Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 113: what you’re looking at

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very gravely. Then he sent for the purser. “What do you think?” he demandec. ‘Rather suspicious. Here is a young fellow passing himself off as a millionaire. He pays attention to the Potter-Dunlaps, though the girl is as homely as a hedge fence, which proves that it was not her charm that drew him. He is very chummy with them, and is in their stateroom on the night the jewels were taken. Probably saw the lady put them away. If he were a mil- lionaire we would not suspect him of sneak- ing back and purloining them, but, being what this wireless says he is, I think he is a proper object for investigation.” “Lots of young fellows come aboard ship and try to create impressions of great wealth when they haven’t any more than the price of their ticket.” This came from the captain. ‘“ The Americans call it four- flushing. It’s harmless enough. This fel- low might have been trying to have the girl fall in love with him; make a rich mar- riage* no idea of walking off with the ma- ter’s jewels.” “ That’s true, captain. What we will do is go through his stateroom while he and this McGarry are at breakfast in the morning. If we find nothing, I think that wireless justifies us in searching their per- sons. It’s a serious thing to do, but it’s better than searching everybody on board, which we talked about yesterday.” “Ves, I certainly hate to do that. On the other hand the jewels are on the ship. You know as well as I do that hiding places on these ships are hard to find, and the thief is more apt to have the gems on his person until he finds that there is going to be a personal search. Then he may get desperate and place them in what he thinks is a safe hiding place, but what we know from experience is nothing of the kind.” The captain called attention to some- thing which few travelers realize. Despite the vast bulk of a liner, its innumerable rooms and passages, its holds and engine space, there is virtually no way of hiding anything if the ship’s company make a se- rious search. There are several hundred stewards, each with a certain number of cabins al- —lotted to him. He knows every inch of SOFT MenES. is out of reach, everything can be “ai down, pulled apart and cleaned. z over with minute care every day; no ae ing a small package away in these rooms without certainty of its being found. The quarters of the stewards, the stok- — ers, the seamen, and the officers are alleas lacking in hiding places. Stolen property would” probably be concealed -in Pea effects; no other place for it. — ES So Howard’s premonition that he might come under suspicion of having helped him- — self to the jewels of the Pot 2 was justified by facts. He was suspected, — and the captain was sustained by a police — report from Kansas City which made him — out to be practically a vagrant. He was : : shown up to be a pretender, anda pretend- er may easily be a thief. Their harmless little deception was about to react upon = both Howard and Rod in a manner of which they had never dreamed. = The two youths managed to fall a after a hectic evening in “their berths, and they awakened ten hours later to. fad the ship steady, the sun pouring through th portholes, and their illness vanished ha When it came they were ready, and oe up for their fast of the evening before by. consuming two orders, each, of ham and eggs. = While this was going on the purser led his assistant and “the stateroom steward — into Campbell’s stateroom, and ae ce but with great care, they went through the | contents of the trunks and bags of both boys, opening up each article of apparel, — carefully refolding it and replacing it so that the search would not be noticed. a = Howard had a habit of rolling his stocks = ings into balls for packing purposes. ‘The — = ee steward squeezed each ball. He had passed = ae twenty of them when he uttered an excla- = mation; he had noticed something hard in- side. He unrolled the stockings and drew eee out a pair of diamond earrings. They were down on the inventory of Mrs. Potter-Dun- me Ws Cee ae ar <= “Comicbooks.c er . = x Fg Oe ee <> SS he ge wie 8 eee mee Aye — = a a ae et Re ee ot OE