Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-03-13
ALICE DEVINF
CHAPTER X Continued. }
By EDGAR JEPSON
Copyright 1916 BY The Bobbs- Merrill Co.

CHAPTER X (COntlnueu.)
When it had strengthened him we
made tour of the house. There were
gaps on the walls where pictures had
been - his best pictures There were
gaps in his china cabinets where china
had been - his best china; his port
folio of Meryon etchings had gone; SO
had his old silver - the best OF II.
The sham Nugget may have had a
weakness for cheating at cards and
for Colorado beauties: he may nave
had no taste in music; but in the mat
ter Of the arts he was a connolsseur.
Nugget was in tears before we reach
ed the first floor When he saw that
his Fragonards had gone from the
drawing room wall. he collapsed.
sent for doctor and the police.
The doctor was useful: he put nugget
to bed. But what could the police DO?
The thief had had more than three
weeks in which to pfunder the house.
He had taken his time about it and
done 1t thoroughly.
We found he had sold his loot al
ways as Sir Nugent Clipp in person;
and he had sold it, not only to dealers.
but also to leading collectors, and at
top prices. But the police only dis
covered the whereabouts Of about one
sixth of 1t. The memories of good
many collectors must have been shock
ing; short as the time was since the
transactions, their dealings with the
sham Nugget had slipped entirely out
Of their minds.
The police hunted for that great
connoisseur high and low; and they
are hunting still. 1t seems as If he had
worked without an accomplish. The
servants he had employed had all come
on temporary engagement from the
same registry office. The cabmen who
had driven him from Number 3. with
his trunk or kit bag, loaded with spoil,
had always driven him to a railway
station and there lost him. so that
there was no finding out half the ad.
dresses to which he had carried his
spoil. The fair Coloradan and her
"Mommer' while praising his fascin-
ating manners - SO unlike those OF the
real Nugget and lavish hospitality,
could throw no light on him. They had
met him at supper party and accept.
ed his invitation to stay with him
They displayed no sympathy with the
real Nugget. They were too much an
noyed by the fact that the marriage
which the fair Coloradan's "Mommer"
had arranged between her daughter
and the sham Nugget had fallen
through.
do not think that any Of us will
recognize the sham Nugget if we meet
him. The real Nugget looks like a
caricature. and so did the sham one;
and the hay fever made him look more
OF a caricature than ever. 1t also let
him disguise his voice. He is probably
a simple, ordinary man with mus.
tache; and we may be seeing him
every day. All that the police have got
TO 20 on is, that he must have known a
great deal about the real Nugget. He
must have studied him, but then they
discovered that thirty-three Wallets, but.
lers and footmen had been discharged
or left situations in the Gardens, dur
ing the last three years only. So that
is 1t much help. He may have been
one OF these, or he may not
Nugget gets very little sympathy in
his loss. All the women insist on
reckoning him responsible for the
shock of the visit of the fair Coloradan
to the Gardens say that it serves
him right; a man who wears those
whiskers and that broad checked
tweed suit. is walking temptation to
people to impersonate him He ought
to yet his whiskers shaved and go to
q decent tailor