The Climax-Madisonian. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1914-1917, 1914-10-07
HELD IN
TRUST
By DWIGHT NORWOOD

Sailing from London for America my
baggage was carried on board by
steward One of my pieces-a wicker
extension case-had no mark on it, but
finding one exactly like mine carried
1t to my stateroom.
I had no occasion to look into this
case till we had been out half the yoy-
age, or four days. When 1 did met
with a surprise. 1t was filed with
articles used by a woman. Realizing
that / had changed baggage with some
one, 1 looked over the contents to dis
cover a name or something by which
I might return it to its owner and get
mine. Here again l met with sur
prise. / found no mark. but came
upon numerous little boxes containing
jewels which were evidently very val
liable. Here was a subject for a Job
of thinking.
Had the lady placed the jewels there
merely to convey them, or did this
placing them in a frail and unlocked
receptacle indicate that she intended
to smuggle them into America? Had
they come into my possession through
an error, or was 1 to be used as the
smuggler? All the thinking l did on
the matter did not solve 1t. The only
thing 1 could do was to go to the pur-
ser and If any one notified him Of the
loss Of a wicker extension case to let
me know. The ship having been out
four days and no one having reported
such q loss, the inference seemed to
be either that the lady, supposing that
she had her own case, had not exam
lned its contents Orwell, the only
other supposition was that she would
use me for purpose. L must await
developments.
The trip was a pleasant one to me,
for I made some agreeable acquaint-
apces. There were a Mrs. Harbeson
and her daughter aboard, who sat a
great deal on deck. A gentleman who
was with them at times ! met in the
smoking room. We fell to talking one
day about the run Of the ship and
thus became acquainted. Passing the
ladies 1 have mentioned while he was
with them, he made a remark to me
which led to an Introduction to his
dial, but the daughter seemed a trifie
Ill at ease. However, since she was
pretty girl l labored to make myself
entertaining and succeeded in doing
away somewhat with her embarrass-
ment or whatever it might be.
/ was too circumspect to say word
to any one about my find. l left the
Jewels where they were in the case.
which 1 showed under my berth. Not
knowing what trouble might get into
In the matter, preferred, If accused,
to be able to take any position that
might be for the best. But my inten-
t1on was to tell the truth.
The day before reaching port 1 con-
Guided that / must take some action
with reference to the goods, which /
did not doubt had either been stolen
or were to be smuggled, or both, and,
going to my stateroom and locking
the door, 1 pulled out the extension
case and lifted the top. What was my
establishment to see that it contained
my own belongings and did not con-
tain any other property.
There was a mystery indeed How
the jewels came into my possession
did not know; how they left me did
not know. But it was evident that
two exchanges had been made, and,
the second one having been purposely
accomplished, it was evident that some
game was going on. But it seemed to
me now that should never receive an
explanation Of the incident. Neyerthe-
less 1 felt relieved that the property
had passed out of my possession. In
deed, had about made up my mind
before leaving the ship to turn 1t over
to the purser.
The Harbesons, Mr.. Etheridge. the
man who introduced me to them, and
1 all made rapid progress in becoming
Intimate and before reaching port
agreed that we should meet on the
evening of our arrival for dinner at
certain uptown restaurant. We bid
each other goodby at the dock at noon,
and at Z, attired in dinner costume,
met my friends in a private dining
room. was received cordially, espe-
cially by the ladies, and after getting
warmed up with wine Mrs. Harbeson
said to me:
81 have something to tell you pro-
vided you will promise to take no ad-
vantage of it"
I looked at her sharply. 1t struck
me at once that she knew something
about my find on shipboard. made
the required promise.
"My daughter and l." said the lady.
have done a good deal Of smuggling,
not for profit, but to save money on
what we bring from abroad. We stop
ped at the same hotel as you in Lon
don. Believing that we were suspect
ed by a detective on the other side and
having some $4,000 worth Of jewels
to get through the New York customs
house free of duty, we were at our
wits end.
my daughter, passing along cor
ridor, heard you order your baggage
taken to the steamer. You left your
room unlocked. She went in and saw
your wicker case. We had its dupli-
cate. She put the jewels in ours, car
ried it to your room and took yours
away.
ION the ship we asked Mr.. Etheridge
to bring you and introduce you that
we might the better keep track of one
who held our property in trust, and 1t
was he who made the second exchange.
Having baffied the detective on the 9TH
er side, we knew how to fool the Gus
toms men In New York"
E~%repaa oF 1 azIness