"Have boarded in this hotel for a number of years," said I "and neverWith that the clerk touched his little bell again and a porter appeared.

ter.

66

Baggage from No. 50-in carriage for up-train!" said the clerk to the porAnd, in fact, it is a remarkable thing, that, as far as I was concerned, the clerk seemed to have lost half his faculties, and the more I talked, the more he seemed unable either to see or hear me.

Two days after that, I missed a pair of sleeve-buttons, which I had carelessly left upon my wash-stand. They were of no great pecuniary value, being of very thin, and pretty heavily-alloyed metal; but being the gift of a friend. I

out who did it. Old Mrs. Mossop has lost her pearl ear-rings, and Gen. Starbuckle thinks his epauletcase is gone. But we are going to have a detective officer in the house, and I hope that before long we will get at the bottom of the business. Only don't say anything about it; for it would hurt our reputation, you

see."

naturally esteemed them far beyond their mere intrinsic worth. I became furious, therefore, and again rushed down to the office-clerk, resolving not to be put off by any supercilious airs, but that I would have my say out, if I left the house the next minute.

To my surprise, as soon as I had mentioned my new grievance, the clerk made no attempt to distract his attention by ringing little bells and calling porters, but looked particularly grave and drew me off into a corner.

"See here!" he said, "I'm sorry for all this. It looks bad for the establishment, you know. What was the value of the buttons ? We'll pay for them."

Upon which I began to feel a little mortified, protested that the articles were of no great value, but were merely precious from association; that I did not wish to be paid for them, but merely required some security that such losses would not accrue any longer.

The fact is," said the clerk, mournfully, "there have been other things taken from the rooms, and we can't find

his straight-cut coat, stiff cravat, and the peculiar curl of his whiskers. A well-shaped forehead, keen vivid eyes, and a slightly Romanized nose assisted in completing the picture of a very genteel and aristocratic person indeed. In fact, if there was any one quality which predominated over all others, it was his gentility. Even his dress assisted in producing that impression, being elegantly cut, but plain in the extreme, with no ornament except a single diamond stuck into the cravat, and a gold eye-glass fastened with a broad black ribbon.

As the stranger placed his eye-glass in his right eye, and, leaning back in an easy gentlemanly attitude, cast a careless glance over the morning paper, only now and then removing it in order to sip his coffee, I naturally began to speculate upon his profession. In the army, of course: that could be seen in an instant. But in what corps? Perhaps in the dragoons, if one could judge from an occasional tendency to press his foot firmly upon the floor so as to cause an

involuntary rising of the body; perhaps in the engineers, if the peculiar glance which he occasionally cast around the tables, as though taking the angles and distances, could be any index. I decided, firmly, that he must be in the engineers; the weight of proof evidently pointed that way.

After a while, however, it struck me that there was something familiar in the countenance of the stranger, as though I had seen him before, and at some no very distant time. I recalled his singular likeness to a certain police officer, whom my assistant counsel in the great case of Jones vs. Potters, by her guardian-ad-litem, Sakon, in assumpsit, had once employed to ferret out some necessary evidence.

That individual, it is true, wore a rusty suit of pepper-and-salt, had large vulgar rings upon his hand, and appeared fond of wearing too many plated watch-chains; but still I could hardly be deceived in the identity of that profile, which, the longer I looked, became more and more Jewish in my eyes. And at length the mystery flashed upon me. Away fled all my speculations about dragoon and engineer officers-away fled much of that apparent fictitious gentility; and the stranger stood revealed before me as plain Detective No. 17, employed by the proprietors of My Hotel to reside within the walls for a few days in order to ferret out the late robberies, and dressed up for that purpose in the disguise of an aristocratic traveler. Thenceforth, for a few days, it became something of an amusement for me to watch the operations of the Detective, and pleasantly crow to myself over the knowledge that, perhaps, I alone of all the guests had fathomed the stratagem.

"Would you like to go through our establishment, Major Billott?" I heard our proprietor say to Detective, when breakfast had come to an end, and we had lounged out in an easy manner into the front hall. Of course Detective replied in the affirmative, that being what he had expressly come to do; and I, enjoying the joke, desired to do the same, since I had never before been beyond the public halls and saloons. And so gathering one or two other volunteers until we had a party of six or eight, we began to go on our rounds.

Proprietor first took us into the undercellar, and showed us how he heated the house and manufactured his own

gas; whereupon Detective pretended to be very much pleased with the ingenuity of the apparatus, and, in fact, expressed his approbation in loud tones in the presence of all the stokers. Proprietor then led us into the laundry, and Detective was in ecstasies about the neatness and completeness of the arrangements. And thence Proprietor went with us into the kitchen, where fifteen or twenty cooks, scullions, and waiters were collected; and there Detective redoubled his ecstasies, looked into the pans and closets, questioned the cooks as to their method of cooking this or that article, wondered how so much could be done in such a limited compass, and said that, though he had traveled in Europe, and visited all the principal hotels of the continent, he had never met any containing such a concentration of comfort, elegance, and conveniences. Upon which Proprietor pretended to be very much pleased, and inquired of Major Billott when he expected his family. Detective thereupon answered that if Mrs. Billott should come from New Orleans by way of the Mississippi, she would, probably, arrive next week; but if, out of regard for the health of the children, she should choose to come by sea, they would probably be along somewhat later. Upon which Proprietor remarked that he would make everything ready for Mrs. Billott and the children, whatever time they might come; and then, having finished the inspection, we adjourned to the main hall, from which I departed for my office, while Detective sat down in the reading-room, and, in a gentlemanly manner, picked his teeth with a walnut tooth-pick.

My amusement in watching the operations of Detective No. 17 was excessive for the next few days. It was pleasant to see him walk into the breakfast hall each morning, place himself in gentlemanly position, call for his toast and coffee, and then pretend to read his newspaper, though all the while peering slyly over the top, and restlessly watching both waiters and guests. It was pleasant, now and then, to hear him open the doors of private parlors into which he had just seen any of the chambermaids or waiters enter, and then, as he retreated, politely apologize for having mistaken his own apartment. And it was pleasant to see him give bright quarters to the boot-black, and

condescendingly enter into conversation with him about himself and the other servants-thus encouraging an intimacy which might lead to unguarded confidences.

Sometimes it was not quite so pleasant. At different periods I could see that Detective watched me with a sly, uncertain kind of gaze, as though he suspected something. It was evident that he remembered having seen me before, though he could not recall the place; and, in such cases, a police officer is naturally suspicious. Once, when I happened to become very much

embarrassed under the condescending attentions of my waiter, I accidentally caught my sleeve in the table-cloth, whereby a silver spoon fell into my lap; and, as I replaced the spoon, I saw that Detective had witnessed the operation. A sudden flush of animation passed over his face as though he had felt he detected one source of theft, and then he composed his features, with the air of a person who is resolved not to act precipitately, but prefers to await further and more certain developments. That afternoon he met me in the hall, and asked me the time of day, though there happened