“How do you know she’s got it?” the Chief asked.
“She showed it to a woman who was in the same cabin,” Gibbs returned,
“and the woman came and tipped us off.”
“Why, the dirty hussy!” cried the girl, who had previously been bereft
of hearing and speech, rising to her feet, her eyes flashing, and her
whole face denoting rage.
Gibbs looked at her, his eyes bulging with startled surprise, and then
turned his ox-like gaze upon Taylor.
“For the love of Mike!” said Gibbs at length, but Sarah Peabody cut
short any other exclamations.
“Do you know why she told about me?” the girl demanded. “She wanted to
alibi herself and make you folks thinks she was an honest God-fearing
lady that would never smuggle--and she had four times as much as I did.
Why, it was her who put me up to smuggling and taught me to be deaf and
dumb.” Sarah ground her white teeth in anger. “I’d like to meet her
again some time.”
“You shall,” Taylor cried. “When we arrest her we’ll need your evidence
to testify against her.”
“You can bet I won’t be deaf and dumb then,” Miss Peabody cried
viciously.
“Where’s the bracelet?” Taylor snapped. “Don’t waste time now.”
But the smuggler was no fool and not intimidated by his tones. “Wait a
minute,” she said craftily. “What’s going to happen to me?”
“Produce it, pay the duty, and we’ll let you go free for the tip.”
“You’re on,” said Sarah joyously. “Just take a look at the ring handle
of my parasol. I’ve painted over the stones, that’s all.”
Gibbs grabbed it from her and examined it closely. “Well, can you
approach that?” he said helplessly. “And I’ve been carrying it around
all day!”
Taylor turned from his examination of the parasol as Peter the
doorkeeper entered. “Miss Cartwright here?” he asked quickly.
“Yes, sir,” answered the man. “She’s just arrived.”
“Bring her in as soon as these get out,” Taylor said dismissing him.
“Take her away now, Gibbs,” he said, indicating the owner of the magic
parasol. “Turn her over to Shorey, he can handle her from now on.”
“All right, sir,” Gibbs said, still undecided as to why he had been
fooled.
Sarah looked at him with scorn. “I’ll be glad to have someone else on
the job. I’m sick o’ trottin’ around with a fat guy like him.”
“Say, now,” Gibbs protested in an injured manner.
But Taylor had a bigger scheme on hand and waved her away impatiently.
“Take her along, Gibbs.”
She gave Taylor an impudent little nod of farewell. “Ta-ta old Sport. I
certainly fooled you, when you had that gun shot off.”
Gibbs had grabbed her by the arm and was now pushing her toward the
door. “And I could have kept it up,” Miss Peabody asserted in a shrill
tone, “if it hadn’t made me sore, her putting over one on me like that.
And she was so blamed nice to me. But when one woman’s nice to another
she means mischief, you can bet your B. V. D.’s.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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