Evening star., 1914-04-12

chanois bag that hung about his neck, and
poured the contents upon the blanket. Blue
stones, rather dull at first; but-ah. when the
sun awokc the fires in them: blue as thetower
O. the corn, the flame of burning sulphur.
He gathered them up and slowly trlckled
them through his fingers. Sapph1res, unset,
beautiful as a woman's eyes. He replaced
them in the chamois bag; and for the rest
of the afternoon went about his affairs pre-
occupiedly, grave as Bishop under his
inter. For, all said and done, he had much
to be grave about
In one of the panels of the partition that
separated the cabin from the next there was
a crack. A human eye could see through it
very well-and did.
MY young poet had signed on under
A'A the name of Thomas Webb. 1t was
not assumed. For years he had been known
in the haberdashery as Webb. There was
more to it, however; there was a tail to the
kite. The English have inordinate fondness
for hyphens, for Mothers family name and
Grandmother's family name and Great
grandmother with the immediate pater-
nal cognomen as a period. Thomas's full
name was a rosary, if you like, of yeonen,
of soldiers, of farmers, of artists, of gentle
bloods, of dreamers.
From his seventh year the boy had faced
life alone He had never gone with the
stream, but had always found lodgment in
the back-waters. There is no employment
quieter, peacefuller, than that of clerk in
a haberdashery. From Mondays till Satur-
days, calm, a perfect environment for
poet You would be surprised to learn of
the vast army of poets and novelists and
dramatists who dispense four -in-hands, col
lars, buttons, and hosiery six days in the
week and go picnicking on the seventh,
provided it does not rain.
Thomas had an idea. 1t was not a re-
Election of his lamented fathers: 1t was
wholly his own. He wanted to be loved.
His fathers Idea had been to love; thus,
humanity had laughed him into the grave.
So it will be seen that Thomas S idea was the
sensibler of the two.
The voyage was uneventful Blue day
followed blue day. When at length the
great port of New York loomed in the dis
tance Thomas felt thrilling in his spine
Perhaps yonder he might make his fortune!
No matter what else he did, that remained
to be accomplished; for he was a fortune
hunter, of the ancient type,-that is, he ex-
pected to work for it. Shore leave would
be his and if during that time he found
nothing why, he was determined to finish
the summer as a steward; and by fall he
would have enough to give him start in life
AN important tug came busting along
side. By the yellow flag he knew that
it carried the quarantine officials, inspectors,
and a few privileged citizens. Among
others who came aboard Thomas noted a
sturdy, thick-chested man in derby hat
bowler, Thomas called it. Quietly this man
sought the Captain and handed him what
looked to Thomas like a cablegram. The
Captain read it and shook his head. Thomas
overheard little of their conversation.
"You re welcome to look about Mr.. Hag-
gerty; but don't think you'll find the per-
son you seek"
"If you don't mind, I'll take a prowl.
Special case, Captain. Mr.. Killigrew
thought perhaps I'd see face l knew
@Valuable?'
"Fine sapphires. A chance that they may
come into this port. They haven't yet.
@Your customs inspectors ought to be
able to help you," observed the Captain,
hiding smile. Nothing but notes can
slip through their fingers
Sometimes they're tripped up" replied
Haggerty. "a case like this is due to slip
through. I'll take look
Thomas heard no more. A detective!
Unobserved, he went down to his stuffy
cabin, took off the chamois bag, and locked
it away in his trunk. So long as it remained
on board it was in British territory