The Green Forest tribune., 1916-10-27

course, for them to find from the rec ords who was getting wet sugar. Not | dry sugar man got a job. You ask Tobin. He was one of the guys who held out for honesty. But it was a hard season for Tobin, with his health bad and three kids. So next season he lined up. So did most of them. h. side of three years there was not a sampler on the dock who was not talk ing them wet"
 But put me wise," said Gard. eff I am going to get a samplers job next year you better pass the word to me so I will know how to hold it."
 T guess you know enough about raw sugar." said the sampler, "to know sponge when it gets a chance. Well, they are not careful in keeping out the damp air when it is aboard ship, and it often comes handy, not altogether by accident, for sack of sugar to get chance to lie on wet board The sugar on the outside naturally gets little damp, and if you will turn sack over you may find wet side to it. The first lesson is to take your samples from the wet side of the sack and from the part near the outside.
 But maybe the sugar has been kept pretty dry. We'll it is up to the sam pier to get little moisture into his tube. If it is warm day few drops of sweat may be gathered by a scrape of the back of your hand. Every drop is worth it's weight in gold hundred times to the refiners. It would surprise you to learn how cleverly the sampler learns to spit bit of tobacco juice into his tube. You have worked on the docks for long time. You never saw it done, did you? But they were at it all the time. I bet the govern ment has paid million dollars for to- bacco juice in the last ten years. Gun ningham. here, has grown fat eating tobacco"
 But does everybody on the dock take wet samples?" asked the detec- tive.
 "Surest thing you know" said Han- sen. Ask them"
 How about it, Cunningham" quer- jed Gard
 T need the work" said the fat man.
 And you, Tobin?'
 T held out a year." said the little consumptive, but couldn't afford to lose my job"
 All the others present pleaded gull ty.
 Don't you fellows get anything for it but little off-season work?" asked Gard
 Not thing acknowledged Hansen with huge oath. We certainly sell out cheap and the company makes bar rels of money out Of the bargain. But the old man has never given us look in on any of it"
 The dictagraph stenographer at the next table had caught every word. He was in position to substantiate the testimony of Gard who should be able to make these samplers tell their stories in court. Soon the two faded took with them a complete case against the government samplers of this port and against the Continental Refining company which had been protting through their shortcomings It was month later and Billy Gard had completed his work He had gone to Henry Gottrell "cold turkey" as the special agents say when they lay all the cards on the table. He had shown that rotund and genial captain of industry just the case the govern ment had against him. With him he ness of the refiners since that period, eight years previous, when the wet sample scheme had been inaugurated. He had worked out an estimate of the probable duty that the government had lost during that time The actual the theoretical, for many of the sam- pies were of necessity honest. Yet it must have run as high as $600,000 as shortage on the part of Gottrell and his associates.
 Gard indicated the possibility of the
 
 probability of recovering that large sum of money through the courts. He confessed to the humiliation of the government that so many of it's em- ployees had been false to their trust. He even granted that the government might, under the circumstances, feel itself somewhat to blame for the con- ditions that had existed. It is not recorded whether the vision of a girl with frizzly, corn-colored hair came in. to the mind of the special agent and had to do with his recommendation that the case be settled out of court. But certain it is that the government authorized him to propose that if the company should pay the government S6OO,000, an amount it would be just able to raise and escape bankrupcy, the case would be dismissed, the sam- piers discharged, and a new regime inaugurated in which the government would take pains to protect itself.
 Upon this basis the case was set. tied. Billy Gard had earned his sal. ary.
 The next day he was packing up at his hotel in preparation for leaving for Washington when there arrived by messenger a little, square, delicately scented envelope which he tore open somewhat wonderingly. Inside he found this note:
 Father has told me all about it. For the third time let me say 'splen. did' And remember that you prom. ished to come and tell me about it when it was all over.
 "THELMA GOTTRELL."