The Monticellonian., 1916-10-26

ing man. 1t was in this way that he
was able to observe rather carefully
every process of the transfer of a ear
go of sugar through the custom
house at which the federal government
takes its toll
All the time the special agent was
looking for a clew-was bringing an
incisiye mind to bear upon the prob
lem of the course the sugar took and
the possibility of fraud at each step.
He spent days observing the methods
of the weighers. He watched every
detail of the transfer of cargo from
ship to warehouse. He loafed about
the sheds where the samples were
taken-a process in which he took a
vast interest
Here the samplers, government en-
ployees, ran their little hollow tubes
through the mesh of the sacks that
contained sugar The tubes went IN
empty but came out full of that which
was within. This constituted the sam
pie for a given sack. Each sample
was made into a little package. care
fully labeled, and went to the govern
ment laboratory to be tested The
duty on the sugar coming in was
charged according to the degree of
purity of these samples.
1t was here that Billy Gard picked
up his first clue. He noticed pc
culiarity about the methods used by
the samplers in inserting their tubes
into the sacks. They were always run
along the side of the sack and never
plunged into its very heart. Tobin,
the little consumptive, sampled in this
peculiar way. as did the hammer
/ handed Hansen of the everyready
! scowl, Yet it would be easier to take
the sample out of the middle of the
bag. Why did the samplers skim
near the edge?
Gard took this question to the gov
eminent laboratory, but found no
ready answer to it. He procured a
typical sack of sugar and from it took
| two samples-one from the very heart
and one from the outside rim These
he had tested in the laboratory That
from the middle of the bag showed a
/ A43SAG t u putty pei 1tlll uIBlEl
! than that from the outside The i'm
| purity, the report stated was in the
form OF water
Technical men were set to work to
determine through many experiments
the difference in the grade of the su-
gar in different parts of the bag
| Finally it was established that raw
sugar has a tendency to take up mois-
| ture, and that that portion of it which
| is exposed does so. The sugar near
the outside came in contact with the
=, air which contained moisture, while
! that on the inside did not The
/ refiners were, of course, aware of
this tendency. But the important cor
clusion from the viewpoint of Billy
Gard was that the government sam
! piers were doing their work in such
a way as to favor the importers. Here
might be a leak that was very i'm
portant
William H. Gard. special writer, that
day disappeared from the sugar docks
and was never seen again. Simultane-
ously with his disappearance the sa-
loon of Jean F1avot, not block and
half distant, acquired new custore-
er in the person of a roughly dressed
young laborer who did not drink as
heavily as some of his fellows, but was
none the less willing to buy for others.
But what was vastly more in his favor
in the eyes of Flavot than even liber-
atty was the fact that he spoke
| French. Mon Dieu, these rough Amer
| leans who knew not of the blandish-
ments of absinthe and drank only the
whisky! The resort keeper and the
| newcomer held them in common con-
tempt
The special agent had selected the
resort of Jean Flavot as a basis of
operations because it was the place
most frequented by the samplers. He
wanted, in the first place, to find out
if these men had more money to spend
than honest men of their salaries
should have The individual who
makes Illicit money usually spends 1t
lavishly and it should therefore be
easy to determine if the samplers
were being paid to be crooked. And
Gard, after two weeks of conviyial as
sociation with them, was rather thrown
back upon himself when he found that
their carousals were always within
their means and that money was
scarce among them. They were evil
IDENTIFY not being bribed.
That he might get on more init
| rpoto bocic with Ga d
went to work as a laborer on the docks,
and there toiled for two months. He
came to be most intimately one OF
| them, was given every opportunity for
observing their work, was even in
trusted with certain valuable conf
dences when the men were sober and
saw his way toward learning more by
associating with them when they were
in their cups.
His task was but half finished, how.
ever, when the maiden with the frizzy
hair and the freekles came near up.
setting the beans. The daughter OF
the president of the company had
played through her childhood on the
| docks and about the warehouse and
was not yet averse to climbing stacks
of sugar sacks or descending into the
holds of the ships. SO it happened thai
she often visited the water front, and
Gard had at first feared he might be
recognized. but this fear wore away
as the visits were repeated and nc
attention was paid to him.
But one busy day he was carting
away the sacks of sugar that yera no