next he should
do to kill time.
Cab"
A vehicle was wheeled from the line
Of cabs standing before the club TO the
curb opposite him. and he entered II,
telling The jebu to drive him to the -
theater. where he intended to buy tick
cts for that evenings performance.
On The seat beside him lay a lady's
hand bag. wilkins took it up. looked at
IL. opened ii and examined the con-
tents with d view to discovering to
whom it belonged. He found them as
diversified as those In IA boys pocket.
but there was only one article that
gave him any hope Of identifying the
owner Of the property, a brown paper
parcel five or six inches long. two
inches broad and an inch thick. Find-
ing no address or other mark on II. he
concluded it to be a shopping purchase
and put ii back In the bag. But. dcsir-
ing to exhaust every means Of finding
a clew to the ownership. he took ii out
again and unrolled it. He found bills
to the amount Of $4,000.
His ennui left him instantly.
Not that he felt elated at making an
accession to his fortune. for he had no
idea Of keeping his find. but that 1t
was evident the money had been left
inadvertently In the carriage by a wo-
man and there would be something for
him TO do to trace her and return the
money.
Moreover. there was a daintiness
about the bag and its contents that
caused him to fancy the owner IA
young. Then. again. a middle aged
woman would not likely be so careless
as 10 leave a small fortune In a cab,
and an old one would be no more like
ly to be riding about with so much In
her possession. At any rate. wilkins
nOllu ndNt IL lndI Tic luuJ Ndo
young. and. having gone thus far. he
fancied she must be attractive. She
had doubtless been the last person to
occupy the cab before him. and the
driver could tell him about her. VII
kins put the bag and contents under
his coat and when he left the cab
asked the driver for Information con
corning his last fare.
wilkins was informed that she was
a young lady who had been taken in
before n dry goods store and had been
driven to a bank. She had come out
Of the bank and re-entered the car
rage. ordering him to drive to another
store. where she alighted. seeming to
be III. She had staggered into the
store and disappeared. He had wait
ed some time for her. but as she didn't
reappear he ave up waiting for her
and drove away.
On thinking the matter over wilkins
did not believe there would be much
loss would be advertised. and all he
needed To do was to watch the per-
sonal columns In the newspapers. This
he did for n week, but not seeing the
notice he expected he concluded that
either the young lady had taken other
means to recover her loss or had been
i'll or possibly might have died. He
inquired ut police headquarters II any
such loss had been reported. but gain
ed no clew in this way. He did not
care TO make known his find. for he
knew that II he did there would be
many claimants. and 1t would be diff
cult to head of some OF the more in
genius one
The matter dragged along till Will
kins began to be troubled at holding
so large I'm amount OF some other per-
sons money. Then one day he con-
fided the matter to his friend Brod-
well. Brodwell said that he had seen
IN advertisement OF a large amount
but just when he had seer the notice
he couldn't remember. nor could he
recollect the newspaper In which II
had appeared.
Wilkins made a search through the
newspapers issued since he had found
the money, but they were SO volumi-
nous that he failed TO find what he
looked for. This was discouraging.
He began TO fear that his keeping the
money would get him into trouble.
Probably the matter had been put into
the hands OF detectives who might be
Oh his track. He was inclined TO turn
the matter over TO the police, but fear
ed his reasons for keeping It secret
would not be accepted. At any rate.
he might suffer In the opinion OF the
public. who would know all about the
affair.
Being an imaginative man, he per
mitted himself TO brood over the stu
alton. Instead Of a romance be had
caught n tartar. He began 10 wish
the money was In the bottom OF the
sea. Indeed. he thought OF putting 1t
there. The bills were a burden TO him.
He didn't like 10 put them In the bank.
for the deposit OF such a sum might
excite a suspicion that would lead to
the fact getting out that he had a large