THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH.
PAGES 9 TO Bp
! SECOND PART.
IS
t i
NOW FIRST;
SA SERIES OF SHORT STORIES
By J. Marsden Sutcliffe,
ENTITLED ,
THE KOMMCE OF M ItfSURAMJE OFFICE,
Beisc Passages in the Experience of He. AUGUSTUS WILLIAM "WEBBEE,
"Formerly General Manager to the Universal Insurance Company.
ALL SIGHTS
Strange Disappearance of Mr.
Constam.
.Mr. Jerome Kohnstam came to England
to await the issue of some speculations in
-which he was engaged, and arrived in Lon
don on that memorable day in June when
the news came to hand of Wellington's vic
tory over Kapoleon on the field ot "Water
loo. That great battle, which brought
death and desolation to countless thousands
and secured to Europe 40 years of uninter
rupted peace, laid the foundations of Sir.
Kohn&tam's prodigious wealth. He was
well on for middle life when he first came
to our friendly shores, and had hitherto
suffered many a rude buffet at the hands of
that fickle goddess who is said to preside
over the affairs of men, dividing to them
their unequal lots. But when the crashing
of city bells from a hundred steeples, the
roar of artillery, and the thousand and one
manifestations of the delight of a people
suddenly gone delirious with joy, pro
claimed to the world that Kapoleon had
suffered defeat, and the allied armies were
even then marching on Paris, everything
was suddenly changed to this man, who
had hitherto been the Bport of ill-natured
.Fortune. '
It happened in this way. "When Mr.
Kohnstam heard that Napoleon had broken
loose from Elba, he arrived at the conclu
sion that the result would prove disastrous
to the Emperor, and that the game now to
be played might be turned to good account
for the improvement of his own private for
tune. He was too astute a politician to en
tertain a doubt that Europe would band
itself against "the uncaged lion," and that
after one brief, glorious struggle, the man
who had bestridden Europe like a Colossus
would "fall, never to rise again." For one
brief moment after the escape from Elba,
Europe held its breath in an agony of ter
ror. This interval of alarm was seized
upon by Mr. Kohnstam as the flood-tide in
his affairs, which, rightly met, would "lead
on to fortune." "When many timid specu
lators were seized with panic fear, Mr.
Kohnstam kept his head cool and his cour
age firm. He immediately staked his
all on "the fortune of war," and
arrived in London to find his fore
cast justified in time to thrust his
sickle into the golden harvest which
had sprung up suddenly to reward his ad
venturous sowing. In word, Mr. Kohn
stam, who left Antwerp with one gold
coin in his pocket, found, when he reached
thereati:ity, that his friend, Theodore
Constantine, tad carried out his instruc
tions to the letter, and for the first time in
his life he wrote himself down a capitalist.
He decided to abide in the land, where for
once in his troubled history a goodly shock
of the sheaves had fallen to his reaping
hook, and, establishing himself in London
in the Turkey trade, he took his friend Con
stantine into partnership, assigning to him
a seventh share of the profits of the new un
dertaking, in commendation of the zeal and
intelligence shown by him in carrying out
the instructions which he had ended so for
tunately. Before seven years had rolled by
Mr. Kohnstam was reputed to be one of the
wealthiest men in the city.
To what country Mr. Jerome Kohcstam's
forbears belonged, it would have puzzled
him to say. He was a Levantine by birth;
but beyond the fact that his ancestors were
not Asiatic, he knew little of hisfamily
history. He fondly cherished the impres
sion that the blood ot the Hellas ran in his
veins, a supposition to which the Greek cast
of his handsome face lent some corrobora
tion. But it was seldom that Mr. Kohn
stam allowed his thoughts to travel in this
direction. If not an Asiatic, he had all the
needle-like sharpness which marks certain
branches of the tribe of Shem, in pursuit of
the affairs of trade; and whilst commerce
engaged all his care he was under no temp
tation to trouble himself about his progeni
tors. For ten years after settling in England,
Mr. Kohnstam stifled the domestic affections,
which were strong within him, and lived
single. To the remonstrances of friends who
urged him to marry, he invariably returned
the same reply; he had not time to think
about it. The one mistress whom he loved
with a touch of passion was the goddess
Fortune, who after many slights had
deigned at last to smile upon him.
A time came when the wealth for which
he had schemed and toiled far exceeded his
most sane-nine expectations, and could no
longer fill his heart He was ambitions,
too, in a way in which his rapidly filling
coders did nothing to satisfy. He became
bitten with the English passion, to found a
family and become lord paramount over a
wide domain. Even visions of a possible
coronet began to cross his mind.
The days of merchant princes, with
wealth outvying the possessions of the
proudest among the English nobility, were
only beginning then; and the social line be
tween the mighty kings of commerce and
that which calls itself society was drawn
with a sharpness aud depth entirely un
known in these Democratic- times. Mr.
Kohnstam made a hard fight to mount above
the lower city firmament, but his efforts to
soar to that bine empyrean which basked in
the smiles of the court were doomed to dis
appointment. He was a great man in the
city where, however, helought shy of city
honors but west of Temple Bar his glories
suffered total and irremediable eclipse.
Baffled in his purpose to secure the social
footing to which he thought his wealth en
titled him, he swore in his wrath that the
blood of the Kohnstams should yet inter
mingle with the bluest in the realm of En
gland. Mr. Kohnstam was a man to keep his
word. His worst enemy would not have
declared of him that he was of the kind to
let the grass grow under his feet. Hia vow
was no sooner registered than he began to
lay matters in train to bring about its ful
fillment. He heard that a fine estate, be
longing to an illustrious but impoverished
family, was in the market, and resolved
upon its purchase.
Greystoke Court was situated in one of
the fairest of the English midland counties,
abont 130 miles from London. Mr. Kohn
stam hurried away as fast as a post-chaise
drawn by four horses could carry him. It
was noon when he set out, but on the morn
ing of the fifth day he had com
pleted a close inspection of Greystoke
and its demesnes, and accompanied
by his lawyer was . engaged with
the family solicitors in London, in
negotiating the purchase. When the caril
lon of the old Gtock Exchange rang out its
chimes at the hour of noon to the tunc of
"There's nae luck aboot the house," Mr.
Kohnstam emerged tram a street close by,
the happy owner or Greystoke estate, with
a rent-roll that as times went might fairly
be called princely. He left his law-
PUBLISHED.
RESERVED.
1 vers with instructions to have the estate
strictly entailed; and thinking to eliminate
something of the foreign appearance of his
name, he took ont letters-patent to assume
the name of Constam, which he imagined
would impart to his patronymic a more
English look while preserving in the sound
sufficient of its former identity to satisfy his
pride in his supposed Greek extraction.
The next step was to get a wife, and here
again Mr. Constam, as we must begin to
write his name, exhibited his usual prompti
tude. He hastened to unbosom himself of
his matrimonial intentions to his junior
partner. Theodore Constantine made no
attempt to conceal his satisfaction when he
learnt that the lady whom Mr. Constam had
singled out for the intended honor was'his
own daughter, Thyrza. He avowed him
self most flattered by the preference, and
declared his readiness to prepare his beauti
ful Thyrza for Mr. Constant's meditated
attack on the virgin citadel of her heart.
Thyrza Constantine was a beautiful wom
an of five-and-twenty, of the purest Greek
type, and in the fulness of her charms. It
might have been thought that a woman so
voung and fair, with none of the early
freshness of feeling departed, good and ami
able, too, deserved a better fate than to mate
with a man who was at least SO years her
senior. Such a disparity in years was a
gulf not easily to be bridged over. On the
other hand, it might have been argued that
Mr. Constam, if no longer yonng, was well
preserved, and was gifted with the qualities
which might be trusted to secure the happi
ness of any woman who would confide her
future to his keeping. He bad led no riot
ous yonth to impair his constitution, and
although time, and the cares of his earlier
years, had silvered his locks, they had abat
ed nothing from his height, or the firmness
andelasticity of his step. He was still as
straight as a poplar, well knit and wiry.and
bade lair to "make old bones." Add to
that an excellent heart, and what more
would you have?
Mr. Constam's courtship supplied a fresh
illustration of the old adage:
Happy is the wooing
That's not long a-doing.
"Within a month after he had become Lord
of the Manor of Greystoke and sundry other
seignorial rights, Thyrza Constantine had
been made the mistress ot Greystoke Court,
They were married quietly within the time
worn walls of Greystoke Church.
Mr. Constam's" strength of will was
equaled by the tenacity of purpose which
occupied the bosom of the regal lady who,
after a brief honeymoon, returned to Grey
stoke, to play the role of a loving and de
voted wife to her huEband, and Lady
Bountiful to the poor of the neighborhood,
with which the fortunes of the house of Con
stam had become tntwined. She had been
easily prevailed upon to enter into her hus
band's social views, and was precisely the
woman to assist him to the realization of
his ambition. "When, after a brief but
-happy married life of three years, her hus
band- died, and was -buried in the vanlts
which contained the bones of dead-and-gone
Templetoris for six centuries past, she gave
herself up entirely to the interests of the
little Constantine Constam, dear to her for
his dead father's sake as well as his own,
and dear, too, as the frail argosy which car
ried such precious hopes.
Mrs. Constam had often heard her hus
band quote the remark: "It takes three
generations to make a gentleman." She re
solved to abbreviate that period bv one
generation. If her ambition, like that of
her departed husband's, was a little vulgar,
it could not be denied by her most bitter
critics that she displayed' all the instincts
and feelings of a true gentlewoman one of
nature's own making. Her charities were
lavish without ostentation. On the few oc
casions when the opportunity to show herself
uospuaoie was anorueo ner, sne discharged
the duties of hostess with an unassnming
grace and kindliness, which did more than
her undoubted beautv, or the compassion
felt for her in her early widowhood, to thaw
the icy reserve with which "the county"
had resented what they termed the "Con
stam invasion."
She bore herself as a well-bred woman of
gracious mien, and in time became a social
success; so that when the young Constantine
had 'been plunged into the aristocratic
Lethe ot .ton and Christ Church, where
plebeian stains and memories were washed
away, she contrived to marry her son to her
liking. Eor, although Edith Kewnham
bronght no fortune to Constantine, and was
only the daughter of a baronet, she brought
a coat-of-arms. with quarterings enough to
have puzzled the whole College of Heralds,
if haply they had been required to trace out
the various branches and twigs of the
Kewnham stock.
Constautine's career was a brief one. He
was killed in the bunting field three months
before his first child was bom. Even the
memory of the recent tragic death of his
father conld not cast a gloom over the re
joicings at Greystoke, when Kewnham Con
stam, the third of his race, was born. The
mother's heart was comforted in her sorrow
over the untimely death of her husband,
who had been snatched from her ere the
orange blossoms which had bloomed on her
fair young brow as a bride had had time to
wither. Mrs. Constam, the elder, naturally
rejoiced that when the stock had been re
morselessly cut down a young and healthy
shoot had appeared, leaving to old Jerome
Constam a name and a representative in the
land of his adoption Huge casks of beer
were immediately broached and bells set
ringing; and when the tiny Kewnham was
carried for baptism across the park to the
gray ivy-covered church which stands just
outside the park gates at the entrance of the
village of Greystoke, he was conducted
through a perfect avenue of tenants and re
tainers who were holding high festivity in
honor of the little squire, while the women
called down blessings on his bonnie face. It
is the strange disappearance of this Kewn
ham Constam we have to relate.
IL
Kewnham's coming of age was celebrated
with even greater festivity than signalized
his birth. By this time thereproach of trade
no longer sullied the name of Constam.
Kewnham was regarded as much a lord of
the soil as if his ancestors had struck their
roots in Greystoke centuries back.
"He is quite one of us," one old dowager
was heard to remark. Accordingly when
the choice of the young Squire of Greystoke
fell on the beautiful but lightly-portioned
daughter of the Earl of Selincourt no im
pediment interfered with the success of his
wooing.
"He will make handsome settlements,"
Lord Selincourt whispered in the ear of his
wife, when that observant lady drew the at
tention of her sponse to the marked manner
with which Kewnham Constam was singling
out the fair Lady Barbara for his favors,
during the festivities which celebrated the
coming of the young man into his kingdom.
Lady Selincourt murmured a smiling .assent
to this ohvions commonplace.
But whatever mercenary thoughts may
have glanced through the minds of her par
ents, assuredly none lodged in the maiden
heart of the Lady Barbara herself, who com
bined with her sang bleu the guileless inno
PITTSBURG,
cence of a child. Kewnham Constam had
the frame of a young Hercules, and a face
like a Greek god. He had inherited the
proud, classic oeauty of his grandmother,
and his English education, which had been
carefully watched over, had formed him
into the modelof an English gentleman,
with a certain dignity of carriage happily
blended with an amiable disposition and
winning manners. He looked like a young
hero who deserved to be loved for'his own
sake, without reference to the broad acres of
which he was lord. Barbara's heart was
carried by storm, and when he" poured into
her delighted ears his love plaints and vows
of eternal affection, she returned him love
tor love, and vow for vow.
One cloud, however, rested upon this
promising alliance a clond that was des
tined to grow in volume until it broke and
turned the joy into direct mourning. A
neighboring squire, Mr. Bretterly, of
Bretterly Hall (a man at least ten
years Kewnham's senior), considered him
self an abnsed man when tidings of the im
pending marriage went abroad. He, too,
had been enslaved by the bright beauty of
Lady Barbara, and, whether rightly or
wrongly, considered that the lady had
shown him marked signs of her prelerence.
In this, Mr. Bretterly's vanity had prob
ably misled him; although he was able to
plead that Lord Selincourt himself had
shown himself warmly disposed to the
Bretterly alliance, until Kewnbam's return
from his travels and the ardor with which
he pressed his suit had suggested a more
eligible match for his daughter.
Mr. Bretterly's fury was unbounded when
he heard of the betrothal, and he so far lost
his self-control as to threaten condign pun
ishment on his false love and his treacherous
friend; for so he was pleased to speak of
them. But whatever passions may have
consumed him, he contrived after the first
explosive outburst to keep his chagrin to
himself. He congratulated the young
couple on their engagement with seeming
heartiness; and when after a brief courtship
the day of their nuptials drew near, his
presents excited general admiration for their'
costliness and the evidence they furnished
of the elegance of their donor's taste.
As events turned out, there can be no
doubt that in all this Mr Bretterly was
playing a deep game and preparing the way
for the execution of a deeplv-laid scheme of
vengeance. Behind a mask of friendship
he was craftily concealing the bold design
of acquiring a complete ascendancy over
Kewnham's mind, in order that he might the
more surely lure him to his rnin. If he
could orily succeed in hurling Kewnham
down from his proud eminence stripping
him of his fortune, and beggaring him in
name and reputation he might look upon
the desolation brought about by his Machia
vellian devices as a compensation for the
blow his proud heart had received.
The mUchief could not have been fore
seen. "Wiin would have suspected behind
that smiling exterior, those gracious man
ners which Mr. Bretterly knew so well how
to assume, the elements of a plot? And,
more than all, that behind valuable ser
vices (for such they seemed to be) sponta
neously rendered with an air of good-fellowship,
there lurked a deliberate purpose to
wrecK two Uvesr -But so it was.
Many months had not rolled by before
shrewd observers, who had heard and
treasured up Mr. Bretterly's threats in the
day ot his wrath, shooKtneir heads gravely
as they Saw him obtaining an influence
over Kewpham which boded ill for Grey
stoke Court and its inmates. "Lookers on
see mot of the game." So it was here. It
gradually became apparent to the more dis
cerning that whilst Mr. Bretterly always
contrived that his actions should wear the
appearance of friendly efforts to serve Kewn
ham's interests and advance him in the
county, he was ever leading him into some
fresh extravagance, which, growing like
ever-descending snowflakes into an ava
lanche, must inevitably involve him in the
long run in irretrievable disaster.
Mr. Bretterly was too wily a tactician to
hurry the accomplishment of his purposes.
He was content with small measures to be
gin with; patient to wait for the slow de
velopment of his plans, where hasty
measures might have had the effect of put
ting his victim on his guard, and thwarting
the vengeance which never slept.
He took the first step when the master
ship ot the hounds was offered him. "When
"the Dnke" resigned this position, on the
Elea that now he had bicome too old to
unt the county shonld look out for some
younger man to lead them in their sports,
especially as the heir-apparent to the Duke
dom, a distant cousin, was not a hunting
man, Mr. Bretterly's enthusiasm for field
sports marked him out as the man to fill
the vacancy.
Mr. Bretterly caught at this opportunitv
to commence his mining operations against
the young Squire of Greystoke, by declin
ing the honor for himself, and working bard
to secure Kewnham's nomination to the
vacant honor. The county demurred to the
selection, but as Mr. Constam was personally
popular, Mr. Bretterly succeeded in bring
ing round objectors to his views, with the
result that the dazzling honor was laid at
Kewnham's feet, and Mr. Bretterly began
to acquire that complete ascendancy over
the mind of his victim, which led to snch
deplorable results as are about to be nar
rated. The truth must he told; Kewnham's
head was completely turned bv the flatter
ing proposal, while the little Lady Barbara
fairly clapped her baby-like hands over the
sudden greatness so unexpectedly thrust
upon her husband.
Kewnham had not forgotten that his
grandfather had been a foreigner, of doubt
ful extraction, who owed his success to a
lucky coup made in a speculative venture
on the issue of the last straggle between
Kapoleon and the Allied Powers. Kow
that it was proposed to him to succeed "the
Duke," the temptation to submit himself to
be branded with the social hall-mark im
plied proved irresistible. "Was not this the
part which family tradition had predestined
him to play? As for .Bretterly's goodness
in consenting to waive his personal claims
in favor of his friend, it was something al
most unheard of. Kewnham could not find
words warm enough to express his gratitude
and his sense of Mr. Bretterly's great ser
vice and "noble generosity,"
He inaugurated his reign by determining
that he would not be outdone by "the
Duke." The county would find that they
had not misplaced their confidence. He
formed an Immediate resolution to build
new stables, which would cast the far-famed
stables at Mountcastle(the Duke's seat) in to
the shade; a resolution which needed no
fanning Irom Bretterly to keep it alive.
But when once he set out on the path' of ex
travagant and ridiculous expenditure, Bret
terly took good, care that the young squire
should not stand in want oi new excuses for
launching- out still further. He infected
SATUKDAY, FEBRITARY 16, 1889.
Kewnbam's mind with a passion for thor
oughbreds, on which yast sums were lavish
ly squandered, to a tune that called forth a
temperate but firmly worded remonstrance
from Ballard, the steward.
But once started on this wild career, Mr.
Constam paid little attention to remon
strances, which he brushed aside with con
temptuous good humor, He heard of the
wonders at Mountcastle, only to dream of
the ways in which he could emul.4M, if, he
could not out-rival the wildest eccentrici
ties of the most eccentric- Duke who was
ever decorated with the strawberry leaf.
Bretterly was ever at his elbow to give him
counsel when wanted. He was his Me
phistopheles, too, to spnrhim on with some
new extravagance when he showed signs of
fagging; always contriving, however, that
every new departure should appear to be
the spontaneous result of Kewnbam's own
mind and will, and not the product of the
direct prompting of his fidus Achates.
It would be tedious to trace the successive
steps by which the unsuspecting squire
was lured onward to the ruin planned for
him. A fine inheritance was not dissi
pated so far as a strictly entailed estate
could be dissipated in a day. Bretterly's
schemes were spread over a serious of years,
during which this Machiavellian tempter
never once dropped the mask. It was not
to be supposed that so redoubtable a patron
of the field sports of his native country as
Mr. Constam was, should not sooner or later
discover a warm interest in the turf; or that
when this proved to be the case, that Bret
terly should prove wanting in skill to di
rect the new pleasure to the furtherance of
his deeply laid plot to bring about Kewn
bam's ruiu. The turf, and a certain well
known club where high stakes were played
for nightly, gradually, completed what had
been begun in simple extravagance. There
were rumors after a great race, when money
was risked which might have proved dis
composing to the nerves of a million
aire, that Mr. Constam's horse was
"pulled;" certainly, instead of coming in
first, which was declared to be "a moral,"
it came in last. Ihese rumors were never
cleared up. There was no evidence of their
truth to be obtained. If "The Pride of
Greystoke" had been "pulled," it had been
done too cleverly to admit of detection.
Notwithstanding, there are old "turfites"
who still remember that race,and who assert
to this day that Constam's horse was
"pulled."
Kewham turned pale as he viewed the
I disaster, but displayed no other signs of
' emotion.
The pallor deepeaed on his handsome face
three days later, when he and Ballard, his
steward, sat in the panneled-oak library at
Greystoke Court as a Committee ot ways
and'Means. "When he spread out a sched
ule of his "debts of honor," not inclnding
moneys which "that dear old fellow, Bret
terly, had lent him, and learnt that bis
treasury was empty and his tenantry were
bftterly complaining of rents screwed: up to
meet the claims incurred by his extrava
gance, Mr. Constam',8 spirit groaned within
him, and he turned pale to the very lips.
""What are we to do, Ballard," he asked
disconsolately, while mentally cursing hi
tolly, as the bitter consequence of his wild
career for the first time dawned upon him.
"The worst of it is, squire," the steward
replied, with his hand on the rough calcula
tion lying before him, "that these are little
more than half vour'liabilities."
"Quite so," Kewnham rejoined; "these
are only, the claims that must be provided
for immediately. The restmuit stand over."
"Pardon me," squire, that cannot be, The
whole position must be faced at once. I was
just saying that these claims are only part
ot what must.be looked at Do you know,
squire, that when the contracts for all this
building which is going on are added to this
list of vours, the sum total, as nearly as I
can reckon, is equivalent to the rentroll of
the estate for the next five years?"
"What!" shouted Kewnham, springing
from his chair.
"That is so, squire, and I should not be
far out if I were to say that it will take ten
years of cheese-paring economy before every
Incumbrance is cleared off the estate."
"Still, you do not say what is to be done,"
Kewnham went on, impatiently, as the full
measure of the disaster became, more clearly
revealed to him.
"I can find a way out of all difficulties, if
you will only be amenable to reason,
squire." Ballard replied. "The principal
difficulty is yourself, sir."
"I don't take you, Ballard. 'Pon my
word, I don't take you. I can't for the life
of me make out what it is you are driving at
now."
"Listen, squire. If you were out of the
way, and 1 were acting under power of at
torney for you, it would go hard with Joe
Ballard if this estate was not as free from
an charges oeiore seven years are over my
head as it was when you came into it. I
would raise a mortgage on the rents for the
next seven years, covering the risk by a
policy of insurance. I would pay offt every
claim, including such of these building con
tracts as are not voidable. Such of them as
are voidable I would break. By dint of
economy seven years' time would enable us
to repay principal and interest."
"Ana then 'the king would enjoy his own
again,' " Kewnham exclaimed, smilingly,
quoting the old Cavalier song.
"Exactly!" Ballard replied, laconically.
"Ballard, you are a trump," Kewnham
said excitedly. "You have my full permis
sion to act in this matter as you think best."
"Have I?" the steward remarked dryly.
"Wait a moment, sqnire, until you hear
the conditions. You must go abroad for
this period, Go to Africa, ostrich shooting ,
if you like. Or, what do you say to India?
There is big game to be had there, I'm told.
You might do both, for that matter. Any
way, go abroad and enjoy yourself in" a
reasonable way. It sounds to sense, squire,
that a fine young gentleman like you, full
of animal spirits, must have something to
do, and that's my recipe."
This was quite a long speech for Ballard.
He drew a long breath, preparatory to a
further exposition of his views, which gave
Kewnham the opportunity to ask, with an
evident look ef dismay, and in low, pro
longed tones, as of a man laboring nnder
the deepest astonishment and seriously en
tertaining doubts of his interlocutor's
sanity:
"Do I understand you to mean. Ballard,,
that I am to qnit England; that is to say
bid goodby to Lady Barbara and my chflt
dren for seven years ? Man alive I wha
can you be thinking of ? "
"I am thinking,' said Ballard, speaking
with deliberate emphasis, "lam thinking,"
he repeated, "how we are to avoid matters
getting worse. Trust me, squire, that as
soon as existing claims Are arranged for, it
is your best plan to put the distance of the
ocean between you and too certain tempta
j tons to add to the load. In seven years
you will have enjoyed many pleasures, seen
many strange countries, and you will come
back with such a fund of experience that
you will know how to meet the temptations
which have brought things to this pass,
even if this kind of thing be a temptation
to yon then, which I beg leave to question.
Cut the whole connection, squire, and,
believe me, you will never renew it.'
There was wisdom in the trusty steward's
counsel, and Kewnham knew it, little
thongh he relished the prospect thus opened
out. Well would it have been for him if ha
had taken this sagacious advice. A bitter
sorrow would have been saved to his fair
young wife, and the dark fate menacing
him would never have been his. Unfortu
nately, he closed the conference hastily
soon after, and rode over to see Bretterly, to
whom he unbared the whole dismal position.
The idea of raising a loan on the security ot
the rents for the next seven years was eager
ly seized upon by Bretterly and turned into
a new temptation.
"There is not the slightest reason," Bret
terly said, "why you should expatriate your
self for seven years, or for seven months.
Mortgage your life interest in the estate
right out. That will give you money to
handle, and once in the possession of funds
yon will feel more at your ease; and you
know if vou can hold on. vou stand to nnll
off something considerable on the next
events."
Bretterley's sinister counsels were taken.
Ballard was not consulted, neither were
the family solicitors. Kewnham felt a nat
ural reluctance to bring a knowledge of this
transaction before the old and trusted advis
ers of his family. He gratefully acceptei
Bretterly's offers of assistance in this mat
ter, little imagining that Bretterly was
joyfully assisting him to utter ruin. Bret
terly's solicitors anted for him. The mort
gage on the rents of the Greystoke estates
during the lifetime of Kewnham Constam,
and a policy with the Universal covered the
mortgagee's risk.
Mr. Constam's Mephistopheles was now
more persistently at his elbow than ever.
It wanted but one turn more of the screw
and the victim would be pinned to the wall
beyond remedy. Blindly following his
mentor, Kewnham took the last step, and
when the next Derby came on the sum he
had borrowed was swept into the same net;
and, worse still, he had "plunged" so badly
that he Knew when settling day came he
would be without funds to meet his "debts
of honor," and that the Jockey Club would
have something unpleasant to say.
He returned to town with his own set, in
a four-in-hand, driven by Bretterly, dined
at his club for the last time, bearing his
misfortunes lightly, and chatting with a gay
insouciance which sat gracefullv on the
shoulders of a man laboring uncfe'r so tre
mendous a weight of misfortune. Kever
had his mood been more joyous, his jokes
more brilliant, or his laugh more cheerful.
He took a hand at whist after dinner, and
was a winner for some small sums. Then
he rose from the table remarking that he
would be back in five minutes.
A moment later, the hail porter saw him
qnit the club, leaving his light dust coat
and stylish umbrella behind.
From that time he was not seen in the
flesh by any ot his intimates.
A policeman met him a few yards from
the Elysium walking swiftly in the direc
tion of Trafalgar square.
The constable, who knew him well, made
a salute, and in reply to this salutation Mr.
Constam made a brief comment on the
beauty oi the evening, and wished the
officer "good-night."
And so that retreating figure, walking
swiftly in the direction of Trafalgar square,
in the golden haze of the summer night,
was the last that was seen of Mr. Constam.
He had disappeared, leaving no sign behind
him, as effectually as if the earth had sud
denly opened and swallowed him np.
( To be concluded next Saturday.)
. GET OEF THE BEATEN PATHS.
Snccets la Only Met Id Fresh Fields and
Pastures New.
Howard's Letter.
Individuality is a totally different thing
from originality. The great body of men
go through life In ordinary ways, utilizing,
as it were, the streetcar of transporta
tion. A few have their own coupe. There
are thousands upon thousands of common
carrier vehicles to everyone individual con
veyance. There are millions who use that
which is common, when there arc but
scores able to keep for their own special ac
commodation, private means of going here
or there.
How many boys with whom you went to
school, how many youths with whom you
went to college, are known by name to-day
to the communities in which they live.
Kewspaper men, officials, if asked to give
a thousand names from memory might do
so. But if asked to name a thousand indi
vidualities, by which I mean names of men
who have made themselves felt in all the
world during the past 20 years, the most ex
pert would be palsied ere he had reached
the third hundred.
You see, as a rule, men don't amount to
much.
They are born, heaven knows why. They
pass along the highways or the byways, in
conspicuous, unattractive, unsuccessful, as
a rule, and die. Kobody knows whence
they came, what they are here for is a mon
umental nuzzle and nobody knows where
they go to.
The dominies have great advantage over
the rude and unlettered in that there is no
possibility of demonstrating the falsity of
their assertions. Ko one has as yet returned
from any part, so far as we know, of the un
discovered country, and the great problem
which necessarily forces itself ever un
solved upon every human mind is "is this
the end?" The dominies say no, bnt that's
their business. They are paid very well to
say "Ko, this is not the end. There is a
luture." As Mary Fisk said: "We don't
believe much, but we hope a great deal,"
and in that pithy sentence is the concrete
common sense result of centuries of thought.
"We can't believe much, but we all hope a
great deal.
So that?
"Well, it seems to me that the "so that" is
obvious. Strike out, swim away from other
men. Make your own record. "Don't ever
lastingly be somebody else's lieutenant.
Avoid beaten paths. If you can't make a
spoon, at least spoil a horn in laudable en
deavor. The second horn may not be
spoiled.
THE BALLOON FISH.
A Strange Creature That Exploded When
Exposed to the Air.
Chicago Mall, j
"You never saw a balloon 'fish?" queried
the Virginia gentleman of a clerk.
"Ko I never did; never even heard of one
before."
"1 never saw but one, and that one I
caught while fishing off the dock at Kew
port Kews, within almost a stone's throw of
where the hulk of the old war ship Cumber
land is said to repose. "When I landed the
fish on the dock if was just an ordinary
looking fish, but I found before I got the
hook loose from its mouth that It was swell
ing. I became so excited that I forgot to
throw my hook 'and line back into the
water. The fish kept swelling, and finally
became as round as a ball. I was more
astonished when its hide began to crack and
it became evident to me that it was on the
point of bursting. It seemed to be suffering
great pain, As I did not caTe to witness
the suffering any longer I pushed it off the
dook with my foot. Ko sooner had it
struck the water than it gained its normal
condition and shot out of sight like a flash.
I learned from a man who . said that he
knew that the balloon fish conld 'not live
many minutes out of the water; that they
inhale the air, bnt were anable to exhale it,
and therefore in its efforts to breath It con
gested until it was only a question ot how
great an air pressure its hide could with
stand. Sooner or later it was bound to
burst unless replaced in the water."
HOW TO KILL A BEAR.
An Old Blan Gives Advice to Yonng Men
Who Go Hinting.
Mew York Ban!
"Yes. I 'spose I've killed more b'ars
than any other man in the State of Penn
sylvania," said the old man, as he pushed
back his coonskin cap. "The total count is
about SO, I believe."
"You must have been in dangerous posi
tions many times?"
"You bet!"
"I suppose that scar on your cheek was
made by the claws of a bear?"
"That scar? Oh.no. The old woman hit
me thar with a splinter."
"Your left eye is gone. Did a bear do
that?"
"Left eye? Oh, no. The old cow hooked
that out,"
'Titty bears is a good many. Some of
them must have been old and fierce?"
"You bet!"
"I notice your right hand is crippled. I
suppose a bear got it into bis month?"
"Bight hand? Ob, no. I got that canght
in a corn shelter."
"You walk lame in one leg. Did that
come from a tustle with a bear?"
"One leg? Oh, no. I fell off a load of hay
and broke my leg."
"Well," persisted the questioner, "that
scar over your right eye must have been
made by a bear."
"Eight eye? Yes, purty near being a
b'ar. I rnn agin a beam in the barn is the
dark."
"Then you were never hugged, chawed,
nor clawed by a bear?" quried the reporter
in disgust
"By a bear. Oh, no."
I "But you have killed 50?"
"Yes, an even 50."
"How did it happen that you, were never
harmed?" .
"Harmed? Oh, I always shot 'em at least
40 rods off, or first got "em into a trap and
shot 'em ar'terwards. Don't never let a
b'ar come nigh'to you, young man they's
dangerous.".
EXPANSE IBM OBJECT.
Two Bands Entertain Twelve Guests at the
Ponce de Leon Hotel
Curious stories come from Ponce de Leon
Hotel in St. Augustine. Mr. Flagler's ex
penditure there now amounts to nearly
$6,000,000. Early in January there were
only 12 guests in the hotel. At the
same time two bands were engaged
in the hotel. One is a Spanish band
thatplaysdnring the dinner hour on man
dolins and sings quaint Spanish songs. The
other is a famous Kew York band, play
ing in the courts, and for the morn
ing and evening concerts. Mr. Seavey,
the manager of the hotel, wrote Mr.
Flagler, and suggested that as here
were only 12 guests in the house he dis-J
pense with one or the bands. Mr. Flagler
wrote back that he didn't want any sugges
tions from Mr. Seavey as to how expenses
could be decreased, bnt if he had anything
to say as to how the. attractiveness of the
hotel could be increased he would be glad to
hear from him.
Mr. Flagler does not seem discouraged.
He has just bought the railroad running
from St. Augustine to Falatka and from St.
Augustine to Jacksonville. last Sunday
he changed both of these to broad-gauge
roads aiid shortened the schednle more than
half. He is going to build a bridge over
the St. Johns, so that the vestibule trains
can run into St. Augustine from Kew York
without transfer. He is building an opera
house in St Augustine at a rost of
(300,000, a magnificent church, and a
Union depot that will cost about $200,000.
This depot he will surround with a superb
park. He i Caving every street running to
the hotel with asphalt at his own expense.
In short, he is determined to make St. Au
gustine the grandest pleasure resort on
earth. His Russian baths in the Alcazar
cost $300,000, and are luxurious beyond de
scription. He says he will spend $10,000,
000 before he has completed his pleasure
plant to suit his ideas.
HOW BjQ BIED3 AEE FED.
Feasting an Wfalts Rats The Dainty Dishes
at the Zoo.
Philadelphia BecMd. J
Sunday is feast day for the birds of prey
that live in the big cages at the Zoo. "While
their favorite dish would scarcely repose
with grace upon an American dining table,
it is regarded as a dainty morsel by the
slant-eyed sons of Confucius. His favored
dish is white rat. The Chinaman likes it
cooked, bnt the big condors, vnltures ana"
eagles prefer it served raw and whole.
The birds await their Sunday feast 'of
white rat with ravenous impatience, and
many valiant struggles for the toothsome
rat take place within tbe cage. Head
Keeper Byrne sets his traps for white rats
all over the gardens, and when Sunday
comes he repairs to the cage with the feast.
Immediately upon scenting his approach,
tbe birds begin to screech, and their in
cisure is a confused mass ot flapping wings
and gaping beaks.
The rats are thrown in alive one by one,
and with lightning qnickness a sharp
hooked beak buries itself in the rodent's
flesh as soon as his body touches the ground.
The big ones get tbe choice, and feast in
peace until (he smaller hawks get their eyes
on the prey. Then, with a swoop, they
snatch the morsel from tbe larger birds, and
an interesting struggle ensues between
agility and strength. "When several rats
are thus being contested for the conflict is
bloody, and, as Keeper Byrne puts it, there
are enongh flying feathers to start a feather
foundry. A reporter witnessed such a scene
last Sunday, and it took the 50 birds about
20 minutes to fight over and dispose of a
bushel of white rats.
AN OLD-TIME TEICK.
Beating Poller With Pigeons How a Player
Made a Fortune.
Albany Jonrnal.1
In the old days before the telegraph a
man in Greenbush, K. Y., who was infatu
ated with lottery polioy as it was then
plaved, hit on a plan of "beating the game."
Tbe returns of drawiugs were then received
in Kew York some hours in advance of the
Albany agent's receipt of them, and it oc
curred to him to try heading off the mail
with carrier pigeons. So very secretly he
secured a couple of pair of homers, and
when the time for the next drawing ap
proached shipped them to Kew York. A
relative in Kew York secured the drawing
as it arrived, and fastening a slip contain
ing it properly secured about each pigeon's
neck, let them loose. They arrived in
Albany far in advance of the mail, and the
Greenbush man investing heavily on the
numbers thus received nearly bankrupted
the policy men on his first essay. He
worked It more guardedly thereafter, but
they finally tumbled, and placing upon him
the'sobriquet of "I fly," he retained it to
bis death. His winnings were at least $100.
000. The Cane as a Weapon.
NewXoikBua.j
"The way to use your cane," said a noted
foreigner the other day, "is not to strike
with it as ii it were a club. Thai is of so
little use that it is doubtful if it would not
be wrenched away from you the first blow
you tried to strike. Yon can make a cane
the most ugly and vicious of weapons by
simply punching with it. You bold the
handle in yonr right hand and use your left
hand merely to guide the point. Then jab
with it at your assailant's stomach, neck, or
face, accordingly as you want to hurt him.
He cannot get the cane away from you, and
cannot get within arm's reach of you."
SPECIAL KAIL HATES.
A
Vicious System That leads to
Violations of the Law.
WHERE THE! WOEE INJUSTICE.
Pacts About the Special Iron Tariff East
of tbe Mississippi.
A STUDY OP THE G0YEESI5G BCALB
rWBJTTXjr rOB TH D18PATCH.1
The officials of the railways east of tha
Mississippi river and north of the Kewport
News and Mississippi Valley system have
shown more of a disposition to comply with,
the law than those of any other part oi the
United States. Yet even here we often find
the spirit of the law violated. This h moat
frequently done by the vicious system of
special rates. Formerly it was the custom
to make special rates for individuals or
firms. This has been superseded by the cus
tom of.making special rates on commodities
and for localities. It is proper that freight
should be classified and charged according to
its comparative bulk, weight and value.
Thus drygoods are classed higher than nails,
and whisky higher than kerosene. Dry
goods are usually packed in shape conven
ient to handle, and their weight proportion
ate to bulk is such as to make what is called
good freight; but their value is much greater
per pound than nails, and they are liable to
damage by wet, collision, fire and stealage,
while nails are scarcely liable to damage at
all, hence the carrier is justified in charging
less for carrying nails than for carrying dry
goods. These qualities in freight are all
taken into consideration in classifying.
Bnt it is too otten the case that special
rates are made on certain commodities much
lower than tbe regular rate applicable to
the class to which they belong, the other
commodities of the same class being
charged at the regular rate. This is dis
crimination. A PLAGBANT CASE
or" this discrimination is the "special iron tar
iff" now in forceNin all the railroads in this
territory. "What is known as the"official clas
sification" governs in this territory. In it
bar iron, steel, nails, spikes, bolts, nuts and
kindred articles are rated as fifth class. Pig
iron, brick, lumber and a few other articles
as sixth class. Sometime ago the officials of
the leading roads out of Pittsburg were con
vinced that the iron rates were too high.
'I his was true; but it was also true that the
scale was too high. My meaning can ba
better explained by giving instances. The
present scale of rates, Pittsburg to Chicago
is first class, 42$c, second 37Uc, third 27e,
fourth 20c, filth 17c, sixth 15o per 100
lbs, governed by official classification; thus
bar iron, steel nails, etc. were 20c per hun
dred pounds in small lots, and 17c in car
loads. Pig iron, brick, etc., 15o in carloads.
The fact that the rates on iron were too high
proved that the fifth and sixth classes were
too high. They should have been reduced.
Instead of that a special tariff was made on
iron and steel articles, placing them in fifth
class small lots, and sixth class carloads,
bnt leaving other articles where they were.
This was unjust. II iron is entitled to a
rate of 15 cents per hnndred pounds in car
loads from Pittsburg to Chicago, there are
other articles (those classed regularly as
sixth class) which are entitled to a lower
rate, and it is discrimination against the
shippers of those commodities not to place
them relatively where they belong.
ABOUT GOVERTSISO RATES.
Bates between Kew York and Chicago are
what may be termed governing rates, that
is to say, all other rates are based on them.
Thus the rates from Pittsburg to Chicago
are based on a certain percentage of the
scale from Kew York to Chicago and rates
from Pittsburg to Cincinnati, Louisville,
Hast St. Louis,Peoria, etc, are based on a
certain percentage above or below the scale,
Pittsburg to Chicago. Hence; the latter
scale is a fair one to use as an illustration.
A study of this scale will expose a clever
method of discriminating against this terri
tory, without antagonizing tbe inter-State
commerce law. Bv referrintr to the finre
given above, it will be seen that the six
classes, Pittsburg to Chicago, are respect
tively, 42, 37J4, 27V, 20, 17 and 15 cents
per 100 pounds. The distance is 468 miles.
A freight man will tell you that for the dis
tance the first three classes are too low, and
tbe last two classes too high. A proper
proportioned scale makes first class about
four times sixth class.
Why then are these figures used? Hero
is the whole secret; Kew York ships west
large quantities of high class freight and
comparatively small quantities of low class.
This' territory ships west large quantities of
low class freight and comparatively little
high class. Hence the basing scale of rates,
Kew Yqrk to Chicago, is made to favor Kew
York shippers, tbe higher classes of the
scale cnt down, tbe lower classes held no.
Thns the territory producing large tonnage
of low class freight pays more than its pro
portion toward the support of the railroads
in order that the territory shipping large
quantities of high class freight may pay
less than its proportion. I give below the
present scale of rates, Pittsburg to Chicago,
compared with what the writer thinks
would be a proper one:
Present scale 12 37V Z1V 20 mi 15
Aproperscale....5U 40 SO 20 15 U
The inter-State commerce law would be
improved byaprovisiou compelling railway
companies to classify all freight, to publish
rates in scales ot classes only and when they
changed the rate on a commodity to change
the class or the scale. This would prevent'
special rates and be a great saving of labor
and expense to the railways themselves as
well as justice to the patrons. Special rates
are a species of special legislation and
special legislation is always unjust.
Ton Shea.
A TLOT FOR A PLAT.
Marriage as Affected by Longtltnde, m.
Carloas Question.
T. Adolphus Trollope, in a communica
tion to Notes and Queries, propounds a
knotty point that might be worked up into
a subject for a drama, a farce or a comlo
opera. It is put in all seriousness, how
ever, as a question of law.
A. B. goes from London to Naples,
leaving his wife resident in the former city.
Bnt he, unfortunately, falls in love with a
young lady at Kaples; and being a wicked
man, with no fear of God and little fear of
the law before his eyes, he determines to
deceive her by a bigamous and Invalid
marriage. He is accordingly married, to
all appearance legally, on board an English,
man-of-war in the bay, in the presence of
the captain, at 11 o'clock in the morning of
February 10 the time being unquestlona-'
bly ascertained. Bnt the wife left in Lon
don died on the same February 10 at 10:30
in the morning, the time being certified be
yond all question. "Well, the case is clear
and simple. A. B. had been a widower tor
half an hour when he married and could, of
course, legally do so.
But say I "When it was 1030 in London
it was 1123 in Kaples. Had a telegram
been dispatched instantly after the wife's
death it wonld have reached Kaples a few
minutes later than 1123, and would have
found A. B. a married man of over 20 min
utes' standing! His first wife died, in fact
23 minutes subsequent to the Kaples mar
riage, though that was authentically de
dared to have taken place at 11 A, 21., aa
the wife's death was with equal certain t
shown to have occurred at 1030. "Was th
marriage legal and valid or bigamous and
null?