The Washington herald., 1914-07-26

on the right sleeve Of the Pullman por-
ter observed on your way hither." said
1 dryly
"All Of which have gathered from
the facts as Mr.. Jemmison. the proprie-
tor of the Rock Hill. has placed them
before me-" said Rawson. The record
is very simple Monday It was q ruby
stickpin that went. Tuesday the harvest
was q silver-backed handglass- Wednes-
day he or she, got little more ambi-
tious and made OF with 8 gold match
box and a platinum lorgnette chain
stuffed with rhinestones. Thursday. ex-
hsusted apparently by the unwonted ac-
tivities OF the day before, the practi-
toner in the gentle art of rifing con-
tented himself with a pair Of tortoise
shell sidecombs. ornamented with bril-
Hants, set in a silver fIagree mounting.
Friday reckless ambition returned and
two rings, one a small solitaire and the
other a plain signet ring, turned up
missing. Saturdays loot consisted OF q
necklace OF almost pearls wrested from
the oyster beds OF West Twenty-third
street. and on Sunday conscience seems
TO have got in its me work. for the
losses Of the guests were nil"
laughed.
Hardly worth while. should say" I
put IN.
Not in bulk" said Rawson Eravely.
but I've taken the Job on for two fairly
good reasons-nrst, the proprietor Of the
hotel is q friend OF mine, and. second
the triv!ality Of the whole thing sug-
gests to my mind that while I am not
particularly interested IN ;he nerves OF
the guests OF the Rock Hill there may
be q soul to save"
"A what?'' I cried.
Hush - not so loud. old man." said
Rawson. What said was a soul to
save. AS I see the case there is what
you might call a beginning-criminal here,
and if by some good chance We can nip
his tendencies in the bud right here and
to this republic. which you will admit
needs about all the good citizens it can
lay its hands on. 1t has always been my
theory that IL We could catch our crimi-
nails young. give 'em good hard scare.
and then give 'em chance. there'd be a
lot less crime in the world
Rawson spoke with much fervor.
Il see," said I. putting my arms
through his and giving his an afrectionate
squeeze. What an Immortality good fsl-
low you are. Bnlie!"
Not at ALL said he. sadly. IT know
what am talking about. that's all got
caught robbing a henroost once when I
was kid, and If it hadn't been for the
everlasting kindness Of the man who
caught me I'd have been a candidate for
a reform school. and after that God only
knows what. He locked me up in his room
for a whole day without anything to eat
or drink, and that night
Rawson threw his head back and
laughed.
Go on" said I
We'll, that night" said Rawson, he
invited my father to dinner with him,
and he made me sit at that table and tell
my dear old governor Just what had
happened We had my bird, broiled, for
dinner, too. 1t was my first and my last
offense, Henderson. along these lines,
and I honestly believe it saved me-"
The Landlords Theory.
Arrived at the hotel we were greeted
e%citedly by Mr.. Jemmison. the proprie-
tor
m mighty glad you got here, Raw
son. he said agitatedly. The Internal
business has begun again. Mrs, Van
"inkie has just reported the loss of
'air Of diamond-Ilnked sleeve buttons"
Good" said Rawson. u was afraid
t was all over"
Il wish. to heaven II WAS all ovsr g."
said the proprietor fervidIy. Whoever
s doing this thing is running my busi- !
ness. Half a dozen Of my best people
ire threatening to leave"
We'll, I'll look 'em over" said Raw
4 SiLH' ana the next time
my one Of 'em threatens to leave Iust
nave EN- arrested. Leaving at this stage
u the game might be regarded as evil
ience OF guilt Burglars have a way Of
eaVing after finishing a job, you know"
Mr.. Jemmison did not receive this sur-
'estion with the slightest degree of
iatisfaction. On the contrary he seemed
'ather put out by it.
II would save you some time, Raw
on'' he said somewhat Indignantly, IF
'ou'd leave my guests out Of your CAL
altogether. We haven't a soul
n the house at the present time, except
dr. Henderson here. who has been with
Is less than three seasons and for the
most part they have been coming here
egularly' for ten years. You apparently
ont know what kind of house run" L
oh. very WELL" said Rawson. I'll
AXE your word for It, JemnIson. After
IL its your funeral and not mine. By
natural process Of elimination we've
'ot rid Of the guests, assume, and will
et all I have on It that my assumption
) correct, that you are yourself inno-
ent. From all I hear Of your table,
ou've got good cook. and It would
ever do to fasten the guilt Upon him"