Morris tribune., 1914-02-20
The Girl With
/ Titan Hair
! And How | Secured an
Introduction to
Her
BY WILLIAM CHANDLER

Pompeii, climb Vesuvius and pass
great deal of time in the National mu-
scum, containing the exhumed treas
ures of the buried cities.
During my stay in Naples l met on
several occasions a family consisting
Of father, mother, daughter about
nineteen and boy of twelve. l often
heard them talk together. They spoke
English. and l knew by their accent
that they were Americans. l would
have liked to make their acquaintance.
Indeed, l endeayored to do so one day
when l was near the father in the
National museum by addressing him a
remark. But he did not respond very
cordially, and refrained from another
attempt.
My object in making this family'S
acquaintance was that l wished for
companionship with my own country
men, especially the young lady, about
whom there was something to me very
attractive While her complexion had
little color, the combination of eyes.
hair and skin made up peculiar style
of beauty, the eyes being a dark
brown and the hair what is usually
called Titan from the fact that the
artist used it so often in his pictures
Having seen the sights at Naples.
took. my departure for Rome, where
occupied rooms on the Via NaziOnale.
opposite the Piazza Venetia l had
been there but "a few days when I saw
at dinner the American family l have
mentioned, If 1 had been very near
them 1 think l should have made an
other attempt to form their acquaint-
ance, but as soon as dinner was over
they retired to their rooms and the
next morning went sightseeing in one
direction, while went on a like err
rand in another.
My bed at the hotel was uncomforta
BILE. and after tossing on small hum
mOcks one night on arising in the morn
ing thought | would have look at
the mattresses to see what was the
matter. Throwing back the top mat
treSs,, there on the one beneath it was
a brooch set with valuable gems.
There were many suppOSable reasons
for the brooch to be where it was.
First, some guest of the hotel might
have put it there temporarily for safe
keeping and forgotten it. But this
was not probable. for l had occupied
the room for week, and the maid
who made the bed would surely have
discovered it. The most likely cause
for its being there was that some one
had stolen t and placed it there tenn
pOrarily till he or she could remove it.
took it up and. the morning being
dar,l, carried it to a window to have
better look at it. Feeling something
could not see tickle the back of my
hand, l felt for it with the other hand
and clasped Il hair between my fingers.
It was clinging to the brooch, and, dis
engaging it, held it up between me
and the window 1t seemed to be vel
low or golden, and, lighting a gas jet,
l saw that there was a tinge of red
about it. Further examination showed
me that it was very like the hair of
the young lady whose acquaintance |
was DESTROYS of making.
Could the brooch have been stolen
from her: If so l might come to know
her in either i favorable or an unfavOr-
able light. If could restore her prop
erty | would have an advantage; if l
should stand in the position Of the
thief | might be landed in Jail. 1t
would seem that there was not the
slightest risk of my reporting my find
to the office Of the hotel But while
studying my profeSsion-the law-I
had attended Il number of criminal
trials whereby / had learned that it
might be very easy matter for one
perfectly innocent to be placed in the
position of a thief l was in posses
sion of valuable piece of iewelry.
and l was the only person, except the
thief, who knew that had not stolen it.
Quite probably the chambermaid was
the thief. She would make up the bed
during 1.-THE morning and, if my suppO-
sttion was correct. would look for the
property she had placed between the
mattresses If she did not find it there
she would suppose 1 had taken it.
W AdS WOulu HuS uOs w udL Ull&QC she
do? One of the things she might do
was to direct the person who had lost
the brooch to me as the probable thief.
must keep her from making the. bed
I'LL had determined what course to
pursue
detached the hair from the brooch
and put it in an envelope Then 1 put
the brooch back between the mattress
es where had found it and got into
bed again. After an hour had passed
and | had come to no decision what to
do in the matter l rang for a waiter
and told him to bring up my break
last. So long as the stolen property
was where it had been placed by the
thief he or she would not be likely to
take any action involving me.
OF course there was but one thing
for me to do ito ring for the landlord
and show him the brooch between the
mattresses. But my judgment was
warped by finding the hair that made
me suspect the property belonged to