Show I II f I An H ioceir C n irniaL I I have had sonic business before I the Treasury department this week and I never go near the treasury building I I build-ing that I do not wonder whether I I ought or ought not to make a certain I large contribution to the soculled conscience I con-science fund said a I noted New York 11 lawyer who recently visited Washington I I Washing-ton The problem with me is ns to I I it I whether a man should feel called upon a contribute to the conscience fund I who has only Involuntrlly defrauded Government I certainly did that I I once upon a time and In a moat extraordinary ex-traordinary way Eighteen years ago this coming summer f I sum-mer after a vacation ofL couple ot months In Europe 1 sailed from Liverpool I Liver-pool on the steamer Alaska for New York On the second day out an attractive I attrac-tive and rellnedlooklng woman of forty I or less who sat next to me at the table and for whom as nhe was traveling I alone I hail l been able to render a feat 1 little courtesies customary In ocean voyaging approached mo as 1 sat readIng I read-Ing In the ships library T have just ascertained she said J I that you are Mr Blank the lawyer qualifying the lawyer with a number I of highly complimentary adjectives I that probably appealed strongly to my sense of vanity and J am delighted that you are on board this ship for I I have a case which I am desirous oC I I placing In your hand Then she told me that she was Mrs II I I I I SonnSo a wealthy Chicago u u widow it WHOFC Hume 1 mill ui LUII nuvu iiiuniivm ill In connection with acts of benevolence I I I as well as with notable social affairs In the western city Then she proceeded to I I tell me that I she Was somewhat dissat I Jslled with time methods of the Chicago I firm oC lawyers who had charge of her r 1 legal Interests and she said moreover that she desired to retaIn the servlos of a New York lawyer of prestige such as you possess as she put It to my I profound embarrassment to handle I certain matters oC hers connected with I I an estate vhlrh she said she owned I somewhere on Long Island At this point 1 I politely suggested I I II to the lady that while I should be delighted de-lighted to give her the Inestimable I I benefit of my advice and services when I Ii I reached my office in Mew York I F i w scarcely felt equal to the task of taking I I lIp my legal burden while on the uecic I of an ocean steamer and that anyway any-way I should not consider my annual vacation at an end until I had arrived In New Yorkand I never so much as open a letter while I am on my vacation vaca-tion J concluded The lady smilingly replied that she i had no Intention oC asking me to go very deeply into her affairs just then I but said that she desired to make an I arrangement with me for a consultation I j a week or so after the steamer reached New York We set a day for the consultation I con-sultation and I arose to escort the lady I to her steamer chair on the promenade 11 Jl deckOh i Oh by the by she said to me then I I am going to ask you to do a little favor fa-vor for me I am crryIng about with me a number of papers that are of very great value to me and as I am alone I I am constantly pursued by the fear that I shall lose the wallet containing them I or that they might be stolen from me by some predatory person Imagining I I that the wallet contaihs something of negotiable value Might I aslc you to I D take charge of this wallet for me until 1 J i B I call upon you for it in New York I II Men know so much better than women how to take care of such things you know I could do nothing else of course II but Inform the lady l that I should he delighted to relieve her fears and assume I I as-sume charge of the papers She hurried I hur-ried away to her stateroom and presently pres-ently returned to where I stood waitIng wait-Ing for her on the promenade deck She carried In her hand an exceedingly I 1 large black wallet of fine morocco 1 leather tightly bound round with heavy I rubber bands r took the wallet and deposited i de-posited it in the pursers safe not caring car-ing to make the lady feel sheepish by telllng her that she could herself have saved her worry by placing the wallet i In the custody of the purser f f The lady and I had many pleasant c r talks on the promenade deck and at table after that She was an astonishingly I I astonish-ingly wellinformed woman with a nimble wit and a manner of expressing I j I I herself that was occasionally ntilhlntr I i short of brilliant On the day r > T were to arrive In New York I mentioned the i mutter of the wallet to her and she told me that Its possession would oily make her nervous In the hurried business I busi-ness of debarking from the uteamer j and requested me to keep It for her until I un-til she culled at my otflce for U l i j I had an exceedingly Important matter mat-ter to attend to on the very afternoon 1 the steamer warped into her slip and I vas probably the first of the cabin passengers I 1 pas-sengers to leave the vessel I had even I I at that time a large customs practice I and was well known to all of the cus I I toinhouue employees so that the exam ination which they made of my baggage i I bag-gage was merely perfunctory r was off 1 1 the pier and bound for my oilicc long l before most of the steamer p 1 passengers passen-gers had even stepped down the gang i I IB way i jj Al about 4 1 oclock that afternoon af ter I had finished my n business at my I office and was preparing J to go to my i home uptown to meet my family who I were coming In from tho country that I evening the lady whose wallet I hud 1 H I I in my Inside coat pocket stepped Into I JI the olllcc with a smile l4 I I lou are aouoticss surprised I to fee me so boon she said but after you had I left the steamer It occurred to me that I was asking too much of you to ic I nuire you to take cafe of my papers I after the conclusion of the voyage especially es-pecially after you hud been so kind v and as you told me that you had some thing Important to attend to at your office I have come down to relieve you J i of the care of my wallet I I The explanation was natural enough t I j and I reached Into my pocket produced the wallet and han < Jd It to her Tell i lug me that she would call at my oMice on the dny that had been set for I the I consultation ua to her legal matters I hhe departed graciously and gracefully I leaving me rather Jlubbergustcd over I the unexpectedness of hr appearance I Ten minutes 1 later I wu stated in I f an uptown elevated train with an I evening paper in my hands On the first page of the evening paper was a 1 sensational story I with big headlines stating how a famous shoplifter con ii deuce woman Hmuggler and allaround female crook the very cleverest female j swindler alive the story stated had been held up on the pier by the cus toms oIIcers upon the arrival that day of the steamer Alaska on suspicion that she wan trying to smuggle Into the i United Statts 85000 worth of diamonds t which she was known by customs agents abroad to have purchased In London and Paris a few weeks before There was a picture and an elaborate description of herl1 connection with the story oC how nJte had been searched several timesby the women customs employees of how her baggage had been gone over with a linetooth comb of how even tithe hoola or her shoes had been examined to find out IC they wore hollow and contained diamonds but all I IJ J to no avail No jewelry of any sort had boon found concealed In her baggage I recognized the picture and the description de-scription of the I woman instantly The famous female crook was my prospective prospec-tive t client for whom J had uccomodat Ingly smuggled Into New York SfiOOC worth of diamonds and the reason why she had called for the wallet at my JUice was made clear to me She had taken the chance that 1 hadnt had the opportunity to see the story in the evening papers and she had won out I cant say that even had I seen the story before her call at my nlllce I should have felt justified In refusing to hand her the wallet and In turning It over to the customs people In my absence of positive knowledge that the wallet container the t smuggled jewels but t as I say it never came to that A year later the woman was arrested ar-rested in New York for some sort of a confidence game and on the day when she was up for examination in the Police Po-lice court 1 hurried to the court to convince con-vince myself beyond all doubt that she was the W011ll1n for whom I hud defrauded de-frauded the Government without knowing know-ing it She vas Just being liberated on bail which by the way she Immediately Immedi-ately jumped going abroad again when T arrived In the court and when she saw me she smiled at me In the most winsome manner imaginable That wallet contained the smuggled diamonds T managed to say to her privately i as she was leaving the court building I Assuredly sue replica smiling right in my teeth Can I ever thank you for having been so jolly obliging By the way you are not thinking of peaching on yourselfand me are you my amiable confederate Then she ran laughing down the court building steps leaving me stunned over her audacity I All of which explains why it is that I never enter the treasury building that I am not addicted with this problem as to whether or not J ought to contribute to the conscience fund the amount of duty which should have been paid on those diamonds 1 smuggled for tho atlolt Sophia Lyons Washington Star |