Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1912-05-23
MYSTERY OF THE
STOLEN PAPERS
Explanation of a Queer Incl
dent Aboard a WarShip.

small wooden gunboat brought tempo.
rarily into the navy.
One morning the commanding otfi-
GERS orderly amt around among tue
officers with an order for them to re-
port in the captains cabin. AS soon
as we arrived we saw that something
of Importance was to be commune
Gated.
"Gentlemen." said the captain. when
l came down here at 2 o'clock this
morning from the bridge before enter
ing my room l heard some n within.
The door was slightly aiar. and l saw
a man rihing my desk. l waited till
he came out, and without making my
presence known to him l entered. to
find a package of papers missing. The
man who committed the theft is one
of your number
Four of us looked at one another as
If a hand grenade had been dropped
on the deck above. The fifth. Ensign
Archie Reeves. a daredevil young fell
low whom we all loved. looked at none
Of us. Nevertheless his face wore the
III bablS S-AItS ooAoAi wv b<NA
all seen on it in action.
When the captain had spoken he dis
missed us-not a word about prefer
ring charges against the culprit. not a
word about a discontinuance of his
duties. nothing but the bare facts.
We were all sure that Reeves was the
man referred to, yet such was his
bearing. >repellent Of any mention Of
the accusation. that o n of us broach-
ed the subject to him. When we saw
that no explanation was forthcoming.
no move made toward demanding an
investigation. all except myself felt it
incumbent upon them to cut him.
One night when We were hOverin::;
near an undefended part Of the Cuban
coast Reeves came to me and request
ed that | should act for him in an af-
fair Of honor. | consented. and he sent
me to Surgeon Irwin. who informed me
that he represented the captain. | ask
ed him what the affair was about, but
he did not know. No one knew eX-
cept the two principals. The surgeon
handed me u paper signed by the cap
tain. 1t was Il waiver of his rank be-
tween the hours of 4 and & on the fol
lowing morning.
Shortly before dawn principals and
seconds tool the captains dinghy and
pulled to the shore. A%nchoring the
dinghy to the beach. we went back OF
the dunes. measured off the ground anC
placed our men. and when all was
ready the surgeon gave the word. Tht
captain received a bullet in the arm
Irwin asked him if he was satisfied
he was satisfied. and he also assented
1 supposed the two would shake hands
but they did not. The g band
aged the wound. The captain wore
his coat. as usual. and we rowed bacl
to the ship without any one on board
knowing the purpose for which we ha(
gone. At the juniors mess when W
assembled for breakfast the surgeon
said:
"Gentlemen. l am authorized by tn
captain to that he and Mr.
Reeves have had a meeting ashore thi!
morning. The captain received a fesl
wound in the arm. He requests tina.
men,"
"Well?" The word was not spoken
it was looked by every man present.
II have nothing more to communi
cate"
It was plain that the matter of the
theft as we'll as the meeting was of 6
personal nature. At any rate. all now
felt that they might recognize Reeves
Though he had not cleared himself Of
the charge. he had resented the accuse
ton. The affair gave those Of us who
were not the principals something tt
talk about during the dull hours Of
blockading
After this we watched both the cap
tain and Reeves in their intercourse
with each other to discover ltipil
status 1t was soon plain that there
was no Intercourse at all. except az
official one The captain was rather
more deferential to Reeves than tc
he would chat Familiarity with us he
would never do so with Reeves. As
for Archie. we all thought that there
was an undercurrent of contempt fol
the captain which he was trying ,o
conceal. The result of many confer
ences we had OF the subject was tina,
the captain had made a mistake in &C.
cusing him, as he had virtually done
of theft and that Reeves had forced
him to give him satisfaction to do what
was possible TO right the matter
When the blockade was raised we
We're ordered north. Reaching port,
Archie and went ashore together. AS
we neared the pier noticed a young
and extremely Dretty woman who was