“This one was found last night, Ma’am,” said the doctor shortly.

“Why, yes, I suppose so, but I could have lost it before then, of course.  What sort of watch was it?  May I see it?”

“Where did you lose it, Ma’am?”

“Why, I am not certain about that.  You see I go about a good deal, and it may have been in one place or maybe in another.  I could not tell just where I lost it or I would not have lost it.”

“It was lost somewhere in town, I suppose?”

“Why, yes, I suppose it was.”

“This watch was not found in town, Ma’am.”

“Oh, well, I do go out of town occasionally,” said the woman quickly.  “Why, yes, now I remember, I was down this way yesterday afternoon, looking at the camp and enjoying the view.  I would know the watch in a moment.  May I see it, Doctor?”

“It was a gentleman’s watch, was it?   Probably a keepsake?   Your
husband’s or son’s, perhaps, and you don’t like to-----”

“Yes, it was my father’s, and I value it very highly.   Let me
see it-----”

“This is not the watch you lost, Ma’am, this is a lady’s watch,” said Dr. Wise tersely, being convinced that the woman was an imposter, and that she had not lost a watch of any sort.

“You might at least let me see it,” said the woman persuasively.  “Some of my friends may have lost a watch, and I could take it back to them.  I know them all.”

“If your friends have lost their watches, Ma’am, let them come after them,” said the doctor shortly.  “Good morning, Ma’am.”

“H’m!  I don’t think you have any manners to boast of!” snapped the woman as she went away.

She had not been gone more than ten minutes before another woman came to the camp, and asked to see the boy who had found a watch the night before.

She was sent to the doctor and said to him, evidently disappointed at not seeing the boy himself: 

“Ah, good morning, I understand that one of your young gentlemen found a lady’s watch last night.  Ah, I have lost mine, and would like to look at it to see if-----”

“How did you know it was a lady’s watch?” asked the doctor.  “The advertisement merely mentioned a watch.  What sort of watch was yours, domestic or foreign, stemwinder or keyed, open face or hunting case, gold, silver, or nickel case?  If the watch is as you describe it, it is yours.  Otherwise I shall have to hold it.”

“Really now, I could not describe it so accurately as all that.  Ah, do you mind showing it to me?  I am very what you may call hazy on descriptions.  I could not really say if it was large or small, those terms being relative, you know.  Yes, it is in a gold case and is a stemwinder, that much I remember.  It is an American, of course, but whether Elgin, Waltham, Howard, Thomas or—–­or any other make I really could not tell you.”

“You are sure it is American make?”

“Oh, yes, positively, and in a gold case, and about half this size,” closing her thumb and first finger to form a circle.